Byzantine Empire: A History From Beginning to End

by Hourly History

In 330, he renamed the city of Byzantium after himself, Constantinople, and declared it the new capital of the Roman Empire. This significant event is the reason historians label the year 330 as the beginning of the Byzantine Empire.

John the Cappadocian was instrumental in making sure taxes were collected effectively; he particularly tried to make sure that the rich were proportionately taxed.

But his most important project was the building of a new church, the Hagia Sophia.

Justinian’s building projects were not his only plan for increasing the glory of Byzantines. He still wanted to expand the realm of the empire through conquest.

Justinian then looked toward Italy, which the Ostrogoths still ruled. Belisarius succeeded in taking Naples and Rome and continued to push his army northwards.

Just then, conflict seemed about to erupt with the Persians, so Justinian worked to make peace with the Ostrogoths so he could call Belisarius back.

Belisarius captured Ravenna and then left Italy for Syria, where he ...

Justinian’s expansion of the empire was suddenly stopped in 541 by the arriva...

Starting in 550, Justinian spent several years focused westward, defeating the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Visigoths in Spain.

The plague returned in 558. It was less severe this time, but still revenues for the government dropped along with the population, and the campaigns in the west were halted again.

In 565, the 83-year-old emperor died. Justinian had expanded his empire’s borders, patronized magnificent contributions to the arts and architecture, and added to the wealth of the Byzantines.

However, the devastation of the bubonic plague at least partially undermined much of what he had worked for.

Justin II, Justinian’s son-in-law, was much more interested in saving money than in saving the territories that his father-in-law conquered. Italy began to slip into the hands of the Lombards, while the Visigoths invaded Spain.

Instead of sending reinforcements to the western parts of the Byzantine Empire, Justin renewed the war with the Persians. Only when the Persians captured a major city, Dara, did Justin realize he might have made a mistake. He responded by attempting suicide.

Many who had once believed in the divine appointment of the emperor as the world’s Christian ruler began to question his spiritual authority, and the place of Constantinople in the greater world began to change.

The Pope declared that since the throne of Rome was now empty, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, would be crowned as the new Augustus.

Charlemagne, in fact, offered to marry Irene. While Irene may have considered this proposal, her people were shocked and offended by the Pope’s actions and the presumption that a Frank—a barbarian—could be installed as the emperor of the Christian world.

In 867, Basil managed to have both Bardas and Michael assassinated so he could take the throne himself. With this treacherous move, Basil established a dynasty that would become known as the “House of Macedon” and would bring another golden age to the Byzantine Empire.

When the House of Macedon ended with the death of Basil II in 1025, the Byzantine Empire had reached its apex.

Alexius was followed by four successors, the other emperors who made up the Comnenus dynasty.

Not only had the Byzantine Empire stopped the Ottoman advance for long enough to let Western Europe reach an advanced point of development,

but also, the refugees who escaped the fall of Constantinople brought valuable knowledge and learning with them.

They carried great classical works like the Iliad and the writings of Plato, which had been lost in the w...

In Italy, this resurgence of classical knowledge contributed to the beginn...

Byzantine refugees traveled to Russia as well, leaving a strong heritage that became part of Russian culture.

And even today, the Eastern Orthodox Church carries on the legacy of Byzantium across Eastern Europe.