2. The ByzanTine empire
From the fourth century until the sixth century
After the division of the Roman Empire,
Arcadius was the first Byzantine emperor.
3. The Eastern Roman Empire was known as
the Byzantine Empire.
Why? Because its capital was
Constantinople, which was known as
Byzantium before.
The Byzantine
Empire was stronger
and richer than the
Western Roman
Empire.
As a result, it resisted
the Germanic
invasions
4. The Byzantine Empire in the 6th century
The most important period of the Byzantine
history was the 6th century, the time of the
Emperor Justinian
Justianian ruled with his clever wife
Theodora between 527 and 565
5. Justinian tried to rebuild the old Roman Empire
Three factors were important to achieve that
objective:
1.Having a great army
As result, they conquered the north of Africa, Italy
and the south of Spain.
6. 2. The Emperor, which was known as Basileus, had three powers
to be the only ruler in the Empire:
- He commanded the army
(against the power of the generals)
- He was the main person in the goverment
(against the power of nobles and
senators)
- He was the religious leader (against the power of the priests)
7. 3. He made new laws because the Roman Law was
weak in those times. These new laws were called
“The Justinian Code”
8. The Byzantine Empire from the 7th century
until the 9th century
During these centuries the
Byzantine Empire had a
decline. There were two
reasons:
1. The new emperors were
weaker than Justinian
2. The Byzantine Empire was
attacked by:
- The Lombards in Italy
- The Visigoths in Spain
- The Muslims in the
Mediterranean coasts
10. The Byzantine Empire from the 9th century
until the 11th century
In these centuries, a new dynasty ruled the
Byzantine Empire:
The Macedonian Dynasty
They resisted the attacks from the powerful
Muslims and Slavian peoples. Thus, they
kept a big part of the Empire.
The most
important
Macedonian
emperor was
Basil the
Great
11. The Byzantine Empire from the 11th century
until the 15th century
• Since the end of the Macedonian Dynasty, the
Muslims started to conquer all the Byzantine
Empire.
• The economy of the Byzantine Empire was
weak because they were isolated from the
other Christian kingdoms due to the Muslim
expansion in the Mediterranean Sea.
• As a result, they lost their lands little by little
and by the 15th century the Byzantine Empire
was only its capital: CONSTANTINOPLE
• In 1453, the city of Constantinople was
conquered by a Muslim power: The Turks.
The Byzantine Empire was over.
13. TRADITION AND RELIGION IN THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
Until the Justinian’s
death, Byzantines
followed the Roman
traditions.
They spoke latin and
they were Catholics.
After Justinian, the Byzantines retook
Greek traditions.
They spoke Greek and the Christianity
was divided between Catholics (in
Western Europe) and Orthodox (in
Eastern Europe).
That division was the East-West
Schism.
14. The Orthodox Church was very important in the
Byzantine Empire
Since the death of Justinian, the Orthodox Church and
their priests – the popes – had a big power.
Thus, the new emperors wanted to limit their power. For
example they tried to prohibit the icons in the 8th
century, because people admired too much those
pictures.
As a result there were many riots and finally the icons
were legal again
15. BYZANTINE ART
The Byzantine Art was mainly conected with religion
They built impressive churches with Greek-cross
plan and large domes
They also built monasteries were the monks lived
together
