Editing Byzantium

{{Infobox country|name=Roman Empire|native_name=Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων<br>Imperium Romanum|image_flag=Byzantine imperial flag.png|year_start=395|year_end=1453|image_map=Byzantine Empire 555 CE.png|map_width=290|map_caption=Byzantium at its maximum extent in 555CE|capital=[[Constantinople]]|common_languages=Greek|mode_of_production=[[Feudalism]]|government_type=Absolute monarchy|established_event1=Formation of the Roman Empire|date_start=|established_date1=27 BCE|established_event2=Change of the capital from Rome to Constantinople|established_date2=330|event_pre=East-West division|date_pre=|event_start=Final division of the Roman Empire|event_end=Constantinople falls; Byzantium ends|date_end=|population_estimate=~26,000,000|population_estimate_year=565 CE}}

'''Byzantium''', also called the '''Byzantine Empire''' or the '''Eastern Roman Empire''', was [[Hellenic Republic|Greco]][[Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE)|-Roman]] state that lasted from 395 to 1453 CE. It is commonly viewed as a medieval continuation of the [[Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE)|Roman Empire]]. At its foundation, the Byzantine Empire controlled one-third of the Roman army but collected two-thirds of its tax revenue. Its well-equipped, professional armies were able to defeat repeated invasions while the western empire collapsed into a patchwork of warring states.<ref name=":0222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=European Feudalism|page=79|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

Byzantium's [[Conservatism|conservative]] ruling class prevented technological advancement and relied on knowledge dating to the Roman era in the fields of architecture, metallurgy, and military strategy.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Chris Harman|year=1999|title=A People's History of the World|page=117–120|chapter=The ‘Middle Ages’|isbn=9781898876557|city=London|publisher=Bookmarks Publications Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=F247C9051030CCBA52C1E5A4468834E9|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacea6om2gf2ixovddv7moyuv3i4rj2ggii7gta4x4h4rk4ebpqdvd6i?filename=Chris%20Harman%20-%20A%20People%27s%20History%20of%20the%20World.pdf}}</ref>

=== Stagnation and decline ===

The Arabs took control of [[Syria]] in 636 at the Battle of Yarmuk and would conquer the wealthy grain-producing regions of Egypt and North Africa in the following decades. When the Turks seized eastern Anatolia in 1071, the empire shrank to half its territory during 1025. Crusaders sacked the capital city of Constantinople in 1204 during the [[Fourth Crusade]], establishing the [[Latin Empire]]. Although the Byzantine rump-state of Nicaea would restore the empire in 1261, the Byzantines were never able to fully recover and the remnants of the empire finally fell to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1453.<ref name=":0222" />

 

 

=== Religion ===

Byzantine authorities persecuted [[Paganism|pagans]], [[Judaism|Jews]], and non-[[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox]] [[Christianity|Christians]], who together made up almost half of the total population.<ref name=":0" />