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Roman Empire (395–1453)

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Revision as of 15:32, 8 July 2023 by RedArcher9 (talk | contribs) (Small corrections; 'Eastern Roman Empire' was never the official name of the polity, rather, they kept referring to themselves as the 'Roman Empire.' Also, Byzantium never had a uniform 'flag' in the modern sense.)
Roman Empire
Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων
395–1453
Flag of Roman Empire
Imperial banner of the Palaiologos dynasty
Byzantium in 555CE
Byzantium in 555CE
CapitalConstantinople
Common languagesGreek
Dominant mode of productionFeudalism
History
• Formation of the Roman Empire
27 BCE
• Fall of the Western Roman Empire
395
• Constantinople falls; Byzantium ends
1453
Population
• 565 CE estimate
~26,000,000

Byzantium, also called the Byzantine Empire or the Eastern Roman Empire, was an imperial state that lasted from 395 to 1453 CE. It is commonly viewed as a medieval continuation of the 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.[1]

Byzantium's conservative leadership prevented technological advancement and resorted to knowledge dating to the Roman era in the fields of architecture, metallurgy, and military strategy.[2]

History

Early history

Early Byzantine emperors were able to keep control of the Balkans, Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt. Barely 50 years after Justinian's last attempt to conquer the west, Byzantium lost economic control of its outer territories and reoriented its economy around defense.[2]

Loss of territory

The Arabs took control of Syria in 636 at the Battle of Yarmuk. When the Turks seized eastern Anatolia in 1071, the empire shrank to half its original territory. Crusaders sacked the capital city of Constantinople in 1204, and the remnants of the empire finally fell to the Ottomans in 1453.[1]

Religion

Byzantine authorities persecuted pagans, Jews, and non-Orthodox Christians, who together made up almost half of the total population.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Neil Faulkner (2013). A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals: 'European Feudalism' (p. 79). [PDF] Pluto Press. ISBN 9781849648639 [LG]
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chris Harman (1999). A People's History of the World: 'The ‘Middle Ages’' (pp. 117–120). [PDF] London: Bookmarks Publications Ltd. ISBN 9781898876557 [LG]