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The Byzantine Empire Oh No!! Rome Has Fallen! • Umm…. Not quite. • Eastern and Western halves were officially split into two distinct empires in 395 CE • 5th century (476 CE): Rome is sacked by the invading Germanic tribes, but only the Western Empire falls. • The Eastern Empire exists for 1,000 more years. • Capital is Constantinople (modern name: Istanbul) • Called the Byzantine Empire Characteristics of Byzantine Empire • • • • • • Elegant buildings Christian churches Language: Greek Commerce Armies based on barbarian recruits Emperor separate from society Emperor Justinian (r. 527- 565 CE) • Successes: – Law Code – Rebuild Constantinople – Reclaims some Roman provinces: • North Africa, city of Rome (temporarily), parts of Spain • Failures: – Unable to retake Italiy for good – Weakened empire through expansion Justinian Code • Created between 528-533 CE by a panel of ten legal experts – Preserved and reformed/updated Roman law that had existed for 400 years. – Ultimate Goal: Create a single, uniform law code for the Byz. Empire. – Forms the basis of modern legal systems. • Covered all aspects of life: marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, women’s rights and crimes • Code is used for over 900 years Four Parts of the Justinian Code 1. Code: 5,000 Roman laws 2. Digest: quoted and summarized Rome’s greatest legal opinions and thinkers about laws (50 volumes) 3. Institutes: textbook for law students; handbook on how to use laws 4. Novellae (New Laws): any legislation (laws) created after 534 Empress Theodora • Justinian’s wife • Very powerful in her own right: – Met with foreign leaders, passed laws, built churches • Theodora pushes for women’s rights: – Man couldn’t beat wife – Women could sue for divorce. – Women could own property Byzantine Politics • Emperor head of church and state • Make religious and secular laws • Bureaucracy – Trained in Greek classics – From all classes – Spies – Emperor appointed local leaders to be sent throughout the empire Constantinople (Istanbul) • Founded by Constantine and established as the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE Constantinople • Naturally protected by waterways on either side – Coasts were lined with a 14-mile stone wall – Controlled the water between the Aegean and Black Sea. • Only land border is protected by a moat and three other walls – 70 feet tall; 25 feet thick • Constantinople is in middle of trade routes. • City became rich from taxes on trade. • With the money made from trade, Justinian was able to fund and complete great architectural projects – Hagia Sophia • (“Holy Wisdom”) – Palace – Aqueducts – Schools Life in Constantinople • Great trade, shopping and cultural attractions in the city – Offered goods from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East • Entertainment: – Hippodrome: chariot races; circus; held 60,000 people • Intellectual Life: – education highly prized, influenced by ancient Greek literature and historical writings – passed on Greco-Roman mathematics and geometry to the Arabs who adopted and improved it Problems in the Byzantine Empire • The Plague – – – – Originated in rats on an Indian trading ship 542: 10,000 die per day Occurred every 8-10 years Smaller population caused empire to be an easy target for outside groups • Outside Attacks: – Several groups attempted to attack the empire: Slavs, Persians, Arab armies, Russians, Turks, knights from Western Europe – The Crusaders – Finally falls in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks