Download The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire
Coach Parrish
OMS
Chapter 10, Section 1
Attempt at Conquest
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Prince Igor of Kiev (city in Russia), watched as
his ships sailed across the Black Sea in 941 AD.
Prince Igor was sure that his fleet would capture
Constantinople – capital of the Byzantine
Empire.
Instead of winning, he watched as his ships were
destroyed by “Greek Fire.” This weapon gave
the Byzantines power in the Mediterranean Sea.
Greek Fire
Constantinople at a Crossroads
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Following the Roman Empire, two groups
controlled what we now call the Middle East.
Christian Byzantines
Muslim Arabs and Turks
Sometimes the two groups shared power and
sometimes they fought over the region.
Constantine and His Capital
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Constantine began his rule of the enormous
Roman Empire in 306 AD.
Two important things that Constantine did:
1)Became a Christian and stopped Christian
persecution. 2) After 20 years of ruling in
Rome, he built a new imperial capital.
His capital was called Constantinople, and by
500 AD, contained large markets, paved roads, a
palace, public baths, and a circus.
Constantine
Constantine and His Capital
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The emperors that followed Constantine
continued to rule from Constantinople.
Over time, the Roman Empire split in two
halves. The eastern half, where Constantinople
was located, was the strongest.
The eastern half was the strongest because of its
military and wealth through trading.
Trade
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Constantinople was built at a major crossroads
of land and sea trade routes.
Goods came from Kiev in the north, from
Egypt in the south, and across Central Asia.
The Byzantines charged taxes on all goods that
went through the city.
Over time, the Byzantine Empire grew rich.
Currency (Money)
Fall of the Western Empire
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By 350 AD, the western Roman Empire was
already in decline. Roman armies were having
difficulty holding back invaders from Europe.
Germanic groups were coming closer and closer
to Rome itself. In 476, a Germanic leader
overthrew the emperor of Rome. (We will
discuss this later when we talk about the Roman
Empire itself.)