Download The Byzantine Empire - Cabarrus County Schools

The Byzantine
Empire
Byzantine Empire: Brief
History
• Diocletian divided the Roman Empire in half
o Western Half
o Eastern Half
• Eastern Roman Empire was renamed to Byzantine
Empire
• The Byzantine Empire was a mixture of Middle
Eastern and Greek cultures
• Constantinople became the capitol of the
Byzantine Empire (which is where modern day
Istanbul, Turkey is!)
Byzantine Technology
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Invention of Greek Fire helped defend the Empire
Greek Fire, also known as sea fire or liquid fire
Primarily used in ship-to-ship battles
It is essentially like a flamethrower!! 
Byzantine Jobs
• Women stayed at home.
• Middle class men worked in the fields, because the
city was rural.
• The city contained blacksmiths, clothiers, and
merchants
• Many services and sales were offered
• Carpenters, day laborers, plasterers, painters, and
mosaic workers were among some of the jobs
within the Empire.
Byzantine Writing
• Latin continued to be the main written language.
• However, Greek became the main spoken
language.
• Referred to as “Byzantine Greek.”
Byzantine Government
• Had a highly efficient bureaucracy
• Had an impressive army
• Government was an absolute monarchy
Byzantine Religion
• Greek Orthodox and Christianity became the two
official religions in the empire.
• Emperors were given high places in the Church.
Byzantine Cities & Stable
Food Supply
• Constantinople – the capitol of the empire
o Had paved streets
o Great homes and churches
o Parks and playgrounds
o Museums, libraries, and schools
o Most advanced city in medieval Europe
• Trade helped bring about new food for the empire
• Food was consumed based on social class
Byzantine Social Structure
• Emperor was at the very top
• Local aristocracy, state representatives, senior
military officers, and large landowners were all
members of the upper class
• Middle class consisted of businessmen, mediumsized landowners, and merchants
• Lower class were wage-owners and paupers
Emperor Justinian
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Byzantine’s most important emperor
Born into Macedonian peasant family
His wife Theodora was his advisor
They crushed riots over high taxes
Ambitious construction projects: Hagia Sophia
Justinian Code
• A collection of Roman Law compiled into a single
volume
• Collected all of the old laws from the Roman
Empire, such as the Twelve Tables
• Added new laws as well to give people more
freedom
• “Innocent until proven guilty.”
• We still use and apply his laws today in our society

After Justinian
• Empire was in debt, successors of Justinian were
forced to heavily tax the citizens to keep the
empire alive
• New threat: Expansion of Islam
o Monotheistic religion
o Followers are called Muslims
• Muslim vs. Byzantine Empire
• Muslims attacked the Byzantine Empire by storming
into Syria
• Byzantine lost to the Islamic forces
The Great Schism
• Eastern Roman Empire vs. Western Roman Empire
• Greek Orthodox vs. Catholics
• The pope and the patriarch excommunicated each
other
• Split because they each claimed authority over one
another
• Start of the Roman Catholic religion
The Empire Falls
• Constant attacks from foreign invaders severely
weakened the empire
• Left vulnerable to the Ottoman Turks who eventually
seized the Byzantine Empire in 1453 AD.