Download The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

The Byzantine
Empire:
The New Rome
Objectives

The student will
demonstrate knowledge
of the Byzantine Empire
and Russia from about
300 to 1000 C.E.
– Explaining the
establishment of
Constantinople to provide
political, economic, and
military advantages
– Identifying Justinian and
his contributions

Essential Questions
– Why was Constantinople
established as the capital of
the Eastern Roman Empire
– What was the influence of
Justinian’s codification of
Roman law on the
Byzantine Empire and later
legal codes
– What was Justinian’s
influence on the expansion
of the Byzantine Empire
and its economy
The Division of the Roman
Empire

Where we left off
– In 284 C.E.
Diocletian became
Roman emperor.
– He decided that the
huge Roman empire
could only be ruled
by splitting it into
two parts.
The Division of the Roman Empire
From World History:
Connections to Today Prentice
Hall, 2003
Constantine

In 330 C.E. Diocletian’s
successor, Constantine,
rebuilt the old port of
Byzantium, at the mouth
of the Black Sea.

He renamed it
Constantinople and
made the city the capital
of the Eastern Roman
Empire.
– Became known as the
Byzantine Empire
What are the advantages of building a major city here?
Geographic Advantages
Located on a Peninsula
 Easily fortified

– water on three sides.
(the Black and Aegean
Seas)
– Strong walls secured
the city
 Barbarians
couldn’t get
through, lacked siege
weapons

Provided natural safe
harbors for ships
– both merchant and
military ships
Provided natural
defense

Gave distance from
Germanic invasions in
Western empire
Economic and Political
Advantages
Economic/ Trade
 Easy access to the
Mediterranean Sea
 Located at an
important land route
that linked Europe
and Asia (Silk Road)
Crossroads of trade
Political/ Social
 Preserved classical
Greco-Roman culture
 Seat of Byzantine
Empire until Ottoman
Empire
The Fall of the Western Roman
Empire

By 395 C.E., the Roman
Empire was formally
divided into two empires:
East and West.

With the invasion of
Germanic forces from
the north, the Western
Roman Empire was
conquered and further
divided.

This left the eastern
part of the Roman
empire to carry on the
Greco-Roman
tradition.
Byzantine Empire

At first, this Empire
controlled only a small
area around the
eastern Mediterranean
 During
the reign of
Justinian (527-565), it
started to recover
much of the territory
of the old Roman
empire.
The Byzantine Empire Under
Justinian
This map depicts the
Empire at the death
of Justinian I, who
had reigned from
527 to 565 as sole
Emperor,
sometimes in
concert, and
sometimes in
conflict, with his
powerful wife
Theodora.
The New Rome
The Byzantine Empire was wealthy and produced:
gold, silk, grain, olives and wine
It traded these for spices, ivory and precious
stones on the Silk Road with China and India.
The Silk Road
Justinian and Theodora
Justinian ruled as an
autocrat with the help of his
wife, Theodora.
Ruled with absolute power
 Headed church and state

They created a huge
Christian empire and the
empire reached its greatest
size.

Reclaimed former Roman
territories
 Areas in Italy, Southern Spain,
and North Africa
Justinian and Theodora
They also built
Hagia Sophia
And rebuilt the
Hippodrome
Justinian and Theodora

Byzantine Empire had its
own character
– Many Byzantines spoke
Greek, not Latin

To regulate society
Justinian set up a panel of
10 legal experts
– Combed through 400 years
of Roman law and legal
opinions

Codified (arranged into a clear
system)

Result was a body of civil
law known as Justinian’s
Code
Justinian’s Code of Laws

Code consisted of four
works

– Laws were more fair to
women. They could own
property and raise their own
children after their husbands
died.
– Children could choose their
own marriage partners.
– Slavery was legal and slaves
must obey their masters.
– Punishments were detailed
and fit the crime
– The code
 Contained
5,000 laws
– The Digest
 Quoted
and summarized
opinions of Rome’s
greatest legal thinkers
about the laws
– The Institutes
a textbook that told
law students how to use
the law
 Was
– The Novellae
 Presented
legislation
Examples of laws

Importance
– His work inspired the modern
concept and, indeed, the very
spelling of "justice"
Justinian's Achievements
Revived classical Greco-Roman culture
Improved the wealth and power of Byzantine Empire by expanding
trade
Reconquered former Roman territories and doubled size of Byzantine
Empire
Codified Roman law, basis of European legal systems
Crisis

Justinian's plague
– Disease that would
later resemble the
bubonic plague
– Arrived from India on
ships infested with
rats
– In 542 C.E. at its
peak, 10,000 people
died a day
– Consequence
 Smaller
population
more vulnerable to

Attacks
– Attacked on all sides
by Barbarians and
new empires
 Sassanid
Persians
attached in 600s
 Newly formed Islamic
Empire attacked in 674
and 717 C.E.
– Slowly shrank size of
empire
The End of the Byzantine
Empire


The Byzantine empire drew
to a close in 1453 when
forces from the Muslim
Ottoman Empire
surrounded and conquered
Constantinople.
The ancient city was
renamed Istanbul and
became the capital of
the Ottoman Empire.
Objectives

The student will
demonstrate knowledge
of the Byzantine Empire
and Russia from about
300 to 1000 C.E.
– Explaining the
establishment of
Constantinople to provide
political, economic, and
military advantages
– Identifying Justinian and
his contributions

Essential Questions
– Why was Constantinople
established as the capital of
the Eastern Roman Empire
– What was the influence of
Justinian’s codification of
Roman law on the
Byzantine Empire and later
legal codes
– What was Justinian’s
influence on the expansion
of the Byzantine Empire
and its economy