Byzantine Empire(395-1453AD) — Major Wars, Culture, Art , Legacy _You most likely didn’t know about it

8 min readMar 28, 2021

Byzantine empire is another name for the Eastern Roman Empire. It was a part of the great Roman Empire until 390 AD which was founded by Augustus in 27 BC due to the struggles of Julius Caesar. Due to internal and external crises, Roman Empire was first divided, and finally, it collapsed in 476 AD. Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, and Franks captured Italy, Spain, North Africa, and Gaul respectively. But its eastern provinces survived for the next 1000 years as the “Byzantine Empire.”

It was one of the worlds of the most magnificent empire that has ever been seen. Although its boundaries varied from time to time it contained most areas of present-day Egypt, Levant, Syria, Greece, Italy, the Balkans, North Africa, Asia Minor, and the Middle East during its different eras Its capital was Constantinople while the official religion was Christianity. Greek and Latin were the common languages in the Byzantine realm.

Brief History

Constantine I the Great (reign:330–337)is regarded as the first emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He converted to Christianity and shifted his capital from Rome to Byzantium. The name of the empire(Byzantine) was also derived from the name of this city. However, he later named this city “Constantinople”(city of Constantine). Today this city is called Istanbul. Soon, this city became the center of trade and culture.

Byzantine emperor Justinian I (reign:527–564)also called Justinian the Great, played a great role in expanding the empire to its height. His main aim was to get back the lost lands of the Roman empire. His generals Belisarius and Narses reconquered much of the lost lands for him. Another great achievement was the construction of the “Hagia Sophia church(an architectural monument that survives even today)”.This church remained the world’s largest church for a millennium. Justinian also formulated a proper law for his empire which remained a role model for centuries.

The gothic war(534–554) was fought between Italy and Byzantines during Justinian’s reign in which Byzantines won.

But, later Persians captured the holy city of Jerusalem and the province of Egypt in 614 AD. The byzantine-Sassanianwar of 608–628 CE was fought during the reign of Byzantine emperor Heraclius (reign:620–645 AD). This devastating war internally damaged the roots of both great empires and paved the way for the future Muslim Conquests under the Rashidun Caliphate and the spread of Islam. Muslims occupied its richest and most important provinces like Egypt and Syria during the 7th century.

Muslims continued to attack Constantinople but Byzantine’s technology of “Greek Fire" saved them from Muslims for many years.

East-West Schism(The Great Schism of 1054)

When Leo III the Isaurian
(reign:717–741) became emperor, he banned the use of religious images and icons (The Byzantine Iconoclasm or War on Icons)and regarded them as sinful probably inspired by neighboring Muslims. But Pope Gregory II
(Bishop of Rome) refused this and relations between Byzantines and Papacy began to damage. Later, Pope Gregory II excommunicated emperor Leo III.

Later, when Empress Irene became Byzantines ruler in 797, Pope Leo III ( remember: not byzantine king Leo III ) rejected her as emperor; instead he declared Charlemagne of Franks as Emperor in the west, and this new empire became known as “Holy Roman Empire”.This further outraged Byzantines. Moreover, disagreement over the holy spirit also damaged their relations.

Thus, the Byzantine church in the east became known as the “Orthodox Church” and the Western church in Rome was called the “Catholic Church.”The differences between Orthodox and Catholic churches lasted until 1964 when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras agreed in Jerusalem and Pope canceled the ex-communication of 1054.

The longest reign among Byzantine emperors was of Basil-II (reign:976–1025 AD) for almost fifty years. He was the son of emperor Romanus II. He never married and had no successors. So after his death, his claim to the throne created a political upheaval, turmoil, and crises in the empire. After Basil II, his brother Constantine VIII became emperor but he too had no male successors. His daughter Princess Zoe was also not married until the age of 40 years. She later married Romanus Argyros who became emperor (reign:1028–34 AD) and after his death, she married Michael the Paphlagonian who took the throne as Michael IV(reign:1035–41 AD). The couple was not able to produce any children and adopted Michael’s nephew who later became king as Michael V but due to his autocratic policies, he lost the trust of his court and was ultimately blinded. Zoe and her sister Theodora ruled for some months. Then, Zoe married again Constantine Monomachos who ruled Constantine IX (1042–1055 AD). After his death empress, Theodora took the throne but the succession problem remained a major problem in Byzantine Empire after Basil's death.

Battle of Manzikert(1071 AD) was a decisive battle between Seljuk Sultanate and the Byzantine empire. Seljuks were led by their Sultan Alp Arsalan while Byzantines by their emperor Romanus-IV Diogenes. Byzantines were defeated decisively by the Seljuks and their emperor was captured, however, he was later released by the Seljuks. As a result of this defeat, Anatolia and Armenia were Turkified which was a milestone in Seljuk history but a setback for the Byzantines. Byzantines also lost the Norman-Byzantine war of 1071.

Byzantine empire was fragmented during Fourth Crusade(1202–1204 AD) which was led by Pope Innocent III. The Empire of Nicaea and the Latin Empire were made out of it. Baldwin of Flanders was the first Latin emperor. Constantinopole was captured by Crusaders in 1204 which broke the backbone of Byzantine. Although Constantinople was reconquered by Byzantine emperor Michael VIII the Palaiologos in 1261 it was never able to regain that lost status. This battle increased the tensions between Catholic Church and Orthodox Church and made ground for the later Conquest of Constantinople by Ottomans in 1453.

Serbian empire and Ottoman empire were the major threats to the Byzantines. By 1400, the empire was just reduced to Constantinople but still, Byzantines preferred to be ruled by Ottoman Turks instead of adopting Catholic Christianity. At last, at the council of Florence in 1439 emperor John VIII agreed with Catholic Church to adopt Catholic Christianity to get help from them against Turks in case of any attack. In 1453, Ottoman Caliph Mehmed II (also called Mehmed the Thunderbolt) attacked Constantinople but Catholics sent a small army for Byzantine’s aid, so Constantinople was conquered by Muslims and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Culture and Science

Byzantines had a diverse culture. It was influenced by Latin, Persian, and Islamic cultures and also left deep marks on these cultures. They left a great legacy on Orthodox Christianity as well.

Women were an important part of society and took part in public and business activities. They were experts in sewing, weaving, and stitching. Empress Theodora(500–548 AD) and Empress Irene(753–803 AD) were famous royal ladies of the Byzantine Empire.

Eunuchs(ones who have been castrated)held important posts in court as they were considered trustworthy for not being able to claim the throne or to have successors.

During the early Middle Ages(called the Dark Ages), Byzantines lost much of Roman, Latin, and Greek works. But they recovered to some extent during Byzantine Renaissance (867–1056 AD).

Many Byzantine scholars, philosophers, and artists migrated to Europe after 1453 and spread their knowledge in those areas.

Leo the Mathematician(790–869 AD) was a remarkable philosopher and logician in the Byzantine empire. He got the titles of “, The cleverest man of the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century AD" and “The true Renaissance man".He worked on Aristotelean logic and also taught it but unfortunately all of his books have been lost.

John Philoponus(490–570 CE) wrote more than 40 books on physics, chemistry, grammar, and maths. He introduced the"Theory of Impetus.”

Anthemius of Tralles and Isodore of Miletus were famous mathematicians and architects who designed Hagia Sophia Church(the great architectural monument still present).

Byzantine Literature was also very rich. It was mainly written in the Greek language, however, Arabic, Persian and Syrian were also used by writers and poets. Although most of the ancient greek work was lost during Byzantine Dark Ages(600–800 CE) still, they were able to preserve some important works of the Roman empire during Byzantine Renaissance (867–1056 CE) History, poetry, plays, romantic novels, and encyclopedias were the most popular genres. Byzantine historians followed the footsteps of Roman historians like Herodotus, Plutarch, and Xenophon.

Procopius of Caesarea(500–565 CE) was a prolific historian whose works were even translated in the 20th century by Robert Graves. Similarly, Photius the Great also called Photius the Constantine (820–893) also enriched scholarly literature.

Maximus the Confessor(580–662 CE)was a famous saint, theologian, and scholar of Constantinople. He mainly wrote about religion (Christianity). He was recognized as the “Father of the Church” by both the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

They invented Greek fire which saved them from Arab invasions. It was a very useful naval weapon.

Architecture:

Round arches and domes were the most prominent features of Byzantine Architecture. They also promoted the cross in a square architectural style. Marble, stones, bricks, and plasters were used to construct and solidify buildings. Beautiful paintings, mosaics, and furniture were used to beautify the interior of buildings. Byzantines were the first to make hospitals in their empire.

Hagia Sophia(Istanbul) was built by Constantine in the 8th century but it survives until now.