Byzantine

1. Byzantine The Return of the Roman Empire

2. Review • What had happened to the old Roman Empire? • Why had the Western part crumbled? • Where was the new center of the Roman Empire?

3. 3. New Emperor • 527 C.E. (A.D.) Justinian ascended to the throne • He was not only the head of state, but head of the church • Had absolute power • He decided to reclaim Rome from the German tribes, notably the Ostrogoths

4. 4. Differences in New Rome • Byzantine had a hard time communicating with the West (where Rome was) • The capital was Constantinople • People spoke Greek, not Latin • Citizens felt as thought they were sharing the Roman traditions still even though they weren’t in Rome

5. 5. New Law • Justinian ordered the laws of Rome to be combed through • Outdated laws were removed; new laws created • New code known as Justinian’s Code

6. 6. New Law • Dealt with marriage, slavery, property, inheritance, women’s rights, and criminal justice • Combination of the Twelve Tables from the West, and Hammurabi’s Code from the East.

7. 7. Building a New Capital • Justinian worked to rebuild Constantinople • Built a 14 mile stone wall on the coast • Repaired the Western wall • Crowning glory was the Hagia Sophia • “Holy Wisdom” • Had been a church and been destroyed in 532 • Was considered the most splendid church

8. The Hagia Sophia • The exterior of the church, which still stands today

9. Interior View

10. 10. Retaining Culture • Byzantine kept the Roman-Greco cultures alive by teaching the classics • Children learned the Greek and Latin grammar • Students learned about Homer • Preserved the culture for the world

11. 11. Answer the ?s • Why was the Eastern Empire important? • What did Justinian do to improve the new capital city? • How did Justinian keep order? • In what ways did Byzantine keep Greco-Roman culture?

12. 12. Religious Split • Christianity developed differently between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires • In the West, the Pope became the central figure • In the East, Christianity developed from works of early church fathers, like St. Basil. • A dispute arose over icons- East banned it, West approved

13. 13. Differences • West- Roman Catholicism • Pope is the head over all others • Services are done in Latin • Priests can’t marry • No Divorce • East- Eastern Orthodoxy • Emperor heads all patriarchs and bishops • Services done in Greek • Priests can marry • Divorce is allowed under certain conditions

14. 14. Excommunication • The Pope excommunicated the Byzantine emperor • 1054- got even worse • The patriarch, the head of the Eastern Church, and the pope, head of the Western Church, excommunicated one another from the church • Led to the official split of the church: Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

15. 15. East Converts Slavs • The Eastern church converted Slavs, who lived near the Black Sea • St. Methodius and St. Cyril worked with the Slavs • They invented an alphabet for the Slavic languages • Known as the Cyrillic alphabet

16. 16. Answer the ?s • Why was there a split in the church? • What is excommunication? • What were the two religions of the empire? • Who helped develop a new alphabet for Slavic languages?

17. 17. Fall of the Empire • A series of setbacks would occur • The plague came through and destroyed a huge part of the population • Foreign enemies attacked the Byzantine Empire constantly • Islamic armies rose and began attacking from the Arabian peninsula • It would finally fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453

18. 18. Answer the ?s • Compare and contrast the Western Roman and Eastern Byzantine empires • Draw a Venn diagram