1 / 8

The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire . Recall. After the Western half of the Roman Empire fell, only the Eastern half remained. The capital of the Eastern half was initially called Byzantium then changed to the Constantinople, named after the Roman Emperor Constantine Do you remember what he did? .

lilly
Download Presentation

The Byzantine Empire

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Byzantine Empire

  2. Recall • After the Western half of the Roman Empire fell, only the Eastern half remained. • The capital of the Eastern half was initially called Byzantium then changed to the Constantinople, named after the Roman Emperor Constantine • Do you remember what he did?

  3. Justinian’s Leadership • Ruled with absolute power • Controlled state and church • Built large church---Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom • Built roads, bridges and schools • History (Herodotus), Geometry (Euclid) and Literature (Homer) education was highly valued

  4. Justinian Code • 4 SECTIONS: • The Code: 5,000 Roman Laws still useful in Byzantine Empire • The Digest: Summarized Rome’s greatest legal ideas over 50 volumes in length • The Institutes: Textbook that informed law students how to use the laws • The Novellae (New Laws): Laws written since 534

  5. Nika Rebellion • Hippodrome—large race course (60,000) spectators • Fans of riders wore different colors and cheered for their “team” • In 532, two groups believed they had won---yelling “Nika!” or “victory!” • Fans demanded the overthrow of Justinian for his methods of stopping a previous rebellion • Justinian called upon Belisarius to stop rebellion and over 30,000 rebels were slaughtered

  6. Role of Theodora • Justinian’s Wife, Theodora, had a great influence on Byzantine government and culture • Through her influence: • Laws were made protecting women and granting benefits in divorce cases • She met with foreign envoys/representatives(very unusual)

  7. Theodora and her Attendants—In Mosaic

  8. Empire Falls • Plague of Justinian • Early version of Bubonic Plague • In 542, over 10,000 died per day • Destroyed much of population • Attacks from East and West • Since it began, the empire was under constant attack • Was able to last due to fleet and strategic location • Finally defeated by Ottoman Turks in 1453

More Related