The Rise of the Byzantine Empire

1. The Rise of the Byzantine Empire

2. Q KWL Q • What do you know about the Byzantine Empire? • Use a KWL strategy to answer EEI questions (see next slide) to show what you know about Byzantine. If you do not know specific facts, then answer based on your knowledge about empires. • W will be the questions posed before each picture in power pt • L is your answers to these content questions • The last Q is your choice!

3. Essential questions How does geography influence the growth of the Byzantine civilization? • What impact does trade/economics have on the organization and daily life of people? • What are the evolving principles and ideals that have shaped government over time-specific to Byzantine? • How does the legacy of civilizations impact their interaction throughout history?

4. Instructions for slide show note taking: • Working with your partner: • 1. View the pictures and discuss the spiral questions (questions to consider). • 2. Read each slide and take your own notes (summarize). Make sure you title and date your notes. • 3. After you are done taking your notes, see me for graphic organizers you need to complete based on the information in the show. • 4. After we review the organizers in class, You must chose to complete one of the assigned topics on the last slide.

5. Cityscape of Istanbul

6. Cityscape of Istanbul (Constantinople) • Questions to consider: • What do you notice about the location of this city? Describe the buildings that stand out in the picture. Do you think the domed buildings are modern or historic? What do you think they are used for? Why might this city be considered a strategic locale for a city? How could you protect the city from invaders?

7. Cityscape notes: • The picture is a view of modern-day Istanbul, Turkey, which was formerly Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire (A.D. 330-1453). This aerial view shows the city’s position at the confluence of the Bosporus (center), the Golden Horn (left) and the Sea of Marmara (right). • The Byzantine Empire grew out of the fading Roman Empire. In the 4th century A.D., the western half of the Roman Empire had been weakened by barbarian invasions. At the same time, Christianity was a growing force and Constantine the Great became The first Christian emperor of Rome. Because the eastern portion of the Empire had a longer tradition of absolutism and monotheism than did the West, Constantine decided to consolidate his rule by moving the capital eastward, in A.D. 330. He chose the Greek seaport of Byzantium and renamed it New Rome. But it became known as his city: Constantinople. This magnificent city of the Eastern Roman Empire became the hub of the Byzantine Empire.

8. Constantine chose the new capital for its fine harbor and strategic locale. The city was surrounded on 3 sides by water, which was excellent for trade, as well as for defense. Constantine needed only to build walls on one side to ensure the city’s security. The city became a self-contained fortress, protected by 13 miles of walls, watchtowers, and 50 fortified gates. The inlet of the Golden horn, one of the bordering bodies of water, was surrounded by hills. Consequently, ships in the Golden Horn were safe even in bad weather, and there was always one harbor safe for docking. Along this sea side of the city, walled harbors and a chain stretched across the Golden Horn protected ships from attacks launched at sea. • Located on the Bosporus Strait, the gateway from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, Constantinople was at a shipping and trading crossroads between two continents: Europe and Asia. From the Sea of Marmara, another strait (the Dardanelles) led to the Aegean Sea, which joined the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, whoever ruled Constantinople was in a position to control all shipping from Asia to Europe, as well as the trade between Russia and the Mediterranean territories. • Since Constantinople began as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, Byzantine culture was heavily influenced by the Roman Empire. The city itself was modeled after Rome, like Rome, it was built on 7 hills and divided into 14 districts. The buildings and structures in Constantinople also strongly reflected Roman influence—the hippodrome, forum and aqueducts were all derived from the old Empire.

9. The Byzantine Empire retained but relaxed many of the Roman Empire’s rules and customs. Extravagant circuses and chariot races continued in Constantinople, along with such traditions as the emperor’s distribution of bread to the citizens. The army followed Roman military traditions. While the Byzantines retained some of Rome's class-based standards of punishment and dress for the rich and poor, some mobility later became possible. • Progressive Byzantine emperors began to select their officials on the basis of talent and competence rather than simply hereditary social class. The Byzantine senate existed mainly as a result of Roman tradition and was not nearly as rigid and powerful body as it had been in Rome. The one major difference between Constantinople and Rome was that from its inception Constantinople was a Christian city. • The Byzantine Empire was a bridge between ancient and modern Europe. Its territory included the lands of Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, Syria and Egypt, though this changed as the Empire expanded and contracted. Christianity, Roman customs and Greek classical culture all survived, blended and flourished in the Empire. The Empire’s military staved off barbarians in the West and Arabs and Turks in the East; its scholars preserved Greek Literature and philosophy (Greek was the official language of Constantinople—had to speak it to be a citizen)’ its legal experts, at the direction of the emperor, preserved and codified Roman legal traditions. The Empire-which saw no fewer than 88 rulers come and go and survived centuries of public riots, religious differences, and foreign threats—ended 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Turks. Constantinople today is the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey, the only major city that straddles two continents.

10. Emperor Justinian

11. Mosaic Portrait of Emperor Justinian I • Questions to consider: • What materials were used to make this picture? Which person stands out in this picture? Describe him. Who do you think he might be? How would you describe the clothing of the other figures? Describe some of the objects they are holding. Who do you think they are?

12. Justinian I notes: • The mosaic picture is representing Emperor Justinian I and his court. It is located in the Church of San Vitale, in Ravenna, Italy. • The Byzantine Empire's 16th and most ambitious ruler was the Emperor Justinian I, who held power from A.D. 527 until his death in A.D. 565. Justinian ascended the throne at age 45. he was very devout, determined and even stubborn. Rather than allow problems to develop, he took steps to prevent them (he preferred to invade rather than be invaded). During his reign a historian named Procopius praised the emperor as even-tempered and hard-working. After Justinian’s death, Procopius wrote in a “Secret History” that the emperor had been “devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, skilled in dissembling his thought, never moved to tears by either joy or pain…a liar always.”

13. Justinian was an ambitious military leader. He funded his military ventures by taxing the people heavily. Eventually, Justinian's armies managed to dominate the Vandals in North Africa, the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the Visigoths in Southern Spain, and expanded the Empire to the greatest size it was ever to attain. In a church in Ravenna, Italy, he was celebrated in the mosaic (a picture or pattern made up of small pieces of colored glass or stone inlaid in plaster) shown here. In the long run, though, Justinian’s costly military projects were not so successful. His attempt to recapture Rome from the Barbarians led to 18 years of chaotic siege and counter siege, leaving the once-proud city in ruins. • Justinian, like all Byzantine emperors, played a dual role. He was the absolute head of both the Christian church and the state. The throne, in fact, was built wide enough to seat two—thus symbolizing the emperor’s partnership with Jesus. In the mosaic, at Justinian’s left hand, stands the archbishop of Ravenna. Justinian served various roles as a Christian leader. Because he was the emperor and emperors were believed to rule by divine right, his authority over the church was above that of even the patriarch of Constantinople. Justinian also had the authority to choose and appoint the patriarch of Constantinople.

14. The Codification of 400 years’ worth of Roman law was one of Justinian’s major accomplishments. Justinian believed that many of the old laws were unnecessarily complicated, unorganized, and no longer relevant. Thus, he appointed a group of 10 men, working under a legal scholar named Tribonian, to collect and organize the laws made and used by all the emperors before him.. As a result, the laws were revised and a new legal code called the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) was created. This code law, also known as the Code of Justinian, became the basis for much of Western legal codes in the subsequent centuries. • Justinian's finest, most lasting achievements were his massive building programs. The emperor undertook an ambitious program of public works, ordering new bridges, churches, monasteries, forums, forts and roads to be built. Hospitals, public baths, recreation centers, a law library, a seaside park filled with bronze and marble statues—all of these were the work of Justinian’s stonemasons, architects, and planners. When the city of Antioch was destroyed in an earthquake, Justinian had the entire city rebuilt!

15. Empress Theodora

16. Mosaic of Empress Theodora • Questions to consider: • Identify and describe the person who is the subject of this mosaic. How is the subject different from the rest of the mosaic. How is this mosaic different from the previous one of Justinian?

17. Theodora notes: • The subject of the mosaic is Empress Theodora and her court. It is located in Ravenna, Italy in the Church of San Vitale. • Justinian’s wife, the Empress Theodora, was a remarkable and influential woman who equaled and sometimes surpassed her husband in political skill and wisdom. Born into the lower classes (her father was the bear-keeper for Constantinople’s circus), Theodora carved out a teenage career as a dancer and actress. She loved adventure, new friendships and travel. In her twenties, when she returned from a long trip to Africa, she settled down and married Justinian. Once he took power, Theodora was active in politics—advancing her friends, destroying her enemies, and sometimes giving orders that canceled her husband’s. She also was responsible for several social welfare programs, including one for the city’s poor and homeless girls, and for convincing the emperor to expand women’ s rights.

18. On one occasion, Theodora saved the empire. In A. D. 532, in reaction to the huge amounts of money being poured into overseas wars and to Justinian’s sometimes tyrannical rule, there was a riot in Constantinople, later called the Nika Rebellion. It began as a simple shouting-match (in the stadium where chariot races took place), but soon a mob formed and the city was in flames. The royal family took refuge in the palace. Some of Justinian’s counselors argued for escape by sea, but then Theodora spoke. According to the court historian, Procopius, Theodora's advice to her husband was the following: “In my opinion this is no time to admit the maxim that a woman must not act as a man among men; nor, if she fires the courage of the halting, are we to consider whether she does right or no. When matters come to a crisis, we must agree as to the best course to take. My opinion is that , although we may save ourselves by flight, it is not to our interest. Every man that sees the light must die, but the man who has once been raised to the height of empire cannot suffer himself to go into exile and survive his dignity. God forbid that I should ever be stripped of the purple, or live a single day on which I am not to be saluted as Mistress. If thou desires to go, Emperor, nothing prevents thee. There is the sea; there are the steps to the boat. But have a care that when thou leaves here, thou dose not exchange this set light for an ignoble death. For my part I like the old saying: the empire is a fine winding sheet.” • Rallied by her speech, Justinian sent troops to crush the rebellion. The emperor and his troops surrounded the hippodrome, killed 30,000 of the rebels and order was restored.

19. Hagia Sophia

20. Interior of the Hagia Sophia • Questions to consider: • Describe the interior of this building. What kinds of shapes do you see? How long do you think it took to build it? How is this building illuminated? Which part of the building do you think took the longest to build? What type of building might this be? What aspects of the architecture strike you as interesting? How high do you think the dome is? How does the size of the building make you feel? Why would light be important in this building?

21. Hagia Sophia notes: • In the wake of the riot in 532, Justinian undertook to rebuild and restore Constantinople. True to form, he did it on the grand scale. In addition to the many civic buildings Justinian had built, the crown jewel of Constantinople—the largest of its 25 new Christian cathedrals—was a domed church named the Hagia Sophia. • Built in only 5 years (532-537), Hagia Sophia, or the Church of “Holy Wisdom”, stood for centuries as the most magnificent structure in the Western world. Its dome, a marvel of engineering, reaches 180 feet (or some 12 stories) above the floor. The dome’s diameter is 107 feet and at its circumference it has 40 stained-glass windows. In Justinian's time, Hagia Sophia’s beauty became renowned: as the sun crossed the sky, spokes of light spun slowly across the cathedral’s walls, columns, arches, and glittering mosaics. Everywhere there was polished marble in 6 colors: green, black, red, purple, blue, and white. After the sun set, a huge candelabrum, hanging on long chains blazed to life.

22. Hagia Sophia, while ornate on the inside, is like other Byzantine churches on the outside: utterly plain. The contrast is deliberate and symbolic. The plain brick and mortar exterior represents the daily world and earthly life. The rich interior represents the ideal or spiritual universe that, the Byzantines believed, accompanied the coming of Christianity. Interestingly, Hagia Sophia has a second dual nature, as well—expressed in its two styles of architecture. Here east meets west. The cathedral’s size and strength thick pillars, a huge enclosed space, are reminders of the architecture of Rome. But the design and decoration—intricate and ornate, down to the very last piece of mosaic—reflect Eastern influences. • Two distinguished architects worked on the church: Antemuis of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. With Hagia Sophia they solved a major design problem, and the solution was played out in smaller churches across the Byzantine Empire. The hardest part to build is what is called “the pendentive”. This is the strangely curved wall space that extends above the four central arches, reaching to the base of the dome. The pendentive joins two circular shapes. The architectural style of Hagia Sophia spread far through the Empire-Armenia, S. Italy, Russia, Serbia, and Sicily. In each region, local builders adjusted the style to suit their particular climate, technology and materials. When Constantinople fell to the Islamic Turks, Hagia Sophia became a mosque. Today it is a museum.

23. Icon of Mary and Jesus

24. Icon of Mary and Jesus • Questions to consider: • What kind of work of art is this? Who is depicted here? Where might this painting be placed? Why do you think some people paint pictures of religious figures or events? Why might some people object to such pictures?

25. Notes Icons: • Throughout the Byzantine Empire, the Christian church carried forward a long tradition of icons. An icon is a representation of sacred persons or events, such as the lives of Jesus and the saints. Icons appear in several forms: mural painting, mosaic and most typically, painted on small wooden panes. These flat, two dimensional religious images can be venerated in special ways (prayed to and carried aloft in religious processions) and specific technical rules guide their artistic form. • Some Byzantine Christians opposed icons because they felt it was wrong to show devotions to a mere man- made image. They feared that the icons were being worshiped as though they represented gods. Those opposed to icons argued that worship should be offered only to God. For a long time, though, these Christians were in the minority, and icons were widely accepted. Those who supported the use of icons argued that the images helped the faithful honor the religious figures represented. Portraits of Jesus, his mother Mary and others saints become increasingly popular. Indeed some of the newest Christian converts – barbarians into the West—accepted icons with a vengeance, investing them with magical powers and making sacrifices before them.

26. Over the centuries, a rift developed between pro and anti icon Christians. Words flew, fists were raised, and riots broke out. The anti-icon Christians became known as “iconoclasts” (meaning “icon smashers”) and the Byzantine Emperor Leo III passionately joined their ranks. In A.D. 730, partly in response to a volcanic eruption that he saw as a sign of God’s wrath, Leo banned icons. Moreover, the ordered that all religious images—icons, mosaics, paintings—be burned, whitewashed or destroyed. Leo’s decree deepened the growing rift between Easter (Byzantine and Western Christians. In the West, where few people could read, religious leaders often used images to explain Christian teachings. The Roman pope, Gregory III, who held sway in the West, claimed to lead the whole church, and favored icons, responded by declaring that Leo III was no longer a Christian and he excommunicated him.

27. For decades, controversy raged. Artwork was destroyed. Iconoclast emperors alternated with their pro-icon opponents. Though the Byzantines finally accepted icons for good, the damage was done. The rift between Eastern and Western Christians became a gaping chasm. In 1054, the Christian church split into two churches forever. In the West, the church became the Roman Catholic church (catholic is from a Latin worked meaning universal) in the East, the church became the eastern Orthodox church (orthodox from Greek, means correct belief). • The split between Eastern and Western Christianity, call the Great Schism, was the result of cleavages in tradition, custom and theology. According to the Catholic church of the West, masses were always in Latin, the pope was the supreme religious authority above any political ruler, all clergy were celibate, and religious icons of martyrs and saints were to be respected. • In the East, however, Christianity took on different traditions. Masses were in Greek, the language of the eastern people, so as to be understandable. Monks and other Christians who did missionary work often translated the bible into the language of the people they were trying to convert, in order to make Christianity more accessible. Another difference was that the Byzantine emperor appointed and was considered superior to the patriarch, they bishop of Constantinople, who dominated the Byzantine Church and whom the Byzantine Christians looked up to as a greater religious authority than the pope. In the East, bishops were not allowed to marry, but priests and other clergy were not required to be celibate. Icons were generally a subject of much controversy. For centuries, they were still used in the East, although many Orthodox Christian disapproved of them because they felt that Christian should be praying directly to and only to God.

28. According to the Catholic Church: • Masses were always conducted in Latin. • The pope was the supreme religious authority. • All clergy were celibate (They did not marry). • Religious icons of martyrs and saints were to be respected. Christianity in the east took on a different tradition: Masses were in Greek. Monks and missionaries translated the Bible into the language of the people they were trying to convert. The patriarch, the bishop of Constantinople, dominated the Byzantine Church. The emperor appointed patriarch and was superior to him. Bishops could not marry, but priests and clergy could.

29. Less tangible differences also contributed to the split between the Eastern and Western Christians. The Western Church believed that the papacy and bishops of Rome held supreme authority over interpreting the Scripture. This belief was derived from Jesus’ statement to Peter in Matthew 16:18 “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” In contrast, the Eastern Church put the authority of the Scriptures and the local church councils above the authority of the Pope in Rome. • The East was also more cosmopolitan in character—Christian Orthodoxy tended to be influenced by such diverse ideas as Eastern mysticism, Greek and Roman secular and pagan culture, and Monophysitism (the doctrine that holds that Christ’s nature remains altogether divine and not human). Greeks, Turks, Bulgur, Jews, Italians, Russian, Slavs, Khazars, Persian, and Armenians all lived in Constantinople. Many of them became Christians and such a diverse convergence of cultures and beliefs contributed to the unique form of Christianity that developed in the EAST.

30. Lands of the Byzantine Empire

31. Lands and Trading Routes of the Byzantine Empire • Questions to consider: • Where is Constantinople? What do all the lines on the map represent? If you boarded a ship in Constantinople, where could you go? If you got on a camel or horse, where could you go? Why do you thinks Constantinople is called a “crossroads”? Why is Constantinople in a good location to be the capital of a military and trading Empire?

32. The map shows the lands and trading routes of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was a vast array of cultural and commercial threads, tied together by the great knot of Constantinople. The inhabitants of the Empire were descended from many ancient people, including the Armenians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Greeks, Normans, and Turks. Most of them were farmers who lived in one-room huts made of wood or mud bricks. They raised grapes, olives, and wheat or herded sheep, and lived on chasse, bread, and vegetable cooked in olive oil. Constantinople however—which became known a s simply “The City” due to its magnificent edifices, large population, and commercial success—was home to the wealthy and powerful, who lived in stone mansions, feasted on meat cooked in garlic sauces, and enjoyed fine wines.

33. Byzantium’s trade routes connected three continents with its system of caravan tracks, rivers, seaways, and roads. The Byzantines controlled only part of these trade routes, but merchants came from far away places to trade in Constantinople. As goods poured into the city from the distant corners of the Empire, merchants set up along the city’s main street, displaying everything from rugs and shoes to fruits and vegetable to icons.

34. India: Export: Spices, pepper and jewels Import: ivory Africa: Export: ivory and gold Import: silk (after stealing the process from China) Russia: Export: honey, wood and furs Import: art and architecture Spain: Export: Cork and grain Import: bronze church doors

35. France: Export: Fine wines and wool Import: Silk England: Export: Iron and tin Import: Works of the ancient Greeks Northern Europe: Export: grain, wool, timber Import: Eastern goods—bronze doors China: Export: Silk Import: Christianity

36. From China, on camels that plodded overland for some 230 days, came prized silks—until Justinian imported the silk making process itself. Justinian, by persuading two missionaries to smuggle from China not only silkworms but seeds for the mulberry trees they thrive on, plucked from the Chinese their closely-kept, centuries secret. Thus, silk became one of Constantinople’s exports along with carved ivory, enamel, glassware, and bronze church doors. Constantinople prospered by importing, refining and exporting the goods that reached its markets. • Constantinople was not only a source of manufactured goods, of course. Christian missionaries went out into the Empire, making new converts as far away as the Russian and Slavic regions. Art and architectural styles, too, spread to distant lands. Preserved by the scholars of Constantinople, the works of the ancient Greeks—Homer, Plato, Archimedes, Euclid—went forth to influence Europe and the western world. The Byzantine legal code—with its laws on divorce, marriage, justice, and property—became reflected in the legal systems of Europe, and of many present-day nations.

37. As a crossroad of trade and culture, Constantinople’s ability to protect itself from foreign invaders and unwanted traders was crucial. The side of Constantinople not protected by water was protected by three parallel walls in increasing heights, the highest wall stretching 40 to 70 feet high and 12 to 40 feet thick. Watchtowers built onto the middle wall helped warn the army of coming invaders. A chain stretched across the Golden Horn inlet deterred enemy ships from docking at Constantinople’s harbor. Constantinople’s army also possessed Greek fire, the first secret weapon in history. This petroleum-based mixture could be thrown in pots or fired through tubes. When wet, it took fire and couldn’t be extinguished with water. The city’s military also employed spies, a Bureau of Barbarians, which was analogous to the CIA, and other merchant and foreigner informants. • Built to endure the invasions of barbarian hordes and later Muslim armies, Constantinople remained the strongest hub of Christianity in the East. It was finally sacked by the Turks in 1453. Constantinople’s strategic location is now enjoyed by the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey. This city remains an important center of transportation and trade.

38. Critical Thinking assessments:Choose one to answer as an essay. • 1. Trace the development of Constantinople and explain how cultural diffusion played a part in the empire. Give at least 3 examples. • 2. How did religion shape the political and economical life of Constantinople? (at least 3 ex) • 3.Explain 3 legacies from Constantinople to the modern world.

39. Movie • Watch this: S:\Team Folders\Humanities\Nangle\united streaming videos for 7th\Byzantine.asf