Byzantine Empire: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Continuation of the Roman Empire (330–1453)}}

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Penis is yummy

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{{Infobox Former Country

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

|native_name = {{Polytonic|Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων}}

{{EngvarB|date=July 2019}}

|conventional_long_name = Roman (Byzantine) Empire

{{Infobox former country

|common_name = Byzantine Empire

| conventional_long_name = Byzantine Empire

|

| life_span = 330–1453

|continent = Afroeurasia

| image_map = Justinian555AD.png

|region = Mediterranean

| image_map_caption = The empire in 555 under [[Justinian I]], its greatest extent since the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], [[vassal state|vassals]] shaded in pink

|era = Middle Ages

| capital = [[Constantinople]] {{nwr|(modern-day [[Fatih]], [[Istanbul]])}}

|status = Empire

| common_languages = [[Medieval Greek|Greek]]

|government_type = Monarchy

| national_languages =

|

| religion = [[Christianity as the Roman state religion|Christianity]] ([[State religion|official]])

|year_start = 330

| government_type = [[Autocracy]]

|year_end = 1453

| title_leader = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Notable emperors]]

|

|event1 leader1 = [[Foundation]]Constantine ofthe [[ConstantinopleGreat|Constantine I]]

| year_leader1 = 306–337

|date_event1 = [[May 11]], [[330]]

|event2 leader2 = East-West[[Theodosius SchismI]]

| year_leader2 = 379–395

|date_event2 = [[1054]]

|event3 leader3 = Fall of Constantinople to the = [[FourthTheodosius CrusadeII]]

| year_leader3 = 408–450

|date_event3 = [[1204]]

| leader4 = [[Justinian I]]

|event4 = Reconquest of Constantinople

|date_event4 =year_leader4 [[1261]] = Despotate of Morea527–565

|s4 leader5 = Empire of Trebizond = [[Heraclius]]

| year_leader5 = 610–641

|

| leader6 = [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo III]]

|image_flag = Flag_of_PalaeologusEmperor.svg

|flag year_leader6 = 717–741

| leader7 = [[Basil II]]

|flag_type = Flag of the late Empire

| year_leader7 = 976–1025

|

| leader8 = [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios I]]

|image_coat = Palaiologos-Dynasty-Eagle.svg

| year_leader8 = 1081–1118

|symbol = Double-headed eagle

| leader9 = [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel I]]

|symbol_type = Imperial Emblem (under the Palaiologoi)

| year_leader9 = 1143–1180

|

| leader10 = [[Michael VIII]]

|image_map = EasternRomanEmpire.png

| year_leader10 = 1261–1282

|image_map_caption = Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. 550.<br />Territories in purple reconquered during reign of [[Justinian I|Justinian the Great]]

| leader11 = [[Constantine XI Palaiologos|Constantine XI]]

|

| year_leader11 = 1449–1453

|capital = [[Constantinople]]<small><br/>(330–1204 and 1261–1453)</small>

| era = [[Late antiquity]] to {{nwr|[[Late Middle Ages]]}}

|common_languages = [[Greek language|Greek]] (along with [[Latin language|Latin]] in the early centuries)

|religion stat_year1 = Eastern Orthodox Church = 457

| ref_pop1 ={{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=137}}

|currency = [[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]], [[Byzantine coinage|Hyperpyron]]

| stat_pop1 = 16,000,000

|

| stat_area1 = 2,350,000

|leader1 = [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine the Great]]

| stat_year2 = 565

|leader2 = Constantine XI

| ref_pop2 ={{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=278}}

|year_leader1 = 306–337

| stat_pop2 = 20,000,000

|year_leader2 = 1449–1453

| stat_area2 = 3,400,000

|title_leader = [[Byzantine Emperor|Emperor]]

|deputy1 stat_year3 = Loukas Notaras = 775

| ref_pop3 ={{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=236}}

|year_deputy1 = To 1453

| stat_pop3 = 7,000,000

|title_deputy = Megas Doux

| stat_area3 = 880,000

|

| stat_year4 = 1025

|stat_year1 = 4th century

| stat_pop4 = 12,000,000

|stat_area1 =

| stat_area4 = 1,675,000

|stat_pop1 = 34000000 ³

| ref_pop4 ={{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=570}}

|stat_year2 = peak

| stat_year5 = 1320

|stat_area2 = 4500000

| ref_pop5 ={{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=236}}

|footnotes = ¹ Until the 13th century <br />² Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as a capital of the Roman Empire <br />³ See [http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Population.htm this table of population figures] provided by the History Department of [[Tulane University]]. The numbers are based on estimates made by J.C. Russell in "Late Ancient and Medieval Population," published in the ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' (1958), ASIN B000IU7OZQ.

| stat_pop5 = 2,000,000

| stat_area5 = 420,000

| currency = [[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]], [[denarius]], and [[hyperpyron]]

| p1 =

| s1 =

| demonym = {{plainlist}}

* [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]]

* Roman

* Eastern Roman

{{end plainlist}}

}}

The '''Byzantine Empire''', also known as the '''Eastern Roman Empire''', was the continuation of the [[Roman Empire]] centred on [[Constantinople]] during [[late antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]]. Having survived [[History of the Roman Empire|the events]] that caused the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in the 5th century{{Nbsp}}AD, it endured until the [[fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'.{{Efn|{{Langx|grc-x-medieval|Ῥωμαῖοι|Rhōmaîoi}}. Due to the imperial seat's move to [[Byzantium]], the [[Christianity as the Roman state religion|adoption of state Christianity]], and the predominance of [[Medieval Greek|Greek]] instead of [[Latin]], most historians make a distinction between the earlier ''Roman Empire'' and the later ''Byzantine Empire''.{{sfnm|Millar|2006|1pp=2, 15|Kaldellis|2007|2pp=2–3}}}}

During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were [[Romanization (cultural)|Latinised]], but the eastern parts kept their [[Hellenistic culture]]. [[Constantine the Great|Constantine&nbsp;I]] ({{Reign|324|337}}) legalised [[Christianity]] and moved the capital to Constantinople. [[Theodosius I|Theodosius&nbsp;I]] ({{Reign|379|395|lk=no}}) made Christianity the [[state religion]] and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery.

The '''Byzantine Empire''' or '''Byzantium''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{polytonic|Βασιλεία των Ρωμαίων}}) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking [[Roman Empire]] of the [[Middle Ages]], centered around its capital of [[Constantinople]]. The Empire is also known as the '''Eastern Roman Empire''', although this name is more commonly used when referring to the time before the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. During much of its history it was known to many of its Western contemporaries as the ''Empire of the Greeks'' because of the dominance of [[Greece|Greek]] language, culture and population.<ref>Byzantium and the Magyars, Gyula Moravcsik, Samuel R. Rosenbaum p. 11</ref> To its inhabitants, the Empire was simply the Roman Empire and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman emperors. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as {{rtl-lang|ar|روم}} (''[[Rûm]]'').

It reached its greatest extent under the reign of [[Justinian I]] ({{Reign|527|565|lk=no}}), who briefly reconquered much of Italy and the western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean coast]]. A [[Plague of Justinian|plague began]] around 541, and a [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|devastating war with Persia]] drained the empire's resources. The [[early Muslim conquests|Arab conquests]] led to the loss of the empire's richest provinces—[[Roman Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Roman Syria|Syria]]—to the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. In 698, Africa [[Battle of Carthage (698)|was lost]] to the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], but the empire stabilised under the [[Byzantine Empire under the Isaurian dynasty|Isaurian dynasty]]. It expanded once more under the [[Macedonian dynasty]], experiencing [[Macedonian Renaissance|a two-century-long renaissance]]. Thereafter, periods of civil war and Seljuk incursion resulted in the loss of most of [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]]. The empire recovered during the [[Komnenian restoration]], and Constantinople remained the largest and wealthiest city in Europe until the 13th century.

There is no consensus on exactly when the Byzantine period began. Many consider the Roman Emperor [[Constantine I]] (reigned 306–337) to be the first [[Byzantine Emperor]]. He founded Constantinople as a "[[New Rome]]" in 330 and moved the capital from [[Rome]].

The empire was largely dismantled in 1204, following the [[sack of Constantinople]] during the [[Fourth Crusade]]; its former territories [[Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae|were then divided]] into competing Greek [[rump state]]s and [[Frankokratia|Latin realms]]. Despite the eventual [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|recovery of Constantinople]] in 1261, the reconstituted empire wielded only regional power during its final two centuries. Its remaining territories were progressively annexed by the Ottomans in [[Byzantine–Ottoman wars|a series of wars]] fought in the 14th and 15th centuries. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 brought the empire to an end, but its history and legacy remain topics of study and debate to this day.

Some date the beginnings of the Empire to the reign of [[Theodosius I]] (379–395) and [[Christianity]]'s official supplanting of the [[Religion in ancient Rome|pagan Roman religion]], or following his death in 395, when the political division between East and West became permanent. Others place it yet later in 476, when [[Romulus Augustulus]], traditionally considered the last western Emperor, was deposed, thus leaving sole imperial authority with the emperor in the [[Greek East]]. Others point to the reorganization of the empire in the time of [[Heraclius]] (ca. 620) when Latin titles and usages were officially replaced with Greek versions.<ref name="Europe"> ''Europe: A History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1996. ISBN 0-19-820171-0</ref>

== Nomenclature ==

In any case, the changeover was gradual and by 330, when Constantine inaugurated his new capital, the process of [[Hellenization]] and increasing [[Christianization]] was already under way.

{{See also|Names of the Greeks}}

The empire's inhabitants, now generally termed "Byzantines", regarded themselves as [[Roman people|Romans]] (in Greek, {{Lang|grc|Ῥωμαῖοι}} or {{transliteration|grc|Romaioi}}).{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2022a|1pp=351|2a1=Aschenbrenner|2a2=Ransohoff|2y=2022a|2p=1}} Similarly, their Islamic contemporaries called their empire the "land of the Romans" ({{transliteration|ar|Bilād al-Rūm}}).{{sfn|Aschenbrenner|Ransohoff|2022a|p=1}} After 800 AD Western Europe called them "Greeks" ({{lang|la|Graeci}}), as the Papacy and medieval German emperors regarded themselves as the true inheritors of Roman identity.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=2|2a1=Aschenbrenner|2a2=Ransohoff|2y=2022a|2p=2}} The adjective "Byzantine", derived from [[Byzantium|{{transliteration|grc|Byzantion}}]] ({{lang|la|Byzantium}} in Latin), the name of the Greek settlement [[Constantinople]] was established on, was only used to describe the inhabitants of the city; it did not refer to the empire, called {{transliteration|grc|Romanía}} ({{Lang|grc|Ῥωμανία}} or "Romanland") by its citizens.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2022a|1pp=349, 351|2a1=Cormack|2a2=Haldon|2a3=Jeffreys|2y=2008|2p=4}}

The Empire is generally considered to have ended after the [[fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] in 1453, although Greek rule continued over areas of the Empire's territory for several more years, until the fall of [[Despotate of Morea|Mystras]] in 1460 and [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] in 1461.

Following the empire's fall, [[early modern]] scholars referred to it by many names, including the "Eastern Empire", the "Low Empire", the "Late Empire", the "Empire of the Greeks", "Empire of Constantinople", and "Roman Empire".{{sfn|Aschenbrenner|Ransohoff|2022a|p=2}} The increasing use of "Byzantine" and "Byzantine Empire" started with the 15th-century historian [[Laonikos Chalkokondyles]], whose works were widely propagated by [[Hieronymus Wolf]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2022a|p=352}} "Byzantine" was used adjectivally alongside terms such as "Empire of the Greeks" until the 19th century.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2022a|pp=352, 355, 357}} It is now the primary term, used to refer to all aspects of the empire; some modern historians believe it should not be used because it was originally a prejudicial and inaccurate term.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=2–3|2a1=Cormack|2a2=Haldon|2a3=Jeffreys|2y=2008|2p=4|3a1=Stouraitis|3y=2022b|3pp=20, 29, 31, 33-36}}

==History of the name "Byzantine"==

{{details|Names of the Greeks}}

{{Byzantine Empire timeline infobox}}

== History ==

The term ''Byzantine Empire'' is an invention of historians and was never used during the Empire's lifetime. The Empire's name in Greek was ''Basileia tōn Rōmaiōn'' or just ''Rōmania'' ({{lang-el|Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων}}&mdash;a translation of the Latin name of the Roman Empire, ''Imperium Romanorum'' ({{lang-la|Imperium Romanum}}). The description of the Empire as "Byzantine" began in [[Western Europe]] in 1557, when [[Germans|German]] historian [[Hieronymus Wolf]] published his work ''Corpus Historiae By­zantinæ'', a collection of Byzantine sources. The publication in 1648 of the ''Byzantine du Louvre'' (''Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ''), and in 1680 of [[Du Cange]]'s ''Historia Byzantina'' further popularized the use of ''Byzantine'' among French authors, such as [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]].<ref>C.R. Fox, [http://www.romanity.org/htm/fox.01.en.what_if_anything_is_a_byzantine.01.htm What, If Antything, Is a Byzantine?]</ref> Before this, the Empire was described by Western Europeans as ''Imperium Graecorum'' (Empire of the Greeks)&mdash;Byzantine claims to Roman inheritance had been actively contested from at least the time of the coronation of [[Charlemagne]] as [[Holy Roman Emperor|''Imperator Augustus'']] by [[Pope Leo III]] in 800. Whenever the [[Pope]]s or the rulers of the West wanted to make use of the name "Roman" to refer to the Byzantine emperors, they preferred the term "Imperator Romæorum" instead of "Imperator Romanorum", a title reserved only for Charlemagne and his successors.<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Hellas, Byzantium|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios}}</ref>

{{Main|History of the Byzantine Empire}}

==={{anchor|Definition, terminology and starting date}}Start date===

==Origin==

Given the significant overlap in historiographical [[periodization|periodisation]]s of "[[Later Roman Empire|Late Roman history]]", "[[late antiquity]]", and "Byzantine history", there is no consensus on a foundation date for the Byzantine Empire. Scholarship with links to Greece or [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] has customarily placed it in the early 300s.{{sfn|Cameron|2002|pp=190–191}} The growth of the study of "late antiquity" has led to some historians setting a start date in the seventh or eighth centuries.{{sfnm|Cameron|2002|1pp=166, 191|Kaldellis|2015|Howard-Johnston|2024|3p=7}} Others believe a "new empire" began during changes {{circa|300}}{{Nbsp}}AD.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=3, 34}} Geoffrey Greatrex believes that it is impossible to precisely date the foundation of the Byzantine Empire.{{sfn|Greatrex|2008|p=232}}

===Partition of the Roman Empire===

[[Image:Roman Empire about 395.jpg|thumb|left|Map of the Roman Empire ca. 395, showing the dioceses and praetorian prefectures of [[Gaul]], [[Italy]], [[Illyricum]] and Oriens (east), roughly analogous to the four Tetrarchs' zones of influence after Diocletian's reforms.]]

=== Pre-518: Constantinian, Theodosian, and Leonid dynasties ===

During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, three crises came together and threatened the crumbling Roman Empire: external invasions, internal civil wars, and an economy riddled with weaknesses and problems.<ref name="BF">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/1*.html#1 1]<br />* J. Fenner, [http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-018.html Economic Factors]</ref> Meanwhile, the city of Rome became less important as an administrative centre for the Roman Empire. The [[Crisis of the Third Century|crisis of the 3rd century]] displayed the defects of the heterogeneous system of government which [[Augustus]] had established to administer his immense dominion. His successors had introduced some modifications, but events made it clearer that a new, more centralised and more uniform system was required.<ref name="B1">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/1*.html#1 1]</ref>

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Constantinian and Valentinianic dynasties|Byzantine Empire under the Theodosian dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Leonid dynasty}}

[[File:Tetrarchy map3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Four-way division of the [[Roman Empire]] under the [[Tetrarchy]] system established by [[Diocletian]]|alt=A map showing the division of the Roman empire {{circa|300}}]]

[[Diocletian]] was responsible for creating a new administrative system (the [[tetrarchy]]).<ref name="B1" /> He associated himself with a coemperor, or ''[[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]''. Each Augustus then adopted a young colleague, or ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]'', to share in the rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and [[Maximian]] the tetrachy collapsed, and [[Constantine I]] replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.<ref name="BG">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}<br />* E. Gibbon, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', II, [http://olldownload.libertyfund.org/Texts/Gibbon0105/DeclineAndFall/Vol02/PDFs/0214-02_Pt06_Chap14.pdf 200]</ref>

Between the 3rd and 1st centuries{{Nbsp}}BC, the [[Roman Republic]] established [[hegemony]] over the [[eastern Mediterranean]], while [[Ancient Rome#Government|its government]] developed into the one-person rule of [[Roman emperors|an emperor]].{{sfn|Greatrex|2008|p=233}} The [[Roman Empire]] enjoyed a period of [[Pax Romana|relative stability]] until [[Crisis of the Third Century|the 3rd century AD]], when external threats and internal crises caused it to splinter, as regional armies acclaimed their generals as "soldier-emperors".{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=233|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=16-17|Treadgold|1997|3p=7}} One of these, [[Diocletian]] ({{reign|284|305}}), recognised that the state was too big to be ruled by a single person.{{sfn|Greatrex|2008|p=233}} He instituted the [[Tetrarchy]], a system which divided the empire into eastern and western halves.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=17–18|Treadgold|1997|2pp=15, 17–18}} The Tetrarchy quickly failed, but the division of the empire proved an enduring concept.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=235|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=17–18|Treadgold|1997|3p=14}}

[[Constantine I]] ({{reign|306|337|link=no}}) secured absolute power in 324.{{sfn|Greatrex|2008|p=235}} Over the next six years, he rebuilt the city of Byzantium as a new [[capital city|capital]] that he called "New Rome" (later named [[Constantinople]]).{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=235|Treadgold|1997|2pp=39–40|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=18}} The old capital [[Rome]] was further from the prosperous eastern provinces and in a less strategically important ___location; it was not esteemed by the "soldier-emperors", who ruled from the frontiers, or by the empire's population.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=17, 20}} [[Constitutio Antoniniana|Having been granted citizenship]], they considered themselves just as Roman as those in the city of Rome.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=18–20}} He continued reforms of the empire's military and civil administration and instituted the [[solidus (coin)|gold solidus]] as a stable currency.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1pp=235–236|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=43–44}} He [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|favoured Christianity]] and became an opponent of paganism.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1pp=236–237|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=81–84|Treadgold|1997|3pp=31–33, 40–42}} Constantine's dynasty prioritised [[Perso-Roman wars of 337–361|a lengthy conflict]] against the comparably powerful [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanid Persia]] and ended in 363 with the death of his nephew [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]].{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=238|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=93, 98, 111-112|Treadgold|1997|3pp=52-53, 59–62}} The reign of the short [[Valentinianic dynasty]], marked by [[Gothic Wars#Fourth century|wars against the Goths]], religious debates, and anti-corruption campaigns, ended in the East with the death of [[Valens]] at the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1pp=239–240|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=114–118, 121–123|Treadgold|1997|3pp=63–67}}

===Constantine I and his successors===

[[Image:Constantine's baptism.jpg|left|thumb|''The Baptism of Constantine'' painted by [[Raphael]]'s pupils (1520–1524, [[fresco]], [[Vatican City]], [[Apostolic Palace]]). [[Eusebius of Caesaria]] records that, as was customary among Christian converts at the time, Constantine delayed receiving [[baptism]] until shortly before his death.<ref>Eusebius, ''Life of Constantine'', IV, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.iv.lxii.html lxii]</ref>]]

Constantine moved the seat of the Empire, and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution.<ref name="G168">E. Gibbon, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', III, [http://olldownload.libertyfund.org/Texts/Gibbon0105/DeclineAndFall/Vol03/PDFs/0214-03_Pt04_Chap18.pdf 168]</ref> In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West; it was a superb base from which to guard the [[Danube]] and [[Tanais]] rivers, and was reasonably close to the Eastern frontiers. Constantine also began the building of the [[Walls of Constantinople|great fortified walls]], which were expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages. According to [[Edward Gibbon]], "Constantine was not insensible to the ambition of founding a city which might perpetuate the glory of his own name."<ref name="G90">E. Gibbon, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', III, [http://olldownload.libertyfund.org/Texts/Gibbon0105/DeclineAndFall/Vol03/PDFs/0214-03_Pt03_Chap17.pdf 90]</ref> And indeed Constantine's city flourished mightily throughout the Middle Ages. [[J. B. Bury]] asserts that "the foundation of Constantinople [...] inaugurated a permanent division between the Eastern and Western, the Greek and the Latin, halves of the Empire &ndash; a division to which events had already pointed &ndash; and affected decisively the whole subsequent [[history of Europe]]."<ref name="B1" />

[[File:Roman-empire-395AD.svg|upright=1.2|thumb|Division of the empire after the death of Theodosius I in 395{{Legend|#85d295|The Western Roman Empire}} {{Legend|#ed9595|The Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire}}|alt=A map showing the western and eastern Roman empires {{circa|395}}, divided in the Balkans and North Africa]]

Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian.<ref name="BE">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/1*.html#1 1]<br />* P.F. Esler, ''The Early Christian World'', 1081</ref> He stabilized the coinage (the gold [[solidus]] that he introduced became a highly priced and stable currency<ref name="E1081">P.F. Esler, ''The Early Christian World'', 1081</ref>), and made changes to the structure of the army. To divide administrative responsibilities, Constantine replaced the single [[praetorian prefect]], who had traditionally exercized both military and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority alone. In the course of the 4th century, four great sections emerged from these Constantinian beginnings, and the practice of separating civil from military authority persisted until the 7th century.<ref name="B25-26">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/2*.html#1 25–26]</ref>

Valens's successor, [[Theodosius I|Theodosius&nbsp;I]] ({{reign|379|395|link=no}}), secured peace in the east by allowing the [[Goths]] to settle in Roman territory;{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=240|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=128–129|Treadgold|1997|3p=73}} he also twice intervened in the western half, defeating the usurpers [[Magnus Maximus]] and [[Eugenius]] in 388 and 394, respectively.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=241|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=129-130, 135–137|Treadgold|1997|3pp=74–75}} He [[Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I|actively condemned paganism]], confirmed the primacy of [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene Orthodoxy]] over [[Arianism]] in the East, and established [[Christianity as the Roman state religion]].{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1pp=240–241|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=126–128|Treadgold|1997|3pp=70-74}} He was the last emperor to rule both the western and eastern halves of the empire.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=136}} After his death, the West was destabilised but the East thrived due to the civilian administrators who continued to hold power.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=165|Treadgold|1997|2p=87}} [[Theodosius II|Theodosius&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|408|450|link=no}}) largely left the rule of the East to officials such as [[Anthemius (praetorian prefect)|Anthemius]], who constructed the [[Theodosian Walls]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=165–167, 244}} Constantinople had now entrenched itself as the empire's capital.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=242|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=15, 20-21}}

[[Image:Byzantium395AD2lightpurple.PNG|thumb|left|The Roman Empire, c.395 AD.]]

Under Constantine, [[Christianity]] did not become the exclusive religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, since [[Constantine I and Christianity|the Emperor supported it with generous privileges]]: clerics were exempted from personal services and taxation, Christians were preferred for administrative posts, and bishops were entrusted with judicial responsibilities.<ref name="EM">P.F. Esler, ''The Early Christian World'', 1081<br />* G. Mousourakis, ''Context of Roman Law'', 327–328</ref> Constantine established the principle that emperors should not settle questions of doctrine, but should summon [[Ecumenical council|general ecclesiastical councils]] for that purpose. The [[Synod of Arles]] was convened by Constantine, and the [[First Council of Nicaea]] showcased his claim to be head of the Church.<ref name="B163">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/2*.html#5 163]</ref>

Aside from Constantinople's walls, Theodosius' reign was also marked by the compilation of the ''[[Codex Theodosianus]]''{{sfnm|Shepard|2009|1p=22-23|Treadgold|1997|2pp=91-92}} and the theological dispute over [[Nestorianism]] (a doctrine later deemed [[heretical]]).{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=242|Kaldellis|2023|2p=173|Treadgold|1997|3pp=92}} His reign also saw the arrival of [[Attila]]'s [[Huns]], who ravaged the [[Balkans]], leading to a large [[tribute]] being exacted from the eastern empire.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=193–196|Treadgold|1997|2pp=94–95}} Attila switched his attention to the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|rapidly-deteriorating western empire]],{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=200|Treadgold|1997|2p=209}} and his people fractured after his death in 453.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|pp=242–243}} Later, [[Leo I (emperor)|Leo&nbsp;I]] ({{reign|457|474|link=no}}) failed in his [[Basiliscus#Military career|468 attempt to reconquer]] the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|West]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=209|Greatrex|2008|2pp=243|Treadgold|1997|3pp=153}} The warlord [[Odoacer]] deposed [[Romulus Augustulus]] in 476, killed his titular successor [[Julius Nepos]] in 480, and abolished the office of western emperor.{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1pp=244|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=214|Treadgold|1997|3pp=158–159}}

The state of the empire in 395 may be described in terms of the outcome of Constantine's work. The dynastic principle was established so firmly that the emperor who died in that year, [[Theodosius I]], could bequeath the imperial office jointly to his sons: [[Arcadius]] in the East and [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] in the West. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over the full extent of the empire in both its halves.<ref name="Br">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

Through a combination of fortune and good political decisions, the Eastern Empire never experienced rebellious barbarian vassals or rule by barbarian warlords—the problems which ensured the downfall of the West.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=243–245}} [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] ({{reign|474|491|link=no}}) convinced the problematic [[Ostrogoth]] king [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]] to take control of Italy from Odoacer;{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=244|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=220|Treadgold|1997|3pp=162, 164}} dying when the empire was at peace, he was succeeded by [[Anastasius I Dicorus|Anastasius&nbsp;I]] ({{reign|491|518|link=no}}).{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=244|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=220|Treadgold|1997|3pp=164}} His belief in [[monophysitism]] brought occasional issues, but Anastasius was a capable administrator and instituted successful financial reforms including the abolition of the [[Collatio lustralis|chrysargyron tax]].{{sfnm|Greatrex|2008|1p=244|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=224}} He was the first emperor since Diocletian not to face any serious problems affecting the empire during his reign.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=172}}

==Early history==

The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties that the West faced in the 3rd and 4th centuries, partly owing to a more firmly established urban culture and greater financial resources, which allowed it to placate invaders with [[tribute]] and pay barbarian [[mercenary|mercenaries]]. Throughout the 5th century, various invading armies overran the Western Empire but spared the east. [[Theodosius II]] further fortified [[Walls of Constantinople|the walls of Constantinople]], leaving the city impenetrable to attacks; they were not breached until 1204. To fend off the [[Huns]] of [[Attila the Hun|Attila]], Theodosius gave them subsidies (purportedly 300 kg (700 lb) of gold).<ref name=Nathan>Nathan, Geoffrey, ''The Roman Emperors: Theodosius II''</ref> Moreover, he favored merchants living in Constantinople who traded with the barbarians.

=== 518–717: Justinian and Heraclian dynasties ===

His successor, [[Marcian]], refused to continue to pay this exorbitant sum. However, Attila had already diverted his attention to the Western Roman Empire. After he died in 453, his empire collapsed and Constantinople initiated a profitable relationship with the remaining Huns, who would eventually fight as mercenaries in Byzantine armies.

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty}}

{{Multiple image

| perrow = 2

| align = right

| image1 = Mosaic of Justinianus I - Basilica San Vitale (Ravenna).jpg

| alt1 = A close up photograph of a mosaic of a person painted on a golden coloured background. The person has a dark brown cloth covering up his upper body till the neck, three jewels on his right shoulder, a crown with two pendants each hanging from both ends and an aura like circle around his head

| image2 = Belisarius mosaic.jpg

| alt2 = A close up photograph of a mosaic of a person painted on a golden coloured background. The person has a white cloth covering up his upper body till the neck, an embroidered pattern on his right shoulder, wavy hair, a stubble beard and a moustache

| footer = Emperor [[Justinian]] (''left''), and the general [[Belisarius]] (''right''). [[Mosaic]]s, 6th century, from the [[Basilica of San Vitale]], Ravenna, Italy

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}}

<!--The Acacian schism should be discussed in the Religion section. Whether the renovatio imperii existed at all is not within the scope of this article.-->

The reign of [[Justinian I|Justinian&nbsp;I]] was a high point in east Roman history.{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=250}} Following his accession in 527, the legal code was rewritten as the ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]],'' which streamlined Roman law across the empire;{{sfnm|Louth|2009a|1pp=108–109|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=269–271|Treadgold|1997|3pp=179}} he reasserted imperial control over religion and morality through purges of pagans, heretics, and other "deviants";{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=272|Louth|2009a|2pp=116|Treadgold|1997|3pp=80}} and having ruthlessly subdued [[Nika riots|the 532 Nika revolt]] he rebuilt much of Constantinople, including the [[Hagia Sophia]].{{sfnm|Louth|2009a|1pp=111, 120|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=274–276}} Justinian I took advantage of the confusion, following Theoderic the Ostrogoth’s death, to attempt the reconquest of Italy.{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=252}} The [[Vandal Kingdom]] in North Africa [[Vandalic War|was subjugated in late 533]] by the general [[Belisarius]],{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=281|Moorhead|2009|2p=202}} who [[Gothic War (535–554)|then invaded Italy]]; the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] mostly ended in 554.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=306|Moorhead|2009|2p=209|Haldon|2008a|3p=253}}

[[Image:Leo I Louvre Ma1012.jpg|thumb|left|[[Leo I (emperor)|Leo I]] of the Byzantine Empire (401–474, reigned 457–474).]]

In the 540s, Justinian began to suffer reversals on multiple fronts.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=297}} Capitalising on Constantinople's preoccupation with the West, [[Khosrow I|Khosrow&nbsp;I]] of the Sasanian Empire invaded Byzantine territory and sacked [[Antioch]] in 540.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=297|Treadgold|1997|2pp=193–194|Haldon|2008a|3pp=252–253}} [[Plague of Justinian|A devastating plague]] killed a large proportion of the population and severely reduced the empire's social and financial stability.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=300–301}} The most difficult period of the Ostrogothic war, against their king [[Totila]], came during this decade;{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=305}} while divisions among Justinian's advisors undercut the administration's response.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1997|1pp=197–198, 201|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=298, 305–306}} He also did not fully heal the divisions in [[Chalcedonian Christianity]], as the [[Second Council of Constantinople|fifth ecumenical council]] failed to make a real difference.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1997|1pp=210–211, 214|Louth|2009a|2pp=117–118|Haldon|2008a|3p=253}} Justinian died in 565; his reign was more successful than any other emperor, yet he left behind an unstable empire.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=318–319|Treadgold|1997|2p=217}}

After the fall of Attila, the true chief in Constantinople was the [[Alans|Alan]] general [[Aspar]]. [[Leo I the Thracian|Leo I]] managed to free himself from the influence of the barbarian chief by supporting the rise of the [[Isauri]]ans, a semi-[[barbarian]] tribe living in southern [[Anatolia]]. Aspar and his son Ardabur were murdered in a riot in 471, and henceforth, Constantinople was freed from the influence of barbarian leaders for centuries.

[[Justin II|Justin&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|565|578}}) inherited an empire stretched thin both financially and territorially.{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=254}} He was soon at war on many fronts.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=254|Treadgold|1997|3pp=220–221}} Fearing the aggressive [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], the [[Lombards]] conquered much of northern Italy by 572.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=254|Treadgold|1997|2pp=220–221}} The [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591|Sasanian wars restarted]] in the same year, and would not conclude until 591;{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=254}} by this time, the Avars and [[Slavic migrations to the Balkans|Slavs had repeatedly invaded the Balkans]], causing great instability.{{sfnm|Louth|2009a|1pp=126–127|Haldon|2008a|2p=254|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=336}} [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] [[Maurice's Balkan campaigns|campaigned extensively in the region]] during the 590s, and although he re-established Byzantine control up to the [[Danube River|Danube]], he pushed his troops too far in 602—they mutinied, proclaimed an officer named [[Phocas]] as emperor, and executed Maurice.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=336–338|Treadgold|1997|2pp=234–235|Haldon|2008a|3p=254}} The Sasanians seized their moment and [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|reopened hostilities]];{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=347-348|Louth|2009b|2pp=226}} Phocas was unable to cope and soon faced [[Heraclian revolt|a major rebellion]] led by [[Heraclius]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=348}} Phocas lost Constantinople in 610 and was executed;{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=254|Louth|2009b|2pp=226}} this destructive civil war accelerated the empire's decline.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=349|Treadgold|1997|2p=241}}

Leo was also the first emperor to receive the crown not from a military leader, as was the Roman tradition, but from the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], representing the ecclesiastical hierarchy. This change became permanent, and in the Middle Ages the religious characteristic of the coronation completely supplanted the old military form. In 468, Leo unsuccessfully attempted to reconquer North Africa from the Vandals. By that time, the Western Roman Empire was restricted to Italy and the lands south of the Danube as far as the Balkans (Britain had been abandoned and was slowly being conquered by the [[Angles]] and [[Saxons]], Spain had been overrun by the [[Visigoths]] and [[Suebi]], the [[Vandals]] had taken Africa, and [[Gaul]] was contested by the [[Franks]], Burgundians, Bretons, Visigoths and some Roman remnants).

[[File:Walls of Constantinople.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.2|alt=A photograph of a large double-layered fortification.|The [[Walls of Constantinople|Theodosian Walls]] of Constantinople, very important during the [[siege of Constantinople (717–718)|717–718 siege]]]]

In 466, as a condition of his Isaurian alliance, Leo married his daughter Ariadne to the Isaurian Tarasicodissa, who took the name [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]]. When Leo died in 474, Zeno and Ariadne's younger son succeeded to the throne as [[Leo II (emperor)|Leo II]], with Zeno acting as regent. When Leo II died later that year, Zeno became emperor. The end of the Western Empire is sometimes dated to 476, early in Zeno's reign, when the barbarian general [[Odoacer]] deposed the titular Western Emperor [[Romulus Augustus]], but declined to replace him with another puppet.

[[Image:3Byzantium476lightblue.PNG|thumb|right|310px|Eastern Roman Empire, c. 480 [[Anno Domini|AD]].]]

To recover Italy, Zeno could only negotiate with the [[Ostrogoths]] of [[Theodoric]], who had settled in [[Moesia]]. He sent the barbarian king to Italy as ''magister militum per Italiam'' ("commander in chief for Italy"). After the fall of Odoacer in 493, Theodoric, who had lived in Constantinople during his youth, ruled Italy on his own, maintaining a merely formal obedience to Zeno. He was the most powerful Germanic king of that age, but his successors were greatly inferior and their Italian kingdom started to decline in the 530s.

Under [[Khosrow II|Khosrow&nbsp;II]], the Sassanids occupied the [[Levant]] and Egypt and advanced into Asia Minor, and the Avars and Slavs raided in the Balkans.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1pp=254–255|Treadgold|1997|2pp=290-293|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=352, 355-356, 360}} The Empire’s control of Italy also weakened.{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|pp=254–255}} After successfully repelling [[Siege of Constantinople (626)|a siege of Constantinople]] in 626,{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=255}} Heraclius won a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Nineveh (627)]],{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=398}} eventually defeating the Sassanids later that year.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=365-366|Louth|2009b|2pp=227–229}} The triumph would prove short-lived.{{sfnm|Louth|2009b|1p=229|Kaldellis|2023|2p=372}} The [[early Muslim conquests|Arab conquests]] soon saw the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|conquest of the Levant]], [[Arab conquest of Egypt|Egypt]], and [[Muslim conquest of Persia|the Sassanid Empire]] by the newly formed Arabic [[Rashidun Caliphate]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=375|Haldon|2008a|2p=256|Louth|2009b|3pp=229–230}} By Heraclius' death in 641, the empire had been severely reduced economically and territorially—the loss of the wealthy eastern provinces had deprived the empire of as much as three-quarters of its revenue.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=387|Haldon|2008a|2p=256}}

In 475, Zeno was deposed by [[Basiliscus]], the general who led Leo I's 468 invasion of North Africa, but he recovered the throne twenty months later. However, he faced a new threat from another Isaurian, [[Leontius]], who was also elected rival emperor. Isaurian prominence ended when an aged civil officer of Roman origin, [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius I]], became emperor in 491 and after a long war defeated them in 498. Anastasius revealed himself to be an energetic reformer and an able administrator. He perfected Constantine I's coinage system by definitively setting the weight of the copper ''follis'', the coin used in most everyday transactions. He also reformed the tax system, and permanently abolished the hated [[chrysargyron]] tax. The State Treasury contained the enormous sum of 320,000 pounds of gold when he died.

The next century is poorly documented.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=387}} [[Arab–Byzantine wars#Arab attacks on Anatolia and sieges of Constantinople|Arab raids into Asia Minor]] started quickly, and the Empire responded by holding fortified centres and avoiding battle wherever possible.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=257|Kaldellis|2023|2p=387}} Although Anatolia was invaded annually, it avoided permanent Arab occupation.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=387}} The outbreak of the [[First Fitna]] in 656 gave the Empire breathing space, which it used sensibly:{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=389}} some order was restored in the Balkans by [[Constans II|Constans&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|641|668|link=no}}){{sfn|Louth|2009b|pp=230–231}} following his administrative reorganisation which over time evolved into the "[[Theme (Byzantine district)|theme system]]", a structure that allocated troops to defend specific provinces.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1997|1pp=315–316|Louth|2009b|2pp=239–240}} [[Constantine IV]] ({{reign|668|685|link=no}}) repelled the Arab efforts to [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)|capture Constantinople in the 670s]] using [[Greek fire]],{{sfnm|Treadgold|1997|1pp=323–327|Haldon|2008a|2p=258|Louth|2009b|3pp=233}} but suffered a reversal against the [[Bulgars]], who soon established [[First Bulgarian Empire|an empire in the northern Balkans]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=403|Haldon|2008a|2pp=257–258|Louth|2009b|3pp=233}} Nevertheless, he had done enough to secure the empire's position,{{sfn|Louth|2009b|p=235}} especially as the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] was undergoing [[Second Fitna|another civil war]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=403}}

==Justinian I and his successors==

[[Image:Justinian.jpg|thumb|Justinian depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the [[Basilica of San Vitale]], [[Ravenna]].]]

{{seealso|Justinian I}}

Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of Byzantine expansion into former Roman territories. Justinian, the son of an [[Illyricum|Illyrian]] peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle, [[Justin I]] (518–527).<ref name="BEv">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}<br />* J.A. Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (527–565 A.D.)]</ref> His reign opened with external warfare and internal strife. From [[Lazica]] to the Arabian Desert, the Persian frontier blazed with action in a series of campaigns. In 532, attempting to secure his eastern frontier, Justinian signed a peace treaty with [[Khosrau I of Persia]] agreeing to pay a large annual tribute to the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassinids]]. In the same year of 532, Justinian survived a revolt in Constantinople (the [[Nika riots]]) which ended with the death of thirty thousand rioters. This victory solidified Justinian's power.<ref name="Ev">J.A. Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (527–565 A.D.)]</ref> [[Image:Agapitus I.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Agapetus I]]]][[Pope Agapetus I]] was sent to Constantinople by the Ostrogothic king [[Theodahad]], but failed in his mission to sign a peace with Justinian. However, he succeeded in having the [[Monophysitism|Monophysite]] [[Patriarch Anthimus I of Constantinople]] denounced, despite [[Empress Theodora]]'s support.

The western conquests began in 533, as Justinian sent his general [[Belisarius]] to reclaim the former province of [[North Africa]] from the [[Vandal]]s with a small army of about 18,000 men. Success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local independent tribes were subdued.<ref name="Ev" /> In [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogothic]] Italy, the deaths of [[Theodoric the Great]], his nephew and heir [[Athalaric]], and his daughter [[Amalasuntha]] had left [[Theodahad]] on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small, Byzantine expedition sent to [[Sicily]] met with easy success, but the Goths soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when Belisarius captured [[Ravenna]], after successful sieges of [[Naples]] and Rome.<ref name="B180-216">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/18C*.html 180–216]</ref>

Beginning in 695, when Constantine's son [[Justinian II|Justinian&nbsp;II]] was first deposed, the empire entered an [[Twenty Years' Anarchy|era of political instability]] that lasted for the next 22 years.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=257|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=438–440|Auzépy|2009|3p=265}} While Justinian had stabilised the situation with the divided Arabs,{{sfn|Haldon|2008a|p=257}} the threat of the reconstituted caliphate was met by [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo&nbsp;III]] when he [[siege of Constantinople (717–718)|repelled the 717–718 siege]], the first serious challenge against Arab expansion.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=257|Auzépy|2009|2p=265}}

Nevertheless, the Ostrogoths were soon reunited under the command of [[Totila]], and captured Rome on [[December 17]], [[546]]; Belisarius was eventually recalled by Justinian in early 549.<ref name="B236-258">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19B*.html 236–258]</ref> The arrival of the Armenian [[eunuch]] [[Narses]] in Italy (late 551) with an army of some 30,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated and died at the [[Battle of Busta Gallorum]]. His successor, [[Teias]], was likewise defeated at the [[Battle of Mons Lactarius]] (October 552). Despite continuing resistance from a few Goth garrisons and two subsequent invasions by the [[Franks]] and [[Alamanni]], the war for the Italian peninsula was at an end.<ref name="B259-281">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19C*.html 259–281]</ref> In 551, a noble of [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[Hispania]], [[Athanagild]], sought Justinian's help in a rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under Liberius, who, although elderly, proved himself a successful military commander. The Byzantine empire held on to a small slice of the [[Spain|Spanish]] coast until the reign of [[Heraclius]].<ref name="B86-288">J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19D*.html 286–288]</ref>

{{History of Greece}}

In the east, the war between the Persians and the Romans continued until 561 when Justinian's and Khusro's envoys agreed on a 50-year peace. By the mid-550s, Justinian had won victories in most theatres of operation, with the notable exception of the [[Balkans]], which were subjected to repeated incursions from the [[Slavs]]. In 559, the Empire faced a great invasion of [[Kutrigurs]] and [[Sclaveni]]. Justinian called Belisarius out of retirement, but once the immediate danger was over, the emperor took charge himself. The news that Justinian was reinforcing his Danube fleet made the Kutrigurs anxious, and they agreed to a treaty which gave them a subsidy and safe passage back across the river.<ref name="Ev" />

[[Image:theodora ravenna.jpg|thumb|left|[[Theodora (6th century)|Theodora]] (here with her retinue, mosaic from [[Basilica of San Vitale]], Ravenna), Justinian's influential wife, was a former [[Mime artist|mime actress]], whose earlier life is vividly described by [[Procopius]] in ''Secret History''.<ref>Procopius, ''Secret History'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Anecdota/9*.html IX]</ref>]]

Justinian became universally famous because of his legislative work, remarkable for its sweeping character.<ref name="VJ">A. Vasiliev, [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_PC.HTM The Legislative Work of Justinian and Tribonian]</ref> In 529 a ten-man commission chaired by [[John the Cappadocian]] revised the ancient [[Roman law|Roman legal code]], creating the new ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]''. In the ''[[Pandects]]'', completed under [[Tribonian]]'s direction in 533, order and system were found in the contradictory rulings of the great Roman jurists, and a textbook, the ''[[Institutiones]]'', was issued to facilitate instruction in the law schools. The fourth book, the ''Novellae'', consisted of collections of imperial edicts promulgated between 534 and 565. Because of his ecclesiastical policies, Justinian came into collision with the [[Jew]]s, the pagans, and various Christian sects. The latter included the [[Manichaeans]], the [[Nestorians]], the [[Monophysites]], and the [[Arians]]. In order to completely eradicate [[paganism]], Justinian closed the famous philosophic school in [[Athens]] in 529.<ref name="VE">A. Vasiliev, [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_PD.HTM The Ecclesiastical Policy of Justinian]</ref>

=== 718–867: Isaurian, Nikephorian, and Amorian dynasties ===

During the 6th century, the traditional [[Greco-Roman culture]] was still influential in the Eastern empire with prominent representatives such as the natural philosopher [[John Philoponus]]. During the same century, however, the Christian philosophy and culture were in the ascendant and began to dominate the older culture. Hymns written by [[Romanos]] the Melode marked the development of the [[Divine Liturgy]], while architects and builders worked to complete the new Church of the [[Holy Wisdom]], [[Hagia Sophia]], designed to replace an older church destroyed in the course of the Nika revolt. Hagia Sophia stands today as one of the major monuments of architectural history.<ref name="Br" />

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Isaurian dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Amorian dynasty}}[[File:Solidus-Leo III and Constantine V-sb1504.jpg|thumb|Gold ''solidus'' of [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo&nbsp;III]] (left), and his son and heir, [[Constantine V]] (right)|alt=Two gold coins, each depicting a man]]

Leo and his son [[Constantine V]] ({{reign|741|775}}), two of the most capable Byzantine emperors, withstood continued Arab attacks, civil unrest, and natural disasters, and reestablished the state as a major regional power.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1pp=258–259|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=443, 451–452|Auzépy|2009|3pp=255–260}} Leo's reign produced the ''[[Ecloga]]'', a new code of law to succeed that of Justinian&nbsp;I.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=444–445|Auzépy|2009|2pp=275–276}} He also continued to reform the theme system in order to lead offensive campaigns against the Muslims, culminating in [[Battle of Akroinon|a decisive victory in 740]].{{sfnm|Auzépy|2009|1pp=265–273|Kaegi|2009|2pp=385–385|Kaldellis|2023|3p=450}} Constantine overcame an early civil war against his brother-in-law [[Artabasdos]], made peace with the new [[Abbasid Caliphate]], [[Constantine V#Repeated campaigns against the Bulgarians|campaigned successfully]] against the Bulgars, and continued to make administrative and military reforms.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=260|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=450–454|Treadgold|2002|3pp=140–141}} Due to both emperors' support for the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]], where the use of [[icon|religious icons]] was banned, they were later vilified by Byzantine historians;{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=443, 447–449, 454–459|Haldon|2008a|2pp=258–261|Auzépy|2009|3pp=253–254}} Constantine's reign also saw the loss of [[Ravenna]] to the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombards]], and the beginning of a split from the [[Papal States|Roman papacy]].{{sfnm|Treadgold|2002|1pp=140–141|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=459–561|Auzépy|2009|3pp=284–287}}

Justinian's successor, [[Justin II]], refused to pay the large tribute to the Persians. Meanwhile, the Germanic [[Lombards]] invaded Italy; by the end of the century only a third of Italy was in Byzantine hands. Justin's successor, [[Tiberius II Constantine|Tiberius II]], choosing between his enemies, awarded subsidies to the [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]] while taking military action against the Persians. Although Tiberius' general, [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]], led an effective campaign on the eastern frontier, subsidies failed to restrain the Avars. They captured the Balkan fortress of [[Sirmium]] in 582, while the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] began to make inroads across the Danube. Maurice, who in the meantime had become emperor, made peace with the Sassanian Emperor [[Khosrau II]], achieving access to Armenia, and forced the Avars back across the Danube by 602.<ref name="Br" />

In 780, Empress [[Irene of Athens|Irene]] assumed power as regent for her son [[Constantine VI]].{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=261|Treadgold|2002|2pp=141–142|Magdalino|2002|3p=170}} Although she was a capable administrator who temporarily resolved the iconoclasm controversy,{{sfnm|Haldon|2008a|1p=261|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=464–469}} the empire was destabilised by her conflict with her son. The Bulgars and Abbasids inflicted numerous defeats on the Byzantine armies, and the papacy crowned [[Charlemagne]] as Roman emperor in 800.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=470–473|Magdalino|2002|2pp=169–171|Haldon|2008a|3p=261}} In 802, the unpopular Irene was overthrown by [[Nikephoros I|Nikephoros&nbsp;I]]; he reformed the empire's administration but died [[Battle of Pliska|in battle against the Bulgars]] in 811.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=473–474, 478–481}} Military defeats and societal disorder, especially the resurgence of iconoclasm, characterised the next eighteen years.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=265|Auzépy|2009|2pp=257, 259, 289|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=482–483, 485–491}}

==Heraclian dynasty and the challenge of Islam==

[[File:Byzantine Empire 814.svg|alt=Map centred on Western Europe. The territories of the Byzantine Empire are shaded dark green; namely the Italian islands, southern Greece, south-central Bulgaria, southern Crimea and most of Turkey.|thumb|The Byzantine Empire {{Circa|814}}]]

{{seealso|Heraclius|Roman-Persian Wars|Byzantine-Arab Wars}}

Stability was somewhat restored during the reign of [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilos]] ({{reign|829|842|link=no}}). He capitalised on economic growth to complete construction programmes, including rebuilding the [[Walls of Constantinople#Sea walls|sea walls of Constantinople]], overhaul provincial governance, and wage inconclusive campaigns against the Abbasids.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=491–495|Holmes|2008|2p=265|Auzépy|2009|3pp=273–274}} After his death, his empress [[Theodora (wife of Theophilos)|Theodora]], ruling on behalf of her son [[Michael III|Michael&nbsp;III]], permanently extinguished the iconoclastic movement;{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=498–501|Holmes|2008|2p=266}} the empire prospered under their sometimes-fraught rule. Michael was posthumously vilified by historians loyal to the dynasty of his successor [[Basil I|Basil&nbsp;I]], who had him assassinated in 867 and was credited with his predecessor's achievements.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1pp=265–266|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=504–505|Auzépy|2009|3p=254|Tougher|2009|4pp=292–293, 296}}

=== 867–1081: Macedonian and Doukas dynasties ===

After Maurice's murder by [[Phocas]], Khosrau used the pretext to reconquer the Roman province of [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>Foss, "Persians in Asia Minor," 722.</ref> Phocas, an unpopular ruler who is invariably described in Byzantine sources as a "tyrant," was the target of a number of senate-led plots. He was eventually deposed in 610 by [[Heraclius]], who sailed to Constantinople from [[Carthage]] with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 41; Speck, "Anfänge," 178.</ref> Following the accession of Heraclius the Persian advance pushed deep into Asia Minor, also occupying [[Damascus]] and [[Jerusalem]] and removing the [[True Cross]] to [[Ctesiphon]].<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century," 42-43.</ref> The counter-offensive of Heraclius took on the character of a holy war, and an [[acheiropoietos]] image of Christ was carried as a military standard.<ref>Grabar, ''Iconoclasme'', 37; Cameron, "Elites and icons," 23.</ref> Similarly, when Constantinople was saved from an [[Avar]] siege in 626, the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by [[Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Sergius]] about the walls of the city<ref>Cameron, "Elites and icons," 5-6 and 20-22.</ref> The main Persian force was destroyed at [[Battle of Nineveh (627)|Nineveh]] in 627, and in 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 46; Baynes, "Restoration," ''passim''; Speck, "Anfänge," 178.</ref> The war had exhausted both the Byzantine and Persian states, and left them extremely vulnerable to the [[Arab]] forces which emerged in the following years.<ref>Foss, "Persians in Asia Minor," 746-47.</ref> The Byzantines suffered a crushing defeat at the [[Battle of Yarmuk]] in 636, and Ctesiphon fell in 634.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 50.</ref>

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty}}

[[Image:Sassanid-empire-610CE.png|thumb|Green: Sassanid Empire in 602 to 629, Strokes: Under Sassanid military control.]]

Basil I ({{reign|867|886}}) continued Michael's policies.{{sfnm|Tougher|2009|1pp=292, 296|Holmes|2008|2p=266}} His armies campaigned with mixed results in Italy but [[Battle of Bathys Ryax|defeated]] the [[Paulician principality of Tephrike|Paulicians of Tephrike]].{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=266|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=522–524|Treadgold|1997|3pp=455–458}} His successor [[Leo VI the Wise|Leo VI]] ({{reign|886|912|link=no}}){{efn|Leo VI was officially the son of Basil I, but a persistent rumour alleged that he had been fathered by Michael III, who had previously taken Leo's mother [[Eudokia Ingerina]] as his mistress. One of Leo's first acts was to rebury Michael III in Basil's mausoleum in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] complex, which exacerbated the rumours.{{sfnm|Tougher|2009|1p=296|Kaldellis|2023|2p=526}}}} compiled and propagated a huge number of written works. These included the ''[[Basilika]]'', a Greek translation of Justinian I's legal code incorporating over 100 new laws created by Leo; the ''[[Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise|Tactica]]'', a military treatise; and the ''[[Book of the Prefect|Book of the Eparch]]'', a manual on Constantinople's trading regulations.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1pp=493, 496–498|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=429–433|Holmes|2008|3p=267}} In non-literary contexts Leo was less successful: the empire [[Siege of Taormina (902)|lost in Sicily]] and [[Battle of Boulgarophygon|against the Bulgarians]],{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=267|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=534–535}} and he provoked theological scandal by marrying four times in an attempt to father a legitimate heir.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=537–539|Holmes|2008|2p=267|Shepard|2009b|3p=503}}

Heraclius was the first emperor to replace the traditional Latin title for his office (''Augustus'') with the Greek ''[[Basileus]]'' ({{polytonic|Βασιλεύς}}).<ref>Shahid, "Iranian factor," 295-96 and 305.</ref> This shift from Latin to Greek finds a parallel in the contemporary abandonment of Latin in official documents.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 404.</ref> Heraclius has also been credited with the creation of the [[Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)|themes]], a system of regional military administration that would assume great importance in the later centuries, although it now seems that his appointments of military commanders were ''ad hoc'' responses to the situation in Anatolia, which only later developed into a coherent system.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 214-15; Kaegi, ''Heraclius'', 236 and 283.</ref> In an attempt to heal the doctrinal divide between [[Chalcedonian]] and [[Monophysitism|monophysite]] Christians, Heraclius proposed [[monotheletism]] as a compromise. In 638 the new doctrine was posted in the narthex of Hagia Sophia as part of a text called the ''Ekthesis'', which also forbade further discussion of the issue. By this time, however, Syria and Palestine, both hotbeds of monophysite belief, had fallen to the Arabs, and another monophysite center, Egypt, fell by 642. Ambivalence toward Byzantine rule on the part of monophysites may have lessened local resistance to the Arab expansion.<ref>Haldon, ''Seventh century'', 49-50.</ref>

The early reign of this heir, [[Constantine VII]], was tumultuous, as his mother [[Zoe Karbonopsina|Zoe]], his uncle [[Alexander (Byzantine emperor)|Alexander]], the patriarch [[Nicholas Mystikos|Nicholas]], the powerful [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon&nbsp;I of Bulgaria]], and other influential figures jockeyed for power.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1p=505|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=540–543|Holmes|2008|3p=267}} In 920, the admiral [[Romanos I Lekapenos|Romanos&nbsp;I]] used his fleet to secure power, crowning himself and demoting Constantine to the position of junior co-emperor.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=543–544|Shepard|2009b|2pp=505–507}} His reign, marked by [[Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927#Peace treaty|the end of the war against Bulgaria]] and successes in the east under the general [[John Kourkouas]], ended in 944 due to the machinations of his sons, whom Constantine then usurped.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1pp=508–509|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=546–552|Holmes|2008|3p=268}} Constantine's ineffectual sole rule has often been construed as [[Macedonian Renaissance|the zenith of Byzantine learning]], but the works compiled were largely intended to legitimise and glorify the emperor's [[Macedonian dynasty]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=553–555|Holmes|2008|2p=268}} [[Romanos II|His son and successor]] died young; under two soldier-emperors, [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|963|969|link=no}}) and [[John I Tzimiskes]] ({{reign|969|976|link=no}}), the army claimed numerous military successes, including the [[Byzantine conquest of Cilicia|conquest of Cilicia]] and [[Siege of Antioch (968–969)|Antioch]], and a [[Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria|sensational victory against Bulgaria and the Kievan Rus']] in 971. John in particular was an astute administrator who reformed military structures and implemented effective fiscal policies.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=563–573|Holmes|2008| 2pp=268–269|Magdalino|2002|3p=176}}

The task of containing the Arab offensive was left to Heraclius' successors. The Arabs built upon their earlier assaults on Armenia and Asia Minor with a four-year [[Siege of Constantinople (674)|siege of Constantinople (674–678)]]. Ultimately defeated by the use of [[Greek fire]], a flammable liquid invented by Kallinikos,<ref name="G247">E. Gibbon, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', IX, [http://olldownload.libertyfund.org/Texts/Gibbon0105/DeclineAndFall/Vol09/PDFs/0214-09_Pt04_Chap52.pdf 247]</ref> the Arabs signed a 30-years truce, according to which they agreed to pay tribute in money, men, and horses. Lured by the unsettled conditions following [[Justinian II]]'s second deposition, the Arabs renewed their assaults by land and sea, and in 717 they were again [[Siege of Constantinople (718)|besieging Constantinople]].<ref name="G241">E. Gibbon, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', IX, [http://olldownload.libertyfund.org/Texts/Gibbon0105/DeclineAndFall/Vol09/PDFs/0214-09_Pt04_Chap52.pdf 241]</ref>

[[Image:Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg|left|thumb|Greek fire, first used by the [[Byzantine Navy]] during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the [[Madrid Skylitzes]], [[Biblioteca Nacional de España]], [[Madrid]]).]]

On the Balkan frontier, meanwhile, the [[Bulgars]] assumed the role abdicated by the Avars after 626. In 681 [[Constantine IV]] was forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in [[Moesia]] and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine [[Thrace]]. While the Bulgars had thus deprived the empire of control in the north and central Balkans, the Byzantines could take comfort in the expeditions of 658 and 688/689 launched, respectively, by [[Constans II]] and Justinian II into Macedonia and in the formation of the themes of Thrace and Hellas; these moves were evidence that Byzantine authority was beginning to prevail along the peninsular coastline and in certain parts of Greece where Slavs had penetrated. In the West, the situation was less reassuring; monothelitism had provoked a hostile reaction from the churches of North Africa and Italy, and the resulting disaffection had encouraged the exarchs of both [[Exarchate of Africa|Carthage]] (646) and [[Exarchate of Ravenna|Ravenna]] (652) to revolt. By the end of the century, [[Mesopotamia]] and Africa were gradually incorporated into the [[Umayyad|Muslim Caliphate]]. For the moment Sicily and the scattered Italian possessions remained secure. Constans launched an attack on the Lombard [[Duchy of Benevento]] in southern Italy, but finally retreated to Naples. He was the last Eastern emperor to visit Rome as a Byzantine possession.<ref name="Br" />

After John's death, Constantine VII's grandsons [[Basil II|Basil&nbsp;II]] and [[Constantine VIII]] ruled jointly for half a century, although the latter exercised no real power.{{sfn|Holmes|2008|p=268}} Their early reign was occupied by conflicts against two prominent generals, [[Bardas Skleros]] and [[Bardas Phokas the Younger|Bardas Phokas]], which ended in 989 after the former's death and the latter's submission, and a power struggle against the eunuch [[Basil Lekapenos|Basileios]], who was dismissed in 985.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1pp=522–526|Magdalino|2002|2p=202|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=573–578}} Basil, who never married or had children, subsequently refused to delegate any authority: he sidelined the military establishment by taking personal command of the army and promoting officers loyal to him.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1pp=526, 531|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=578–579|Holmes|2008|3p=269}} His reign witnessed [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|the decades-long campaign against Bulgaria]], which ended in total Byzantine victory at the [[Battle of Kleidion]] in 1014.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=269|Shepard|2009b|2pp=526–29|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=579–582}} Diplomatic efforts, critical for this success,{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1p=529|Holmes|2008|2p=271}} also contributed to the [[Byzantine–Georgian treaty of 1022|annexation of several Georgian provinces]] in the 1020s and coexistence with the new [[Fatimid Caliphate]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=584|Holmes|2008|2pp=270–271|Magdalino|2002|3p=180}} When he died in 1025, Basil's empire stretched from the Danube and Sicily in the west to the [[Euphrates]] in the east; his swift expansion was unaccompanied by administrative reforms.{{sfnm|Shepard|2009b|1pp=531–536|Holmes|2008|2p=271}}

==Isaurian dynasty and Iconoclasm==

[[Image:ByzantineEmpire717AD2lightpurple.PNG|thumb|310px|right|The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Leo III, ''c.'' 717.]]

{{seealso|Iconoclasm (Byzantine)}}

[[Leo III the Isaurian]] turned back the Muslim assault in 718, and achieved a major victory at the expense of the Arabs in 740. He also addressed himself to the task of reorganizing and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor, [[Constantine V]], won noteworthy victories in northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength. In the beginning of the 9th century the Arabs captured Crete, and successfully attacked Sicily, but on [[September 3]], [[863]], general [[Petronas (The Patrician)|Petronas]] attained a huge victory against the [[emir]] of [[Melitene]]. Under the leadership of [[Krum]] the Bulgar threat also reemerged, but in 814 Krum's son, [[Omortag]], arranged a peace with the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="BH">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}<br />* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Hellas, Byzantium|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios}}</ref>

[[File:The seizure of Edessa in Syria by the Byzantine army and the Arabic counterattack from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The seizure of [[Edessa]] (1031) by the Byzantines under [[George Maniakes]] and the counterattack by the [[Seljuk Turks]]|alt=Depiction of an army attacking a walled town]]

The 8th and 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over [[iconoclasm]]. [[Icon]]s were banned by Leo and Constantine, leading to revolts by [[iconodule]]s (supporters of icons) throughout the empire. After the efforts of [[Byzantine Empress Irene|Empress Irene]], the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] met in 787, and affirmed that icons could be venerated but not worshipped. Irene is said to have endeavored to negotiate a marriage between herself and [[Charlemagne]], but, according to [[Theophanes the Confessor]], the scheme was frustrated by Aetios, one of her favourites.<ref name="G89">L. Garland, ''Byzantine Empresses'', 89</ref> In 813 [[Leo V the Armenian]] restored the policy of iconoclasm, but in 843 [[Theodora (9th century)|Empress Theodora]] restored the veneration of the icons with the help of [[Ecumenical Patriarch Methodios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Methodios]].<ref name="P11">K. Parry, ''Depicting the Word'', 11–15</ref> Iconoclasm played its part in the further alienation of East from West, which worsened during the so-called [[Photian Schism]], when [[Pope Nicholas I]] challenged [[Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople|Photios]]' elevation to the patriarchate.

After Constantine VIII's death in 1028, his daughters, the empresses [[Zoe Porphyrogenita|Zoe]] ({{reign|1028|1052|link=no}}) and [[Theodora Porphyrogenita|Theodora]] ({{reign|1042|1056|link=no}}), held the keys to power: four emperors ([[Romanos III Argyros|Romanos III]], [[Michael IV the Paphlagonian|Michael IV]], [[Michael V Kalaphates|Michael V]], and [[Constantine IX Monomachos|Constantine IX]]) ruled only because of their connection to Zoe, while [[Michael VI Bringas|Michael VI]] ({{reign|1056|1057|link=no}}) was selected by Theodora.{{sfnm|Magdalino|2002|1pp=202–203|Holmes|2008|2pp=271–272|Angold|2009|3pp=587–588|Kaldellis|2023|4pp=588–589}} This political instability, regular budget deficits, a series of expensive military failures, and other problems connected to over-extension led to substantial issues in the empire;{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=590, 593|Magdalino|2002|2pp=181–182|Angold|2009|3pp=587–598}} its strategic focus moved from maintaining its hegemony to prioritising defence.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|p=602}}

The empire soon came under sustained assault on three fronts, from the [[Byzantine–Seljuk wars|Seljuk Turks in the east]], the [[Pechenegs|Pecheneg nomads]] in the north, and the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|Normans in the west]]. The Byzantine army struggled to confront these enemies, who did not organise themselves as traditional states, and were thus untroubled by defeats in set-piece battles.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1pp=272–273|Magdalino|2002|2p=182|Kaldellis|2023|3p=636}} In 1071 [[Bari]], the last remaining Byzantine settlement in Italy, was [[Siege of Bari|captured by the Normans]], while the Seljuks won a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], taking the emperor [[Romanos IV Diogenes]] prisoner.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=273|Magdalino|2002|2pp=184–185, 189}} The latter event sparked a decade-long civil war, and as a result the Seljuks took possession of Anatolia up to the [[Sea of Marmara]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=629–637|Angold|2009|2pp=609–610}}

==Macedonian dynasty and resurgence==

The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the [[Macedonian dynasty|Macedonian]] emperors of the late 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, when it gained control over the [[Adriatic Sea]], southern Italy, and all of the territory of the [[Bulgaria]]n [[tsar]] [[Samuil of Bulgaria|Samuel]]. The cities of the empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the new-found security. The population of rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage [[trade]]. Culturally, there was considerable growth in education and learning. Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. [[Byzantine art]] flourished, and brilliant [[mosaic]]s graced the interiors of the many new churches.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref> Though the empire was significantly smaller than during the reign of Justinian, it was also stronger, as the remaining territories were less geographically dispersed and more politically and culturally integrated.

=== 1081–1204: Komnenos and Angelos dynasties ===

===Internal developments===

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty|Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty}}

Although traditionally attributed to [[Basil I]] (867–886), initiator of the Macedonian dynasty, the "[[Byzantine renaissance]]" has been more recently ascribed to the reforms of his predecessor, [[Michael III]] (842–867) and his wife's counsellor, the erudite [[Theoktistos]]. The latter in particular favoured culture at the court, and, with a careful financial policy, steadily increased the gold reserves of the Empire. The rise of the Macedonian dynasty coincided with internal developments which strengthened the religious unity of the empire.<ref>Treadgold, Warren ''The Byzantine Revival'', September 1991</ref> The [[iconoclast]] movement was experiencing a steep decline: this favoured its soft suppression by the emperors and the reconciliation of the religious strife that had drained the imperial resources in the previous centuries. Despite occasional tactical defeats, the administrative, legislative, cultural and economic situation continued to improve under Basil's successors, especially with [[Romanos I|Romanos I Lekapenos]] (920–944). The [[Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)|theme]] system reached its definitive form in this period. The church establishment began to loyally support the imperial cause, and the power of the landowning class was limited in favour of agricultural small holders, who made up an important part of the military force of the Empire. These favourable conditions contributed to the increasing ability of the emperors to wage war against the Arabs.

One prominent general, [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios&nbsp;I]], usurped the throne in 1081. In contrast to the prior turmoil, the three reigns of Alexios ({{reign|1081|1118}}), his son [[John II Komnenos|John&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|1118|1143|link=no}}), and his grandson [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel&nbsp;I]] ({{reign|1143|1180|link=no}}) lasted a century and [[Komnenian restoration|restored the empire's regional authority]] for the final time.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1pp=273–274|Angold|2009|2p=611}} Alexios immediately faced the Normans under [[Robert Guiscard]] and [[Byzantine–Norman wars#First Norman invasion of the Balkans (1081–1085)|repelled them through warfare and diplomacy]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=639–642|Holmes|2008|2p=275|Magdalino|2002|3p=190}} He then targeted the Pechenegs and [[Battle of Levounion|decisively defeated them in 1091]] with help from the [[Cumans]], who were in turn defeated three years later.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=642–644|Holmes|2008|2p=275|Angold|2009|3pp=611–612}} Finally, looking to recover Asia Minor from the Seljuks, he approached [[Pope Urban II|Pope Urban&nbsp;II]] for help {{circa|1095}}. He did not anticipate the scale of western Christendom's response—the [[First Crusade]] led to the recapture of western Anatolia, although Alexios and its leaders soon fell out.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=275|Magdalino|2002|2p=190|Angold|2009|3pp=621–623}} The rest of his reign was spent [[Treaty of Devol|dealing with the Normans]] and Seljuks, establishing a new, loyal aristocracy to ensure stability, and carrying out fiscal and ecclesiastical reforms.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1pp=274–275|Angold|2009|2pp=612–613, 619–621, 623–625|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=645–647, 659–663}}

[[File:Comnenus mosaics Hagia Sophia.jpg|thumb|A [[mosaic]] from the [[Hagia Sophia]] of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), depicting [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] and [[Jesus]], flanked by [[John II Komnenos|John&nbsp;II Komnenos]] (left) and his wife [[Irene of Hungary]] (right), 12th century|alt=A mosaic depicting a haloed woman holding a baby, flanked by a man and woman, both crowned and haloed]]

===Wars against the Muslims===

Alexios' concentration of power in the hands of his [[Komnenos dynasty]] meant the most serious political threats came from within the imperial family—before his coronation, John&nbsp;II had to overcome [[Irene Doukaina|his mother Irene]] and [[Anna Komnene|his sister Anna]], and the primary threat during his reign was [[Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)|his brother Isaac]].{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=274|Magdalino|2009|2pp=629–630}} John campaigned annually and extensively—he fought the Pechenegs in 1122, the [[Byzantine–Hungarian War (1127–1129)|Hungarians in the late 1120s]], and the Seljuks throughout his reign, waging [[Byzantine–Seljuk wars#Byzantine counter-attack: 1118–1180|large campaigns in Syria]] in his final years—but he did not achieve large territorial gains.{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=275|Magdalino|2009|2pp=631–633|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=664–670}} In 1138, John raised the imperial standard over the Crusader [[Principality of Antioch]] to intimidate the city into allying with the Byzantines, but did not attack, fearing that it would provoke western Christendom to respond.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=669|Holmes|2008|2p=275}}

{{Byzantine culture}}

By 867, the empire had stabilised its position in both the east and the west, while the success of its defensive military structure had enabled the emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east.

Manuel&nbsp;I used his father's overflowing imperial treasury in pursuit of his ambitions, and also to secure the empire's position in an increasingly multilateral geopolitical landscape.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=670, 676–677|Magdalino|2009|2pp=644–646}} Through a combination of [[Byzantine diplomacy|diplomacy and bribery]], he cultivated a ring of allies and clients around the empire: the Turks of the [[Sultanate of Rum]], the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1301)|Kingdom of Hungary]], the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Cilician Armenians]], Balkan princes, Italian and Dalmatian cities, and most importantly Antioch and the [[Crusader States]], marrying [[Maria of Antioch|one of their princesses]] in 1161.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=678, 683–688|Holmes|2008|2pp=275–276}} Manuel averted the threat of war during the tumultuous passage of the [[Second Crusade]] through Byzantine territories in 1147, but the campaign's failure was blamed on the Byzantines by western contemporaries.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=679–681|Magdalino|2009|2pp=637–638}} He was less successful militarily: an invasion of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] was decisively defeated by [[William I of Sicily|King William&nbsp;I]] in 1156, leading to tensions with [[Frederick Barbarossa]], the Holy Roman Emperor;{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=682–683|Magdalino|2002|2p=194|Magdalino|2009|3pp=638–641}} two decades later, an invasion of Anatolia was resoundingly defeated at the [[Battle of Myriokephalon]].{{sfnm|Magdalino|2009|1pp=643–644|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=692–693}}

The process of reconquest began with variable fortunes. The temporary reconquest of [[Crete]] (843) was followed by a crushing Byzantine defeat on the [[Bosporus]], while the emperors were unable to prevent the ongoing Muslim conquest of [[Sicily]] (827–902). Using present day [[Tunisia]] as their launching pad, the Muslims conquered [[Palermo]] in 831, [[Messina]] in 842, [[Enna]] in 859, [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in 878, [[Catania]] in 900 and the final Greek stronghold, the fortress of [[Taormina]], in 902.

[[File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 012.jpg|thumb|[[Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople|''The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople'']], by [[Eugène Delacroix]] (1840)|alt=A painting of an army marching into a city gate with much smoke in the background]]

These drawbacks were later counterbalanced by a victorious expedition against [[Damietta]] in Egypt (856), the defeat of the Emir of [[Melitene]] (863), the confirmation of the imperial authority over [[Dalmatia]] (867) and Basil I's offensives towards the [[Euphrates]] (870s).

Manuel's death left the empire rudderless and it soon came under intense pressure.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=695}} His son [[Alexios II Komnenos|Alexios&nbsp;II]] was too young to rule, and his troubled regency was overthrown by his uncle [[Andronikos I Komnenos]]: he was replaced by [[Isaac II Angelos|Isaac&nbsp;II]] in 1185.{{sfnm|Magdalino|2002|1p=194|Holmes|2008|2p=276}} Centrifugal forces swirled at the borders as ambitious rulers seized their chance: Hungary and the Turks captured Byzantine territories, [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|an exiled Komnenian prince]] seized Cyprus; and most injuriously, [[Uprising of Asen and Peter|a revolt in 1185]] caused the foundation of a [[Second Bulgarian Empire|resurrected Bulgarian state]].{{sfnm|Holmes|2008|1p=276|Magdalino|2002|2pp=194–195|Magdalino|2009|3p=655}} Relations with the West deteriorated further after Constantinople allied with [[Saladin]], the vanquisher of the [[Third Crusade]], whose leaders also fought against Byzantium as they passed through its territory.{{sfnm|Magdalino|2002|1pp=195–196|Magdalino|2009|2pp=648–651|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=706–710}} In 1195, Isaac&nbsp;II was deposed by his brother [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios&nbsp;III]]; this quarrel proved fatal.{{sfn|Holmes|2008|p=276}}

The [[Fourth Crusade]] was originally intended to target [[Ayyubid Sultanate|Egypt]], but amid strategic difficulties, Isaac&nbsp;II's son [[Alexios IV Angelos|Alexios Angelos]] convinced the crusaders to restore his father to the throne in exchange for a huge tribute.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=718–720|Magdalino|2009|2pp=651–652}} They [[Siege of Constantinople (1203)|attacked Constantinople in 1203]], reinstating Isaac&nbsp;II and his son to the throne. The new rulers swiftly grew unpopular and were deposed by [[Alexios V Doukas|Alexios V]], an event used by the crusaders as a pretext to [[Sack of Constantinople|sack the city in April 1204]], ransacking the wealth it had accumulated over nine centuries.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=720–724|Magdalino|2009|2pp=652–653}}

The threat from the Muslims was meanwhile reduced by inner struggles and by the rise of the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] in the east. Muslims received assistance however from the [[Paulician]] sect, which had found a large following in the eastern provinces of the Empire and, facing persecution under the Byzantines, often fought under the Arab flag. It took several campaigns to subdue the Paulicians, who were eventually defeated by Basil I.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref>

=== 1204–1453: Palaiologos dynasty ===

In 904, disaster struck the empire when its second city, [[Thessaloniki]], was sacked by an Arab fleet led by a Byzantine renegade. The Byzantines responded by destroying an Arab fleet in 908, and sacking the city of [[Laodicea]] in Syria two years later. Despite this revenge, the Byzantines were still unable to strike a decisive blow against the Muslims, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the imperial forces when they attempted to regain Crete in 911.

{{further|Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty}}

[[File:LatinEmpire2.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The partition of the empire following the [[Fourth Crusade]], {{Circa|1204}}{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1p=280|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=733–734|Reinert|2002|3pp=250–253|Angold|2009b|4p=731}}|alt=A map showing the competing states after the Fourth Crusade.]]

Byzantine territories fragmented into competing political entities. The crusaders crowned [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin&nbsp;I]] as the ruler of a new [[Latin Empire]] in Constantinople; it soon suffered [[Battle of Adrianople (1205)|a crushing defeat]] against the Bulgarians in 1205. It also failed to expand west or east, where three Greek successor states had formed: the [[Empire of Nicaea]] and the [[Empire of Trebizond]] in Asia Minor, and the [[Despotate of Epirus]] on the Adriatic. The Venetians acquired many ports and islands, and the [[Principality of Achaea]] emerged in southern Greece.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1p=280|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=733–734|Reinert|2002|3pp=250–253|Angold|2009b|4p=731}} Trebizond [[Siege of Sinope|lost]] the key port of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] in 1214 and thereafter was unable to affect matters away from the southeastern Black Sea.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=755–758|Angold|2009b|2p=737}} For a time, it seemed that Epirus was the one most likely to reclaim Constantinople from the Latins, and its ruler [[Theodore Komnenos Doukas|Theodore Doukas]] crowned himself emperor, but he suffered a critical defeat at the [[Battle of Klokotnitsa]] in 1230, and Epirote power waned.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1p=283|Reinert|2002|2p=254|Angold|2009b|3pp=737–738|Kaldellis|2023|4pp=766–770}}

Nicaea, ruled by the [[Laskaris|Laskarid dynasty]] and composed of a mixture of Byzantine refugees and native Greeks, blocked the Latins and the Seljuks of Rum from expanding east and west respectively.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1p=253|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=760–762}} [[John III Doukas Vatatzes|John&nbsp;III]] ({{reign|1221|1254}}) was a very capable emperor.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=771|Laiou|2008|2pp=282–283}} His [[protectionist]] economic policies strongly encouraged Nicaean [[Autarky|self-sufficiency]],{{sfnm|Angold|2009b|1p=740|Laiou|2008|2pp=282–283|Kaldellis|2023|3p=772}} and he made many diplomatic treaties, especially after [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] armies [[Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia|ravaged Bulgaria]] and [[Battle of Köse Dağ|defeated Rum]] between 1237 and 1243. This chaos was an opportunity for John, and he fought many successful campaigns against the states disrupted by the [[Mongol invasions]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=774–781|Reinert|2002|2p=254}} Soon after his death, [[John IV Laskaris|his grandson]] was usurped by [[Michael VIII Palaiologos|Michael VIII]], founder of the [[Palaiologos|Palaiologos dynasty]], who [[Reconquest of Constantinople|recaptured Constantinople]] in 1261.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1p=283|Reinert|2002|2p=254}}

The situation on the border with the Arab territories remained fluid, with the Byzantines alternatively on the offensive or defensive. [[The Rus]], who appeared near Constantinople [[Rus'-Byzantine War (860)|for the first time in 860]], constituted another new challenge. In 941 [[Rus'-Byzantine War (941)|they appeared on the Asian shore]] of the Bosporus, but this time they were crushed, showing the improvements in the Byzantine military position after 907, when [[Rus'-Byzantine Treaty (907)|only diplomacy had been able to push back the invaders]]. The vanquisher of the Rus was the famous general [[John Kourkouas]], who continued the offensive with other noteworthy victories in Mesopotamia (943): these culminated in the reconquest of [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] (944), which was especially celebrated for the return to Constantinople of the venerated ''[[Mandylion]]''.

Michael desired to restore the empire's glory through a rebuilding programme in Constantinople, clever diplomatic alliances, and expansionist wars in Europe.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=256–257|Laiou|2008|2p=286}} He staved off the threatening [[Charles I of Anjou]] first by recognising papal primacy and certain Catholic doctrines at the 1274 [[Second Council of Lyon]], and then by aiding the [[Sicilian Vespers]] against Charles in 1282.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=257–258|Laiou|2009|2pp=803–804}} However, his religious concessions were despised by most of the populace, and were repudiated by his successor [[Andronikos II Palaiologos|Andronikos&nbsp;II]] ({{reign|1282|1328}}).{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=258|Laiou|2008|2p=287}} He and his grandson [[Andronikos III Palaiologos|Andronikos&nbsp;III]] ({{reign|1328|1341}}) led several campaigns to restore imperial influence, succeeding in Epirus and Thessaly. They also made several critical mistakes, including dismissing the fleet in 1285, hiring the mercenary [[Catalan Company]], who turned on the Byzantines, in the 1300s, and fighting each other between 1320 and 1328.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1pp=287–288|Reinert|2002|2pp=260–263|Kaldellis|2023|3p=847}} A disastrous civil war between 1341 and 1354 caused long-term economic difficulties, while the [[Ottoman Turks]] gradually expanded.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1pp=289–290|Reinert|2002|2pp=265–268}}

The soldier emperors [[Nikephoros II Phokas]] (reigned 963–969) and [[John I Tzimiskes]] (969–976) expanded the empire well into [[Syria]], defeating the emirs of north-west [[Iraq]] and reconquering [[Crete]] and [[Cyprus]]. At one point under John, the empire's armies even threatened [[Jerusalem]], far to the south. The emirate of [[Aleppo]] and its neighbours became vassals of the empire in the east, where the greatest threat to the empire was the Egyptian [[Fatimid]] kingdom.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref>

[[File:Le siège de Constantinople (1453) by Jean Le Tavernier after 1455.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Fall of Constantinople|siege of Constantinople]] in 1453, depicted in a 15th-century French miniature|alt=A painting of a siege of a city]]

===Wars against the Bulgarians===

The diminished and weak Byzantine state only survived for another century through effective diplomacy and fortunately timed external events.{{sfn|Laiou|2008|p=291}} The Ottomans gradually subjugated Anatolia and simultaneously expanded into Europe from 1354, taking [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] in 1363, [[Adrianopolis]] in 1369, and [[Thessalonica]] in 1387.{{sfnm|Laiou|2008|1p=291|Reinert|2002|2pp=268–269}} Emperors were crowned and deposed at the whim of the Venetians, Genoese, and Ottomans.{{sfn|Laiou|2009|p=829}} After [[Manuel II Palaiologos|Manuel II]] ({{reign|1391|1425}}) refused to pay homage to Sultan [[Bayezid I]] in 1394, [[Siege of Constantinople (1394–1402)|Constantinople was besieged]] until the rampaging warlord [[Timur]] decisively [[Battle of Ankara|defeated Bayezid]] in 1402, with the city perilously close to surrender.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=273–274|Laiou|2009|2pp=831–832|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=887–889}}

[[Image:Basilios II.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer (976–1025).]]

Manuel II oversaw two decades of peace while the [[Ottoman Interregnum|Ottomans convulsed in civil war]].{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=274–276|Laiou|2008|2p=292|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=892–894}} In 1421, his unsuccessful backing of the claimant [[Mustafa Çelebi]] led to a [[Siege of Constantinople (1422)|renewed Turkish assault]].{{sfn|Reinert|2002|p=276}} Although [[John VIII Palaiologos|John VIII]] ({{reign|1425|1448}}) reconciled with the Catholic West at the [[Council of Florence]], his empire steadily diminished.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=278–279|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=903–908}} In 1452, Sultan [[Mehmed II]] resolved to capture Constantinople, and laid siege early the following year. On 29 May 1453, [[Fall of Constantinople|the city was captured]], the last emperor, [[Constantine XI Palaiologos|Constantine XI]], died in battle, and the Byzantine Empire ended.{{sfnm|Reinert|2002|1pp=280–283|Laiou|2008|2pp=292–293|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=910–914}}

The traditional struggle with the [[Holy See|See of Rome]] continued, spurred by the question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianized Bulgaria. This prompted an invasion by the powerful tsar [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I]] in 894, but this was pushed back by the Byzantine diplomacy, which called on the help of the Hungarians. The Byzantines were in turn defeated, however, at the [[Battle of Bulgarophygon]] (896), and obliged to pay annual subsides to the Bulgars. Later (912) Simeon even had the Byzantines grant him the crown of ''basileus'' of Bulgaria and had the young emperor [[Constantine VII]] marry one of his daughters. When a revolt in Constantinople halted his dynastic project, he again invaded Thrace and conquered [[Edirne|Adrianople]].<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref>

== Structures of the state ==

A great imperial expedition under [[Leo Phokas]] and [[Romanos I|Romanos Lekapenos]] ended again with a crushing Byzantine defeat at the [[Battle of Anchialus]] (917), and the following year the Bulgars were free to ravage northern Greece up to [[Corinth]]. Adrianople was captured again in 923 and in 924 a Bulgar army laid siege to Constantinople. The situation in the Balkans improved only after Simeon's death in 927.

{{Multiple image

| footer =

| align = right

| direction = vertical

| image1 = Byzantine Empire Themata-750-en.svg

| width1 = 220

| alt1 = A map centred on Turkey. From west to east and north to south with the corresponding colours in brackets; are the themes of Opsikion (light purple), Thracesians (light grey), Cibyrrhaeots (light green), Optimatoi (green), Anatolic (brown), Bucellarians (orange) and Armeniacs (purple). On the map are marked the major rivers; the Aegean, Black and Mediterranean Seas; the cities of Ephesos, Constantinople, Ancyra, Tarsus, Adana, Antioch and Edessa; and the islands of Samos, Crete and Cyprus.

| caption1 = The ''themes'' of Asia Minor, {{Circa|750}}

| image2 = Byzantine Empire Themata-950-en.svg

| width2 = 220

| alt2 = A map centred on Turkey. From west to east and north to south with the corresponding colours in brackets; are the themes of Opsikion (light purple), Samos (dark grey), Thracesians (light grey), Cibyrrhaeots (light green), Optimatoi (dark grey), Anatolic and Seleucia (brown), Bucellarians (orange), Paphlagonia (navy blue), Cappadocia (green), Charsianon (pink), Armeniacs (purple), Lycandus and Mesopotamia (brown), Sebastea (blue), Koloneia (dark green) and Chaldia (light blue). On the map are marked the major rivers; the Aegean, Black and Mediterranean Seas; the cities of Ephesos, Constantinople, Ancyra, Tarsus, Adana, Antioch and Edessa; and the islands of Crete and Cyprus.

| caption2 = The ''themes'' of Asia Minor, {{Circa|950|lk=off}}

}}

=== Governance ===

Under the emperor [[Basil II]] (reigned 976–1025), the Bulgars, who had conquered much of the Balkans from the Byzantines since their arrival three hundred years previously, became the target of annual campaigns by the Byzantine army. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years, but eventually at the [[Battle of Kleidon]] the Bulgars were completely defeated.<ref name=Angold>Angold, Michael, ''The Byzantine Empire 1025–1204''</ref> The Bulgarian army was captured, and it is said that 99 out of every 100 men were blinded, with the remaining hundredth man left with one eye so as to lead his compatriots home. When tsar [[Samuil of Bulgaria|Samuel]] saw the broken remains of his once gallant army, he died of shock. In 1018 Bulgaria surrendered and became part of the empire. This stunning victory restored the [[Danube]] frontier, which had not been held since the days of the emperor Heraclius.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref>

{{See also|Coronation of the Byzantine emperor|Subdivisions of the Byzantine Empire}}

Diocletian and Constantine's 4th-century reforms reorganised the empire's provinces into overarching [[Roman diocese|Dioceses]] and then into [[Praetorian prefecture]]'s, separating the army from the civil administration.{{sfnm|Louth|2005|1pp=306–308|Treadgold|1997b|2pp=82–83}} The central government, led by the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] from the time of the earlier [[pax romana]] and into the late [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|Palaiologan era]], typically focused on the military, foreign relations, administering the law, and collecting taxes.{{sfnm|Browning|1992|1p=98|Stewart|2022|2pp=10-11}} The [[Byzantine senate|senate]] evolved into a ceremonial body within the imperial court.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=35|Howard-Johnston|2024|2p=8|Browning|1992|3p=98}}

Cities had been a collection of self-governing communities with central government and church representatives from the 5th century.{{sfnm|Browning|1992|1p=98|Kaldellis|2023|2p=185}} However, constant warfare significantly altered this, as regular raids and ongoing conflict led to power centralising due to the empire's fight for survival.{{sfnm|Browning|1992|1p=98|Howard-Johnston|2024|2p=67|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=397, 407–409}} After the 7th century, the prefectures were abandoned, and in the 9th century, the provinces were divided into administrative units called [[Theme (Byzantine district)|''themes'' (or ''themata'')]], governed solely by a military commander (''[[strategos]]'').{{sfnm|Louth|2005|1p=303|Treadgold|1997b|2pp=430–431|Kaldellis|2023|3pp=418, 421}}

The empire also gained a new ally at this time in the new [[Varangian]] state in [[Kiev]], from which the empire received an important mercenary force, the famous [[Varangian Guard]], in exchange for the marriage of Basil's sister Anna to [[Vladimir I of Kiev]].<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref> Basil II also had relatives marry leaders of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].

===Triumph Law ===

{{Main|Byzantine law}}

[[Image:ByzantineEmpire1025AD2lightpurple.PNG|thumb|310px|The Byzantine Empire under [[Basil II]], ''c.'' 1025.]]

Theodosius II ({{reign|402|450|link=no}}) formalised [[Roman law]] by appointing five jurists as principal authorities and compiling legislation issued since Constantine's reign into the [[Codex Theodosianus]].{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|Stein|1999|Kaiser|2015|1p=168|3p=120|2pp=14, 16, 28}} This process culminated in the ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]'' under Justinian&nbsp;I ({{reign|527|565|link=no}}), who commissioned a complete standardisation of imperial decrees since Hadrian's time and resolved conflicting legal opinions of the jurists.{{sfnm|Gregory|2010|Stein|1999|1p=135|2pp=33–35|Dingledy|2019|3pp=2–14|Kaiser|2015|4pp=123–126}} The result became the definitive legal authority. This body of law covered [[Civil law (legal system)|civil matters]] and also [[public law]], including imperial power and administrative organisation.{{sfnm|Stein|1999|1p=8|2a1=Merryman|2a2=Pérez-Perdomo|2y=2007|2p=21}} After 534, Justinian issued the [[Novellae Constitutiones|Novellae (New Laws)]] in Greek, which marked a transition from Roman to Byzantine law. Legal historian Bernard Stolte distinguishes Roman law as this because Western Europe inherited law through the Latin texts of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' only.{{sfnm|Stolte|2015|1pp=356, 370|Stolte|2018|2pp=231–232}}

The Byzantine Empire now stretched from [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Armenia]] in the east, to [[Calabria]] in [[Southern Italy]] in the west.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref> Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of [[Bulgaria]], to the annexation of [[Georgia(country)|Georgia]] and [[Armenia]], to the total annihilation of an invading force of Egyptians outside [[Antioch]]. Yet even these victories were not enough; Basil considered the continued [[Arab]] occupation of [[Sicily]] to be an outrage. Accordingly, he planned to reconquer the island, which had belonged to the empire for over three hundred years (c.550–c.900). However, his death in 1025 put an end to the project.<ref name=Norwich>Norwich, John, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref>

Zachary Chitwood argues that the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' was largely inaccessible in Latin, particularly in the provinces.{{sfn|Chitwood|2017|p=23}} Following the 7th-century Arab conquests, people began questioning the development and application of law, leading to stronger ties between law and Christianity.{{sfn|Chitwood|2017|p=185}} This context influenced Leo&nbsp;III ({{Reign|717|741|link=no}}) to develop the ''[[Ecloga]]'', which placed an emphasis on humanity.{{sfnm|Chitwood|2017|1p=185|Nicol|1988|2pp=23–24|2p=65}} The Ecloga inspired practical legal texts like the ''Farmers' Law, Seamen's Law,'' and ''Soldiers' Law'', which Chitwood suggests were used daily in the provinces as companions to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis''.{{sfn|Chitwood|2017|pp=23, 132, 364}} During the Macedonian dynasty, efforts to reform law began with the publication of the ''Procheiron'' and the ''Eisagoge'', which aimed to define the emperor's power under prevailing laws, and to replace the ''Ecloga'' due to its association with [[iconoclasm]].{{sfnm|Browning|1992|Kaldellis|2023|Chitwood|2017|1p=97|2p=529|3pp=25–32, 44}} Leo VI ({{Reign|886|912|link=no}}) completed a [[Codification (law)|complete codification]] of Roman law in Greek through the ''[[Basilika]]'', a work of 60 books which became the foundation of Byzantine law.{{sfnm|Browning|1992|Chitwood|2017|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=97–98|2pp=32–35|3p=529}} In 1345, Constantine Harmenopoulos compiled the ''[[Constantine Harmenopoulos|Hexabiblos]]'', a six-volume law book derived from various Byzantine legal sources.{{sfn|Stein|1999|p=35}}

The 11th century was also momentous for its religious events. In 1054, relations between Greek-speaking Eastern and Latin-speaking Western traditions within the Christian Church reached a terminal crisis. Although there was a formal declaration of institutional separation, on [[July 16]], when three papal legates entered the Hagia Sophia during [[Divine Liturgy]] on a Saturday afternoon and placed a [[papal bull|bull]] of [[excommunication]] on the altar, the so-called [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] was actually the culmination of centuries of gradual separation. Although the schism was brought about by doctrinal disputes (in particular, Eastern refusal to accept the Western Church doctrine of the ''[[filioque]]'', or double procession of the [[Holy Spirit]]), disputes over administration and political issues had simmered for centuries. The formal separation of the Byzantine [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] and the Western [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] would have wide ranging consequences for the future of Byzantium.

==Crisis= Christianity and fragmentationthe Church ===

{{Main|Christianity as the Roman state religion}}

[[Image:Romanos et Eudoxie.JPG|thumb|Diptych of Romanos and [[Eudocia Macrembolitissa]] crowned by Christ ([[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], [[Paris]]).]]

{{see|History of Christianity|History of the Eastern Orthodox Church#Byzantine period|History of the Jews in the Byzantine Empire}}

Byzantium soon fell into a period of difficulties, caused to a large extent by the undermining of the theme system and the neglect of [[Tagma (military)|tagmata]]. Nikephoros II, John Tzimiskes and Basil II changed the tagmata from a rapid response, primarily defensive, citizen army into a professional, campaigning army, increasingly manned by mercenaries. Mercenaries, however, were expensive and as the threat of invasion receded in the 10th century, so did the need for maintaining large garrisons and expensive fortifications.<ref>W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 548–549</ref> Basil II left a burgeoning treasury upon his death, but neglected to plan for his succession. None of his immediate successors had any particular military or political talent and the administration of the Empire increasingly fell into the hands of the civil service. Efforts to revive the Byzantine economy only resulted in inflation and a debased gold coinage. The army was now seen as both an unnecessary expense and a political threat. Therefore, native troops were cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract.<ref name="PM">P. Markham, [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm The Battle of Manzikert]</ref>

Christianity, bolstered by [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s support, began shaping all aspects of life in the early Byzantine Empire.{{sfnm|Papaconstantinou|2016|1p=xxxii|Cameron|2016|2p=31|Cameron|2006b|3pp=544-551|Drake|2007|4pp=418, 422|Greatrex|2008|5p=236}} Despite the transition, the historian Anthony Kaldellis views Christianity as "bringing no economic, social, or political changes to the state other than being more deeply integrated into it".{{sfn|Kaldellis|2023|pp=141, 186, 342}} When the Roman state in the West collapsed politically, cultural differences began to divide the Christian churches of the East and West.{{sfnm|Brown|1976|1p=8|Löhr|2007|2p=9}} Internal disputes within the Eastern churches led to the migration of monastic communities to Rome, exacerbating tensions between Rome and Constantinople.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=390|Cameron|2017|2at=A United Church, chapter 1}} These disputes,{{efn|[[Arianism]], one of the first major controversies, shook the empire until it was addressed by the [[Nicene Creed]].{{sfnm|1a1=Berndt|1a2=Steinacher|1y=2014|1pp=1-2, 8-19|2a1=Löhr|2y=2007|2p=14}} Other controversies persisted, leading to schisms, such as debates on the fundamental definitions of Christ's nature at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451.{{sfnm|Sabo|2018|1pp=vi, 9|Löhr|2007|2pp=14–23}}}} particularly in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, eventually split the church into three branches: [[Chalcedonian Christianity|Chalcedonian]], Monophysite (Coptic), and [[Church of the East|Nestorian]].{{sfnm|Adams|2021|1p=366|Micheau|2006|2pp=373, 375}} The Chalcedonian group maintained dominance within the empire's territories, while the Monophysite and Nestorian branches largely fell under Muslim rule in the 7th century.{{sfn|Micheau|2006|pp=373-374, 376}}

[[Image:Italy 1000 AD.svg|thumb|left|Map of Italy on the eve of the arrival of the Normans.]]

At the same time, the Empire was faced with new, ambitious enemies. Byzantine provinces in southern Italy faced the [[Normans]], who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. The allied forces of [[Melus of Bari]] and the Normans were defeated at the [[Battle of Cannae (1018)|Battle of Cannae]] in 1018, and two decades later [[Michael IV the Paphlagonian]] equipped an expedition for the reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs. Although the campaign was initially successful, the reconquest of Sicily was not accomplished, mainly because [[George Maniaces]], the commander of the Byzantine forces, was recalled, when he was suspected of having ambitious schemes. During a period of strife between Byzantium and Rome which ended in the [[East-West Schism]] of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy.<ref>A. Vasiliev, [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P17.HTM Relations with Italy and Western Europe]</ref>

Eastern patriarchs frequently sought the Papacy's mediation in doctrinal and practical matters, but the pope's authority was not universally acknowledged, even in nearby regions like Northern Italy.{{sfnm|Nicholson|1960|1pp=54, 60|2a1=Casiday| 2a2=Norris|2y=2007a|2p=3}} By 600, the Slavic settlement of the Balkans disrupted communication between Rome and Constantinople, further widening the divide.{{Sfnm|Louth|2008|1p=47|Kolbaba|2008|2pp=214-215}} The Arab and Lombard invasions, and the increased [[Franks|Frankish]] presence, deepened this estrangement and intensified disputes over jurisdiction and authority between the two spiritual centres.{{Sfn|Kolbaba|2008|pp=213–215, 218-221}} Differences in ritual and theology, such as the use of [[Azymite|unleavened bread]] and the [[Filioque|Filioque clause]], as well as divergences in ecclesiology—[[plenitudo potestatis]] versus the authority of [[Ecumenical Councils]]—and issues of mutual respect, contributed to the separation of Western Christianity from Eastern Christianity.{{Sfnm|Meyendorff|1979|1pp=95,97 101|Kolbaba|2008|2p=223}} This separation began by 597 and culminated in 1054 during the [[East–West Schism]].{{Sfnm|Brown|2008|1p=13|Kolbaba|2008|2p=223}}

It was in Asia Minor, however, that the greatest disaster would take place. The [[Seljuq Turks]] made their first explorations across the Byzantine frontier into Armenia in 1065 and in 1067. The emergency lent weight to the military aristocracy in Anatolia who, in 1068, secured the election of one of their own, [[Romanos IV|Romanos Diogenes]], as emperor. In the summer of 1071, Romanos undertook a massive eastern campaign to draw the Seljuks into a general engagement with the Byzantine army. At [[Battle of Manzikert|Manzikert]] Romanos not only suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of [[Sultan]] [[Alp Arslan]], but was also captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect, and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines.<ref name="PM" /> In Constantinople, however, a coup took place in favor of [[Michael VII Doukas|Michael Doukas]], who soon faced the opposition of [[Nikephoros Bryennios]] and [[Nikephoros III|Nikephoros Botaneiates]]. By 1081 the Seljuks expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to [[Bithynia]] in the west and founded their capital in Nicea.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica|date=2002}}<br />* P. Markham, [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm The Battle of Manzikert]</ref>

== Warfare ==

==Komnenian dynasty and the crusaders==

===Military evolution===

===Alexios I and the First Crusade===

{{Main|Eastern Roman army|Byzantine army|Byzantine navy}}

{{details|Alexios I Komnenos}}

In the late 6th century, following Justinian I's wars, seven mobile [[field armies]] called ''[[comitatenses]]'', numbering around 150,000 troops, were deployed around the empire; they remained the finest armies in Europe.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1995|1pp=63–64, 206|Haldon|1999|2p=67}} They were aided by twenty-five frontier garrisons of approximately 195,000 lower-quality ''[[limitanei]]'' troops.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1995|1pp=63, 204|Haldon|1999|2p=67|Decker|2013|3p=71}} Additional troops included [[Foederati|subsidised allied forces]] and [[imperial guard|imperial guard units]] like the ''[[Scholae Palatinae]]''.{{sfn|Haldon|1999|p=68}} Naval forces were limited: [[flotilla]]s were based at key locations, while 30,000 oarsmen were assembled to row 500, mostly requisitioned, [[Maritime transport|transports]] to support the [[Vandalic War]] in Africa in 533.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1995|1pp=63–64|Haldon|1999|2pp=68–69|Haldon|2008b|3p=554}}

{{see also|First Crusade}} ''[[Byzantine-Seljuk Wars]]''

[[Image:Byzantium1081AD.PNG|right|thumb|The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Alexios I Komnenos, ''c.'' 1081]]

After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the [[Komnenian restoration]]) was made possible by the efforts of the [[Komnenos|Komnenian dynasty]].<ref name="M124">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 124</ref> The first emperor of this royal line was [[Isaac I Komnenos|Isaac I]] (1057–1059) and the second Alexios I. At the very outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack by the Normans under [[Robert Guiscard]] and his son [[Bohemund I of Antioch|Bohemund of Taranto]], who captured [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)|Dyrrhachium]] and [[Corfu]], and laid siege to [[Larissa]] in [[Thessaly]]. Robert Guiscard's death in 1085 temporarily eased the Norman problem. The following year the Seljuq sultan died, and the sultanate was split by internal rivalries. By his own efforts, Alexios defeated the [[Pechenegs]]; they were caught by surprise and annihilated at the [[Battle of Levounion]] on [[28 April]], [[1091]].<ref name="Br" />

The losses suffered in the 7th-century [[Early Muslim conquests|Arab conquests]] led to fundamental changes.{{sfnm|Haldon|1999|1p=74|Decker|2013|2p=74}} The field armies were withdrawn into the core Anatolian territories and assigned to settle in specific districts, which became known as ''themata'' and eventually replaced the [[Roman province#Late imperial period|old provinces]].{{sfnm|Treadgold|1995|1p=23|Haldon|2008b|2pp=554–555}} The thematic armies, supported by the proceeds of their districts, came to resemble a provincial [[militia]] with a small professional core, aided by foreign mercenaries and imperial regiments at Constantinople.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1pp=555–556|Kaldellis|2021a|2p=463}} To defend against [[Early Caliphate navy|its new Muslim enemy]], the navy was similarly reorganised into several provincialised fleets.{{sfnm|Haldon|1999|1p=74|Haldon|2008b|2p=559}} It became the dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean, with [[dromon]]s equipped with [[Greek fire]] proving crucial on several occasions.{{sfnm|Decker|2013|1pp=207–208, 222–224|Kaldellis|2021a|2p=463|Howard-Johnston|2008|3p=947}}

Having acheived stability in the West, Alexios could turn his attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration of the empire's traditional defences.<ref name=Birkenmeier>Birkenmeier, J, ''The development of the Komnenian army, 1081–1180''</ref> However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in [[Asia Minor]], and to advance against the Seljuks. At the [[Council of Piacenza]] in 1095, Alexios' envoys spoke to [[Pope Urban II]] about the suffering of the Christians of the East, and underscored that without help from the West they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexius' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and enhance papal power.<ref name=Harris>J. Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades''<br />* P.P. Read, ''The Templars'', 124<br />* B.A. Watson, ''Sieges'', 12</ref> On [[27 November]], [[1095]], [[Pope Urban II]] called together the [[Council of Clermont]], and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the [[Christian cross|Cross]] and launch an armed [[pilgrimage]] to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in [[Western Europe]] was overwhelming.<ref name="Br" />

As the 8th-century empire stabilised, the thematic militias proved rebellious and only suitable for defensive operations.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2021a|1p=463|Treadgold|1995|2pp=25, 209|Decker|2013|3pp=77–78}} The professional ''[[Tagma (military)|tagmata]]'' regiments, first introduced in the mid-700s and consisting of native Byzantine units alongside foreign forces such as the [[Varangian Guard]], had completely replaced them by the 11th century.{{sfnm|Haldon|1999|1p=92|Decker|2013|2pp=78–82}} The mobile ''tagmata'', suitable for offensive warfare, evolved new tactical and strategic structures;{{sfn|Haldon|2008b|p=556}} the late 10th-century army, perhaps the highest-quality force the empire produced, numbered approximately 140,000, up from below 100,000 in the late 700s.{{sfnm|Treadgold|1995|1p=67|Kaldellis|2021a|2p=463|Kaldellis|2023|3p=562}} However, its defensive capacities were neglected, especially during the 11th-century civil wars, leading to the loss of Anatolia to the Seljuks.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1p=557|Treadgold|1995|2pp=214–218}} The navy had also been reduced, as the empire increasingly relied on potentially hostile powers such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]].{{sfn|Haldon|2008b|p=560}}

[[Image:Histamenon nomisma-Alexius I-sb1776.jpg|thumb|left|The very brief first coinage of the [[Thessaloniki]] mint, which Alexios opened as he passed through in September 1081 on his way to confront the invading Normans under Robert Guiscard.]]

Post-1081 reforms re-established an effective army; the institution of [[feudal]]-like ''[[pronoia]]'' grants provided revenue to individuals in exchange for soldiers.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1p=557|Kaldellis|2021a|2p=464|Bartusis|1997|3pp=5–6}} The new army heavily relied on foreign mercenaries alongside indigenous Byzantine troops, but the financial demands of a standing army proved too much for the Byzantine state, which succumbed to the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1p=557|Bartusis|1997|2pp=5–7|Decker|2013|3p=82}} The [[Byzantine army (Palaiologan era)|army of the Palaiologan dynasty]], which retook Constantinople in 1261, was generally composed of a similar mix of mercenaries and indigenous troops, but it had lost all offensive capability by the late 1200s.{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1pp=557–558|Decker|2013|2pp=82–83}} The empire's continued survival depended on foreign armies; attempts in the 1340s to rebuild the fleet, unwisely disbanded in 1284, were forcibly halted by [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]].{{sfnm|Haldon|2008b|1pp=558–560|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=812, 860–861}} No post-1204 Byzantine field army fielded more than 5,000 troops, and less than 8,000 defended [[Fall of Constantinople|the final siege of Constantinople]] in 1453.{{sfnm|Decker|2013|1p=40|Haldon|2008b|2p=559}}

Alexios had anticipated help in the form of mercenary forces from the West, but was totally unprepared for the immense and undisciplined force which soon arrived in Byzantine territory. It was no comfort to Alexius to learn that four of the eight leaders of the main body of the Crusade were Normans, among them Bohemund. Since the crusade had to pass through Constantinople, however, the Emperor had some control over it. He required its leaders to swear to restore to the empire any towns or territories they might conquer from the Turks on their way to the Holy Land. In return, he gave them guides and a military escort.<ref name=A261>Anna Komnene, ''The Alexiad'', X, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/AnnaComnena-Alexiad10.html 261]</ref> Alexios was able to recover a number of important cities and islands, and in fact much of western Asia Minor. Nevertheless, the crusaders believed their oaths were invalidated when Alexios did not help them during the siege of [[Antioch]] (he had in fact set out on the road to Antioch, but had been persuaded to turn back by [[Stephen II, Count of Blois|Stephen of Blois]], who assured him that all was lost and that the expedition had already failed).<ref name="A291">Anna Komnene, ''The Alexiad'', XI, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad11.html 291]</ref> Bohemund, who had set himself up as [[Prince of Antioch]], briefly went to war with the Byzantines, but agreed to become Alexios' vassal under the [[Treaty of Devol]] in 1108, which marked the end of Norman threat during Alexios' reign.<ref name="A348-358">Anna Komnene, ''The Alexiad'', XIII, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad13.html 348–358]<br />* J. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army, 1081–1180'', 46</ref>

[[Image:Jerusalem1099.jpg|thumb|Medieval manuscript depicting the Capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.]]

Alexios reconstituted the army and navy, but only by means of stabilizing the gold coinage at one-third of its original value and by imposing supplementary taxes. The supply of native soldiers had virtually ceased with the disappearance or absorption of their military holdings. Alexios promoted an alternative source of native manpower by extending the system of granting estates in ''[[pronoia]]'' (by favour of the emperor) and tying the grant to a military obligation. Similarly, Alexios tried to promote more profitable development of the estates of the church by granting them to the management of laymen.<ref name="Br" /> The final years of Alexios's reign were marked by persecution of the followers of the [[Paulician]] and [[Bogomil]] heresies, and by anxieties as to the succession, which his wife [[Irene Doukaina]] wished to alter in favor of her daughter Anna's husband, [[Nikephorus Bryennios]].<ref name=Kean>L. Garland, ''Byzantine Women'', 126<br />* R. Kean, ''Forgotten Power — Byzantium — Bulwark of Christianity''<br />* S. Runciman, ''The Medieval Manichee'', 72</ref>

=== Diplomacy ===

===John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade===

{{further|Byzantine diplomacy|Foreign relations of the Byzantine Empire}}

{{main|John II Komnenos|Manuel I Komnenos}}

[[File:John the Grammarian as ambassador before Theophilos and Mamun.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|The embassy of [[Patriarch John VII of Constantinople|John the Grammarian]] in 829, sent by emperor [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilos]] to the Abbasid caliph [[Al-Ma'mun]] |alt=Manuscript illustration of an embassy travelling between two rulers]]

[[Image:JohnIIcomnenus.jpg|left|thumb|John II Komnenos left the imperial treasury full, and did not call for the execution or maiming of a single subject during his reign, is regarded by the Byzantine historian [[Niketas Choniates]] as the best emperor of the Komnenian dynasty.<ref name="SJ" />]]

Byzantine strategy was primarily defensive, aside from the brief period of aggression between the ninth and eleventh centuries, because of the empire's habitual lack of resources.{{sfnm|Howard-Johnston|2008|1p=940|Kaldellis|2021a|2p=463}} To avoid risky and expensive military campaigns, the Byzantines [[Byzantine diplomacy|engaged in extensive diplomatic efforts]].{{sfnm|Haldon|1999|1p=278|Decker|2013|2p=130|Kaldellis|2021a|3p=465}} These took various forms, including: formal embassies, client management, alliance or peace negotiations, political marriages, [[propaganda]] and bribery, or even [[espionage]] and assassination.{{sfnm|Decker|2013|1p=130, 135–137|Kazhdan|1990|2pp=15–17}}

Alexios' son [[John II Komnenos]] succeeded him in 1118, and was to rule until 1143. He oversaw the consolidation of his father's conquests, as well as the reconquest of territories previously lost.<ref name="SJ">A. Stone, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/johncomn.htm John II Komnenos]</ref> At the [[Battle of Beroia]], John personally led the imperial armies against the Pechenegs.<ref name="B90">J. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army, 1081–1180'', 90</ref> He also thwarted Hungarian, and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 allied himself with the [[List of German monarchs|German emperor]] [[Lothair III]] against the Norman King [[Roger II of Sicily]].<ref name="BrJ">{{cite encyclopedia|title=John II Komnenos|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> In the later part of his reign John focussed his activities on the East. He defeated the [[Danishmend]] emirate of [[Melitene]], and reconquered all of [[Cilicia]], while forceing [[Raymond of Poitiers]], Prince of Antioch, to recognize Byzantine suzerainty. Though John and Raymond formed an alliance against the Turkish [[Atabeg]]s of Syria, their campaigns were not particularly successful because of the mutual distrust. In 1142 John returned to press his claims to Antioch, but he died in the spring of 1143 following a hunting accident. Raymond was emboldened to invade Cilicia, but he was defeated and forced to go to Constantinople to beg mercy from the new emperor.<ref name="B326">Z.N. Brooke, ''A History of Europe, from 911 to 1198'', 326</ref>

[[Image:Byzantium1170lightpurple + seljuks.PNG|thumb|310px|Byzantine Empire in Purple with the Seljuks of Rum in Green, c.1180, at the end of the Komnenian period.]]

John's chosen heir was his fourth son, Manuel I Komnenos, who campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east. In Palestine, he allied himself with the Crusader [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of [[Fatimid Egypt]]. Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with [[Raynald of Chatillon|Raynald]], Prince of Antioch, and [[Amalric I of Jerusalem|Amalric]], King of Jerusalem respectively.<ref name="S">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 74<br />* A. Stone, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/mannycom.htm Manuel I Comnenus]</ref> In an effort to restore Byzantine control over the ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to Italy in 1155, but disputes within the coalition led to the eventual failure of the campaign. Despite this military setback, Manuel's armies successfully invaded the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the [[Battle of Sirmium]]. By 1168 nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands.<ref name="S372">J.W. Sedlar, ''East Central Europe in the Middle Ages'', 372</ref> Manuel made several alliances with the Pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and successfully handled the passage of the [[Second Crusade]] through his empire.<ref name="M67">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 67</ref> Although hopes for a lasting Papal-Byzantine alliance came up against insuperable problems, Pope [[Innocent III]] clearly had a positive view of Manuel when he told [[Alexios III]] that he should imitate "your predecessor Manuel of famous memory" who "always replied favourably to ourselves and our predecessors".<ref name="I121">Innocent III, ''Letter to the Illustrious Emperor of Constantinople'', [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:odrBpiY1vR4J:www.leeds.ac.uk/history/weblearning/MedievalHistoryTextCentre/Letters%2520of%2520Innocent.doc+Letters+of+Pope+Innocent+III+concerning+the+Fourth+Crusade&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1 no 121]</ref>

[[Image:CrusaderStates2.png|thumb|left|Antioch under Byzantine protection (during 1159–1180)]]

In the east, however, Manuel suffered a major defeat at the [[Battle of Myriokephalon]], in 1176, against the Turks. Yet the losses were quickly made good, and in the following year Manuel's forces inflicted a defeat upon a force of "picked Turks".<ref name="B129">J.W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 128</ref> John Vatatzes, who was sent by the Emperor to repel the Turkish invasion, not only brought troops from the capital but also was able to gather an army along the way; a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful.<ref name="B196">J.W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 196</ref>

Defensively oriented Byzantine diplomacy was intended to protect the ''[[Ecumene|oikoumenē]]'', the civilised Christian world which the empire rightfully ruled.{{sfnm|Kazhdan|1990|1pp=10–11|Decker|2013|2p=129}} The decline of the key [[Limitrophe states|''limitrophe'' system]], wherein client states along the borders served as intermediaries between the empire and other large enemies, exposed the empire to attack. By the eleventh century, Byzantine diplomacy was more bilateral and balanced.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1990|pp=11–15, 18–21}} Although it lost some important advantages post-1204, diplomacy, including the still-influential Orthodox church, was nevertheless a central element in the empire's lengthy survival until 1453.{{sfnm|Howard-Johnston|2008|1p=945|Kazhdan|1990|2pp=20–21|Bartusis|1997|3p=348|Kaldellis|2021a|4p=466}}

===Twelfth century Renaissance===

{{details|Byzantine civilisation in the twelfth century}}

{{see also|Komnenian army}}

John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and on city defenses; aggressive fortification policies were at the heart of their imperial military policies.<ref name="B185-186">J.W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 185–186</ref> Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilization of the empire's European frontiers. From c.1081 to c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilization to flourish.<ref name="Br1">J.W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 1</ref>

[[Image:Hagiasophia-christ.jpg|thumb|The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the [[Hagia Sophia]] - [[Christ Pantocrator]] flanked by the [[Virgin Mary]] and [[John the Baptist]]. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.]]

This allowed the Western provinces to achieve an economic revival which continued until the close of the century. It has been argued that Byzantium under the Komnenian rule was more prosperous than at any time since the Persian invasions of the 7th century. During the 12th century population levels rose and extensive tracts of new agricultural land were brought into production. Archaeological evidence from both Europe and Asia Minor shows a considerable increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a notable upsurge in new towns. Trade was also flourishing; the Venetians, the [[Genoa|Genoese]] and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer and [[Fatimid Egypt]] to the west and trading with Byzantium via Constantinople.<ref name="Day">G.W. Day, ''Manuel and the Genoese'', 289–290<br />* A. Harvey, ''Economic expansion in the Byzantine empire 900–1200''</ref>

== Society ==

In artistic terms, there was a revival in [[mosaic]], and regional schools of [[architecture]] began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences.<ref name=Diehl>C. Diehl, [http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/diel.html Byzantine Art]</ref> During the 12th century the Byzantines provided their model of early [[Renaissance humanism|humanism]] as a renaissance of interest in classical authors. In [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]] Byzantine humanism found its most characteristic expression.<ref name="TM">Tatakes-Moutafakis, ''Byzantine Philosophy'', 110</ref>

=== Demography ===

==Decline and disintegration==

{{Main|Population of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Greeks}}

===Dynasty of the Angeloi===

{{See also|Armenians in the Byzantine Empire}}

{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"

Scholars associate the Roman, Hellenic, and Christian imperial identities with the general population, but there is ongoing debate about how these and other regional identities blended together.{{sfnm|Stewart|2022|1pp=2-7, 10|Muthesius|2022|2pp=81, 96|Kaldellis|2022b|3pp=248, 258|Pohl|2018|4p=20|Stouraitis|2018|5pp=125-127}}

| style="text-align: left;" | "Whatever paper might be presented to the Emperor (Alexios III) for his signature, he signed it immediately; it did not matter that in this paper there was a senseless agglomeration of words, or that the supplicant demanded that one might sail by land or till the sea, or that mountains should be transferred into the middle of the seas or, as a tale says, that [[Athos]] should be put upon [[Olympus]]."

|-

| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Nicetas Choniates'''<ref name="VA">A. Vasiliev, [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P1B.HTM Foreign policy of the Angeloi]</ref>

|}

When Manuel died on [[24 September]] [[1180]], his son and successor was a minor, and his unpopular regency government was overthrown in a violent ''[[coup d'état]]''. This troubled succession weakened the dynastic continuity and solidarity on which the strength of the Byzantine state had come to rely.<ref name="M194">P. Magdalino, ''The Medieval Empire'', 194</ref> [[Béla III of Hungary|Béla III]] reincorporated Croationa territories into Hungary, and [[Stephen Nemanja]] of Serbia declared his independence from Byzantium and founded a new kingdom. By the revolution of 1185 the dynasty of the Angeli was elevated to the throne. The reign of [[Isaac II Angelos]], and, still more, that of his brother [[Alexios III]], saw the collapse of what remained of the centralized machinery of Byzantine government and defense. Although, the Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Bulgars began a rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]]. During the [[Third Crusade]] [[Richard I of England]] appropriated [[Cyprus]] from its ruler, [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaac Komnenos]]. The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterized by the squandering of the public treasure, and the fiscal maladministration. Byzantine authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the centre of the empire encouraged fragmentation. There is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in [[Trebizond]] before 1204.<ref name="AP">M. Angold, ''The Byzantine Empire 1025–1204''<br />* K. Paparrigopoulos, Db, 216</ref> According to [[Alexander Vasiliev]], "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, [...] accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within."<ref name="VA" />

As many as 27&nbsp;million people lived in the empire at its peak in 540, but this fell to 12&nbsp;million by 800.{{Sfnm|Treadgold|1997b|1pp=197, 384–385|Kaldellis|2023|2pp=21–22|Stathakopoulos|2008|3p=310}} Although plague and territorial losses to Arab Muslim invaders weakened the empire, it eventually recovered and by the near end of the [[Macedonian dynasty]] in 1025, the population is estimated to have been as high as 18 million.{{Sfnm|Stathakopoulos|2008|1p=312|Treadgold|1997b|2pp=931–932}} A few decades after the recapture of Constantinople in 1282, the empire's population was in the range of 3–5 million; by 1312, the number had dropped to 2&nbsp;million.{{Sfnm|Stathakopoulos|2008|1p=313|Treadgold|1997b|2p=1112}} By the time the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, there were only 50,000 people in the city, one-tenth of its population in its prime.{{Sfnm|Stathakopoulos|2008|1pp=310, 314|Stathakopoulos|2023|2p=31|Kaldellis|2023|3p=21}}

===Fourth Crusade===

{{details|Fourth Crusade}}

[[Image:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 012.jpg|thumb|''The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople'', by [[Eugène Delacroix]] (1840, [[oil on canvas]], 410 x 498 cm, [[Louvre]], [[Paris]])]]

In 1198 Innocent III broached the subject of a new crusade through [[Papal legate|legates]] and [[Encyclical|encyclical letters]]. The stated intent of the crusade was to conquer [[History of Arab Egypt#Ayyubid Period|Egypt]], now the centre of Muslim power in the [[Levant]]. The crusader army that arrived at [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] in the summer of 1202 was somewhat smaller than had been anticipated, and there were not sufficient funds to pay the Venetians, whose fleet was hired by the crusaders to take them to Egypt. Venetian policy under the aging and blind but still ambitious [[Doge of Venice|Doge]] [[Enrico Dandolo]] was potentially at variance with that of the Pope and the crusaders, because Venice was closely related commercially with Egypt.<ref name="Br4Cr">{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> The crusaders accepted the suggestion that in lieu of payment they assist the Venetians in the capture of the (Christian) port of [[Zadar#History|Zara]] in [[Dalmatia]] (vassal city of Venice, which had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186).<ref name="BrC">Britannica Concise, [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9383275/Siege-of-Zara Siege of Zara]</ref> The city fell in November 1202 after a brief [[Siege of Zara|siege]].<ref>Geoffrey of Villehardouin, ''Chronicles of the Crusades'', 46</ref> Innocent, who was informed of the plan, but his veto was disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders&mdash;not, however, to the Venetians.<ref name="Br4Cr" />

{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"

| style="text-align: left;" | "None of you should therefore dare to assume that it is permissible for you to seize or to plunder the land of the Greeks, even though the latter may be disobedient to the Apostolic See, or on the grounds that the Emperor of Constantinople has deposed and even blinded his brother and usurped the imperial throne. For though this same emperor and the men entrusted to his rule may have sinned, both in these and in other matters, it is not for you to judge their faults, nor have you assumed the sign of the cross to punish this injury; rather you specifically pledged your self to the duty of avenging the insult to the cross."

|-

| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Innocent III''''' to [[Boniface I of Montferrat]], [[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders]], and [[Louis I, Count of Blois]] ([[Ferentino]], summer 1203, c. [[June 20]]).<ref>Innocent III, ''Innocent III to the Marquis of Montferrat and the Counts of Flanders, Blois and St. Pol.'', [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:odrBpiY1vR4J:www.leeds.ac.uk/history/weblearning/MedievalHistoryTextCentre/Letters%2520of%2520Innocent.doc+Letters+of+Pope+Innocent+III+concerning+the+Fourth+Crusade&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1 no 101]</ref>

|}

=== Education ===

After the death of [[Theobald III, Count of Champagne]], the leadership of the Crusade passed to [[Boniface of Montferrat]], a friend of the [[House of Hohenstaufen|Hohenstaufen]] [[Philip of Swabia]]. Both Boniface and Philip had married into the Byzantine imperial family. In fact, Philip's brother-in-law, [[Alexios IV Angelos|Alexios Angelos]], son of the deposed and blinded emperor [[Isaac II Angelos]], had appeared in Europe seeking aid and had made contacts with the crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine church]] with Rome, pay the crusaders an enormous sum, and join the crusade to Egypt. Innocent was aware of a plan to divert the Crusade to Constantinople, and forbade any attack on the city. But the papal letter arrived after the fleets had left Zara. In the summer of 1203 [[Alexios III Angelos]] fled, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. Innocent reprimanded the leaders of the crusaders, and ordered them to proceed forthwith to the Holy Land.<ref name="HBr">J. Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades''<br />* {{cite encyclopedia|title=The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

{{Further|Byzantine university|Byzantine rhetoric}}

Education was voluntary and required financial means, so the most literate people were often those associated with the church.{{sfnm|Markopoulos|2008|1p=786|Jeffreys|2008|2p=798}} Primary education focused on teaching foundational subjects like reading, writing, and arithmetic whereas secondary school focused on the [[trivium]] and [[quadrivium]] as their curriculum.{{Sfn|Markopoulos|2008|p=789}} The [[University of Constantinople|Imperial University of Constantinople]] was formed in 425, and refounded in 1046 as a centre for law.{{sfn|Constantelos|1998|loc=p. 19: "The fifth century marked a definite turning point in Byzantine higher education. Theodosios ΙΙ founded in 425 a major university with 31 chairs for law, philosophy, medicine, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, rhetoric and other subjects. Fifteen chairs were assigned to Latin and 16 to Greek. The university was reorganised by Michael III (842–867) and flourished down to the fourteenth century."}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|Wharton|1990|p=122}}{{sfn|Rosser|2011|p=xxx}}

When in late November 1203 Alexios IV announced that his promises were hard to keep, as the empire was short on funds, the crusaders declared war on him. Meanwhile, internal opposition to Alexios IV grew, and, on [[January 25]], [[1204]], one of his courtiers, [[Alexios V|Alexios Doukas]] killed him, and took the throne himself as Alexios V; Isaac died soon afterwards, probably naturally.<ref name="P>K. Paparrigopoulos, Db, 230</ref> The crusaders and Venetians, incensed at the murder of their supposed patron, prepared to assault the Byzantine capital. They decided that 12 electors (six Venetians and six crusaders) should choose a [[Latin Empire|Latin emperor]].<ref name="Br4Cr" />

=== Slavery ===

[[Image:LatinEmpire2.png|thumb|right|Map to show the partition of the empire following the Fourth Crusade, c.1204.]]

{{further||Slavery in the Byzantine Empire}}

During the 3rd century, 10–15% of the population was enslaved (numbering around 3&nbsp;million in the east).{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40|Rotman|2022|2p=32|Lavan|2016|3pp=16, 19}} Youval Rotman calls the changes to slavery during this period "different degrees of unfreedom".{{sfnm|Rotman|2009|1pp=18, 179|Rotman |2022|2p=59}} Previous roles fulfilled by slaves became high-demand free market professions (like tutors), and the state encouraged the [[Colonus (person)|''coloni'']], tenants bound to the land, as a new legal category between freemen and slaves.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=39|Lenski|2021|2pp=473–474}} From 294 the enslavement of children was progressively forbidden; [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] ({{reign|393|423}}) began freeing enslaved prisoners of war, and from the 9th century, emperors freed the slaves of conquered people.{{sfnm|Rotman|2009|1pp=30–31|Kaldellis|2023|2p=425|Rotman|2022|3p=42|Lenski|2021|4p=470|Rotman|2010}} Christianity as an institution had no direct impact, but by the 6th century it was a bishop's duty to ransom Christians, there were established limits on trading them, and state policies prohibited the enslavement of Christians; these changes shaped Byzantine slave-holding from the 8th century onwards.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=140|Rotman|2009|2loc=Chapter 2|Rotman|2022|3pp=37–38, 53|Lenski|2021|4pp=461–462}} Non-Christians could still be enslaved, and prices remained stable until 1300, when prices for adult slaves, particularly women, started rising.{{sfn|Harper|2010|p=237}}{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40|Rotman|2022|2p=53|Lenski|2021|3pp=467–468}}

Eventually, the crusaders took the city on [[April 13]], [[1204]]. Constantinople was subjected by the rank and file to pillage and massacre for three days. Many priceless icons, relics, and other objects later turned up in [[Western Europe]], a large number in Venice. According to Choniates, a [[prostitute]] was even set up on the Patriarchal throne.<ref name="NC">N. Choniates, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html The Sack of Constantinople]</ref> When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his crusaders, he castigated them in no uncertain terms. But the situation was beyond his control, especially after his legate, on his own initiative, had absolved the crusaders from their vow to proceed to the Holy Land.<ref name="NBr">J. Norwich, ''A short history of Byzantium''<br />* {{cite encyclopedia|title=The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; [[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin of Flanders]] was elected emperor and the Venetian [[Patriarch Thomas I of Constantinople|Thomas Morosini]] chosen patriarch. The lands parcelled out among the leaders did not include all the former Byzantine possessions. The Byzantine rule continued in [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]], [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]], and [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]].<ref name="Br4Cr" />

=== FallSocio-economic ===

Agriculture was the main basis of taxation and the state sought to bind everyone to land for productivity.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=38|Brandes|2008|2p=563}} Most land holdings were small and medium-sized lots around villages, and family farms were the primary source of agriculture.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=39|Harvey|2008|2p=329}} The ''coloni,'' sometimes called proto-serfs, were free citizens, though historians continue to debate their exact status.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=39|Harvey|2008|2p=331}}

{{details|Decline of the Byzantine Empire}}

[[Image:Flag of Palaeologus Emperor.svg|80px|thumb|left|The flag of the Empire in the late 14th century.<ref>Ottfried Neubecker, ''Heraldry - Sources, Symbols and Meaning'', pp.106, Tiger Books International (Twickenham), 1997.</ref>]]

The ''Ekloge'' laws of 741 made marriage a Christian institution and no longer a private contract, where it evolved alongside the increased rights of slaves and the change in power relations.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=444|Rotman|2022|2p=85|Lenski|2021|3pp=464–465}} Marriage was considered an institution required to sustain the population, transfer property rights, and support the elderly of the family; the Empress [[Theodora (wife of Theophilos)|Theodora]] had also said it was needed to restrict sexual [[hedonism]].{{sfnm|Talbot|1997|1p=121|Kazhdan|1990a|2p=132}} Women usually married between the ages of 15 and 20, and the average family had two children.{{sfnm|Rotman|2022|1p=83|Talbot|1997|2p=121|Kaldellis|2023|3p=41|Stathakopoulos|2008|4pp=309, 313}} Divorce could be done by mutual consent but was restricted over time, for example, only being allowed if a married person was joining a convent.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=88, 321, 444, 529, 588, 769|Talbot|1997|2pp=119, 122, 128}}

After the sack of Constantinople in 1204, three Byzantine [[successor state]]s were established: the [[Empire of Nicaea]], the [[Empire of Trebizond]] and the [[Despotate of Epirus]].<ref name=Kean>Kean, Roger, ''Forgotten Power — Byzantium — Bulwark of Christianity''</ref>

Inheritance rights were well developed, including for all women.{{sfnm|Harris|2017|1p=13|Kaldellis|2023|2p=41|Garland|2006|3p=xiv}} The historian Anthony Kaldellis suggests that these rights may have been what prevented the emergence of large properties and a hereditary nobility capable of intimidating the state.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40}} The prevalence of widows (estimated at 20%) meant women often controlled family assets as heads of households and businesses, contributing to the rise of some empresses to power.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=40, 592|Stephenson|2010|2p=66}} Women played significant roles as taxpayers, landowners, and petitioners, often seeking the resolution of property disputes in court.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=40, 592|Talbot|1997|2p=129|Garland|2006|3p=xvi}}

The Empire of Nicaea, controlled by the [[Palaiologan dynasty]], managed to reclaim Constantinople from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. This led to a short lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under [[Michael VIII]], but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with the encircling enemies that now surrounded it. Much of Constantinople lay in ruins; the army was desperately short of funds; Italian merchants and their ships dominated the empire's sea-lanes; the economy was in decline; the empire's ancient frontiers had been overrun; the provinces were in disarray.<ref name=Kean>Kean, Roger, ''Forgotten Power — Byzantium — Bulwark of Christianity''</ref>

=== Women ===

Civil war racked the empire during the 14th century. The Asian provinces were lost to the Turks, while the Serbians and Bulgarians conquered the empire's remaining territory in Europe. For a while, the empire survived simply because the Turks of [[Anatolia]] were too divided to attack. However, the unifying influence of [[Osman I]] (1258–1326) allowed the newly founded [[Ottoman Empire]] to deprive the Byzantines of all but a handful of port cities.<ref name=Kean>Kean, Roger, ''Forgotten Power — Byzantium — Bulwark of Christianity''</ref>

{{further||Women in the Byzantine Empire}}

Women had the same socio-economic status as men, but faced legal discrimination and limitations in economic opportunities and vocations.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40|Talbot|1997|2pp=118–119}} Prohibited from serving as soldiers or holding political office, and restricted from serving as [[deaconess]]es in the Church from the 7th century onwards, women were mostly assigned labour-intensive household responsibilities.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40|Talbot|1997|2pp=126–127|Karras|2004|3pp=309–314}} They worked in the food and textile industries, as medical staff, in public baths, in retail, and were practising members of artisan guilds.{{sfnm|Talbot|1997|1pp=130–131|Harris|2017|2p=133|Garland|2006|3p=xiv|Kaldellis|2023|4pp=40–41}} They also worked in entertainment, tavern keeping, and prostitution, a class where some saints and empresses may have originated from.{{sfnm|Talbot|1997|1p=131|Kazhdan|1990a|2p=136}} Prostitution was widespread, and attempts were made to limit it, especially during Justinian's reign under the influence of Theodora.{{sfnm|Grosdidier de Matons|1967|1pp=23–25|Garland|1999|2pp=11–39}} Women participated in public life, engaging in social events and protests.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=40|Karras|2004|2p=310}} Women's rights were better in the empire than in comparable societies. Western European and American women took until the 19th century to surpass them.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=529|Harris|2017|2p=133}}

=== Cuisine and dining ===

[[Image:ShepherdByzempire1265.jpg|thumb|right|270px|The Byzantine Empire in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, ''Historical Atlas'', 1911).]]

{{Main|Byzantine cuisine}}

[[Image:Byzantium1400lightpurple.PNG|thumb|270px|The Byzantine Empire by the year 1400.]] [[Image:Constantinople 1453.jpg|thumb|200px|The siege of Constantinople in 1453 according to a 15th century French miniature.]]

Feasting was central to the culture.{{sfn|Bryer|2008|p=673}} By the 10th century, dining shifted from [[Triclinium|reclining]] to tables with clean linen.{{sfn|Ash|1995|pp=244-245}} The introduction of the [[fork]] and [[salad dressing]] (with [[food oil|oil]] and [[vinegar]]) further shaped Italian and Western traditions{{Sfnm|Ash|1995|1p=244|Decker|2008|2p=496}} Classical Greco-Roman era foods were common such as the condiment {{lang|grc-Latn|[[garum|garos]]}} (similar to fermented [[fish sauce]]s today) as well as the still popular [[baklava]].{{Sfnm|Faas|2005|1pp=184–185|Bryer|2008|2p=671|Ash|1995|3p=233|Vryonis|1971|4p=482}} Fruits like [[aubergine]] and [[orange (fruit)|orange]], unknown during classical times, were added to diets.{{Sfn|Davidson|2014|p=123}} Foods that have continued into the modern era include the cured meat [[pastirma|paston]], [[Feta]] cheese, salt roe similar to the modern [[boutargue]], Black sea [[caviar]], [[tiropita]], [[dolma]]des, and the soup {{lang|grc-Latn|[[tarhana|trachanas]]}}.{{Sfnm|Ash|1995|1p=244|Davidson|2014|2p=123|Bryer|2008|3p=671|Salaman|1986|4p=184}} There were famed medieval sweet wines such as the [[Malvasia]] from [[Monemvasia]], the [[Commandaria]], and the eponymous [[Rumney wine]] which were drunk, as were [[millet beer]] (known as {{lang|grc-Latn|boza}}) and [[retsina]].{{Sfnm|Bryer|2008|1pp=672-673|Unwin|2010|2p=185}}

=== Recreation ===

The Emperors appealed to the west for help, but the Pope would only consider sending aid in return for a reunion of the Eastern Orthodox Church with the [[Holy See|See of Rome]]. Church unity was considered, and occasionally accomplished by imperial decree, but the Orthodox citizenry and clergy intensely resented Roman authority and the [[Latin Rite]]. Some western mercenaries arrived to bolster the Christian defence of Constantinople, but most Western rulers, distracted by their own affairs, did nothing as the Ottomans picked apart the remaining Byzantine territories.

[[File:Tabula - boardgame - Zeno game.svg|thumb|A game of [[tabula (game)|τάβλι (tabula)]] played by the [[Byzantine]] emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] in 480 and recorded by [[Agathias]] in {{Circa|530}} because of a very unlucky dice throw for Zeno (red){{Sfn|Horn|Schädler|2019}}|alt=A depiction of a board game]]

[[Chariot racing|Chariot races]] were held from the early era until 1204, becoming one of the world's longest continuous sporting events.{{sfnm|Jeffreys|2008a|1pp=681-682|Kaldellis|2023|2p=13, 138}} [[Mime artist|Mimes]], the [[pantomime]] and some wild animal shows were prominent until the 6th century.{{sfn|Jeffreys|2008a|p=680}} Because Christian bishops and pagan philosophers did not like these activities, the state's funding for them ceased, leading to their decline and a move to private entertainment and sporting.{{sfnm|Jeffreys|2008a|1pp=678-683|Kaldellis|2023 |2pp=187, 233}} A Persian version of polo introduced by the Crusaders called [[Tzykanisterion|Tzykanion]] was played by the nobility and urban aristocracy in major cities during the middle and late eras, as was the sport of jousting introduced from the West.{{Sfnm|Kazhdan|1991a|1p=2137, "Tzykanisterion" |Kazanaki-Lappa|2002|2p=643|Jeffreys |2008a|3p=683 |Kaldellis|2023|4pp=672, 844}} Over time, [[Board game|game boards]] like [[Tabula (game)|tavli]] became increasingly popular.{{Sfn|Jeffreys|2008a|p=683}}

=== Language ===

The Turks had previously considered Constantinople not worth the considerable effort of conquest, but with the advent of cannon, the walls (which had been impenetrable to assault for over 1,000 years) no longer offered adequate protection against a siege.

{{further|Medieval Greek}}

{{Multiple image

| align = right

| image1 = Mudil_Psalter.jpg

| width1 = 140

| alt1 = A photograph of two pages of a book written in a Greek script. The lower portions of both pages are damaged.

| caption1 =

| image2 = Joshua_Roll.jpg

| width2 = 146

| alt2 = A photograph of an illustrated manuscript written in Greek. At the left are two people who are standing talking to a person who is seated, while 5 soldiers listen. At the right are a group of soldiers going somewhere.

| caption2 =

| footer = Left: The Mudil Psalter, the oldest complete [[psalter]] in the Coptic language ([[Coptic Museum]], Egypt, [[Coptic Cairo]]).<br />

Right: The [[Joshua Roll]], a 10th-century illuminated Greek manuscript possibly made in Constantinople ([[Vatican Library]], Rome).

}}

[[Latin language|Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] were the primary languages of the late Roman Empire, with the former prevalent in the west and the latter in the east.{{sfn|Horrocks|2008|p=778}} Although Latin was historically important in the military, legal system, and government, its use declined in Byzantine territories from 400 AD.{{sfnm|Horrocks|2010|1p=208|Rochette|2023|2pp=282–283}} Greek had begun to replace it even in those functions by the time of [[Justinian I]] ({{reign|527|565|link=no}}), who may have tried to arrest Latin's decline. Its extinction in the east was thereafter inevitable.{{sfnm|Horrocks|2008|1p=778|Rochette|2023|2pp=283–284}} A similar process of linguistic [[Hellenization]] occurred in Asia Minor, whose inhabitants had mostly abandoned their indigenous languages for Greek by early Byzantine times.{{sfn|Horrocks|2010|pp=208–209}} Still, much of the population of the empire would have known neither Latin nor Greek, especially in rural areas—their languages included [[Armenian language|Armenian]] in [[Byzantine Armenia|that people's homelands]], [[Aramaic]] dialects such as [[Syriac language|Syriac]] in Mesopotamia and the Levant, [[Coptic language|Coptic]] in Egypt, [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] on the Levant coast and in [[Carthage]], and [[Berber languages|Berber]] in rural North Africa.{{sfnm|Horrocks|2008|1pp=778–779|Horrocks|2010|2pp=207–210}}

Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of the city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. In March 1453, an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army of 85,000 men led by Sultan [[Mehmed II]] laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defense of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign mercenaries), [[Fall of Constantinople|Constantinople finally fell]] to the Ottomans after a two-month siege by on Tuesday [[May 29]], [[1453]]. The last Byzantine emperor, [[Constantine XI]] Palaiologos, was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken.

The empire lost its linguistic diversity in the wars of the 7th and 8th centuries, becoming overwhelmingly Greek-speaking.{{sfn|Treadgold|2002|p=142}} During this troubled period, classical [[Attic Greek]]—one of the [[Register (sociolinguistics)|linguistic registers]] the Byzantine Greeks inherited—fell out of use, while the [[vernacular|everyday vernacular]] registers were still used.{{sfn|Browning|1982|p=51}} As the empire gained some stability from the 9th century onwards, and especially after the [[Komnenian restoration]], Attic Greek came back into fashion for written works. In a phenomenon called [[diglossia]], the gap between vernacular spoken Greek, which was rarely written in published works, and literary registers only spoken in formal contexts, became very wide.{{sfnm|Browning|1982|1p=51|Horrocks|2008|2pp=781–782}}

===Aftermath===

Mehmed II went on to conquer the Greek statelets of [[Mistra]] in 1460 and [[Trebizond]] in 1461. By the end of the 15th century, the [[Ottoman Empire]] had established its firm rule over [[Asia Minor]] and parts of the [[Balkan peninsula]]. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves proper heirs to the Byzantine Empire until the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the [[Danubian Principalities]] harbored Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles (see [[Byzantium after Byzantium]] for details).

During the [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|Palaiologan period]], although classically-written works remained the normal style, Western-inspired writers began to use more vernacular elements, especially for [[Romance (prose fiction)|romances]] or near-contemporary histories. One example is the ''[[Chronicle of the Morea]]'', probably written by a French immigrant who was ignorant of formal Greek literature and who incorporated spoken Greek into his work.{{sfnm|Horrocks|2008|1p=783|Horrocks|2010|2pp=216–218|3a1=Jeffreys|3a2=Mango|3y=2002|3pp=298–300}} All such written vernacular was in verse form, becoming the ancestor of [[modern Greek]] poetry, while prose remained classically-written.{{sfnm|Browning|1982|1pp=51–52|2a1=Jeffreys|2a2=Mango|2y=2002|2p=299}}

Technically, the Byzantine Empire lived on in the city of [[Monemvasia]] in the [[Morea]], until 1471, when the titular Despot of the Morea, [[Demetrius Palaeologus]], now living in Rome under the protection of the Pope, sold it to the latter for cash. Meanwhile, his nephew, and the nephew of the last Emperor, [[Constantine XI Palaeologus]], [[Andreas Palaeologus]] had inherited the defunct title of [[Byzantine Emperor]] and used it from 1465 until his death in 1503.

== Economy ==

At his death, the role of the emperor as a patron of [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] was claimed by [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]], [[Grand Duke]] of [[Muscovy]]. He had married Andreas's sister, [[Sophia Paleologue]], whose grandson, [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan IV]], would become the first [[Tsar]] of [[Russia]] (''tsar'', also spelled ''czar'', is a term traditionally applied by Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors; according to [[Vasmer]], the word is derived from lat. ''caesar''). Their successors supported the idea that [[Moscow]] was the proper heir to [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]]. The idea of the [[Russian Empire]] as the new, [[Third Rome]] was kept alive until its demise in 1917, with the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]].

{{main|Byzantine economy}}

{{Further|Byzantine silk|Sino-Roman relations}}

The empire's geographic and maritime advantages reduced the costs of transporting goods and facilitated trade, making it a key driver of economic growth from antiquity and through the post-classical period.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=473|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2p=13}} Infrastructure, including roads, public buildings, and the legal system, supported trade and other economic activities.{{sfn|Laiou|Morrisson|2007|p=24}} Regions like Asia Minor, the Aegean islands, Egypt, the Levant, and Africa thrived as mature economic centres despite political challenges and military insecurities.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=467|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2p=246}} From the mid-6th century onward, plagues, invasions, and wars caused populations and economies to decline, leading to the collapse of the ancient economy.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1pp=472, 474, 479|Laiou|2002c|2p=698|3a1=Laiou|3a2=Morrisson|3y=2007|3p=24}} Major cities like Constantinople, Antioch, [[Alexandria]], and [[Thessaloniki]] continued to support substantial populations exceeding 100,000, while the countryside transitioned into fortified settlements.{{sfnm|Laiou|2002a|1p=177|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2pp=25-26}} These rural areas developed into hamlets and villages, reflecting an economic shift between historical periods towards more efficient land use.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=465, 471|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2pp=25-26, 232}}

Low population density prompted emperors to encourage migration and resettlement, stimulating agriculture and demographic growth.{{sfn|Laiou|Morrisson|2007|pp=44-46}} By the 9th century, the economy began to revive, marked by increased agricultural production and urban expansion.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1pp=473-474|Laiou|2002a|2pp=269-270}} Advances in science, technical knowledge, and literacy gave the empire a competitive edge over its neighbours.{{sfn|Laiou|Morrisson|2007|pp=19-22, 24}} The 11th and 12th centuries witnessed consistent and rapid population growth, marking the peak of this revival.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=476|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2pp=90-92}} Italian merchants, particularly the Venetians, Genoese, and Pisans, took control of international trade, thus reducing the influence of native merchants.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1pp=473-476|Laiou|2002a|2pp=25, 402}} The political system grew increasingly extractive and authoritarian, contributing to the empire's collapse in 1204.{{sfnm|Laiou|2002a|1p=23|Laiou|2002b|2p=1164|3a1=Laiou|3a2=Morrisson|3y=2007|3p=233}}

Empress [[Catherine the Great]] (1762–1796), launched a [[Russo-Turkish Wars|series of campaigns]] against the Ottomans to capture Constantinople and recreate the Byzantine Empire under Russian control. She commissioned the [[Sophia Cathedral]] in her imperial residence, named [[Constantine Pavlovich|her grandson]] Constantine and managed to wrest the [[Crimea]] from the Ottomans. Although the Russian armies would approach Constaninople in 1829 and 1878, the Ottoman Empire was rescued by the intervention of the [[Great Powers]] during the [[Crimean War]] and [[Congress of Berlin]].

The fall of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 destroyed centuries of its wealth.{{sfn|Magdalino|2002b|p=535}} Large landholdings were confiscated, and the empire fragmented into smaller rump states ruled by competing factions, making governance inefficient and increasing the costs of doing business.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=739|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2pp=167-168}} The state gradually lost control over trade practices, price regulations, the outflow of precious metals, and possibly even the minting of coins.{{Sfn|Matschke|2002|pp=805–806}} Italian merchants further dominated trade as the events of 1204 opened the Black Sea to Western merchants, permanently altering the empire's fortunes.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=477|Matschke|2002|2pp=771-772|3a1=Laiou|3a2=Morrisson|3y=2007|3p=203}} Farmers and manufacturers increasingly produced goods for local use and were affected by the insecurity of constant warfare.{{sfnm|Matschke|2002|1p=779|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2p=168}} Despite these challenges, the empire's mixed economy (characterised by state interventions, public works, and market liberalisation){{sfn|Laiou|2002c|p=754}} remained a model of medieval economic adaptability, even as it deteriorated under external pressures.{{sfnm|Whittow|2009|1p=471|2a1=Laiou|2a2=Morrisson|2y=2007|2pp=232-235}}

==Culture==

===Economy===

[[Image:Solidus-Justinian II-Christ b-sb1413.jpg|thumb|''Solidus'' of [[Justinian II]], second reign, after 705]]

{{details|Byzantine economy}}

The Byzantine economy was the most advanced in Europe for many centuries. Constantine V's reforms (c. 765) marked the beginning of a revival that continued until 1204. From the 10th century until the end of the 12th, the Byzantine empire projected an image of luxur, and the travelers were impressed by the wealth accumulated in the capital. All this changed with the arrival of the Fourth Crusade, which was an economic catastrophe.<ref name="M532">P. Magdalino, ''Medieval Constantinople'', [http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB20.pdf 532]</ref> The [[Palaiologoi]] tried to revive the economy, but the late Byzantine state would not gain full control of either the foreign or domestic economic forces. Gradually, it also lost its influence on the modalities of trade and the price mechanisms, and its control over the outflow of precious metals and, according to some scholars, even over the minting of coins.<ref name="M806">K.-P. Matschke, ''Commerce, Trade, Markets, and Money'', [http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB37.pdf 805–806]</ref>

One of the economic foundations of the empire was trade. Textiles must have been by far the most important item of export; [[silk]]s were certainly imported into Egypt, and they also appear also in Bulgaria, and the West.<ref name="L723">A.E. Laiou, ''Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries'', [http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB36.pdf 723]</ref> The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and retained the monopoly of issuing [[Byzantine coinage|coinage]]. The government exercized formal control over interest rates, and set the parametres for the activity of the [[guild]]s and corporations, in which it had a special interest. The emperor and its officials intervened at times of crisis to ensure the provisioning of the capital, and to keep down the price of [[cereals]]. Finally, the government often collected part of the surplus through taxation, and put it back into circulation, through redistribution in the form of salaries to state officials, or in the form of investment in public works.<ref name="L3-4">A.E. Laiou, ''Writing the Economic History of Byzantium'', [http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB01.pdf 3–4]</ref>

== Arts and sciences ==

===Science===

===Art and architecture===

[[Image:ViennaDioscoridesFolio3v7Physicians.jpg|thumb|left|The frontispiece of the [[Vienna Dioscurides]], which shows a set of seven famous [[physician]]s]].

{{detailsmain|Byzantine scienceart|Byzantine architecture}}

{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=340

{{Seealso|Byzantine medicine|Byzantine law}}

| image1 = Spas vsederzhitel sinay.jpg

The writings of [[Classical antiquity]] never ceased to be cultivated in Byzantium. Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected with [[ancient philosophy]], and [[metaphysics]].<ref>M.V. Anastos, ''The History of Byzantine Science'', 409</ref> In the final century of the Empire, Byzantine grammarians were those principally responsible for carrying in person, and in writing ancient Greek grammatical, and literary studies to early [[Renaissance Italy]].<ref>R.H. Robins, ''The Byzantine Grammarians'', 8</ref> During this period [[astronomy]] and other [[mathematics|mathematical sciences]] were taught in Trebizond; medicine attracted the interest of almost all scholars.<ref name="TM189">Tatakes-Moutafakis, ''Byzantine Philosophy'', 189</ref> In the field of law, [[Justinian I]]'s reforms had a clear effect on the evolution of [[jurisprudence]], and Leo III's ''Ecloga'' influenced the formation of legal institutions in the Slav world.<ref>Troianos-Velissaropoulou, ''History of Law'', 340</ref>

| image2 = Hosios Loukas Katholikon (nave, South-West squinch) - Baptism - detail 02.jpg

| image3 = Meister von Nerezi 001.jpg

| image4 = Ivoire Barberini - Musée du Louvre Objets d'art OA 9063 ; MND 211.jpg

| image5 = Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (focused on the original Roman building).jpg

| footer = Clockwise, from top left:

* [[Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)|Christ Pantocrator]] icon, 6th century, [[Sinai Monastery]]

* [[Hosios Loukas]] mosaics, detail, early 11th century

* [[Barberini ivory]], an early 6th-century ivory diptych{{sfn|Cormack|2018|p=39}}

* The [[Hagia Sophia]] exterior

* ''Dead Christ and Mourners'', {{circa|1164}}, [[Church of Saint Panteleimon, Gorno Nerezi|Gorno Nerezi]]{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ para. 3}}

}}

Subjects in [[Byzantine art]] were primarily [[Christian art|Christian]] and typically non-naturalistic in their representation.{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ paras. 2 and 13}} Emerging from both the [[Early Christian art and architecture|earliest Christian]] and [[Late Antique art]],{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1p=2|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2pp=11–12}} many early examples were lost amid the [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|Roman Persecutions]]; the fragmented mosaics of the 3rd-century [[Dura-Europos church]] are a unique exception.{{sfn|Rodley|1994|pp=12–14}} Such [[Byzantine mosaics]], known for their [[gold ground]] style, became a hallmark of the empire, displaying both secular and sacred themes in diverse places, including churches ([[Basilica of San Vitale]]), the circus ([[Hippodrome of Constantinople]]), and the [[Great Palace of Constantinople]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1p=34|2a1=James|2y=2003|2loc=§ paras. 3–4}} The early 6th-century reign of Justinian&nbsp;I saw systemic developments: [[religious art]] came to dominate, and once-popular public marble and bronze [[monumental sculpture]] fell out of favour due to [[pagan]] associations.{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1pp=32–33, 56–57|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2p=14}} Justinian commissioned the monumental [[Hagia Sophia]] church, and its influential elements became architectural hallmarks for the empire: the immense size, large [[dome]], innovative use of [[pendentive]]s and highly decorative interior were imitated as far north as the [[Cathedral of Saint Sophia, Novgorod|Cathedral of Saint Sophia]] in [[Novgorod]] and the [[Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv|Saint Sophia Cathedral]] in [[Kiev]]<!--See WP:KIEV-->.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=2003|1loc=§ para. 10|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2pp=33–40|3a1=Curl|3a2=Wilson|3y=2021|3loc=§ paras. 3 and 5}} The Hagia Sophia's creators, the engineer-architects [[Isidore of Miletus]] and [[Anthemius of Tralles]], are uniquely esteemed;{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1p=67}} most Byzantine artists were unrecorded and typically deemed to have little importance.{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ para. 7}}

===Religion===

{{further|[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]}}

Smaller-scale art flourished throughout the entire Byzantine period: costly [[ivory carving]]s—often as diptychs ([[Barberini ivory]]) or triptychs ([[Harbaville Triptych]])—featured imperial commemorations or religious scenes and were particularly valued, as were [[metalwork]] and [[Byzantine enamel|enamel]]s.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=2003|1loc=§ para. 4|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2p=39}} Other costly objects included [[Byzantine illuminated manuscripts|illuminated manuscripts]], which were lavishly illustrated for a wide range of texts, and [[Byzantine silk|silk]]s, often dyed in the prized [[imperial purple]]; both became highly popular in Western Europe.{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ paras. 4–5}} The rise of small, portable [[icon]] paintings, used for both public and private religious worship, grew increasingly controversial.{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1pp=101–102|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2p=2}} During two periods of [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]] (726–843), possibly influenced by [[Aniconism in Islam|Islamic prohibitions on religious images]],{{sfn|Lowden|1997|pp=147–148}} icons were suppressed and enormous amounts of figurative religious art was destroyed.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1997|p=185}} [[Iconoclast]]s condemned their use, likening them to pagan [[idolatry]] and ascribing recent [[Byzantine–Arab wars (780–1180)#Raids under the last Umayyads and the rise of Iconoclasm|Umayyad defeats]] as [[divine retribution]] for their use. [[Iconophile]]s eventually prevailed, maintaining their essential use for [[veneration]], considered distinct from [[worship]], and found precedent in [[gospel]] references.{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1pp=115–116|2a1=Lowden|2y=1997|2pp=147–151}}

[[Image:Aya sofya.jpg|thumb|As a symbol and expression of the universal prestige of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Justinian built the temple of the Holy Wisdom, [[Hagia Sophia]], which was completed in the short period of four and a half years (532–537).]]

[[Macedonian art (Byzantine)|Post-iconoclast Macedonian art]] (867–1056) saw a [[Macedonian Renaissance|cultural renaissance]], and many artworks from this period survive.{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1p=132|2a1=Lowden|2y=1997|2pp=187–188}} Subjects and styles became standardised, particularly [[cross-in-square]] churches, and already-existing frontality and [[symmetry]] evolved into a dominant artistic aesthetic, observable in the small [[Pala d'Oro]] enamel and the large mosaics of the [[Hosios Loukas]], [[Daphni Monastery|Daphni]], and [[Nea Moni of Chios|Nea Moni]] monasteries.{{sfnm|1a1=James|1y=2003|1loc=§ para. 3|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2pp=146–147}} The subsequent Komnenos-Angelos periods (1081–1204) saw increased imperial patronage, alongside figurative artwork of increased emotional expression (''Dead Christ and Mourners'', {{circa|1164}}).{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ para. 3}} Byzantine artistic influence spread widely to [[Norman–Arab–Byzantine culture|Norman Sicily]] (the ''[[Madrid Skylitzes]]'') and Venice (the mosaics of [[St Mark's Basilica]]).{{sfn|James|2003|loc=§ para. 3}} Serbian churches flourished, as three successive [[Medieval Serbian architecture|schools of architecture]]—[[Raška architectural school|Raška]] (1170–1282), [[Serbo-Byzantine architecture|Byzantine Serbia]] (1282–1355), and [[Morava architectural school|Morava]] (1355–1489)—combined a [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] aesthetic with increasingly voluminous decorations and domes.{{sfn|Curl|Wilson|2021|loc=§ para. 7}} As smaller [[Palaeologan Renaissance#Art and architecture|Palaeologan artworks]] (1261–1453) gained [[relic]] status in Western Europe—many looted in the 1204 Fourth Crusade—they greatly influenced the [[Italo-Byzantine]] style of [[Cimabue]], [[Duccio]], and later [[Giotto]]; the latter is traditionally regarded by art historians as the inaugurator of [[Italian Renaissance painting]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rodley|1y=1994|1p=166|2a1=Cormack|2y=2018|2pp=159, 186|3a1=Andronikou|3y=2022|3pp=2–4}}

According to [[Joseph Raya]], "Byzantine culture and [[Orthodoxy]] are one and the same."<ref>J. Raya, [http://rumkatkilise.org/rayabyzantium.htm#cooliris The Byzantine Church and Culture]</ref> The survival of the Empire in the East assured an active role of the Emperor in the affairs of the Church. The Byzantine state inherited from pagan times the administrative, and financial routine of administering religious affairs, and this routine was applied to the [[Christian Church]]. Following the pattern set by Eusebeus of Caesarea, the Byzantines thought of the Emperor as a [[Jesus|Christ]]'s representative or messenger, responsible particularly for the propagation of Christianity among pagans, and for the "externals" of the religion, such as administration and finances. The imperial role, however, in the affairs of the Church never developed into a fixed, legally defined system.<ref name="M14">J. Meyendorff, ''The Byzantine Legacy'', 13</ref>

=== Literature ===

With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern patriarchates, the church of Constantinople became, between the 6th and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential center of [[Christendom]].<ref name="M19">J. Meyendorff, ''The Byzantine Legacy'', 19</ref> Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of itself, the Church, as an institution, had never exercised so much influence both inside and outside of the imperial frontiers. As [[George Ostrogorsky]] points out:

{{main|Byzantine literature}}

<blockquote>The [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] remained the center of the Orthodox world, with subordinate metropolitan sees and archbishoprics in the territory of Asia Minor and the Balkans, now lost to Byzantium, as well as in [[Caucasus]], Russia and [[Lithuania]]. The Church remained the most stable element in the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="M130">J. Meyendorff, ''The Byzantine Legacy'', 130</ref></blockquote>

[[Byzantine literature]] concerns all [[Greek literature]] from the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Browning|2022|loc=§ para. 1}} Although the empire was [[Languages of the Roman Empire|linguistically diverse]], the vast majority of extant texts are in [[medieval Greek]],{{sfn|Papaioannou|2021a|pp=1–2, 5–7}} in two [[Diglossia|diglossic]] variants: a scholarly form based on [[Attic Greek]], and a [[vernacular]] based on [[Koine Greek]].{{sfn|Browning|1991a}} Most contemporary scholars consider all medieval Greek texts to be literature,{{sfn|Papaioannou|2021a|p=10}} but some offer varying constraints.{{sfnm|1a1=Kazhdan|1y=1999|1p=1|2a1=van Dieten|2y=1980|2pp=101–105}} The literature's early period ({{circa|330–650}}) was dominated by the competing cultures of [[Hellenistic period|Hellenism]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Christianity]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|Paganism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Browning|1y=2022|1loc=§ paras. 1–2|2a1=Kaldellis|2y=2021|2pp=162–163}} The [[Church Fathers#Greek Fathers|Greek Church Fathers]]—educated in an Ancient Greek [[rhetoric]] tradition—sought to synthesise these influences.{{sfn|Browning|2022|loc=§ para. 1}} Important early writers include [[John Chrysostom]], [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] and [[Procopius]], all of whom aimed to reinvent older forms to fit the empire.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}} Theological [[miracle]] stories were particularly innovative and popular;{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}} the ''[[Sayings of the Desert Fathers]]'' (''Apophthegmata Patrum'') were copied in nearly every Byzantine monastery.{{sfn|Martín|2021|p=685}} During the [[Byzantine Dark Ages]] ({{circa|650–800|lk=no}}), production of literature mostly stopped, though some important theologians were active, such as [[Maximus the Confessor]], [[Germanus I of Constantinople]] and [[John of Damascus]].{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}}

===Art and literature===

{{main|Byzantine art|Byzantine literature}}

{{Seealso|Byzantine music}}

[[Image:RabulaGospelsFol13vAscension.jpg|thumb|left|Miniatures of the 6th-century [[Rabula Gospel]] display the more abstract and symbolic nature of Byzantine art.]]

[[Byzantine architecture|Architecture]], [[painting]], and other visual arts produced in the Byzantine Empire and in various areas that came under its influence. Byzantine art is almost entirely concerned with religious expression and, more specifically, with the impersonal translation of carefully controlled church theology into artistic terms. Byzantine forms were spread by trade and conquest to Italy and Sicily, where they persisted in modified form through the 12th century, and became formative influences on [[Italian Renaissance]] art. By means of the expansion of the Eastern Orthodox church, Byzantine forms spread to eastern European centers, particularly Russia.<ref name="BAr">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Art|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

The subsequent cultural Macedonian Renaissance ({{circa|800–1000|lk=no}}; the "Encyclopedism period") saw a renewed proliferation of literature and revived the earlier Hellenic-Christian synthesis.{{sfn|Browning|2022|loc=§ para. 1}} Works by [[Homer]], [[List of ancient Greek philosophers|Ancient Greek philosophers]] and [[Greek tragedy|tragedians]] were translated, and [[hagiography]] was heavily reorganised.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}} After this early flowering of monastic literature, there was a dearth until [[Symeon the New Theologian]] in the late 10th century.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}} A new generation ({{circa|1000–1250|lk=no}}), including Symeon, [[Michael Psellos]] and [[Theodore Prodromos]], rejected the Encyclopedist emphasis on order, and were interested in individual-focused ideals variously concerning [[Christian mysticism|mysticism]], [[authorial voice]], heroism, humour and love.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|pp=1236–1237}} This included the Hellenistic-inspired [[Byzantine romance]] and [[chivalry|chivalric]] approaches in rhetoric, historiography and the influential epic ''[[Digenes Akritas]]''.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1236}} The empire's final centuries saw a renewal of hagiography and increased Western influence, leading to mass Greek to Latin translations.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1237}} Authors such as [[Gemistos Plethon]] and [[Bessarion]] exemplified a new focus on human [[vice]]s alongside the preservation of classical traditions, the latter greatly influenced the [[Italian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991b|p=1237}}

In Byzantine literature, therefore, four different cultural elements are to be reckoned with: the [[Greek literature|Greek]], the Christian, the [[Latin literature|Roman]], and the Oriental. Byzantine literature is often classified in five groups: historians and annalists, encyclopedists (Patriarch Photios, [[Michael Psellos]], and [[Michael Choniates]] are regarded as the greatest encyclopedists of Byzantium) and essayists, and writers of secular poetry (The only genuine heroic epic of the Byzantines is the ''[[Digenis Acritas]]''). The remaining two groups include the new literary species: ecclesiastical and theological literature, and popular poetry. Of the approximately two to three thousand volumes of Byzantine literature that survive, only three hundred and thirty consist of secular secular poetry, history, science and pseudo-science.<ref>C. Mango, ''Byzantium: The Empire of the New Rome'', 233–4</ref> While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs from the ninth to the twelfth century, its religious literature ([[sermon]]s, liturgical books and poetry, theology, devotional treatises etc.) developed much earlier with [[Romanos]] the Melodist being its most prominent representative.<ref name="CLi">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Literature|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03113a.htm}}</ref>

===Music===

===Government and bureaucracy===

{{main|Byzantine music}}

{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right" style="margin-left:1em"

{{CSS image crop

| [[Image:Byzantine Empire Themata-650.png|thumb|The ''themes'' circa 650.]]

|Image = Mosaic of the Female Musicians.jpg

| [[Image:Byzantine Empire Themata-950.png|thumb|The ''themes'' circa 950.]]

|bSize = 350

|}

|cWidth = 260

{{seealso|Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy}}

|cHeight = 190

In the Byzantine state, the [[List of Byzantine Emperors|emperor]] was the sole and absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine origin.<ref name="Helios" /> By the end of the 8th century, a civil administration focussed on the court was formed as part of a large-scale consolidation of power in the capital (the rise to pre-eminence of the position of ''[[sakellarios]]'' is related to this change).<ref name="L291">A. Louth, ''The Byzantine Empire in the Seventh Century'', 291<br />* L. Neville, ''Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society'', 7</ref> The most important reform of this period is the creation of themes, where the civil and military administration is exercized by one person, the ''[[strategos]]''.<ref name="Helios" />

|oTop = 25

|oLeft = 45

|Location = right

|alt = A cropped image of a mosaic, which depicts two women playing a church organ like instrument

|Description = Late 4th-century "Mosaic of the Musicians" playing the [[pipe organ|organ]], [[aulos]], and [[lyre]] from a Byzantine villa in [[Maryamin, Hama|Maryamin]], Syria{{sfn|Ring|1994|p=318}}

}}

[[Byzantine music]] is eclectically descended from early [[Plainsong|Christian plainsong]], [[Jewish music]], and a variety of [[ancient music]]; its exact connections to [[Musical system of ancient Greece|ancient Greek music]] remain uncertain.{{sfnm|1a1=Velimirović|1y=1990|1pp=28–29|2a1=Conomos|2y=1991|2p=1426}} It included both [[Sacred music|sacred]] and [[Secular music|secular]] traditions, but the latter is little known, whereas the former remains the central music of [[Eastern Orthodox]] liturgy into the 21st century.{{sfnm|1a1=Conomos|1y=1991|1pp=1424–1426|2a1=Levy|2a2=Troelsgård|2y=2016|2loc=§ Introduction}} The empire's church music, known as Byzantine [[chant]], was exclusively unaccompanied [[Monody|monodic]] vocal music, sung in Greek.{{sfn|Velimirović|1990|pp=26–27, 29}} From the 8th century, chant melodies were governed by the ''[[Oktōēchos]]'' framework, a set of eight [[Mode (music)|modes]]—[[echos]] ({{lang|grc|ἦχος}}; {{lit.|sound}})—each of these provide predetermined [[Motif (music)|motivic]] formulae for composition.{{sfnm|1a1=Velimirović|1y=1990|1pp=45–46|2a1=Conomos|2y=1991|2p=1425|3a1=Levy|3a2=Troelsgård|3y=2016|3loc=§5 "System of eight modes ('oktōēchos')", §7 "Formulaic chants"}} These formulae were chosen for proper [[text stress]] and occasionally for [[text painting]], then collated through [[centonisation]] into [[hymn]]s or [[psalm]]s.{{sfnm|1a1=Velimirović|1y=1990|1p=29|2a1=Levy|2a2=Troelsgård|2y=2016|2loc=§7 "Formulaic chants"}}

Despite the occasionally [[Derogatory use of "Byzantine"|derogatory use of the word "Byzantine"]], the Byzantine bureaucracy had a distinct ability for reinventing itself in accordance with the Empire's situation. The Byzantine system of titulature and precedence makes the imperial administration look like an ordered bureaucracy to modern observers. Officials were arranged in strict order around the emperor, and depended upon the imperial will for their ranks. There were also actual administrative jobs, but authority could be vested in individuals rather than offices.<ref name="L34">L. Neville, ''Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society'', 34</ref> In the 8th and 9th centuries civil service constituted the clearest path to aristocratic status, but, starting in the 9th century, the civil aristocracy was rivaled by an aristocracy of nobility. According to some studies of Byzantine government, 11th century politics were dominated by competition between the civil and the military aristocracy. During this period, Alexios I undertook important administrative reforms, including the creation of new courtly dignities and offices.<ref name="L13">L. Neville, ''Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society'', 13</ref>

Byzantine chant was central to the [[Byzantine Rite]]; the earliest music was not [[musical notation|notated]],{{sfn|Velimirović|1990|pp=26–27}} including early mono[[strophic]] short hymns like the [[troparion]].{{sfn|Levy|Troelsgård|2016|loc=§10 "Syllabic hymn settings"}} Proto-[[Ekphonetic notation]] (9th century onwards) marked simple [[recitation]] patterns. The [[neumatic]] Palaeo-Byzantine notation system emerged in the 10th century, and the Middle Byzantine "Round Notation" from the mid-12th century onwards is the first fully [[:wikt:diastematic|diastematic]] scheme.{{sfnm|1a1=Velimirović|1y=1990|1pp=48–51|2a1=Levy|2a2=Troelsgård|2y=2016|2loc=§3 "Melodic notation"}} Several major forms developed alongside [[List of Byzantine composers|well-known composers]]: the long [[kontakion]] (5th century onwards), popularised by [[Romanos the Melodist]]; the also-extensive [[Canon (hymnography)|kanōn]] (late 7th century onwards), developed by [[Andrew of Crete]]; and the shorter [[sticheron]] (at least 8th century onwards), championed by [[Kassia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conomos|1y=1991|1p=1425|2a1=Levy|2a2=Troelsgård|2y=2016|2loc=§3 "Melodic notation"|3a1=Mellas|3y=2020|3p=2}} By the Palaiologan period, the dominance of strict compositional rules lessened and [[John Koukouzeles]] led a new school favouring a more [[Ornament (music)|ornamental]] "kalophonic" style which deeply informed post-empire Neo-Byzantine music.{{sfn|Conomos|1991|pp=1425–1426}}

===Diplomacy===

{{details|Byzantine diplomacy}}

[[Image:The mother of the Russian sovereign Svjatoslav, Olga along with her escort from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|thumb|left|[[Olga of Kiev|Olga]], ruler of [[Kievan Rus']], along with her escort in Constantinople (Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid)]]

After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its sundry neighbors. When these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they were dependent on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbors into a network of international and inter-state relations.<ref name="N1">I.B. Neumann, ''Sublime Diplomacy'', 869–871</ref> This network revolved around treaty making, and included the welcoming of the new ruler into the family of kings, and the assimilation of Byzantine social attitudes, values and institutions.<ref>E. Chrysos, ''Byzantine Diplomacy'', 35</ref> Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other means: the ''Bureau of Barbarians'' was the first foreign intelligence agency, gathering information on the empire's rivals from every imaginable source.<ref name="Ant">M. Antonucci, ''War by Other Means'', 11–13</ref>

Secular music, often state-sponsored, was ubiquitous in daily life and featured in a variety of ceremonies, festivals, and theatre.{{sfn|Touliatos|2001|loc=§ Introduction}} Secular vocal music was rarely notated, and extant manuscripts date much later, suggesting the tradition was passed through [[oral tradition]] and likely [[improvised]].{{sfn|Touliatos|2001|loc=§ "Sources"}} Prohibited for liturgical use, a wide variety of Byzantine [[Musical instrument|instrument]]s flourished in secular contexts, although no notated instrumental music survives.{{sfn|Conomos|Kazhdan|1991|p=1426}} It is uncertain to what extent instrumentalists improvised or if they doubled vocalists monophonically or [[Heterophony|heterophonically]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conomos|1a2=Kazhdan|1y=1991|1p=1426|2a1=Touliatos|2y=2001|2loc=§2 "Instruments and performing practice"}} Among the best known instruments are the [[hydraulic organ]], used for circus and imperial court events; the [[Music of ancient Greece|ancient Greek]]-descended [[aulos]], a [[wind instrument]]; the [[tambouras]], a plucked [[string instrument]]; and mostly popularly, the [[Byzantine lyra]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conomos|1a2=Kazhdan|1y=1991|1p=1426|2a1=Touliatos|2y=2001|2loc=§2 "Instruments and performing practice"}} Prominent genres included [[acclamatio|acclamation]] chants of laudation or salutation; the celebratory [[Acritic songs]]; symposia instrumental [[banquet]]s, based on ancient [[symposium]]s; and [[dance music]].{{sfn|Touliatos|2001|loc=§3 "Genres and composers"}}

Byzantines availed themselves of a number of diplomatic practices. For example, embassies to the capital would often stay on for years. A member of other royal houses would routinely be requested to stay on in Constantinople, not only as a potential hostage, but also as a useful pawn in case political conditions where he came from changed. Another key practive was to overwhelm visitors by sumptuous displays.<ref name="N1" /> According to [[Dimitri Obolensky]], the preservation of civilization in [[Eastern Europe]] was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium's lasting contributions to the history of Europe.<ref name="O3">D. Obolensky, ''Byzantium and the Slavs'', 3</ref>

===Legacy===

Byzantine culture is important, because of two lines of transmission: the first one involved the exporting of classical Greek and Roman culture into Islam, and the second one involved the transmission of Byzantine culture and religion to Slavs, especially to the [[Russians]]. The Slavs in Russia became a kind of cultural inheritor of Byzantine culture, and, therefore, Russian and Slavic culture is regarded by some scholars as the continuance of Byzantine culture.<ref>R. Hooker, ''[http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/BYZ.HTM The Byzantine Empire]</ref> Byzantium being only stable state in Europe during the Middle Ages ensured that Western Europe remained safe from many of the more devastating invasions from the East. Constantly under attack, it shielded Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for example, are recognized by some historians as being a key factor behind [[Charlemagne]],<ref name="Pirenne">[[Henri Pirenne|Pirenne, Henri]]

*''Mediaeval Cities: Their Origins and the Rivival of Trade'' (Princeton, NJ, 1925). ISBN 0691007608

*See also ''Mohammed and Charlemagne'' (London 1939) Dover Publications (2001). ISBN 0-486-42011-6.</ref> and a huge stimulus to [[feudalism]] and [[Medieval technology|economic self-sufficiency]].<ref name="Europe"/>

=== Science and technology ===

For centuries, Western historians used the terms "Byzantine" and "Byzantinism" as a byword for effeminate decadence, and there was a negative assessment of Byzantine civilization, and of its legacy on [[Southeastern Europe]].<ref name="A1">D.G. Angelov, ''The Making of Byzantinism'', 1</ref> "Byzantinism" was defined as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas, which ran contrary to those of the West.<ref name="A7-8">D.G. Angelov, ''The Making of Byzantinism'', 7=-8</ref> The 20th and 21st centuries, however, have seen an increased attempt by historians to understand the Empire, and, therefore, the complex characteristics of Byzantine culture have received a more objective treatment by modern Byzantine scholars.<ref name="A7-8" />

{{Main|Byzantine science}}

{{See also|List of Byzantine inventions|Byzantine philosophy|List of Byzantine scholars}}

[[File:20131203 Istanbul 048.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Interior of the [[Hagia Sophia]]; the influence of [[Archimedes]]' principles of solid geometry is evident.|alt=A photograph of the interior of a building built with blue arches and pillars and ornate yellow walls]]

==See also==

The scholars of the empire played a principal role in transmitting classical knowledge to the [[Greek contributions to the Islamic world|Islamic world]] and [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance Italy]], as well as producing commentaries that helped expand scientific knowledge.{{sfnm|Robins|1993|1pp=8-9|Lazaris|2020a|2p=17|Telelis|2020|3p=186}} This medieval Greek scholarship was not only based on scientific treatises from antiquity but also drew from Islamic, Latin, and Hebrew works, which helped spearhead new developments as late as the 11th and 12th centuries.{{sfnm|1a1=Lazaris|1y=2020a|1pp=3, 11|2a1=Inglebert|2y=2020|2p=27|3a1=Tatakes|3a2=Moutafakis|3y=2003|3p=180}} Although the Empire is sometimes not associated with scientific innovation or major discoveries,{{sfnm|Mango|2008|1p=958|2a1=Nicolaidis et al.|2y=2016|2pp=544–545}} its scientific contributions have also been described as underestimated.{{sfn|Tihon|2013|p=206}} Incomplete assessments of Byzantine texts{{sfn|Tihon|2013|p=206}} and the challenges of applying modern definitions of science to pre-modern contexts are factors in these ongoing debates.{{sfn|Lazaris|2020a|pp=1–5}}

*[[List of Byzantine Empire-related topics]]

[[File:Liquid fire granades Chania.jpg|thumb|upright|Ceramic grenades which were filled with [[Greek fire]], surrounded by [[caltrop]]s, 10th–12th century, [[National Historical Museum (Greece)|National Historical Museum]], Athens|alt=Two pots surrounded by caltrops]]

==Footnotes==

Key people passed on important traditions that underpinned this scholarship, especially in the realms of philosophy, geometry, astronomy, and grammar.{{Sfn|Manolova|2020|p=66}} For example, the Hagia Sophia architect [[Isidore of Miletus]] ({{Circa|530}}), compiled [[Archimedes]]' works which [[Leo the Mathematician]] ({{Circa|850|lk=no}}) incorporated into formal courses, and is why the [[Archimedes Palimpsest]] is known today.{{Sfnm|Manolova|2020|1p=66|Jones|2005|2p=520-521}} [[John Philoponus]] and his critiques of [[Aristotelian physics]], the pharmacologist [[Pedanius Dioscorides]], and Ptolematic geography and astronomy had an important influence on western science, as seen with [[Ptolemy]]'s influence on [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]] and Philoponus on [[Bonaventure]], [[Gersonides]], [[Jean Buridan|Buridan]], [[Nicole Oresme|Oresme]] and [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]].{{sfnm|Wildberg|2018|1p=|Lindberg|1992|2p=162}}

{{reflist|2}}

Military innovations included the [[Stirrup|riding stirrup]] which provided stability for mounted archers and dramatically transformed the army; a specialised type of [[horseshoe]]; the [[Lateen|lateen sail]], which improved a ship's responsiveness to wind; and [[Greek fire]]—an incendiary weapon capable of burning even when doused with water, first appearing around the time of the [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)]].{{sfnm|Lazaris|2020a|1p=16|Salmon|2020|2pp=445-446|Partington|1999|3p=13}} In [[Byzantine medicine|healthcare]], the empire pioneered the concept of the hospital as an institution offering medical care and the possibility of a cure for the patients, rather than merely being a place to die.{{sfnm|Lindberg|1992|1p=349|Nutton|1984|2p=9|Miller|1997|3pp=ix, 3–4|Bennett|2016|4pp=7-14}}

==References==

===Primary sources===

<div class="references-small">

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*{{cite book | author=Choniates, Nicetas | authorlink=Nicetas Choniates| title= Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History by D.C. Munro (Series 1, Vol 3:1)| publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press| ___location=Philadeplphia|pages=15–16|year=1912|chapter=The Sack of Constantinople (1204)}}

*{{cite book | author=Eusebius| authorlink=Eusebius of Caesaria| title= Life of Constantine (Book IV)| publisher=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.i.i.html}}

*{{cite book | author=Geoffrey of Villehardouin| authorlink=Geoffrey of Villehardouin| title= Chronicles of the Crusades (translated by Margaret R. Shaw)| publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1963|isbn=0-140-44124-7|chapter=The Conquest of Constantinople}}

*{{cite book | author=Innocent III | authorlink=Innocent III | title= Die Register Innocenz' III. 5: 5. Pontifikatsjahr, 1202/1203, Texte | editor=Othmar Hageneder, Christoph Egger, Karl Rudolf, and Andrea Sommerlechner| publisher=Publikationen des Historischen Instituts beim Österreichischen Kulturinstitut in Rom| ___location=Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|year=1993}}

*{{cite book | author=Innocent III | title= Die Register Innocenz' III. 6: 6. Pontifikatsjahr, 1202/1203, Texte | editor=Othmar Hageneder, John C. Moore Andrea Sommerlechner, Christoph Egger and Herwig Weigl| publisher=Publikationen des Historischen Instituts beim Österreichischen Kulturinstitut in Rom| ___location=Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|year=1995}}

*{{cite book | author=Procopius| authorlink=Procopius|title= Secret History (translated by H. B. Dewing) | publisher=Loeb Classical Library| year=1935|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Anecdota/home.html}}

</div>

===Secondary sources=Legacy ==

{{Main|Legacy of the Roman Empire}}

<div class="references-small">

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*{{cite book|last=Kaegi|first=Walter Emil|title=Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge|isbn=0521814596}}

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*{{cite book|last=Laiou|first=Angeliki E.|title=The Economic History of Byzantium (Volume 1)|year=2002|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|editor=Angeliki E. Laiou|chapter=Writing the Economic History of Byzantium|url=http://www.doaks.org/EHB.html}}

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*{{cite book | last=Neville| first=Leonora| title=Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society, 950–1100| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=2004|chapter=Imperial Administration and Byzantine Political Culture | isbn=0-521-83865-7}}

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*{{cite book|author=Paparrigopoulos, Constantine|authorlink=Constantine Paparrigopoulos|coauthors=Karolidis, Pavlos|title=History of the Hellenic Nation (Volume Db)|publisher=Eleftheroudakis|language=Greek|year=1925}}

*{{cite book|last=Parry|first=Kenneth|title=Depicting the Word: Byzantine Iconophile Thought of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|year=1996|isbn=9-004-10502-6|chapter=Historical Introduction}}

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*{{cite book|last=Robins|first=Robert Henry|title=The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History|year=1993|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=3-110-13574-4}}

*{{cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|title=The Medieval Manichee: A Study of the Christian Dualist Heresy|year=1982|isbn=0-521-28926-2|publisher=Cambridge University Press|chapter=The Bogomils}}

*{{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Herbert J.|title=The College Student's Introduction to Theology| year=1993|isbn=0-814-65841-5|publisher=Liturgical Press|chapter=The Church in History|editors=Christopher Key Chapple, Thomas P. Rausch}}

*{{cite book|last=Sedlar|first=Jean W.|title=East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=1994|isbn=0-295-97290-4|chapter=Foreign Affairs}}

*{{cite journal |last=Shahid |first=Irfan |year=1972|title=The Iranian factor in Byzantium during the reign of Heraclius|journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=26|pages=293-320}}

*{{cite book|last=Speck|first=Paul|title=Varia 1 (Poikila Byzantina 4)|year=1984|publisher=Rudolf Halbelt|chapter=Ikonoklasmus und die Anfänge der Makedonischen Renaissance|pages=175-210}}

*{{cite web|title=Heraclius ([[October 5]], 610–February 641 A.D.)|last=Scott Moore|first=R.|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/heraclis.htm|publisher=Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors|accessdate=2007-05-20}}

*{{cite web|title=John II Komnenos (A.D. 1118–1143)|last=Stone|first=Andrew|url= http://www.roman-emperors.org/johncomn.htm|publisher=Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors| accessdate=2007-05-18}}

*{{cite web|title= Manuel I Komnenos (A.D. 1143–1180)|last=Stone|first=Andrew|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/mannycom.htm|publisher=Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors|accessdate = 2007-02-05}}

*{{cite encyclopedia|title=Siege of Zara|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise|url=http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9383275/Siege-of-Zara||accessdate=2007-05-18}}

*{{cite book|last=Tatakes|first=Vasileios N.|coauthors=Moutafakis, Nicholas J.|title=ByzantinePhilosophy|year=2003|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=0-872-20563-0}}

*{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica|year=2002}}

*{{cite book|last=Treadgold|first=Warren|title=A History of the Byzantine State and Society|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1997|isbn=0-804-72630-2}}

*{{cite book|last=Troianos|first=Spyros|coauthors=Velissaropoulou-Karakosta, Julia|title=History of Law|publisher=Ant.N. Sakkoulas Publishers|year=1997|isbn=9-602-32594-1|chapter=Byzantine Law}}

*{{cite book|last=Vasiliev|first=Alexander Alexandrovich|authorlink=Alexander Vasiliev |title=History of the Byzantine Empire|year=1928–1935|url=http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0832.HTM| chapter=Byzantium and the Crusades}}

*{{cite book|last=Watson|first=Bruce Allen|title=Sieges: A Comparative Study|year=1993|publisher=Praeger/Greenwood|isbn=0-275-94034-9|chapter=Jerusalem 1099}}

</div>

=== Political aftermath ===

==Further reading==

{{Main|Succession to the Byzantine Empire}}

<div class="references-small">

*Ahrweiler, Helene "Studies on the Internal Diaspora of the Byzantine Empire", Harvard University Press, 1998.

*Ahrweiler, Helene ''Les Europeens'', Herman (Paris), 2000.

*{{cite book | author=Cantor, Norman | title=Medieval History, the Life and Death of a Civilization | year=1963}}

*{{cite book | author=Haldon, John | title=The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaigns of the Byzantine Era | year=2001 | id=ISBN 0-7524-1795-9}}

*J.M. Hussey, ''The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume IV — The Byzantine Empire Part I, Byzantium and its Neighbors'', Cambridge University Press 1966.

*{{cite book | author=Ostrogorsky, Georg | title=History of the Byzantine State | publisher=New Brunswick (NJ) | year=1969 | editor=2nd edition | id= ISBN 0-8135-1198-4}} (Georgije Ostrogorski, Георгије Острогорски)

*{{cite book | author=Runciman, Steven | title=Byzantine Civilisation | publisher=Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd. | year=1966 | editor= | id= ISBN 1-56619-574-8}}

*{{cite book | author=Runciman, Steven | title=The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign | Publisher=University Press (Cambridge) | year=1990}}

*{{cite book | author=Toynbee, Arnold J. | title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus and His World | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1972 | id= ISBN 019215253X}}

*{{cite book | author=Treadgold, Warren | title=The Byzantine Revival 780–842 | publisher=Stanford University Press | year=1991 | id= ISBN 0804718962}}

*{{cite web | author=Turner, David | title=The Empire Strikes Back: The alternative "History" of Europe | work=Romiosini: Hellenism in the Middle Ages | url=http://www.greece.org/Romiosini/talk1.html | accessmonthday = March 6 | accessyear=2006}}

</div>

[[File:Eastern Mediterranean 1450.svg|thumb|The Eastern Mediterranean just before the [[Fall of Constantinople]]|alt=A map centred on Greece and Turkey in 1450 AD. The Byzantine Empire holds only Southern Greece and northwestern Turkey]]

==External links==

After Constantinople fell, the Ottomans quickly absorbed the remaining independent territories, including Morea in 1460, Trebizond in 1461, [[Acciaioli family|Acciaiuoli]] Athens in 1456, and [[Gattilusio|Gattilusi]] Lesvos in 1462.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=914|Nicol|1993|2pp=407-408|Bryer|2009|3p=856}} They dismantled the Empire's political and secular institutions, leaving the impoverished Church to manage what would be later called the ''[[Rum Millet]]'', primarily as a tool for taxing its followers.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=914–915|Bryer|2009|2p=869 |Papademetriou|2015|3p=52}} As the sole sovereign Orthodox state, Russia developed the [[Moscow, third Rome|Third Rome doctrine]], emphasising its cultural heritage as distinct from Western Europe, because the latter had inherited much of the empire's secular learning.{{sfnm|Seton-Watson|1967|1p=31|Kaldellis|2023|2p=901|Mango|2008|3pp=960-961}} The [[Danubian Principalities]] became a haven for Orthodox Christians and [[Phanariots|Phanariot]] Greeks who sought to recreate a Byzantine Greek Empire.{{sfn|Clark|2000|p=215}} In modern Greece, members of the ''Rum Millet'' [[Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι)|increasingly identified as Greeks]], eventually leading to a [[Greek War of Independence|successful war of independence]] in the 19th century.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1p=915|Treadgold|1997b|2p=1125}} The modern Greek state nearly doubled its territory through the pursuit of the [[Megali Idea]]—a colonialist vision of reclaiming the former lands of the eastern empire—achieving limited success during the [[Crimean War|Crimean war]] but making significant gains during the [[Balkan Wars|Balkan wars]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ivanova|1a2=Anderson|1y=2024|1p=1240|2a1=Kaldellis|2y=2022b|2p=360}}

{{commons|Byzantine Empire}}

* [http://www.medievalists.net Medievalists.net] - extensive resources on the medieval period.

*[http://worldmuseumofman.org/byzantineartifacts1.htm Weapons & Artifacts of the Byzantine Roman Empire]

*[http://www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/4/4turner.html Ruminations on Romanisation in the East: Or, the Metanarrative in History]

*[http://www.orthodoxnews.netfirms.com/137/How.htm Christian Hellenism and the Byzantines]

*[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/ Byzantium: Byzantine studies on the Internet]

*[http://www.romanity.org/htm/fox.01.en.what_if_anything_is_a_byzantine.01.htm What, If Anything, Is A Byzantine? by Prof. Clifton R. Fox]

*[http://orthodoxempire.lx.ro Orthodox Empire]

*[http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/ 12 Byzantine Rulers] by Lars Brownworth of [[The Stony Brook School]]; audio lectures. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/education/31education.html NYTimes review].

*[http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~s285238/Roman/RomanEmpire.html 18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman] (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime)

*[http://www.friesian.com/romania.htm Rome & Romania, 27 BC–1453 AD] (Detailed maps of Rome/Byzantium and its neighbors)

*[http://www.neobyzantine.org/byzantium/index.php Byzantine Glory — the mosaic of Byzantine History and Culture]

*[http://www.doaks.org/ehbvol.html The Economic History of Byzantium]

Since the 15th century, Byzantine history has been deeply politicised, woven into nationalist, colonialist, and imperialist narratives.{{sfnm|1a1=Ivanova|1a2=Anderson|1y=2024|1pp=1233, 1235, 1248|2a1=Aschenbrenner|2a2=Ransohoff|2y=2022b|2p=372|3a1=Kaldellis|3y=2022b|3p=352}} This politicisation appears not only in Greece but also in Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian, Hungarian, and Turkish nationalism, as well as in former French and Russian imperialist agendas.{{sfnm|1a1=Ivanova|1a2=Anderson|1y=2024|1pp=1229-41, 1234, 1238|2a1=Haarer|2y=2010|2pp=18–19}} In the English-speaking world, interpretations of Byzantine history frequently surface in political debates, alongside the growing appreciation for its legacy.{{sfnm|1a1=Ivanova|1a2=Anderson|1y=2024|1p=1248|2a1=Haarer|2y=2010|2pp=10-12|3a1=Goldwyn|3y=2022|3p=325|4a2=Mango|4y=2008|4p=958}} The complexity of this history makes it a sensitive topic, especially regarding Greece's role in Europe's evolving sense of identity and the origin stories of many European nations.{{sfnm|1a1=Ivanova|1a2=Anderson|1y=2024|1p=1248|2a1=Haarer|2y=2010|2p=18-19|3a1=Stewart|3y=2022|3p=3|4a1=Kaldellis|4y=2023|4pp=2-3|5a1=Cameron|5y=2010|5pp=177-178}}

{{Roman history epochs}}

{{Middle Ages}}

=== Cultural aftermath ===

{{featured article}}

{{See also|Succession of the Roman Empire|Greek scholars in the Renaissance}}

{{History of Anatolia}}

[[File:Cyril Metodej.jpg|thumb|Monument to [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|St. Cyril and St. Methodius]], Byzantine missionaries to the Slavs, on [[Radhošť|Mt. Radhošť]] in Czechia|alt=A photograph of statue, which depicts two bearded and hooded men; the one on the left is holding up a cross and the one on the right is holding up a book]]

The Byzantine Empire distinctively blended Roman political traditions, Greek literary heritage, and Christianity, creating the civilisational framework that laid the foundation for medieval Europe.{{sfnm|Kaldellis|2023|1pp=3-4|Cameron|2010|2p=175}} The Empire preserved European civilisation by acting as a shield against forces from Eurasian Steppe people such as the Avars, Bulgars, Cumans, Huns, Pechenegs, and Turks.{{sfnm|Mango|2008|1pp=958-959|Obolensky|1994|2p=3}}

The empire's legal codes significantly influenced the civil law traditions of continental Europe, Russia, Latin America, Ethiopia, and even the English-speaking common law countries; and possibly influenced Islamic legal traditions as well.{{sfnm|Stolte|2015|2a1=Merryman|2a2=Pérez-Perdomo|2y=2007|Stein|1999|1pp=10–11|2pp=367–368|3p=36}}{{sfn|Salogubova|Zenkov|2018}} It also preserved and transmitted classical learning and manuscripts, making important contributions to the intellectual revival which fuelled [[Renaissance humanism|Italian humanism]].{{sfnm|Cameron|2010|1p=165|Mango|2008|2p=960}}

[[Category:Byzantine Empire|*]]

[[Category:Former countries in Europe|Byzantine Empire]]

The Byzantine Empire played a pivotal role in shaping Christianity by supporting early Church fathers and the decisions of Church councils; developing the institution of [[Christian monasticism|monasticism]]; and fostering the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox tradition]] which continues to define much of Eastern European identity.{{sfnm|Poppe|1991|1p=25|Cameron|2010|2p=261|Mango|2008|3p=358}} It was also instrumental in preserving the Greek language and is credited with developing the [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic alphabet]], which later evolved into the [[Cyrillic script]] and [[Old Church Slavonic]].{{sfnm|Poppe|1991|1p=25|Ivanič|2016|2p=127|Mango|2008|3pp=959, 961}} These innovations provided the first literary language for the Slavs and formed the educational foundation for all Slavic nations.{{sfnm|Poppe|1991|1p=25|Ivanič|2016|2p=127|Cameron|2010|3p=165|Shepard|2006|4pp=7–8}}

[[Category:Former countries in the Balkans|Byzantine Empire]]

[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe|Byzantine Empire]]

== See also ==

[[Category:Greek culture|Byzantine Empire]]

* [[Category:History of the Ottoman Empire|Byzantine Empiredress]]

* [[Category:HistoryFamily tree of Syria|Byzantine Empireemperors]]

* [[Category:HistoryIndex of Turkey|Byzantine EmpireEmpire–related articles]]

* [[Category:RomanList of Empire|Byzantine Empirerevolts and civil wars]]

* [[List of Byzantine wars]]

[[Category:Western and eastern Roman empires]]

* [[List of Roman dynasties]]

[[Category:395 establishments|Byzantine Empire]]

* [[Category:1453Outline of the disestablishments|Byzantine Empire]]

{{clear}}

== References ==

=== Notes ===

{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===

{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

=== Books ===

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

* {{cite book |last=Andronikou |first=Anthi |year=2022 |title=Italy, Cyprus, and Artistic Exchange in the Medieval Mediterranean |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-316-51092-6 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vkeEEAAAQBAJ}}}}

* {{Cite book |last=Ash |first=John |author-link=John Ash (writer) |url=https://archive.org/details/byzantinejourney00ashj |title=A Byzantine Journey |publisher=Random House |date=1995 |isbn=978-1-84511-307-0 |___location=New York |url-access=registration}}

* {{cite book |last=Bartusis |first=Mark |date=1997 |title=The late Byzantine army: arms and society, 1204-1453 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |___location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-0-8122-1620-2}}

* {{cite book |last1=Berndt |first1=Guido M. |author1-link=:de:Guido M. Berndt |last2=Steinacher |first2=Roland |author2-link=Roland Steinacher |year=2014 |title=Arianism: Roman Heresy and Barbarian Creed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RsGDAAAQBAJ |___location=London |publisher=Routledge |edition=1st |isbn=978-1-4094-4659-0}}

* {{cite book |last=Bennett |first=David |title=Medicine and Pharmacy in Byzantine Hospitals: A Study of the Extant Formularies |isbn=978-0-3678-7908-2 |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |___location=London}}

* {{Cite book |last=Browning |first=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/byzantineempire/ |title=The Byzantine Empire |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-8132-0754-4 |___location=Washington DC |url-access=registration |author-link=Robert Browning (Byzantinist)}}

* {{Cite book |last=Cameron |first=Averil |title=The Byzantines |date=2010 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-9833-2 |series=The Peoples of Europe |___location=Oxford}}

* {{cite book |last=Cameron |first=Averil |author-link=Averil Cameron |title=Byzantine Christianity: A Very Brief History |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |year=2017|isbn=9780281076147 |___location=London}}

* {{Cite book |last=Chitwood |first=Zachary |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/byzantine-legal-culture-and-the-roman-legal-tradition-8671056/EDF3AD1A74C4461805235605257DF9D6 |title=Byzantine Legal Culture and the Roman Legal Tradition, 867–1056 |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-18256-1 |___location=Cambridge}}

* {{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Victoria |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_o2c0 |title=Why Angels Fall: A Journey through Orthodox Europe from Byzantium to Kosovo |publisher=Macmillan |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-312-23396-9 |___location=London}}

* {{cite book |last=Constantelos |first=Demetrios |author-link=Demetrios Constantelos |title=Christian Hellenism: Essays and Studies in Continuity and Change |year=1998 |publisher=Aristides D. Caratzas |series=Studies in the Social & Religious History of the Medieval Greek World |volume=3 |___location=New Rochelle |isbn=978-0-89241-588-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/christianhelleni0000cons/mode/2up |url-access=registration}}

* {{cite book |last=Cormack |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Cormack |year=2018 |orig-year=2000 |title=Byzantine Art |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-877879-0 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=JnlQDwAAQBAJ}} }}

* {{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |editor-first1=Tom |editor-last1=Jaine |author-link=Alan Davidson (food writer) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |___location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-967733-7 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=14 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514144822/https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live |editor1-link=Tom Jaine}}

* {{cite book |last=Decker |first=Michael |date=2013 |title=The Byzantine Art of War |publisher=Westholme Publishing |___location=[[Yardley, Pennsylvania|Yardley]] |isbn=978-1-5941-6168-1}}

* {{Cite book |last=Faas |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXGlAr17oekC |title=Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-226-23347-5 |orig-date=1994 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=30 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730151401/https://books.google.com/books?id=YXGlAr17oekC |url-status=live |___location=Chicago}}

* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5GFAgAAQBAJ |last=Garland |first=Lynda |author-link=Lynda Garland |title=Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527–1204 |publisher=Routledge |___location=London |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-415-14688-3 |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116221034/https://books.google.com/books?id=a5GFAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=Timothy E. |title=A History of Byzantium |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-8471-7 |___location=Malden |author-link=Timothy E. Gregory}}

* {{cite book |last=Haldon |first=John |author-link=John Haldon |date=1999 |title=Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World |publisher=[[UCL Press]] |___location=London |isbn=978-1-8572-8495-9}}

* {{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Jonathan |title=Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4742-5466-3 |edition=Second |___location=London}}

* {{cite book |title=Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers |year=2010 |last1=Horrocks |first1=Geoffrey |isbn=978-1-4051-3415-6 |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley |author-link1=Geoffrey Horrocks (philologist)}}

* {{Cite book |last=Howard-Johnston |first=James |title=Byzantium: Economy, Society, Institutions 600–1100 |date=2024 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198897880 |___location=Oxford}}

* {{Cite book |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Kaldellis |title=Hellenism in Byzantium: The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-87688-9 |___location=Cambridge}}

* {{cite book |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |title=The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium |date=2023 |___location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |author-mask=3 |isbn=978-0197549322}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Kazhdan |first1=Alexander Petrovich |author-link=Alexander Kazhdan |title=Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries |last2=Wharton |first2=Annabel Jane |author-link2=Annabel Jane Wharton |publisher=University of California Press |year=1990 |isbn=9780520069626 |series=Transformation of the Classical Heritage |volume=7 |___location=Berkeley}}

* {{cite book |last=Kazhdan |first=Alexander |year=1999 |title=A History of Byzantine Literature (650–850) |publisher=Institute for Byzantine Research |___location=Athens |url=https://archive.org/details/Kazhdan1999ByzLit01/mode/2up |url-access=registration |isbn=978-960-371-010-3 |author-mask=3}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Laiou |first1=Angeliki E. |title=The Byzantine Economy |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/byzantine-economy/59786C4CA132FDEAA9F7F31472FAC2CB |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-84978-4 |last2=Morrisson |first2=Cécile}}

* {{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=David |author-link=David C. Lindberg |title=The Beginnings of Western Science |title-link=The Beginnings of Western Science |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1992 |isbn=9780226482057 |___location=Chicago}}

* {{cite book |doi=10.1017/CHO9780511974007 |title=The Cambridge History of Science |volume=2: Medieval Science |year=2013 |editor-last1=Lindberg |editor-first1=David C. |editor-last2=Shank |editor-first2=Michael H. |isbn=978-0-511-97400-7 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

** {{harvc |last=Tihon |first=Anne |c=Science in the Byzantine Empire |year=2013 |in1=Lindberg |in2=Shank |pages=190–206}}

* {{cite book |last=Lowden |first=John |author-link=John Lowden |year=1997 |title=Early Christian & Byzantine Art |publisher=Phaidon Press |___location=London |isbn=978-0-7148-3168-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900714831687}}

* {{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Roy T. |last2=Platt |first2=F. DeWitt |title=The Western Humanities |date=1997|publisher=Michigan State University|isbn=9781559344333|___location=East Lansing}}

* {{cite book |last=Mellas |first=Andrew |year=2020 |title=Liturgy and the Emotions in Byzantium: Compunction and Hymnody |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-108-76736-1}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Merryman |first1=John Henry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm81252739 |title=The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Europe and Latin America |last2=Pérez-Perdomo |first2=Rogelio |date=2007 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-5568-9 |edition=3rd |___location=Stanford, California |author1-link=John Henry Merryman}}

* {{cite book |last=Meyendorff |first=John |author-link=:ru:Мейендорф, Иван Феофилович |title=Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes |publisher=Fordham University Press |year=1979 |edition=illustrated, reprint, revised |isbn=978-0-8232-0967-5 |___location=New York |url=https://www.thetbs.org/study-materials/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Byzantine-Theology-Historical-Trends-and-Doctrinal-Themes-by-John-Meyendorff-z-lib.org_.epub_.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823182542/https://www.thetbs.org/study-materials/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Byzantine-Theology-Historical-Trends-and-Doctrinal-Themes-by-John-Meyendorff-z-lib.org_.epub_.pdf |archive-date=23 August 2024 |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite book |last=Millar |first=Fergus |author-link=Fergus Millar |url=https://archive.org/details/greekromanempire00ferg |title=A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius II (408–450) |publisher=University of California Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-520-24703-1 |___location=Berkeley}}

* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Timothy S. |title=The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire |isbn=978-0-8018-5657-0 |___location=Baltimore|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1997}}

* {{cite book |first=Donald M. |last=Nicol |author-link=Donald Nicol |title=The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2d6OHLqwEsC |year=1993 |publisher=Rupert Hart-Davis |___location=London |isbn=9780521439916 |access-date=11 December 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709030914/https://books.google.com/books?id=y2d6OHLqwEsC |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite book |last=Obolensky |first=Dimitri |title=Byzantium and the Slavs |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |date=1994 |isbn=978-0-88141-008-2 |___location=Yonkers |author-link=Dimitri Obolensky}}

* {{Cite book |last=Partington |first=J. R. |author-link=J. R. Partington |title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780801859540 |___location=Baltimore}}

* {{Cite book |last=Ring |first=Trudy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R44VRnNCzAYC |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=1994 |isbn=978-1-884964-03-9 |volume=4 |access-date=23 October 2016 |archive-date=9 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609091417/https://books.google.com/books?id=R44VRnNCzAYC |url-status=live |___location=London}}

* {{Cite book |last=Robins |first=Robert Henry |title=The Byzantine Grammarians: Their Place in History |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |date=1993 |isbn=978-3-11-013574-9 |___location=Berlin |author-link=R. H. Robins}}

* {{cite book |last=Rodley |first=Lyn |year=1994 |title=Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-35724-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/byzantineartarch0000rodl/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=registration}}

* {{Cite book |last=Rosser |first=John H. |title=Historical Dictionary of Byzantium |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810874770 |___location=Lanham, Maryland}}

* {{Cite book |last=Rotman |first=Youval |title=Byzantine Slavery and the Mediterranean World |date=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03611-6 |___location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}

* {{Cite book |last=Rotman |first=Youval |title=Slaveries of the First Millennium |date=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-1-64189-172-1 |author-mask=3 |___location=Amsterdam |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2175h0p |jstor=j.ctv2175h0p}}

* {{cite book |last1=Sabo |first1=Theodore |title=From Monophysitism to Nestorianism: AD 431–681 |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-0959-7|___location=Newcastle upon Tyne}}

* {{Cite book |last=Seton-Watson |first=Hugh |title=The Russian Empire, 1801–1917 |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1967 |isbn=978-0-1982-2152-4 |author-link=Hugh Seton-Watson |___location=London |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/russianempire1800000seto/mode/2up}}

* {{Cite book |last=Stathakopoulos |first=Dionysios Ch. |title=A Short History of the Byzantine Empire |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-23340-9 |series=Short Histories |___location=London}}

* {{Cite book |last=Stein |first=Peter |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511814723 |title=Roman Law in European History |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64372-6 |___location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511814723 |author-link=Peter Stein (legal scholar)}}

* {{Cite book |___location=London |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781136727870 |title=The Byzantine World |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-72787-0 |editor-last=Stephenson |editor-first=Paul}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Tatakes |first1=Vasileios N. |title=Byzantine Philosophy |last2=Moutafakis |first2=Nicholas J. |publisher=Hackett |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-8722-0563-5 |___location=Indianapolis}}

* {{Cite book |last=Treadgold |first=Warren T. |title=Byzantium and its Army: 284–1081 |date=1995 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-3163-8 |___location=Stanford |author-link=Warren Treadgold}}

* {{A History of the Byzantine State and Society}}

* {{Cite book |last=Treadgold |first=Warren T. |title=A History of the Byzantine State and Society |date=1997b |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7937-1 |___location=Redwood City}}

* {{Cite book |last=Unwin |first=P. T. H. |title=Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-14416-2 |___location=London}}

* {{Cite book |last=Vryonis |first=Speros |author-link=Speros Vryonis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBpIAAAAMAAJ |title=The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century |publisher=University of California Press |date=1971 |isbn=978-0-520-01597-5 |___location=Berkeley |access-date=25 June 2016 |archive-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626102729/https://books.google.com/books?id=wBpIAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}

{{Refend}}

=== Journals ===

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

* {{cite journal |last=Adams |first=Robert Merrihew |author-link=Robert Merrihew Adams |title=Nestorius and Nestorianism |year=2021 |journal=The Monist |volume=104 |issue=3 |pages=366–375 |doi=10.1093/monist/onab005}}

* {{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Brown (historian) |title=Eastern and Western Christendom in Late Antiquity: A Parting of the Way |journal=Studies in Church History |year=1976|volume=13 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1017/S0424208400006574}}

* {{cite journal |last=Browning |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Browning (Byzantinist) |date=1982 |title=Greek diglossia yesterday and today |journal=[[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]] |issue=35 |pages=49–68 |doi=10.1515/ijsl.1982.35.49}}

* {{cite journal |last=Cameron |first=Averil |title= Late Antiquity and Byzantium: An Identity Problem |journal=[[Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies]] |year=2016 |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=27–37 |doi=10.1017/byz.2015.4}}

* {{cite journal |last=van Dieten |first=Jan Louis |year=1980 |title=Die Byzantinische Literatur – Eine Literatur Ohne Geschichte? |trans-title=Byzantine Literature – A Literature Without History? |language=de |journal=[[Historische Zeitschrift]] |volume=231 |issue=H 1 |pages=101–109 |doi=10.1524/hzhz.1980.231.jg.101 |jstor=27621785}}

* {{Cite conference |last=Dingledy |first=Frederick |date=2019-05-02 |title=The Corpus Juris Civilis: A Guide to Its History and Use |doi=10.31228/osf.io/meq6c |journal=Legal Reference Services Quarterly |volume=35 |issue=4 |doi-access=free}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Harper |first=Kyle |date=2010 |title=Slave Prices in Late Antiquity (and in the Very Long Term) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27809564 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=206–238 |doi=10.25162/historia-2010-0013 |issn=0018-2311 |jstor=27809564 |s2cid=160720781}}

* {{Cite conference |last1=Horn |first1=Fred |title=Foundations of Digital Archæoludology |date=2019-05-31 |arxiv=1905.13516 |access-date=2025-01-10 |last2=Schädler |first2=Ulrich |chapter=3.4 Forensic Game Reconstruction |pages=9–10 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336574703 }}

* {{cite journal |last=Ivanič |first=Peter |title=The Origins of Christianity in the Territory of Czech and Slovak Republics Within the Contexts of Written Sources |url=https://www.academia.edu/70908086 |journal=European Journal of Science and Theology |volume=12 |issue=6 |date=2016 |pages=123–130 |access-date=9 June 2023 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606030707/https://www.academia.edu/70908086 |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite journal |last1=Ivanova |first1=Mirela |last2=Anderson |first2=Benjamin |date=2024-10-01 |title=The Politics of Byzantine Studies: Between Nations and Empires |url=https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article/139/600/1230/7742107 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=139 |issue=600 |pages=1230–1249 |doi=10.1093/ehr/ceae159 |issn=0013-8266|doi-access=free }}

* {{cite journal |first=Alexander |last=Jones |title=The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary. Volume 1: The Two Books On the Sphere and the Cylinder |journal=Notices of the AMS |volume=52 |issue=5 |url=https://www.ams.org/notices/200505/rev-jones.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302190047/https://www.ams.org/notices/200505/rev-jones.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2022 |year=2005 |pages=520–525}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Karras |first=Valerie A. |date=2004 |title=Female Deacons in the Byzantine Church |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146526 |journal=Church History |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=272–316 |doi=10.1017/S000964070010928X |jstor=4146526 |s2cid=161817885 |issn=0009-6407 |access-date=2 February 2024 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305131943/http://www.jstor.org/stable/4146526 |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Kazhdan |first=Alexander |date=1990a |title=Byzantine Hagiography and Sex in the Fifth to Twelfth Centuries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291623 |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=44 |pages=131–143 |doi=10.2307/1291623 |jstor=1291623 |issn=0070-7546 |access-date=30 January 2024|url-access=subscription }}

* {{Cite journal |last=Lavan |first=Myles |date=2016 |title=The Spread of Roman Citizenship, 14–212 ce: Quantification in the Face of High Uncertainty |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/230/1/3/2460651?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Past & Present |issue=230 |pages=3–46 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtv043 |issn=0031-2746 |hdl=10023/12646 |hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription }}

* {{cite journal |last=Nicholson |first=Graham |title=The Understanding of Papal Supremacy as Revealed in the Letters of Pope Gregory the Great |journal=Theological Studies |volume=11 |year=1960 |pages=25–51 |url=https://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Understanding-of-Papal-Supremacy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107095542/https://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Understanding-of-Papal-Supremacy.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2023 |url-status=live}}

*{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/688704 |title=Science and Orthodox Christianity: An Overview |year=2016 |last1=Nicolaidis |first1=Efthymios |last2=Delli |first2=Eudoxie |last3=Livanos |first3=Nikolaos |last4=Tampakis |first4=Kostas |last5=Vlahakis |first5=George |journal=Isis |volume=107 |issue=3 |pages=542–566 |pmid=28707856 |ref={{SfnRef|Nicolaidis et al.|2016}}}}

* {{cite journal |last=Poppe |first=Andrzej |year=1991 |title=Christianity and Ideological change in Kievan Rus': The First Hundred Years |journal=Canadian-American Slavic Studies |volume=25 |issue=1–4|pages=3–26|doi=10.1163/221023991X00038}}

* {{Cite journal |title=Review of: Response: Rotman on Lenski on Youval Rotman, Byzantine Slavery and the Mediterranean World |first=Youval |last=Rotman |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.07.02 |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660 |access-date=9 January 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2024 |date=2010-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109104527/https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.07.02 |url-status=live}}

* {{Cite journal |last1=Salogubova |first1=Elena |last2=Zenkov |first2=Alan |date=2018-06-15 |title=Roman Law's Influence on Russian Civil Law and Procedure |journal=Russian Law Journal |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=118–133 |doi=10.17589/2309-8678-2018-6-2-118-133 <!--|doi-broken-date=3 April 2025--> |doi-broken-date=16 August 2025 |issn=2312-3605 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234045831.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250110105849/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234045831.pdf |archive-date=10 January 2025 |url-status=live}}

{{Refend}}

=== Book chapters and encyclopaedias ===

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

* {{Cite book |editor-last=Angold |editor-first=Michael |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |volume=5 |isbn=9781139054089 |editor-link=Michael Angold |___location=Cambridge}}

** {{harvc |last=Micheau |first=Françoise |c=Eastern Christianities (Eleventh to Fourteenth Century): Copts, Melkites, Nestorians and Jacobites |year=2006 |in=Angold |pp=371–403}}

** {{harvc |last=Shepard |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Shepard |c=The Byzantine Commonwealth 1000–1550 |in=Angold |year=2006 |pp=1–52}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-88402-484-2 |last2=Ransohoff |first2=Jake |last1=Aschenbrenner |first1=Nathanael |___location=Washington DC}}

** {{harvc |last2=Ransohoff |first2=Jake |pages=1–23 |c=Introduction |last1=Aschenbrenner |first1=Nathanael |in1=Aschenbrenner |in2=Ransohoff |anchor-year=2022a |year=2022}}

** {{harvc |pages=349–367 |chapter=From "Empire of the Greeks" to "Byzantium" |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Kaldellis |in1=Aschenbrenner |in2=Ransohoff |year=2022 |anchor-year=2022a }}

** {{harvc |last2=Ransohoff |first2=Jake |pages=369–382 |c=Conclusion |last1=Aschenbrenner |first1=Nathanael |in1=Aschenbrenner |in2=Ransohoff |anchor-year=2022b |year=2022}}

* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Browning |first=Robert |editor-last1=Lucas |editor-first1=Donald William |editor-link1=D. W. Lucas |editor-last2=Mackridge |editor-first2=Peter A. |editor-link2=Peter Mackridge |year=2022 |title=Greek Literature: Byzantine Literature |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |___location=Chicago |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Greek-literature/Byzantine-literature#ref299806}}

* {{cite book |last=Cameron |first=Averil |author-link=Averil Cameron |date=2002 |chapter=The 'Long' Late Antiquity: A Twentieth-Century Model |title=Classics in Progress: Essays on Ancient Greece and Rome |editor-last=Wiseman |editor-first=T. P. |editor-link=T. P. Wiseman |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |pages=165–191 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11134386 |access-date=12 December 2023 |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209191020/https://www.academia.edu/11134386 |url-status=live |isbn=9780197263235}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=2 |editor1-last=Casiday|editor1-first=Augustine|editor2-last=Norris|editor2-first=Frederick W. |isbn=9781139054133 |___location=Cambridge}}

** {{harvc |last=Casiday |first=Augustine |last2=Norris |first2=Frederick W. |c=Introduction |year=2007 |in1=Casiday |in2=Norris |anchor-year=2007a |pp=1–5}}

** {{harvc |last=Drake |first=Harold A. |author-link=Harold A. Drake |c=The Church, Society and Political Power |pp=403–428 |in1=Casiday |in2=Norris |year=2007}}

** {{harvc |last=Löhr |first=Winrich |c=Western Christianities |pp=7–51 |in1=Casiday |in2=Norris |year=2007}}

* {{cite book |editor-last1=Cormack |editor-first1=Robin |year=2008 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies |isbn=978-0-1917-4352-8 |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford|editor-link=Robin Cormack |url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxford-handbook-of-byzantine-studies-oxford-handbooks-jeffreys-elizabeth-hal/mode/2up |editor-last2=Haldon |editor-first2=John F. |editor-last3=Jeffreys |editor-first3=Elizabeth |editor-link2=John Haldon |editor-link3=Elizabeth Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Brandes |first=Wolfram |c=Revenues and Expenditure |in1=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=562–570 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Bryer |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Bryer |in=Cormack |year=2008 |c=Food, Wine, and Feasting |pages=669–676 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Decker |first=Michael |in=Cormack |year=2008 |c=Everyday Technologies |pages=492–502 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Greatrex |first=Geoffrey |c=Political-Historical Survey, c. 250–518 |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=233–248 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Haldon |first=John F. |c=Political-Historical Survey, c. 518–800 |in=Cormack |year=2008 |author-link=John Haldon |anchor-year=2008a |pages=249–263 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Haldon |first=John F. |c=The Army |in=Cormack |year=2008 |author-link=John Haldon |anchor-year=2008b |pages=554–561 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Harvey |first=Alan |c=The Village |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=328–334 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Holmes |first=Catherine |c=Political-Historical Survey, 800–1204 |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=264–279 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last1=Horrocks |first1=Geoffrey |c=Language |in1=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=777–784 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Howard-Johnston |first=James F |c=Byzantium and Its Neighbours |in=Cormack |year=2008 |author-link=James Howard-Johnston |pages=939–956 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Jeffreys |first=Elizabeth |in=Cormack |year=2008 |anchor-year=2008a |c=Entertainments, Theatre, And Hippodrome |pages=677–684 |author-link=Elizabeth Jeffreys |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Jeffreys |first=Michael |c=Literacy |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=796–802 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Laiou |first=Angeliki |author-link=Angeliki Laiou |c=Political-Historical Survey, 1204–1453 |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=280–294 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Markopoulos |first=Athanasios |c=Education |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=785–795 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

** {{harvc |last=Mango |first=Cyril |c=Byzantium's Role in World History |in1=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=957–961 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys |author-link=Cyril Mango}}

** {{harvc |last=Stathakopoulos |first=Dionysios Ch. |c=Population, Demography, and Disease |in=Cormack |year=2008 |pages=309–316 |in2=Haldon |in3=Jeffreys}}

* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Curl |first1=James Stevens |author-link1=James Stevens Curl |last2=Wilson |first2=Susan |year=2021 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture |title=Byzantine Architecture |edition=3rd Edition Revised<!--Distinct from 3rd Edition not revised--> |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-191874-2 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191918742.001.0001/acref-9780191918742-e-755 |url-access=subscription}}

* {{Cite book |last=Garland |first=Lynda |title=Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800–1200 |date=2006 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-5737-8 |series=Publications for the Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College, London |___location=Aldershot, Burlington}}

** {{harvc |last=Dawson |first=Timothy |c=Propriety, Practicality, Pleasure: The Parameters of Women's Dress in Byzantium, A.D. 1000-1200 |in=Garland |year=2006 |pages=41–76}}

* {{cite book |last=Grosdidier de Matons |first=Jean |year=1967 |chapter=La Femme dans l'Empire Byzantin |trans-chapter=Women in the Byzantine Empire |title=Histoire Mondiale de la Femme: Préhistoire et antiquité |trans-title=World History of Women: Prehistory and Antinquity |volume=I |pages=11–43 |language=fr |___location=Paris |publisher=Nouvelle librairie de France |oclc=490034792 |editor-last=Grimal |editor-first=Pierre |editor-link=Pierre Grimal}}

* {{Cite book |last=Haarer |first=F. K. |chapter=Writing Histories of Byzantium: The Historiography of Byzantine History |date=2010 |title=A Companion to Byzantium |pages=9–21 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444320015.ch2 |access-date=2025-01-16 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |doi=10.1002/9781444320015.ch2 |isbn=978-1-4443-2001-5 |___location=London |editor-first=Liz |editor-last=James |editor-link=Liz James}}

* {{cite encyclopedia |last=James |first=Liz |author-link=Liz James |editor-last=Brigstocke |editor-first=Hugh |year=2003 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Western Art |title=Byzantine Art |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-866203-7 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662037.001.0001/acref-9780198662037-e-423}}

* {{cite book |editor1-last=Johnson |editor1-first=Scott Fitzgerald |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-027753-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEYSDAAAQBAJ |___location=Oxford}}

** {{harvc |last=Kaiser |first=Wolfgang |c=Justinian and the Corpus Iuris Civilis |in=Johnson |year=2015 |pp=119–148}}

** {{harvc |last=Stolte |first=Bernard H. |c=The Law of New Rome: Byzantine Law |in=Johnson |year=2015 |pp=355–373}}

* {{cite web |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |title=Late Antiquity Dissolves |date=18 September 2015 |website=Marginalia: Forum on Late Antiquity and the Humanities |access-date=12 December 2023 |url=https://themarginaliareview.com/late-antiquity-dissolves-by-anthony-kaldellis/ |archive-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213011114/https://themarginaliareview.com/late-antiquity-dissolves-by-anthony-kaldellis/ |url-status=live |author-link=Anthony Kaldellis}}

* {{Cite book |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume Two: The History of Empires |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021a |editor-last=Fibiger Bang |editor-first=Peter |editor1-link=Peter Fibiger Bang |chapter=The Byzantine Empire (641–1453 CE) |pages=450–467 |editor-last2=Bayly |editor-first2=C. A. |editor2-link=Christopher Bayly |editor-last3=Scheidel |editor-first3=Walter |editor3-link=Walter Scheidel |isbn=9780197532768 |___location=New York |author-mask=3}}

* {{Cite book |title=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1991a |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 |editor-last=Kazhdan |editor-first=Alexander Petrovich |___location=Oxford |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxfrod-dictionary-of-byzantium-vol.-1-oup-1991/The%20Oxfrod%20Dictionary%20of%20Byzantium_Vol.%202_OUP_1991/mode/2up |editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan}}

** {{harvc |last=Browning |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Browning (Byzantinist) |url-access=subscription |in=Kazhdan |year=1991a |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3001 |c=Language |pages=1175–1177}}

** {{harvc |last=Conomos |first=Dimitri E. |year=1991a |anchor-year=1991 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxfrod-dictionary-of-byzantium-vol.-1-oup-1991/The%20Oxfrod%20Dictionary%20of%20Byzantium_Vol.%202_OUP_1991/page/1419/mode/2up |pages=1424–1426 |c=Music |in=Kazhdan}}

** {{harvc |last1=Conomos |first1=Dimitri E. |last2=Kazhdan |first2=Alexander |year=1991a |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxfrod-dictionary-of-byzantium-vol.-1-oup-1991/The%20Oxfrod%20Dictionary%20of%20Byzantium_Vol.%202_OUP_1991/page/1421/mode/2up |pages=1426–1427 |c=Musical Instruments |in=Kazhdan |anchor-year=1991}}

** {{harvc |last=Kazhdan |first=Alexander Petrovich |year=1991a |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxfrod-dictionary-of-byzantium-vol.-1-oup-1991/The%20Oxfrod%20Dictionary%20of%20Byzantium_Vol.%202_OUP_1991/page/1228/mode/2up |pages=1234–1237 |c=Literature |in=Kazhdan |anchor-year=1991b}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century |volume=1 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=2002a |editor-last=Laiou |editor-first=Angeliki E. |___location=Washington DC |url=https://archive.org/details/economicbizant/mode/2up |isbn=9780884022886 |editor-link=Angeliki Laiou}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century |volume=2 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=2002b |editor-first=Angeliki E. |editor-last=Laiou |___location=Washington DC |isbn=978-0884022886}}

** {{harvc |pages=625–632|c=Medieval Athens |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218231247/http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/EconHist/EHB29.pdf |last=Kazanaki-Lappa |first=Maria |in=Laiou |year=2002b |anchor-year=2002}}

** {{harvc |last=Laiou |first=Angeliki E. |c=Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries |pages=681–754 |in=Laiou |year=2002b |anchor-year=2002c |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930114425/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/byzantine-studies/the-economic-history-of-byzantium/ehb36-trade}}

** {{harvc |pages=519–527 |chapter=Medieval Constantinople: Built Environment and Urban Development |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930114407/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/byzantine-studies/the-economic-history-of-byzantium/ehb20-cp |last=Magdalino |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Magdalino |in=Laiou |year=2002b |anchor-year=2002b}}

** {{harvc |pages=771–806 |chapter=Commerce, Trade, Markets, and Money: Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries |chapter-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930114138/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/byzantine-studies/the-economic-history-of-byzantium/ehb37-trade-late |last=Matschke |first=Klaus-Peter |in=Laiou |year=2002b |anchor-year=2002}}

* {{cite book |last=Lazaris |first=Stavros |title=A Companion to Byzantine Science |series=Brill's Companions to the Byzantine World |volume=6 |publisher=Brill |___location=Leiden |year=2020 |doi=10.1163/9789004414617 |isbn=978-90-04-41461-7}}

** {{harvc |last=Lazaris |first=Stavros |c=Introduction |in=Lazaris |year=2020 |pages=1–26 |anchor-year=2020a}}

** {{harvc |last=Inglebert |first=Herv |c=1. ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’ Knowledge: the Debate between Faith and Reason in Late Antiquity |in=Lazaris |year=2020 |pages=27–52}}

** {{harvc |last=Manolova |first=Divna |c=2. Science Teaching and Learning Methods in Byzantium |in=Lazaris |year=2020 |pages=53–104}}

** {{harvc |last=Telelis |first=Ioannis |c=5. Meteorology and Physics in Byzantium |in=Lazaris |year=2020 |pages=177–201}}

** {{harvc |last=Salmon |first=Thomas |c=12. The Byzantine Science of Warfare: from Treatises to Battlefield |in=Lazaris |year=2020 |pages=429–463}}

* {{Cite book |last=Lenski |first=Noel |chapter=Slavery in the Byzantine Empire |date=2021-08-12 |title=The Cambridge World History of Slavery |pages=453–481 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-02472-3 |volume=2: AD 500–AD 1420 |___location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/9781139024723.019 |editor1-first=Craig |editor1-last=Perry |editor2-last=Eltis |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Engerman |editor3-first=Stanley L. |editor3-link=Stanley Engerman |editor4-last=Richardson |editor4-first=David}}

* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Levy |first=Kenneth |others=Revised by Christian Troelsgård |editor-first1=Christian |editor-last1=Troelsgård |year=2016 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Byzantine Chant |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04494 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000004494 |ref={{sfnRef|Levy|Troelsgård|2016}} |author-link=Kenneth Levy}} {{Grove Music subscription}}

* {{cite book |title=New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=1: c. 500 – c. 700 |last=Louth |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Louth |date=2005 |chapter=The Byzantine Empire in the Seventh Century |pages=289–316 |isbn=9781139053938 |editor1-last=Fouracre |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-link=Paul Fouracre}}

* {{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm50270189 |title=The Oxford History of Byzantium |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814098-6 |editor-last=Mango |editor-first=Cyril A. |___location=Oxford |editor-link=Cyril Mango}}

** {{harvc |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Elizabeth |author-link1=Elizabeth Jeffreys |last2=Mango |first2=Cyril |author-link2=Cyril Mango |c=Towards a Franco-Greek Culture |in=Mango |year=2002 |pages=294–305}}

** {{harvc |last=Magdalino |first=Paul |c=The Medieval Empire (780–1204) |in=Mango |year=2002 |author-link=Paul Magdalino |pages=169–213}}

** {{harvc |last=Reinert |first=Stephen W. |c=Fragmentation (1204–1453) |in=Mango |year=2002 |pages=248–283}}

** {{harvc |last=Treadgold |first=Warren |c=The Struggle for Survival (641–780) |in=Mango |year=2002 |author-link=Warren Treadgold |pages=129–152}}

* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Mitchell |editor1-first=Margaret M. |editor1-link=Margaret M. Mitchell |editor2-last=Young |editor2-first=Frances |editor2-link=Frances Young |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity |volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-05483-6 |year=2006 |___location=Cambridge}}

** {{harvc |last=Cameron |first=Averil |year=2006 |c=Constantine and the 'Peace of the Church' |anchor-year=2006b |in1=Mitchell |in2=Young |pp=538–551 |author-link=Averil Cameron}}

* {{Cite book |last=Nicol |first=Donald M. |title=The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought, c. 350–c. 1450 |title-link=The Cambridge History of Political Thought |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1988 |isbn=978-0-52-142388-5 |editor-last=Burns |editor-first=J. H. |pages=51–79 |chapter=Byzantine Political Thought |author-link=Donald Nicol |editor-link=J. H. Burns |___location=Cambridge |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEa8Iv5wJ0IC&pg=PA51}}

* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Noble |editor1-first=Thomas F. X. |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Julia M. H. |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-139-05422-5 |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity |volume=3 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor2-link=Julia M. H. Smith |___location=Cambridge}}

** {{harvc |last=Brown |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Brown (historian) |year=2008 |c=Introduction: Christendom, c. 600 |in1=Noble |in2=Smith |pp=1–18}}

** {{harvc |last=Kolbaba |first=Tia M. |c=Latin and Greek Christians |pp=213–229 |in1=Noble |in2=Smith |year=2008}}

** {{harvc |last=Louth |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Louth |c=The Emergence of Byzantine Orthodoxy, 600–1095 |in1=Noble |in2=Smith |year=2008 |pp=46–64}}

* {{Cite book |last=Nutton |first=Vivian |author-link=Vivian Nutton |chapter=From Galen to Alexander, Aspects of Medicine and Medical Practice in Late Antiquity |pages=1–14 |editor-last=Scarborough |editor-first=John |title=Symposium on Byzantine Medicine |year=1984 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |series=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=38 |jstor=1291489 |isbn=9780884021391 |url=https://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/series/dopapers/for-readers/past-issues/volume-38 |___location=Washington DC |doi=10.2307/1291489 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DOP38_02_Nutton/mode/2up}}

* {{cite book |last=Papaconstantinou |first=Arietta |title=Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and Beyond |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Introduction |pages=xv–xxxvii |isbn=978-1-4094-5738-1 |___location=London |author-link=Arietta Papaconstantinou}}

* {{cite book |editor-last=Papaioannou |editor-first=Stratis |year=2021 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-935176-3}}

** {{harvc |last=Kaldellis |first=Anthony |year=2021 |chapter=The Reception of Classical Literature and Ancient Myth |in=Papaioannou |pages=162–179 |author-link=Anthony Kaldellis}}

** {{harvc |last=Martín |first=Inmaculada Pérez |year=2021 |chapter=Modes of Manuscript Transmission (Ninth–Fifteenth Centuries) |in=Papaioannou |pages=682–706}}

** {{harvc |last=Papaioannou |first=Stratis |year=2021 |anchor-year=2021a |chapter=What Is Byzantine Literature? An Introduction |in=Papaioannou |pages=1–18}}

* {{Cite book |last=Papademetriou |first=Tom |chapter=The Millet System Revisited |date=2015-02-01 |title=Render unto the Sultan |pages=19–62 |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198717898.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-871789-8}}

* {{Cite book |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110598384/html |title=Transformations of Romanness: Early Medieval Regions and Identities |date=2018-06-25 |publisher=De Gruyter |doi=10.1515/9783110598384 |hdl=10278/3702393 |isbn=978-3-11-059838-4 |editor-last=Pohl |editor-first=Walter |editor-last2=Gantner |editor-first2=Clemens |editor-last3=Grifoni |editor-first3=Cinzia |editor-last4=Pollheimer-Mohaupt |editor-first4=Marianne}}

** {{harvc |last1=Pohl |first1=Walter |c=1 Introduction: Early medieval Romanness – a multiple identity |in=Pohl |in2=Gantner |in3=Grifoni |in4=Pollheimer-Mohaupt |year=2018 |pp=3-39}}

** {{harvc |last1=Stouraitis |first1=Ioannis |c=Byzantine Romanness: From geopolitical to ethnic conceptions|in=Pohl |in2=Gantner |in3=Grifoni |in4=Pollheimer-Mohaupt |year=2018 |pp=123-39}}

* {{Cite book |last=Rochette |first=Bruno |chapter=The Attitude of the Roman Emperors towards Language Practices |title=Social Factors in the Latinization of the Roman West |year=2023 |___location=Oxford |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/55330/chapter/428805545 |editor1-last=Mullen |editor1-first=Alex |access-date=2023-12-22 |edition=1st |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |isbn=978-0-19-888729-4 |author-mask=3 |editor1-link=Alex Mullen (academic) |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/55330}}

* {{Cite book |last=Salaman |first=Rena |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rbDzAYGcUa8C/page/184 |title=Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery 1984 & 1985: Cookery: Science, Lore & Books: Proceedings (Introduction by Alan Davidson) |publisher=Prospect Books |date=1986 |isbn=978-0-907325-16-1 |editor-last=Jaine |editor-first=Tom |___location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rbDzAYGcUa8C/page/184 184–187] |chapter=The Case of the Missing Fish, or ''Dolmathon'' Prolegomena |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYa3J6xrjt4C |editor-link=Tom Jaine}}

* {{cite book |last=Kazhdan |first=Alexander |chapter=The Notion of Byzantine Diplomacy |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |year=1990 |title=Byzantine Diplomacy: Papers of the Twenty-fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies |isbn=9780860783381 |publisher=Variorum |___location=Cambridge |editor-link=Jonathan Shepard |author-link=Alexander Kazhdan |pages=3–24}}

* {{Cite book |editor-first1=Jonathan |editor-last1=Shepard |date=2009 |title=[[The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire|The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500–1492]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-5117-5670-2}}

** {{harvc |last=Angold |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Angold |c=Belle Époque or Crisis? (1025–1118) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=583–626}}

** {{harvc |last=Angold |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Angold |c=After the Fourth Crusade: the Greek Rump States and the Recovery of Byzantium |in=Shepard |year=2009 |anchor-year=2009b |pp=731–758}}

** {{harvc |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |c=State of Emergency (700–850) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=251–291}}

** {{harvc |last=Bryer |first=Anthony |c=The Roman Orthodox World (1393–1492) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=465–492 |author-link=Anthony Bryer}}

** {{harvc |last=Kaegi |first=Walter Emil |author-link=Walter Kaegi |c=Confronting Islam: Emperors Versus Caliphs (641 – c. 850) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=365–394}}

** {{harvc |last=Laiou |first=Angeliki |c=The Palaiologoi And The World Around Them (1261–1400) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=803–833}}

** {{harvc |last=Louth |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Louth |c=Justinian and his legacy (500–600) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |anchor-year=2009a |pp=97–129}}

** {{harvc |last=Louth |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Louth |c=Byzantium Transforming (600–700) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=221–248 |anchor-year=2009b}}

** {{harvc |last=Magdalino |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Magdalino |c=The Empire of the Komnenoi (1118–1204) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=627–663}}

** {{harvc |last=Moorhead |first=John |author-link=John Moorhead |c=Western Approaches (500–600) |in=Shepard |year=2009}}

** {{harvc |last=Shepard |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Shepard |c=Equilibrium to Expansion (886–1025) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |anchor-year=2009b |pp=493–536}}

** {{harvc |last=Tougher |first=Shaun |c=After Iconoclasm (850–886) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=292–304}}

** {{harvc |last=Whittow |first=Mark |c=The Middle Byzantine Economy (600–1204) |in=Shepard |year=2009 |pp=465–492 |author-link=Mark Whittow}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Routledge Handbook on Identity in Byzantium |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-14341-1 |editor-last=Stewart |editor-first=Michael Edward |series=The Routledge History Handbooks |___location=New York |editor-last2=Parnell |editor-first2=David Alan |editor-last3=Whately |editor-first3=Conor}}

** {{harvc |last=Stewart |first=Michael |c=Finding Byzantium |in1=Stewart |in2=Parnell |in3=Whately |year=2022 |pp=1–15}}

** {{harvc |last1=Muthesius |first1=Anna |c=Imperial identity: Byzantine silks, art, autocracy, theocracy, and the image of the Basileia|in1=Stewart| in2=Parnell |in3=Whately |year=2022 |pp=81-103}}

** {{harvc |last1=Kaldellis |first1=Anthony |c=Provincial identities in Byzantium|in1=Stewart| in2=Parnell |in3=Whately |year=2022 |anchor-year=2022b |pp=248-261}}

** {{harvc |last=Goldwyn |first=Adam J. |c=Byzantium in the American Alt-Right Imagination: Paradigms of the Medieval Greek Past Among Men's Rights Activists and White Supremacists |year=2022 |pp=424–436 |in1=Stewart| in2=Parnell |in3=Whately}}

* {{Cite book |last=Stolte |first=Bernard |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/27972/chapter/211607076 |chapter=Byzantine Law: The Law of the New Rome |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Pihlajamäki |editor-first=Heikki |volume=1 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198785521.013.10 |editor-last2=Dubber |editor-first2=Markus D. |editor-last3=Godfrey |editor-first3=Mark |pages=230–249 |___location=Oxford |title=The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History |isbn=9780191827426}}

* {{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/51597 |title=Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World |date=2022-10-31 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-9362-8 |editor-last=Stouraitis |editor-first=Yannis |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9781474493628.001.0001}}

** {{harvc |last=Stouraitis |first=Yannis |c=1 Is Byzantinism an Orientalism? Reflections on Byzantium's Constructed Identities and Debated Ideologies |in1=Stouraitis |year=2022 |anchor-year=2022b |pp=19-47}}

* {{Cite book |title=The Byzantines |date=1997 |last=Talbot |first=Alice-Mary |author-link=Alice-Mary Talbot |chapter=Chapter 5: Women |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-09791-6 |editor-last=Cavallo |editor-first=Guglielmo |editor1-link=Guglielmo Cavallo |___location=Chicago |pages=117–143}}

* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Touliatos |first=Diane |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Byzantine Secular Music |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48192 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000048192}} {{Grove Music subscription}}

* {{cite book |last=Velimirović |first=Miloš |author-link=Miloš Velimirović |editor-first1=Richard |editor-last1=Crocker |editor-first2=David |editor-last2=Hiley |editor-link2=David Hiley |year=1990 |title=The New Oxford History of Music |volume=II: The Early Middle Ages To 1300 |chapter=Byzantine Chant |pages=26–68 |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-316329-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/new-oxford-history-of-music/New%20Oxford%20History%20of%20Music%202a%20The%20Early%20Middle%20Ages%20to%201300%20II/mode/2up}}

* {{Cite book |last=Wildberg |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Wildberg |chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/philoponus/ |title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=2018 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-link=Edward N. Zalta |access-date=8 February 2025 |chapter=John Philoponus|edition=Winter 2021 }}

{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Ball |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm60402087 |title=Byzantine Dress: Representations of Secular Dress in Eighth- to Twelfth-Century Painting |date=2005 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-6700-8 |edition=1st |series=The New Middle Ages |___location=New York}}

* {{harvc |last=Dawson |first=Timothy |c=Propriety, Practicality, Pleasure: The Parameters of Women's Dress in Byzantium, A.D. 1000-1200 |in=Garland |year=2006 |pages=41–76}}

* {{harvc |last=Sarris |first=Peter |c=The Eastern Roman Empire from Constantine to Heraclius (306–641) |in=Mango |year=2002 |pages=19–70}}

== External links ==

{{Library resources box |onlinebooks = yes}}

* {{In Our Time|Byzantine Empire|p00547j9|Byzantine_Empire}}

* [http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/ 12 Byzantine Rulers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718092221/http://www.anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/ |date=18 July 2016}} by Lars Brownworth of [[The Stony Brook School]]; audio lectures.

* [http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~s285238/Roman/RomanEmpire.html 18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman] (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime).

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410123427/http://www.doaks.org/Byzantine.html Byzantine studies homepage] at [[Dumbarton Oaks]]. Includes links to numerous electronic texts.

* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/ Byzantium: Byzantine studies on the Internet]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008060507/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/ |date=8 October 2014}}. Links to various online resources.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111107172532/http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans.html Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c. 700–1204]. Online sourcebook.

* [http://www.deremilitari.org/ De Re Militari]. Resources for medieval history, including numerous translated sources on the Byzantine wars.

* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1c.html Medieval Sourcebook: Byzantium], hosted by [[Fordham University]]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814170022/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1c.html |date=14 August 2014}}. Numerous primary sources on Byzantine history.

* [http://www.univie.ac.at/byzantine/ Bibliography on Byzantine Material Culture and Daily Life]. Hosted by the [[University of Vienna]]; in English.

* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/greek-resources-constantinople.asp Constantinople Home Page]. Links to texts, images and videos on Byzantium.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160816053828/http://graal.org.ua/en/theodoro-principality Byzantium in Crimea: Political History, Art and Culture].

* [http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/ Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (with further resources and a repository with papers on various aspects of the Byzantine Empire)]

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[[eo:Bizanca imperio]]

[[eu:Bizantziar Inperioa]]

[[fr:Empire byzantin]]

[[gd:An t-Impireachd Bheasantian]]

[[gl:Imperio bizantino]]

[[ko:비잔티움 제국]]

[[hr:Bizant]]

[[id:Kekaisaran Romawi Timur]]

[[is:Austrómverska keisaradæmið]]

[[it:Impero bizantino]]

[[he:האימפריה הביזנטית]]

[[ka:ბიზანტიის იმპერია]]

[[sw:Ufalme wa Byzantini]]

[[ku:Împaratoriya Bîzans]]

[[la:Imperium Romanum Orientale]]

[[lt:Bizantija]]

[[hu:Bizánci Birodalom]]

[[nl:Byzantijnse Rijk]]

[[ja:東ローマ帝国]]

[[no:Østromerriket]]

[[nn:Austromarriket]]

[[pl:Cesarstwo bizantyjskie]]

[[pt:Império Bizantino]]

[[ro:Imperiul Bizantin]]

[[ru:Византийская империя]]

[[simple:Byzantine Empire]]

[[sk:Byzantská ríša]]

[[sl:Bizantinsko cesarstvo]]

[[sr:Византијско царство]]

[[sh:Bizantsko Carstvo]]

[[fi:Bysantin valtakunta]]

[[sv:Bysantinska riket]]

[[tl:Silangang Imperyong Romano]]

[[ta:பைசண்டைன் பேரரசு]]

[[vi:Đế quốc Byzantine]]

[[tr:Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu]]

[[uk:Візантійська імперія]]

[[ur:بازنطینی سلطنت]]

[[diq:İmparatoriya Bizansi]]

[[zh:拜占庭帝国]]