Over time, its economic and military might waned and along with it, the empire’s capacity to seize an opportunity. Add in
civil unrest
, natural disasters and powerful enemies such as the Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Bulgars, Normans, Slavs, and Ottoman Turks, and you can see why the Byzantine Empire eventually crumbled.
What problems faced the Eastern Roman Empire?
Over time, its economic and military might waned and along with it, the empire’s capacity to seize an opportunity. Add in
civil unrest
, natural disasters and powerful enemies such as the Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Bulgars, Normans, Slavs, and Ottoman Turks, and you can see why the Byzantine Empire eventually crumbled.
Why did the Eastern Roman Empire fall?
During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Empire was
struck by a series of epidemics
, which greatly devastated the population and contributed to a significant economic decline and a weakening of the Empire. Great bathhouses were built in Byzantine centers such as Constantinople and Antioch.
What did the eastern part of the Roman Empire became?
The Roman Empire in the east transformed into
the Byzantine Empire
over time, so it’s pretty hard to neatly separate the histories of the two empires, but most scholars agree that Emperor Constantine’s reign was the start of the Byzantine Empire.
What was the most serious challenge to the Eastern Roman Empire?
The most serious challenge to the Eastern Roman Empire was
the rise of Islam
. These forces defeated them at yarmuk and took control of Syria and Palestine.
What is the religion of the Byzantine Empire?
The Empire gave rise to
the Eastern Orthodox Church
.
Byzantium was almost always a Christian empire, but over the centuries its Greek-speaking church developed distinct liturgical differences from the Catholic, Latin-speaking church in the West.
What is Constantinople called today?
In 1453 A.D., the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks. Today, Constantinople is called
Istanbul
, and it is the largest city in Turkey.
Who defeated the Roman Empire?
Finally, in 476,
the Germanic leader Odoacer
staged a revolt and deposed the Emperor Romulus Augustulus. From then on, no Roman emperor would ever again rule from a post in Italy, leading many to cite 476 as the year the Western Empire suffered its deathblow.
Are there any Byzantines left?
Some families gained relatively widespread recognition, such as the Angelo Flavio Comneno, supposed descendants of the Angelos dynasty.
Some “Byzantine” claimants are still active today
, despite the lack of formal Byzantine succession laws making finding a ‘legitimate’ heir impossible.
What if the Romans never fell?
Rome would not have stopped there either
until the entire world was Roman
. If the entire world had become Roman the entire world would have followed Christianity and there would not have been any Crusades for the promise lands of Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
What is the difference between the Western and Eastern Roman Empire?
Despite sharing a political system and military, the two portions of the Roman Empire differed culturally.
Eastern Rome picked up the Greek language and cultural elements, while Western Rome maintained Latin as a language
. Additionally, Eastern Rome split from Roman Catholicism and practiced Orthodox Christianity.
What race were the Byzantines?
During the Byzantine period, peoples
of Greek ethnicity
and identity were the majority occupying the urban centres of the Empire. We can look to cities such as Alexandria, Antioch, Thessalonica and, of course, Constantinople as the largest concentrations of Greek population and identity.
Where is the Eastern Roman Empire located?
Where was the Byzantine Empire? At its greatest extent, the Byzantine Empire covered much of
the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea
, including what is now Italy, Greece, and Turkey along with portions of North Africa and the Middle East.
What was Justinian’s most important contribution to the Eastern Roman Empire?
Justinian I served as emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565. Justinian is best remembered for
his work as a legislator and codifier
. During his reign, Justinian reorganized the government of the Byzantine Empire and enacted several reforms to increase accountability and reduce corruption.
What was Justinian’s most important contribution to the Roman Empire?
Emperor Justinian’s most important contribution, perhaps, was
a unified Roman legal code
. Prior to his reign, Roman laws had differed from region to region, and many contradicted one another. The Romans had attempted to systematize the legal code in the fifth century but had not completed the effort.
What is one similarity and one difference between the earlier Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire?
Both of the Empires has the same form of government, Authoritarian
, also both were ruled by hereditary rulers. The empires had differing main languages, in the Roman Empire they mainly spoke latin and in the Byzantine Empire the most common language was Greek.
