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'{{About|the medieval Roman empire||Byzantine (disambiguation)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2011}} {{pp-move-indef}} {{Infobox Former Country |native_name = {{Polytonic|Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων}}, {{Polytonic|Ῥωμανία}}<br>''Basileia Rhōmaiōn'', ''Rhōmanía''<br>''Imperium Romanum'', ''Romania'' |conventional_long_name = Roman Empire |common_name = Byzantine Empire |continent = Europe |region = Mediterranean Sea |era = Late Antiquity–Late Middle Ages |status = Empire |government_type = [[Autocracy]] |year_start = 330 |event_start = Foundation of [[Constantinople]]² |date_start = January 17 |year_start = 395 |event_start = Death of [[Theodosius I]] |year_end = 1453 |event_end = [[Fall of Constantinople]]³ |date_end = May 29 |event1 = The deposition of [[Romulus Augustulus]], nominal emperor in the west, brings formal division of the Roman Empire to an end |date_event1 = 476 |event2 = [[Pope Leo III]], hostile to the rule of the Empress [[Irene of Athens|Irene]], attempts to confer imperial authority on the Frankish king [[Charlemagne]] |date_event2 = 800 |event3 = East-West Schism |date_event3 = 1054 |event4 = Fall of Constantinople to the [[Fourth Crusade]] |date_event4 = 1204 |event5 = Reconquest of Constantinople |date_event5 = 1261 |event_pre = [[Diocletian]] splits imperial administration between east and west |date_pre = 285 |event_post = Fall of [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] |date_post = 1460 |image_flag = Flag of Palaeologus Dynasty.svg |flag_size = 80px |flag = Byzantine heraldry |flag_type = Flag of the Empire (14th century) |image_coat = Palaiologos Dynasty emblem.svg |symbol = |symbol_type = [[Byzantine heraldry|Imperial emblem]] under the [[Palaiologoi]] | |image_map = LocationByzantineEmpire 550.png |image_map_caption = The Empire at its greatest extent under [[Justinian]] in 550 |capital = [[Constantinople]]¹ |common_languages = [[Medieval Greek]], [[Latin]] |religion = [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman paganism]] until 391, [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] tolerated after the [[Edict of Milan]] in 313 and [[State church of the Roman Empire|state religion]] after 380 |currency = [[Solidus (coin)|Solidus]], [[Byzantine coinage|Hyperpyron]] | |leader1 = [[Arcadius]] |leader2 = [[Constantine XI]] |year_leader1 = 395–408 |year_leader2 = 1449–1453 |title_leader = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] | |legislature = [[Byzantine Senate]] | |stat_year1 = 565 AD⁴ |stat_area1 = |stat_pop1 = 26,000,000 |stat_year2 = 780 AD |stat_area2 = |stat_pop2 = 7,000,000 |stat_year3 = 1025 AD⁴ |stat_area3 = |stat_pop3 = 12,000,000 |stat_year4 = 1143 AD⁴ |stat_area4 = |stat_pop4 = 10,000,000 |stat_year5 = 1204 AD |stat_area5 = |stat_pop5 = 9,000,000 |stat_year5 = 1282 AD |stat_area5 = |stat_pop5 = 5,000,000 |today= {{Collapsible list|title=Countries today| {{flag|Albania}}|{{flag|Algeria}}|{{flag|Armenia}}|{{flag|Bosnia|name=Bosnia and Herzegovina}}|{{flag|Bulgaria}}|{{flag|Croatia}}|{{flag|Cyprus}}|{{flag|Egypt}}|{{flag|France}}|{{flag|Georgia}}|{{flag|Gibraltar}} ([[UK]])|{{flag|Greece}}|{{flag|Italy}}|{{flag|Iraq}}|{{flag|Israel}}|{{flag|Jordan}}|{{flag|Kosovo}}⁵|{{flag|Lebanon}}|{{flag|Libya}}|{{flag|Macedonia}}|{{flag|Malta}}|{{flag|Moldova}}|{{flag|Montenegro}}|{{flag|Morocco}}|{{flag|Northern Cyprus}}|{{flag|Palestine}}|{{flag|Romania}}|{{flag|San Marino}}|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}|{{flag|Serbia}}|{{flag|Slovenia}}|{{flag|Spain}}|{{flag|Sudan}}|{{flag|Syria}}|{{flag|Tunisia}}|{{flag|Turkey}}|{{flag|Ukraine}}|{{flag|Vatican City}}| }} |footnotes = ¹ Constantinople (330–1204 and 1261–1453). The capital of the [[Empire of Nicaea]], the empire after the Fourth Crusade, was at [[Nicaea (city)|Nicaea]], present day [[İznik]], [[Turkey]].<br />² Establishment date traditionally considered to be the re-founding of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire (324/330) although other dates are often used.<ref name="ODBdates">{{harvnb|Kazhdan|1991|p=344}}.</ref><br />³Date of end universally regarded as 1453, despite the temporary survival of remnants in Morea and Trebizond.<ref name="ODBdates"/><br />⁴ See [[Population of the Byzantine Empire]] for more detailed figures taken provided by ''McEvedy and Jones, "Atlas of World Population History", 1978'', as well as ''Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.''<br />⁵{{Kosovo-note}}}} The '''Byzantine Empire''' (or '''Byzantium''') was the '''Eastern Roman Empire''' during the periods of [[Late Antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]], centred on the capital of [[Constantinople]]. Known simply as the "Roman Empire" ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{Polytonic|Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων}}, ''Basileia Rhōmaiōn'')<ref>{{harvnb|Kazhdan|Epstein|1985|p=1}}.</ref> or '''Romania''' ({{Polytonic|Ῥωμανία}}) to its inhabitants and neighbours, it was the direct continuation of the [[Roman Empire|Ancient Roman State]] and maintained Roman state traditions.<ref name="Millar et al">{{harvnb|Millar|2006|pages=2, 15}}; {{harvnb|James|2010|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Freeman|1999|pp=431, 435–437, 459–462}}; {{harvnb|Baynes|Moss|1948|loc="Introduction", p. xx}}; {{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=27}}; {{harvnb|Kaldellis|2007|pp=2–3}}; {{harvnb|Kazhdan|Constable|1982|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=383}}.</ref><ref name="fordham">{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/index.html|title=Byzantium|last=Halsall|first=Paul|year=1995|publisher=Fordham University|accessdate=21 June 2011}}</ref> Byzantium is today distinguished from [[ancient Rome]] proper insofar as it was oriented towards [[Greek culture]], characterised by [[Christianity]] rather than [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman paganism]] and was predominantly [[Greek language|Greek-speaking]] rather than [[Latin language|Latin-speaking]].<ref name="Millar et al"/> As the distinction between ''Roman Empire'' and ''Byzantine Empire'' is largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is [[Constantine I|Emperor Constantine I's]] transfer in 324 of the capital from [[Nicomedia]] (in [[Anatolia]]) to [[Byzantium]] on the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]], which became Constantinople, "City of Constantine" (alternatively "[[New Rome]]").{{#tag:ref|The first instance of the designation "New Rome" in an official document is found in the canons of the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381), where it is used to justify the claim that the patriarchal seat of Constantinople is second only to that of Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Benz|1963|p=176}}.</ref>|group="n"}} The Roman Empire was finally divided in 395 AD after the death of Emperor [[Theodosius I]] (r. 379–395), thus this date is also very important if the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire) is looked upon as completely separated from the West. The transition to Byzantine history ''proper'' finally begins during the reign of Emperor [[Heraclius]] (r. 610–641), since Heraclius effectively established a new state after reforming the army and administration by introducing [[Theme (Byzantine district)|themes]] and by replacing the official language of the Empire from Latin to Greek.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|pp=105–107, 109}}; {{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Haywood|2001|pp=2.17, 3.06, 3.15}}.</ref> The Byzantine Empire existed for more than a thousand years, from its genesis in the 4th century to 1453. During most of its existence, it remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the [[Byzantine–Sassanid Wars|Roman-Persian]] and [[Byzantine-Arab Wars]]. The Empire recovered during the [[Macedonian dynasty]], rising again to become a preeminent power in the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] by the late 10th century, rivalling the [[Fatimid Caliphate]]. After 1071, however, much of [[Asia Minor]], the Empire's heartland, was lost to the [[Seljuk Turks]]. The [[Komnenian restoration]] regained some ground and briefly reestablished dominance in the 12th century, but following the death of Emperor [[Andronikos I Komnenos]] (r. 1183–1185) and the end of the [[Komnenos dynasty]] in the late 12th century the Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 from the [[Fourth Crusade]], when it was dissolved and divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and [[Byzantium under the Palaiologoi|re-establishment of the Empire in 1261]], under the [[Palaiologos|Palaiologan]] emperors, Byzantium remained only one of many rival states in the area for the final 200 years of its existence. However, this period was the most culturally productive time in the Empire.<ref name="fordham" /> Successive civil wars in the 14th century further sapped the Empire's strength, and most of its remaining territories were lost in the [[Byzantine-Ottoman Wars]], which culminated in the [[Fall of Constantinople]] and the conquest of remaining territories by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the 15th century. ==Nomenclature== {{details|Names of the Greeks}} The designation of the Empire as ''Byzantine'' began in [[Western Europe]] in 1557, when [[Germans|German]] historian [[Hieronymus Wolf]] published his work ''Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ'', a collection of historical sources. The term comes from ''[[Byzantium]]'', the name of the city of [[Constantinople]] before it became the capital of [[Constantine I|Constantine]]. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the ''Byzantine du Louvre'' (''Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ''), and in 1680 of [[Du Cange]]'s ''Historia Byzantina'' further popularised the use of ''Byzantine'' among French authors, such as [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]].<ref>Fox, [http://www.romanity.org/htm/fox.01.en.what_if_anything_is_a_byzantine.01.htm What, If Anything, Is a Byzantine?]</ref> The term then disappears until the 19th century when it came into general use in the [[Western world]].<ref>{{harvnb|University of Chile: Center of Byzantine and Neohellenic Studies|1971|p=69}}.</ref> Before this time, ''Greek'' had been used for the Empire and its descendants within the Ottoman Empire. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the ''Roman Empire'', the ''Empire of the Romans'' (Latin: ''Imperium Romanum'', ''Imperium Romanorum'', Greek: {{Polytonic|Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων}}, ''Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn'', {{Polytonic|Ἀρχὴ τῶν Ῥωμαίων}}, ''Arche tôn Rhōmaíōn''), ''Romania''{{#tag:ref|''Romania'' (or ''Rhōmanía'') was a popular name of the empire<ref>{{harvnb|Fossier|Sondheimer|1997|p=104}}.</ref> used unofficially, meaning "land of the Romans". It does not refer to modern [[Romania]].|group="n"}} (Latin: ''Romania'', Greek: {{Polytonic|Ῥωμανία}}, ''Rhōmanía''), the ''Roman Republic'' (Latin: ''Res Publica Romana'', Greek: {{Polytonic|Πολιτεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων}}, ''Politeίa tôn Rhōmaíōn''),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dio.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/31/124/47 |title=Nation and Liberty: the Byzantine Example|doi=10.1177/039219218303112403 |publisher=Dio.sagepub.com|date=|accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref> ''Graikía'' (Greek: Γραικία),<ref>[[Theodore the Studite]]. ''Epistulae'', 145, Line 19 ("ή ταπεινή Γραικία") and 458, Line 28 ("έν Αρμενία καί Γραικία").</ref> and also as ''Rhōmaís'' (Greek: {{Polytonic|Ῥωμαΐς}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Cinnamus|1976|p=240}}.</ref> Although the Byzantine Empire had a multi-ethnic character during most of its history<ref>{{harvnb|Ahrweiler|Laiou|1998|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Mango|2002|p=13}}.</ref> and preserved [[Greco-Roman world|Romano-Hellenistic]] traditions,<ref>{{harvnb|Gabriel|2002|p=277}}.</ref> it became identified by its western and northern contemporaries'{{#tag:ref|"''Imperium Graecorum''", "''Graecia''", "''Terra Graecorum''", ''Yunastan''", ''etc'', other western names used were "the empire of Constantinople" (''imperium Constantinopolitanum'') and "the empire of Romania" (''imperium Romaniae'').|group="n"}} with its increasingly predominant [[Byzantine Greeks|Greek element]].<ref>{{harvnb|Millar|2006|pages=2, 15}}; {{harvnb|Ahrweiler|Laiou|1998|p=vii}}; {{harvnb|Davies|1996|p=245}}; {{harvnb|Moravcsik|1970|pp=11–12}}; {{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|pp=28, 146}}; {{harvnb|Lapidge|Blair|Keynes|1998|p=79}}; {{harvnb|Winnifrith|Murray|1983|p=113}}; {{harvnb|Gross|1999|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Hidryma Meletōn Chersonēsou tou Haimou|1973|p=331}}.</ref> The occasional use of the term ''Empire of the Greeks'' (Latin: ''Imperium Graecorum'') in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire and of the Byzantine Emperor as ''Imperator Graecorum'' (Emperor of the Greeks)<ref>{{cite web|last=Gallant|first=Tom|title=Byzantine Empire: A Short Overview|location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada|publisher=York University|url=http://www.arts.yorku.ca/hist/tgallant/documents/ByzantineEmpireoverview.pdf}}</ref> were also used to separate it from the prestige of the Roman Empire within the new kingdoms of the West.<ref>{{harvnb|Fouracre|Gerberding|1996|p=345}}: "The Frankish court no longer regarded the Byzantine Empire as holding valid claims of universality; instead it was now termed the 'Empire of the Greeks'."</ref> The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor, was challenged by the coronation of [[Charlemagne]] as [[Holy Roman Emperor|''Imperator Augustus'']] by [[Pope Leo III]] in the year 800. Needing Charlemagne's support in his struggle against his enemies in Rome, Leo used the lack of a male occupant of the throne of the Roman Empire at the time to claim that it was vacant and that he could therefore crown a new Emperor himself.<ref>{{harvnb|Sayles|1998|p=31}}.</ref> Whenever the [[Pope]]s or the rulers of the West made use of the name ''Roman'' to refer to the Eastern Roman Emperors, they preferred the term ''Imperator Romaniæ'' instead of ''Imperator Romanorum'', a title that Westerners maintained applied only to Charlemagne and his successors.<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Hellas, Byzantium|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios}}</ref> No such distinction existed in the [[History of Iran|Persian]], [[History of Islam|Islamic]], and [[History of Russia|Slavic]] worlds, where the Empire was more straightforwardly seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as {{lang|ar| روم }} (''[[Rûm]]'' "Rome").<ref>{{harvnb|Tarasov|2004|p=121}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|El-Cheikh|2004|p=22}}.</ref> In modern historical works, the Empire is usually called the ''Eastern Roman Empire'' in the context of the period 395 to 610, before Emperor [[Heraclius]] changed the official language from Latin to Greek (already the language known by the great majority of the population). In contexts after 610, the term ''Byzantine Empire'' is used more regularly. ==History== {{Main|History of the Byzantine Empire}} ===Early history of the Roman Empire=== The Roman army succeeded in conquering a vast collection of territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and much of [[Western Europe]]. These territories consisted of many different cultural groups, ranging from primitive to highly sophisticated. Generally speaking, the eastern Mediterranean provinces were more urbanised and socially developed, having previously been united under the [[Macedonian Empire]] and [[Hellenization|Hellenised]] by the influence of Greek culture. In contrast, the western regions had mostly remained independent from any single cultural or political authority, and were still largely rural and less developed. This distinction between the established Hellenised East and the younger Latinised West persisted and became increasingly important in later centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Wells|1922|loc=Chapter 33}}.</ref> ===Division of the Roman Empire=== {{Main|Byzantium under the Constantinian and Valentinian dynasties|Byzantium under the Theodosian Dynasty|Byzantium under the Leonid Dynasty}} {{See also|Tetrarchy|Diocletian|Constantine I|Theodosius I}} In 293, [[Diocletian]] created a new administrative system, (the [[tetrarchy]]).<ref name="B1">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/1*.html#1 p. 1]}}</ref> He associated himself with a co-emperor, or ''[[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]''. Each Augustus was then to adopt a young colleague given the title of ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]'', to share in their rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and [[Maximian]], however, the tetrarchy collapsed, and [[Constantine I]] replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.<ref name="BG">{{harvnb|Gibbon|1906|loc=Volume II, Part VI, Chapter 14, p. 200}}.</ref> [[File:Byzantine Empire animated2.gif|thumb|300px|Territorial development of the Empire.]] Constantine moved the seat of the Empire and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution.<ref name="G168">{{harvnb|Gibbon|1906|loc=Volume III, Part IV, Chapter 18, p. 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. Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian.<ref name="B1"/><ref name="esler-1081">{{harvnb|Esler|2004|p=1081}}.</ref> He stabilised the coinage (the gold [[solidus (coin)|solidus]] that he introduced became a highly prized and stable currency),<ref name="esler-1081"/> and made changes to the structure of the army. Under Constantine, the Empire had recovered much of its military strength and enjoyed a period of stability and prosperity. [[File:Raphael Baptism Constantine.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, IV, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.iv.lxii.html lxii].</ref>]] Under Constantine, [[Christianity]] did not become the exclusive religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, because [[Constantine I and Christianity|the Emperor supported it with generous privileges]]. 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">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/2*.html#5 p. 63]}}.</ref> 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]], bequeathed 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 undivided empire.<ref name="Br">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties faced by the West in the 3rd and 4th centuries, due in part to a more established urban culture and greater financial resources which allowed it to placate invaders with [[tribute]] and pay foreign [[mercenary|mercenaries]]. [[Theodosius II]] further fortified [[Walls of Constantinople|the walls of Constantinople]], leaving the city impervious to most attacks. The walls were not breached until 1204. In order to fend off the [[Huns]], Theodosius paid a tribute (purportedly {{convert|300|kg|2|abbr=on|lk=out}} of gold).<ref name=Nathan>Nathan, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/theo2.htm Theodosius II (408–450 CE)].</ref> [[File:RomanEmpire500AD.jpg|thumb|300px|The Eastern Roman Empire in 500.]] His successor, [[Marcian]], refused to continue to pay this exorbitant sum. Fortunately [[Attila]] had already diverted his attention to the Western Roman Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Treadgold|1995|p=193}}.</ref> After he died in 453, the [[Hunnic Empire]] collapsed; many of the remaining Huns were often hired as mercenaries by Constantinople.<ref>{{harvnb|Alemany|2000|p=207}}; {{harvnb|Treadgold|1997|p=184}}.</ref> After the fall of Attila, the Eastern Empire enjoyed a period of peace, while the Western Empire collapsed (its end is usually dated in 476 when the Germanic Roman general [[Odoacer]] deposed the titular Western Emperor [[Romulus Augustulus]]). To recover Italy, Emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] negotiated with the invading [[Ostrogoths]], who had settled in [[Moesia]]. He sent the Gothic King [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]] to Italy as ''magister militum per Italiam'' ("commander in chief for Italy") in order to depose Odoacer. By urging Theodoric into conquering Italy, Zeno rid the Eastern Empire of an unruly subordinate and gained at least a nominal form of supremacy over Italy.<ref name="Br"/> After Odoacer's defeat in 493, Theodoric ruled Italy on his own. In 491, [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius I]], an aged civil officer of Roman origin, became Emperor, but it was not until 498 that the forces of the new emperor effectively took the measure of Isaurian resistance.<ref name="Br" /> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Grierson|1999|p=17}}.</ref> He also reformed the tax system and permanently abolished the [[chrysargyron]] tax. The State Treasury contained the enormous sum of 320,000&nbsp;lbs (145,150&nbsp;kg) of gold when Anastasius died in 518.<ref>{{harvnb|Postan|Miller|Postan|1987|p=140}}.</ref> ===Reconquest of the western provinces=== {{Main|Byzantium under the Justinian Dynasty}} [[File:East Roman.jpg|thumb|300px|Territorial East Roman Empire between 533 and 600.]] [[File:Justinian.jpg|thumb|left|Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the [[Basilica of San Vitale]], [[Ravenna]].]] [[Justinian I]], who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of recovery of former territories. Justinian, the son of an [[Praetorian prefecture of 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=Encyclopædia Britannica}}; Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (CE 527–565)].</ref> 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|Sassanids]]. In the same year, Justinian survived a revolt in Constantinople (the [[Nika riots]]) which ended with the deaths of a reported 30,000 to 35,000 rioters, on his orders.<ref>{{harvnb|Gregory|2010|p=137}}.</ref> This victory solidified Justinian's power.<ref name="Ev">Evans, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinia.htm Justinian (CE 527–565)].</ref> [[Pope Agapetus I]] was sent to Constantinople by the [[Ostrogoths|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 [[Roman province of Africa|Africa]] from the [[Vandals]] who had been in control since 429 with their capital at Carthage.<ref>{{harvnb|Gregory|2010|p=145}}.</ref> Their success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local tribes were subdued.<ref name="Ev" /> In [[Ostrogothic Italy]], the deaths of [[Theodoric the Great]], his nephew and heir [[Athalaric]], and his daughter [[Amalasuntha]] had left her murderer [[Theodahad]] on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small Byzantine expedition to [[Sicily]] was 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">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/18C*.html pp. 180–216]}}.</ref> [[File:LocationByzantineEmpire.png|thumb|left|Byzantine expansion during Justinian's reign in purple.]] The Ostrogoths were united under the command of King [[Totila]] and captured Rome on 17 December 546. Justinian eventually called back Belisarius to Constantinople in early 549 from Ravenna.<ref name="B236-258">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19B*.html pp. 236–258]}}.</ref> The arrival of the Armenian [[Eunuch (court official)|eunuch]] [[Narses]] in Italy (late 551) with an army of some 35,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated at the [[Battle of Busta Gallorum]] and his successor, [[Teia]], was defeated at the [[Battle of Mons Lactarius]] (October 552). Despite continuing resistance from a few Gothic garrisons and two subsequent invasions by the [[Franks]] and [[Alamanni]], the war for the Italian peninsula was at an end.<ref name="B259-281">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19C*.html pp. 259–281]}}.</ref> In 551, [[Athanagild]],a noble from [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[Hispania]], sought Justinian's help in a rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under [[Liberius (praetorian prefect)|Liberius]], a successful military commander. The Empire held on to a small slice of the [[Spania|Iberian Peninsula]] coast until the reign of [[Heraclius]].<ref name="B86-288">{{harvnb|Bury|1923|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/19D*.html pp. 286–288]}}.</ref> In the east, the [[Roman-Persian Wars]] continued until 561 when Justinian's and Khosrau'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 and defeated the new Hunnish threat. The strengthening of the Danube fleet caused the Kutrigur Huns to withdraw and they agreed to a treaty which allowed them safe passage back across the Danube. In 529, a ten-man commission chaired by [[Tribonian]] revised the ancient [[Roman law|Roman legal code]] and created the new ''Codex Justinianus'', a condensed version of previous legal texts. In 534, the Codex Justinianus was updated and reorganised into the system of law used for the rest of the Byzantine era.<ref>{{harvnb|Gregory|2010|p=150}}.</ref> These legal reforms, along with the many other changes to the law became known as the [[Corpus Juris Civilis]]. 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]]. Nevertheless, Christian philosophy and culture were dominant and began to replace the older culture. Hymns written by [[Romanos the Melodist]] marked the development of the [[Divine Liturgy]], while architects and builders worked to complete the new Church of the [[Holy Wisdom]], [[Hagia Sophia]], which was designed to replace an older church destroyed during the Nika Revolt. The Hagia Sophia stands today as one of the major monuments of Byzantine architectural history.<ref name="Br" /> During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Empire was struck by a [[Plague of Justinian|series of epidemics]], which greatly devastated the population and contributed to a significant economic decline and a weakening of the Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Bray|2004|pp=19–47}}; {{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=110–111}}; {{harvnb|Treadgold|1997|pp=196–197}}.</ref> After Justinian died in 565, his 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. Though 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 [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]] began to make inroads across the Danube. Maurice, who meanwhile succeeded Tiberius, intervened in a Persian civil war, placed the legitimate [[Khosrau II]] back on the throne and married his daughter to him. Maurice's treaty with his new brother-in-law brought a new status-quo to the east territorially, enlarged to an extent never before achieved by the Empire in its six century history, and much cheaper to defend during this new perpetual peace&nbsp;– millions of solidi were saved by the remission of tribute to the Persians alone. After his victory on the eastern frontier, Maurice was free to focus on the Balkans, and by 602 after a series of successful [[Maurice's Balkan campaigns|campaigns]] he had pushed the Avars and Slavs back across the Danube.<ref name="Br" /> ===Shrinking borders=== ====Heraclian dynasty==== {{Main|Byzantium under the Heraclians}} {{See also|Heraclius|Roman-Persian Wars|Byzantine-Arab Wars|Revolt against Heraclius}} After Maurice's murder by [[Phocas]], Khosrau used the pretext to reconquer the Roman province of [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Foss|1975|p=722}}.</ref> Phocas, an unpopular ruler who was 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>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|p=41}}; {{harvnb|Speck|1984|p=178}}.</ref> Following the ascension of Heraclius, the Sassanid advance pushed deep into Asia Minor, also occupying [[Damascus]] and [[Jerusalem]] and removing the [[True Cross]] to [[Ctesiphon]].<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=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>{{harvnb|Grabar|1984|p=37}}; {{harvnb|Cameron|1979|p=23}}.</ref> (similarly, when Constantinople was saved from an [[Eurasian Avars|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>{{harvnb|Cameron|1979|pp=5–6, 20–22}}.</ref> The main Sassanid 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>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|p=46}}; {{harvnb|Baynes|1912}}, ''passim''; {{harvnb|Speck|1984|p=178}}.</ref> The war had exhausted both the Byzantine and [[Sassanid Empire]], and left them extremely vulnerable to the [[Muslim conquests|Arab Muslim forces]] which emerged in the following years.<ref>{{harvnb|Foss|1975|pp=746–747}}.</ref> The [[Byzantine-Arab Wars|Romans suffered a crushing defeat]] by the Arabs at the [[Battle of Yarmuk]] in 636, and [[Ctesiphon]] fell in 634.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|p=50}}.</ref> [[File:Byzantiumby650AD.svg|thumb|left|350px|Byzantine Empire by 650; by this year it lost all of its southern provinces except the [[Exarchate of Carthage]].]] The Arabs, now firmly in [[Muslim conquest of Syria|control of Syria and the Levant]], sent frequent raiding parties deep into Anatolia, and between 674 and 678 [[Siege of Constantinople (674)|laid siege]] to Constantinople itself. The Arab fleet was finally repulsed through the use of [[Greek fire]], and a thirty-years' truce was signed between the Empire and [[Umayyad Caliphate|Ummayyad]] [[Caliphate]].<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=61–62}}.</ref> The Anatolian raids continued unabated, and accelerated the demise of classical urban culture, with the inhabitants of many cities either refortifying much smaller areas within the old city walls, or relocating entirely to nearby fortresses.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=102–114}}.</ref> Constantinople itself dropped substantially in size, from 500,000 inhabitants to just 40,000–70,000, as the city lost the free grain shipments in 618 after the loss of Egypt to the Persians (province was regained in 629, but lost to Arab invaders in 642).<ref>{{harvnb|Wickham|2009|p=260}}.</ref> The void left by the disappearance of the old semi-autonomous civic institutions was filled by the [[Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)|theme system]], which entailed the division of Anatolia into "provinces" occupied by distinct armies which assumed civil authority and answered directly to the imperial administration. This system may have had its roots in certain ''ad hoc'' measures taken by Heraclius, but over the course of the 7th century it developed into an entirely new system of Imperial governance.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=208–215}}; {{harvnb|Kaegi|2003|pp=236, 283}}.</ref> [[File:Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Greek fire]] was first used by the [[Byzantine Navy]] during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the [[Madrid Skylitzes]], [[Biblioteca Nacional de España]], [[Madrid]]).]] The withdrawal of large numbers of troops from the Balkans to combat the Persians and then the Arabs in the east opened the door for the gradual southward expansion of [[Slavic peoples]] into the peninsula, and, as in Anatolia, many cities shrank to small fortified settlements.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=43–45, 66, 114–115}}.</ref> In the 670s, the [[Bulgarians]] were pushed south of the Danube by the arrival of the [[Khazars]], and in 680 Byzantine forces which had been sent to disperse these new settlements were defeated. In the next year, [[Constantine IV]] signed a treaty with the Bulgarian khan [[Asparukh of Bulgaria|Asparukh]], and the [[First Bulgarian Empire|new Bulgarian state]] assumed sovereignty over a number of Slavic tribes which had previously, at least in name, recognised Byzantine rule.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=66–67}}.</ref> In 687–688, the emperor [[Justinian II]] led an expedition against the Slavs and Bulgarians which made significant gains, although the fact that he had to fight his way from [[Thrace]] to [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] demonstrates the degree to which Byzantine power in the north Balkans had declined.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|p=71}}.</ref> The final Heraclian emperor, [[Justinian II]], attempted to break the power of the urban aristocracy through severe taxation and the appointment of "outsiders" to administrative posts. He was driven from power in 695, and took shelter first with the Khazars and then with the Bulgarians. In 705, he returned to Constantinople with the armies of the Bulgarian khan [[Tervel of Bulgaria|Tervel]], retook the throne, and instituted a reign of terror against his enemies. With his final overthrow in 711, supported once more by the urban aristocracy, the Heraclian dynasty came to an end.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1990|pp=70–78, 169–171}}; {{harvnb|Haldon|2004|pp=216–217}}; {{harvnb|Kountoura-Galake|1996|pp=62–75}}.</ref> ====Isaurian dynasty to the ascension of Basil I==== {{Main|Byzantium under the Isaurians|Byzantium from the fall of Irene to the ascension of Basil I}} [[File:ByzantineEmpire717+extrainfo+themes.svg|thumb|350px|The Byzantine Empire at the accession of [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo III]], ''c.'' 717. Striped land shows land raided by the Arabs.]] [[Leo III the Isaurian]] turned back the Muslim assault in 718, and achieved victory with the major help of the Bulgarian khan Tervel, who killed 32,000 Arabs with his army. He also addressed himself to the task of reorganising and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor, [[Constantine V]], won noteworthy victories in northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength. Taking advantage of the Empire's weakness after the revolt of [[Thomas the Slav]] in the early 820s, the Arabs [[Arab Crete|captured Crete]], and successfully attacked Sicily, but on 3 September 863, general [[Petronas the Patrician|Petronas]] gained a [[Battle of Lalakaon|huge victory]] against [[Umar al-Aqta]], the [[emir]] of [[Melitene]]. Under the leadership of Bulgarian Emperor [[Krum]], the Bulgarian 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=Encyclopædia Britannica}}; {{cite encyclopaedia|title=Hellas, Byzantium|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios}}</ref> The 8th and 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over [[iconoclasm (Byzantine)|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 endeavoured 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">{{harvnb|Garland|1999|p=89}}.</ref> In 813, Emperor [[Leo V the Armenian]] restored the policy of iconoclasm, but in 843 [[Theodora (ninth century)|Empress Theodora]] restored the veneration of the icons with the help of [[Ecumenical Patriarch Methodios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Methodios]].<ref name="P11">{{harvnb|Parry|1996|pp=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]]'s elevation to the patriarchate. ===Macedonian dynasty and resurgence=== [[File:Byzantine fashion.jpg|thumb|right|Byzantines, c. 700-1000.|218px]] The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the 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 tsar Samuel. The cities of the Empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the new-found security. The population rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand while also helping to encourage trade. Culturally, there was considerable growth in education and learning (the "Macedonian Renaissance"). Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. Byzantine art flourished, and brilliant mosaics graced the interiors of the many new churches.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. ====Wars against the Muslims==== {{Main|Byzantine-Arab Wars (780–1180)|Muslim conquests}} [[File:ByzantineEmpire867AD4lightpurple.PNG|thumb|320px|The Byzantine Empire, c. 867.]] By 867, the Byzantine Empire had re-stabilised its position in both the east and the west, and the efficiency of its defensive military structure enabled its emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east. The process of reconquest began with mixed 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 Byzantine stronghold, the fortress of [[Taormina]], in 902. [[File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol1v.jpg|thumb|left|The military successes of the tenth century were coupled with a major cultural revival, the so-called [[Macedonian Renaissance]]. Miniature from the [[Paris Psalter]], an example of Hellenistic-influenced art.]] These drawbacks were later counterbalanced by a victorious expedition against [[Damietta]] in Egypt (856), the [[Battle of Lalakaon|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). Unlike the deteriorating situation in Sicily, Basil I handled the situation in southern Italy well enough and the province would remain in Byzantine hands for the next 200 years. In 904, disaster struck the Empire when its second city, [[Thessaloniki]], was sacked by an Arab fleet led by the Byzantine renegade [[Leo of Tripoli]]. The Byzantine military responded by destroying an Arab fleet in 908, and sacking the city of [[Latakia|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. The situation on the border with the Arab territories remained fluid, with the Byzantines alternatively on the offensive or defensive. The [[Varangians]], who attacked 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 Varangians 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]]''. 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 [[Fatimid]] caliphate.<ref name=Norwich /> After much campaigning, the last Arab threat to Byzantium was defeated when Basil II rapidly drew 40,000 mounted soldiers to relieve Roman Syria. With a surplus of resources and victories thanks to the Bulgar and Syrian campaigns, Basil II planned an expedition against Sicily to re-take it from the Arabs there. After his death in 1025, the expedition set off in the 1040s and was met with initial, but stunted success. ====Wars against the Bulgarian Empire==== {{details|Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars}} [[File:Basilios II.jpg|thumb|200px|Emperor [[Basil II]] the Bulgar Slayer (976–1025).]] The traditional struggle with the [[Holy See|See of Rome]] continued, spurred by the question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianised Bulgaria. This prompted an invasion by the powerful [[Tsar]] [[Simeon I of Bulgaria|Simeon I]] in 894, but this was pushed back by 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 Bulgarians. Later (912), Simeon even had the Byzantines grant him the crown of ''basileus'' (emperor) 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 /> A great imperial expedition under [[Leo Phokas the Elder|Leo Phocas]] and [[Romanos I|Romanos Lekapenos]] ended again with a crushing Byzantine defeat at the [[Battle of Acheloos]] (917), and the following year the Bulgarians were free to ravage northern Greece as far as [[Corinth]]. Adrianople was captured again in 923 and in 924 a Bulgarian army laid siege to Constantinople. The situation in the Balkans improved only after Simeon's death in 927. In 968, Bulgaria was overrun by the [[Rus' people|Rus']] under [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev]], but three years later, Emperor [[John I Tzimiskes]] [[Siege of Dorostolon|defeated]] the Rus' and re-incorporated eastern Bulgaria into the Byzantine Empire. [[File:Map Byzantine Empire 1025-en.svg|thumb|left|300px|The Empire under Basil II.]] Bulgarian resistance revived under the rule of the [[Cometopuli dynasty]], but the new emperor [[Basil II]] (reigned 976–1025) made the submission of the Bulgarians his primary goal. Basil's first expedition against Bulgaria, however, resulted in a humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of the Gates of Trajan|Gates of Trajan]]. For the next few years, the emperor would be preoccupied with internal revolts in [[Anatolia]], while the Bulgarians expanded their realm in the Balkans. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years. The Byzantine victories of [[Battle of Spercheios|Spercheios]] and [[Battle of Skopje|Skopje]] decisively weakened the Bulgarian army, and in annual campaigns, Basil methodically reduced the Bulgarian strongholds. Eventually, at the [[Battle of Kleidion]] in 1014 the Bulgarians were completely defeated.<ref name=Angold>{{harvnb|Angold|1997}}.</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 [[Samuel of Bulgaria|Samuil]] saw the broken remains of his once gallant army, he died of shock. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered, and the country became part of the Empire. This victory restored the [[Danube]] frontier, which had not been held since the days of the emperor Heraclius.<ref name=Norwich /> ====Relations with the Kievan Rus'==== {{details|Rus'–Byzantine War}} [[File:Царьград.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Kievan Rus']] under the walls of Constantinople (860).]] Between 850 and 1100, the Empire developed a mixed relationship with a new state that emerged to the north across the [[Black Sea]], that of the [[Kievan Rus']]. This relationship would have long-lasting repercussions in the history of the [[East Slavs]]. The Empire quickly became the main [[Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks|trading]] and cultural partner for Kiev, but relations were not always friendly. The most serious conflict between the two powers was the [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev#Campaigns in the Balkans|war of 968–971]] in Bulgaria, but several [[Rus'-Byzantine Wars|Rus' raiding expeditions]] against the Byzantine cities of the Black Sea coast and Constantinople itself are also recorded. Although most were repulsed, they were concluded by [[Rus'-Byzantine Treaty|trade treaties]] that were generally favourable to the Rus'. Rus'-Byzantine relations became closer following the marriage of the ''[[porphyrogenita]]'' [[Anna Porphyrogeneta|Anna]] to [[Vladimir the Great]], and the subsequent [[Christianization of Kievan Rus'|Christianisation of the Rus']]: Byzantine priests, architects and artists were invited to work on numerous cathedrals and churches around Rus', expanding Byzantine cultural influence even further. Numerous Rus' served in the Byzantine army as mercenaries, most notably as the famous [[Varangian Guard]]. ====The apex==== The Byzantine Empire then stretched from [[Armenia]] in the east to [[Calabria]] in [[Southern Italy]] in the west.<ref name=Norwich>{{harvnb|Norwich|1998}}.</ref> Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of [[Bulgaria]], to the annexation of parts 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 [[Emirate of Sicily|Arab occupation of Sicily]] to be an outrage. Accordingly, he planned to reconquer the island, which had belonged to the Roman world since the [[First Punic War]]. However, his death in 1025 put an end to the project.<ref name=Norwich /> The 11th century was also momentous for its religious events. In 1054, relations between the Eastern and 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. ===Crisis and fragmentation=== The Empire soon fell into a period of difficulties, caused to a large extent by the undermining of the theme system and the neglect of the military. [[Nikephoros II]] (reigned 963–969), [[John Tzimiskes]] and [[Basil II]] changed the military divisions ({{polytonic|τάγματα}}, ''[[tagma (military)|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>{{harvnb|Treadgold|1997|pp=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">Markham, [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm The Battle of Manzikert].</ref> At the same time, the Empire was faced with new enemies. Provinces in southern Italy faced the [[Italo-Normans|Normans]], who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome which ended in the [[East-West Schism]] of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy.<ref>{{harvnb|Vasiliev|1928–1935}}, "[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P17.HTM Relations with Italy and Western Europe]".</ref> [[Reggio Calabria|Reggio]], the capital of the [[tagma (military)|tagma]] of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by [[Robert Guiscard]], followed by [[Otranto]] in 1068. Bari, the main Byzantine stronghold in Apulia, was besieged in August 1068 and [[Siege of Bari|fell in April 1071]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hooper|Bennett|1996|p=82}}; {{harvnb|Stephenson|2000|p=157}}.</ref> The Byzantines also lost their influence over the [[Dalmatia]]n coastal cities to [[Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia]] in 1069.<ref>{{harvnb|Šišić|1990}}.</ref> 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 favour of [[Michael VII Doukas|Michael Doukas]], who soon faced the opposition of [[Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder|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 at [[Nicaea (city)|Nicaea]], just 90&nbsp;km from Constantinople.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Empire|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}; Markham, [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/markham.htm The Battle of Manzikert].</ref> ===Komnenian dynasty and the crusaders=== The period from about 1081 to about 1185 is often known as the Komnenian or Comnenian period, after the Komnenos dynasty. Together, the five Komnenian emperors (Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I) ruled for 104 years, presiding over a sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire. The Empire under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The Komnenian emperors, particularly John and Manuel, exerted great influence over the Crusader states of Outremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the course of the First Crusade, which he helped bring about. Moreover, it was during the Komnenian period that contact between Byzantium and the "Latin" Christian West, including the Crusader states, was at its most crucial stage. Venetian and other Italian traders became resident in Constantinople and the empire in large numbers (60–80,000 'Latins' in Constantinople alone), and their presence together with the numerous Latin mercenaries who were employed by Manuel in particular helped to spread Byzantine technology, art, literature and culture throughout the Roman Catholic west. Above all, the cultural impact of Byzantine art on the west at this period was enormous and of long lasting significance. The Komnenoi also made a significant contribution to the history of Asia Minor. By reconquering much of the region, the Komnenoi set back the advance of the Turks in Anatolia by more than two centuries. In the process, they planted the foundations of the Byzantine successor states of Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. Meanwhile, their extensive programme of fortifications has left an enduring mark upon the Anatolian landscape, which can still be appreciated today. ====Alexios I and the First Crusade==== {{details|Alexios I Komnenos}} {{See also|First Crusade}} [[File:Byzantiumforecrusades.jpg|350px|thumb|The Byzantine Empire and the [[Sultanate of Rûm]] before the Crusades.]] 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">{{harvnb|Magdalino|2002|p=124}}.</ref> The first emperor of this dynasty 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" /> [[File: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.]] Having achieved 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>{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002}}.</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 Alexios' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and reunite the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox churches]] with the [[Catholic Church]] under his rule.<ref name=Harris>{{harvnb|Harris|2003}}; {{harvnb|Read|2000|p=124}}; {{harvnb|Watson|1993|p=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" /> 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 Alexios 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>{{harvnb|Komnene|1928|loc=''Alexiad'', [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/AnnaComnena-Alexiad10.html 10.261]}}.</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">{{harvnb|Komnene|1928|loc=''Alexiad'', [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad11.html 11.291]}}.</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">{{harvnb|Komnene|1928|loc=''Alexiad'', [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad13.html 13.348–13.358]}}; {{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|p=46}}.</ref> ====John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade==== {{Main|John II Komnenos|Manuel I Komnenos}} [[File:1099jerusalem.jpg|thumb|Medieval manuscript depicting the [[Siege of Jerusalem|Capture of Jerusalem]] during the First Crusade.]] Alexios's son [[John II Komnenos]] succeeded him in 1118, and was to rule until 1143. John was a pious and dedicated Emperor who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], half a century earlier.<ref>{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=267}}.</ref> Famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign, John was an exceptional example of a moral ruler, at a time when cruelty was the norm.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=377}}.</ref> For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine [[Marcus Aurelius]]. In the course of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in the West, decisively defeated the [[Pechenegs]] at the [[Battle of Beroia]],<ref name="B90">{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|p=90}}.</ref> and personally led numerous campaigns against the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] in [[Asia Minor]]. John's campaigns fundamentally changed the balance of power in the East, forcing the Turks onto the defensive and restoring to the Byzantines many towns, fortresses and cities right across the peninsula.<ref name="SJ">Stone, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/johncomn.htm John II Komnenos].</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=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> In the later part of his reign, John focused his activities on the East. He defeated the [[Danishmend]] emirate of [[Melitene]], and reconquered all of [[Cilicia]], while forcing [[Raymond of Poitiers]], [[Prince of Antioch]], to recognise Byzantine suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate the Emperor's role as the leader of the [[Christian]] world, John marched into the [[Holy Land]] at the head of the combined forces of the Empire and the [[Crusade]]r states; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed the campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by the treachery of his Crusader allies.<ref>{{harvnb|Harris|2003|p=84}}.</ref> 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">{{harvnb|Brooke|1962|p=326}}.</ref> [[File:The Byzantine Empire, c.1180.svg|thumb|left|300px|Byzantine Empire in violet, c. 1180, at the end of the [[Komnenian restoration|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 Châtillon|Raynald]], Prince of Antioch, and [[Amalric I of Jerusalem|Amalric]], King of Jerusalem respectively.<ref name="S">{{harvnb|Magdalino|2002|p=74}}; 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">{{harvnb|Sedlar|1994|p=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">{{harvnb|Magdalino|2002|p=67}}.</ref> 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">{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|p=128}}.</ref> The Byzantine commander John Vatatzes, who destroyed the Turkish invaders at the [[Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir]], 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">{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|p=196}}.</ref> ====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 defences; aggressive fortification policies were at the heart of their imperial military policies.<ref name="B185-186">{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|pp=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 stabilisation of the Empire's European frontiers. From c.1081 to c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilisation to flourish.<ref name="Br1">{{harvnb|Birkenmeier|2002|p=1}}.</ref> 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 the Empire via Constantinople.<ref name="Day">{{harvnb|Day|1977|pp=289–290}}; {{harvnb|Harvey|2003}}.</ref> 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>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">{{harvnb|Tatakes|Moutafakis|2003|p=110}}.</ref> ===Decline and disintegration=== {{Main|Decline of the Byzantine Empire}} ====Dynasty of the Angeloi==== {{Main|Byzantine Empire under the Angeloi}} Manuel's death on 24 September 1180 left his 11-year-old son [[Alexios II Komnenos]] on the throne. Alexios was highly incompetent at the office, but it was his mother, [[Maria of Antioch]], and her Frankish background that made his regency unpopular.<ref name="Norwich291">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=291}}.</ref> Eventually, [[Andronikos I Komnenos]], a grandson of Alexios I, launched a revolt against his younger relative and managed to overthrow him in a violent ''[[coup d'état]]''. Utilizing his good looks and his immense popularity with the army, he marched on to Constantinople in August 1182, and incited a massacre of the Latins.<ref name="Norwich292">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=292}}.</ref> After eliminating his potential rivals, he had himself crowned as co-emperor in September 1183; he eliminated Alexios II and even took his 12-year-old wife [[Agnes of France (Byzantine empress)|Agnes of France]] for himself.<ref name="Norwich292"/> [[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld - Die Schlacht von Iconium.jpg|thumb|[[Iconium]] was won by the Third Crusade.]] Andronikos began his reign well; in particular, the measures he took to reform the government of the Empire have been praised by historians. According to [[George Ostrogorsky]], Andronikos was determined to root out corruption: Under his rule, the sale of offices ceased; selection was based on merit, rather than favouritism; officials were paid an adequate salary so as to reduce the temptation of bribery. In the provinces, Andronikos's reforms produced a speedy and marked improvement.<ref name="M194" /> The aristocrats were infuriated against him, and to make matters worse, Andronikos seems to have become increasingly unbalanced; executions and violence became increasingly common, and his reign turned into a reign of terror.<ref>{{harvnb|Harris|2003|p=118}}.</ref> Andronikos seemed almost to seek the extermination of the aristocracy as a whole. The struggle against the aristocracy turned into wholesale slaughter, while the Emperor resorted to ever more ruthless measures to shore up his regime.<ref name="M194">{{harvnb|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=397}}.</ref> Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaac Komnenos]], [[Béla III of Hungary|Béla III]] who reincorporated Croatian territories into Hungary, and [[Stephen Nemanja]] of Serbia who declared his independence from the Empire. Yet, none of these troubles would compare to [[William II of Sicily]]'s invasion force of 300 ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185.<ref name="Norwich293">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=293}}.</ref> Andronikos mobilised a small fleet of 100 ships to defend the capital but other than that he was indifferent to the populace. He was finally overthrown when [[Isaac II Angelos|Isaac Angelos]], surviving an imperial assassination attempt, seized power with the aid of the people and had Andronikos killed.<ref name="Norwich294-295">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|pp=294–295}}.</ref> The reign of Isaac II, and, still more, that of his brother [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]], saw the collapse of what remained of the centralised machinery of Byzantine government and defence. Although, the Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Vlachs and Bulgars began a rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]]. The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterised by the squandering of the public treasure, and fiscal maladministration. Imperial authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the center 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">{{harvnb|Angold|1997}}; {{harvnb|Paparrigopoulos|Karolidis|1925|p=216}}.</ref> According to [[Alexander Vasiliev (historian)|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">{{harvnb|Vasiliev|1928–1935}}, "[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P1B.HTM Foreign Policy of the Angeloi]".</ref> ====Fourth Crusade==== {{details|Fourth Crusade}} [[File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 012.jpg|thumb|Right|''The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople'', by [[Eugène Delacroix]] (1840).]] In 1198, [[Pope Innocent III]] broached the subject of a new crusade through [[Papal legate|legates]] and [[encyclical|encyclical letters]].<ref name="Norwich299">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=299}}.</ref> 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 ageing 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=Encyclopædia 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>{{harvnb|Geoffrey of Villehardouin|1963|p=46}}.</ref> Innocent, who was informed of the plan but his veto disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardise the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders—not, however, to the Venetians.<ref name="Br4Cr" /> [[File:Byzantium1215.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Map to show the partition of the empire following the [[Fourth Crusade]], c.&nbsp;1204.]] 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 Byzantine church with Rome, pay the crusaders 200,000 silver marks, join the crusade and provide all the supplies they needed to get to Egypt.<ref name="Norwich301">{{harvnb|Norwich|1998|p=301}}.</ref> 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. The crusaders arrived at the city in the summer of 1203 and quickly attacked, started a major fire which damaged large parts of the city, and seized control of it (first of two times). Alexios III fled from the capital, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as [[Alexios IV]] along with his blind father Isaac. However, Alexios IV and Isaac II were unable to keep their promises and were deposed by Alexios V. Eventually, the crusaders took the city a second time on 13 April 1204 and Constantinople was subjected to pillage and massacre by the rank and file 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">{{harvnb|Choniates|1912}}, ''[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=Norwich/><ref name="Br4Cr"/> When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; [[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin of Flanders]] was elected [[Latin Empire|Emperor]] and the Venetian [[Thomas Morosini]] chosen as Patriarch. The lands divided up among the leaders included most of the former Byzantine possessions, however resistance would continue through the Byzantine remnants of the [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]], [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]], and [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]].<ref name="Br4Cr" /> ===Fall=== ====Empire in exile==== {{details|Latinokratia}} After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin [[Crusaders]], two Byzantine [[successor state]]s were established: the [[Empire of Nicaea]], and the [[Despotate of Epirus]]. A third one, the [[Empire of Trebizond]] was created a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople by [[Alexios I of Trebizond]]. Of these three successor states, Epirus and Nicaea stood the best chance of reclaiming Constantinople. The Nicaean Empire struggled, however, to survive the next few decades, and by the mid-13th century it lost much of southern Anatolia.<ref>{{harvnb|Kean|2006}}; {{harvnb|Madden|2005|p=162}}; Lowe-Baker, [http://web.archive.org/web/20071016205009/http://geocities.com/egfroth1/Seljuqs.htm The Seljuks of Rum].</ref> The weakening of the [[Sultanate of Rûm]] following the [[Battle of Köse Dag|Mongol Invasion in 1242–43]] allowed many [[Beyliks]] and [[Ghazi (warrior)|ghazis]] to set up their own principalities in Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor.<ref>Lowe-Baker, [http://web.archive.org/web/20091027082448/http://geocities.com/egfroth1/Seljuqs.htm The Seljuks of Rum].</ref> In time, one of the Beys, [[Osman I]], created an empire that would eventually conquer Constantinople. However, the Mongol Invasion also gave Nicaea a temporary respite from Seljuk attacks allowing it to concentrate on the [[Latin Empire]] only north of its position. ====Reconquest of Constantinople==== {{Main|Byzantium under the Palaiologoi}} [[File:1263 Mediterranean Sea.svg|thumb|350px|The Byzantine Empire c. 1263.]] The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the [[Laskaris|Laskarid dynasty]], managed to [[Reconquest of Constantinople|reclaim Constantinople]] from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. This led to a short-lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]], but the war-ravaged Empire was ill-equipped to deal with the enemies that now surrounded it. In order to maintain his campaigns against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from Asia Minor, and levied crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much resentment.<ref>{{harvnb|Madden|2005|p=179}}; {{harvnb|Reinert|2002|p=260}}.</ref> Massive construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair the damages of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives was of any comfort to the farmers in Asia Minor, suffering raids from fanatical ghazis. Rather than holding on to his possessions in Asia Minor, Michael chose to expand the Empire, gaining only short-term success. To avoid another sacking of the capital by the Latins, he forced the Church to submit to Rome, again a temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople.<ref>{{harvnb|Reinert|2002|p=257}}.</ref> The efforts of [[Andronikos II Palaiologos|Andronikos II]] and later his grandson [[Andronikos III Palaiologos|Andronikos III]] marked Byzantium's last genuine attempts in restoring the glory of the Empire. However, the use of mercenaries by Andronikos II would often backfire, with the [[Catalan Company]] ravaging the countryside and increasing resentment towards Constantinople.<ref>{{harvnb|Reinert|2002|p=261}}.</ref> ====Rise of the Ottomans and fall of Constantinople==== {{Main|Byzantine-Ottoman wars}} [[File:Constantinople 1453.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Fall of Constantinople|siege of Constantinople]] in 1453 according to a fifteenth century French miniature.]] Things went worse for Byzantium during the civil wars that followed after [[Andronikos III Palaiologos|Andronikos III]] died. A [[Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347|six-year long civil war]] devastated the empire, allowing the Serbian ruler [[Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia|Stefan IV Dushan]] to overrun most of the Empire's remaining territory and establish a short-lived "[[Serbian Empire]]". In 1354, an earthquake at [[Gallipoli]] devastated the fort, allowing the Ottomans (who were hired as mercenaries during the civil war by [[John VI Kantakouzenos]]) to establish themselves in Europe.<ref>{{harvnb|Reinert|2002|p=268}}.</ref> By the time the Byzantine civil wars had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the [[Battle of Kosovo]], much of the Balkans became dominated by the Ottomans.<ref>{{harvnb|Reinert|2002|p=270}}.</ref> [[File:Eastern Mediterranean 1450 .svg|thumb|Eastern Mediterranean just before the fall of Constantinople.]] The Byzantine 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 the authority of [[Holy See|Rome]] and the [[Latin Rite]].<ref>{{harvnb|Runciman|1990|pp=71–72}}.</ref> Some Western troops 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.<ref name="R84-85">{{harvnb|Runciman|1990|pp=84–85}}.</ref> 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. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed's army of some 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city.<ref name="R84-86">{{harvnb|Runciman|1990|pp=84–86}}.</ref> Despite a desperate last-ditch defence of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign),<ref name="R84-85" /> [[Fall of Constantinople|Constantinople finally fell]] to the Ottomans after a two-month siege on 29 May 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Hindley|2004|p=300}}.</ref> ===Aftermath=== By the time of the fall of Constantinople, the only remaining territory of the Byzantine Empire was the [[Despotate of the Morea]], which was ruled by brothers of the last Emperor and continued on as a vassal state to the Ottomans. Incompetent rule, failure to pay the annual tribute and a revolt against the Ottomans finally led to [[Mehmed II]]'s invasion of [[Morea]] in May 1460; he conquered the entire Despotate by the summer. The [[Empire of Trebizond]], which had split away from the Byzantine Empire in 1204, became the last remnant and last ''de facto'' successor state to the Byzantine Empire. Efforts by the Emperor [[David of Trebizond|David]] to recruit European powers for an anti-Ottoman crusade provoked war between the Ottomans and Trebizond in the summer of 1461. After a month long siege, David surrendered the city of [[Trebizond]] on August 14, 1461. With the fall of Trebizond, the last remnant of the Roman Empire was extinguished. The nephew of the last Emperor, Constantine XI, [[Andreas Palaeologos]] had inherited the title of [[Byzantine Emperor]]. He lived in the Morea (Peloponnese) until its fall in 1460, then escaped to Rome where he lived under the protection of the [[Papal States]] for the remainder of his life. He styled himself ''Imperator Constantinopolitanus'' ("Emperor of Constantinople"), and sold his succession rights to both [[Charles VIII of France]] and the [[Catholic Monarchs]]. However, no one ever invoked the title after Andreas's death, thus he is considered to be the last titular Byzantine Emperor. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves heirs to the Roman Empire until [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|the demise of the Ottoman Empire]] in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the [[Danubian Principalities]] (whose rulers also considered themselves the heirs of the Eastern Roman Emperors<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|2000|p=213}}.</ref>) harboured Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles. 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' sister, [[Sophia Paleologue]], whose grandson, [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan IV]], would become the first [[Tsar]] of Russia (''tsar'', or ''czar'', meaning ''[[caesar (title)|caesar]]'', is a term traditionally applied by Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors). 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 with the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]].<ref>{{harvnb|Seton-Watson|1967|p=31}}.</ref> ==Culture== ===Economy=== {{details|Byzantine economy}} {{Byzantine culture}} The Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries. Europe, in particular, was unable to match Byzantine economic strength until late in the Middle Ages. Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network that at various times extended across nearly all of [[Eurasia]] and North Africa, in particular being the primary western terminus of the famous ''[[silk road]]''. Some scholars argue that, up until the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century, the Empire had the most powerful economy in the world. The [[Muslim conquests|Arab conquests]], however, would represent a substantial reversal of fortunes contributing to a period of decline and stagnation. [[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 twelfth, the Byzantine Empire projected an image of luxury, and the travellers 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">{{harvnb|Magdalino|2002}}, [http://web.archive.org/web/20080625192523/http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB20.pdf p. 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">{{harvnb|Matschke|2002}}, [http://web.archive.org/web/20080625235853/http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB37.pdf pp. 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 appeared also in Bulgaria, and the West.<ref name="L723">{{harvnb|Laiou|2002}}, [http://web.archive.org/web/20080625235908/http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB36.pdf p. 723].</ref> The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and retained the monopoly of issuing [[Byzantine coinage|coinage]]. The government exercised formal control over interest rates, and set the parameters for the activity of the [[guild]]s and corporations, in which it had a special interest. The Emperor and his 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">{{harvnb|Laiou|2002}}, [http://web.archive.org/web/20080625235933/http://www.doaks.org/EconHist/EHB01.pdf pp. 3–4].</ref> ===Science, medicine, law=== {{details|Byzantine science|Byzantine medicine|Byzantine law}} [[File:ViennaDioscoridesFolio3v7Physicians.jpg|thumb|upright|The frontispiece of the [[Vienna Dioscurides]], which shows a set of seven famous physicians.]] 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>{{harvnb|Anastos|1962|p=409}}.</ref> Although at various times the Byzantines made magnificent achievements in the application of the [[Science in the Middle Ages|sciences]] (notably in the construction of the [[Hagia Sophia]]), after the 6th century Byzantine scholars made few novel contributions to science in terms of developing new theories or extending the ideas of classical authors.<ref>{{harvnb|Cohen|1994|p=395}}; Dickson, [http://www.roma.unisa.edu.au/07305/medmm.htm Mathematics Through the Middle Ages].</ref> Scholarship particularly lagged during the dark years of [[Plague of Justinian|plague]] and the Arab conquests, but then during the so-called ''Byzantine Renaissance'' at the end of the first millennium Byzantine scholars re-asserted themselves becoming experts in the scientific developments of the Arabs and Persians, particularly in [[astronomy]] and [[mathematics]].<ref>{{harvnb|King|1991|pp=116–118}}.</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>{{harvnb|Robins|1993|p=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">{{harvnb|Tatakes|Moutafakis|2003|p=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 Slavic world.<ref>{{harvnb|Troianos|Velissaropoulou-Karakosta|1997|p=340}}.</ref> ===Religion=== {{Further|[[State church of the Roman Empire]], [[Roman Catholic]], [[Byzantine Papacy]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], [[Nestorianism]], [[Jews of the Byzantine Empire]]}} [[File:Aya sofya.jpg|thumb|As a symbol and expression of the universal prestige of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Justinian built the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, [[Hagia Sophia]], which was completed in the short period of four and a half years (532–537).]] 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 [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], the Byzantines viewed the Emperor as a representative or messenger of [[Jesus|Christ]], 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">{{harvnb|Meyendorff|1982|p=13}}.</ref> [[Christianity]] was never fully united and the Christians in the Byzantine Empire were diverse throughout the Empire's history. The [[state church of the Roman Empire]], which came to be known as the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], never represented all Christians in the Empire. [[Nestorianism]], a view promoted by [[Nestorius]] who was a 5th century [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], split from the imperial church leading to what is today the [[Assyrian Church of the East]]. In a greater schism during the 6th century the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Myaphysite]] churches split from the imperial church over the declarations of the [[Council of Chalcedon]]. Aside from these communions, [[Arianism]] and other Christian sects existed in the early Empire, although by the time of Rome's fall in the 5th century Arianism was mostly confined to the Germanic peoples of Western Europe. By the Empire's late stages, though, Eastern Orthodoxy represented most Christians in what remained of the Empire. [[Judaism|Jews]] were a significant minority in the Empire throughout its history. Despite periods of persecution, they were generally tolerated, if not always embraced, during most periods. With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern Patriarchates, the Church of Constantinople became, between the sixth and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential center of [[Christendom]].<ref name="M19">{{harvnb|Meyendorff|1982|p=19}}.</ref> Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of its former self, the Church, as an institution, had never exercised so much influence both inside and outside of the imperial frontiers. As [[George Ostrogorsky]] points out: <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">{{harvnb|Meyendorff|1982|p=130}}.</ref></blockquote> ===Art and literature=== [[File:RabulaGospelsFol13vAscension.jpg|thumb|150px|Miniatures of the sixth century [[Rabula Gospel]] display the more abstract and symbolic nature of Byzantine art.]] {{Main|Byzantine art|Byzantine literature}} {{See also|Byzantine music|Byzantine dress}} 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 centres, particularly Russia.<ref name="BAr">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantine Art|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}.</ref> Influences from Byzantine architecture, particularly in religious buildings, can be found in diverse regions from Egypt and Arabia to Russia and Romania. 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 poetry, history, science and pseudo-science.<ref>{{harvnb|Mango|2005|pp=233–234}}.</ref> While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs from the ninth to the 12th century, its religious literature ([[sermon]]s, [[liturgical book]]s 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> ===Government and bureaucracy=== {{See also|Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy}} In the Byzantine state, the [[List of Byzantine Emperors|emperor]] became the sole and absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine origin.<ref name="Helios" /> The Senate ceased to have real political and legislative authority but remained as an honorary council with titular members. By the end of the 8th century, a civil administration focused 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">{{harvnb|Louth|2005|p=291}}; {{harvnb|Neville|2004|p=7}}.</ref> The most important reform of this period is the creation of [[Theme (Byzantine district)|themes]], where civil and military administration is exercised by one person, the ''[[strategos]]''.<ref name="Helios" /> {| class="wikitable" cellpadding="0" style="float:right; margin-left:1em;" | [[File:Byzantine Empire Themata-650.png|thumb|The ''themes'' c. 650.]] | [[File:Byzantine Empire Themata-950.png|thumb|The ''themes'' c. 950.]] |} 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">{{harvnb|Neville|2004|p=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 rivalled 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">{{harvnb|Neville|2004|p=13}}.</ref> ===Diplomacy=== {{details|Byzantine diplomacy}} After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its neighbours. When these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they often modelled themselves on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbours into a network of international and inter-state relations.<ref name="N1">{{harvnb|Neumann|2006|pp=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>{{harvnb|Chrysos|1992|p=35}}.</ref> Whereas classical writers are fond of making ethical and legal distinctions between peace and war, Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other means.<ref name="Ant">{{harvnb|Antonucci|1993|pp=11–13}}.</ref> For example, a [[Bulgaria]]n threat could be countered by providing money to the [[Kievian Rus]].<ref name="Ant"/> The [[Orthodox Church]] also maintained a diplomatic function, and the spread of Orthodox Christianity was a key diplomatic goal of the Empire. Diplomacy in the era was understood to have an intelligence-gathering function on top of its pure political function. The [[Bureau of Barbarians]] in Constantinople handled matters of protocol and record keeping for any matters dealing with "Barbarians", and thus had, perhaps, a basic intelligence function itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Seeck|1876|pp=31–33}}.</ref> J. B. Bury believed that the office exercised supervision over all foreigners visiting Constantinople, and that they were under the supervision of the [[Logothete of the Course]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bury|Philotheus|1911|p=93}}.</ref> While on the surface a protocol office—its main duty was to ensure foreign envoys were properly cared for and received sufficient state funds for their maintenance, and it kept all the official translators—it clearly had a security function as well. ''On Strategy'', from the 6th century, offers advice about foreign embassies: "[Envoys] who are sent to us should be received honourably and generously, for everyone holds envoys in high esteem. Their attendants, however, should be kept under surveillance to keep them from obtaining any information by asking questions of our people."<ref>{{harvnb|Dennis|1985|loc=Anonymous, ''Byzantine Military Treatise on Strategy'', para. 43, p. 125}}.</ref> 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 practice was to overwhelm visitors by sumptuous displays.<ref name="N1" /> According to [[Dimitri Obolensky]], the preservation of civilisation 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">{{harvnb|Obolensky|1994|p=3}}.</ref> ===Language=== {{details|Medieval Greek}} [[File:Mudil Psalter.jpg|thumb|right|The Mudil Psalter, the oldest complete [[psalter]] in the Coptic language ([[Coptic Museum]], Egypt, [[Coptic Cairo]]).]] The original language of the government of the Empire, which owed its origins to Rome, had been Latin and this continued to be its official language until the 7th century when it was effectively changed to Greek by [[Heraclius]]. [[Latin language|Scholarly Latin]] would rapidly fall into disuse among the educated classes although the language would continue to be at least a ceremonial part of the Empire's culture for some time.<ref name="ApWr">{{harvnb|Apostolides|1992|pp=25–26}}; {{harvnb|Wroth|1908|loc=Introduction, Section 6}}.</ref> Additionally, [[Vulgar Latin]] continued to be a minority language in the Empire, and among the [[Thraco-Roman]] populations it gave birth to the [[Proto-Romanian|(Proto-)Romanian]] language.<ref>{{harvnb|Sedlar|1994|pp=403–440}}.</ref> Likewise, on the coast of the [[Adriatic Sea]], another neo-Latin vernacular developed, which would later give rise to the [[Dalmatian language]]. In the Western Mediterranean provinces temporarily acquired under the reign of Emperor [[Justinian I]], Latin (eventually evolving into [[Italian language|Italian]]) continued to be used both as a spoken language and the language of scholarship. Apart from the Imperial court, administration and military, the primary language used in the eastern Roman provinces even before the [[decline of the Roman Empire|decline of the Western Empire]] had always been Greek, having been spoken in the region for centuries before Latin.<ref>{{harvnb|Millar|2006|p=279}}.</ref> Indeed early on in the life of the Roman Empire, Greek had become the common language in the Christian Church, the language of scholarship and the arts, and, to a large degree, the lingua franca for trade between provinces and with other nations.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryce|1901|p=59}}; {{harvnb|McDonnell|2006|p=77}}; {{harvnb|Millar|2006|pp=97–98}}.</ref> The language itself for a time gained a [[Diglossia|dual nature]] with the primary spoken language, [[Koine Greek|Koine]], existing alongside an older [[Attic Greek|literary language]] with Koine eventually evolving into the standard dialect.<ref>''Greek Language'', Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref> Many other languages existed in the multi-ethnic Empire as well, and some of these were given limited official status in their provinces at various times. Notably, by the beginning of the Middle Ages, [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] had become more widely used by the educated classes in the far eastern provinces.<ref name="BJVe">{{harvnb|Beaton|1996|p=10}}; {{harvnb|Jones|1986|p=991}}; {{harvnb|Versteegh|1977|loc=Chapter 1}}.</ref> Similarly [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], and [[Georgian language|Georgian]] became significant among the educated in their provinces,<ref>{{harvnb|Campbell|2000|p=40}}; {{harvnb|Hacikyan|Basmajian|Franchuk|Ouzounian|2002|loc=Part 1}}.</ref> and later foreign contacts made the [[Old Church Slavonic|Slavonic]], Vlach, and [[Classical Arabic|Arabic]] languages important in the Empire and its sphere of influence.<ref>{{harvnb|Baynes|1907|p=289}}; {{harvnb|Gutas|1998|loc=Chapter 7, Section 4}}; {{harvnb|Shopen|1987|p=129}}.</ref> Aside from these, since Constantinople was a prime trading center in the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean region]] and beyond, virtually every known language of the Middle Ages was spoken in the Empire at some time, even [[Chinese language|Chinese]].<ref>{{harvnb|Beckwith|1993|p=171}}; {{harvnb|Halsall|2006}}.</ref> As the Empire entered its final decline, the Empire's citizens became more culturally homogeneous and the Greek language became integral to their identity and their religion.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaldellis|2008|loc=Chapter 6}}; {{harvnb|Nicol|1993|loc=Chapter 5}}.</ref> ==Legacy== {{see|Third Rome|Double-headed eagle}} [[File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol7v.jpg|thumb|right|145px|[[King David]] in robes of a Byzantine emperor. Miniature from the [[Paris Psalter]].]] As the only stable long-term state in Europe during the Middle Ages, Byzantium isolated Western Europe from newly emerging forces to the East. Constantly under attack, it distanced Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for example, are recognised by some historians as being a key factor behind the rise of [[Charlemagne]],<ref name="Pirenne">[[Henri Pirenne|Pirenne, Henri]]: * ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=j_WTgGU8PkoC Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade]''. Princeton, New Jersey: 1925, ISBN 0-691-00760-8. * ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=mWEUgn8wWWIC Mohammed and Charlemagne]''. (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954) Courier Dover Publications, 2001, ISBN 0-486-42011-6.</ref> and a stimulus to [[feudalism]] and [[Medieval technology|economic self-sufficiency]]. Following the [[Fall of Constantinople|conquest of Constantinople]] by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Sultan [[Mehmed II]] took the title "''Kaysar-i-Rûm''" (the Turkish equivalent of Caesar of Rome)<ref>{{harvnb|Béhar|1999|p=38}}.</ref> since he was determined to make the Ottoman Empire the heir of the Eastern Roman Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Bideleux|Jeffries|1998|p=71}}.</ref> Since the early 20th century, the terms ''Byzantine'' and ''Byzantinism'' have been used [[derogatory use of "Byzantine"|as bywords for decadence, duplicitous politics and complex bureaucracy]]. There was also a strongly negative assessment of Byzantine civilisation and its legacy in [[Southeastern Europe]].<ref name="A1">{{harvnb|Angelov|2001|p=1}}.</ref> ''Byzantinism'' in general was defined as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas which ran contrary to those of the West.<ref name="A7-8">{{harvnb|Angelov|2001|pp=7–8}}.</ref> ==See also== {{Commons}} {{Wikisource portal}} {{Portal|Byzantine Empire}} * [[Byzantine architecture]] * [[Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy]] * [[Byzantine army]] * [[Byzantine art]] * [[Byzantine calendar]] * [[Byzantine dance]] * [[Byzantine diplomacy]] * [[Byzantine dress]] * [[Byzantine coinage]] * [[Byzantine cuisine]] * [[Byzantine gardens]] * [[Byzantine Greeks]] * [[Byzantine law]] * [[Byzantine literature]] * [[Byzantine medicine]] * [[Byzantine music]] * [[Byzantine navy]] * [[Byzantine science]] * [[History of Greece]] * [[Index of Byzantine Empire-related articles]] * [[Legacy of the Roman Empire]] * [[List of Byzantine emperors]] * [[List of Byzantine inventions]] * [[List of Byzantine revolts and civil wars]] * [[List of Byzantine wars]] ==Annotations== {{Reflist|group="n"}} ==Notes== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==References== ===Primary sources=== {{Refbegin|2}} * {{Cite book|last=Choniates|first=Nicetas|authorlink=Nicetas Choniates|title=Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History by D.C. Munro (Series 1, Vol 3:1)|location=Philadelphia|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|pages=15–16|year=1912|chapter=The Sack of Constantinople (1204)}} * {{Cite book|last=Cinnamus|first=Ioannes|authorlink=John Kinnamos|title=Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus|url=http://books.google.com/?id=iJFFvsgNO-QC|location=New York and West Sussex|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1976|isbn=0-231-04080-6|ref=harv}} * {{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)|url=http://books.google.com/?id=c2kUYwCVYTAC|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1963|isbn=0-14-044124-7|chapter=The Conquest of Constantinople|ref=harv}} * {{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|publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|year=1993|language=German}} * {{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|publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|year=1995|language=German}} * {{Cite book|last=Komnene|first=Anna|authorlink=Anna Komnene|title=[[The Alexiad]] (translated by Elizabeth A. S. Dawes)|publisher=Internet Medieval Sourcebook|chapter=Books X-XIII |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad00.html#INTRODUCTION|year=1928|ref=harv}} * {{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}} {{Refend}} ===Secondary sources=== {{Refbegin|2}} * {{Cite journal|last=Adena|first=Louise|url=http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/The+Enduring+Legacy+of+Byzantium|title=The Enduring Legacy of Byzantium|journal=Clio History Journal|year=2008|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|first=Agustí|last=Alemany|title=Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation|chapter=Byzantine Sources|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|year=2000|url=http://books.google.com/?id=8bZ4c5oZpNAC|isbn=90-04-11442-4|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Ahrweiler|first=Hélène|last2=Laiou|first2=Angeliki E.|author1-link=Helene Ahrweiler|author2-link=Angeliki Laiou|title=Studies on the Internal Diaspora of the Byzantine Empire|chapter=Preface|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|year=1998|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ohFJD_QT3E8C|isbn=0-88402-247-1|ref=harv}} * {{Cite journal|last=Anastos|first=Milton V.|year=1962|title=The History of Byzantine Science. 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N. Sakkoulas Publishers|year=1997|isbn=960-232-594-1|chapter=Byzantine Law|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=University of Chile: Center of Byzantine and Neohellenic Studies|title=Bizantion Nea Hellas (Issue 2)|publisher=University Press|year=1971|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=73ViAAAAMAAJ|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Vasiliev|first=Alexander Alexandrovich|authorlink=Alexander Vasiliev (historian)|title=History of the Byzantine Empire|year=1928–1935|location=Madison|publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press|url=http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0832.HTM|isbn=0-299-80925-0|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Versteegh|first=Cornelis H. M.|title=Greek Elements in Arabic Linguistic Thinking|year=1977|url=http://books.google.com/?id=-4MeAAAAIAAJ|isbn=90-04-04855-3|chapter=The First Contact with Greek Grammar|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Watson|first=Bruce|title=Sieges: A Comparative Study|url=http://books.google.com/?id=cVet6ieBFv8C|year=1993|location=Westport|publisher=Praeger Publishers (Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.)|isbn=0-275-94034-9|chapter=Jerusalem 1099|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Wells|first=Herbert George|authorlink=H. G. Wells|title=A Short History of the World|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan|year=1922|isbn=0-06-492674-5|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sHI9AAAAYAAJ|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Wickham|first=Chris|title=The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000|publisher=Viking|year=2009|isbn=0-670-02098-2|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LKq_PQAACAAJ|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Stephen|last2=Friell|first2=Gerard|last3=Friell|first3=John Gerard Paul|title=The Rome that Did Not Fall: The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century|url=http://books.google.com/?id=tGLN47tfT4UC|year=1999|location=New York and London|publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis)|isbn=0-415-15403-0|chapter=Jerusalem 1099|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last1=Winnifrith|first1=Tom|last2=Murray|first2=Penelope|title=Greece Old and New|url=http://books.google.com/?id=1JgcAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-27836-4|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Wroth|first=Warwick|title=Catalogue of the Imperial Byzantine Coins in the British Museum|year=1908|publisher=British Museum Dept. of Coins and Medals|url=http://books.google.com/?id=AmoCAAAAYAAJ|ref=harv|isbn=1-4021-8954-0}} {{Refend|2}} ==Further reading== {{refbegin|2}} * {{Cite book|last1=Ahrweiler|first1=Hélène|last2=Aymard|first2=Maurice|title=Les Européens|year=2000|location=Paris|publisher=Hermann|isbn=2705664092|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4a9mAAAAMAAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Angelov|first=Dimiter|title=Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium (1204-1330)|year=2007|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521857031|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Vce6EJAcHA4C|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book|last=Haldon|first=John|title=The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaigns of the Byzantine Era|year=2001|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|publisher=Tempus Publishing|isbn=0-7524-1795-9|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OycjAQAAIAAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Hussey|first=J. M.|title=The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume IV&nbsp;— The Byzantine Empire Part I, Byzantium and its Neighbors|year=1966|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}} * {{Cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|authorlink=Steven Runciman|title=Byzantine Civilisation|year=1966|location=London|publisher=Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited|isbn=1-56619-574-8|url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=f4XWTcH4E4fGgAfO9oCaBw&ct=result&id=eHfWAAAAMAAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|title=The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign|origyear=1929|year=1990|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-06164-4|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XHVzWN6gqxQC}} * {{Cite book|last=Toynbee|first=Arnold Joseph|title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus and His World|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1972|isbn=0-19-215253-X|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Y2EbAAAAYAAJ}} {{refend|2}} ==External links== {{wiktionary|Byzantine}} ===Byzantine studies, resources and bibliography=== * Adena, L. "[http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/The+Enduring+Legacy+of+Byzantium The Enduring Legacy of Byzantium]", ''Clio History Journal'', 2008. * Ciesniewski, C. "[http://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/The+Byzantine+Achievement The Byzantine Achievement]", ''Clio History Journal'', 2006. * Fox, Clinton R. [http://www.romanity.org/htm/fox.01.en.what_if_anything_is_a_byzantine.01.htm What, If Anything, Is a Byzantine? (Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors)] * [http://www.third-millennium-library.com/MedievalHistory/Cambridge/IV/Eastern-Door.html The Cambridge Medieval History (IV) The Eastern Roman Empire (717–1453)]. * [http://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]. Links to various online resources. * [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]. 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. * [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)] ===Miscellaneous=== * {{In Our Time|Byzantine Empire|p00547j9|Byzantine_Empire}} * [http://www.roman-emperors.org/ De Imperatoribus Romanis]. Scholarly biographies of many Byzantine emperors. * [http://rutube.ru/tracks/639717.html?v=8a96fcfe7400898167971e4d057e86a2 The Fall of the Empire. Byzantine Lesson (2007). (Russian: Гибель империи. Византийский урок)] A film explaining the political and economical reasons for the fall of the Empire, filmed by the Russian Orthodox Church. * [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). {{Byzantine Empire topics|state=expanded}} {{Ancient Rome topics|state=collapsed}} {{Middle Ages}} {{Former monarchies Italian peninsula}} {{Christian History|collapsed}} {{History of Anatolia}} {{Empires}} {{Medieval states in Anatolia}} {{Europe Hegemony}} {{Qur'anic people}} {{Featured article}} {{Navbox | name = Komnenian Empire 1081–1085 | title = Komnenian Empire 1081–1085 | group1 = Emperors | list1 = [[Isaac I Komnenos]] * [[Alexius I Comnenus|Alexius I]] * [[John II Komnenos]] * [[Manuel I Komnenos]] * [[Andronikos I Komnenos]] | title = Komnenos topics | group2 = Komnenos topics | list2 = [[Komnenos|Komnenian dynasty]] * [[Byzantium under the Komnenos dynasty]] * [[Byzantium under the Komnenoi]] * [[Komnenian army]] }} [[Category:Byzantine Empire| ]] [[Category:Former countries in Europe]] [[Category:Former countries in Asia]] [[Category:Former countries in Africa]] [[Category:States and territories established in 330]] [[Category:1453 disestablishments]] [[Category:States in medieval Anatolia|States in medieval Anatolia]] [[Category:Roman States]] [[Category:History of the Mediterranean]] [[Category:History of Western Asia]] {{Link GA|lt}} {{Link GA|no}} {{Link FA|ca}} {{Link FA|cs}} {{Link FA|de}} {{Link FA|es}} {{Link FA|nl}} {{Link FA|zh}} {{Link GA|de}} [[af:Bisantynse Ryk]] [[ar:الإمبراطورية البيزنطية]] [[an:Imperio Bizantín]] [[roa-rup:Amirãria Romanã ditu Apiritã]] [[ast:Imperiu Bizantín]] [[az:Bizans İmperiyası]] [[bn:বাইজেন্টাইন সাম্রাজ্য]] [[zh-min-nan:Byzantine Tè-kok]] [[be:Візантыя]] [[be-x-old:Бізантыйская імпэрыя]] [[bs:Bizantijsko carstvo]] [[br:Impalaeriezh roman ar Reter]] [[bg:Византийска империя]] [[ca:Imperi Bizantí]] [[cv:Висанти]] [[ceb:Sidlakang Imperyong Romano]] [[cs:Byzantská říše]] [[cy:Yr Ymerodraeth Fysantaidd]] [[da:Byzantinske Rige]] [[de:Byzantinisches Reich]] [[et:Bütsants]] [[el:Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία]] [[es:Imperio bizantino]] [[eo:Bizanca imperio]] [[eu:Bizantziar Inperioa]] [[fa:امپراتوری روم شرقی]] [[hif:Byzantine Samrajya]] [[fr:Empire byzantin]] [[fy:East-Romeinske Ryk]] [[ga:Impireacht Bhiosántach]] [[gd:An t-Impireachd Bheasantian]] [[gl:Imperio Bizantino]] [[ko:비잔티움 제국]] [[hy:Բյուզանդական կայսրություն]] [[hi:बाईज़ण्टाइन साम्राज्य]] [[hr:Bizant]] [[id:Kekaisaran Romawi Timur]] [[ia:Imperio Byzantin]] [[os:Византийы импери]] [[is:Austrómverska keisaradæmið]] [[it:Impero bizantino]] [[he:האימפריה הביזנטית]] [[jv:Kakaisaran Byzantin]] [[ka:ბიზანტიის იმპერია]] [[kk:Шығыс Рим империясы]] [[sw:Ufalme wa Byzanti]] [[ku:Împeratoriya Bîzansê]] [[lad:Imperio Bizantino]] [[la:Imperium Romanum Orientale]] [[lv:Bizantija]] [[lt:Bizantija]] [[hu:Bizánci Birodalom]] [[mk:Византија]] [[mg:Empira Bizantina]] [[ml:ബൈസന്റൈന്‍ സാമ്രാജ്യം]] [[mt:Biżantini]] [[mr:बायझेंटाईन साम्राज्य]] [[arz:امبراطوريه بيزنطيه]] [[mzn:بیزانس]] [[ms:Empayar Byzantine]] [[mwl:Ampério Bizantino]] [[mn:Византын эзэнт гүрэн]] [[my:ဘိုင်ဇန်တိုင်း အင်ပါယာ]] [[nl:Byzantijnse Rijk]] [[new:बैजन्टाइन साम्राज्य]] [[ja:東ローマ帝国]] [[no:Østromerriket]] [[nn:Austromarriket]] [[oc:Empèri Bizantin]] [[pnb:بازنطینی سلطنت]] [[pms:Imperi Roman d'Orient]] [[nds:Byzantiensch Riek]] [[pl:Cesarstwo Bizantyńskie]] [[pt:Império Bizantino]] [[crh:Bizans İmperiyası]] [[ro:Imperiul Roman de Răsărit]] [[rue:Візантьска ріша]] [[ru:Византийская империя]] [[sq:Perandoria Bizantine]] [[scn:Mpèriu bizzantinu]] [[simple:Byzantine Empire]] [[sk:Byzantská ríša]] [[sl:Bizantinsko cesarstvo]] [[ckb:ئیمپڕاتۆڕی بیزەنتی]] [[sr:Византијско царство]] [[sh:Bizantsko carstvo/Latinična verzija]] [[fi:Bysantin valtakunta]] [[sv:Bysantinska riket]] [[tl:Silangang Imperyong Romano]] [[ta:பைசாந்தியப் பேரரசு]] [[roa-tara:'Mbere Bizzandine]] [[th:จักรวรรดิไบแซนไทน์]] [[tr:Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu]] [[tk:Wizantiýa imperiýasy]] [[uk:Візантійська імперія]] [[ur:بازنطینی سلطنت]] [[vec:Inpero bizantin]] [[vi:Đế quốc Đông La Mã]] [[fiu-vro:Bütsants]] [[war:Imperyo Bizantino]] [[yi:ביזאנטישע אימפעריע]] [[yo:Byzantine Empire]] [[zh-yue:拜占庭帝國]] [[diq:İmparatoriya Bizansi]] [[zea:Byzantijnse Riek]] [[bat-smg:Bizantėjė]] [[zh:拜占庭帝国]]'