part of the Mediterranean. When the Roman Empire split into two empires, the Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire continued on for 1000 years after the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 CE. The Byzantine Empire ruled most of Eastern & Southern Europe during the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire was quite modern. Its tax system and administration were so efficient that the empire survived more than a thousand years. The culture was rich and affluent, while science and technology also developed. Byzantine tradition of rhetoric and public debate Philosophical and theological discourses Debates Greek philosophical and scientific heritage In the course of the fourth century, the Roman world became increasingly Christian, and the Byzantine Empire was a Christian state. It was the first empire in the world to be founded on the authority of the Church. After the Great Schism of 1054 CE the eastern (Orthodox) Church separated form the western (Roman Catholic) Church. Constantine VII Phorphyrogenitus was the fourth Byzantine emperor during the Macedonian age (913 to 959). His writings are one of the best sources of information on the Byzantine Empire and neighbouring areas. His De administrando imperio treated the Slavic and Turkic peoples, and the De ceremoniis aulae Byzantinae, his longest book, described the elaborate ceremonies that made the Byzantine emperors priestly symbols of the state. He succeeded to the throne at the age of 7 under the regency of the Patriarch of Constantinople.
In 947, Constantine VII ordered the restitution of
all peasant lands, without compensation; by the end of his reign, the condition of the landed peasantry, which formed the foundation of the economic-military strength of the Empire, was better than it had been for a century. In 949 Constantine attempted to drive away the Arabs residing in Crete but did not succeed. In 949 the Byzantines conquered Germanicea, repeatedly defeated the enemy armies, and in 952 they crossed the upper Euphrates. Constantine's efforts to retake themes lost to the Arabs were the first such efforts to have any real success. In 527 Justinian I became Emperor. Under Justinian I, the empire gained territory and would reach the peak of its power and wealth, concurring Italy and Africa, Libya, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Justinian also established many reforms,including Corpus of Civil Law. Justinian also encouraged the arts including music, drama, and art. He funded many public projects such as: bridges, roads, aqueducts, and churches. The Empire fell during the Macedonian dynasty ,its apogee during 867-1057 CE. The empire expanded again having its borders in Armenia (east),Calabria (south),and Italy (west). Wealthy Egypt and large parts of Syria were forever lost. Jerusalem was not reconquered from the Muslim and Arab people either. In 1014 CE the Bulgarian empire was finally overcome after a bloody war, decesively after the Battle of Kleidon, under the command of Emperor Basil The Second,becoming part of the Byzantine Empire. New cultural-trading partner,the Kievan Rus ; War against the Muslims ,resulting into the Byzantine Empire's drawbacks by the Arab's conquering of Crete, Palermo, Messina, Catania,Taormina,etc... Started in 1081 and ended in 1185 ; Komnenian emperors that reigned during this period: Alexios the First, John the Second ,Manuel the First, Alexios the Second and Andronikos the First. During this dynasty,the Byzantine Empire played a major role in the Crusades in the Holy Land which exerted a vast amount of cultural and political influence in the Western world. Evolution of Byzantine art and literature as well as trade (Italian and Venetian mercenaries resided in the Byzantine Empire) Emperor John the Second carried wars against the Nomadic people from the North and against the Turks from the South-East; A new military reform was adopted for the sake of restoring the empire's power and land; During the Middle Ages the Byzantium Empire fought the Muslims for control of the eastern Mediterranean. This included asking the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire for help during the first Crusade to regain control of the Holy Land. They battled the Seljuk Turks and other Arab and Muslim forces for hundreds of years. Finally, in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire and with it came the end of the Byzantine Empire. http://historymedren.about.com/cs/byzantin estudies/a/forgotten.htm http://www.history.com/topics/ancient- history/byzantine-empire Google Images http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_a ges_byzantine_empire.php http://www.ancient.eu.com/Byzantine_Empir e/