Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the -speaking of the, centered on its capital of. The Empire is also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, although this name is more commonly used when referring to the time before the. During much of its history it was known to many of its contemporaries as the Empire of the Greeks because of the dominance of, culture and population. To its inhabitants, the Empire was simply the Roman Empire and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of s. In the  world it was known primarily as روم (, land of the "Romans").

There is no consensus on exactly when the Byzantine period of Roman history began. Many consider Emperor (reigned AD 306–337) to be the first "". It was he who moved the imperial capital in 330 from to, refounded as Constantinople, or Nova Roma ("").

Some date the beginnings of the Empire to the reign of (379–395) and 's official supplanting of the , or following his death in 395, when the political division between East and West became permanent. Others place it yet later in 476, when, traditionally considered the last western Emperor, was deposed, thus leaving sole imperial authority with the emperor in the. Others point to the reorganization of the empire in the time of (ca. 620) when Latin titles and usages were officially replaced with Greek versions.

In any case, the changeover was gradual and by 330, when Constantine inaugurated his new capital, the process of hellenization and increasing was already under way. The Empire is generally considered to have ended after the to the  in 1453, although Greek rule continued over areas of the Empire's territory for several more years, until the fall of  in 1460,  in 1461, and  in 1471.

History of the name "Byzantine"
The term Byzantine Empire is an invention of historians and was never used during the Empire's lifetime. The Empire's name in Greek was Basileia tōn Rōmaiōn or just Rōmania (Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων&mdash;a translation of the Latin name of the Roman Empire), Imperium Romanorum (Imperium Romanum). The description of the Empire as "Byzantine" began in in 1557, when  historian  published his work Corpus Historiæ By­zantinæ, a collection of Byzantine sources. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre (Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ), and in 1680 of 's Historia Byzantina further popularized the use of Byzantine among French authors, such as. Before this, the Empire was described by Western Europeans as Imperium Graecorum (Empire of the Greeks)&mdash;Byzantine claims to Roman inheritance had been actively contested from at least the time of the coronation of as  by  in 800. Whenever the s or the rulers of the West wanted to make use of the name Roman to refer to the Byzantine emperors, they preferred the term Imperator Romæorum instead of Imperator Romanorum, a title reserved only for Charlemagne and his successors.

Partition of the Roman Empire
During the 3rd century, three crises threatened the Roman Empire: external invasions, internal civil wars and an economy riddled with weaknesses and problems. The city of Rome gradually became less important as an administrative centre. The displayed the defects of the heterogeneous system of government that  had established to administer his immense dominion. His successors had introduced some modifications, but events made it clearer that a new, more centralised and more uniform system was required.

was responsible for creating a new administrative system (the ). He associated himself with a co-emperor, or . Each Augustus then adopted a young colleague, or , to share in the rule and eventually to succeed the senior partner. After the abdication of Diocletian and the tetrachy collapsed, and  replaced it with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession.

Constantine I and his successors
Constantine moved the seat of the Empire, and introduced important changes into its civil and religious constitution. In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West; it was a superb base from which to guard the river, and was reasonably close to the Eastern frontiers. Constantine also began the building of the, which were expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages. According to, "Constantine was not insensible to the ambition of founding a city which might perpetuate the glory of his own name." And indeed Constantine's city flourished mightily throughout the Middle Ages. asserts that "the foundation of Constantinople [...] inaugurated a permanent division between the Eastern and Western, the Greek and the Latin, halves of the Empire—a division to which events had already pointed—and affected decisively the whole subsequent ."

Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian. He stabilized the coinage (the gold that he introduced became a highly prized and stable currency ), and made changes to the structure of the army. To divide administrative responsibilities, Constantine replaced the single, who had traditionally exercised both military and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority alone. In the course of the 4th century, four great sections emerged from these Constantinian beginnings, and the practice of separating civil from military authority persisted until the 7th century.

Under Constantine, did not become the exclusive religion of the state, but enjoyed imperial preference, since : clerics were exempted from personal services and taxation, Christians were preferred for administrative posts, and bishops were entrusted with judicial responsibilities. Constantine established the principle that emperors should not settle questions of doctrine, but should summon for that purpose. The was convened by Constantine, and the  showcased his claim to be head of the Church.

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,, could bequeath the imperial office jointly to his sons: in the East and  in the West. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over the full extent of the empire in both its halves.

Early history
The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties faced by the West in the third and fourth centuries, due in part to a more firmly established urban culture and greater financial resources, which allowed it to placate invaders with and pay barbarian. Throughout the fifth century, various invading armies overran the Western Empire but spared the east. further fortified, leaving the city impenetrable to attacks; they were not breached until 1204. To fend off the of, Theodosius gave them subsidies (purportedly 300 kg (700 lb) of gold). Moreover, he favored merchants living in Constantinople who traded with the barbarians.

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

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

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

In 466, as a condition of his Isaurian alliance, Leo married his daughter Ariadne to the Isaurian Tarasicodissa, who took the name. When Leo died in 474, Zeno and Ariadne's younger son succeeded to the throne as, with Zeno acting as regent. When Leo II died later that year, Zeno became emperor. The end of the Western Empire is sometimes dated to 476, early in Zeno's reign, when the barbarian general deposed the titular Western Emperor, but declined to replace him with another puppet. To recover Italy, Zeno could only negotiate with the of, who had settled in. He sent the barbarian king to Italy as magister militum per Italiam ("commander in chief for Italy"). After the fall of Odoacer in 493, Theodoric, who had lived in Constantinople during his youth, ruled Italy on his own, maintaining a merely formal obedience to Zeno. He was the most powerful Germanic king of that age, but his successors were greatly inferior and their Italian kingdom started to decline in the 530s.

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

Justinian I and his successors


Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of Byzantine expansion into former Roman territories. Justinian, the son of an peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle,  (518–527). His reign opened with external. From to the Arabian Desert, the Persian frontier blazed with action in a series of campaigns. In 532, attempting to secure his eastern frontier, Justinian signed a peace treaty with agreeing to pay a large annual tribute to the. In the same year, Justinian survived a revolt in Constantinople (the ) which ended with the death of (allegedly) thirty thousand rioters. This victory solidified Justinian's power. was sent to Constantinople by the Ostrogothic king, but failed in his mission to sign a peace with Justinian. However, he succeeded in having the  denounced, despite 's support. The western conquests began in 533, as Justinian sent his general to reclaim the former province of  from the s with a small army of about 15,000 men. Success came with surprising ease, but it was not until 548 that the major local independent tribes were subdued. In Italy, the deaths of, his nephew and heir , and his daughter  had left her murderer  on the throne despite his weakened authority. In 535, a small Byzantine expedition sent to met with easy success, but the Goths soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when Belisarius captured, after successful sieges of  and Rome.

Nevertheless, the Ostrogoths were soon reunited under the command of and captured Rome on, ; Belisarius was eventually recalled by Justinian in early 549. The arrival of the Armenian  in Italy (late 551) with an army of some 35,000 men marked another shift in Gothic fortunes. Totila was defeated and died at the. His successor,, was likewise defeated at the (October 552). Despite continuing resistance from a few Goth garrisons and two subsequent invasions by the and, the war for the Italian peninsula was at an end. In 551, a noble of, , sought Justinian's help in a rebellion against the king, and the emperor dispatched a force under Liberius, who, although elderly, proved himself a successful military commander. The Byzantine empire held on to a small slice of the coast until the reign of.

In the east, continued until 561 when Justinian's and Khusro's envoys agreed on a 50-year peace. By the mid-550s, Justinian had won victories in most theatres of operation, with the notable exception of the, which were subjected to repeated incursions from the. In 559, the Empire faced a great invasion of and. Justinian called Belisarius out of retirement, but once the immediate danger was over, the emperor took charge himself. The news that Justinian was reinforcing his Danube fleet made the Kutrigurs anxious, and they agreed to a treaty which gave them a subsidy and safe passage back across the river. Justinian became universally famous because of his legislative work, remarkable for its sweeping character. In 529 a ten-man commission chaired by revised the ancient, creating the new . In the ', completed under 's direction in 533, order and system were found in the contradictory rulings of the great Roman jurists, and a textbook, the ', was issued to facilitate instruction in the law schools. The fourth book, the Novellae, consisted of collections of imperial edicts promulgated between 534 and 565. Because of his ecclesiastical policies, Justinian came into collision with the s, the pagans, and various Christian sects. The latter included the, the , the , and the. In order to completely eradicate, Justinian closed the famous philosophic school in in 529.

During the 6th century, the traditional was still influential in the Eastern empire with prominent representatives such as the natural philosopher. During the same century, however, the Christian philosophy and culture were in the ascendant and began to dominate the older culture. Hymns written by the Melode marked the development of the, while architects and builders worked to complete the new Church of the , , designed to replace an older church destroyed in the course of the Nika revolt. Hagia Sophia stands today as one of the major monuments of architectural history. Justinian's successor,, refused to pay the large tribute to the Persians. Meanwhile, the Germanic invaded Italy; by the end of the century only a third of Italy was in Byzantine hands. Justin's successor,, choosing between his enemies, awarded subsidies to the while taking military action against the Persians. Although Tiberius' general,, led an effective campaign on the eastern frontier, subsidies failed to restrain the Avars. They captured the Balkan fortress of in 582, while the  began to make inroads across the Danube. Maurice, who in the meantime had become emperor, made peace with the Sassanian Emperor, achieving access to Armenia, and forced the Avars back across the Danube by 602.

Heraclian dynasty and shrinking borders
After Maurice's murder by, Khosrau used the pretext to reconquer the Roman province of. Phocas, an unpopular ruler who is invariably described in Byzantine sources as a "tyrant", was the target of a number of senate-led plots. He was eventually deposed in 610 by, who sailed to Constantinople from with an icon affixed to the prow of his ship. Following the accession of Heraclius the Persian advance pushed deep into Asia Minor, also occupying and  and removing the  to. The counter-offensive of Heraclius took on the character of a holy war, and an image of Christ was carried as a military standard. Similarly, when Constantinople was saved from an siege in 626, the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by  about the walls of the city. The main Persian force was destroyed at in 627, and in 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic ceremony. The war had exhausted both the Byzantine and Persian states, and left them extremely vulnerable to the forces which emerged in the following years. The Byzantines suffered a crushing defeat at the in 636, and Ctesiphon fell in 634.

Heraclius was the first emperor to replace the traditional Latin title for his office (Augustus) with the Greek . This shift from Latin to Greek finds a parallel in the contemporary abandonment of Latin in official documents. In an attempt to heal the doctrinal divide between and  Christians, Heraclius proposed  as a compromise. In 638 the new doctrine was posted in the narthex of Hagia Sophia as part of a text called the Ekthesis, which also forbade further discussion of the issue. By this time, however, Syria and Palestine, both hotbeds of monophysite belief, had fallen to the Arabs, and another monophysite center, Egypt, fell by 642. Ambivalence toward Byzantine rule on the part of monophysites may have lessened local resistance to the Arab expansion.

Heraclius did succeed in establishing a dynasty, and his descendents held onto the throne, with some interruption, until 711. Their reigns were marked both by major external threats, from the west and the east, which reduced the territory of the empire to a fraction of its 6th-century extent, and by significant internal turmoil and cultural transformation.

The Arabs, now firmly in control of Syria and the Levant, sent frequent raiding parties deep into Anatolia, and between 674 and 678 to Constantinople itself. The Arab fleet was finally repulsed through the use of, and a thirty-years' truce was signed between empire and. 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. The void left by the disappearance of the old semi-autonomous civic institutions was filled by the, 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 seventh century it developed into an entirely new system of imperial governance.



The withdrawal of massive amounts 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 into the peninsula, and, as in Anatolia, many cities shrank to small fortified settlements. In the 670s the were pushed south of the Danube by the arrival of the, and in 680 Byzantine forces which had been sent to disperse these new settlements were defeated. In the next year signed a treaty with the Bulgar khan, and the  assumed sovereignty over a number of Slavic tribes which had previously, at least in name, recognized Byzantine rule. In 687/8, emperor led an expedition against the Slavs and Bulgars which made significant gains, although the fact that he had to fight his way from  to  demonstrates the degree to which Byzantine power in the north Balkans had declined.

The one Byzantine city that remained relatively unaffected, despite a significant drop in population and at least two outbreaks of the plague, was Constantinople. However, the imperial capital was marked by its own variety of conflict, both political and religious. continued the monothelete policy of his grandfather, Heraclius, meeting with significant opposition from laity and clergy alike. The most vocal opponents, and  were arrested, brought to Constantinople, tried, tortured, and exiled. Constans seems to have become immensely unpopular in the capital, and moved his residence to, where he was ultimately murdered by a member of his court. The experienced a revival in importance in the seventh century and clashed with the emperors on numerous occasions. The final Heraclian emperor,, 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 Bulgars. In 705 he returned to Constantinople with the armies of the Bulgar khan, 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.

The 7th century was a period of radical transformation. The empire which had once stretched from Spain to Jerusalem was now reduced to Anatolia,, and some fragments of Italy and the Balkans. The territorial losses were accompanied by a cultural shift; urban civilization was massively disrupted, classical literary genres were abandoned in favor of theological treatises, and a new "radically abstract" style emerged in the visual arts. That the empire survived this period at all is somewhat surprising, especially given the total collapse of the in the face of the Arab expansion, but a remarkably coherent military reorganization helped to withstand the exterior pressures and laid the groundwork for the gains of the following dynasty.

Isaurian dynasty and Iconoclasm


turned back the Muslim assault in 718, and achieved a major victory at the expense of the Arabs in 740. He also addressed himself to the task of reorganizing and consolidating the themes in Asia Minor. His successor,, won noteworthy victories in northern Syria, and thoroughly undermined Bulgar strength. In the beginning of the 9th century the Arabs captured Crete, and successfully attacked Sicily, but on, , general  attained a huge victory against the  of. Under the leadership of the Bulgar threat also reemerged, but in 814 Krum's son,, arranged a peace with the Byzantine Empire.

The 8th and 9th centuries were also dominated by controversy and religious division over. s were banned by Leo and Constantine, leading to revolts by s (supporters of icons) throughout the empire. After the efforts of, the met in 787, and affirmed that icons could be venerated but not worshipped. Irene is said to have endeavored to negotiate a marriage between herself and, but, according to , the scheme was frustrated by Aetios, one of her favourites. In 813 restored the policy of iconoclasm, but in 843  restored the veneration of the icons with the help of. Iconoclasm played its part in the further alienation of East from West, which worsened during the so-called, when challenged ' elevation to the patriarchate.

Macedonian dynasty and resurgence
The Byzantine Empire reached its height under the emperors of the late 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, when it gained control over the, southern Italy, and all of the territory of the. 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. Culturally, there was considerable growth in education and learning. Ancient texts were preserved and patiently re-copied. flourished, and brilliant s 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.

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

Wars against the Muslims
By 867, the empire had stabilised its position in both the east and the west, while the success of its defensive military structure had enabled the emperors to begin planning wars of reconquest in the east. The process of reconquest began with variable fortunes. The temporary reconquest of (843) was followed by a crushing Byzantine defeat on the, while the emperors were unable to prevent the ongoing Muslim conquest of  (827–902). Using present day as their launching pad, the Muslims conquered  in 831,  in 842,  in 859,  in 878,  in 900 and the final Greek stronghold, the fortress of, in 902.

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

The threat from the Muslims was meanwhile reduced by inner struggles and by the rise of the in the east. Muslims received assistance however from the sect, which had found a large following in the eastern provinces of the Empire and, facing persecution under the Byzantines, often fought under the Arab flag. It took several campaigns to subdue the Paulicians, who were eventually defeated by Basil I.

In 904, disaster struck the empire when its second city,, was sacked by an Arab fleet led by a Byzantine renegade. The Byzantines responded by destroying an Arab fleet in 908, and sacking the city of 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. , who appeared near Constantinople, constituted another new challenge. In 941 of the Bosporus, but this time they were crushed, showing the improvements in the Byzantine military position after 907, when. The vanquisher of the Rus was the famous general, who continued the offensive with other noteworthy victories in Mesopotamia (943): these culminated in the reconquest of (944), which was especially celebrated for the return to Constantinople of the venerated .

The soldier emperors (reigned 963–969) and  (969–976) expanded the empire well into, defeating the emirs of north-west  and reconquering  and. At one point under John, the empire's armies even threatened, far to the south. The emirate of and its neighbours became vassals of the empire in the east, where the greatest threat to the empire was the Egyptian  kingdom.

Wars against the Bulgarians


The traditional struggle with the continued, spurred by the question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianized Bulgaria. This prompted an invasion by the powerful tsar in 894, but this was pushed back by the Byzantine diplomacy, which called on the help of the Hungarians. The Byzantines were in turn defeated, however, at the (896), and obliged to pay annual subsides to the Bulgars. Later (912) Simeon even had the Byzantines grant him the crown of basileus of Bulgaria and had the young emperor marry one of his daughters. When a revolt in Constantinople halted his dynastic project, he again invaded Thrace and conquered.

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

Under the emperor (reigned 976–1025), the Bulgars, who had conquered much of the Balkans from the Byzantines since their arrival three hundred years previously, became the target of annual campaigns by the Byzantine army. The war was to drag on for nearly twenty years, but eventually at the the Bulgars were completely defeated. 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 saw the broken remains of his once gallant army, he died of shock. In 1018 Bulgaria surrendered and became part of the empire. This stunning victory restored the frontier, which had not been held since the days of the emperor Heraclius.

The empire also gained a new ally at this time in the new state in, from which the empire received an important mercenary force, the famous , in exchange for the marriage of Basil's sister Anna to. Basil II also had relatives marry leaders of the.

Triumph


The Byzantine Empire now stretched to in the east, to  in  in the west. Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of, to the annexation of parts of and Armenia, to the total annihilation of an invading force of Egyptians outside. Yet even these victories were not enough; Basil considered the continued occupation of  to be an outrage. Accordingly, he planned to reconquer the island, which had belonged to the empire for over 300 years (c. 550 – c. 900). However, his death in 1025 put an end to the project.

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

Crisis and fragmentation
Byzantium 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, John Tzimiskes and Basil II changed the military divisions (, ) 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. 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. At the same time, the Empire was faced with new, ambitious enemies. Byzantine provinces in southern Italy faced the, who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. The allied forces of and the Normans were defeated at the  in 1018, and two decades later  equipped an expedition for the reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs. Although the campaign was initially successful, the reconquest of Sicily was not accomplished, mainly because, the commander of the Byzantine forces, was recalled when he was suspected of having ambitious schemes. During a period of strife between Byzantium and Rome which ended in the of 1054, the Normans began to advance, slowly but steadily, into Byzantine Italy.

It was in Asia Minor, however, that the greatest disaster would take place. The 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,, 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 Romanos not only suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of , but was also captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect, and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines. In Constantinople, however, a coup took place in favor of, who soon faced the opposition of and. By 1081 the Seljuks expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to in the west and founded their capital in Nicea.

Alexios I and the First Crusade
After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the ) was made possible by the efforts of the. The first emperor of this royal line was (1057–1059) and the second Alexios I. At the very outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack by the Normans under  and his son, who captured  and , and laid siege to  in. 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 ; they were caught by surprise and annihilated at the on.

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. However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in, and to advance against the Seljuks. At the in 1095, Alexios' envoys spoke to  about the suffering of the Christians of the East, and underscored that without help from the West they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexius' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and enhance papal power. On, , called together the , and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the  and launch an armed  to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in was overwhelming.



Alexios had anticipated help in the form of mercenary forces from the West, but was totally unprepared for the immense and undisciplined force which soon arrived in Byzantine territory. It was no comfort to Alexius to learn that four of the eight leaders of the main body of the Crusade were Normans, among them Bohemund. Since the crusade had to pass through Constantinople, however, the Emperor had some control over it. He required its leaders to swear to restore to the empire any towns or territories they might conquer from the Turks on their way to the Holy Land. In return, he gave them guides and a military escort. 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 (he had in fact set out on the road to Antioch, but had been persuaded to turn back by, who assured him that all was lost and that the expedition had already failed). Bohemund, who had set himself up as, briefly went to war with the Byzantines, but agreed to become Alexios' vassal under the in 1108, which marked the end of Norman threat during Alexios' reign. Alexios reconstituted the army and navy, but only by means of stabilizing the gold coinage at one-third of its original value and by imposing supplementary taxes. The supply of native soldiers had virtually ceased with the disappearance or absorption of their military holdings. Alexios promoted an alternative source of native manpower by extending the system of granting estates in  (by favour of the emperor) and tying the grant to a military obligation. Similarly, Alexios tried to promote more profitable development of the estates of the church by granting them to the management of laymen. The final years of Alexios's reign were marked by persecution of the followers of the and  heresies, and by anxieties as to the succession, which his wife  wished to alter in favor of her daughter Anna's husband,.

John II, Manuel I and the Second Crusade


Alexios' son 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, half a century earlier. 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. For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine. In the course of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the in the west, decisively defeated the  at the, and personally led numerous campaigns against the  in. 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. He also thwarted Hungarian, and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 allied himself with the  against the Norman King. In the later part of his reign John focussed his activities on the East. He defeated the emirate of, and reconquered all of , while forceing , Prince of Antioch, to recognize Byzantine suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate the Byzantine emperor's role as the leader of the world, John marched into the  at the head of the combined forces of Byzantium and the 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. 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.



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 and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of. Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with, Prince of Antioch, and , King of Jerusalem respectively. 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 in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the. By 1168 nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands. Manuel made several alliances with the Pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and successfully handled the passage of the through his empire. Although hopes for a lasting Papal-Byzantine alliance came up against insuperable problems, Pope clearly had a positive view of Manuel when he told  that he should imitate "your predecessor Manuel of famous memory" who "always replied favourably to ourselves and our predecessors".

In the east, however, Manuel suffered a major defeat at the, 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". John Vatatzes, who was sent by the Emperor to repel the Turkish invasion, not only brought troops from the capital but also was able to gather an army along the way; a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful.

12th century Renaissance
John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and on city defenses; aggressive fortification policies were at the heart of their imperial military policies. Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilization of the empire's European frontiers. From c.1081 to c.1180, the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilization to flourish. 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 and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer and  to the west and trading with Byzantium via Constantinople.

In artistic terms, there was a revival in, and regional schools of began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. During the 12th century the Byzantines provided their model of early as a renaissance of interest in classical authors. In Byzantine humanism found its most characteristic expression.

Dynasty of the Angeli and Third Crusade
Manuel's death on  left his 11-year-old son  on the throne. Though he was highly incompetent at the office, it was his mother,, and her Frankish background that made his regency highly unpopular. Eventually, a grandson of Alexios I, launched a revolt against his younger relative and managed to overthrow him in a violent . 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. 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 for himself.

This troubled succession weakened the dynastic continuity and solidarity on which the strength of the Byzantine state had come to rely. The new emperor was a man of astounding contrasts. Handsome and eloquent, Andronikos was at the same time known for his licentious exploits. Energetic, able and determined, Andronikos had been called a "true Komnenos". However, he was also capable of terrifying brutality, violence and cruelty.

Andronikos began his reign well; in particular, the measures he took to reform the government of the empire have been praised by historians. In the provinces Andronikos' reforms produced a speedy and marked improvement. Andronikos's fierce determination to root out corruption and many other abuses was admirable; under Andronikos, 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. Every form of corruption was eliminated with ferocious zeal. The people, who felt the severity of his laws, at the same time acknowledged their justice, and found themselves protected from the rapacity of their superiors. Andronikos's energetic efforts to rein in the oppressive tax collectors and officials of the empire did much to alleviate the lot of the peasantry. However, his efforts to check the power of the nobility were considerably more problematic. 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. 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.

Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with, who reincorporated Croation territories into Hungary, and  of Serbia who declared his independence from Byzantium. Yet none of these troubles would compare to the invasion force of 300 ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185. Andronikos mobilized 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, surviving an Imperial assassination attempt, marched on to the Hagia Sophia and with the aid of the people seized power and had Andronikos killed. The reign of Isaac II, and, still more, that of his brother , saw the collapse of what remained of the centralized machinery of Byzantine government and defense. Although, the Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Bulgars began a rebellion that was to lead to the formation of the. The mismanagement of the clearly demonstrated Byzantium's weaknesses under the Angeli. When appropriated  from its ruler, Isaac Komnenos, he refused to hand it back to the Empire, And when  conquered, Isaac failed to seize the initiative. The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterized by the squandering of the public treasure, and the fiscal maladministration. Byzantine authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the centre of the empire encouraged fragmentation. There is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in before 1204. According to, "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, [...] accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within."

Fourth Crusade
In 1198, broached the subject of a new crusade through  and. The stated intent of the crusade was to conquer, now the centre of Muslim power in the. The crusader army that arrived at in the summer of 1202 was somewhat smaller than had been anticipated, and there were not sufficient funds to pay the Venetians, whose fleet was hired by the crusaders to take them to Egypt. Venetian policy under the aging and blind but still ambitious  was potentially at variance with that of the Pope and the crusaders, because Venice was closely related commercially with Egypt. The crusaders accepted the suggestion that in lieu of payment they assist the Venetians in the capture of the (Christian) port of in  (vassal city of Venice, which had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186). The city fell in November 1202 after a brief. Innocent, who was informed of the plan, but his veto was disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders&mdash;not, however, to the Venetians.

After the death of, the leadership of the Crusade passed to , a friend of the. Both Boniface and Philip had married into the Byzantine imperial family. In fact, Philip's brother-in-law,, son of the deposed and blinded emperor , had appeared in Europe seeking aid and had made contacts with the crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the with Rome, pay the crusaders 200,000 silver marks, and join the crusade with 200,000 silver marks and all the supplies they needed to get to Egypt. Innocent was aware of a plan to divert the Crusade to Constantinople, and forbade any attack on the city; but the papal letter arrived after the fleets had left Zara.

Alexios III made no preparations for the defense of the city; thus, when the Venetian fleet entered the waters of Constantinople on, , they encountered little resistance. In the summer of 1203 Alexios III fled, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. Innocent reprimanded the leaders of the crusaders, and ordered them to proceed forthwith to the Holy Land. When in late November 1203 Alexios IV announced that his promises were hard to keep as the empire was short on funds (he had managed to pay roughly half of the promised amount of 200,000 silver marks, and could not fulfil his promise that he would cover the Venetians' rent of the fleet for the crusaders. ), the crusaders declared war on him. Meanwhile, internal opposition to Alexios IV grew, and, on, , one of his courtiers, killed him, and took the throne himself as Alexios V; Isaac died soon afterwards, probably naturally. The crusaders and Venetians, incensed at the murder of their supposed patron, prepared to assault the Byzantine capital. They decided that 12 electors (six Venetians and six crusaders) should choose a.

Eventually, the crusaders took the city on,. Constantinople was subjected by the rank and file to pillage and massacre for three days. Many priceless icons, relics, and other objects later turned up in, a large number in Venice. According to Choniates, a was even set up on the Patriarchal throne. 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. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; was elected emperor and the Venetian  chosen patriarch. The lands parcelled out among the leaders did not include all the former Byzantine possessions. The Byzantine rule continued in, , and.

Empire in exile
After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin, three Byzantine s were established: the , the and the. 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. The weakening of the Sultanate of Rum following the allowed many  and fanatical ghazis to set up their own principalities in Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor. In time, one of the Beys,, created an empire that would conquer Byzantium. 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
The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the, managed to reclaim Constantinople from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. This led to a short lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under, but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with the encircling 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. 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 Orthodox Church to submit to Rome, again a temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople. The efforts of and later his grandson  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 ravaging the countryside and increasing resentment towards Constantinople By 1390,, the last Byzantine stronghold in inner Asia Minor, fell to the Turks. Civil war wracked the empire during the 14th century, since Andronikos III's successor was far too young to rule and the resulting regency's rivalry tore the Empire. The Asian provinces were lost to the Turks, while the Serbians and Bulgarians conquered the Empire's remaining territory in Europe. For a while, the empire survived simply because the Turks of Anatolia were too divided to attack. Nevertheless, the unifying influence of (1258–1326) allowed the newly founded  to deprive the Byzantines of all but a handful of port cities.

Things went worse for Byzantium, when, during the civil war, an earthquake at Gallipoli in 1354 devastated the fort, allowing the Turks the very next day to cross into Europe. By the time the Byzantine civil war had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the, much of the Balkans became dominated by the Ottomans.

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



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, , the Sultan's army of some 80,000 men and his hordes of irregulars laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defense of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign mercenaries ), to the Ottomans after a two-month siege on,. The last Byzantine emperor, 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.

Aftermath
Mehmed II went on to conquer the Greek statelets of in 1460 and  in 1461. The nephew of the last Emperor, Constantine XI, had inherited the defunct title of  and used it from 1465 until his death in 1503. By the end of the 15th century, the had established its firm rule over Asia Minor and parts of the Balkan peninsula. Mehmed II and his successors continued to consider themselves proper heirs to the Byzantine Empire until the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the harbored Orthodox refugees, including some Byzantine nobles.

At his death, the role of the emperor as a patron of was claimed by,  of. He had married Andreas's sister,, whose grandson, , would become the first of  (tsar, also spelled czar, is a term traditionally applied by Slavs to the Byzantine Emperors). Their successors supported the idea that was the proper heir to Rome and Constantinople. The idea of the as the new,  was kept alive until its demise with the.

Economy


The Byzantine economy was the most advanced in Europe for many centuries. Constantine V's reforms (c. 765) marked the beginning of a revival that continued until 1204. From the 10th century until the end of the 12th, the Byzantine Empire projected an image of luxury, and the travelers were impressed by the wealth accumulated in the capital. All this changed with the arrival of the Fourth Crusade, which was an economic catastrophe. The 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.

One of the economic foundations of the empire was trade. Textiles must have been by far the most important item of export; s were certainly imported into Egypt, and appeared also in Bulgaria, and the West. The state strictly controlled both the internal and the international trade, and retained the monopoly of issuing. The government exercised formal control over interest rates, and set the parameters for the activity of the s and corporations, in which it had a special interest. The emperor and its officials intervened at times of crisis to ensure the provisioning of the capital, and to keep down the price of. 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.

Science


The writings of never ceased to be cultivated in Byzantium. Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected with, and. 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. During this period and other  were taught in Trebizond; medicine attracted the interest of almost all scholars.

Law
's reforms had a clear effect on the evolution of around the world. Indeed, to this day the basis of the legal systems in most European nations as well as most of their former colonies around the world continues to be Justinian's.

In addition Leo III's Ecloga influenced the formation of legal institutions in the Slavic world.

Religion


According to, "Byzantine culture and are one and the same." 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. Following the pattern set by Eusebeus of Caesarea, the Byzantines thought of the Emperor as a 's representative or messenger, responsible particularly for the propagation of Christianity among pagans, and for the "externals" of the religion, such as administration and finances. The imperial role, however, in the affairs of the Church never developed into a fixed, legally defined system.

With the decline of Rome, and internal dissension in the other Eastern patriarchates, the church of Constantinople became, between the 6th and 11th centuries, the richest and most influential center of. Even when the Empire was reduced to only a shadow of itself, the Church, as an institution, had never exercised so much influence both inside and outside of the imperial frontiers. As points out: "The 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, Russia and . The Church remained the most stable element in the Byzantine Empire."

Art and literature
,, and other visual arts produced in the Byzantine Empire and in various areas that came under its influence. Byzantine art is almost entirely concerned with religious expression and, more specifically, with the impersonal translation of carefully controlled church theology into artistic terms. Byzantine forms were spread by trade and conquest to Italy and Sicily, where they persisted in modified form through the 12th century, and became formative influences on art. By means of the expansion of the Eastern Orthodox church, Byzantine forms spread to eastern European centers, particularly Russia.

In Byzantine literature, therefore, four different cultural elements are to be reckoned with: the, the Christian, the , and the Oriental. Byzantine literature is often classified in five groups: historians and annalists, encyclopedists (Patriarch Photios,, and 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 ). 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. While the most flourishing period of the secular literature of Byzantium runs from the ninth to the twelfth century, its religious literature (s, liturgical books and poetry, theology, devotional treatises etc.) developed much earlier with the Melodist being its most prominent representative.

Government and bureaucracy
In the Byzantine state, the was the sole and absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine origin. 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  is related to this change). The most important reform of this period is the creation of themes, where civil and military administration is exercised by one person, the .

Despite the occasionally, 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. In the 8th and 9th centuries civil service constituted the clearest path to aristocratic status, but, starting in the 9th century, the civil aristocracy was rivaled by an aristocracy of nobility. According to some studies of Byzantine government, 11th-century politics were dominated by competition between the civil and the military aristocracy. During this period, Alexios I undertook important administrative reforms, including the creation of new courtly dignities and offices.

Diplomacy
After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its sundry neighbors. When these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they were dependent on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy soon managed to draw its neighbors into a network of international and inter-state relations. 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. Byzantines regarded diplomacy as a form of war by other means: the  was the first foreign intelligence agency, gathering information on the empire's rivals from every imaginable source.

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. According to, the preservation of civilization in was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium's lasting contributions to the history of Europe.

Language
Owing its origins to the original language of the Empire was  and this continued to be the official language of the empire until the 7th century AD when  changed the official language to  (some historians mark this point as the proper "beginning" of the Byzantine Empire). One of the last emperors in who used Latin as his primary language was  in the 6th century CE (who commissioned the  among many works in Latin). However, Latin still continued to be the language of the imperial court for the emperors that followed until the ascension of Heraclius.

Official status aside, the primary language used in the eastern provinces even before had always been Greek. In fact, Greek had been the most widely spoken language in the Roman Empire even before Rome's fall, mainly owing to the larger urban centers and in the East. Indeed, long before the fall of Rome, Greek had become the common language in the, the language of scholarship and the arts, and, to a large degree, the lingua franca for trade between provinces and with other nations. The language itself for a time gained a with the primary spoken language,, existing alongside the literary language, a variant of the ancient  dialect. Koine gradually evolve into what became known as or Byzantine Greek, the Empire's standard dialect.

Even by the end of the reign of Justinian I it had become clear that, with Western provinces in ruins, Latin's importance in the Empire was rapidly declining. Nevertheless for many centuries Latin continued to be used for some official purposes largely for historical/sentimental reasons even as it lost any practical usage. Indeed the last coins with Latin inscriptions were minted in the 11th century and the is known to have used Latin commands and terminology late in the Middle Ages as well.

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, and  had become more widely used by the educated classes in the far eastern provinces. Similarly, , and became significant among the educated in , , and  respectively. Later the incursions by the Slavs into the starting in the  CE and the eventual incorporation of the Slavs into Orthodox Christianity made the  important in the Empire and its sphere of influence. Similarly would become important in the Empire as succeeding  overtook Byzantine lands from the  CE onward.

Aside from these, since Constantinople and other cities in the Empire were prime trading and manufacturing centers for Europe, Asia, and North Africa, virtually every known language of the Middle Ages was spoken in the Empire at some time. During the late stages of the empire, having lost most of its territory and facing diminishing outside trade, the Empire's citizens became more culturally homogeneous and the Greek language became synonymous with their identity and their.

Legacy
As the only stable long-term state in Europe during the Middle Ages, Byzantium protected Western Europe from many destructive forces farther to the East. Constantly under attack, it shielded Western Europe from Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans. The Byzantine-Arab Wars, for example, are recognized by some historians as being a key factor behind the rise of, and a huge stimulus to and.

For centuries, Western historians have used the terms Byzantine and Byzantinism as bywords for decadence and incomprehensibility, and there was a negative assessment of Byzantine civilization and its legacy in. Byzantinism in general was defined as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas which ran contrary to those of the West. The 20th and 21st centuries, however, have seen attempts by historians in the West to understand the Empire in a more balanced and accurate fashion, and as a result the complex character of Byzantine culture has received more attention and a more objective treatment than previously.