The term “Byzantine” originated from an ancient Greek colony called Byzantium. Byzantium’s location on the European side of the strait, where the Black Sea links the Mediterranean, acted as a trade point. In 330 A.D., Byzantium, whose capital was Constantinople, was picked by Emperor Constantine I as the site of a “New Rome.” The unity of the Roman Empire, which Constantine promoted, seemed non-existent following his death in 337. Emperor Valentinian I, in 364, again split the empire into two. He ruled the West, whereas his brother Valens ruled the East. The western empire struggled from German invaders, whose constant attacks brought down the empire until Italy remained as the only territory under Roman control. Rome fell in 476 when Odoacer overthrew Romulus Augustus (History.com Editors, 2019).
The eastern half proved invulnerable to attacks due to it sharing a much smaller borderline with Europe. It also benefited from its political stability, vast wealth, and an organized army to combat an invasion. These advantages enabled the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire to survive for centuries after Rome had fallen. In 527, Byzantium’s first great ruler Justinian took power. During his reign, he took over some sections of the old Western Roman Empire and instituted a legal code that lasted for centuries. A lot of magnificent monuments, including the church of Hagia Sophia, were built under Justinian. Before his death in 565, the Byzantine Empire was the most powerful in Europe (History.com Editors, 2019).
After Justinian’s death, the empire started facing financial distress, and this forced Justinian’s successors to tax the citizens heavily to keep the realm running. However, in 622, a more severe threat, Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad. By 700, Byzantium had lost Egypt, North Africa, Syria, and the Holy land to Islamic forces. From 730, the emperors spearheaded Iconoclasm, banning religious images and their worship until 843, when the Second Council of Nicaea ruled against it. The official language was Greek, and Byzantine missionaries converted masses to Christianity (History.com Editors, 2019).
In 1095, the Crusades started, where European Christians waged holy wars against Muslims. Alexius appealed to the West for help against the Turks. After the armies from Germany, France and Italy helped to conquer the Turks, Alexius retreated, citing betrayal by the Crusaders. Animosity grew between Byzantium and the Crusaders, leading to the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. The Byzantine government fled to Nicaea. It later recaptured Constantinople in 1261. The once-powerful Byzantine Empire was crippled, and every new ruler had challenges stabilizing the empire. Constantinople became gravely dilapidated, and this saw the siege by the Ottomans. On May 29, 1453, Constantinople fell following a massive attack by Sultan Mehmed and his Ottoman army. With that, the glorious Byzantine Empire collapsed (Vučković, 2019).