Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire, also called the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople rather than Rome. It survived the conditions that caused the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453. During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world. The term “Byzantine Empire” was actually coined after its demise to distinguish it as separate from the European Roman Empire. During the Byzantine Empire’s existence, its citizens considered themselves to be Roman. However, they were different in that their capital was Constantinople and not Rome, the state adopted Christianity as its official religion, and they predominately spoke Greek and not Latin.

The term “Byzantine” comes from the term “Byzantium,” which was the name of the village where, in 330 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great founded a new Roman capital and called it “New Rome.” The name didn’t stick—everyone called the city “Constantinople” instead. Constantinople eventually became today’s Istanbul.