Byzantine Empire Dbq Essay

The Byzantine Empire was a successful maritime-based civilization that connected Europe and Asia. There is much debate on whether the Byzantine Empire was a new empire or a continuation of the Roman Empire. Although the Byzantine Empire is made up of old parts of Eastern Rome, it was it’s own new civilization because of different religious beliefs, new advancements in technology, and a far superior economy to that of the Romans.

The Byzantines valued Christianity and religious values much more than the Romans ever did. The Byzantine people valued their religious beliefs that it is said in document 2 that the God had more power than any living man. This shows that the Byzantines’ loyalty to God is far superior than loyalty to any living man. Furthermore, the Romans would never be loyal to one God, and would also praise the government over any of the Gods in their pantheon. The Romans believed that their emperor was the most

When they built the Hagia Sophia many new architectural techniques and combinations of techniques were used that the Romans had never dreamed of. They made a spherical shaped dome which helped to support more of the building’s weight and required less material than previous Roman architecture. (Document 4). Also, the Roman Empire had so much violence with emperors constantly fighting over power that they would not have been able to advance their skills in such a way to create something like the Hagia Sophia. Also the Romans traded for silk at expensive prices from Persia and China, but the Byzantines thought to learn how to make the silk from the Persians so that they could make it themselves. The Byzantine Empire was not a continuation of the Roman Empire because the Romans would have never thought of learning the skill. The Byzantines learned how to make silk and then they no longer relied on the Persians for silk. (Document