Byzantium: The Byzantine Empire

Many people think of Rome as a great empire. Nevertheless, the Roman empire had more flaws than what one would think. Rome began around 750 BCE as a simple town. By 200 BCE, Rome was a powerful empire. The empire lasted for about 1,226 years before its “fall” in 476 CE. Critics argue rhat political instability helped bring about the “Fall” of Rome, however, the military mistakes were the primary reason behind the decline of the empire.

Around the time of three-hundred CE, the amount of power started to decrease for Rome, Italy. Lots of the Roman emperors and people were killed at this dreadful time. But what really caused this sudden downfall? Will we ever really know? I think the three main reasons are: Natural disasters, foreign invasions, and the city’s military problems.

According to Wikipedia “After the three good Emperors, the remaining Emperors ruled badly and again wasted a lot of money and soldiers. In the west, the Europeans betrayed the Byzantines and attacked their capital, Constantinople. The Byzantines lost their capital in 1204 and they did not take it back until 1261. The Byzantines were then divided into many smaller Greek states that were fighting with each other for the throne of the Empire.”Therefore which means that we don’t need to study byzantine because Byzantine empire collapsed by himself. In other words we also could say that because of fight inside of byzantine empire they wasn't able to survive from other attacks.In response to this argument I would like to argue back still it is worth because there isn't any history source we can’t learn. Which means that we could at least learn that we shouldn't fight inside because normally country falls because of split from inside.

The Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy began in 726 CE when Emperor Leo III issued a decree against the worship of icons.1 This action resulted in the removal and destruction of icons in churches and monasteries.2 There had been tensions rising between the church and the state over the use of icons for some time, but the culmination of these tensions along with the pressure of Muslim armies attacking the borders of Byzantium lead to the explosive Iconoclastic Controversy. The iconoclasts ardently believed that the creation of images depicting holy people was making God angry. The iconophiles believed that these images were sacred and used them as a means of worshiping God. This theological battle lead to the meeting of several ecumenical councils in order to resolve the controversy between the church and the state. This paper will examine the arguments for and against the use of icons from iconoclasts and iconophiles in the Byzantine Empire.

Including most of the Mediterranean world, Rome, a city that was growing big enough to become one of the world’s largest empire’s would soon slowly fall apart because of their problems. In 27 BC, Rome’s first emperor, Augustus Caesar, took complete power. During his time, he ruled with Pax Romana, a time of Roman peace which lasted for almost 200 years. After his death, the Roman Empire begun to break apart. The primary reasons for the fall of Rome was it being geographically too big; the population was decreasing due to plagues which led to the Roman army becoming weak, social and military issues and laziness of the military would guide the army down which led to cities being lost, and their government and leadership issues of the weak or selfish power leaders would all conduct to the breaking up of Rome.

Some historians claim that there are as many as a hundred political and non-political interweaving reasons that led to the collapse of Roman Empire. One of the important political causes is the division of the Empire into two empires, the west (Latin) and the eastern (Greek, later known as the Byzantine empire) in 284 A.D. by Diocletian. This division was adopted to protect the over-expanding empire and to defend its borders against the Barbarian attacks. This was achieved initially as the two empires synchronized responsibilities and strengthened each. However, over successive years, there were religious and linguistic barriers that prevented further cooperation and inhibited any trials for re-union. Furthermore, the eastern province became more powerful and fortified its boundaries and this diverted the barbarian attacks towards the western empire.

The Western Roman Empire was an inspiring empire that mastered architecture, engineering, trading, and many other things. But as the empire grew political problems went with it and followed economic issues, diseases and eventually foreign invaders.

The development of Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire were different due to government, economies and religion. The Byzantine Empire was ruled by an Emperor instead of a King, while Western Europe was separated into different countries by the language spoken. Western Europe had social systems of feudalism in place to serve the people. Christianity played a major role in both of the developments of Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was influenced by Romans, but Western Europe considered the Pope to be of high influence and guidance. Both empires’ economies were very different. The Byzantine became one of the wealthiest empires ever, while the Western economy was an agricultural based with little trading with

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. There were many factors that went into the fall of the Roman Empire. Economic problems they dealt with was one of the main reasons the Empire fell. Since the romans were not doing good Economically they could not fund the military in order to protect them, which also led to the fall of their military. Socio-Political problems were also a factor; there was a decline in interest to public affairs. While that was happening a civil war was going on. The military was in bad shape and was interfering with the politics. The three Major causes of the the Fall of Rome were Economic Problems, Socico-Politcal problems, and external invasions that lead to the country not being able to protect itself.

The Western Roman empire fell in 476 C.E.. The Roman Empire lasted nearly 500 years. Before the fall of the Western Empire, Constantine split the Roman Empire into two parts, west and east. He moved the government and the capital to Byzantine (later renamed Constantinople). While ancient Rome and modern day America are very different in some ways, they are similar in other ways. The fall of the Roman Empire has some things that sound similar to what is going on in America right now, however America will not fall the same way that the Roman Empire did.

The structure of the Byzantine Empire was only one factor of why the empire remained stable the key component was who was ruling the empire. One of the most important and memorable early Byzantine rulers was Justinian. Justinian trained for a legal career, had a acute eye for talent, and was profoundly interested in art, especially architecture. He became an aid to his uncle Justin, who after the death of Anastasiu I was appointed ruler of the Byzantine empire. It was through this apprenticeship that Justinian was able to familiarize himself with the current government system and knew how it would need to change when he was proclaimed emperor after his uncles death if the empire were to endure.

The societies of the early medieval West and the Byzantine Empire are like that of feuding siblings. Both areas originate in the Roman Empire, but different greatly in their beliefs. While the Byzantine Empire would last into the 15th century, the medieval West would set the stage for the long lasting Holy Roman Empire.

Throughout history, empires have used a variety of methods to defend and expand their territory. In the Macedonian, Byzantine, and Japanese empires the methods of military and defense manifested itself differently. While the Macedonians developed a strong army using the phalanx formation, the Byzantine empire focused on its navy and the Japanese developed a system of government called Feudalism that gave the military, including the Samurais, power over the emperor. These differences were due to the specific goals and needs of each of these empires.

The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117 CE), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. By 285 CE the empire had grown too vast to be ruled from the central government at Rome and so was divided by Emperor Diocletian into a Western and an Eastern Empire. The Roman Empire began when Augustus Caesar became the first emperor of Rome (31 BCE) and ended, in the west, when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer (476 CE). In the east, it continued as the Byzantine Empire until the death of Constantine XI and the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE. The influence of the Roman Empire on western civilization was profound in its lasting contributions to

Turkey was under Roman influence. This was known as the Pax Romana period. Trade and culture increased, and cities flourished with the new culture spreading its roots to the people of Asia Minor. The roman empire also brought the religion of christianity to Asia Minor. The Ruler of the west part of the Roman Empire (Constantine) put the capital at Constantinople (Old Byzantine and Modern-day Istanbul.) Constantine also put aqueducts and tunnels to supply water to the land, as the city went through periods of droughts. The end of the Roman rule came with the sack of Constantinople. The roman rule empire actually ended about 1000 years before the sack of constantinople but Constantinople was all that was left of it. Then Ottoman