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Historical Background
According to Robert Byron, the greatness of Byzantium lay in the fusion
of a Roman body, a Greek mind and an Oriental spirit and from its traditional
foundation by the colonist Byzas the Megarian in 667BCE to the present
day it is easy to see why he thought this. Occupying a position outside
of the main theatre of Greece, Byzantion received limited notoriety. The
city did experience its first taste of orientalism when it was conquered
by the Persians but by 478BCE the Pan-Hellenic League had expelled the
Persian garrison.
Byzantium briefly gained renown as the base of a renegade Spartan King
but for the next six centuries the city stayed out of the spotlight.
Even the Roman conquest in around 173BCE received little press. Under
the Romans, Byzantium began to grow and as the Roman Empire extended
eastwards, the city became more important as the bridge between Europe
and the Orient. Following the death of the emperor Commodus, Byzantium
became a centre in a civil war. The city was held by one of the claimants
but was eventually captured and heavily damaged by the eventual victor,
Septimius Severus. Seeing the strategic position of Byzantium, the new
emperor restored and expanded the city and famously built the original
Hippodrome. However, despite this interest from one emperor, no one could
have predicted the meteoric rise that Byzantium experienced over the
next century and a half.
Upon becoming undisputed ruler of Rome in 324CE, Constantine decided
that the Roman Empire needed a new capital and because of its central
position between east and west, Byzantium was chosen. After an amazingly
fast six year building programme, the 'city of Constantine' was dedicated
and would for the next 1,600 years be known as Constantinople. Throughout
the next century, the east and west halves of the Roman Empire grew wider
apart and by the turn of the fifth century they were virtually separate
entities. While the Western Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of
several Germanic tribes, the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the
Byzantine Empire, prospered.
Under the leadership of Justinian and his generals, the Byzantines reconquered
much of the west but with an empire of such size, the Byzantines became
a target for many enemies. Over the next three centuries, Byzantine power
was eroded in Spain, Italy, Africa, Egypt, Africa and even Greece. By the
eleventh century, Greece had been recovered but with it only Anatolia,
Constantinople and some islands made up the Empire.
The 1000’s started well but ended very badly. Headway was made
in northern Greece but a disastrous defeat at Manzikert cost the Byzantines
almost all of Asia Minor. Some of Anatolia was recovered in the wake
of the Christian crusades but in truth Byzantium had ceased to exist
as a major power. Another debacle at Myriocephalum was a prelude to the
Empire’s most calamitous period. In 1204, the Christian soldiers
of the Fourth Crusade stormed and sacked Constantinople, sending the
Byzantines into a period of exile from their spiritual home. Although
the city was recovered, the Byzantine Empire was in its final death throes.
Gradually all the provinces were lost to the advancing Ottoman Empire
as, powerless to stop it, the Byzantines watched from behind the near
impregnable walls of Constantinople.
The long overdue end of the Byzantine Empire came in 1453 when the Ottomans
finally stormed the walls, but the city itself was to undergo a renaissance
and once again became a vibrant city as the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The city still survives today in the guise of Istanbul, one of the most
important cities in modern day Turkey.
 
 Archons
- Interactive
Map of Constantinople - offsite
- Visit Byzantium -
a group dedicated to the exploration of the Byzantine Empire
- Contribute to the Byzantium
thread located right off Hellas' main page
- Write an article for the hood!
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J.B. Bury+R. Meiggs,
(1987 ed.), A History of Greece
J.J. Norwich, (1997), A Short History of Byzantium
C. Scarre, (1995), Chronicle of Roman Emperors
C. McEvedy, (1992), Atlas of Medieval History
C. McEvedy, (2002), Atlas of Ancient History |
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