Roman Empire | |
---|---|
330/395–1453b | |
Status | Eastern division of the Roman Empire |
Capital | Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul)c |
Common languages | |
Religion |
|
Demonym(s) | Rhōmaîoi |
Notable emperors | |
• 306–337 | Constantine I (first) |
• 408–450 | Theodosius II |
• 474–475, 476–491 | Zeno |
• 527–565 | Justinian I |
• 582–602 | Maurice |
• 610–641 | Heraclius |
• 717–741 | Leo III |
• 797–802 | Irene |
• 867–886 | Basil I |
• 976–1025 | Basil II |
• 1081–1118 | Alexios I |
• 1143–1180 | Manuel I |
• 1261–1282 | Michael VIII |
• 1449–1453 | Constantine XI |
Historical era | Late Antiquity to Late Middle Ages |
• | 1 April 286 |
11 May 330 | |
• Final East–West division after the death of Theodosius I | 17 January 395 |
• Fall of the West; deposition of Romulus | 4 September 476 |
• Assassination of Julius Nepos | 9 May 480 |
• Early Muslim conquests; start of the Dark Ages | 634–750 |
• Battle of Manzikert; loss of Anatolia due to following civil war | 26 August 1071 |
• Sack of Constantinople by Catholic crusaders | 12 April 1204 |
25 July 1261 | |
29 May 1453 | |
29 May 1460 | |
15 August 1461 | |
Population | |
• 457 | 16,000,000f |
• 565 | 26,000,000 |
• 775 | 7,000,000 |
• 1025 | 12,000,000 |
• 1320 | 2,000,000 |
Currency | Solidus, denarius and hyperpyron |
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces that survived into the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The capital of the empire was Constantinople. It survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world. Its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire and to themselves as Romans, a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Modern historians distinguish the Byzantine Empire from the earlier Roman Empire due to the imperial seat moving from Rome to Byzantium, the Empire's integration of Christianity , and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin.