Byzantium Becomes the
New Rome
SPLITS
• Capital = Constantinople
• Continued as the New
ROME
• Kings saw themselves to
still be considered ROMAN
emperors
Byzantine
Empire
Constantinople
• Survived because it
was far away from the
Germanic tribe
invasions
• It was the crossroads
of trade so it was
successful
• Preserved GrecoRoman culture
Justinian
• Justinian was a serious
emperor who worked
from dawn to midnight
• He helped rebuild and
re-conquer Rome
• Had ABSOLUTE
POWER = controlled
both government and
church
Byzantine Under Justinian
• He wanted a re-conquest of the
Roman territories that were lost
through Germanic invasions
Justinian’s Accomplishments
• Sent Best general
Belisarius to take North
Africa from the Vandals
• 2 Years later Belisarius
took Rome back from
the Ostrogoths
• Justinian won back
nearly all the territory
Rome used to rule.
Justinian Code
• Justinian set up a panel of legal
experts to look through 400 years of
Roman law.
–Some laws were outdated
–Justinian wanted to create a single,
uniform code
• This became known as the Justinian
Code that was used for 900 years
after his death
Justinian Expands Trade
• The main street that
ran through
Constantinople was
called the MESE
which means
“Middle Way”
–It ran from the
imperial palace to
the outer walls
Justinian Expands Trade
• There was a giant
open-air market
where shoppers
could buy
–Tin from England
–Wine from France
–Cork from Spain
–Ivory and gold from
Africa
Byzantium Preserves Learning
• Families valued education
–Sent children to
monastic or public
schools
–Hired private tutors
–Greek and Latin grammar,
philosophy and rhetoric
• They preserved Greek and
Roman great works
Justinian’s Building Program
• Launched the most ambitious public
building program the Roman world had
ever seen.
• City protected by a deep moat, and three
walls that were 25 feet thick
• City coast was surrounded by a 14-mile
stone wall
The Hagia Sophia
• Justinians’ most splendid building
• Christian church later taken by the
Muslims
In 1054 A.D., the Orthodox Christian
Church officially split from the Roman
Catholic Church in the Great Schism
Byzantine Influence on Russia
• The Byzantine Empire greatly influenced
Russia.
• Byzantine missionaries established
Orthodox Christian churches in Russia.
• Byzantine missionaries even created an
alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet, to write the
Bible in Russian.