Byzantium

Examples of Byzantium in the following topics:

• Byzantium's Legacy

  • Byzantium has been often identified with absolutism, orthodox spirituality, orientalism and exoticism, while the terms "Byzantine" and "Byzantinism" have been used as metaphors for decadence, complex bureaucracy, and repression.
  • Both Eastern and Western European authors have often perceived Byzantium as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas contrary to those of the West.
  • This traditional approach towards Byzantium has been partially or wholly disputed and revised by modern studies, which focus on the positive aspects of Byzantine culture and legacy.
  • Historian Averil Cameron, for example, regards the Byzantine contribution to the formation of the medieval Europe undeniable, and both Cameron and Obolensky recognise the major role of Byzantium in shaping Orthodoxy.
  • The preservation of the ancient civilization in Europe was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium's lasting contributions to the history of Europe.

• The Shift East

  • Constantine built a new imperial residence in Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself, which would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years.
  • He built a new imperial residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself (the laudatory epithet of "New Rome" came later, and was never an official title).
  • Eventually, however, Constantine decided to work on the Greek city of Byzantium, which offered the advantage of having already been extensively rebuilt on Roman patterns of urbanism, during the preceding century, by Septimius Severus and Caracalla, who had already acknowledged its strategic importance.

• The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium

  • He built a new imperial residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself (the laudatory epithet of "New Rome" came later, and was never an official title).
  • In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West; it was a superb base from which to guard the Danube river, and was reasonably close to the Eastern frontiers.

• The Last Byzantine Dynasty

  • Nonetheless, Byzantine diplomacy coupled with the adroit exploitation of internal divisions and external threats among their enemies, and above all the invasion of Anatolia by Timur, allowed Byzantium to survive until 1453.
  • All was not lost for these seemingly rejected scholars — many in Italy who had been opened up to Byzantium by the maritime expansions of Genoa and Venice came to appreciate their achievements, facilitating the Renaissance.
  • Nonetheless, a significant and increasing number of Greeks began travelling to Italy, first temporarily to Italian colonies such as Crete or Cyprus before returning to Byzantium, then as the Empire began to fail horribly, in more permanent manner.

• Naming of the Byzantine Empire

  • The Byzantine Empire, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, originally founded as Byzantium).
  • Thus, although the Roman state continued and Roman state traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome insofar as it was centred on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Orthodox Christianity.
  • The term comes from "Byzantium", the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantine's capital.

• Crisis and Fragmentation

  • Under his successors, the Byzantines did not win any major victories, but they were able to keep the Turks out of Byzantium's Anatolian heartland.
  • The recent anti-Latin resentment in the Empire led to the Crusader states losing their protection from Byzantium.
  • However, whilst the Crusader states should not and did not rely on Byzantium for protection, the Byzantines certainly did in that it kept the aggressive expansionism of Islam in check.

• The Double Disasters

  • This defeat at Manzikert meant that the theme system, which had effectively supplied Byzantium with its army, was destroyed.
  • It took three decades of internal strife before Alexius I (1081 to 1118) restored stability to Byzantium.

• Iconoclasm in Byzantium

• The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars

  • Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium's chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars.
  • Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864.

• The Crusades

  • A dramatic collapse of the empire's position on the eve of the Council of Clermont brought Byzantium to the brink of disaster.
  • In response to the defeat at Manzikert and subsequent Byzantine losses in Anatolia in 1074, Pope Gregory VII had called for the milites Christi ("soldiers of Christ") to go to Byzantium's aid.