This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.

The history of the Byzantine Empire begins in 324 with the foundation of a second capital in Byzantium, an ancient Greek city, by the Roman Emperor Constantine I (306-37). Constantine renamed this city as Constantinople, the city of Constantine. Its ceremonial inauguration was on May 11, 330, which might be considered as the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. In 395 the Emperor Theodosius split the Roman Empire into east and west between his two sons. The eastern Empire was called the Byzantine Empire by the historians later. The subjects of the Empire were called Romaioi and the rulers considered themselves as the true inheritors of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was ruled as one empire with two capitals until 476. However, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed and it disappeared during the reign of Romulus Augustus in 476. The eastern Roman Empire on the other hand, survived till 1453.

In 324 Constantine ruled over a vast territory that included Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Syria in the east, the province of Britannia in the west, south to the rivers Rhine and Danube in the north, and some parts of Africa in the south.

Becoming the most prominent city of Europe with half a million inhabitants, the capital of the Empire, the seat of the power, Constantinople was adorned with many impressive buildings, walls, and cisterns. One such magnificent building was Hagia Sofia church, which was built between 532-7 during the reign of Justinian I who ascended to the throne in 527, who also was the last Empire with the title Caesar. Hagia Sofia was converted to a masque during the Ottoman period, and then to a museum after the Republic of Turkey was founded.

Moving the capital to the east, to Constantinople, was a reasonable thing to do for the Emperor, given the fact that Rome was vulnerable to the attacks, might be considered inland, and was far away from the new geographical interest of the Empire. The defense of Rome did not become a problem until then because it was too powerful for its enemies to contemplate any attack in the ancient times.

Being a continuation of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire inherited the Hellenistic and Roman cultures. However, with the birth and advancement of Christianity, it morphed into a new character. It became a Christian6 empire in the 4th century and in 610 Greek became the official language when Heraclius became Emperor. This transformation was at its peak in the 7th and 8th centuries. Eventually, Christianity formed its hegemony in every aspect of Byzantium, including its cultural, economic, and social life. The Constantinople Patriarchate was established in the fourth century. The practice of monasticism became common and monasteries played a significant role in this transformation. The last pagan school, Plato’s academy in Athens, was closed in 529 by Justinian I reducing the prominence of Athens.

In addition to the religion there were other factors that contributed to the transformation of the Empire to its new character. One of them was the loss of vast territory. However, more importantly it was the loss of the influence of the provincial capitals. In the ancient times, provincial towns and cities were more populated and had their own elite. These elites had influence in the Roman affairs. During the Byzantine times due to the frequent foreign enemy attacks most of the cities either disappeared or were reduced to small settlements and moved to hilltops and/or citadels where defense is easier. In the process the ruling class of these towns also disappeared. Hence the Empire became mostly rural, militarized, backward and lost its cultural sophistication (574-650).

Byzantine was a bridge between the East and West. It was also a bridge between antiquity and the middle ages. During its long existence the Byzantines dealt with some old established empires, such as Sassanids and some new rising powers, such as the Lombards, Slavs, Bulgars, Avars, Arabs, Seljuks Turks, and Ottomans8.

Schism between the Eastern (Greek Orthodox) and Western (Latin Roman) churches and the struggle between Christianity and Islam played a major role in shaping the Empire’s fortunes, destiny, and history. The animosity between the two branches of Christianity was so great that they excommunicated each other in 1054 and the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204. The struggle between Christianity and Islam continued to modern times. Even in the 21st century there remains some misunderstanding between these two religions.

The Empire in its turbulent years had to deal with many controversies. one of them was Iconoclasm, which was meant to ban the making or veneration of images of God or Saints. The other one was Hesychasm, which is defined as a method of attaining divine illumination by meditation and recitation. It was championed by St. Gregory Palamos in the 14th century but its origin is known to go back to earlier practices.

This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.