Long after its fall, Byzantium set a standard for luxury, beauty, and learning that inspired the Latin West and the Islamic East. Art and architecture flourished for significant periods in the Late Byzantine centuries.
Explore the rich and complex history of Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire, from its founding in 330 AD to its fall in 1453 AD. Discover key events during its Golden Age under Justinian I, significant religious conflicts, and its economic development as a major trade hub.
Byzantium was mainly a trading city due to its location at the Black Sea 's only entrance. Byzantium later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosphorus on the Asiatic side.
The name refers to Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony and transit point that became the location of the Byzantine Empire’s capital city, Constantinople. Inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire would have self-identified as Romaioi, or Romans.
The Byzantine Empire existed from 330 to 1453. It is often called the Eastern Roman Empire or simply Byzantium. The Byzantine capital was founded at Constantinople...
Though Byzantium was ruled by Roman law and Roman political institutions, and its official language was Latin, Greek was also widely spoken, and students received education in Greek history ...
The story of Byzantium’s transition from a modest Greek colony to the "New Rome" is one of the most successful examples of "location, location, location" in human history. Long before Constantine the Great ever saw the site, its strategic value was recognized by Greek explorers w
Constantinople: Formerly Byzantium, the capital of the Byzantine Empire as established by its first emperor, Constantine the Great. (Today the city is known as Istanbul.)