Constantinople
The majority population in the E a s t e r n E m p i r e , n o w t h e Byzantine Empire were Greeks. Constantinople, the capital, was a thriving city and had become one of the worlds' greatest cities. Because of its location, it was perfect for trading with Europe and Asia as well as by water, which make the city very wealthy. Because of it's prosperity, the Byzantine Empire lasted about 1,000 years. Greek Influence
Con s tan tin ople was als o well protected by seas on three sides and a wall on the forth side.
As time passed, the empire became less Roman and more Greek. Most speak spoke Greek, honored their Greek past. Other groups also influenced Byzantine.
Together, all these groups made the Byzantine one of the world's richest and most advanced empires. Justinian and Theodora
Justinain w as a strong leader w ho controlled the military, mades laws, and was the supreme judge. His wife, Theodora, helped him run the empire. Theodora convinced Justinian to give women more rights. Theodora also helped save Justinian's throne by urging him to stay and fight against an uprising. Justinian won and restored order and his power. Justinian's Conquests
Justinian wanted to reunite the Western Empire with Byzantine empire. Using a calvary, soldier's on horses, he successfully conquered most of Italy, N. Africa, and Persia. But Justinian died soon after and the empire did not have enought money to protect the new western land won. Justinian also wrote a law code becuase the laws were very disorganized and hard to understand. These new laws becamed known as the Justinian Code.
The new laws were easy to understand. Justinian's Code has had a great influence on laws of almost every country in Europe. TRADE
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Byzantine was the center of trade between Europe and Asia. Asians brought spices, g e m s , m e t a l s , a n d c l o t h t o Co n s t a n t i n o p l e . T h e B yz a n t i n e s merchants traded farms goods and furs, honey and enslaved people in exchange. Trade made Byzantine very rich, but they were still mostly farmer, herders, laborers and artisans. Byzantine's major industry was weaving silk. Byzantine travelers smuggled silkworm egss out of China and grew the worms in Constantinople. Byzantine wearvers made their own silk and began trading with others. They brough great wealth to the empire. ART &
ARCHITECTURE
Byzantine emperors supported artists and architects. They employed them having them build churches, forts, and public buildings. One of the greatest buildings ever build, ordered by Justinian, was a huge church called the Hagia Sophia. This means Holy Wisdom. The Hagia Sophia is decorated inside with meautiful mosaics which mainly showed pictures of saints, or Christian holy people. Byzantine Women
Byzantine women were not encouraged to lead independent lives. Women were expected to to stay home and take care of their families.
Byzantine
Education
Education was highly respected in Byzantine culture. In Byzantine schools, boys studied religion, medicine, law, arithmetic, grammer, and other subjects. Girls usually did not attend schools and were taught at home. Byzatine authors gave a very important gift to the world. They copied and passed on the writings of the ancients Greeks and Romans. Without their writings, the important information from the ancient world would be lost forever. Thanks to Theodora, women did gain some rights such as: getting an education and being involved in politics. Several women served as regents, or a person who stands in for a ruler who is too young or too ill to govern.