FROM EAST ROMAN EMPIRE TO BYZANTINE EMPIRE.
In 476 the german Odoacer depossed last emperor or Rome, Romulus
Augustulus, and
sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople. After the fall of
Western Roman Emmpire politically Europe was very unstable, with many different
germanic kingdoms fighting for land. While, the Eastern Empire survived and
preserved the Roman heritage.
In the 6th Century, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian wanted
to restore the greatness of the old Roman Empire. Justinian
conquered many places that had once been part of the Western
Roman Empire. He took North Africa from the Vandals, Italy
from the Ostrogoths and the southern part of the Iberian
Peninsula from the Visigoths. The Byzantine Empire was at it's
biggest expansion in 550, during Justinian's rule.
Emperor Justinian ruled the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565 with the help of
his wife Theodora. In addition to expand the Byzantine Empire he built new
buildings in the capital, such as Hagia Sophia Church and the Justinian Code of Law.
The Justinian Code was a collection of books containing all the old Roman laws as
well as new laws that Justinian introduced. The laws of many european countries are
still based on the principles of the Code. For example, one of the laws said that a
person was innocent until proven guilty.
Hagia Sophia Church:
during an earthquake in 558
the old church collapsed. The
emperor
ordered
the
inmediate restoration. The
new project was based on a
central dome supported by 40
arched windows. The church
was richly decorated with
mosaics throughout the centuries. When in 1453 the city of Constantinople was
conquered by the Turks, the church was converted into a mosque.
The capital of the Byzantine
Empire,
Constantinople
had
a
population of over half million
people. The city was the gateway
between Europe and Asia, so it was
a
center for trade. From India and
China came products like spices,
perfumes
and
Constantinople
silk.
byzantine
From
ships
traded in the Mediterranean.
The Byzantine Empire was a Christian Empire. When Emperor Constantine
founded the city, he did as a Christian city in contraposition of the pagan Rome. At
first, the emperors continued to respect the authority of the Pope of Rome. However,
with the pass of time they developed their own rites, which were different from the
rites of the Church of the West. In 1054 the Christian Church split into two: the
Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East under the
authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople.
1. Write down the meaning of the underlined word of the text.
2. Look up the infinitive, past and the meaning of the verbs of paragraphs number
3, 4 and 6.
INFINITIVE PAST
MEANING
INFINITIVE PAST
MEANING
3. TRUE OR FALSE, convert false sentences into true
* Hagia Sophia project was based on multiple great archs and a little dome.
* Economy of the byzantime empire was based on agriculture.