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The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, the survivor of the Roman empire, flourished into the oldest and longest lasting empire in our history.
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Justinian Byzantine Empire ESSAY 1 The fall of the western portion of the Roman Empire is attributed to multiple factors. Many of its people suffered from a series
The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, the survivor of the Roman empire, flourished into the oldest and longest lasting empire in our history. It began with
The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, the survivor of the Roman empire, flourished into the oldest and longest lasting empire in our history.
Submitted by corgorsk on May 18, 2006
Category: History Other
Words: 1160 | Pages: 5
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Chapter 8 took us all over the mid-east, talking about the different cultures and people, but by far the best off and most impressive group were the Byzantines. While the west half of the old Roman empire was getting pummeled by invading barbarians, the east half was prospering. Not only were the barbarians leaving them alone for the most part, but they also had an excellent leader. His name was Justinian, and he ruled from A.D. 527-565. He is most noted for his organizing of the laws, which he did in 528. He put them in to four parts; The Code, The Digest, The Institutes, and The Novels. The Code consisted mostly of laws dealing with religion. The Digest contained summaries done by great Roman legal experts. The Institute section had the basic principals of Roman law in it. And The Novels consisted of new laws, from 534-565. He also ordered the construction of a very famous church in 532, the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). He did a great job, but had help from two very important people. First, his wife Theodora. She married him in 525 and pressured him greatly to change the rights of women, which he did. He passed new laws that gave women rights that were unheard of during those times.
The second important person was his commander in chief, Belisarius. He was an excellent, smart commander and no doubt kept the Byzantines safe through their times of trouble, although there weren't many of them up until the mid 700's. In 565, Justinian died.
During the 600's, the Byzantine Empire faced the Muslim Empire. By 650, the eastern empire consisted of a little more than Asia Minor, but they remained strong. They definitely didn't just survive off of luck, they had a very strong political, military, and economic system. Their political strengths contributed to their endurance because they had a great centralized government and democracy. They also had good bureaucrats and they kept them happy by paying them well which kept most of...
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