The Brilliant Byzantines

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Recommended: Greeks and romans compare and contrast

There are Romans and there are Greeks but who was better in ancient times? Neither were, the Byzantines outlasted both the Greeks and the Romans. Two of the greatest empires come together to make an empire that lasted from ancient times to the beginning of modern times. The Byzantine’s were an empire that lasted for a long time, however its start took a great deal of time. The Byzantine Empire started from a colony in Greece but it didn’t become an empire for a while after becoming a colony.
It all began from the Greek colony that was founded by Byzas called Byzantium (History). This is where the word Byzantine is derived from; the colony was located in the middle of the Bosporus strait (History). Making it a very hard place to attack by land (History). After Rome came into power, and towards the end of their rein. The Roman emperor Constantine chose Byzantium as the new location for the Roman capitol, changing its name to Constantinople (History). Constantine was the emperor that made Christianity the official religion of Rome (Ancient). This played a vital role in the forming of the Byzantine Empire. After Constantine died, Emperor Valentinian divided Rome once again and over the next couple centuries Rome suffered from attacks from the Germans that led to their demise (History). This is where Rome started to fall, and out of there midst came the Byzantine Empire.
The early life of the Byzantines was very complicated and happened as an outcome to the western half of Rome falling (History). The western half of the Roman Empire was attacked by German invaders (History). The empire crumbled until Italy was the only thing left of the western empire (History). Rome’s final stand was against the barbarian king Odoacer (Ancient). Odo...

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...ivilizations eventually caught up. Even though the empire is gone there is a lot that can be learned from the Byzantines. They started as a strong empire that flourished for a very long time, but then a lot of things went wrong for the Byzantines, which led to their fall.

Works Cited
“Byzantine Empire." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia. n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
“Byzantine Empire.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 28 April 2014.
Gerland, Ernst. "The Byzantine Empire." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 1 May 2014
“List of Rulers of Byzantium.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
“The Byzantine State under Justinian I (Justinian the Great).” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

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