Historical Marker For The Dissolution Of The Byzantine Empire

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The historical marker for the dissolution of the Roman Empire was September 4th, 476 CE. At least, this is the date that historians have proposed was the fall of one of the greatest empires known to man. Romulus Augustulus was considered the last Roman emperor of the East and West Roman Empire. Many historians argue this concept because a Western emperor, Julius Nepos, was recognized by the eastern Roman Empire until 480 CE. Even after that time period eastern emperors considered themselves the rulers of the rest of the Roman Empire. Technically the Byzantine Empire is a continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Roman influence was spread across the world. Even after Rome’s fall its cultural traditions continued in the Western …show more content…

Even after the west fell, the east continued to stand for a thousand years. Historians gave it the name the Byzantine Empire because it changed so much over that period. The Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the eastern empire. The Byzantine Empire was still Roman because it shared their culture, ideas, and language for a period of time. In 437 CE, Theosius made a code of significant roman laws going back to the time of Constantine. It showed how similar the East ran compared to the old Roman Empire. (Mathisen 513)The Byzantine Empire retained the Roman Senate to some degree like the Roman Empire. The people of the Byzantine Empire still even referred to themselves as the Roman Empire. The greatest difference between the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire was that the Byzantine Empire was oriented more towards Greek rather than Latin culture. Also Orthodox Christianity characterizes the Byzantine Empire instead of Roman polytheism. The Byzantine Empire lasted in till 1453 when the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople. This signified the end of the Byzantine Empire. Still, was this marker the end of the Roman …show more content…

In Russia, the title of Caesar was revived as Czar, which claimed to be the successor of the Roman Empire until the end of the Russian monarchy in 1917. (Mathisen 497) So when is the end of the Roman Empire? Is it possible it never left, that its culture and influences still affect us today? Could it possibly have been transformed into something more complex? In fact, many of their ideas still exist within our own culture today. Romans architecture can be seen all over America today. Romans were famous for coming up with the designs for aqueducts, arches, bridges, domes, and even columns. Many of these are still used in our modern buildings. Columns can be seen on our courthouses, such as the Supreme Court Building. Entertainment was very important in the Roman Empire. One popular activity was gladiator fighting. Gladiator fighting has been depicted in several modern-day movies and some forms of cage-fighting and other similar contests continue to exist in our modernized culture. Theater performances were commonplace during the early Roman history and those productions continue to be reproduced and recreated for modern day

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