AP World History Chapter 10 476 = end of the western Roman Empire Eastern half remained intact = the Byzantine Empire (aka Byzantium) Unified and
centralized government Capital was Constantinople Religion = Eastern Orthodox Christianity Attempted to preserve some elements of the Roman Empire Reached its largest
size during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565 CE) Lost many territories due to Arab/Muslim expansion in the 7th century Elements of the Roman Empire within Byzantium:
Roads Taxation Military structures (strong Navy) Centralized govt Laws & Courts Code of Justinian: Codified Roman laws Groups who rooted for competing charioteers
Wore specific colors, from specific areas Often clashed (like soccer hooligans) One riot was so widespread that much of Constantinople burned, 30,000 killed Nearly destroyed empire Centralized authority in Constantinople Emperor viewed as Gods earthly
representative Caesaropapism = Church and state were connected, emperor was also head of the Church Made decisions about religious doctrine/rules Unlike in Western Europe, where the Pope (Roman Catholic Church) was independent from political authorities (but usually in charge)
Patricians (wealthy landowners) held lots of power as well Byzantine Empire Greek Rejected the authority of the Pope of Rome
Eastern Orthodox Western Europe (Rome) Latin Accepted the Roman Pope as the sole authority for
Christians everywhere Roman Catholic Both Churches excommunicated each other in 1054 (Great Schism) Declared that those in the opposing Christian tradition were not real Christians
Competing Christian theologies Trinitarians: Jesus, God, Holy Spirit all equal Arians: God > Jesus Religious conflicts for decades Eventually Trinitarians win out, call Arians heretics and burn some at the stake. Some Byzantine Christians will welcome Arab rule
over being ruled by a different Christian sect Byzantium faced many threats from outsiders Persian Empire Arab armies/the Islamic world Crusaders from Western Europe Biggest military weapon = Greek fire Worked like a flamethrower
Central player in Silk Road trade Competed with China in Silk production Preserved ancient Greek learning and transmitted it to the Islamic world and
Western Europe Aristotle Spread of Eastern Orthodox religion to the Slavs (Balkans and Russia) Creation of a Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic script) Cyrillic Alphabet
Most significant expansion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Kievan Rus Modern-day Ukraine and western Russia Prince Vladimir = Prince of Kiev
Unified the diverse peoples, linked Rus to the West
