Byzantine Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Byzantine Empire - Essay Example These books and codes were largely accepted in the East but failed to make substantial impact in the west and thus contributed to the divide which has started to rise. Justinian ambitiously tried to reconquer all the Western lands that Rome had lost to the barbarians. Justinian became the emperor in 527 and ruled until 565 and proved him to be an able ruler and he was in fact responsible for the rise of the Byzantine Empire and gave Eastern Rome a separate identity. It was his great reign which is considered to be the birth of the Byzantine Empire. Justinian successfully reconquered much of the territory that had fallen into barbarian hands. In the first phase of his projects, the entire north coast of Africa fell under Byzantine rule. Next he fought the Ostrogoths in Italy. But in 18 years of siege and counter-siege (535-553), Rome changed hands six times which means he stabilized the Eastern part but the Western part was falling which ultimately resulted in the lost of Roman identi ty and birth of the Byzantine Empire. The New Groups The wars were taking place and the barbarians were becoming powerful but at the same time new groups were also rising which included the Christians and the Muslims. The Christian priests were spreading the faith among the masses and Christianity was made the official region of the empire which meant that the Roman temples and Oracles were no more the centers of religion and the holy was now redefined and Churches were the place of worship now. Byzantium Defense Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city was the most important factor in the increasing the strength of the Empire since it was naturally protected against the invaders and could not be conquered with ease no matter how strong and advanced the invading army was. The high... Byzantine Empire Through the 4th century while the Roman Empire was still united there were two capitals following the political will of the same emperor. There was a split in the empire but the two states were not antagonistic to each other since they were a single empire on technical grounds but the series of events that took place in the 5th century lead to the collapse of the Western part while the Eastern part survived but was reduced to a medium sized empire which was more akin to the Persia than to Gaul. The East Held-back The diplomatic and political distances between the two parts of the empire were becoming more and more and the administrative and infrastructure crises in addition to the wars fueled the deteriorating situation. The war with the Visigoths was fought alone by the western wing of the empire and eastern wing instead of sending troops to defend the western borders strengthened its own capital. The infrastructure which was decaying on the western fronts was not repaired by the ea stern richer wing because they were no more concerned about the bridge between the two wings which was holding them together. Role of Justinian Emperor Justinian of the east is well-known for his efforts for driving away the barbarians and restoring glory to the Roman Empire. Another great effort by Justinian was the legislative initiatives he took. Thus the historians have legitimately renamed the Eastern Rome as Byzantine Empire because the Roman identity no more existed.