Eastern Roman Empire

The continuation of the Roman Empire centered on Constantinople, lasting from late antiquity until the Ottoman conquest in 1453. Its inhabitants called themselves Romans; modern scholarship often calls it the Byzantine Empire.

Constantinople: The city founded by Constantine on the site of Byzantium, serving as the Eastern Roman Empire’s capital for most of its history. Its walls, harbor, and strategic position made it the empire’s political and commercial center.
Roman Empire: The state that dominated the Mediterranean world from the late first century BCE until its western and eastern halves transformed or fell. The Eastern Roman Empire continued the institutions and claim to authority of this larger empire.
Justinian I: Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565 who pursued reconquest, legal codification, and major building projects. His reign became a defining attempt to restore Roman power around the Mediterranean.
Corpus Juris Civilis: A collection of Roman laws and legal commentary compiled under Justinian I in the sixth century. Its preservation and later reception shaped legal traditions far beyond the empire.
Byzantine bureaucracy: The administrative offices and officials through which Byzantine emperors governed the empire. A centralized civil administration connected the emperor to provinces and tax revenues.
Tetrarchy: The system of rule established by Diocletian in 293, dividing imperial authority among two senior emperors and two junior emperors. Its administrative divisions anticipated the durable separation of eastern and western imperial courts.
Theodora: Byzantine empress from 527 to 548 and wife of Justinian I, influential in court politics. Her political role during the Nika riots illustrates the power exercised within the imperial court.
Eastern Orthodox Church: A communion of Christian churches tracing its historical development through the eastern Roman world. Imperial religious institutions helped shape Orthodox doctrine, worship, and church organization.
Theme system: A Byzantine system organizing provinces around military districts whose commanders held civil and military authority. It joined regional defense to provincial administration during the empire’s middle period.
Diocletian: Roman emperor from 284 to 305 who reorganized imperial administration and established the Tetrarchy. His reforms strengthened the eastern court and reshaped the structures later inherited by Constantinople.

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