Byzantium

· Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey.

· Byzantium was an ancient Greek city settled by colonists from Megara in 667 BC

· Named after the Greek’s king Byzantas.

· The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original Greek name Byzantion (Βυζάντιον).

· Emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium capital of the entire Roman Empire in 330 A.D. He changed the city’s name to Constantinople.

· Water on three sides and the Balkan Mountains on the fourth. This made it difficult to attack.

· A good place both for merchants traveling by land and for those traveling by sea between Europe and the East Indies.

Military

· Byzantine military policy was defensive in nature.

· Constantinople’s fortress needed few solders to defend it so there were more solders available to protect other parts of the empire.

· The city was protected by a line of triple walls along its edge and a single wall along it’s edge, and a 60 foot wide and 22 feet deep moat could be flooded for protection.

· Themas - part time soldiers that made up most of the Byzantine army. In times of peace they were farmers.

· The Thematic armies proved to be extremely resilient, providing resistance to Arab attack over the next three hundred years.

· Strategos - a Thema's overall commander.

· As time wore on, the military rank of Strategos was developed into a dual purpose office, incorporating civil as well as military authority within each Thema army.

· 500 years of battling weakened the Byzantine and the Persian empires and eventually caused their downfall.

· a well-trained, professional army, and a powerful navy made it practically impossible to stage a successful siege to the Byzantine Empire.

Art

· Byzantine paintings and mosaics are characterized by a rich use of color and figures which seem flat and stiff. The figures also tend to appear to be floating, and to have large eyes. Backgrounds tend to be solidly golden or toned.

· Early Byzantine art is often called "Early Christian art."

· Byzantine art was centered around the Orthodox Church, in the painting of icons and the decoration of churches with frescos and mosaics.

· Mosaics were colored fragments of glass or quarts embedded in plaster.

· Mosaics were expensive art forms but with funding from Emperor Justinian, artists were able to refine the art.

· Intended as religious lessons, Icons were presented clearly and simply in order to be easily learned.

Culture

· Famous for religious art and architecture.

· The official religion was Christianity.

· Most of the Byzantine people spoke Greek.

· Men’s clothing consisted of the tunica, the dalmatic, the cloak and shoes or boots

· A favorite past time was athletic competitions and chariot races.

Constantine

· Constantine the Great was born in 280 and died in 337 A.D.

· Was a Roman emperor from 306- 337 A.D.

· Chose Byzantium as the site for his new capitol in 330. He completely rebuilt the city to resemble Rome.

· Named the new capitol after himself. It was named Constantinople.

· The first Christian emperor

· He was well educated.