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  • Essay / Review history: the Byzantine Empire

    The Byzantine Empire While the western part of Rome had fallen to invaders, mainly those from Germanic tribes, the eastern part finally began to prosper. The eastern provinces began to develop independently of the decline of the West. The eastern and western parts of what was known as Rome were officially separated in 395. However, the eastern emperors still considered themselves Roman. In 527, a man named Justinian came to the throne. In 533, his general Belisarius was sent to reconquer the regions. He took back North Africa from the Vandals and took Rome from the Ostrogoths. After several campaigns, Justinian's armies had conquered almost all of Italy and part of Spain. By this time, Justinian had reconquered almost all of the lands that the Roman Empire once encompassed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. What also separated the eastern part from the western part of Rome was the use of a common language: the eastern part, Greek-speaking, and the western part, Latin-speaking. The East also belonged to the Eastern branch of the Christian Church, while the West remained Catholic. In the years 528 to 533, under the reign of Justinian, a uniform code of law was established by the revision of ancient Roman laws. A panel of 10 legal experts was tasked with carrying out this task. When completed, Justinian's code, as it was called, consisted of 4 parts (The Code, The Digest, The Institutes and The News). After Justinian's death in 565, the code of law continued to serve the empires for 900 years. During the reign of Justinian, the Byzantine Empire reached its peak. The city of Constantinople was rebuilt and protective walls were also built around it. But Justinian's greatest passion was building churches, like the marvelous Hagia Sophia. As part of his building program, Justinian built baths, courts, hospitals and aqueducts. Justinian also built schools because education was highly valued in Byzantine society. When Justinian died in 565, the empire fell into chaos. There were numerous revolts, religious conflicts, street riots and invasions. Another problem was starvation. Justinian had died of a disease we call the bubonic plague. There were frequent outbreaks of the disease in Constantinople, usually occurring every 8 to 12 years, killing much of the population. The small population that remained was more open to invasion. Invaders from Russia and Persia as well as Arab and Lombard armies attacked the empire. As the Turks took over the Muslim world, they slowly began to establish a foothold in Anatolia. The Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, closing in on the city of Constantinople while the Arabs or Persians had never reached there. In an attempt to reduce invasions, Emperor Heraclius reorganized the empire into military lines, with provinces becoming military districts. The fall of the empire continued and was finally taken over by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay During the years of unrest, many religious disputes took place. took place. There were multiple controversies between emperors and religious leaders, which led to schism or splitting of the Church. The East developed Orthodoxy and Lied under Roman Catholic Orthodoxy. That.