Byzantine Emperors

Constantine The Great

306

He was emperor from 306 to 337, was born in 280, died in 337. Was the first catholic emperor and baptized when he died. He was raised by Diocletian but when his father died, he became one of four emperors, then he took control of the western half , fought and defeated Maxentius(usurper). Then his co emperor persecuted christians so he fought and became sole emperor. He moved the capital to Byzantium and called it Constantinople. He signed the Edict of Milan, a treaty about freedom of religion.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge

312

It was the final battle that Constantine fought against Maxentius the usurper. Maxentius died because in desperation, he tried to swim with his armor on and died.

Theodosius I

379

He was a famous emperor born in Spain, his reign started in 379 and ended in his death, in 395. His first years were fighting of goths but he eventually made peace and let them live inside the empire. He fought to usurpers, Maximus and Eugenius. He constantly defended chrisitanity and defeated many pagans. He also started building the Theodosian Wall that protected Constantionple for hundreds of years to come.

Thedosian Wall

400

Theodosius started by building a giant gate to defend the city but that seemed inefficient so he started building a triple line wall that became impenetrable for the next 800 years. At first it was to defend against the Huns but it became great defense over the years against Bulgars, Arabs, etc.

Justinian I

527

He is known as a tough emperor, he was born in 483 in Macedonia and died in 565 wich also marked his 38 year reign. One of his main achievements is to expand the territory, he conquered almost al of the coast in North Africa. He unified and wrote down an important set of laws, the Justinian Code, he alsowas the one that ordered Hagia Sophia to be built. But he is also rembered for massacring a hippodrome full of people for protesting.

Nika Riots

532

Justinian's rule was marked by this riots, people were angry with him because he raised taxes. They got together every time in the hippodrome and protested, Justinian got tired and joined all of the protesters once in the hippodrome telling them they were going to debate. Instead, he locked the doors and killed more than 30 000 rioters.

Hagia Sophia

537

Justinian created this ex catholic church that was one of the greatest architectural advancements in that time. It had the largest dome in the world, but now it is one of the largest muslim mosques in the world.

Heraclius

610

He was born in 575 in Capadocia and died 641 in Constantinople. His reign lasted from 610 to 641. This time is mainly marked by the war against the Persians, the eastern hakf was in the verge of collapse. He made oeace at first but then counter attacked and took back some countries but then lost Cartagena to the visigoths. It was a time of military struggle for the empire.

Greek

620

Heraclius main accomplishment and change was to convert Greek from Latin to the empire´s official language

Irene of Athens

775

She was born in 752 and died in 803, one year after her reign ended (775-802). Irene was the first empress ever, at that time no one could ever think that a woman could have that much power. She fought and struggled to get to the throne, even with her own. She is not remembered for how good of an empress she was but by the fact that she was the first woman empress and that itself is incredible enough.

Second Council of Nicaea

787

This is probably the most important change during Irene s rule, she called this council to end iconoclasm and give more freedom to all people.

Basil II

976

Basil II or The Bulgar Slayer was born in 958, Constantinople and died 1025 in the same city. His leadership lasted from 976 to 1025. He is the 8th longest reigning monarch in history, lasting 23977 days. He is remembered like one of the greatest military minds in history. He creayed the trebuchet, a devastating weapon that helped him end with his worst enmy, Tsar Samuel. He defeated the bulgars and Tsar Samuel, therefore the nickname The Bulgar Slayer.

Basil II vs Bulgaria

1014

This is when Basil finally defeated Tsar Samuel after many years of persecution and fights. He got a hold of all the 14000 soldiers and blinded all of them but let 1 of every 100 with one eye so he could lead them back to their home land. This demonstrates his toughness and tenacity.

Zoe

1028

She was born and died in Constantinople in 978 and 1050, She was empress from 1028 to 1050. She got to power because she was niece of Basil II and he did not have any children so she was the only heir. She is famous because she had a bunch of husbands and she kiled them all because she wanted the power to herself. The say she was very prety and she was very loved by the people, especially women.

Rights for Women and Mosaics

1030

Zoe is remembered for fighting for women's rights all throughout her rule and for building beautiful mosaics inside the Hagia Sophia.

Theodora

1042

She was born in Cyprus, 500 and died in 548 in Constantinople. She is known for being very manipulative and seductive. She defended women's rights and passed laws about sex trafficking and divorce.