History of the Byzantines

Emperor Constantine I Founded the Byzantine Empire

330

In 667 BC, settlers from a Greek city-state came to what is later known as Constantinople. German invaders took lands from the Roman empire in the west, the Roman emperor Constantine, and his successors shifted their base east. Constantine rebuilt the Greek city of Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. In 330 A.D. he made this the new capital of the empire. As time went on the eastern half of the Roman empire would be known as the Byzantine empire.

Nika Revolt (Riots)

532

The Nika Revolt took place over the span of a week in Constantinople 532 A.D. This event was one of the most devastating of the time. After a chariot race between the Blue team and the Green team, there was a violent situation between the teams, which was not uncommon. Justinian handled this by the death of the ringleaders of both teams, and for once in this time the teams came together on something. They chanted "NIKA" while burning buildings at the next chariot games for the following 5 days.

Hagia Sophia

532

Riots and devastating fire swept Constantinople and many lives were lost. To restore roman glory Justinian launched a program to make Constantinople grander than ever by building the church of Hagia Sophia, which means holy wisdom. There was an arching dome with an interior that glowed with colored marble and it had embroidered silk curtains. It was built in just 5 years, 532 to 537 A.D, and it was know for many years later to be the largest building in the western world.

General Belisarius Military Campaigns

533

General Belisarius is often considered to be one of the greatest generals in the Byzantine empire. His first success was at the Battle of Dara in 530 when he defeated the Sassanians. However at the Battle of Callinicum he was defeated, but later proved himself during the Nika Revolt. In 533 he was sent to Africa to reclaim the provinces from the Vandal Kingdom, he did so within a year. Towards the end of his career he was not so popular among his soldiers and his defeated enemies.

Early Islamic Military Campaigns into Byzantine Territory

622

In the beginning of the Byzantine empire Islam was a fairly new religion, it began in Arabia around 622. Over the next 200 years, Muslims built a huge empire and created a major civilization. In the 600s and 700s, Arab armies overran the wealthy Byzantine provinces of Egypt and Syria before advancing into Constantinople.

Emperor Basil II's Military Conquests of Bulgaria

986

When the Byzantines first fought Bulgarians in 986 it was a horrible defeat. In 997 at the Battle Sperchios defeated Samuel and his army so severely that Samuel and his son only escaped by playing dead. After this the Byzantine empire recovered Greece. In 1002 he launched a campaign to get rid of the Bulgarians. Basil had retrained his army, and he slowly began chipping away at the Bulgarian empire, by 1006 he had half the empire. The war climaxed in 1014, and fighting finally ended in 1018.

Great Schism

1054

The great schism is the finial separation between eastern and the western christian churches. After they split they became know as the eastern orthodox church, and in the west they became known as the roman catholic church. Although they still followed the same faith, the center of the power saw each other as rivals, and after the middle ages they were still distant.

Emperor Alexios I contacts pope Urban II for military help in Middle East

1095

At around 1095 AD, the Middle East had gotten taken over by Seljuk Turks, but it was of conflict for the Europeans. In the Middle East land was their Holy City, Jerusalem, that they would take many pilgrimages to had been taken over. When the Turks threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople Emperor Alexios made a special request for Urban for help. Urban took this opportunity, even though he had similar request before, and he fought back for the holy land.

Fourth Crusade

1204

The crusaders changed direction of their frighting from Muslims to other Christians. Those Christians were the Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine. The crusaders stole and captured the Constantinople after helping merchants from the northern Italy city of Venice defeat their Byzantine trade rivals in 1204 AD.

Fall of Constantinople

1453

This was marked as the end of the European middle ages. By the mid-15th century, there had been a long decline, and Byzantine empire was surrounded by the Ottoman empire, who were seeking to finally get rid of what was left of the great Byzantine empire. The final siege came in the spring of 1453, when Mehmet II attacked the city for fifty seven days and finally breached the city on May 29 and finally put an end to the last remaining part of the once great Roman empire.