The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire

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The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
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The Emperors

• Follow the pattern of Diocletian
• Holiness Emperor as icon of Christianity
• Emperor has absolute power over subjects
• Each chooses successor before he dies and crowns
  him during his lifetime

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Justinian (527-565)

• Married Theodora
• Biographer Procopius, Secret History

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Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century
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Justinian, mosaic, Ravenna
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Theodora and court, mosaic, Ravenna
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Theodora (detail of Ravenna mosaic)
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The Problem of Centralization

• Political factions
• Territorial integrity
• Legal problems
• Religious problems

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Political Factions

• Hippodrome is site for all public ceremonies,
  coronations, and sports
• Political parties allied with chariot racing
  teams and their colors Blue, Green, Red, etc.
• Blues and Greens most important
• Nika Riots, 532
• Belisarius slaughters 30,000 rioters

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Hippodrome with Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia
Sophia) in background Constantinople (modern
Istanbul, Turkey)
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Territorial Integrity

• Justinian looks West hoping to regain control of
  western empire
• Fights Vandals, then Ostrogoths in Italy, then
  Visigoths
• Empire doubles in size
• Same problems
• Paying the army
• Maintaining communication

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The Three-Front Problem

• Sends Belisarius all over empire
• Hire more troops
• Pay protection money to the Germanic tribes
• Procopius Justinian spent the entire royal
  treasury (70 million)

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Legal Reform

• Precedent in Roman law
• Justinian gathers 10 jurists and has them compile
  Imperial law
• Digests All Roman law up to Hadrian (50 vols)
• Digest version the Institutes
• Justinianic Code after Hadrian (10 vols)
• Written in Latin new laws in Greek

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Religious Reform

• Personal holiness of emperor
• Hagia Sophia, built 531-537
• Control of the patriarchate
• Control of theology
• Monophysite controversy
• This promotes factionalism within empire
  Orthodox, Monophysite, Nestorian, etc.

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Hagia Sophia
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Icon of Mary and Jesus, called the Virgin of
Vladmir