Unit 2
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units >unit 2> Byzantine
Empire
C.
Byzantine Empire (330-1453 AD)
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1. |
Human and physical geography |
| 2. |
Achievements (law—Justinian Code,
engineering, art, and commerce) |
| 3. |
The Orthodox Christian Church |
| 4. |
Political structure and Justinian Code |
| 5. |
Role in preserving and transmitting
Greek and Roman cultures |
| 6. |
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Impact on Russia and Eastern
Europe |
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Focus Questions
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What specific
geographic factors led to the success of Constantinople as a center of
trade activity, cultural diffusion, and
military
defense? |
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How did Emperor
Justinian adapt Roman law for use by the Byzantines? |
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What
similarities do you see between Justinian’s Code and the Law Code of
Hammurabi? |
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What contributions did the Byzantines
make in the fields of engineering, art, commerce, and law? |
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In what ways were the Roman and
Byzantine Empires connected? |
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In what ways was
the Eastern Orthodox Church similar to the Roman Catholic Church?
In what ways were they different? Why did the schism between these two branches of
Christianity occur? |
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To what extent did the Byzantine
Empire have a centralized government? |
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Was this system similar to or different from the feudal system that evolved
in Europe during the Middle Ages? |
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In what ways was the Byzantine
political system similar to or different from the feudal system that
developed in Europe? |
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What role did Constantinople play in
the Crusades? |
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In what ways was the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 a turning point
in world history? |
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What role did
the Byzantine Empire play in the preservation and transmission of Greek
and Roman knowledge and culture? What was preserved? How was
it preserved? |
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What impact did the fall of
Constantinople to the Turks have on Western Europe? Asia? Africa? |
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Vocabulary
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Cyrillic alphabet |
Orthodox Christianity |
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excommunication |
patriarch |
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icon |
schism |
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Justinian Code |
transmission of culture |
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mosaics |
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Helpful Hints
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Students should explore the attributes of Constantinople at the
time of the birth of Theodosius II (401 AD):
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no fewer than 52 porticoes in the
city
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8 public and 153 private baths
usually ornamented with bronze and marble statues
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14 churches
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14 palaces
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5 granaries
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8 aqueducts
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a capitol
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a circus
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2 theaters
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4 halls for meetings held by the
Senate and law courts
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4,388 patrician houses
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defensive walls (many of which
were triple walls) strong enough to turn away invaders for over one
thousand years until the Turkish conquest in 1453.
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| • |
Students should identify geographic reasons why Constantine made a wise
choice of Byzantium, renamed Constantinople, as his capital. Possible
answers should include the following:
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The location is
at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
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The 16-mile long
Bosphorus Strait, which led from the Sea of Marmara into the waters of
the Black Sea, provided a means of trade, travel, and defense.
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On the north, an
estuary reached 5 miles into the Thracian Hills; due to its shape, it
was named the Golden Horn, and it provided a means for many groups to
travel to the city from the north.
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The city is one of the finest natural harbors in the world.
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The city’s elevated
location made it defensible.
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Students should recognize the following:
Model of Empires
Necessary preconditions for the rise of empires
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The region must have |
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state-level
government
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high
agricultural potential of the environment
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several small
states with no clear dominant state power (power vacuum)
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mutual
antagonism among those states
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desirable
environmental resources, soil, location, terrain (good variety)
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adequate
military resources (or a military or technological advantage)
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an ideology that promotes
personal identification with the
state, empire, leader, conquest,
and/or militaristic trend
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Characteristics of well-run empires |
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the
building of roads and transportation
systems, canals, ports, and other
infrastructure
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increased
trade
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cosmopolitan cities: art and education
flourish
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effective
bureaucracy to ensure communication, tax
collection, coinage, and enforcement of laws
and tax system
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common
official language to facilitate
communication and efficient administration
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a system of justice and law for the entire empire
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extension
of rights to some degree to the conquered to
consolidate sufficient support and
cooperation
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Major results of empire |
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economic
rewards, especially in the early years, redistributed to the elite
with trickle down to lower classes, especially to merchants, scribes,
etc.
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relative
stability and prosperity
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increased
population
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Reasons for decline of empire |
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failure of
leadership; focus on wealth, not the needs of the state
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the goal of
expansion and conquest leading to attempted new conquests beyond a
practical limit: overextension of bureaucracy, military, resources,
communications
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lack of new
conquests, leading to erosion of economic base and declining faith in
the ideology that supported the empire in the first place
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rebellions
from within; challenges from without
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Based on:
Demarest, Arthur A. and Geoffrey W. Conrad.
1994. Regions and Empire: The Dynamics
of Aztec and Inca Expansionism.
Cambridge University Press.
Printable version
of this chart (PDF) |
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• |
Students should consider the similarities and differences between
hegemony and dominance and how the terms might apply to specific
empires. |
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Resources for Teachers (Books/Articles, Visuals/Music)
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Ahrweiler, Helene and Angeliki E. Laiou,
(eds.). 1998. Studies on the Internal Diaspora of
the Byzantine Empire. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, distributed by Harvard
University Press.
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Angold, Michael. 2001. Byzantium:
The Bridge from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.
New York: St. Martin's Press.
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Blaum, Paul A. 1994. The Days of the Warlords: A History
of the Byzantine Empire, A.D. 969-991. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
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Browning, Robert. 1992. Byzantine Empire. Washington, DC: Catholic University
of America Press.
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Browning,
Robert. 1992. A History of the Byzantine Empire, rev. ed. Washington,
DC: Catholic University of America Press.
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Cesaretti, Paolo. 2004. Theodora:
The Empress of Byzantium. |
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Harvey, Alan. 2003. Economic Expansion in the Byzantine
Empire, 900-1200. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press. |
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Marston, Elsa. 2002. The Byzantine Empire.
New York: Benchmark Books. |
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Miller, Timothy S. 1997. The Birth of the hospital in the
Byzantine Empire. Johns Hopkins University Press. |
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Sherrard, Philip. 1966. Great Ages of Man: A History of the World Cultures -
Byzantium. New York: Time, Inc. |
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Smith, Bonnie, ed. 2004-05.
Women's History in Global Perspective.
Champaign, Ill: University of Illinois Press. |
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Thomas, John Philip. 1987.
Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine
Empire. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. |
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Treadgold, Warren. 1997.
A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford:
Stanford University Press. |
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“Byzantine Empire.” National
Geographic. Dec. 1983, 709-768. |
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“The Fall of Constantinople.” The
Economist. Dec. 31, 1999, 36. |
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Learning Experience(s)
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Assessments
Editor's Note: All state examinations are
aligned to the New York State Learning Standards for Social
Studies and Social Studies Resource Guide with Core Curriculum.
The chart below specifies where these alignments have occurred
(from June 2000 to the present).
|
Editor's Note: To date there have
been no thematic or DBQs addressing this subsection. |
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Empire
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