Byzantium Capital city: Constantinople From ~AD 600-1450 one of the greatest cities of the world Geographic location on the Bosporus Central to long distance trade Asia India Russia Western Europe Economically mainly an importer Merchant class had no political power

Argueably the legitimate Successor to the Roman Empire 4th-Century AD to 1453AD Used as an adjective for “complex institutional arrangement” or “labyrinthine” Justinian (482-565AD) Greek as official language Tried to restore the old Roman Empire Ultimately unsuccessful Codification of Law Codes- “Justinian’s Code” Serves as basis for civil law codes that spread throughout most of Europe Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)(or, Great Church) Ayasofya Camii- a Mosque after AD1453 Use of Domes in architecture

Bureaucracy Eastern Orthodoxy On a scale with Chinese bureaucracies Officials recruited from all social classes Talent vs. aristocracy Bureaucratic specialization Cultural life centered on the traditions of Hellenism Eastern Orthodoxy Christian but different than in the West Caesaropapism Political and Religious power Precedent- Constantine Emperor above the law

The Great Schism “Irreconcilable differences” geography AD726- Iconoclast controversy 1054AD- mutual Excommunication 196AD- mutual pardon The (4th) Crusade of 1204 Constantinople sacked by Western Christians The Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottomans in 1453

Kievan Rus Develops outside of Western influence Absorbed by the Mongols Political & Religious institutions not disturbed Kiev- a thriving trading center on the Dneiper The dominant among other principalities A blend of Slav and Viking culture; the ‘Rus’ Vladimir of Kiev Converts to Orthodoxy Why not Catholicism? Why not Islam? Cyril & Methodius Russia adopts art, the alphabet, architecture, law codes and missions