1. Aim: How did the first Byzantine Empire really impact Greece?
Do Now: What do you know about Ancient history?

2. Rise of The Empire
-Rome’s emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople, causing Rome to be split into two parts (Eastern Empire and Western Empire)
- Rome’s Eastern and Western Empire then split, the Eastern Empire was ruled by Constantine and became known as Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire
- The capital of the Byzantine Empire remained Constantinople

3. Byzantine Empire
Between AD 324 and 640, the very first era of Byzantine civilization was formed. Justinian I took his throne in 527 and built Constantinople into one of the most wonderful cities in the world. The Byzantine Empire separated in 395 which was followed by the death of Emperor Theodosius I. His 17-year-old son Arcadius ruled the Eastern Empire from Constantinople, and his 10-year-old son Honorius was given the Western Empire to rule from Milan. This was supposed to stay temporary but soon became permanent.

4. There were many conflicts at home during the first few years of the Byzantine Empire. Groups of dangerous people were eager for land and power they pushed all boundaries in the 5th century. The Vandals invaded Spain, France and North Africa in 455. The Visigoths invaded Italy in 409, then conquered France and southern Spain. In 490 Ostrogoths took parts of Italy and defeated the city of Ravenna.

5. The Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe who were first heard in southern Poland. They moved around Europe making kingdoms in Spain and North Africa in the 5th century. It is believed that the Vandals originated in Scandinavia and then migrated to the region of Silesia. Rome was forced to ask for peace and to reinstate the Treaty of 442 CE. This allowed the Vandals to do whatever they wanted , whenever they wanted to. The Vandals were farmers who put out their lands, usually in river valleys, to form a circular village. They lived from trading, tending crops and raising animals to kill. The houses were small, only one or two rooms, with walls of wood, or wicker covered by clay. They were also craftsmen that were high skilled in making jewelry, in ceramics, and in weaving. They were ruled by either one or two kings. If it were two, the power will be equal.

6. The Visigoths
The Visigoths were the western tribe of the Goths and were one of the two main branches of the Early Germanic tribe. They settled west of the Black Sea in the 3rd century CE. To be what is known now as The Gothic Wars ( CE) Emperor Valens took the field from the Eastern Roman Empire and won many victories. These tribes flourished and spread during the late Roman Empire in Late Antiquity, or the Migration Period. The Goths were among the Germanic peoples who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period, following a Visigothic force led by Alaric I's sacking of Rome in 410. The Visigoths also became the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula, quickly crushing the Alans and forcing the Vandals into north Africa. There was a religious gulf between the Visigoths, who had for a long time adhered to Arianism, and their Catholic subjects in Hispania. In 589, King Reccared (Recaredo) converted his people to Catholicism.

7. The Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths were a branch of the later Goths. They established a kingdom in Italy in the late 5th and 6th centuries. The Ostrogoths traced their origins to the Greutungi – a branch of the Goths who had migrated southward from the Baltic Sea the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Goths first appear in history living in the area around the Black Sea. Until the invasion of the Huns in 375 CE they kept attacking the provinces of Rome and proved a resilient to the Empire. A big part of the populace left the area to look for protection of the Roman Empire under the Visigoths while the rest of the people remained. With the death of Attila the Hun (450 CE) the Ostrogoths declared their independence. In 474 CE, Theodoric (known as Theodoric the Great) became king of the Ostrogoths and, backed by the Byzantine Empire, led a campaign into Italy.

8. The Byzantium was ruled by Roman law and political instructions
The Byzantium was ruled by Roman law and political instructions. But, its official language was Latin and Greek. Students received education in Greek history, culture and literature. In 451 the Council of Chalcedon established the world into five patriarchates, each ruled by a patriarch (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) This emperor was the patriarch of Constantinople, and the head of both church and state. After the 7th century the Islamic empire absorbed Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. The Byzantine emperor became the spiritual leader of most eastern Christians.

9. Vocabulary
Constantinople- The largest city and former capital of Turkey, Previously known as Byzantium.
Byzantine Empire- Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from 'Byzantion,' an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in
Greutungi- Gothic people of the Ukrainian steppes in the 3rd and the 4th centuries.

10. Byzantine Empire Geography
This empire was the most brilliant of medieval civilizations was the Eastern Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was divided in AD 395 into two parts. The Western half, ruled from Rome, fell to the tribal Germanic peoples known as barbarians in the 5th century. The Eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire, lasted for more than 1,000 years.

11. Justinian I
-Justinian was one of the greatest rulers of the Byzantine Empire
Justinian’s Code-collection of books that outlined laws and legal interpretations developed by Justinian
- Justinian’s code consists of 4 books;
1)Codex Constitutionum
2)Digesta ( also known as Pandectae)
3) Institutiones
4)Novellae Constitutiones Post Codicem

12. Hagia Sophia
Originally built as cathedral in Istanbul Turkey in the 6th century
Name means “holy wisdom”
Became a mosque after Turkish conquer of empire in 1435
Turned into museum in 1935

13. Watch Video: Copy down 12 important facts