Empire330 CE – 1453 CEEurope, Middle East

Byzantine Empire

The Eastern Roman Empire survived the fall of Rome by nearly a thousand years, preserving Greco-Roman law, literature, and Orthodox Christianity while serving as a cultural and military bulwark between Europe and successive Persian, Arab, and Turkic empires.

Key Figures
Constantine IJustinian ITheodoraBasil IIConstantine XI

Preceding Causes

Constantine I refounded the ancient Greek city of Byzantium as Constantinople in 330 CE, creating a new imperial capital with strategic geographic advantages controlling the Bosphorus strait between Europe and Asia.

Empire395 CE

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire collapsed under pressure from migrating Germanic peoples, internal political instability, and economic decline. Dated from the permanent East-West division in 395 CE to the deposition of Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer in 476 CE.

Cause-Effect Graph

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