The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire during the late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Despite the fact that this huge empire existed for more than a thousand years, giving rise to rich traditions in art, literature and science and being a buffer of the Asian invasion of Europe, today not everyone remembers the great legacy of Byzantium.
1. Greek colonists from Megara
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 657 BC. The city was rebuilt and reopened as the new capital of the Byzantine Empire by Emperor Constantine I in 330 AD. e., and then it was renamed Constantinople in honor of the emperor.
Byzantium was founded by Greek colonists from Megara.
2. The legacy of Greece and Rome
Many people ignore or fail to understand the fact that most of the classical literature that has survived to this day has survived thanks to the Byzantine Empire. Most of the works of famous philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, as well as the historical texts of Ancient Greece and Rome, were saved by Byzantine scholars who preserved the ancient traditions of literature and teaching.
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Byzantium is the custodian of the heritage of Greece and Rome.
3. Sweets and desserts
The Byzantines loved sweets and desserts more than any food. In their everyday life, they had dishes that today would definitely be called desserts. For example, groouta was a sweetened wheat porridge made with milk flavored with cinnamon, honey and raisins. Also, the Byzantines loved rice pudding with honey and cinnamon. Sugar rose, a popular medieval confection, may have originated in Byzantium.
Sweets and desserts in Byzantium.
4. Conditum
In Byzantium, flavored wines, a variant of the Roman "conditum" (spiced wine), were popular. Especially popular were the wines flavored with anise and rose, which are the ancestors of mastic, vermouth, absinthe and ouzo in modern Greece.
Byzantium is the birthplace of vermouth, absinthe and ouzo.
5. Seafood
The Byzantines loved seafood, in particular, a very popular dish they called bottarga was the slightly salted and dried mullet caviar. By the 12th century, the Byzantines also began to eat ordinary caviar.
Seafood in Byzantium.
6. Eggplant, lemons, oranges
Some fruits were largely unknown to the ancient European world. However, the Byzantines were the first to use eggplants, lemons and oranges.
To Europe from Byzantium: eggplants, lemons and oranges.
7. Emperor Justinian
Justinian is considered to be the emperor who made Byzantium a powerful force. He re-conquered parts of the collapsed Western Empire in Africa, Italy and Spain and codified the previous Roman laws into one document. He made Constantinople the most famous and richest city in the world, with over half a million inhabitants. He also became known as the emperor who built the Hagia Sophia and as the last emperor to use the title of Caesar.
Byzantium under the Emperor Justinian.
8. Emperor Heraclius I
During the reign of Emperor Heraclius I (610 - 641 AD), the military and administrative system of the empire was reorganized, and Greek was recognized as the official language instead of Latin. He was also one of the most successful Byzantine emperors and expanded the empire significantly.
Byzantium under the Emperor Heraclius I.
9. Emperor Vasily II the Bulgarian fighter
The longest and most continuously reigning Byzantine monarch was Vasily II the Bulgar fighter (976-1025). The most memorable story associated with him is the conquest of Bulgaria by Vasily: he took 15,000 Bulgarians prisoner and ordered them all to be blinded, and then released them, allocating one one-eyed guide for every 100 people.
Emperor Vasily II Bulgarian fighter on the icon.
10. Empress Irina of Athens
Empress Irina of Athens (797-802), one of the most powerful women of all time, was clearly not a model of maternal love. In order to secure her power over the throne, Irina blinded her son Constantine VI (780-797), and then imprisoned him for life in the room in which he was born. Irina was the first Greek woman to rule the empire alone. Interestingly, Charlemagne wanted to marry her, but Irina refused him.
Byzantium under Empress Irina of Athens.
11. Mauritius Tiberius
The first Byzantine emperor to lose the throne in a violent revolution was Mauritius Tiberius. His severity cost him his crown and his life. He refused to allow the troops stationed at the border to return home for the winter. Moreover, he insisted that they do not need to send the enhanced winter rations as they can feed themselves. The army, led by Phoca, revolted and captured Constantinople.
Byzantium under the Emperor Tiberius of Mauritius.
12. Palaeologus dynasty
The longest-running Byzantine dynasty, which lasted nearly two hundred years, was also the last imperial dynasty. The Palaeologus dynasty began with Michael VIII, who in 1259 blinded and imprisoned his ten-year-old predecessor (John IV Laskaris), and ended with Constantine XI, who bravely died in battle when the Ottomans took Constantinople.
Byzantine dynasty of the Palaeologus.
13. Eastern Empire
In 476 the Western Roman Empire fell and the Eastern Empire became what is known today as Byzantium. However, the word "Byzantine" appeared only in the 19th century, and the inhabitants of this empire called themselves "Romans" from the very beginning of the founding of the Byzantine Empire in 330 AD. e. and until its fall under the onslaught of the Ottomans in 1453.
Byzantium - Eastern Empire.
14. Shield of the West
According to many modern historians, Byzantine civilization is very important, because without it the modern Western world would not exist. Byzantium in many cases preserved and protected the very foundations of Western civilization from the influence of Islam. That is why many scholars often refer to Byzantium as the "Shield of the West".
Byzantium is the shield of the West.
15. "Greek fire"
The Byzantine navy was the first to use the terrifying liquid in naval battles, which they called Greek fire. The liquid was sprayed onto enemy ships and troops through large siphons mounted on the prows of Byzantine ships. It ignited on contact with seawater and was nearly impossible to extinguish.
The Byzantine fleet used Greek fire.