Also known as the “Eastern Roman Empire,” which lasted about a thousand years longer than the better-known “Western Roman Empire.”
The Roman Empire was divided into western and eastern halves more than once in its history. Sometimes, the halves reunited; but when they were divided again in 395, the separation became permanent. When Westerners discussing this period use the phrase “the Roman Empire,” they are usually talking about the western portion, which fell in the year 476. But the eastern portion didn't fall until the year 1453, and it is now known to us as the “Byzantine Empire.”
Map of the split of the Roman Empire into East and West, in AD 395
To the inhabitants of this empire, it was originally known as the “Eastern” Roman Empire. But when the Western Roman Empire fell in the fifth century, the eastern empire had now become the only “Roman Empire” still remaining. Thus, it became convenient for the people living under it to refer to these eastern territories as simply the “Roman Empire.” Why, then, do contemporary English speakers instead tend to refer to it as the “Byzantine Empire”?
Why do we call it the “Byzantine Empire”?
Part of it may be that Westerners today instead identify the “Roman Empire” with the western portion, which had a greater effect upon our own cultures. But there may also have been another reason. Namely, the city that would eventually become the Byzantine capital was originally known as “Byzantium.” As you might guess, this is the origin of the word “Byzantine” – and thus, our name for the larger empire itself.
Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor that the city of “Constantinople” was named for
The capital city was once called Byzantium, then later Constantinople, and finally Istanbul
The city that was once called “Byzantium” was actually renamed to “Constantinople” in the fourth century, and was thus named after the Roman emperor Constantine. When the city fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, it was renamed again, this time to “Istanbul” – the name by which it is still known today. However, the West still referred to it as “Constantinople” until the twentieth century, at which time they also started calling it “Istanbul.” It is presently the largest city in the Muslim state of Turkey, but it was a Christian city during the Byzantine era. The Byzantine religion was known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, and it would eventually give birth to many other Orthodox denominations. The word “Byzantium” can sometimes refer to the entire empire (rather than just the historical city), and the larger empire is what this documentary is really trying to cover.
Hagia Sophia, in present-day Istanbul, Turkey
This documentary doesn’t cover history so much as it covers archaeology
But this documentary is not at all what I expected. It doesn’t cover Byzantine history, so much as it covers Byzantine archaeology. The presenter is a historian and archaeologist who specializes in Egyptology, a somewhat different specialty than the Byzantine Empire. Nonetheless, he is still quite comfortable discussing the surviving Byzantine sites, including the magnificent architecture of this period. His enthusiasm is contagious, and helps to bring some of these obscure sites from the period to life. But I would have preferred something a bit more historical myself.
Mosaic of Theodora
Some of the things that this documentary covers well, including its Christian history
His best coverage is of the birth of the empire and the fall of the empire. The empire was born when Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to what is today Istanbul, back when it was all one empire. The empire fell when the Turks overran the city. Presenter John Romer taught me some things that I didn’t yet know about the birth and fall of the empire. But this isn’t much of a political history, even though some of its coverage focuses on emperors and empresses. Rather, it is just an archaeological history. Byzantium was a bastion of the Christian religion, and slowed the spread of the newer religion of Islam. During the Crusades, the Byzantine Empire was forced to appeal to the Roman Catholic Church for help. Thus, its capital temporarily fell to the Crusaders, and he covers this in some detail.
The Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople
The legacy of Byzantium, and of the Roman Empire more generally
Another good segment is when he covers the Byzantine legacy in the last episode, and how it was remembered. Byzantine history is sometimes treated as an epilogue to the earlier story of the “Roman Empire.” Indeed, the presenter sometimes seems to classify it as ancient history, even though most of it was actually during the medieval period. But this subject is on the borderline between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. It is relevant to the story of the Roman Empire, but few classes focused on the “Roman Empire” could afford to cover it in much detail. The additional 1,000 years of history would broaden the subject so greatly that you wouldn’t focus much on classical antiquity, at least as we understand that term in the West today. Thus, in those rare times when Byzantine history is actually covered, it is usually taught in a separate class focused on the later events after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Sultan Mehmed II's entry into Constantinople in 1453, the year that it fell
Conclusion: This documentary is strong on the archaeology, but weak on the history
I don’t want this review to get much longer, so suffice it to say that this documentary is still good for what it does have to offer. But it’s much more about archaeology than it is about history, and that may be a weakness for someone like me. This documentary would be a better fit for someone who’s really into archaeology or art history, and was something of a poorer fit for someone like me.
Footnote to this blog post:
Greek was the official language of the Byzantine Empire throughout most of its history, particularly its later history. Byzantium thus moved away from the Latin of the Western Roman Empire. Specifically, it called itself the Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων (Basileia Rhōmaiōn), or “Roman Kingdom.” It also sometimes called itself Ῥωμανία (Rhōmania), or “Romania” – not to be confused with Modern Romania.
I have been learning the Ancient Greek language since 2013. Thus, I know a little bit about the history of the language, at least in certain periods. The medieval period of the language is sometimes called “Medieval Greek,” but it is also sometimes known as “Byzantine Greek.” There is no universal agreement about when this stage of the language began, although some actually place it around AD 610. But most agree that the borderline between Medieval Greek and “Modern Greek” is the year 1453, the year that Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks. Thus, most people generally agree about when “Medieval Greek” ended, even if they don’t really agree about when it began.
DVD at Amazon
If you liked this post, you might also like:
A review of “Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire” (History Channel)
A review of “Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire” (BBC)
A review of “Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine”
A review of “The Dark Ages” (History Channel)
A review of “The Life of Muhammad” (shown on PBS)
A review of “The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross” (History Channel)
A review of “Islam: Empire of Faith” (PBS Empires)
Part of a series about
European history
The Byzantine Empire
This list covers Europe through the Renaissance. For Europe since the Renaissance, click here.
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