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The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Having survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. 379–395) made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent under the reign of Justinian I (r. A plague began around 541, and a prolonged warfare with Persia placed fiscal and military strain on the empire, contributing to political and strategic challenges in the decades that followed. In the 630s and 640s the Arab conquests defeated Byzantine field armies in Syria and Egypt, resulting in the permanent loss of those provinces to the Rashidun Caliphate. In 698, Africa was lost to the Umayyad Caliphate, but the empire stabilised under the Isaurian dynasty. The empire recovered during the Komnenian restoration, and Constantinople remained the largest and wealthiest city in Europe until the 13th century, when it was overtaken by Paris. The empire was severely fragmented in 1204, following the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade; its former territories were then divided into competing Greek rump states and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the reconstituted empire wielded only regional power during its final two centuries. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 brought the empire to an end.

The adjective "Byzantine", derived from Byzantion (Byzantium in Latin), the name of the Greek settlement Constantinople was established on, was only used to describe the inhabitants of the city; it did not refer to the empire, called Rhomanía (Ῥωμανία or "Romanland") by its citizens. Following the empire's fall, early modern scholars referred to it by many names, including the "Eastern Empire", the "Low Empire", the "Late Empire", the "Empire of the Greeks", "Empire of Constantinople", and "Roman Empire". The increasing use of "Byzantine" and "Byzantine Empire" may have started with Theodore Metochites or Laonikos Chalkokondyles whose work was widely propagated by Hieronymus Wolf. "Byzantine" was used adjectivally alongside terms such as "Empire of the Greeks" until the 19th century.

Given the significant overlap in historiographical periodisations of Late Roman history, late antiquity, and Byzantine history, there is no consensus on a foundation date for the Byzantine Empire.

It also failed to expand west or east, where three Greek successor states had formed: the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond in Asia Minor, and the Despotate of Epirus on the Adriatic. On 29 May 1453, the city was captured, the last emperor, Constantine XI, died in battle, and the Byzantine Empire ended.

Christianity, bolstered by Constantine's support, began shaping all aspects of life in the early Byzantine Empire.

The new army heavily relied on foreign mercenaries alongside indigenous Byzantine troops, but the financial demands of a standing army proved too much for the Byzantine state, which succumbed to the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

The Danubian Principalities became a haven for Orthodox Christians and Phanariot Greeks who sought to recreate a Byzantine Greek Empire.

The Byzantine Empire distinctively blended Roman political traditions, Greek literary heritage, and Christianity, creating the civilisational framework that laid the foundation for medieval Europe.

18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime). Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (with further resources and a repository with papers on various aspects of the Byzantine Empire)

Quick Facts

• Following the empire's fall, early modern scholars referred to it by many names, including the "Eastern Empire", the "Low Empire", the "Late Empire", the "Empire of the Greeks", "Empire of Constantinople", and "Roman Empire".
• The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'.
• Having survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
• Given the significant overlap in historiographical periodisations of Late Roman history, late antiquity, and Byzantine history, there is no consensus on a foundation date for the Byzantine Empire.
• The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent under the reign of Justinian I (r.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Byzantine Empire". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.