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Learn The Byzantine Empire

The Roman Empire that kept going in the East for another thousand years.

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The Byzantine Empire is the modern name for the eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, which Constantine dedicated as his capital in 330 CE. Its people called themselves Romans, spoke mostly Greek and were Orthodox Christians. The empire survived the fall of the West, codified Roman law under Justinian, built the Hagia Sophia and fought Persians, Arabs, Bulgarians, Crusaders and Turks until the Ottomans captured the city in 1453. Learnr builds a course of short lessons that follows its emperors, faith, art and wars across eleven centuries.

How to learn The Byzantine Empire, step by step

Drop the idea that Rome ended in 476. Start by seeing Byzantium as the Roman Empire's eastern half continuing. The label Byzantine was popularized by Western scholars from the sixteenth century, and using it carefully will keep you from treating the empire as a foreign or lesser successor to Rome.
Study Justinian through Procopius. Justinian ruled from 527 to 565, reconquered Italy and North Africa, issued the Corpus Juris Civilis and rebuilt the Hagia Sophia, dedicated in 537. Read Procopius's Wars alongside his Secret History, which savages Justinian and Theodora, to see how one author could write both.
Understand the crisis of the seventh century. Learn how war with Persia under Heraclius was followed by Arab conquests of Syria, Egypt and North Africa. The empire shrank to Anatolia, the Balkans and parts of Italy, and its survival owed much to Constantinople's walls and new military organization.
Learn iconoclasm and the church disputes. Iconoclasm, a debate over religious images, ran in two phases between the 720s and 843. Then follow the slow estrangement between Rome and Constantinople, including the mutual excommunications of 1054, which historians now see as one step in a long process.
Read Anna Komnene and the Crusades from the East. Anna Komnene's Alexiad describes her father Alexios I and the arrival of the First Crusade. Then study the Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople in 1204, which crippled the empire long before Mehmed II's final siege in 1453.
Keep eleven centuries straight. With dozens of emperors and several dynasties, Byzantine history rewards steady review. Learnr mixes quick questions on earlier units into each day, so Justinian, Basil II and Constantine XI land in the right order.

What you'll learn

Explain why historians call the eastern Roman Empire Byzantine and what its people called themselves
Describe the achievements of Justinian, including his law code and the Hagia Sophia
Trace the empire's contraction after the Arab conquests and its middle Byzantine recovery
Explain the iconoclast controversy and the growing split between Rome and Constantinople
Narrate the events from Manzikert and the Fourth Crusade to the fall of 1453

What's inside your The Byzantine Empire course

A sample path Learnr builds for The Byzantine Empire. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Constantine, Constantinople and the late Roman East
2. Justinian, Theodora and the age of reconquest
3. Arab conquests, survival and iconoclasm
4. The Macedonian revival and Basil II
5. Manzikert, the Komnenoi and the Crusades
6. The sack of 1204, the Palaiologan recovery and the fall of 1453

How long does it take to learn The Byzantine Empire?

An overview of Byzantine history from 330 to 1453 takes about 6 to 9 weeks at 3 hours a week. Studying Byzantine art, theology or a single period in depth through primary sources can take several more months.

What you need before you start

None, though knowing the basics of the late Roman Empire and early Christianity helps. A map of the eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia and the Balkans is useful throughout.

Common mistakes to avoid

Accepting old stereotypes of Byzantium as stagnant and endlessly "byzantine" in its intrigue. Modern historians stress its adaptability and long survival.
Assuming 1054 created a clean split between Catholic and Orthodox churches overnight. The separation developed over centuries, and 1204 did more to harden it.
Ignoring the empire's neighbors. Persians, Arabs, Bulgarians, Rus', Normans, Venetians and Turks shaped Byzantine policy as much as anything inside it.

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The Byzantine Empire questions, answered

Did the Byzantines call themselves Byzantine?

No. They called themselves Romans (Rhomaioi in Greek) and their state the Roman Empire. Byzantine comes from Byzantion, the old Greek name of the city, and was applied later by Western scholars.

What are the best books on the Byzantine Empire?

Judith Herrin's Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire is a lively thematic introduction. Averil Cameron's The Byzantines and Timothy Gregory's A History of Byzantium are reliable surveys.

How did Constantinople fall?

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II besieged the city in spring 1453 with a large army and heavy cannon. It fell on May 29, 1453, and the last emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, died in the fighting.