Outline of the Byzantine Empire

The Eastern Roman Empire (red) and its vassals (pink) in 555 AD during the reign of Justinian I. The vassals are the Kingdom of Lazica and the Abasgians (top), and the Ghassanids (east). This was the Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Byzantine Empire:

Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) – the Constantinople-centred Roman Empire of the Middle Ages. It is also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, primarily in the context of Late Antiquity, while the Roman Empire was still administered with separate eastern and western political centres. In its own time, there was no such thing as "the Byzantine Empire," there was just the ongoing Roman Empire; "Byzantine Empire" is a scholarly term of convenience to differentiate the empire from its earlier existence during classical antiquity before the western half collapsed (see decline of the Roman Empire). Its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, Basileia Rhōmaiōn;^[1] Latin: Imperium Romanum) or Romania (Ῥωμανία).^[2] After the Western Roman Empire fragmented and collapsed in the 5th century, the eastern half continued to thrive, existing for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During much of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe.

Geography of the Byzantine Empire

Regions of the Byzantine Empire

Administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire

Subdivisions of the Byzantine Empire

Provinces of the Byzantine Empire

Themes of the Byzantine Empire

Theme (Byzantine district)

Cities of the Byzantine Empire

Constantinople (capital)
Thessalonika

Affiliated polities

Demography of the Byzantine Empire

Population of the Byzantine Empire

Government and politics of the Byzantine Empire

Political institutions of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Senate

Byzantine law

Military of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine armed forces

Military conflicts

Byzantine wars

General history of the Byzantine Empire

History of the Byzantine Empire

Military history of the Byzantine Empire

Works on Byzantine history

Byzantine historiography and scholars

18th century

Edward Gibbon

19th century

Fyodor Uspensky

20th century

Culture of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine culture

Religion in the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine language

Medieval Greek

Byzantine economy

Byzantine education

Byzantine science and technology

References

^ Kazhdan & Epstein 1985, p. 1.
^ Millar 2006, pp. 2, 15; James 2010, p. 5; Freeman 1999, pp. 431, 435–437, 459–462; Baynes & Moss 1948, p. xx; Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 27; Kaldellis 2007, pp. 2–3; Kazhdan & Constable 1982, p. 12; Norwich 1998, p. 383.

Sources

Baynes, Norman Hepburn; Moss, Henry St. Lawrence Beaufort, eds. (1948). Byzantium: An Introduction to East Roman Civilization. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Freeman, Charles (1999). The Greek Achievement – The Foundation of the Western World. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-670-88515-0.
James, Liz (2010). A Companion to Byzantium. Chichester: John Wiley. ISBN 978-1-4051-2654-0.
Kaldellis, Anthony (2007). Hellenism in Byzantium: The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87688-9.
Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich; Constable, Giles (1982). People and Power in Byzantium: An Introduction to Modern Byzantine Studies. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 0-88402-103-3.
Kazhdan, A. P.; Epstein, Ann Wharton (1985). Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05129-7.
Millar, Fergus (2006). A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius II (408–450). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24703-5.
Norwich, John Julius (1998). A Short History of Byzantium. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-025960-5.
Ostrogorsky, George (1969). History of the Byzantine State. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1198-6.

External links

Byzantine studies, resources and bibliography

Adena, L. "The Enduring Legacy of Byzantium Archived 2020-04-13 at the Wayback Machine", Clio History Journal, 2008.
Ciesniewski, C. "The Byzantine Achievement", Clio History Journal, 2006.
Fox, Clinton R. What, If Anything, Is a Byzantine? (Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors)
The Cambridge Medieval History (IV) The Eastern Roman Empire (717–1453).
Byzantine studies homepage at Dumbarton Oaks. Includes links to numerous electronic texts.
Byzantium: Byzantine studies on the Internet. Links to various online resources.
Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c. 700–1204. Online sourcebook.
De Re Militari. Resources for medieval history, including numerous translated sources on the Byzantine wars.
Medieval Sourcebook: Byzantium. Numerous primary sources on Byzantine history.
Bibliography on Byzantine Material Culture and Daily Life. Hosted by the University of Vienna; in English.
Constantinople Home Page. Links to texts, images and videos on Byzantium.
Byzantium in Crimea: Political History, Art and Culture.
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)

Miscellaneous

Byzantine Empire on In Our Time at the BBC
De Imperatoribus Romanis. Scholarly biographies of many Byzantine emperors.
The Fall of the Empire. Byzantine Lesson (2007). (Russian: Гибель империи. Византийский урок) A film explaining the political and economical reasons for the fall of the Empire, filmed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
12 Byzantine Rulers by Lars Brownworth of The Stony Brook School; audio lectures. NYTimes review.
18 centuries of Roman Empire by Howard Wiseman (Maps of the Roman/Byzantine Empire throughout its lifetime)

[1] Kazhdan & Epstein 1985, p. 1.

[FOOTNOTEMillar20062,_15James20105Freeman1999431,_435–437,_459–462BaynesMoss1948xxOstrogorsky196927Kaldellis20072–3KazhdanConstable198212Norwich1998383-2] Millar 2006, pp. 2, 15; James 2010, p. 5; Freeman 1999, pp. 431, 435–437, 459–462; Baynes & Moss 1948, p. xx; Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 27; Kaldellis 2007, pp. 2–3; Kazhdan & Constable 1982, p. 12; Norwich 1998, p. 383.

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