The Byzantine Empire

The purpose of this course is to explain the nature and history of the Byzantine Empire. It uses images and a spoken narrative and explanation of events.

Between 330 AD and 1453, Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was the capital of the Roman Empire, otherwise known as the Later Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Mediaeval Roman Empire, or The Byzantine Empire. For most of this time, it was the largest and richest city in Christendom. The territories of which it was the central capital enjoyed better protections of life, liberty and property, and a higher standard of living, than any other Christian territory, and usually compared favourably with the neighbouring and rival Islamic empires. It was a unique fusion of the Later Roman State and the Christian Church. After an early period, in which it was seen as just the Roman Empire with a new faith and a new capital, and in which Latin remained the language of law and administration, it gradually transitioned to a Greek Orthodox nation state, absolutely distinct from mediaeval Christendom in the West and from the realms of Islam. Its durability throughout its thousand years of existence is attested by its survival of climatic disaster, plague, demographic collapse, and one apparently final destruction.

Subjects covered include:

· The foundation of the City and establishment of the Christian Faith

· Survival and growth of the Eastern Empire in what was otherwise and age of collapse

· The failed glory that was the Age of Justinian

· The Persian War and the Islamic explosion

· The long recovery after about 700

· The decline of the Empire after 1025

· Recovery after the Crusader sack of 1204

· The long decline and the final Turkish conquest

Other subject touched on are the various theological disputes and changes in the Greek language.

The course is delivered by an experienced university lecturer who has written widely on ancient and Byzantine history.