The early Eastern Empire is referred to today as the Byzantine Empire. The empire was located in Constantinople. The Empire, ruled by Arcadius, was wealthy and heavily populated. It was a Greek-speaking Christian state. This empire was very different from old Rome. Arcadius reigned from 408-450. ...

Constantinople: The Gateway City Constantinople was built in 330 CE, by the first Christian emperor, Constantine. Constantinople ruled much of the deserted Roman Empire many years after Constantine's death. Constantinople can be described as a Gateway City by its geographic features, the cult...

Constantinople: The Gateway City Constantinople was built in 330 CE, by the first Christian emperor, Constantine. Constantinople ruled much of the deserted Roman Empire many years after Constantine's death. Constantinople can be described as a Gateway City by its geographic features, th...

The Decline and Fall of Rome The Roman Empire stood in great power for many decades. For an extensive period of time Rome was considered the center of civilization. For the empire was beautiful and attracted many invaders, the walls surrounding the empire and of course the powerful army served as...

Scandinavian traders set up governments along their trade route at the city of Kiev. As the Kievan Russia and the Byzantium contacts grew, Kiev became a great trading center; Therefore Constantinople became a great trading center. The role of the East Orthodox religion was played in early Russian c...

Ostrogoths The Goths were Germanic people who probably migrated from Southern Scandinavia some time before the time of Christ. By the third century, the Goths had settled in the areas around the Black Sea. Those who settled in the area of the modern Ukraine came to be known as Ostrogoths. ...

In 476 AD, the fall of the Roman Empire marked the beginning of the Middle Ages. However, before its fall, the empire was divided into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. In 476, the "Western Roman Empire" fell, while the Eastern Roman Empire, whose capital became Constantinople, prese...

Introduction Carthage is an ancient city in the Mediterranean that was under Roman Rule and Christianity was spreading past; it had a vast history and many wars with Rome. It is located on the north shore of Africa at the tip of a peninsula near the city that is now known as Tunis, Tunisia. Phoenic...

Einhard, in his The Life of Charlemagne, makes clear the fundamental integration of politics and religion during the reign of his king. Throughout his life, Charles the Great endeavored to acquire and use religious power to his desired ends. But, if Charlemagne was the premiere monarch of the wes...

The idea of a global village in modern terms brings up thoughts of a world that is completely connected on each continent by telephone, media, and Internet. The idea of a small world has become a part of everyday life only recently. Although the world has not gotten smaller since the 13th centu...

1. Heraclius ID: Heraclius was born in Cappadocia, in Anatotlia, somewhere around 575. In 610, his father, the governor of Carthage (Africa), sent him to Constantinople to overthrow the tyrant Phocas. This venture was successful and Heraclius was proclaimed emperor on October 5, 610 Si...

The crusades Prior to the first crusade Europe was emerged in problems. Feudalism was strong, the population was growing and with the millennium approaching, a fear the world would end. With these problems and the uproar of religion, meant that words from powerful man could assemble an army, ...

The Byzantine Empire is sometimes referred to as the East Roman Empire. The word Byzantine, in fact, comes from "Byzantium," which is the Greek name for a city on the Bosphorus. It was established with the foundation of Constantinople, the capital. The Empire included parts of both southern and Ea...

The crusades Prior to the first crusade Europe was emerged in problems. Feudalism was strong, the population was growing and with the millennium approaching, a fear the world would end. With these problems and the uproar of religion, meant that words from powerful man could assemble an army...

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest societies in human history. For thousands of years it flourished, having it's troubled times, but mostly succeeding in setting a precedence for all future societies. Many of the ideas and systems created in the Roman Empire are with us today, especiall...

Christianity's history is filled with division, controversy, and conflict. One of the most important people who contributed to the lasting success of this diverse religion was Constantine. While legalizing Christianity in Roman society, he founded the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, Con...

"GREEK FIRE" The original Greek fire was an invention used as a weapon of the Eastern Roman Emperors. It is also said to have been invented by a Syrian engineer, one Callinicus, a refugee from Maalbek, in the seventh century. The Byzantines of Constantinople originally used ...

Ancient Greek and Roman civilization have made many lasting contributions to western civilization. Contributions such as law, religion, sports, and trade are present in western civilization because of Greece and Rome. Justinian's code was Roman law that was introduced by Justinian...

Peter Brown's The World of Late Antiquity The Late Antique period is recognized from AD 150 to 750. For many historians, the central focus of this era revolves around decline and fall; however, this is not the case for Peter Brown, author of 1971's The World of Late Antiquity. Brown ...

Collapse of Rome The Roman Empire is possibly the greatest Empire ever in the history of the world. For over a thousand years the Romans ruled and dominated the area around the Mediterranean as well as most of what is now Europe as well as Asia Minor or the Middle East. In Rome was found one of ...

The Crusades The Crusades were a series of revolutionary movements that started in the eleventh century. They marked the first time large numbers of believers left their homeland to carry their culture and religion to far away lands. The Crusades were made up of a combination of religious intere...

The Conflict Between Christendom And Islam Since Islam came into being, it has clashed numerously with the already established Christianity. Their rivalry has never ceased until today. Modern Examples would be Bosnia and Lebanon. There were not only military clashes but political...

The Conflict Between Christendom And Islam Since Islam came into being, it has clashed numerously with the already established Christianity. Their rivalry has never ceased until today. Modern Examples would be Bosnia and Lebanon. There were not only military clashes but political a...

Crusades In the Middle Ages, Christians considered Palestine the Holy Land because it was where Jesus had lived and taught. The Arabs had conquered Palestine in the 600s. Most Arabs were Muslims, but they usually tolerated other religions. Jews and Christians who paid their taxes and obse...

A lot happened with the papacy between the times of 500 and 1500 CE. It gained its significance as time went on, starting out as virtually nothing and ending up as a major power, ups and downs in between. These changes were due to both events and people, both outside and inside the Church. Essent...