Rome Vs. Byzantine Empire Compare and Contrast

After the collapse of the romish imperium in 476 C.E., much of the Mediterranean basin was in disorder with no leadership. Germanic tribes from the patronage union had conquered the exit emperor and claimed the land their own. But in the easterly hemisphere, a new conglomerate was blooming, the gnarled imperium. The involved conglomerate was some(prenominal) uniform and divergent from the previous papistical conglomerate, and its corkingest puzzle outr, Justinian, do it his main ambition to incur the confounded territory, and situation of jacket of Italy.         The empire of Byzantium was the still neoclassical empire to survive the preposterous every(prenominal)y surd period of clip some 500 days aft(prenominal) the turn of the millennium. Problems such as epidemics, dioceanses, declining populations, economic contraction totally contributed to fall of capital of Italy. Political turmoil, social unrest, and outside military threats in like manner ravaged the late roman marking conglomerate, causing its demise. Yet Byzantium neckd to pack onto power end-to-end this time because it controlled legion(predicate) key sea routes coming to and from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The snarly empire in addition had m any of its roads and weewee ship track still intact, as healthy as methods of keen-sighted distance communication, with a set of authoritative institutions from the exist popish empire. Byzantium became a prosperous center of commerce. Because of these economic and semi governmental strongholds, Byzantium speedily gained recognition as an empire that produced fine manufacture goods including silk and items of interest. This utilisation of economic strength is similar to the type of saving that the preliminary papistic Empire relied on. Rome was very well(p) know for its manufacture goods, offering items of coarse trade prise such as glassware, jewelry, bronze items, linen and wo ol textiles, agitate tools, and pottery. Th! us, the winding Empire carried on the romish legacy of healthy dependence on industry and trade (Marston 80, Evans 121, Adkins 254). roman letters standard of practice of well-grounded philosophy and deflect were also carried on by the knotteds tangled ambassadors and representatives traveled east and introduced writing, Christianity, law write in codes, and political organization to Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe stretching to regions of western Russia. This helped integrate many different cultures into one, thus convey unification to the area east of the Mediterranean. This way of spreading different concepts to areas neighboring the convolute Empire goes top in hand with the format the Romans apply. This influenced stirred some(prenominal) the areas of Northern Africa and Western Europe the alike(p) way it touched the Roman Empire. The introduction of multi heathenceish fundamental interaction with contact lands helped yield in the advancement of the By zantine Empire in ways similar to how the Romans rose to power. Remarkably, the Byzantines built an Empire that was cheeseparingly similar to the Romans in how they ruled themselves. Both empires had governments that were center tightly nearly a strong centralized political system, with an emperor overseeing political, military, judicial, financial, and religious issues. The latter emperor, Constantine of Byzantium, also carried on the Roman tradition of exuberant spending, building a new capitol fill with museums, libraries, and artistic treasures. In addition, he constructed glorious marble churches, palaces, reality buildings, and baths (Evans 103). These instances of government, as well as cases of how emperors lived, show further similarities in the midst of the Byzantine and Roman Empires. Although there were many similarities amidst the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Empire, there were also sundry(a) divagations. Perhaps the most enceinte difference is establish ed in the way the Byzantines ruled tracts of their e! mpire in comparison to the way the Romans ruled portions of their empire. The Byzantines true political and social ad howeverments in the reflection of Islamic conquests (something Romans never had to impart with for a very big time). The arrangement that Byzantine rulers serene was called the beginning system. Under the theme system, a portion of the empire (a theme) was placed under the influence of a general. This general took on the role of overseeing his themes military vindication structures as well as its civil administrations. These generals were subject to close supervision by the government, to go on the possibility of decentalisation of power and authority. The generals would recruit armies from free kids who would therefore quickly trick up to counter any possible outpouring from invaders. This system undischargedly strengthened Byzantiums defensive military go abouts, and strengthen the peasant class, resulting in greater agriethnical production (Ad kins 302, Evans 98, Catholic Encyclopedia). A secondly difference between the Byzantines and the Romans is revealed the way their military systems operated. The Romans oft apply their military in an offensive manner up until the last few centuries before the collapse of the empire. Romes vast armies oft crusaded against surrounding settlements to gain territory and expand their bulky realm. The Byzantines, however, regularly used their military in a defensive manner. surround civilizations such as the Sasanid Empire comm just now threatened the Byzantines, as did far-flung Islamic conquests. Therefore, the Byzantines spent much time and effort on developing defensive tools and techniques. One tool they developed was a variation of a flamethrower that became known as Greek move (Adkins 222). This heavy weapon used sulphur, lime, and petroleum to literally shine mow crusadelines of trespassing(a) enemies. The fire from this weapon also burn on the surface of water. Th us, if an attack was approaching by sea, the Byzantin! e armies could deploy the use of this weapon, and either halt the precedence of these ships, or, the most usual effect, simply burn the ship and the men in the water. This weapon gave the Byzantines a distinctive defensive edge, and also helped raise the difference between their battle styles, and those of the Romans. An interesting difference between the Byzantines and the Romans throne be observed in the general cultures of each(prenominal) society. For example, the bureaucrats in Roman government were not particularly loud or showy (with the exception of Julius Creaser). All officials, including the emperor, dressed in simple etiolated robes. This was in great contrast to the ways in which Byzantine emperors presented themselves. In the sixth century C.E., Byzantine emperors became exalted, absolute rulers. Therefore, they were portray in a manner that distinctly presented their status. The emperors wore a profoundly bejeweled crown, and dressed in elaborate silk robe s coloured dark, rich purple. colour was reserved only for persons associated with the ruling house, as it was a color signifying power. As a result, it was forbidden for anyone else to vesture it. An other example of the Byzantine courts sophisticated approach to everyday affairs was the way in which even high subjects presented themselves to the emperor. onward saying anything to him, they had to level themselves three times, and then kiss the emperors hold and feet (Marston 74). After this, then they could begin to discuss their business with the majestic ruler. Complex intromissions were not reserved for subjects either. By the tenth century C.E. the emperor himself had engineers inclination devices that created stunning effects and awed irrelevant visitors. In front of an audience, the imperial throne itself sometimes locomote up and low-spirited to accentuate the exalted status of the emperor. These cultural examples of imperial presentation and dress further h ighlight differences between the Byzantine and Roman ! Empires. The most noteworthy emperor to rule the early Byzantine Empire was Justinian (527-656 C.E.). Justinian is best recognized for his tuition of a springy code of laws that came to govern the Byzantine Empire for centuries after his rule. These laws preserve to be an cardinal reference to establishments of law today. This Code of law, which Justinian called the corpus iuris civilis (Body of the Civil Law), was based upon the codification of Roman law (Evans 154). most immediately after he became emperor, Justinian coherent a organized evaluation of Roman law that was to a greater goal detailed than ever before. Justinians law code came to influence incidental emperors, and also served as the basis for many law codes to harmonize in western Europe. Yet the development of a revise code of law was not Justinians most determined undertaking. Justinians greatest efforts went into the attempt of trying to recover the Western Roman Empire from Germanic tribes. His dre am was to bring back Roman influence throughout the regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. To accomplish his dream, he name his highest general, Belisarius, to hazard on a series of military campaigns that would regain the lost land of the Roman Empire. By the end of Justinians reign in 565 C.E., he had reclaimed a large portion of the classical Roman Empire. Unfortunately, Byzantium did not discombobulate the resources to uphold the gains of their armys conquests. The Byzantines did, however, manage to claim the capitol city of Rome. Consequently, Rome became the headquarters of Byzantine power in Western Europe. The efforts of Justinian to reclaim the power of the Romans in the Mediterranean were only partially successful. He and Belisarius did regain the city of Rome itself, only they did not possess the resources to sustain their gains on any other front against the invading Germanic tribes, failing just as Rome did years prior. After the downfall of the great Roma n Empire in 476 C.E. at the hands of invading Germani! c tribes, Rome was in ruins politically, economically, and physically. But on the eastern European front, The Byzantine Empire was just beginning to flourish. many an(prenominal) similarities and differences in aspects of military, political, economic, and cultural principles were revealed between the Byzantines and the Romans. The emperor Justinian of Byzantium tried to slang his dream of recover the lost Roman Empire, though his efforts only proved partly successful. However, his most contemporarily relevant work, Justinians code, remains an important basis for the shaping of laws in societies around the world to this day. hopefully historians will continue to uncover details about these great societies and their rulers, and further better our knowledge of the postclassical period of Europe. Works Cited Adkins, Lesley and Roy. tip over take to Life in antiquated Rome. saucy York: Oxford University disturb; Reprint edition, 1998. Very good source I had on ha nd. I like the fact that it was a huge accommodate and could open to any page to learn fearful facts of Rome. Evans, throng Allan. The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire (Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the superannuated World). New York Greenwood Press: 2005. If you looking for a perfect book to pull out the title in amazing details, this is the book for you. It was great to have a good source as utilitarian as this for writing this paper. The Byzantine Empire. Catholic Encyclopedia. © 2003Robert Appleton Company. 17 Feb. 2005 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03096a.htm.          Marston, Elsa. The Byzantine Empire (Cultures of the Past). New York: Benchmark Books: 1990.          If you wishing to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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