The Cultural Impact of the Byzantine Empire
It’s a shame that “Byzantine,” when not used in reference to the Eastern Roman Empire, tends to have a negative connotation. Not only did the Byzantine Empire last for over a thousand years, it reached out so far that countries from Libya to Bulgaria and Slovenia to Egypt can claim a legacy from it, keeping the fallen West safe from invading barbarians until the time of its own spectacular decline.
When you realize that, it is especially shameful that the West no longer considered the Eastern Roman Empire any sort of “Roman Empire” at all, naming it the “Byzantine Empire” after its capital in Byzantium, in Greece. Meanwhile, despite the obligatory political turmoil in the East, scholars were tending to the flames of knowledge and would until the fall of Constantinople.
Why would the West no longer consider the East part of the Roman Empire, and when did they become separate entities in the first place? This is the first part of determining the legacy of the Byzantines.
The split was brought about by Emperor Diocletian, not because of war or arguments, but because he was a shrewd man who saw that the Roman Empire was too big. It was collapsing upon itself, too large to withstand its constant invasions and bloody political ordeals. In a decisive action, he gave the western half of the Roman Empire to a friend named Maximian, appointing him as Augustus, or “senior emperor.” Then, in 293, establishing what would be called the Tetrarchy, he appointed two junior emperors, called Caesares.
Not only had he revolutionized the way the Roman Empire would be run, he also had neatly given himself and Maximian the means to succession in the Caesares. Usually, the heir of the emperor was chosen as the successor, but if there had been no heir produced, the entire empire would be thrown into chaos until a suitable one battled his way through. When Diocletian and Maximian voluntarily abdicated their thrones – another unprecedented move – their Caesares, respectively Galerius and
When you realize that, it is especially shameful that the West no longer considered the Eastern Roman Empire any sort of “Roman Empire” at all, naming it the “Byzantine Empire” after its capital in Byzantium, in Greece. Meanwhile, despite the obligatory political turmoil in the East, scholars were tending to the flames of knowledge and would until the fall of Constantinople.
Why would the West no longer consider the East part of the Roman Empire, and when did they become separate entities in the first place? This is the first part of determining the legacy of the Byzantines.
The split was brought about by Emperor Diocletian, not because of war or arguments, but because he was a shrewd man who saw that the Roman Empire was too big. It was collapsing upon itself, too large to withstand its constant invasions and bloody political ordeals. In a decisive action, he gave the western half of the Roman Empire to a friend named Maximian, appointing him as Augustus, or “senior emperor.” Then, in 293, establishing what would be called the Tetrarchy, he appointed two junior emperors, called Caesares.
Not only had he revolutionized the way the Roman Empire would be run, he also had neatly given himself and Maximian the means to succession in the Caesares. Usually, the heir of the emperor was chosen as the successor, but if there had been no heir produced, the entire empire would be thrown into chaos until a suitable one battled his way through. When Diocletian and Maximian voluntarily abdicated their thrones – another unprecedented move – their Caesares, respectively Galerius and
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