Byzantine Empire

I chose the Byzantine Empire because of their overwhelming culture and wars with Muslims over the years. They were originally part of the Roman Empire until it was divided. Much of their people were Christians, who were also Greek-speaking. The Byzantine Empire existed for more than a thousand years. The empire declined in the fifteenth century, with the Ottomans conquering much of their land. The display below is in a scene within a casual living room of a family that may have lived in this period. It is surrounded by brick walls and hexagon-shaped tiles for the flooring. In the middle of the room is an authentic flower-decorated carpet. On top of it is a regular table with some real gold coins scattered all over it. The walls have two windows with curtains, a cross because they were Christians, and the official flag of the Byzantine Empire. There's also two couches, and a man is sleeping on one of them. By the other couch is the man's wife standing up, holding a new-born baby. I've learned much from these people. Their culture is rich with many customs. Their architecture was very complex and required some deep thinking and some hard workers. They took pride and time in making fabric such as that flower-covered carpet. Much of them were very religious too. And their government ruled fairly. Their emperor had absolute power and their government was based upon diplomacy. They traded with Italians and their art was based on realism. Through these trades, their art of realism spread to Italy, in the time of the Italian