The Byzantine Empire resulted from a reorganization of the Roman Empire. Constantine I transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium in 330 C. E.; it became known as Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The empire was divided into the Eastern Roman and Western Roman Empires under two emperors in 395. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 the Eastern Empire endured for almost a millennium, the stage typically referred to by historians as Byzantine, with
Varying boundaries for its vast territory in southern Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa. The core of the empire consisted of the Balkans and Asia Minor. The empire’s political structure was Roman, as were most of its leaders (or, if born elsewhere in the empire, they were at least Romanized), and its official language Latin. Its prevalent language and much of its culture were Greek, however. Its religion was Orthodox Christianity, known as Greek Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox. Inhabitants of the vast territory that made up the empire considered themselves Rhomaioi, or Romans. Western Europeans, who had their own Roman Empire, thought of them as Greeks or Orientals. But the empire was a melting pot of many peoples. For the sake of convenience, and in distinguishing between Roman history
World History
