Byzantine Empire: All Data

This page is about the data available for this polity, the chronology of the events of the polity is available here.

The Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It originated in 395 AD with the final division of the Empire after the death of Theodosius I. The Empire probably divided because it was too large to be administered from one center of power. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist. The Empire officially ended with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, its capital, in 1453. However, the Eastern Roman Empire had several phases of territorial expansion and loss. After the Fall of its Western counterpart, Emperor Justinian was able to reconquer much of the territories its western counterpart had lost, including Italy, North Africa and southern Spain. Starting with the reign of Heracluius in 610 we change the denomination of the country to Byzantine Empire, because at this point it was a radically different country with a different language, a different legal system and a different territorial organization than the Roman Empire. During the Fourth Crusade (1204) Western European Kingdoms conquered Constantinople, leading to the fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire into Byzantine successor states and vassal polities of the western European conquerors. This may be considered the end of the Byzantine power in the Mediterranean Basin. The Byzantine Empire only resurfaced at the end of the the XIII century, much reduced in size. Also the traditional end of the Empire in 1453 is matter of dispute, as several successor states (like the Despotate of Morea) continued to exist for some time.