Byzantine Empire: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026

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Rare Byzantine icons make US debut at Museum of the Bible in Washington • Nov. 7, 2026, 5:05 AM ET (The Baltimore Sun)

Facts

Also Known As	Eastern Roman Empire • Byzantium • East Rome

Photos

Hagia Sophia: mosaic

Map showing the changing boundaries of the Byzantine Empire around the eastern Mediterranean. Three areas are marked: the largest outline shows the empire's greatest extent under Justinian I (527-565), a medium pink area shows the empire in about 1020, and a smaller red area shows the empire in about 1360. Key regions include Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, and parts of Italy, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean coast, with Constantinople marked as the capital.

Red porphyry statue group of four Roman emperors, known as the Tetrarchs, standing in pairs and embracing, set against a marble wall in Venice.

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Topics

Eastern Orthodoxy Roman law Dome of the Rock Byzantine art monophysite Hippodrome Monothelite Greek fire theme Farmer’s Law Ottoman Empire Soviet Union Holy Roman Empire Roman Empire Third Reich British Empire ancient Egypt East Germany Prussia ancient Greek civilization

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Major Events

Map showing the changing boundaries of the Byzantine Empire around the eastern Mediterranean. Three areas are marked: the largest outline shows the empire's greatest extent under Justinian I (527-565), a medium pink area shows the empire in about 1020, and a smaller red area shows the empire in about 1360. Key regions include Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, and parts of Italy, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean coast, with Constantinople marked as the capital.

Fall of Constantinople

Kerbogha Besieges Antioch in 1098

Siege of Antioch

Kosovo Memorial

Battle of Kosovo

Etruscan Necropolis

Siege of Rome

Historical map showing the Rum Seljuq Sultanate in Anatolia around 1100, with shaded regions indicating territory at that time and later conquests or annexations from neighboring states up to 1240. Key cities, battle sites with years, and the boundary of the sultanate in 1243 are marked. An inset map at upper right displays the broader Seljuq Empire and its protectorates around 1080, highlighting the Sultanate of Rum within the larger context of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Battle of Manzikert

Heraclius, Eastern Roman Emperor

Battle of Yarmouk

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Iconoclastic Controversy

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Battle of Myriocephalon

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Rhodian Sea Law

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Battle of Poson

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Battle of Mons Lactarius

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Battle of Taginae

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Siege of Bari

Trabzon: Aya Sofya

Trabzon

Turkey

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despotate of Epirus

Byzantine principality, Europe

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Tauric Chersonese

ancient region, Ukraine

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Exarchate of Carthage

historical province, Africa

Asia (Roman province)

Asia

ancient Roman province

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Despotate of Morea

historical principality, Greece

Anazarbus

Anazarbus

Turkey

Dalmatia

Dalmatia

region, Croatia

Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt.

ancient Egypt

ancient civilization

Stone ruins and two standing column fragments remain at the site of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Turkey, with grassy fields and distant buildings in the background.

Ephesus

ancient city, Turkey

Istanbul

Istanbul

Turkey

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Middle East

Map showing the maximum territorial extent of the Roman Empire in AD 117, shaded in yellow, spanning from western Europe and North Africa to the Near East. Major rivers and seas are labeled, and various symbols mark the locations of Roman colonies and municipia established during the Pre-Caesarian, Caesarian, and Augustan periods. The boundary at the death of Emperor Trajan is highlighted.

Roman Empire

ancient state [27 bce-476 ce]

Sicily, Italy

Sicily

island, Italy

Byzantine church of Áyios (Saint) Dimítrios, Thessaloníki, Greece

Thessaloníki

Greece

Key People

Constantine I

Constantine I

Roman emperor

Mosaic detail of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, wearing ornate robes, from the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

Justinian I

Byzantine emperor

Diocletian

Diocletian

Roman emperor

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon

British historian

Heraclius

Heraclius

Byzantine emperor

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Muʿāwiyah I

Umayyad caliph

Leo III

Leo III

Byzantine emperor

Attila

Attila

king of the Huns

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Nicephorus II Phocas

Byzantine emperor

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Michael VIII Palaeologus

Byzantine emperor

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Basil II

Byzantine emperor

Belisarius

Belisarius

Byzantine general

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Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus

Byzantine emperor

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St. Gregory Palamas

Greek theologian

Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine emperor 1081–1118, detail of an illumination from a Greek manuscript; in the Vatican Library (Cod. Vat. Gr. 666).

Alexius I Comnenus

Byzantine emperor

Byzantine emperor

Basil I

Byzantine emperor

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J.B. Bury

British scholar

Pelagius I

Pelagius I

pope

Theodora

Theodora

Byzantine empress [died 548]

Manuel I Comnenus

Manuel I Comnenus

Byzantine emperor

Statue of of the Roman emperor Nero with the lighthouse in the background at Anzio, Lazio region, Italy

Roman and Byzantine Emperors Quiz

Overlooking the Roman Forum with Temple of Saturn in Rome, Italy

The Roman Empire