Byzantine Empire and Roman Culture
11th Grade · Social Studies · 45 min
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Learning Objective
Students will be able to identify three ways the Byzantine Empire preserved Roman culture.
- 1
Emperor Constantine reunited the Roman Empire in 324 AD and built a new capital at Constantinople, which became the heart of the Eastern Roman Empire.
- 2
Under Emperor Justinian I, the Eastern Roman Empire reached its height, reforming the law and retaking lost lands, though wars and plagues took their toll.
- 3
The Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium, preserved ancient knowledge, refined Roman law, and guarded Christianity, outliving the Western Roman Empire by nearly a thousand years until its fall in 1453.
