The Byzantine Empire lasted for a millennium after the fall of the Roman Empire, ending with the Ottoman conquests in 1453.
While the Roman Empire’s capital was Rome (for most of its history), the Byzantine Empire’s capital city was Constantinople, which was previously called Byzantium, and today is Istanbul. The capital was well-positioned near active trade routes connecting east and west. Constantinople was named after Emperor Constantine I, the first Byzantine emperor.In this article, we’re going to look at some of the continuities between the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
We’ll also examine some of the changes that occurred, transforming the Eastern Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire.The Roman Empire in the east transformed into the Byzantine Empire over time, so it’s pretty hard to neatly separate the histories of the two empires, but most scholars agree that Emperor Constantine’s reign was the start of the Byzantine Empire.