The Byzantine Empire

CONSTANTINOPLE became the sole capitol of the empire and remained so until the successful revival of the western empire in the 8th century by Charlemagne.

	The CODE revised imperial edicts issued since the 2nd century.
	The NOVELLAE (new things) contained the decrees issued by Justinian and his immediate successors.
	The DIGEST was a summary of the major opinions of the old legal experts.
	The INSTITUTES was a textbook for young scholars that drew its lessons from the Code and the Digest.

These works had little immediate effect on medieval common law.  However, beginning with the Renaissance, they provided the foundation for most subsequent European law down to the 19th century. They especially served well those rulers who aspired to centralize their states.

	Since the 5th century, the patriarch of Constantinople had crowned emperors in Constantinople. This practice reflected the close ties between rulers and the Church.
	In 380, Christianity had been proclaimed the OFFICIAL RELIGION of the eastern empire. All other religions and sects were denounced as "demented and insane."
	Between the 4th and 6th centuries, the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem acquired enormous wealth in the form of land and gold. The Church, in turn, acted as the state's welfare agency to aid the poor and needy. The prestige and comfort that the clergy enjoyed swelled the clerical ranks of the Eastern church.

At one time or another the Christian heresies of Arianism, Monophysitism, and Iconoclasm also received imperial support.

	Arianism denied that the Father and Son were equal and coeternal and was declared a heresy by the Council of Nicea (325).
	MONOPHYSITISM (mö-noph´-y-sit-ism) taught that Jesus had only one nature, a composite divine-human one, not the fully human and fully divine dual nature that orthodox doctrine taught. Empress Theodora lent her support to this heresy. After her death, the imperial government persecuted them as heretics, a policy that cost the empire when Persian and Arab armies besieged its eastern frontiers in the 7th century. Bitter over their treatment, the Monophysites (mö-noph´-y-sïtes) offered little resistance to the invaders.
	ICONOCLASM forbid the use of images (icons) of the sacred personages of Christianity, including Christ and all the saints, because it led to idolatry.

Orthodox Christianity was not the only religion within the empire with a significant following.  The empire was also home to large numbers of Jews.

	Between the 4th and 5th centuries, councils of about 200 members, made up of local wealthy landowners governed the cities. They were not necessarily loyal to the emperor.
	By the 6th century, special GOVERNORS AND BISHOPS, appointed from the landholding classes, replaced the councils and proved to be more reliable instruments of the emperor's will.

The most popular ENTERTAINMENTS were the theater, frequently denounced by the clergy for nudity and immorality, and the races at the hippodrome. Many public taverns existed as well.

The Byzantines were also a major CONDUIT OF CLASSICAL LEARNING AND SCIENCE into the West down to the Renaissance. While western Europeans were fumbling to create a culture of their own, the cities of the Byzantine Empire provided them a model of a civilized society.