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Most history books will tell you the Roman Empire fell in the fifth century CE.
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But this would've come as a great surprise to the millions of people
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who lived in the Roman Empire up through the Middle Ages.
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This medieval Roman Empire,
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which we usually refer to today as the Byzantine Empire,
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began in 330 CE.
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That's when Constantine, the first Christian emperor,
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moved the capital of the Roman Empire to a new city called Constantinople,
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which he founded on the site of the ancient Greek city Byzantion.
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When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410
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and the Empire's western provinces were conquered by barbarians,
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Constantine's Eastern capital remained the seat of the Roman emperors.
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There, generations of emperors ruled for the next 11 centuries.
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Sharing continuity with the classical Roman Empire
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gave the Byzantine empire a technological and artistic advantage over its neighbors,
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whom Byzantines considered barbarians.
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In the ninth century, visitors from beyond the frontier
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were astonished at the graceful stone arches and domes
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of the imperial palace in Constantinople.
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A pair of golden lions flanked the imperial throne.
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A hidden organ would make the lions roar as guests fell on their knees.
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Golden birds sung from a nearby golden tree.
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Medieval Roman engineers even used hydraulic engines
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to raise the imperial throne high into the air.
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Other inherited aspects of ancient Roman culture
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could be seen in emperors' clothing,
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from traditional military garb to togas,
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and in the courts,
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which continued to use Roman law.
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Working-class Byzantines would've also had similar lives
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to their Ancient Roman counterparts;
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many farmed or plied a specific trade,
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such as ceramics,
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leatherworking,
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fishing,
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weaving,
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or manufacturing silk.
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But, of course, the Byzantine Empire
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didn't just rest on the laurels of Ancient Rome.
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Their artists innovated, creating vast mosaics and ornate marble carvings.
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Their architects constructed numerous churches,
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one of which, called Hagia Sophia,
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had a dome so high it was said to be hanging on a chain from heaven.
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The Empire was also home to great intellectuals such as Anna Komnene.
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As imperial princess in the 12th century,
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Anna dedicated her life to philosophy and history.
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Her account of her father's reign is historians' foremost source
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for Byzantine political history at the time of the first crusade.
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Another scholar, Leo the Mathematician,
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invented a system of beacons that ran the width of the empire—
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what's now Greece and Turkey.
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Stretching more than 700 kilometers,
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this system allowed the edge of the Empire to warn the emperor of invading armies
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within one hour of sighting them at the border.
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But their advances couldn't protect the Empire forever.
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In 1203, an army of French and Venetian Crusaders
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made a deal with a man named Alexios Angelos.
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Alexios was the son of a deposed emperor,
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and promised the crusaders vast riches
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and support to help him retake the throne from his uncle.
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Alexios succeeded, but after a year,
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the population rebelled and Alexios himself was deposed and killed.
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So Alexios's unpaid army turned their aggression on Constantinople.
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They lit massive fires,
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which destroyed countless works of ancient and medieval art and literature,
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leaving about one-third of the population homeless.
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The city was reclaimed 50 years later by the Roman Emperor Michael Palaiologos,
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but his restored Empire never regained all the territory
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the Crusaders had conquered.
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Finally, in 1453, Ottoman Emperor Mehmed the Conqueror captured Constantinople,
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bringing a conclusive end to the Roman Empire.
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Despite the Ottoman conquest,
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many Greek-speaking inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean
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continued to call themselves Romans until the early 21st century.
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In fact, it wasn't until the Renaissance
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that the term “Byzantine Empire” was first used.
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For Western Europeans,
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the Renaissance was about reconnecting with the wisdom of antiquity.
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And since the existence of a medieval Roman Empire
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suggested there were Europeans who'd never lost touch with antiquity,
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Western Europeans wanted to draw clear lines between the ages.
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To better distinguish the classical, Latin-speaking, pagan Roman Empire
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from the medieval, Greek-speaking, Christian Roman Empire,
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scholars renamed the latter group Byzantines.
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And thus, 100 years after it had fallen, the Byzantine Empire was born.