Furthermore, challenges our Eurocentric view of history. It was a Christian empire that spoke Greek, used Roman law, and engaged constantly with Persia, the Arab world, and the Turks. It was a multicultural melting pot where an Illyrian (Justinian), an Armenian (Maurice), an Isaurian (Leo III), and a Macedonian (Basil I) could all ascend the throne.

When the Ottomans took the city, Greek scholars fled west to Italy with their trunk-loads of Plato and Aristotle. Those refugees triggered the . Without Byzantium, there would have been no Leonardo da Vinci, no Shakespeare, no Age of Enlightenment.

If you enjoyed this deep dive into Byzantium, consider exploring the works of Procopius, Anna Komnene (the world’s first female historian), or the stunning architecture of Ravenna, Italy, where Byzantine art is preserved in its purest form.

The people of Byzantium never called themselves "Byzantines." They called themselves Rhomaioi —Romans. And in many ways, they were right to.

This is a historical injustice. While Western Europe collapsed into the Dark Ages following the fall of Rome (476 CE), was thriving.

The origins of this empire began with a radical shift in the fourth century. In 330 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great made a decision that would alter the course of history: he moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople. Strategically located on the Bosporus Strait, the city sat at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, controlling the lucrative trade routes between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. While the Western Roman Empire eventually succumbed to internal decay and external invasions in 476 AD, the Eastern half—which we now call the Byzantine Empire—flourished.