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In 330 A.D., the first Christian ruler of the Roman empire, Constantine the Great, transferred the imperial capital from Rome to the ancient city of Byzantion, renaming it Constantinople. The state ruled from that city would come to be called Byzantium, although the citizens described themselves as Rhomaioi rather than Byzantines, as they considered themselves the inheritors of the ancient Roman empire.

The Beginning of Byzantium
The first golden age of the empire, the Early Byzantine period, extended from the founding of the new capital into the 700s. Christianity replaced the gods of antiquity as the official religion of the culturally and religiously diverse state in the late 300s. Byzantium's educated elite used Roman law and Greek and Roman culture to maintain a highly organized government centered on its great cities. The artistic traditions of the wealthy state extended throughout the empire, including the southernmost province of Egypt. In the 600s, Persian and Arab invasions devastated much of Byzantium’s eastern territories. In the 700s and early 800s, the Iconoclastic controversy raged over the proper use of religious images, resulting in extensive destruction of icons.

Middle and Late Byzantium
The resolution of the Iconoclastic controversy in favor of the use of icons ushered in a second flowering of the empire, the Middle Byzantine period (843–1261). The arts flourished, Greek became the dominant official language, and Christianity spread from Constantinople throughout the Slavic lands to the north. In 1204, Crusaders from western Europe took Constantinople, founding the Latin Empire, which lasted until 1261, when Byzantine rule was reestablished. The final great artistic flowering that followed lasted until Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, more than 1,100 years after its founding. Long after its fall, Byzantium set a standard for luxury, beauty, and learning that inspired both the Latin West and the Islamic East.

Citation for this page

Brooks, Sarah. "Byzantium (ca. 330–1453)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byza/hd_byza.htm (October 2001)

Suggested Further Readings Find these publications in a library

Bowersock, G. W., Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar, eds. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1999.
Brown, Peter. The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150–750. New York: Norton, 1989.
Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom, eds. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
Evans, Helen C., ed. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.
Geanakoplos, Deno John, comp. Byzantium: Church, Society, and Civilization Seen Through Contemporary Eyes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Herrin, Judith. The Formation of Christendom. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Kazhdan, Alexander P., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Krautheimer, Richard. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. 4th ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986.
Lowden, John. Early Christian & Byzantine Art. New York: Phaidon, 1997.
Mango, Cyril. The Art of the Byzantine Empire, 312–1453: Sources and Documents. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972.
Mango, Cyril. Byzantine Architecture. New York: Rizzoli, 1985.
Mango, Cyril, ed. The Oxford History of Byzantium. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Mathews, Thomas F. The Art of Byzantium: Between Antiquity and the Renaissance. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998.
Mathews, Thomas F. The Clash of Gods. A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Nicol, Donald M. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453. London: Hart-Davis, 1972.
Ostrogorsky, George. History of the Byzantine State. Rev. ed., p. 44. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1969.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979.
Whittow, Mark. The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.

Suggested Online Resources

A rich selection of primary source accounts on Byzantium.

Related exhibitions and online features
    Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

    Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)
    The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions
    Reopening of the Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries for Byzantine Art and the Medieval Europe Gallery

    Other Online Features

    Byzantium: Faith and Power, 1261–1557 (2004 exhibition)
    The Glory of Byzantium (1996 exhibition)

Related information by department

The Cloisters: Features and Exhibitions; Collection Database