The Entire History of the Byzantine Empire

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476. The Eastern half, ruled from Constantinople, lasted another 977 years. Why did the East survive when the West fell, and why did it finally end on 29 May 1453? This is the entire history of the Byzantine Empire on one map: Constantine’s new capital, Justinian’s reconquest, the Persian and Arab wars, Greek fire, iconoclasm, Basil II, Manzikert, the Fourth Crusade, the Palaiologan twilight and the siege of 1453. Chapters 0:00 Introduction 1:16 The New Rome 4:09 Justinian’s Gamble 6:41 The Great Contraction 10:17 Fire and Icons 12:41 The Second Golden Age 15:22 The Road to Manzikert 17:28 Crusaders at the Gate 19:51 The Empire in Pieces 21:10 The Long Twilight 24:17 1453 26:53 Why It Lasted About the maps Historical borders are approximate and simplified. They were drawn by hand for this video from reference maps; the base map is Natural Earth (public domain). Area figures in the narration are published estimates. Figures were checked against Wikipedia (English): Byzantine Empire; Constantinople; Walls of Constantinople; Hagia Sophia; Justinian I; Plague of Justinian; Heraclius; Battle of the Yarmuk; Greek fire; Siege of Constantinople (717–718); Byzantine Iconoclasm; Battle of Pliska; Byzantine–Bulgarian wars; Basil II; Varangian Guard; Battle of Kleidion; Battle of Manzikert; Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty; Sack of Constantinople; Empire of Trebizond; Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty; Fall of Constantinople Further reading Judith Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society Roger Crowley, 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West Images Mosaics, manuscripts, paintings, coins and photographs are from Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain unless listed here. Each image is credited on screen. Mosaic of Theodoric's Palace, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy (6124834801): Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0 Yeşil camii -Bursa - panoramio (4): HALUK COMERTEL, CC BY 3.0 Dardanelles Gun Turkish Bronze: Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0 Hippodrome of Constantinople and Obelisk of Theodosius on Sultanahmet Meydanı square (8396071658): Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0 Hagia Sophia's ⌀ 30.6m main dome (8396115188): Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0 Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (52112275239): Ninara, CC BY 2.0 Central nave - Hagia Sophia (8291196158): Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0 Disco de Teodosio: Ángel M. Felicísimo, CC BY 3.0 Theodosian Wall (AP4M2130 1PS) (28977603682): Alexandru Panoiu from Bucharest, Romania, CC BY 2.0 Narration is a synthetic voice (ElevenLabs). Music and sound effects were generated with ElevenLabs. No AI-generated images are used in this video. #Byzantium #History #Maps