The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. Initially the eastern half of the Roman Empire (often called the Eastern Roman Empire in this context), it survived the 5th century fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms applied in later centuries; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire , and Romania .
After Manzikert, a partial recovery (referred to as the Komnenian restoration) was made possible by the Komnenian dynasty. The first Komnenian emperor was Isaac I (1057–1059), after which the Doukas ...
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus (born at 1056 – died at 15 August 1118, though some sources list his date of birth as 1048), was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he ...
Saints Cyril and Methodius, were 9th-century Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessalonica, Greek Macedonia, in the Byzantine Empire. They were the principal Christian missionaries among the Slavic ...
Basil II (born at 958 – died 15 December 1025) was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the ...
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on ...
Justinian I (born at 482 – died at 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine (east Roman) emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the ...
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