The Byzantine Period

Abstract

The period in Western Asian history from the fourthto the mid-seventh centuries ad is variously referredto as 'Roman', 'Late Roman', 'Late Antiquity' or'Byzantine'. The term 'Byzantine' is used here, following the refined period division of Levantine archaeologists to distinguish the last centuries of the easternRoman empire before the Islamic conquest. There isno historically formal beginning for the period, thechoice being one of scholarly convenience. The yearad 324, when Constantine I founded the new imperialcapital of Constantinople, provides a logical marker.The eponymous site, at the junction between Asia andEurope, was the old Greek settlement of Byzantion. Thefocus of administration of the Roman empire movedfrom Rome to centre on the Balkans and the easternMediterranean. It is from here that a Christian andprimarily Greek-speaking state evolved.