military victories

trade

alliances with Western Europe

secret operations by secret police

Islam

Judaism

Roman Catholicism

Orthodox Christianity

its leaders were granted the title of "Pope" and ruled the Catholic Church

it adopted and furthered much of the culture of the Byzantine Empire, which was an extension of the ancient Roman empire

It created an empire surrounding the Mediterranean

it had lots of cities named Rome within its borders

It was conquered by the Mongol Golden Horde under Batu Khan

Moscovy grew to become the center of Russian culture and power

Yaroslav the Wise gave up his throne to Charlemagne

Military threats caused trade routes to divert away from Kiev, hurting merchants