Byzantine Empire

Standards & Student Objectives

10.1.3 Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion

and ultimate

disintegration of the Roman Empire

Students will be able to describe the factors that contributed to the

decline of the Byzantine Empire.

Key Vocabulary

Crisis - a time of intense difficulty or danger.
Plague - a contagious bacterial disease characterized by
fever and dangerous sickness.
Barbarians - (in ancient times) a member of a people not
belonging to one of the “great” civilizations (Greek,
Roman).
Persians - a native or inhabitant of ancient or modern
Persia (Iran), or a person of Persian descent.
Ottoman - a member of a Turkish dynasty founded by
Osman I that ruled the Ottoman Empire

Warm up Activity: Analyze the Quote

“Either I conquer
Istanbul or Istanbul
conquers me."

-Sultan Mehmed II The
Conqueror

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II Capturing

Constantinople. May 29, 1453 CE

1.

The Plague of Justinian

●

After Justinian’s death in 565 CE, the empire suffered countless
setbacks and began to decline.

●

Some of the causes were street riots, religious quarrels, palace
intrigues, internal political turmoil, and foreign dangers.

●

The first crisis actually began before Justinian’s death. It was a
disease that resembled what we now know as the bubonic
plague.

●

Historians estimate that in 542 CE, the worst year of the plague,
10,000 people were dying every day.

●

The illness broke out repeatedly until around 700, when it finally
faded. By that time, it had destroyed a huge percentage of the
Byzantine population.

2. Attacks from East and West

● The Byzantines used bribes, diplomacy, political marriages, and

military power to keep their enemies at bay.

● In the seventh century, Emperor Heraclius reorganized the

empire along military lines.

● These strategies, however, could not work forever. Slowly, the

Byzantine Empire shrank under the impact of foreign attacks.

● By 1350 CE, it was reduced to the tip of Anatolia and a strip of

the Balkans. Yet thanks to its walls, its fleet, and its strategic
location, Constantinople held out for another 100 years.

● Finally, the city fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE.

​After Justinian’s death in 565 CE, the empire suffered countless setbacks and began to decline. 

• Some of the causes were street riots, religious quarrels, palace intrigues, internal political turmoil, and foreign dangers.

• The first crisis actually began before Justinian’s death. It was a disease that resembled what we now know as the bubonic plague.

• Historians estimate that in 542 CE, the worst year of the plague, 10,000 people were dying every day.

• The illness broke out repeatedly until around 700, when it finally faded. By that time, it had destroyed a huge percentage of the Byzantine population.

Byzantine Empire 1453 CE (Constantine XI)

Exit Ticket Activity (Think, Pair, Share)

What was the legacy of the Roman Empire on
the Byzantine Empire?