History of Ancient Rome
Rome is said to have fallen in 476 A.D., but this is a simplification. It might be as accurate to say it lasted until 1453 when the Ottoman Turks conquered the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.
Constantine had set the capital of the Roman Empire in the Greek-speaking area of Constantinople in 330. When Odoacer seized Rome in 476, he did not destroy the Roman Empire in the East -- what we now call the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-565) is the last of the Byzantine emperors to consider reconquering the West.
By the time of the Byzantine Empire, the emperor wore a diadem or crown, an imperial cloak (chlamys) and people prostrated themselves before him. His bureaucracy and court provided a buffer between the emperor and the ordinary people.
Members of the Roman Empire who lived in the East considered themselves Romans, although their culture was more Greek than Roman. This is an important point to remember even when talking about mainland Greece.
Although we discuss Byzantine history and the Byzantine Empire, this is a name that was not in use by the people living in Byzantium. As mentioned, they thought they were Romans. The name Byzantine for them was invented in the 18th century.
Rome Era-by-Era Timeline
1. Kings - Regal Period of Ancient Rome
2. Republican Rome
3. Imperial Rome and the Roman Empire
4. Byzantine Empire
Photo: Legend-based painting of Belisarius as a Beggar, by François-André Vincent, 1776. Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
