So their job became our job, and it still is. They were not perfect, but let us hope that we do it as well as they did. Let us hope that our civilization lasts as long.
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART
OF
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
AND
WORLD EVENTS
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND WORLD EVENTS
| BYZANTINE WORLD | ENGLAND AND WESTERN EUROPE | NEAR EAST AND ASIA | WESTERN HEMISPHERE | |
| A.D. 300-400 | Constantine the Great establishes capital of Roman Empire at Constantinople on site of ancient Byzantium, 330 | Teutonic and Asiatic barbarians overrun Roman Empire ↓ | Successive wars between Persians and Romans | |
| First division of Roman Empire into East and West, 364 ↓ | Golden Age of Hinduism in India | |||
| Final division of Roman Empire into East and West, 395 ↓ | Divided empire in China (Tartar and Chinese rule) | |||
| 400-500 | Visigoths sack Rome, 410 | |||
| Huns under Attila invade Europe, 445-453 | ||||
| Period of decline | Western Europe lost to Roman Empire | |||
| First Saxon kingdom in Britain, 477: Clovis I founds Frank kingdom in France, 481 | ||||
| 500-600 | Justinian the Great (Great advancement of Byzantine civilization), 527-565 | Beginning of modern Western European civilization | ||
| Laws codified | ||||
| Empire reaches greatest territorial extent (from Spain to Persia) | ||||
| Santa Sophia built, 532-537 | ||||
| First great age of Byzantine art | ||||
| 600-700 | Persians defeated by Heraclius, 641; end of Persian dominion | Beginning of Arab Empire, 632 | ||
| Byzantines drive Arabs away from Constantinople with "Greek fire," 677 | Byzantines defeat Persians, 641; end of Persian dominion | |||
| 700-800 | Iconoclast controversy; image worship forbidden by Leo the Isaurian, 726 | Charles Martel defeats Moslems at Tours, France, 732; stops Arab expansion into Europe | Moslem defeat at Tours, 732, stops Arab expansion into Europe | |
| ↓ | Golden Age of Arab Empire, 750-1258: Revival of Chinese Empire under Tang dynasty | |||
| 800-900 | Image worship restored, 843 | Charlemagne crowned emperor of Holy Roman Empire at Rome, 800 | ||
| Byzantine missionaries convert Bulgarians to Orthodox Christianity, 864 | Bulgarians converted to Orthodox Christianity, 864 | |||
| Macedonian dynasty (founded by Basil I), 867-1056 | Beginning of Russia | |||
| ↓Second great advancement of Byzantine civilization | ||||
| 900-1000 | ↓ | Arab rule in Spain at height; Cordova greatest intellectual center in Europe | Arab rule in Spain at height; Cordova greatest intellectual center in Europe | Maya civilization in Mexico and Central America |
| ↓Russians converted to Orthodox Christianity, 989 | Russians converted to Orthodox Christianity, 989 | Eric the Red discovers Greenland, about 985 | ||
| 1000-1100 | ↓Basil II conquers Bulgarians; rules from Asia Minor to southern Italy, 1014 | William the Conqueror invades England, 1066 | Baghdad seized by Seljuk Turks, 1055 | Leif Ericson visits America (Vinland), about 1000 |
| ↓Defeat by Seljuk Turks in Armenia, 1071; decline of Byzantine military power | Crusades against Moslems in Holy Lands, 1096-1270 | Crusades against Moslems in Holy Lands, 1096-1270 | ||
| ↓ | Jerusalem captured by crusaders, 1099 | |||
| 1100-1200 | Comnenus dynasty unable to restore Byzantine power | ↓ | ||
| 1200-1300 | Crusaders take Constantinople, 1204 | Magna Charta in England, 1215 | Genghis Khan conquers central Asia and China, 1206-1221 | Inca civilization in Peru |
| Michael VIII reconquers Constantinople; restores Greek rule, 1261 | ↓ | Mongols destroy Baghdad; overthrow Arab Empire, 1258 | ||
| Marco Polo at court of Kublai Khan in China, 1271-1295 | ||||
| Ottoman Empire (Turks) founded, 1288 | ||||
| 1300-1400 | Ottoman Turks invade Europe, defeat Serbs, 1389; Byzantine Empire reduced to Constantinople and surroundings | Tamerlane ruler of Asia from Russia to Persian Gulf, 1369-1405 | Aztec civilization in Mexico | |
| 1400-1500 | Tamerlane defeats Ottoman Turks at Ankara, 1402; delays fall of Byzantine Empire | Renaissance | ||
| John VIII agrees to unite Greek and Roman churches to gain Western aid, 1439; plan fails | Invention of printing, 1439 | |||
| Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople; end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 | Ottoman Turks conquer most of Asia; block trade routes to Far East | |||
| Moors expelled from Spain: Beginning of Spanish exploration in New World | Columbus discovers America, 1492 | |||
BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING
Baynes, Norman H., The Byzantine Empire. New York, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1926.
Diehl, Charles, Byzantium: Greatness and Decline. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1957.
Duggan, Alfred, The Lady for Ransom. New York, Coward-McCann, Inc., 1954.
Hussey, J. M., The Byzantine World. New York, Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1957.
Kielty, Bernardine, The Fall of Constantinople. New York, Random House, 1957.