Eastern Roman Empire
After the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed. Falling agricultural yields led to a declining population and reduced resources for supporting an army. The large army of the Roman Empire disappeared and was replaced with much smaller military units supported locally.
The Eastern Roman Empire, centered on its capital in Constantinople, did not suffer this decline in agricultural production and population. With trade flowing through its cities it actually became quite rich and in the 10th century, Constantinople was probably the largest city in the world. As a result, the Eastern Roman Empire was able to field large, professional armies long after the military power of the west had declined. (These armies still did not match the armies of the old empire but they were larger than the western armies by at least a factor of ten). The dominant language of the Eastern Empire was Greek, the dominant religion was Christianity, and the capital was Constantinople, despite these facts, the people still considered themselves Romans. Later historians came to call them the Byzantine Empire (based upon Constantinople's original name of Byzantium) but this is a name that was given centuries after the fall of Constantinople and a name they would never have used for themselves.
The Medieval Period (aka The Middle Ages) is generally defined as that period between the fall of Rome in 476 A.D and the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 A.D. Greek scholars fleeing the Ottomans took the Greek classics with them to Italy and reintroduced them to the west. This event helped spark the Renaissance.
Geography
Centered in Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire straddles Asia Minor and Greece. It controls the Hellespont (the isthmus between Asia Minor and Greece) and so controls the access of the Black Sea to the Mediterranean sea. It borders with the Magyars and Bulgarians to the north, the Frankish Kingdoms of Francia to the west, and the Fatimid Caliphate to the south.
Natural Resources
The Eastern Roman Empire is extremely wealthy with trade routes running from China to Spain.
Alternative Name(s)
Empire of the Greeks (occasionally used by the Frankish kingdoms who thought of themselves as the continuation of the Roman Empire)
Type
Region
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