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The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'.

During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine I (r. 324–337) legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I (r. 379–395) made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. (Full article...)

Selected articles

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The Great Palace of Constantinople (Greek: Μέγα Παλάτιον, Méga Palátion; Latin: Palatium Magnum), also known as the Sacred Palace (Greek: Ἱερὸν Παλάτιον, Hieròn Palátion; Latin: Sacrum Palatium), was the large imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula today making up the Fatih district of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), in modern Turkey. It served as the main imperial residence of the Eastern Roman emperors until 1081 and was the centre of imperial administration for over 690 years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son and heir, John V Palaiologos. It pitted on the one hand Andronikos III's chief minister, John VI Kantakouzenos, and on the other a regency headed by the Empress-Dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV Kalekas, and the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. The war polarized Byzantine society along class lines, with the aristocracy backing Kantakouzenos and the lower and middle classes supporting the regency. To a lesser extent, the conflict acquired religious overtones; Byzantium was embroiled in the Hesychast controversy, and adherence to the mystical doctrine of Hesychasm was often equated with support for Kantakouzenos.

As the chief aide and closest friend of Emperor Andronikos III, Kantakouzenos became regent for the underage John V upon Andronikos's death in June 1341. While Kantakouzenos was absent from Constantinople in September the same year, a coup d'état led by Alexios Apokaukos and the Patriarch John XIV secured the support of Empress Anna and established a new regency. In response, Kantakouzenos' army and supporters proclaimed him co-emperor in October, cementing the rift between himself and the new regency. The split immediately escalated into armed conflict. (Full article...)
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Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. It was formerly a church (360–1453) and a museum (1935–2020). The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in AD 537, becoming the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture". From its dedication in 360 until 1453 Hagia Sophia served as the cathedral of Constantinople in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, except for the period 1204–1261 when the Latin Crusaders installed their own hierarchy. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque, having its minarets added soon after. The site became a museum in 1935, and was redesignated as a mosque in 2020.

The current structure was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian basilica of Constantinople between 532–537 and was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. It was formally called the Temple of God's Holy Wisdom, (Greek: Ναὸς τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, romanized: Naòs tês Hagías toû Theoû Sophías) the third church of the same name to occupy the site, as the prior one had been destroyed in the Nika riots. As the episcopal see of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, it remained the world's largest church for more than five hundred years, until the abbey church at Cluny was completed in the 12th century. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty underwent a revival during the late 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries. Under the Macedonian emperors, the empire gained control over the Adriatic Sea, Southern Italy, and all of the territory of the Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria. The Macedonian dynasty was characterised by a cultural revival in spheres such as philosophy and the arts, and has been dubbed the "Golden Age" of Byzantium.

The cities of the empire expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the newfound security. The population rose, and production increased, stimulating new demand for trade. (Full article...)
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The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies, leading to a period known as the Frankokratia ("Rule of the Franks" in Greek).

In 1201, the Republic of Venice contracted with the Crusader leaders to build a dedicated fleet to transport their invasion force. However, the leaders greatly overestimated the number of soldiers who would embark from Venice, since many sailed from other ports, and the army that appeared could not pay the contracted price. In lieu of payment, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo proposed that the Crusaders back him in attacking the rebellious city of Zara (Zadar) on the eastern Adriatic coast. This led in November 1202 to the siege and sack of Zara, the first attack against a Catholic city by a Catholic Crusader army, despite Pope Innocent III's calls for the Crusaders not to attack fellow Christians. The city was then brought under Venetian control. When the Pope heard of this, he temporarily excommunicated the Crusader army. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian church of Constantinople.

The canonical hours are extended and complex, lasting about eight hours (longer during Great Lent) but are abridged outside of large monasteries. An iconostasis, a partition covered with icons, separates the area around the altar from the nave. The sign of the cross, accompanied by bowing, is made very frequently, e.g., more than a hundred times during the divine liturgy, and there is prominent veneration of icons, a general acceptance of the congregants freely moving within the church and interacting with each other, and distinctive traditions of liturgical chanting. (Full article...)
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Byzantine law was essentially a continuation of Roman law with increased Orthodox Christian and Hellenistic influence. Most sources define Byzantine law as the Roman legal traditions starting after the reign of Justinian I in the 6th century and ending with the Fall of Constantinople in the 15th century. Although future Byzantine codes and constitutions derived largely from Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, their main objectives were idealistic and ceremonial rather than practical. Following Hellenistic and Near-Eastern political systems, legislations were tools to idealize and display the sacred role and responsibility of the emperor as the holy monarch chosen by God and the incarnation of law "nómos émpsychos", thus having philosophical and religious purposes that idealized perfect Byzantine kingship.

Though during and after the European Renaissance Western legal practices were heavily influenced by Justinian's Code (the Corpus Juris Civilis) and Roman law during classical times, Byzantine law nevertheless had substantial influence on Western traditions during the Middle Ages and after. (Full article...)
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Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of western Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the start date of the Byzantine period is rather clearer in art history than in political history, if still imprecise. Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Islamic states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward.

A number of contemporary states with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire were culturally influenced by it without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"). These included Kievan Rus', as well as some non-Orthodox states like the Republic of Venice, which separated from the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century, and the Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire and had also been a Byzantine territory until the 10th century with a large Greek-speaking population persisting into the 12th century. Other states having a Byzantine artistic tradition, had oscillated throughout the Middle Ages between being part of the Byzantine Empire and having periods of independence, such as Serbia and Bulgaria. After the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire was often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day. (Full article...)
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The walls of Constantinople (Turkish: Konstantinopolis Surları; Greek: Τείχη της Κωνσταντινούπολης) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built.

Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger. They saved the city, and the Byzantine Empire with it, during sieges by the Avar–Sassanian coalition, Arabs, Rus', and Bulgars, among others. The fortifications retained their usefulness even after the advent of gunpowder siege cannons, which played a part in the city's fall to Ottoman forces in 1453 but were not able to breach its walls. (Full article...)
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The Empire of Nicaea (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Greek rump states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled when Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian armed forces during the Fourth Crusade, a military event known as the Sack of Constantinople. Like the other Byzantine rump states that formed due to the 1204 fracturing of the empire, such as the Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus, it was a continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived well into the Middle Ages. A fourth state, known in historiography as the Latin Empire, was established by an army of Crusaders and the Republic of Venice after the capture of Constantinople and the surrounding environs.

Founded by the Laskaris family, it lasted from 1204 to 1261, when the Nicenes restored the Byzantine Empire after they recaptured Constantinople. Thus, the Nicene Empire is seen as a direct continuation of the Byzantine Empire, as it fully assumed the traditional titles and government of the Byzantines in 1205. (Full article...)
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The siege of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of the Arab–Byzantine Wars. The Abbasid campaign was led personally by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), in retaliation to a virtually unopposed expedition launched by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) into the Caliphate's borderlands the previous year. Mu'tasim targeted Amorium, an Eastern Roman city in western Asia Minor, because it was the birthplace of the ruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, one of Byzantium's largest and most important cities. The caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided in two parts, which invaded from the northeast and the south. The northeastern army defeated the Byzantine forces under Theophilos at Anzen, allowing the Abbasids to penetrate deep into Byzantine Asia Minor and converge upon Ancyra, which they found abandoned. After sacking the city, they turned south to Amorium, where they arrived on 1 August. Faced with intrigues at Constantinople and the rebellion of the large Khurramite contingent of his army, Theophilos was unable to aid the city.

Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but a local inhabitant revealed a weak spot in the wall, where the Abbasids concentrated their attack, effecting a breach. Unable to break through the besieging army, Boiditzes, the commander of the breached section, privately attempted to negotiate with the Caliph without notifying his superiors. He concluded a local truce and left his post, which allowed the Arabs to take advantage, enter the city, and capture it. Amorium was systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity. Many of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainder driven off as slaves. Most of the survivors were released after a truce in 841, but prominent officials were taken to the caliph's capital of Samarra and executed years later after refusing to convert to Islam, becoming known as the 42 Martyrs of Amorium. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine–Ottoman wars were a series of decisive conflicts between the Byzantine Greeks and Ottoman Turks and their allies that led to the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The Byzantines, already having been in a weak state even before the partitioning of their Empire following the 4th Crusade, failed to recover fully under the rule of the Palaiologos dynasty. Thus, the Byzantines faced increasingly disastrous defeats at the hands of the Ottomans. Ultimately, they lost Constantinople in 1453, formally ending the conflicts (however, several lasted until 1479).

Taking advantage of the situation, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum began seizing territory in western Anatolia, until the Nicaean Empire was able to repulse the Seljuk Turks from the remaining territories still under Byzantine rule. Eventually Constantinople was re-taken from the Latin Empire in 1261 by the Nicaean Empire. The position of the Byzantine Empire in Europe remained uncertain due to the presence of the rivals in Epirus, Serbia and Bulgaria. This, combined with the declining power of the Sultanate of Rum (Byzantium's chief rival in Asia Minor) led to the removal of troops from Anatolia to maintain Byzantium's grip on Thrace. (Full article...)
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The Despotate of the Morea or Despotate of Mystras was a province of the Byzantine Empire between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost all the southern Greek peninsula now known as the Peloponnese, which was known as the Morea during the medieval and early modern periods. The territory was usually ruled by one or more sons or brothers of the current Byzantine emperor, who were given the title of despotes (in this context it should not be confused with despotism). Its capital was the fortified city of Mystras, near ancient Sparta, which became an important centre of the Palaiologan Renaissance. (Full article...)
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Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from AD 330, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. There was initially no hard line between the Byzantine and Roman Empires, and early Byzantine architecture is stylistically and structurally indistinguishable from late Roman architecture. The style continued to be based on arches, vaults and domes, often on a large scale. Wall mosaics with gold background became standard for the grandest buildings, with frescos a cheaper alternative.

The richest interiors were finished with thin plates of marble or coloured and patterned stone. Some of the columns were also made of marble. Other widely used materials were bricks and stone. Mosaics made of stone or glass tesserae were also elements of interior architecture. Precious wood furniture, like beds, chairs, stools, tables, bookshelves and silver or golden cups with beautiful reliefs, decorated Byzantine interiors. (Full article...)
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The Despotate of Epirus (Medieval Greek: Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου) was one of the Greek rump states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty, the Komnenodoukas dynasty. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire during the subsequent struggle for Constantinople, along with the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond; its rulers briefly proclaiming themselves as Emperors in 1227–1242, during which it is most often called the Empire of Thessalonica.

The Despotate was centred on the region of Epirus, encompassing also the western portion of Greek Macedonia, Thessaly, western Greece as far south as Nafpaktos, and Albania. Through a policy of aggressive expansion under Theodore Komnenos Doukas the Despotate of Epirus also briefly came to incorporate central Macedonia, with the establishment of the Empire of Thessalonica in 1224, and Thrace as far east as Didymoteicho and Adrianople, and was on the verge of recapturing Constantinople and restoring the Byzantine Empire before the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 where he was defeated by the Bulgarian Empire. After that, the Epirote state contracted to its core in Epirus and Thessaly, and was forced into vassalage to other regional powers. It nevertheless managed to retain its autonomy until being conquered by the restored Palaiologan Byzantine Empire in ca. 1337. In the 1410s, Carlo I Tocco, Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, managed to reunite the core of the Epirote state, but his successors gradually lost it to the advancing Ottoman Empire, with the last stronghold, Vonitsa, falling to the Ottomans in 1479. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founded after the Fourth Crusade (1204), up to the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. Together with the preceding Nicaean Empire and the contemporary Frankokratia, this period is known as the late Byzantine Empire.

From the start, the regime faced numerous problems. The Turks of Asia Minor had begun conducting raids and expanding into Byzantine territory in Asia Minor by 1263, just two years after the enthronement of the first Palaiologos emperor Michael VIII. Anatolia, which had formed the very heart of the shrinking empire, was systematically lost to numerous Turkic ghazis, whose raids evolved into conquering expeditions inspired by Islamic zeal, the prospect of economic gain, and the desire to seek refuge from the Mongols after the disastrous Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243. The Palaiologoi were engaged on several fronts, often continually, while the empire's supply of food and manpower dwindled. In this period, the Byzantine Empire found itself continually at war, both civil and interstate, with most interstate conflicts being with other Christian empires. Most commonly, these comprised the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Serbian Empire, the remnants of the Latin Empire and even the Knights Hospitaller. (Full article...)
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The Empire of Thessalonica is a historiographic term used by some modern scholars to refer to the short-lived Greek state centred on the city of Thessalonica between 1224 and 1246 (sensu stricto until 1242) and ruled by the Komnenodoukas dynasty of the Despotate of Epirus. At the time of its establishment during the struggle for Constantinople, the Empire of Thessalonica, under the capable Theodore Komnenos Doukas, rivaled the Empire of Nicaea and the Second Bulgarian Empire as the strongest state in the region, and aspired to capturing Constantinople, putting an end to the Latin Empire, and restoring the Byzantine Empire that had been extinguished in 1204.

Thessalonica's ascendancy was brief, ending with the disastrous Battle of Klokotnitsa against Bulgaria in 1230, where Theodore Komnenos Doukas was captured. Reduced to a Bulgarian vassal, Theodore's brother and successor Manuel Komnenos Doukas was unable to prevent the loss of most of his brother's conquests in Macedonia and Thrace, while the original nucleus of the state, Epirus, broke free under Michael II Komnenos Doukas. Theodore recovered Thessalonica in 1237, installing his son John Komnenos Doukas, and after him Demetrios Angelos Doukas, as rulers of the city, while Manuel, with Nicaean support, seized Thessaly. The rulers of Thessalonica bore the imperial title from 1225/7 until 1242, when they were forced to renounce it and recognize the suzerainty of the rival Empire of Nicaea. The Komnenodoukai continued to rule as Despots of Thessalonica for four more years after that, but in 1246 the city was annexed by Nicaea. (Full article...)
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The Emirate of Crete (Arabic: إقريطش, romanized: Iqrīṭish or إقريطية, Iqrīṭiya; Greek: Κρήτη, romanized: Krētē) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and maintained close ties with Tulunid Egypt, it was de facto independent.

A group of Arab Andalusian exiles led by Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi conquered Crete in either 824 or 827/828, and established an independent Islamic state. The Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842–43 under Theoktistos, but the reconquest was not completed and would soon be reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island failed, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and haven for Muslim corsair fleets that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of the Aegean Sea. The emirate's internal history is less well known, but all accounts point to considerable prosperity deriving not only from piracy but also from extensive trade and agriculture. The emirate was brought to an end by Nikephoros Phokas, who successfully campaigned against it in 960–961, re-annexing the island to the Byzantine Empire. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The Komnenian (also spelled Comnenian) period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I. It was a period of sustained, though ultimately incomplete, restoration of the military, territorial, economic and political position of the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantium under the Komnenoi played a key role in the history of the Crusades in the Holy Land, while also exerting enormous cultural and political influence in Europe, the Near East, and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The Komnenian emperors, particularly John and Manuel, exerted great influence over the Crusader states of Outremer, whilst Alexios I played a key role in the course of the First Crusade, which he helped bring about. (Full article...)
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The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque (Turkish: Kariye Camii) is a Byzantine church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It is famous for its outstanding Late Byzantine mosaics and frescos.

In the 16th century, during the Ottoman era, it was converted into a mosque; it became a museum in 1945, and was turned back into a mosque in 2020 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The interior is covered with some of the finest surviving Byzantine Christian mosaics and frescoes, which were left in plain sight during Muslim worship throughout much of the Ottoman era. They were restored after the building was secularized and turned into a museum. (Full article...)
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The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Isaurian dynasty (or Syrian dynasty) from 717 to 802. The Isaurian emperors were successful in defending and consolidating the empire against the caliphates after the onslaught of the early Muslim conquests, but were less successful in Europe, where they suffered setbacks against the Bulgars, had to give up the Exarchate of Ravenna, and lost influence over Italy and the papacy to the growing power of the Franks.

The Isaurian dynasty is chiefly associated with Byzantine iconoclasm, an attempt to restore divine favour by purifying the Christian faith from all veneration of figural Christian iconography, which resulted in considerable internal turmoil. (Full article...)
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Constantinople was besieged by the Arabs in 674–678, in what was the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy against the Byzantine Empire. Caliph Mu'awiya I, who had emerged in 661 as the ruler of the Muslim Arab empire following a civil war, renewed aggressive warfare against Byzantium after a lapse of some years and hoped to deliver a lethal blow by capturing the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

As reported by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the Arab attack was methodical: in 672–673 Arab fleets secured bases along the coasts of Asia Minor and then installed a loose blockade around Constantinople. They used the peninsula of Cyzicus near the city as a base to spend the winter and returned every spring to launch attacks against the city's fortifications. Finally the Byzantines, under Emperor Constantine IV, destroyed the Arab navy using a new invention, the liquid incendiary substance known as Greek fire. The Byzantines also defeated the Arab land army in Asia Minor, forcing them to lift the siege. The Byzantine victory was of major importance for the survival of the Byzantine state, as the Arab threat receded for a time. A peace treaty was signed soon after, and following the outbreak of another Muslim civil war, the Byzantines even experienced a brief period of ascendancy over the Caliphate. The siege was arguably the first major Arab defeat in 50 years of expansion and temporarily stabilized the Byzantine Empire after decades of war and defeats. (Full article...)
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Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret. Historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltpeter, sulfur, or quicklime, but most modern scholars agree that it was based on petroleum mixed with resins, comparable in composition to modern napalm. Byzantine sailors would toss grenades loaded with Greek fire onto enemy ships or spray it from tubes. Its ability to burn on water made it an effective and destructive naval incendiary weapon, and rival powers tried unsuccessfully to copy the material. (Full article...)
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Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: gold solidi and hyperpyra and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the 15th century, the currency was issued only in debased silver stavrata and minor copper coins with no gold issue. The Byzantine Empire established and operated several mints throughout its history. Aside from the main metropolitan mint in the capital, Constantinople, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in other urban centres, especially during the 6th century.

Most provincial mints except for Syracuse were closed or lost to Arab Muslim invasions in the Mediterranean Region by the mid-7th century onwards. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints began to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine Empire fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th to 14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, capital of the independent Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461), survived until the invasion of Anatolia by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century. (Full article...)
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Mount Athos is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.

The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed as an autonomous region in Greece by the monastic community of Mount Athos, which is ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The remainder of the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis municipality. By Greek law and by religious tradition, women are prohibited from entering the area governed by the monastic community. (Full article...)

Selected biographies

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Restored depiction of Basil II from his Menologion, National Historical Museum

Basil II Porphyrogenitus (Greek: Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Basíleios Porphyrogénnētos; 958 – 15 December 1025), given the epithet the Bulgar Slayer, was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas (r. 963–969) and John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the de facto ruler until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor.

The early years of Basil's reign were dominated by civil wars against two powerful generals from the Byzantine Anatolian aristocracy: first Bardas Skleros and later Bardas Phokas, which ended shortly after Phokas' death and Skleros' submission in 989. Basil then oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire and the complete subjugation of the First Bulgarian Empire, its foremost European foe, after a long struggle. Although the Byzantines had made a truce with the Fatimid Caliphate in 987–988, Basil led a campaign against the Caliphate that ended with another truce in 1000. He also conducted a campaign against the Khazar Khaganate that gained the Byzantine Empire part of Crimea and led a series of successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia. (Full article...)
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Choniates in a medieval manuscript

Niketas or Nicetas Choniates (Medieval Greek: Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek historian and politician. He accompanied his brother Michael Akominatos to Constantinople from their birthplace Chonae (from which came his nickname, "Choniates" meaning "person from Chonae"). Nicetas wrote a history of the Eastern Roman Empire from 1118 to 1207. (Full article...)
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Theophanes the Confessor (Greek: Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής) or Theophanes of the Great Field (Greek: Θεοφάνης τοῦ Μεγάλου Ἄγρου; c. 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 and resisted the iconoclasm of Leo V the Armenian, for which he was imprisoned. He died shortly after his release.

Theophanes the Confessor, venerated on 12 March in both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, should not be confused with Theophanes of Nicaea, whose feast is commemorated on 11 October. (Full article...)
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Athonite Fresco Icon of Saint Maximos the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor (Greek: Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής, romanized: Maximos ho Homologētēs), also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople (c. 580 – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.

In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. He gave up this life in the political sphere to enter the monastic life. Maximus had studied diverse schools of philosophy, and certainly what was common for his time, the Platonic dialogues, the works of Aristotle, and numerous later Platonic commentators on Aristotle and Plato, like Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported an interpretation of the Chalcedonian formula on the basis of which it was asserted that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. He was eventually persecuted for his Christological positions; following a trial, his tongue and right hand were mutilated. (Full article...)
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Nikephoros Phokas (Greek: Νικηφόρος Φωκᾶς, romanized: Nikēphoros Phōkas; died 895/6 or c. 900), usually surnamed the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, was one of the most prominent Byzantine generals of the late 9th century, and the first important member of the Phokas family. As a youth he was taken into the personal retinue of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian, rising quickly to the posts of protostrator and then governor of Charsianon, whence he fought with success against the Arabs. In c. 886 he led a major expedition in southern Italy, where his victories laid the foundation for the Byzantine resurgence in the peninsula. After his return, he was raised to the post of Domestic of the Schools, in effect commander-in-chief of the army, which he led with success against the Arabs in the east and the Bulgarians of Tsar Simeon in the Balkans. He died either in 895/6 or, less likely, sometime c. 900. Contemporaries and later historians lauded him for his military ability and character. Both of his sons later succeeded him as Domestics of the Schools. His grandsons Nikephoros and Leo were likewise distinguished generals, while the former became emperor in 963–969, spearheading the recovery of several lost provinces from the Arabs. (Full article...)
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Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' Historia

Andronikos II Palaiologos (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Andrónikos Doúkās Ángelos Komnēnós Palaiológos; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently restored empire's final decline. The Turks conquered most of Byzantium's remaining Anatolian territories, and Andronikos spent the last years of his reign fighting his own grandson in the First Palaiologan Civil War. The war ended in Andronikos' forced abdication in 1328, after which he retired to a monastery for the remainder of his life. (Full article...)
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Gold tetarteron of Isaac I Komnenos, showing the Emperor wielding a globus cruciger and holding a sheathed sword

Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus (Ancient Greek: Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, romanized: Isaákios Komnēnós; c. 1007 – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty.

The son of the general Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, he was orphaned at an early age, and was raised under the care of Emperor Basil II. He made his name as a successful military commander, serving as commander-in-chief of the eastern armies between c. 1042 and 1054. In 1057 he became the head of a conspiracy of the dissatisfied eastern generals against the newly crowned Michael VI Bringas. Proclaimed emperor by his followers on 8 June 1057, he rallied sufficient military forces to defeat the loyalist army at the Battle of Hades. While Isaac was willing to accept a compromise solution by being appointed Michael's heir, a powerful faction in Constantinople, led by the ambitious Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Keroularios, pressured Michael to abdicate. After Michael abdicated on 30 August 1057, Isaac was crowned emperor in the Hagia Sophia on 1 September. (Full article...)
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Michael Psellos (left) with his student, Byzantine emperor Michael VII Doukas

Michael Psellos or Psellus (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, romanized: Michaḗl Psellós, Byzantine Greek: [mixaˈil pseˈlːos]) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors.

Psellos has made lasting contributions to Byzantine culture by advocating for the revival of Byzantine classical studies, which would later influence the Italian Renaissance, as well as by interpreting Homeric literature and Platonic philosophy as precursors and integral components of Christian doctrine. His texts combined theology, philosophy, and psychology. Among his most famous works are his Commentary on Plato's Teachings on the Origin of the Soul, and the Chronographia, a series of biographies from emperor Basil II to Nikephoros III, which serves as a valuable source on the history of the 11th-century Byzantine Empire. (Full article...)
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Monogram of Michael on the walls of Berat Castle, Albania

Michael I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, romanized: Mikhaēl Komnēnos Doukas), and in modern sources often recorded as Michael I Angelos, a name he never used, was the founder and first ruler of the Despotate of Epirus from c. 1205 until his assassination in 1214/15.

Born c. 1170, Michael was a descendant of Alexios I Komnenos and a cousin of emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. He began his public career in 1190, as a hostage to the Third Crusade, and went on to serve as governor of the province of Mylasa and Melanoudion in the 1190s and again in c. 1200/01. During the latter tenure he rebelled against Alexios III but was defeated and forced to flee to the Seljuk Turks. In the aftermath of the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, he attached himself to Boniface of Montferrat. Soon, however, he abandoned the Crusader leader and went to Epirus, where he established himself as ruler, apparently through marriage with the daughter or widow of a local magnate. (Full article...)
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Icon of St. Kassia

Kassia, Cassia, Kassiane, or Kassiani (Greek: Κασσιανή, romanized: Kassianí, pronounced [kasia'ni]; c. 810 – c.865) was a Byzantine-Greek composer, hymnographer and poet. She holds a unique place in Byzantine music as the only known woman whose music appears in the Byzantine liturgy. Approximately fifty of her hymns are extant, most of which are stichera, though at least 26 have uncertain attribution. The authenticity issues are due to many hymns being anonymous, and others ascribed to different authors in different manuscripts. She was an abbess of a convent in the west of Constantinople.

Additionally, many epigrams and gnomic verses are attributed to her, at least 261. Kassia is notable as one of at least two women in the middle Byzantine period known to have written in their own names, the other being Anna Comnena. Like her predecessors Romanos the Melodist and Andrew of Crete, the earliest surviving manuscripts of her works are dated centuries after her lifetime. (Full article...)
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Solidus of Emperor Maurice

Maurice (Latin: Mauricius; Ancient Greek: Μαυρίκιος, romanized: Maurikios; 539 – 27 November 602) was Eastern Roman emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty. A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II.

Maurice's reign was troubled by almost constant warfare. After he became emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion. The empire's eastern border in the South Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for the first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace. (Full article...)
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Solidus of Heraclius aged 35–38, struck in Constantinople between 610 and 613

Heraclius (Greek: Ἡράκλειος, romanized: Hērákleios, Arabic: هِرَقْل, romanized: Hiraql; c. 575 – 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas.

Heraclius's reign was marked by wars against the Persians and the Arabs. Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 upon his accession, but his leadership initially did little to stem Persian ascendency in the war; after personally losing the Battle of Antioch (613), the Persians were able to take Syria and Egypt, reducing the Empire to Asia Minor. Heraclius, however, avoided total defeat and initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh and devastating much of Mesopotamia. The Persian Shah Khosrow II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavad II, who soon sued for a peace treaty, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territory. Heraclius won the war, but his Empire was deeply strained. (Full article...)
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Head of the Colossus of Constantine, Capitoline Museums

Constantine I (27 February 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, or known mononymously as Constantine, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. He founded the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) and made it the capital of the Empire, which it remained for over a millennium.

Born in Naissus, a city located in the province of Moesia Superior (now Niš, Serbia), Constantine was the son of Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer from Moesia Superior, who would become one of the four emperors of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, was a Greek woman of low birth, probably from Bithynia. Later canonised as a saint, she is credited for the conversion of her son in some traditions, though others believe that Constantine converted her. He served with distinction under emperors Diocletian and Galerius. He began his career by campaigning in the eastern provinces against the Persians, before being recalled to the west in AD 305 to fight with his father in the province of Britannia. After his father's death in 306, Constantine was proclaimed as augustus (emperor) by his army at Eboracum (York, England). He eventually emerged victorious in Civil wars of the Tetrarchy against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324. (Full article...)
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Peter the Patrician (Latin: Petrus Patricius, Greek: Πέτρος ὁ Πατρίκιος, Petros ho Patrikios; c. 500–565) was a senior Byzantine official, diplomat, and historian. A well-educated and successful lawyer, he was repeatedly sent as envoy to Ostrogothic Italy in the prelude to the Gothic War of 535–554. Despite his diplomatic skill, he was not able to avert war, and was imprisoned by the Goths in Ravenna for a few years. Upon his release, he was appointed to the post of magister officiorum, head of the imperial secretariat, which he held for an unparalleled 26 years. In this capacity, he was one of the leading ministers of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), playing an important role in the Byzantine emperor's religious policies and the relations with Sassanid Persia; most notably he led the negotiations for the peace agreement of 562 that ended the 20-year-long Lazic War. His historical writings survive only in fragments, but provide unique source material on early Byzantine ceremonies and diplomatic issues between Byzantium and the Sassanids. (Full article...)
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Alexios I Komnenos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, romanized: Aléxios Komnēnós, c. 1057 – 15 August 1118), Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurping the throne he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign. Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.

The son of John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos, Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took the throne for himself. He immediately faced an invasion of the western Balkans by the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemond. Despite initial defeats, Alexios secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and drove back the Normans, recovering most of Byzantine losses by 1085. In 1091, he achieved a decisive victory over the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion in Thrace with the help of Cuman allies. (Full article...)
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Theodora Megale Komnene (Greek: Θεοδώρα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή), also known as Despina Khatun (Persian: دسپینا خاتون; from the Greek title despoina and Turco-Mongol title khatun, both meaning "lady"), was the daughter of John IV of Trebizond and his wife Bagrationi, a daughter of King Alexander I of Georgia. She married the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan in 1458. She became the mother of Halima Alamshah Hatun who became the mother of first Safavid king, Shah Ismail I.

Some older writers refer to her as "Catherine". Charles Diehl has shown that it was based on Du Cange’s misunderstanding of the Mongol title "Khatun" as "Catherine". (Full article...)
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Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes version of the chronicle of John Skylitzes depicting Thomas, on horseback and dressed as a Byzantine emperor, negotiating with the Arabs. The rebellion of Thomas is one of the most richly illustrated episodes in the chronicle.

Thomas the Slav (Greek: Θωμᾶς, romanized: Thōmas, c. 760 – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829).

An army officer of Slavic origin from the Pontus region (now north-eastern Turkey), Thomas rose to prominence, along with the future emperors Michael II and Leo V the Armenian (r. 813–820), under the protection of general Bardanes Tourkos. After Bardanes' failed rebellion in 803, Thomas fell into obscurity until Leo V's rise to the throne, when Thomas was raised to a senior military command in central Asia Minor. After the murder of Leo and usurpation of the throne by Michael the Amorian, Thomas revolted, claiming the throne for himself. Thomas quickly secured support from most of the themes (provinces) and troops in Asia Minor, defeated Michael's initial counter-attack and concluded an alliance with the Abbasid Caliphate. After winning over the maritime themes and their ships as well, he crossed with his army to Europe and laid siege to Constantinople. The imperial capital withstood Thomas's attacks by land and sea, while Michael II called for help from the Bulgarian Khan Omurtag. Omurtag attacked Thomas's army, but although repelled, the Bulgarians inflicted heavy casualties on Thomas's men, who broke and fled when Michael took to the field a few months later. Thomas and his supporters sought refuge in Arcadiopolis, where he was soon blockaded by Michael's troops. In the end, Thomas's supporters surrendered him in exchange for a pardon, and he was executed. (Full article...)
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A mosaic in Hagia Sophia showing Leo VI paying homage to Christ

Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (Greek: Λέων ὁ Σοφός, romanized: Léōn ho Sophós; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun by his predecessor Basil I, continued; but the empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against Bulgaria and against the Arabs in Sicily and the Aegean. His reign also witnessed the formal discontinuation of several ancient Roman institutions, such as the separate office of Roman consul. (Full article...)
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Solidus of Irene issued during her sole reign

Irene of Athens (Greek: Εἰρήνη, Eirḗnē; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaena (Greek: Σαρανταπήχαινα, Sarantapḗchaina), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 until 797, and finally empress regnant and sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire from 797 to 802. A member of the politically prominent Sarantapechos family, she was selected as Leo IV's bride for unknown reasons in 768. Even though her husband was an iconoclast, she harbored iconophile sympathies. During her regency, in 787, she called the Second Council of Nicaea which condemned iconoclasm as heretical and brought an end to the first iconoclast period (730–787). Irene's concluding five years of sole rule were unprecedented in Roman and Byzantine history. Her public figure in this period was polarizing, due to the setbacks faced by the Empire and her iconophilic stances, often attributed to her gender and the influence of her retinue.

After the death of her husband, Irene secured the throne for her family, setting herself in charge. During her regency with Constantine VI, she became very influential in government policies, largely overshadowing her son. As Constantine VI reached maturity, he began to move out from under the influence of his mother. In the early 790s, several revolts attempted to proclaim him as sole ruler. One of these revolts succeeded, but in 792 Irene was re-established in all imperial powers as "co-emperor" with Constantine VI. In 797, Irene organized a conspiracy in which her supporters gouged out her son's eyes. Constantine was imprisoned and probably died shortly afterwards. With him out of the way, Irene proclaimed herself sole ruler. Pope Leo III—already seeking to break links with the Byzantine East—used Irene's alleged unprecedented status as a female ruler of the Roman Empire to proclaim Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day of 800 under the pretext that a woman could not rule solely and thus the Roman throne was actually vacant. A revolt in 802 overthrew Irene and exiled her to the island of Lesbos, supplanting her on the throne with Nikephoros I. Irene died in exile less than a year later. (Full article...)
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"Saints Cyril and Methodius holding the Cyrillic alphabet," a mural by Bulgarian iconographer Z. Zograf, 1848, Troyan Monastery

Cyril (Greek: Κύριλλος, romanized: Kýrillos; born Constantine [Greek: Κωνσταντίνος, romanized: Konstantínos]; 826–869) and Methodius (Μεθόδιος, Methódios; born Michael [Greek: Μιχαήλ, romanized: Michaíl]; 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".

They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia. (Full article...)
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Portrait of an empress in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, likely Aelia Eudocia.

Aelia Eudocia Augusta (/ˈiːliə juːˈdoʊʃə ɔːˈɡʌstə/; Ancient Greek: Αἰλία Εὐδοκία Αὐγούστα; c. 400 – 460 AD), also called Saint Eudocia, was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450). Daughter of an Athenian philosopher, she was also a poet, whose works include Homerocentones, or Homeric retellings of Biblical stories. After an estrangement with Theodosius, she permanently settled in Jerusalem, where she supported the local population. (Full article...)
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Manuscript miniature, part of double portrait with Empress Maria, Vatican Library

Manuel I Komnenos (Greek: Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, romanized: Manouḗl Komnēnós; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (Greek: Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Porphyrogénnētos; "born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.

Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the great power of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with Pope Adrian IV and the resurgent West. He invaded the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, although unsuccessfully, being the last Eastern Roman emperor to attempt reconquests in the western Mediterranean. The passage of the potentially dangerous Second Crusade through his empire was adroitly managed. Manuel established a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader states of Outremer. Facing Muslim advances in the Holy Land, he made common cause with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and participated in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. Manuel reshaped the political maps of the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, placing the kingdoms of Hungary and Outremer under Byzantine hegemony and campaigning aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east. (Full article...)
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John Chrysostom (/ˈkrɪsəstəm, krɪˈsɒstəm/; Koine Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, romanized: Iōánnēs ho Chrysóstomos, IPA: [i.oˈannis o xryˈsostomos]; Latin: Ioannes Chrysostomus, Ecclesiastical Latin: [joˈannes kriˈzɔstomus]; c. 347 – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as Archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, his Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. He was also the author of Adversus Judaeos and was strongly opposed to Judaism. The epithet Χρυσόστομος (Chrysostomos, anglicized as Chrysostom) means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence. Chrysostom was among the most prolific authors in the early Christian Church.

He is honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, as well as in some others. The Eastern Orthodox, together with the Byzantine Catholics, hold him in special regard as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs (alongside Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus). Along with them and Athanasius of Alexandria he is also regarded as one of the four Great Greek Church Fathers. The feast days of John Chrysostom in the Eastern Orthodox Church are 14 September, 13 November and 27 January. In the Catholic Church, he is recognised as a Doctor of the Church. Because the date of his death is occupied by the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September), the General Roman Calendar celebrates him since 1970 on the previous day, 13 September; from the 13th century to 1969 it did so on 27 January, the anniversary of the translation of his body to Constantinople. Of other Western churches, including Anglican provinces and Lutheran churches, some commemorate him on 13 September, others on 27 January. John Chrysostom is honored on the calendars of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 13 September. The Coptic Church also recognizes him as a saint (with feast days on 16 Thout and 17 Hathor). (Full article...)
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Belisarius is generally considered to be this bearded figure on the left of Emperor Justinian I in the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, which celebrates the reconquest of Italy by the Roman army.

Flavius Belisarius (Latin pronunciation: [bɛ.lɪˈsaː.ri.ʊs]; Greek: Βελισάριος; c. 500 – March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. Belisarius was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. He is considered one of the greatest military commanders of Byzantium and in history generally.

One of the defining features of Belisarius' career was his success despite varying levels of available resources. He is frequently cited as being among the "Last of the Romans". He conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months and conquered much of Italy during the Gothic War. He also defeated the Vandal armies in the battle of Ad Decimum and played an important role at Tricamarum, compelling the Vandal king, Gelimer, to surrender. During the Gothic War, despite being significantly outnumbered, he and his troops recaptured the city of Rome and then held out against great odds during the siege of Rome. (Full article...)
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Bust of an emperor found in Aphrodisias (Aydın, Turkey), most likely Theodosius I

Theodosius I (Ancient Greek: Θεοδόσιος Theodosios; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. He ended the Gothic War (376–382), but did so on terms disadvantageous to the empire, with the Goths remaining politically autonomous within Roman territory, albeit as nominal allies.

Born in Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general of the same name, Theodosius the Elder, under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of the Roman army. Theodosius held independent command in Moesia in 374, where he had some success against the invading Sarmatians. Not long afterwards, he was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and executions at Emperor Gratian's court. In 379, after the eastern Roman emperor Valens was killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths, Gratian appointed Theodosius as a successor with orders to take charge of the military emergency. The new emperor's resources and depleted armies were not sufficient to drive the invaders out; in 382 the Goths were allowed to settle south of the Danube as autonomous allies of the empire. In 386, Theodosius signed a treaty with the Sasanian Empire which partitioned the long-disputed Kingdom of Armenia and secured a durable peace between the two powers. (Full article...)

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October 2022

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Aigan (Hun commander) • Althias • Apsich • Ascan • Atakam • Basil Peteinos • Berichus • Chalazar • Chelchal • Donatus (Huns) • Edeco • Elmingir • Eslas • Gordas • Hetaireiarches • Hormidac • Kursich • Mamas (Hun prince) • Manuel Kourtikes • Odolgan • Rhetorical School of Gaza • Scottas • Sigizan • Simmas • Tarrach • Turgun • Uldach • Zilgibis

September 2022

Newly created articles

Abraham of Ephesus

August 2022

Newly created articles

Cultural depictions of Theophanu • Zampia Palaiologina

June 2022

Newly created articles

Allīnūs

May 2022

Newly created articles

Constantine of Nicaea • Hilarion the Younger • Hisarlaka fortress • Porphyrios (whale) • Theodore Synkellos

April 2022

Newly created articles

John Kourkouas (died 971) • Makarios of Pelekete • Mansur ibn Sarjun • Narses (comes) • Sa'id ibn Hisham

March 2022

Newly created articles

Battle of Cillium (544) • Church of Panagia Atheniotissa • Hans Georg Beck

February 2022

Newly created articles

Battle of Thacia • Leontius of Damascus • Niketas of Mistheia • Theaetetus Scholasticus

January 2022

Newly created articles

Al-Harith ibn al-Hakam • Battle of Bourgaon • Battle of Sufetula (546 or 547) • Olympias (daughter of Robert Guiscard) • St. Aberkios Monastery • Sekbanbaşı Mosque

December 2021

Newly created articles

Çanlı Kilise • Erard I of Aulnay • Geoffrey of Aulnay • Joachim of Korsun

November 2021

Newly created articles

Alexios V of Trebizond • Diogenes (Byzantine family) • Manolis Hatzidakis

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Christianization of the Roman Empire

October 2021

Newly created articles

Andrea Angeli • Angelo Maria Angeli • Dagmar Cross • Enrico de Vigo Paleologo • Giovanni Andrea I Angeli • Giovanni Andrea II Angeli • Giovanni Demetrio Angeli • Girolamo I Angeli • Girolamo II Angeli • John George Heracleus Basilicos • Marco Angeli • Pietro Angeli • Pietro Paleologo Mastrogiovanni • Siege of Emesa (638)

September 2021

Newly created articles

Demetrius Rhodocanakis • Dhu'l-Kala Samayfa • Georgios Kalliergis • Manuel Fokas • Nikolaos Philanthropinos • Radu Cantacuzino • Venetikà

August 2021

Newly created articles

Michael Synkellos

June 2021

Newly created articles

Angelo Flavio Comneno • Arianitto Arianiti

May 2021

Newly created articles

Manuel Panselinos

March 2021

Newly created articles

Andronikos Euphorbenos • Gulfaris • Italo-Byzantine • John of Gaza • Junada ibn Abi Umayya al-Azdi

February 2021

Newly created articles

Coronation of the Byzantine emperor • Erotapokriseis • Loci communes (Pseudo-Maximus) • Michael Toxaras • Nicholas of Methone • Rubens vase • Soterichos Panteugenos • Symeon Logothete

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Matthew Blastares

January 2021

Newly created articles

Dimitris Krallis • Fadala ibn Ubayd • Lucillianus (fleet commander) • Lucillianus (magister equitum) • Marios Philippides • Niketas Abalantes • Siege of Taormina (902) • Tablion

December 2020

Newly created articles

Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Umar • Byzantine Dark Ages • Synod of Worms (868) • Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes • Kamytzes • Klimova Treasure • Yusuf ibn Umar ibn Shu'ayb

November 2020

Newly created articles

447 Constantinople earthquake • Byzantine–Serbian War (1090–1095) • Despot of Epirus • King of Thessalonica • Louis II's campaign against Bari (866–871) • Sebukht

October 2020

Newly created articles

Anastasiopolis-Peritheorion • Athenogenes of Petra • Baths of Arcadius • Battle of Zygos Pass • Byzantine–Serbian wars • Palaeologan Renaissance • Red Church (Vourgareli) • Siege of Constantinople (1394–1402) • Synaxarion of Constantinople

September 2020

Newly created articles

Al-Ghazal • Anthony Kaldellis • Domitian of Melitene • George Palaiologos (megas hetaireiarches) • Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice • Hypatos ton philosophon • Vagenetia • Vitalien Laurent

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Vazelon Monastery

August 2020

Newly created articles

Alice-Mary Talbot • Arietta Papaconstantinou • Gregory Antiochos • List of Byzantine composers • Sack of Aleppo (962) • Sophia Antoniadis • Theoktiste (740–802)

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I)

July 2020

Newly created articles

Anthusa of Mantinea • Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 • Church of St Acacius • Council of Constantinople (536) • Council of Jerusalem (536) • Deno Geanakoplos • Didymoteicho Fortress • Diogenes of Phoenicia • Endemic synod • Heliou Bomon monastery • Isaac Doukas Vatatzes • John Haldon • Kecharitomene Monastery • Kokkinobaphos Master • Marco Bembo • Monastery of Saint Mamas • Niccolò Sagundino • Peter of Apamea • Riniasa Castle • Stephanus of Athens • Theotokos Euergetis Monastery • Theotokos Kosmosoteira

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Constantine Angelos Doukas • John Chortasmenos • Manuel Kamytzes

June 2020

Newly created articles

Andrea Barozzi • Andreas Palaiologos (son of Manuel) • Chronicle of 813 • Chronicle of 846 • Iacopo Barozzi • Iacopo II Barozzi • Jacopo Dondulo • Palaeologus-Montferrat • Rainerio of Travale • Seraglio Octateuch • Women in the Byzantine Empire

May 2020

Newly created articles

Anthusa of Constantinople • Glavinica (medieval town) • Gothograecia • Gregentios • Maritime Venice • Niketas David Paphlagon • Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite • Severianus of Damascus • Slavic migrations to the Balkans • Theodore of Raithu

April 2020

Newly created articles

Basilikos logos • Damsel of Cyprus • Diocese of Abydos • John Diakrinomenos • John Robert Martindale • John Xenos • Karykes • Laskaris Kananos • Meletios the Younger • Mutinensis gr. 122 • Rhapsomates

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Theodore II Laskaris

March 2020

Newly created articles

Al-Walid ibn Hisham al-Mu'ayti • Column of Leo • Degik • Dorotheus (magister militum) • Frankish Table of Nations • Gaianites • Herodian (commander) • Maslama ibn Hisham • Nachoragan • Pegonites • Succession to the Byzantine Empire • Timothy of Constantinople • Umar ibn al-Walid

February 2020

Newly created articles

Ahmad ibn Ziyadat Allah ibn Qurhub • Ayasuluk Hill • Al-Harith ibn Hisham • Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi • Roman people • Salim ibn Asad ibn Abi Rashid • Siege of Laodicea (636) • Ubayd Allah ibn Marwan

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Miriarcha • Theodore I Laskaris

January 2020

Newly created articles

Carmagnola (Venice) • Forty-Nine Martyrs of Scetis • George of Kiev • Iyad (tribe) • John W. Barker • Libadarios • Problem of two emperors

December 2019

Newly created articles

Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi • Battle of Mammes • Busr ibn Abi Artat • Byzantine Malta • Devastatio Constantinopolitana • George Synadenos Astras • Irene Komnene Palaiologina • Monastery of Panagia Molyvdoskepastos • Peter of Goulaion • Stephen du Perche (died 1205)

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Banu Judham • Gordoservon • Sack of Thessalonica (904)

November 2019

Newly created articles

Constantine the Jew • John Tzibus • Longinus (missionary) • Siege of Ravenna (539–540) • Siege of Urbinus • Siege of Urviventus

October 2019

Newly created articles

461 Apahunik' earthquake • 602 Surb Karapet Monastery earthquake • Constantine Arianiti • Constantine Komnenos Arianites • Enaton • Ferdinand Palaiologos • John Doukas (megas hetaireiarches) • Julian (Chalcedonian patriarch of Antioch) • Nikon of the Black Mountain • Theodore Palaiologos (16th century)

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Andreas Palaiologos

September 2019

Newly created articles

499 Nicopolis earthquake • 542 Sea of Marmara earthquake • 551 Malian Gulf earthquake • 554 Anatolia earthquake • Ammatus • Bathys Rhyax • Florentius of Constantinople • List of Byzantine emperors of Armenian origin • Siege of Onoguris • Synthronon

August 2019

Newly created articles

Abd Allah ibn Mas'ada al-Fazari • Basilakes • Battle of Nisibis (541) • Battle of Scardon • Battle of the Bagradas River (536) • Gardiki Castle, Arcadia • Hellenization in the Byzantine Empire • Heraclian revolt • Losorion • Manuel Bochalis • Matzouka • Moutalaske • Paul of Edessa (translator) • Phoulkon • Prohor of Pčinja • Siege of Ariminum (538) • Siege of Auximus • Sufyan ibn Awf

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Amr ibn Hind

July 2019

Newly created articles

Hagiotheodorites • Makrinitissa Monastery • Martinus (son of Heraclius) • Tiberius (son of Heraclius)

De-stubbed, significantly expanded or improved articles

Battle of Settepozzi

Things to do

WikiProject Greece: Open Tasks
Create the missing articles!
Expand Byzantine Empire-related stubs

Selected image

Mosaic of Empress Theodora from the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna

Did you know...

... that a peace treaty signed between Venice and the Byzantine Empire in 1277 allowed both parties to fight one another over possession of Negroponte, without violating its terms?
... that the village of Ayazini in Turkey, a historic place settled by Phrygians, Ancient Romans, Byzantines and Seljuks, features many dwellings, churches and tomb chambers in rock-cut architecture?
... that the Byzantine Empire's weak defenses around the Lycus valley played a pivotal role in the fall of Constantinople?
... that Byzantine general Manuel Kamytzes began a rebellion against his emperor when the latter took advantage of his capture to confiscate his fortune, imprison his family, and refuse to ransom him?
... that the capture of the southern caverns of Cappadocia and Ancyra by Maslama ibn Hisham around 739 marked the Umayyad Caliphate's last territorial gains against the Byzantine Empire?

Recognised content

Featured articles

Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806) • Andreas Palaiologos • Basiliscus • Battle of Azaz (1030) • Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081) • Battle of Kalavrye • Battle of Lalakaon • Battle of Settepozzi • Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 • Byzantine Empire • Byzantine navy • Chariot racing • David (son of Heraclius) • Greece runestones • Gregory of Nazianzus • Istanbul • Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria • Manuel I Komnenos • Marcian • Martinus (son of Heraclius) • Maximus the Confessor • Paul Palaiologos Tagaris • Roman–Persian Wars • Sack of Amorium • Sayf al-Dawla • Siege of Constantinople (674–678) • Siege of Constantinople (717–718) • Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430) • Simeon I of Bulgaria • Theodore II Laskaris • Theodore Komnenos Doukas • Theodosius III • Thomas the Slav • Treaty of Devol • Jovan Vladimir

A-class articles

Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782) • Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ibn Fadl • Ahmad ibn Tulun • Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith • Bardanes Tourkos • Battle of Andrassos • Battle of Kapetron • Battle of Petroe • Battle of Solachon • Bessas (magister militum) • Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 • Christopher Lekapenos • Constantine (son of Basil I) • Excubitors • Glycerius • John Kourkouas • John Troglita • Junayd of Aydın • Manuel Kamytzes • Priscus (magister militum) • Staurakios • Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria • Vitalian (consul)

Good articles

Aaron (son of Ivan Vladislav) • Abdallah al-Battal • Abu Firas al-Hamdani • Abu Taghlib • Adrianos Komnenos • Alexios Apokaukos • Alexios Komnenos (governor of Dyrrhachium) • Alexios Komnenos (protosebastos) • Alexios Philanthropenos • Alexios Strategopoulos • Alexios V Doukas • Alexios V of Trebizond • Amr ibn al-As • Anastasius I Dicorus • Andronikos V Palaiologos • Andronikos Doukas (co-emperor) • Andronikos Doukas Angelos • Andronikos Komnenos (son of Alexios I) • Anna Anachoutlou • Artabanes (general) • Avar–Byzantine wars • Bardas • Basil II • Basiliscus (Caesar) • Baths of Zeuxippus • Battle of Akroinon • Battle of Alexandretta • Battle of Anzen • Battle of Apamea • Battle of Arcadiopolis (970) • Battle of Bathys Ryax • Battle of Constantinople (922) • Battle of Kleidion • Battle of Kopidnadon • Battle of Krasos • Battle of Manzikert • Battle of Mauropotamos • Battle of Saint George • Battle of the Gates of Trajan • Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros • Battle of Yarmouk • Boniface of Verona • Busr ibn Abi Artat • Byzantine–Arab Wars • Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896 • Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty • Byzantine Greeks • Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268 • Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 • Chalke • Chlemoutsi • Church of St. Polyeuctus • Codex Sinaiticus • Constantine V • Constantine VIII • Constantine (son of Leo V) • Constantine Angelos • Constantine Angelos Doukas • Constantine Dalassenos (duke of Antioch) • Constantine Diogenes • Constantine Doukas (usurper) • Constantine Komnenos Angelos • Constantine Lekapenos • Constantine the Great • Coronation of the Byzantine emperor • Cutzinas • David III of Tao • Domestic of the Schools • Droungarios of the Fleet • Droungarios of the Watch • Emirate of Crete • Eustathios Argyros (general under Leo VI) • Eustathios Daphnomeles • Eutharic • Euthymius I of Constantinople • Gabras • Genoese occupation of Rhodes • Geoffrey of Briel • George Mouzalon • George Palaiologos (megas hetaireiarches) • Germanus (cousin of Justinian I) • Glarentza • Gothic War (535–554) • Gubazes II of Lazica • Guy Pallavicini • Harald Hardrada • Harbor of Eutropius • Heraclius • Heraclius (son of Constans II) • Heraclius the Elder • Heraclonas • Isaac I Komnenos • Isaac Komnenos (brother of Alexios I) • Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I) • Isaac Komnenos (son of John II) • John Doukas (megas doux) • John Doukas (sebastokrator) • John I Doukas of Thessaly • John II Komnenos • John IV of Ohrid • John VII Palaiologos • John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools) • John Komnenos (governor of Dyrrhachium) • John Komnenos Asen • John Komnenos the Fat • John of Brienne • John Palaiologos (brother of Michael VIII) • John Tzelepes Komnenos • Julius Nepos • Justin I • Justin (consul 540) • Justinian I • Khalid ibn al-Walid • Konstantios Doukas • Law School of Beirut • Leo II (emperor) • Leo IV the Khazar • Leontios • Leo Tornikios • Licario • Mansur ibn Lu'lu' • Manuel Erotikos Komnenos • Manuel Komnenos (kouropalates) • Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I) • Manuel Palaiologos • Manuel the Armenian • Marianos Argyros • Martino Zaccaria • Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik • Maurice (emperor) • Mauro-Roman Kingdom • Megas logothetes • Michael I Komnenos Doukas • Michael IV the Paphlagonian • Michael VIII Palaiologos • Michael Bourtzes • Michael Dokeianos • Michael Lachanodrakon • Momchil • Mu'awiya I • al-Muktafi • Muslim conquest of Sicily • Mutinensis gr. 122 • Nikephoros III Botaneiates • Nikephoros (Caesar) • Nikephoros Diogenes • Nikephoros Komnenos • Nikephoros Komnenos (brother of Alexios I) • Nikephoros Melissenos • Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos • Nikephoros Phokas the Elder • Nikephoros Xiphias • Orphanotrophos • Ottoman conquest of Lesbos • Peter the Patrician • Problem of two emperors • Protostrator • Romanos III Argyros • Sack of Damietta (853) • Sa'd al-Dawla • Salih ibn Mirdas • Shahrbaraz • Shibl al-Dawla Nasr • Siege of Berat (1280–1281) • Siege of Constantinople (860) • Siege of Damascus (634) • Siege of Jerusalem (637) • Siege of Kamacha (766) • Siege of Nicaea (727) • Siege of Patras (805 or 807) • Siege of Shaizar • Siege of Syracuse (877–878) • Siege of Taormina (902) • Siege of Tyana • Solomon (magister militum) • Staurakios • Staurakios (eunuch) • Stephen Lekapenos • Stratopedarches • Stylianos Zaoutzes • Syrgiannes Palaiologos • Thekla (daughter of Theophilos) • Theodora (wife of Theophilos) • Theodora Porphyrogenita • Theodore I Laskaris • Theodore Synadenos • Theodosius I • Theodosius (son of Maurice) • Theophylact (son of Michael I) • Theoktistos • Thomas Palaiologos • Tiberius III • Tiberius (son of Constans II) • Tiberius (son of Justinian II) • Tocco family • Treaty of Gallipoli • Turahan Bey • Type of Constans • Tzachas • Umar al-Aqta • Uprising of Ivaylo • Vandalic War • Walls of Constantinople • Yazdegerd II • Zoë Porphyrogenita

External links and resources

Societies of Byzantine studies

Association Internationale des Études Byzantines (AIEB) (in English, French, and Greek)
Asociación Cultural Hispano-Helénica (in Spanish)
Associazione Italiana di Studi Bizantini (AISB) (in Italian)
Australasian Association for Byzantine Studies (AABS) (in English)
Byzantine Studies Association of North America (BSANA) (in English)
Bysantinska Sällskapet - Swedish Byzantine society (in Swedish)
Centre d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance (in French)
Český národní byzantologický komitét (ČNBK) (in Czech)
Χριστιανική Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία (ΧΑΕ) - Christian Archaeological Society (in Greek)
Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Förderung Byzantinischer Studien (in German)
Ελληνική Επιτροπή Βυζαντινών Σπουδών (in Greek)
Österreichische Byzantinische Gesellschaft (in German)
Национальный Комитет византинистов Российской Федерации (in Russian)
Nordic Byzantine Network (NBN) (in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and English)
The Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (in English)
Sociedad Española de Bizantinística (in Spanish)

Journals of Byzantine studies

Византийский Временник Российской Академии Наук (in Russian)
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (in English)
BYZANTINA. Annual Review of the "Byzantine Research Centre", University of Thessaloniki (in English and Greek)
BYZANTINA SYMMEIKTA, Institute for Byzantine Research (Greece) (in English and Greek)
Deltion of the Christian Archaeological Society (Greece) (in English and Greek)
Dumbarton Oaks Publications (incl. free online e-books) (in English)
Ellinika, Society for Macedonian Studies (in Greek)
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, Duke University (in English)
Revue des études byzantines (in French)
Zbornik radova Vizantoloskog instituta (in English and Serbian)
Επετηρίς Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών, Society for Byzantine Studies of Athens (in Greek) (online)
Βυζαντιακά, Hellenic Association of Historical Sciences
Estudios Bizantinos, Sociedad Española de Bizantinística (in Spanish)
Byzantion Nea Hellás, Centro de Estudios Griegos, Bizantinos y Neohelénicos "Fitos Malleros" (Universidad de Chile) (in Spanish)
Erytheia, Asociación Cultural Hispano-Helénica (Spain) (in Spanish)

Byzantine studies and research institutes

AHRB Centre for Byzantine Cultural History (in English)
Византолошки институт САНУ - Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (in Serbian and English)
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC (in English)
Ινστιτούτο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών (ΙΒΕ) - Institute of Byzantine Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens (in Greek and English)
Institut für Byzantinische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, University of Heidelberg (in German)
Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik, Münster (in German)
Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik, University of Vienna (in German)
Institut für Byzanzforschung (IBF), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (in German)
Κέντρο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών (ΚΒΕ) - Byzantine Research Centre, University of Thessaloniki (in Greek and English)
The Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research (in English)
Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών - Society for Byzantine Studies of Athens (in Greek)
Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas, Universidad de Granada (Spain) (in Spanish, English, and Greek)
Centro de Estudios Griegos, Bizantinos y Neohelénicos "Fotios Malleros", Universidad de Chile (in Spanish and Greek)

Projects

The Amorium Excavations Project (in English and Turkish)
The Archeology of Constantinople and its Hinterland (in English)
- Anastasian Wall Project (in English)
- The Water Supply of Constantinople (in English)
The Euchaita/Avkat Project (in English)
Inscriptions of Aphrodisias (in English)
Tabula Imperii Byzantini (in German)

Bibliography and primary sources

Auteurs Grecs, comprehensive list of works by ancient Greek and Byzantine authors in the original and French translation (in Greek and French)
Bibliography on Byzantine Material Culture and Daily Life, University of Vienna] (in English)
Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (in English) (texts in original Greek and Latin translations)
Byzantine Studies Bibliographies, Fordham University (in English)
Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Selected Sources: Byzantium, Fordham University (in English)
MYRIOBIBLOS, the e-text Library of the Church of Greece (in English and Greek)
Procopius: Buildings, at Lacus Curtius (in English)
Procopius: The Secret History, at Lacus Curtius (in English)
John Bagnall Bury: History of the Later Roman Empire (in English)
Translated Excerpts from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c. 700-1204, by Paul Stephenson (in English)

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