Byzantine Empire (9 h 18 m, 1 jan 330 ano – 8 h 23 m, 11 set 1453 ano)

Descrição:

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Constantinople became a center of Roman thought and tradition. The entire economy was based on trade, being in the middle of Middle Eastern/Asiatic trade with the Silk Road. Policy was used to further the wealth of Constantinople alone while those who lived outside of the capital subsisted on farming. The Emperor of the empire was ordained by God and head of both state and church, being the Orthodox Christian Church which had separated from the Catholic Church of the West. Trade did not move west due to this split. The Bureaucracy which aided the Emperor in ruling the empire was expansive and filled with high-class scholar-gentry. Mostly aristocrats took these roles. The largest conflict the Empire faced was the constant invaders from Germanic and Middle Eastern forces. Eventually it was to the Islamic Seljuks to which the Empire finally fell to. However the empire helped to continue the Greco-Roman tradition and thought and helped the culture continue to live on in European life as well as continue to bring new ideas into Europe with their constant trade with the outside world.