History of the Byzantine Empire

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The Byzantine Empire's history is generally periodised from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. From the 3rd to 6th centuries, the Greek East and Latin West of the Roman Empire gradually diverged, marked by Diocletian's (r. 284–305) formal partition of its administration in 285, the establishment of an eastern capital in Constantinople by Constantine I in 330, and the adoption of Christianity as the state religion under Theodosius I (r. 379–395), with others such as Roman polytheism being proscribed. Although the Western half of the Roman Empire had collapsed in 476, the Eastern half remained stable and emerged as one of the most powerful states in Europe, a title it held for most of its existence. Under the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), the Empire's military and administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official use instead of Latin. While there was an unbroken continuity in administration and other features of Roman society, historians have often...

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