A thousand years of Roman glory from the Bosporus — a timeline of Byzantium from the dedication of Constantinople in 330 AD to the fall of the City in 1453. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of each year.
Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates Nova Roma on the Bosporus on 11 May, transforming the Greek city of Byzantion into the new capital of the Roman Empire.
A thousand years of Roman glory from the Bosporus — a timeline of Byzantium from the dedication of Constantinople in 330 AD to the fall of the City in 1453. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of each year.
Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates Nova Roma on the Bosporus on 11 May, transforming the Greek city of Byzantion into the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Constantine is baptised on his deathbed and dies near Nicomedia, leaving the empire divided among his three sons.
Julian attempts a revival of classical paganism and Hellenic learning, reversing the Christianisation of the state.
Emperor Valens is killed by the Goths; a catastrophic defeat that marks the beginning of the barbarian settlements within the empire.
The second ecumenical council affirms the Nicene Creed and elevates the see of Constantinople to second rank after Rome.
On the death of Theodosius I, the empire is divided between his sons Arcadius (East) and Honorius (West); the Eastern Roman Empire begins its independent course.
The Gothic general Gainas briefly dominates Constantinople before being defeated, highlighting the empire's reliance on barbarian troops.
Alaric and the Visigoths sack Rome, sending shockwaves through the Roman world. Emperor Honorius remains in Ravenna while Stilicho struggles to contain the crisis.
Theodosius II establishes the Pandidakterion, the first higher learning institution in the Byzantine Empire, focusing on Greek philosophy and law.
The Third Ecumenical Council condemns Nestorius and proclaims the Virgin Mary as Theotokos — at the cost of severing the Church of Persia and sowing the seed of the later Christological schism.
Theodosius II issues a comprehensive compilation of imperial constitutions since Constantine — the first major Christian Roman law code.
Geiseric and his Vandals capture Carthage by surprise, depriving the empire of its richest African province and the granary that had fed Rome for six centuries.
A massive earthquake damages Constantinople's walls, which are hastily rebuilt under the direction of Prefect Cyrus before Attila's invasion of the Balkans.
The Fourth Ecumenical Council defines the two natures of Christ and sparks centuries of theological conflict with the Miaphysite churches of Egypt, Syria and Armenia.
Roman and Visigothic forces under Flavius Aetius halt Attila's advance in Gaul, though the Huns remain a threat to the Eastern Empire.
The Hunnic empire fragments after Attila's death, removing the immediate threat to the Eastern Roman Empire.
Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus; Emperor Zeno in Constantinople becomes the sole Roman emperor in theory, though in practice the West passes to barbarian kings.
Kavad I attacks the eastern frontier and storms Amida, opening the first major war between Rome and Sasanian Persia in nearly a century and prompting Anastasius to fortify Dara as the new Roman bulwark in Mesopotamia.
Justinian and Theodora begin a reign marked by legal reform, monumental building, and the attempt to restore the Roman Mediterranean.
A rebellion of the circus factions nearly topples Justinian; Theodora's resolve and Belisarius's troops save the throne. Much of Constantinople burns.
The 'Great Church' designed by Anthemios of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletos is dedicated. Justinian reportedly exclaims, 'Solomon, I have surpassed thee!'
The first recorded pandemic sweeps through Constantinople and the Mediterranean, killing millions and weakening the empire's economy and military recruitment.
The influential Antonina, wife of the great general Belisarius, dies. Her political maneuvering had been crucial in court politics during the reconquest.
With the Pragmatic Sanction Justinian reorganises reconquered Italy; Africa, Italy and parts of Spain are once again under Roman rule.
Sailing from Africa, Heraclius overthrows the tyrant Phocas and inherits an empire besieged by Sasanid Persia and the Avars.
The combined Avar–Sasanid assault on the capital fails. The victory is credited to the Theotokos, protector of the City.
The Arab armies crush the Romans in Syria; within a decade Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia are lost to the new Caliphate.
Heraclius dies after a disastrous reign that saw the loss of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to the Arab Caliphate. His sons Constantine III and Heraklonas briefly rule together.
The Arab conquest of Egypt is completed with the capture of Alexandria, ending over 600 years of Roman rule in the province.
An imperial fleet led personally by Constans II is annihilated off the Lycian coast by the new Arab navy of Mu'awiya, ending Roman naval supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean.
Constans II, who had moved the imperial court to Syracuse and attempted to centralize control in the West, is assassinated in his bath. Constantine IV succeeds him.
The five-year Arab siege is broken by Byzantine use of Greek fire and the arrival of Bulgarian allies. The Caliphate's expansion is temporarily halted.
The Sixth Ecumenical Council, summoned by Constantine IV, condemns Monothelitism and affirms two natural wills in Christ — closing the long Christological controversy that had divided the empire since Heraclius.
The Exarchate of Africa falls to the Arabs, ending Byzantine presence in North Africa west of Egypt and forcing the empire to rely on maritime trade.
Leo the Isaurian takes the throne and, together with Greek fire, breaks the great Umayyad siege of Constantinople in 718 — a turning point for Europe.
Leo III orders the removal of sacred images, igniting more than a century of religious and political strife.
Leo III convenes a council that declares icons a form of idolatry, beginning the systematic removal of religious images throughout the empire.
The leading iconodule martyr is executed for opposing iconoclasm, becoming a symbol of resistance to imperial religious policy.
The nine-year-old Constantine VI becomes emperor under the regency of his mother Irene, who will eventually depose him.
Empress Irene convenes the seventh ecumenical council, which restores the veneration of icons.
Empress Theodora definitively restores the icons. The feast is still celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent.
The first recorded attack by the Rus' on Constantinople is repelled, marking the beginning of Byzantine-Rus' relations that will shape Eastern European history.
The brothers from Thessalonica begin their mission to the Slavs, creating the Glagolitic alphabet and translating the liturgy into Slavonic.
Emperor Michael III and Petronas decisively defeat the Abbasid forces, ending the Arab threat to Anatolia and beginning the Byzantine resurgence.
Basil the Macedonian founds the dynasty that will preside over the golden age of Byzantium.
The Bulgar-Slayer begins a long reign that will bring Byzantium to its greatest extent since Justinian.
Vladimir of Kiev marries Anna Porphyrogenita and accepts Orthodox Christianity, drawing the Rus' into the Byzantine commonwealth.
The general Bardas Phokas rebels against Basil II but is defeated at the Battle of Abydos, securing Basil's absolute authority.
Basil II launches annual campaigns against Bulgaria, systematically destroying Bulgarian resistance and earning his future epithet.
Basil II annihilates the Bulgarian army; the surviving prisoners are blinded, earning him the epithet Boulgaroktonos.
The empire stretches from the Danube to Syria and from Italy to the Caucasus; the zenith of medieval Byzantine power.
Mutual excommunications between Cardinal Humbert and Patriarch Michael Keroularios formalise the split between Latin and Greek Christendom.
Constantine X dies, leaving the empire to his young sons under the regency of Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, who soon marries Romanos IV Diogenes.
Emperor Romanos IV is defeated and captured by the Seljuk Turks, opening Anatolia — the empire's demographic heart — to Turkish settlement.
The last Byzantine stronghold in Italy falls to the Normans, ending five centuries of Roman rule in the peninsula.
Alexios begins the Komnenian restoration, reforming the army, the coinage and the aristocracy.
Alexios's appeal for Western mercenaries provokes Urban II's summons to Clermont; Latin armies march east.
Alexios I forces Bohemond of Antioch to acknowledge Byzantine suzerainty over the Crusader states, though the treaty is never fully implemented.
John II, known as 'the Good', begins a reign marked by military success, piety, and efforts to restore Byzantine authority in Anatolia.
Manuel presides over a brilliant, cosmopolitan court, balancing Crusader states, the Sultanate of Rum, and the West.
Manuel's army is mauled by the Seljuks at a mountain pass in Phrygia; Byzantine hopes of reconquering the Anatolian plateau fade.
Manuel dies, leaving his 11-year-old son Alexios II under the regency of Empress Maria of Antioch, leading to political instability.
William II of Sicily captures and sacks Thessalonica, the empire's second city, exposing military weakness under the Komnenoi.
Isaac II overthrows and kills the tyrannical Andronikos I Komnenos, beginning the incompetent Angelos dynasty.
The Bulgarians under Tsar Kaloyan defeat the Byzantine army, establishing the Second Bulgarian Empire as a major threat.
The Fourth Crusade storms and pillages the capital. The empire is broken into Latin and Greek successor states — Nicaea, Epiros, and Trebizond.
Michael VIII Palaiologos restores the empire in the capital, but a diminished, impoverished shadow of its former self.
Byzantine diplomacy and gold help ignite the rebellion that destroys Charles of Anjou's plans to reconquer Constantinople.
Osman I declares independence from the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, establishing the Ottoman state that will eventually conquer Constantinople.
The Catalan mercenaries, hired by Emperor Andronikos II, turn against their employers and ravage Thrace and Macedonia.
The Ottomans capture Bursa, making it their first capital and establishing a foothold in northwestern Anatolia.
The death of Andronikos III sparks a devastating civil war between John VI Kantakouzenos and the regency of John V Palaiologos.
The earthquake at Gallipoli allows the Ottomans to seize their first European foothold; the noose begins to tighten around the capital.
A Crusader army led by Sigismund of Hungary is annihilated by Bayezid I, ending hopes of relieving Byzantine pressure.
Murad II besieges Constantinople but withdraws after the appearance of the legendary 'Last Emperor' prophecy.
Emperor John VIII agrees to a union of Churches in exchange for Western aid. The union is bitterly rejected by most of the Orthodox faithful.
On 29 May, after a 53-day siege, Sultan Mehmed II breaches the Theodosian Walls. Emperor Constantine XI dies in the final assault. The Roman Empire, after 1,123 years, comes to an end.