Byzantine Empire Emperors

Constantine the Great

272

Constantine the Great was born on 272 and died on 337 AC.

Constantine the Great-Ruling Period

Period: 306 to 337

Constantine accomplished many things during his ruling time, but one of the biggest he did was making Christianity famous and building many churches. One of them being the Basilica of Saint Peter.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

Constantine sees Christian symbol and says he will win because of this sign. This is the moment Constantine's conversion happens and wins Maxentius. This battle took place in the Tiber River, and this helped Contsantine win because he pussed Maxentius to the river and killed him.

The Battle of Chrysopolis

324

This battle happened during the ruling time of Constantine the Great. This battle was between Licinius and Constantine due to the alliance between them was broken, because Licinius started killing Christians. Constantine took this opportunity to fight him and get him off the throne.

Council of Nicaea

325

Constantine decided to call on a meeting with the church officials to establish what Christianity beliefs were. They decide to do this due to riots happening around the empire because people disagreed on beliefs. In the Council on Nicaea they established the Nicene Creed and other things.

Theodosius

347

Theodosius was born on 347 and died on 395 AC.

Theodosius-Ruling Period

Period: 379 to 395

During Theodosius ruling time he built the Theodosian Wall that served for Constantinople's defense and protection. This was built during the 5th century and served for protection for Constantinople. It was made up of a 3 line defense: moat, terrace, and a wall made of limestone to support earthquakes He created an iron chain for protection from boats and for protection from the Huns, Theodosius army created stirrups.

Justinian

482

Justinian was born on 482 and died on 565 AC.

Justinian-Ruling Period

Period: 518 to 527

During his time in the throne Justinian built the Hippodrome. This was a social life place and chariot races took place their.

Justinian's Code of Laws

Period: 529 to 534

Justinian create a set of laws, that were based on the previous set of laws. Some of this rules were used or are similar to the USA laws.

Nika Riots

532

Justinian raised taxes and the people got upset at this so thwy decided to revolt against. They called themselves the Nika riots and Justinian got so tired of them he was about to leave the throne because he couldn’t deal with this problem.Instead, his wife, Theodora, inspired him to fight. He convinced the Nika Riot s to solve the problem on the Hippodrome, but he trapped and killed them.

Hagia Sophia

Period: 532 to 537

During Justinian's rule he built the Hagia Sophia. This was an important architectural accomplishment because it was a representation of christianity. It also included a dome, which was very impressive during the time.

Hagia Sophia

537

Heraclius

575

Heraclius was born 575 and died in 641 AC.

Heraclius Crown Himself Emperor

610

In 610 AC Heraclius crowned himself ruler after killing Phocas because they got into a fight. He got mad and cut his head of.

Heraclius- Ruling Period

Period: 610 to 642

Heraclius was a great military leader and reorganized the army of the empire. He got peace with the Persians and defeated them. While he was emperor he did changes in the government due to corruptions and established Greek as the Byzantine Empire's official language. He also negatively marked the empire by having chaotic military campaigns.

Restored True Cross in Jerusalem

630

In 630, Herculius restored the true cross in Jerusalem.

Irene

752

Irene was one of the first empresses of the Byzantine Empire. She was born in 752 and died in 803 AC.

Irene Accomplishment

789

In 798 Irene created a relation in which there was direct contact and communication with Charlemagne, who was a western emperor. This was to help each other's conflicts.

Irene - Ruling Period

Period: 797 to 802

Irene is remembered as being one of the first women to rule the Byzantine Empire. During Irene's ruling time she accomplished to allow back again the use of icons and finished with iconoclasm. Also, she ended a rebellion against Constantine.

Basil ll

958

Basil the second was born on 958 an died in 1025 AC.

Basil ll - Ruling Time

Period: 976 to 1025

During his ruling time he conquered Greece and joined it to the empire's territory. He finished rebellions and gave importance to the Macedonian Dynasty. Basil ll had amazing military skills and strategies, for example when they needed protection from Bulgar army they created the trebuchet, which was kind of like a canon. He was known as the "Bulgar Slayer", due to the fact he conquered Bulgaria. Lastly, they used gunpowder for battles as well.

Zoe

978

Zoe was one of the few women that got to rule the Byzantine Empire. She was born on 978 and died on 1050 AC.

Theodora

981

Theodora was co-emperor of Zoe, but also became empress. She was born on 981 and died on 1056 AC.

Zoe - Ruling Period

Period: 1028 to 1050

Zoe is famous for making many mosaics during her ruling time. Zoe is mostly known by the way she came to power, which was through using and killing people. After she and Michael IV killed Romanos III, then Michael IV betrayed Zoe and send her to a monastery. During that time she adopted a son so that he could inherit the ruling power and get her in the congress. Then he also betrayed Zoe and after all that the empire supported her and she became empress.

Zoe Event & Accomplishments

1034

In 1034, Zoe Killed Romanos III Argyros so that she could get him out of the way to her throne. Things Zoe accomplished with her sister Theodora were that they changed the people who were in the governments positions, fought against corruption, and Zoe represented the fight towards women rights. She fought for the rights of women because she never gave up until she obtained her legitimate throne.

Theodora - Ruling Period

Period: 1042 to 1056

Theodora co-ruled with Zoe, which was her sister, but also got to rule the empire. She had fierce attitude and as mentioned before she fought against corruption and made sure everyone got to the government stop they have fairly. She had always been jealous of her sister and they had problems. When a new threat to stealing her throne came she made sure to exiled all of his supporters so that she could remain on her throne. Finally , she didn't have a nice reputation.