Page 201 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

Atlantic Ocean
SUEVES VISIGOTHS
FRANKS
BURGUNDIANS Milan OSTROGOTHS SLAVS BULGARS
LOMBARDS
ALEMANNI AVARS
Ravenna
Rome Naples
Black Sea
Corsica Sardinia
Carthage VANDALS
Sicily
Constantinople
Athens
Crete
ARMENIA
Manzikert
PERSIAN EMPIRE
ARABIA
Cyprus
Antioch
SYRIA
Damascus
Alexandria
Jerusalem
Empire before Justinian
Territory gained by Justinian FRANKS Groups of people
MAP 7.4 The Eastern Roman Empire in the Time of Justinian. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian briefly restored much of the Mediterranean portion of the old Roman Empire. His general Belisarius quickly conquered the Vandals in North Africa but wrested Italy from the Ostrogoths only after a long and devastating struggle.
Q Look back at Map 6.1. What former Roman territories remained outside Justinian’s control?
0 0
200
400 200
600 Kilometers 400 Miles
Red Sea
LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE: TRADE AND THE EMPEROR’S BUILDING PROGRAM After riots destroyed much of Con- stantinople in 532, Emperor Justinian rebuilt the city and gave it the appearance it would keep for almost a thousand years. With a population estimated in the hundreds of thousands, Constantinople was the largest city in Europe during the Middle Ages. It viewed itself as the center of an empire and a special Christian city. The Byzantines believed that the city was under the protection of God and the Virgin Mary.
Until the twelfth century, Constantinople was also Europe’s greatest commercial center, the chief market- place where Western and Eastern products were exchanged. Highly desired in Europe were the products of the East: silk from China, spices from Southeast Asia and India, jewelry and ivory from India (the latter used
by artisans for church items), wheat and furs from southern Russia, and flax and honey from the Balkans. Many of these Eastern goods were then shipped to the Mediterranean area and northern Europe. Moreover, imported raw materials were used in Constantinople for local industries. During Justinian’s reign, two Christian monks smuggled silkworms from China to begin a Byzantine silk industry. The state controlled the production of silk cloth, and the workshops them- selves were housed in Constantinople’s royal palace complex. European demand for silk cloth made it the city’s most lucrative product.
Much of Constantinople’s appearance in the Mid- dle Ages was due to Justinian’s rebuilding program in the sixth century. The city was dominated by an immense palace complex, hundreds of churches, and a
The Byzantine Empire 163
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