Roman and Byzantine Essay Example for Free

Roman and Byzantine Essay Between 200 B.C.E. and 1100 C.E. some aspects of cultural and political life changed between the Roman and Byzantine Empire while, other aspects continued. The aspects that continued politically are strong centralized political system, with an emperor overseeing. The aspects that changed politically are the way provinces of the empire were ruled. The aspects that continued culturally are the wealth, trade dependence, and pride. The aspects that changed are the religion, language, and military defense. Political aspects continued between the Roman and Byzantine Empire. The aspects that continued are the bureaucratic government and centralized political system with the emperor ruling everything. The Romans started this slightly during the reign of Julius Caesar, Caesar became a dictator and started this type of government in 47 B.C.E. after he was assassinated by his enemies. Julius’s grand-nephew Octavian Caesar rose up, defeated Julius’s enemies, and took over as the first emperor of Rome, renaming himself Augustus Caesar in 27 B.C.E. Augustus continued the type of government his uncle started where he as the emperor oversees all social, political, economic, religious, and military. The Byzantines took this cue from their predecessor and continued it by having such great emperors such as Justinian (527-656 C.E.) or Constantine (306-337 C.E.) who oversaw the whole Byzantine Empire and made decisions that allowed the empire to prosper. Another political aspect the Romans’ started was the standard of law which was continued by the Byzantines. Although the Byzantine Empire continued these political aspects of the Roman Empire, they changed some aspects.