Byzantine is the name given to both the state and the culture of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire considered them Romans. Western Europeans, who had their own Roman empire, called them Orientals or Greeks. These names give witness to the composite nature of Byzantium; it was the continuation of the Roman state. The Byzantine Empire preserved the basic structures of late Roman Mediterranean civic culture, which led to the growth and continuing success.
Constantine had chosen the site for a new capital with care. He placed Constantinople on the frontier of Europe and Asia, dominating the waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Black seas. Nature protected the site on three sides with cliffs; on the fourth side, emperors fortified the city with an impenetrable three-wall network. The security and wealth provided by its setting helped Byzantine survive for more than a thousand years. .
Constantinople growth and success was due to commerce, army and navy, government, law and order, and unity as an empire, something the Roman Empire lacked. Byzantines harbor was the center of an active commerce. Constantinople was one of the greatest trading ports in the Christian world. The furs, honey, and wax, brought from the north by Russian merchants exchanged for the spices, drugs, and precious stones from the Orient. The profits were so great that the merchants became rich and the city prospered. This wealth was a source of strength to the Byzantine Empire.
The Army and Navy was a constant temptation to other powers and the emperors needed strong army and a large navy to defend their possessions. The city's wealth and taxes paid for a strong military force and financed an effective government. The Empire.
had strong standing professional soldiers. Emperors needed victory in the field to enhance their prestige and fend off rivals.
In other Empires, the army was the power and the rulers depended on the army to maintain their position.
