Byzantine Empire

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Lasting for over 1100 years, the Byzantine Empire – or properly known as the Eastern Roman Empire, stood as one of the longest enduring kingdoms in history. This course explores the evolution of this empire from Constantine’s creation of a “new Rome” with his relocation to Byzantium in 330 CE, to its final years under Constantine IX Palaiologos as it fell to the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II in 1453. As the Byzantine empire expanded, contracted, suffered civil wars, reconciled the Sack of Rome, and confronted the rise of both Abbasid and Umayyad caliphates, artists both at the court and beyond engaged in a rich dialogue of material culture (jewelry, ivories, enamels, textiles, manuscripts, sculptures, paintings, and architecture). Throughout this course, we will examine how the production and circulation of visual culture illustrates a variety of functions for each phase of the empire, be that promoting global influence, cultivating a recognizable and replicable style, or manufacturing propaganda to combat political defeats. Students will consider issues of trade and commerce, race and cultural migrations, gender and the role of the empress, theological debates during the era of iconoclasm, and the impact of crusades. For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu