Byzantine and the Islamic Empires

The decline of the Roman Empire gave birth to new political formations that had a tremendous impact upon the world at large. Out of this disintegration emerged three new political formations, such as the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic empires. These different regimes had steady economic and intellectual contact with one another and both the Byzantine and Islamic empires impacted the west and western culture.

The Byzantine Empire bore its name from the surviving eastern half of the Roman Empire and the people among it considered themselves Roman. However, Greek remained an incredibly strong influence on the Byzantine Empire as did Christianity. Christianity continued to wage a massive influence on this empire, one which was readily apparent in the artwork of the period (Cunningham & Reich, 166). Religion had a massive influence on Byzantine life as all Byzantine holidays were religious...
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