Portal:Lebanon

The Empire at its greatest territorial extent in 565, at the end of Justinian I's rule

The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'.

During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine I (r. 324–337) legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I (r. 379–395) made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery.

The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent under the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), who briefly reconquered much of Italy and the western Mediterranean coast. A plague began around 541, and a prolonged warfare with Persia placed fiscal and military strain on the empire, contributing to political and strategic challenges in the decades that followed. In the 630s and 640s the Arab conquests defeated Byzantine field armies in Syria and Egypt, resulting in the permanent loss of those provinces to the Rashidun Caliphate. In 698, Africa was lost to the Umayyad Caliphate, but the empire stabilised under the Isaurian dynasty. It expanded once more under the Macedonian dynasty, experiencing a two-century-long renaissance. Thereafter, periods of civil war and Seljuk incursion resulted in the loss of most of Asia Minor. The empire recovered during the Komnenian restoration, and Constantinople remained the largest and wealthiest city in Europe until the 13th century, when it was overtaken by Paris. (Full article...)

• ... that the Mseilha Fort is strategically located to overlook the crossing of the Jaouz River near Ras ash-Shaq'a, a promontory in Lebanon?
• ... that al-Shaykh Badr was the hometown of Salih al-Ali, who led the Alawite revolt against the French in Syria?
• ... that Gigarta, a settlement mentioned by Strabo and Pliny the Elder, is believed to have been located on the slopes of Mount Lebanon, although its exact location remains under debate?
• ... that Lebanese actress Cynthya Karam volunteers as a clown doctor in children's hospitals?
• ... that photographer Denis Cameron covered the Lebanese Civil War, the Iranian Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Gulf War?
• ... that the 2nd-century BC Aramaic inscription of Yanouh is the first attested use of Aramaic as a public language in Mount Lebanon?

Religions in Lebanon

Arab states

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