Topic: Byzantine Empire - Greek empire of the Romans

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

II. Byzantium and the world of Islam. Pupil:

2. locates in time and space the Byzantine Empire and recognizes the achievements of Byzantine culture (law, architecture, art).

General aim of education

You will learn about the history of the second Rome - the Byzantine Empire in the first centuries of the Middle Ages.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• how Constantinople became the second Rome;

• how the Roman Empire was restored during the reign of Emperor Justinian I;

• what reforms and changes were introduced by the Emperor Justinian I;

• why Byzantine Empire is called the continuation of Rome.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Students remember when the division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western Empires took place and under what circumstances the West Roman Empire collapsed..

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the subject, the goals of the lesson and the criteria for success..

2. The teacher, referring to the homework, asks students when and why the division of the Roman Empire occurred, and why the empire collapsed in the west and the east avoided its fate? Students perform Exercise 1. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly performed and provides feedback..

Realization

1. The teacher, referring to the students' statements from the introductory phase, describes the power of Constantinople. Students perform Exercise 2 and Task 1. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly performed and provides feedback. Next, the teacher explains that Constantinople owed his power to the geographical location, the lack of support of the army on the barbarian tribes and the preservation of relative peace, among others by paying for the invaders. It also explains what the three pillars of the Empire were - imperial authority, state administration and army, and how they were related to each other.

2. The teacher mentions invasions over the centuries: V‑VIII century Byzantines threatened: Persians from the east, Avars from the north; Bulgarians and Slavs in the Balkans and Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa ***.

3. The teacher presents the figure of Emperor Justinian I, then asks that students in pairs (or small groups) find out what reforms and changes have occurred during his reign. Why is it said that his rule is „the restoration of the Roman Empire”? Students are doing Exercise 3. Then they discuss the idealism and pragmatism of Justinian I politics.

4. Students perform Task 2, followed by Task 3. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and provides feedback.

Summary

1. To sum up, the teacher asks student to answer the question - „What was the most characteristic of Byzantine culture?” Based on a video from a fragment of the lesson in the e‑textbook „Zamiast podsumowania”.

2. Students do Exercise 4, and then the teacher makes sure that the task has been executed and gives them feedback.

Homework

1. The notions „Byzantine splendor” and „Byzantine bureaucracy” came into common use. Find out what they mean..

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Byzantine Empire - Greek empire of the Romans

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, the role of the descendant and continuer of the Roman tradition was taken over by the Byzantine Empire with the capital city in Constantinople. The inhabitants of the Eastern Empire, called ‘Greek’ by many because of the popularity of Greek language and culture, emphasized their Roman roots and ancestry. The capital city of the Empire was a great city. During its prosperity it had 500,000 inhabitants. Three elements decided about its strength – the imperial power, the army and the administration, as well as a dynamic economy. This allowed to keep a wealthy treasury, and thanks to this, a permanent army. It was also possible to pay tributes to barbaric rulers who threatened the empire.

The most important citizen of Byzantine Empire was the Emperor. He was unlike others, though. He considered himself the ruler of all the Romans, he was supposed to realize the mission of christianisation of the world given to him by the God and he was also the representative of the God on earth. Formally, he was chosen by the highest ranking officials that created the Senate, however, no one contested the rule of inheriting the power and the rule being transferred from generation to generation. The imperial rule, which ruled over all subjects and church officials, was based on an efficient administrative apparatus, which main goal was to ensure high income to the treasury and the safety and peace of the subjects. All of it was regulated by rules and acts of law.

The most prominent Emperor of the early Middle Ages was Justinian I, called the Great. He ruled between 527 and 565 and left his mark on nearly all aspects of life in the Empire. He revolutionized the state apparatus, basing his rule not only on the aristocracy, but also on talented “new people” who came from lower classes. Thanks to his protection, they became fully dependant on the emperor, but also fulfilled his will unconditionally. Among them were not only great leaders like Belisarius, but also agile administrators and lawyers introducing the reforms of the Emperor. Justinian I dreamt of rebuilding the great Empire and thanks to an efficient army led by extraordinary leaders he practically managed to achieve that in the middle of the 6th century. He was also the author of the great legal reform – he organized the rules into the Justinian Code, as well as built the most important building of Constantinople – the Church of God’s Wisdom. The restoration of the Roman Empire did not last long. Numerous attacks of enemy armies – Persians from the east and Awars from the north; Bulgarians and Slavs in the Balkans, as well as the Muslims from the Arab Peninsula, ended the age of Byzantine Empire’s dominance, depriving it of its political power in the Mediterranean basin already in the 7th century.