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THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Added on: 2nd Nov 2015

 

 

BYZANTIUM WAS AN ANCIENT GREEK CITY FOUNDED

BY GREEK COLONISTS FROM MEGARA IN 657 BC. THE CITY

WAS REBUILT AND RE-INAUGURATED AS THE NEW CAPITAL

OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE BY EMPEROR CONSTANTINE I IN

330 AD AND SUBSEQUENTLY RENAMED CONSTANTINOPLE

IN HIS HONOUR.

Ancient Byzantium

 

 

IN 476 AD THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE FELL AND THE

EASTERN EMPIRE SURVIVED AS WHAT WE KNOW TODAY

AS THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

Byzantine Empire

 

 

BYZANTION IS SAID TO BE NAMED AFTER BYZAS, THE LEADER

OF THE MEGAREAN COLONISTS AND FOUNDER OF THE CITY.

THE FORM “BYZANTIUM” IS A LATINIZATION OF THE

GREEK BYZANTION.

Byzas

 

 

HOWEVER, “BYZANTINE” IS A NINETEENTH-CENTURY TERM

THAT MODERN HISTORIANS APPLIED TO THIS CULTURE.

BYZANTINES, ON THE OTHER HAND, CALLED THEMSELVES

“ROMANS” FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

IN 330 AD UNTIL IT FELL TO THE OTTOMANS IN 1453.

Byzantines

 

 

THE BYZANTINES WERE THE FIRST TO TRY ROSEMARY TO

FLAVOUR ROAST LAMB. THEY ALSO WERE THE FIRST TO

USE SAFFRON IN COOKING. THESE AROMATICS, WELL KNOWN

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN

THOUGHT OF AS FOOD INGREDIENTS.

rosemary

 

 

THE BYZANTINES LOVED SWEETS AND DESSERTS MORE

THAN ANYTHING. THERE WERE DISHES THAT WE WOULD

RECOGNIZE AS DESSERTS SUCH AS GROUTA, A SORT OF

FRUMENTY, SWEETENED WITH HONEY AND STUDDED

WITH CAROB SEEDS OR RAISINS, AND THE BYZANTINES

LOVED TO EAT RICE PUDDING SERVED WITH HONEY AND

CINNAMON. SINCE ANTIQUITY QUINCE MARMALADE WAS

KNOWN TO THE GREEKS AND ROMANS, BUT IN THE

BYZANTINE EMPIRE OTHER JELLIES AND CONSERVES MADE

THEIR APPEARANCE AS WELL, BASED ON PEAR,

CITRON, AND LEMON. THE INCREASING AVAILABILITY OF

SUGAR ASSISTED THE CONFECTIONER’S INVENTIVENESS.

ROSE SUGAR, A POPULAR MEDIEVAL CONFECTION, MAY

WELL HAVE ORIGINATED IN BYZANTIUM.

ryzogalo

 

 

FLAVOURED WINES, A VARIANT OF THE ROMAN CONDITUM

(SPICED WINE), BECAME POPULAR, AS DID FLAVOURED

SOFT DRINKS, WHICH WERE CONSUMED ON FAST DAYS.

THE VERSIONS THAT WERE AROMATIZED WITH MASTIC,

ANISEED, ROSE, AND ABSINTHE WERE ESPECIALLY POPULAR;

THEY ARE DISTANT ANCESTORS OF THE MASTIKHA, VERMOUTH,

ABSINTHE, AND OUZO IN MODERN GREECE.

Ouzo

 

 

THE BYZANTINES ENJOYED SEAFOOD, SPECIFICALLY A

VERY POPULAR DISH THEY CALLED “BOTARGO,” WHICH

WAS SALTED MULLET ROE. BY THE TWELFTH CENTURY THE

BYZANTINES WERE FAMILIAR WITH CAVIAR AS WELL.

seafood

 

 

CERTAIN FRUITS WERE PRETTY MUCH UNKNOWN TO THE

ANCIENT EUROPEAN WORLD BUT THE BYZANTINES BECAME

THE FIRST TO APPRECIATE THE AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT),

LEMONS, AND ORANGES.

lemons

 


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