610

Events in 610 3

• 330 – 610 The Early Empire (330–610) The Early Byzantine period spans from Constantine's founding of Constantinople to the death of Maurice and the accession of Heraclius. It encompasses the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, the fall of the West (476), Justinian's great reconquest of North Africa and Italy, the construction of Hagia Sophia, the Plague of Justinian (the first pandemic in recorded history), and the exhausting Persian wars that leave both empires vulnerable to the Arab conquests. This is the period in which the Roman Empire becomes the Byzantine Empire -- Greek in language and culture, Orthodox in religion, but Roman in law and institutional identity.
• 600 – 610 Persian wars exhaust the empire The wars of Maurice and Phocas against Sassanid Persia (572-628) drain Byzantine resources to the point of collapse. Phocas's brutal usurpation (602) triggers a Persian invasion that overruns Syria, Egypt and Anatolia. Only Heraclius's extraordinary campaigns (622-628) recover these territories -- too late to prevent the Arab conquests that follow within a decade.
• 610 – 1025 The Middle Period (610–1025) The Middle Byzantine period spans from Heraclius's accession to the death of Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer. It encompasses the catastrophic loss of Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa to the Arab conquests, the iconoclasm controversy that splits the empire for over a century, the conversion of the Slavs and Bulgars to Orthodox Christianity, and the Macedonian dynasty's military and cultural renaissance. The period ends at Byzantine apogee under Basil II, when the empire controls more territory than at any time since Justinian.