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.
IN 476 AD THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE FELL AND THE
EASTERN EMPIRE SURVIVED AS WHAT WE KNOW TODAY
AS THE 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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