After the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E., much of the Mediterranean basin was in disorder with no leadership. Germanic tribes from the north had conquered the last emperor and claimed the land their own. But in the east, a new empire was blooming, the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was both similar and different from the previous Roman Empire, and its greatest ruler, Justinian, made it his main ambition to regain the lost territory, and power of Rome.
<Tab/>The empire of Byzantium was the only classical empire to survive the erratically difficult period of t…
