The origins of the great civilization known as the Byzantine Empire can be traced to 330 A.D., when the Roman emperor Constantine the Great dedicated a "new Rome" on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium. Though the western half of the Roman Empire fell in 476, the eastern half survived for 1,000 more years, spawning a rich tradition of art, literature and learning and serving as a military buffer between the states of Europe and the threat of invasion from Asia. The Byzantine Empire finally fell in 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Constantine XI.
