Turkey In Focus - Discover Turkey: Experience the Best of Turkey - page 673

Rome & Christianity
The Romans arrived in 190 BC and, by 65 BC, had overcome all resistance and extended
their rule to Armenia, on the Persian border.
Tradition states that in the 1st century AD St John retired to Ephesus to write the fourth
Gospel, bringing Mary with him. St Paul used the Roman road system to spread the word
across Anatolia. In the late 3rd century AD Diocletian tried to steady the empire by split-
ting it into eastern and western administrative units, simultaneously attempting to wipe
out Christianity. Both endeavours failed. The religion continued to spread, albeit clandes-
tinely and subject to persecution.
Diocletian's reforms, meanwhile, resulted in a civil war, won by the Christian convert
Constantine - said to have been guided by angels to build a 'New Rome' on the ancient
Greek town of Byzantium. The city came to be known as Constantinople (now İstanbul)
and, by the end of the 4th century, Christianity was the Roman Empire's official religion.
Byzantium
Under Justinian, Byzantium (the Eastern Roman Empire) became a distinct entity, al-
though sentimental attachment to the idea of Rome remained: the Greek-speaking Byzan-
tines called themselves Romans, and the Turks later referred to them as 'Rum'.
Justinian's ambition overstretched the Byzantine Empire, which was battered by
plague, encroaching Avars and Slavic tribes, and a drawn-out struggle with those age-old
rivals, the Persians. This made Anatolia's eastern provinces easy prey for the Arab armies
exploding out of Arabia, who brought a new language, civilisation and religion: Islam.
On the western front, Goths and Lombards advanced, pushing Byzantium back into the
Balkans and Anatolia by the 8th century. Though the Macedonian emperors chalked up
victories against Islamic Egypt, the Bulgars and Russia, but Basil II's death in 1025
marked the end of Byzantine expansion.