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'''Imperiul Bizantin''' (native Greek nameîn greacă: Βασιλεία τῶν Ρωμαίων - ''Basileia tōn Rōmaiōn'', latin; în latină: ''Imperium Romanum'') is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greekeste o sintagmă începând cu strierile istoricilor din secolul al XIX-speaking lea și care desemnează [[Imperiul Roman Empire]] of the Middle Agesde limbă greacă din Evul Mediu, centered at its capital in Constantinoplecu capitala la Constantinopol. In certain specific contexts, usually referring to the time before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it is also often referred to as the '''Eastern Roman Empire'''. To its inhabitants the Empire was simply the Roman Empire and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman emperors. During much of its history it was known to many of its Western contemporaries as ''The Empire of the Greeks'' due to the increasing dominance of its Greek population and distinct culture. Today most scholars acknowledge that the [[Byzantine]] Empire was the direct continuation of the [[Hellenistic|Hellenistic World]].<!-- The Oxford History of Byzantium, Britannica 2006. -->

There is no consensus on the starting date of the Byzantine period. Some place it during the reign of [[DiocletianDiocleţian]] (284–305) due to the administrative reforms he introduced, dividing the empire into a ''pars Orientis'' and a ''pars Occidentis''. Some consider [[Constantine IConstantin cel Mare]] its founder. Others place it during the reign of [[Theodosius the Great Teodosie cel Mare (emperorîmpărat)|Theodosius Teodosie I]] (379–395) and Christendom's victory over pagan Roman religion, or, following his death in 395, with the division of the empire into western and eastern halves. Others place it yet further in 476, when the last western emperor, Romulus Augustus, was forced to abdicate, thus leaving sole imperial authority to the emperor in the Greek East. Others again point to the reorganisation of the empire in the time of [[HeracliusHeraclie]] (ca. 620) when Greek was made the official language. In any case, the changeover was gradual and by 330, when Constantine inaugurated his new capital, the process of further [[Hellenization]] and increasing [[Christianization]] was already under way.

The Byzantine Empire had Imperiul Bizantin a major influence upon avut o influență majoră asupra [[Orthodox ChristianityIntroducere în Creştinismul Ortodox|creștinismului ortodox]]. This was embodied in the Byzantine version of Christianity, which spread Orthodoxy and eventually led to the creation of the "[[Byzantine commonwealth]]" (a term coined by 20th-century historians) throughout Eastern Europe. Early Byzantine missionary work spread Orthodox Christianity to various Slavic peoples, where it still is a predominant religion. Such modern-day countries are Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Ukraine; of course, it has also remained the official religion of the Greeks via the uninterrupted continuity of the [[Church of GreeceBiserica Ortodoxă a Greciei|Greek Orthodox ChurchBiserica Greciei]]. Less well known is the influence of the Byzantine religious sensibility on the millions of Christians in Ethiopia, the [[Coptic]] Christians of Egypt, and the Christians of Armenia, though they all belong to the [[Oriental Orthodox]] (as opposed to the Byzantine [[Eastern Orthodox]]) faith.