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There is no consensus on the starting date of the Byzantine period. Some place it during the reign of [[Diocleţian]] (284–305) due to the administrative reforms he introduced, dividing the empire into a ''pars Orientis'' and a ''pars Occidentis''. Some consider [[Constantin cel Mare]] its founder. Others place it during the reign of [[Teodosie cel Mare (împărat)|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 [[Heraclie]] (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.

===Religia===

Most of the writing was in classical Greek. Vernacular literature developed much more slowly than in the west. There was little fiction, the best-known work being the epic poem Digenis Acritas, written in something approaching the vernacular. Much of the writing of the day was history, theology, biography, and hagiography. Many letters have survived, some work-a-day correspondence, a few minor masterpieces, as well as a few large encyclopedic works, such as the huge Suda. Perhaps the Byzantine empire's greatest contribution to literature was their careful preservation of the best works of the ancient world, as well as compilations of works on certain subjects, with certain revisions, most specifically in the fields of medicine and history.

*[[w:Byzantine Empire|''Byzantine Empire'' on Wikipedia]]