How did byzantine empire carry on many of the traditions of ancient Rome?

Answer 1

The so-called "Byzantine Empire" was a continuation of the Roman Empire. The term Byzantine was coined by a German historian in the 16th century in relation to the history of the eastern part of the Roman Empire after the fall of the western part of this empire (Historia Byzantina). The western part of the Roman empire fell under the strain of the invasions by the Germanic peoples. The eastern part was not affected by these invasions and continued to exist for nearly 1,000 years. The terms Byzantine and Byzantine Empire became common in Western Europe in the 19th century. The people in question did not know these terms and called their empire Roman Empire or Empire of the Romans (Imperium Romanum or Imperium Romanorum in Latin and Basileia ton Rhomaion or Arche ton Rhomaion in Greek), or Roman Realm (Romania in Latin and Rhomania in Greek).

The term Byzantine is derived from Byzantium, the Greek city which was redeveloped, turned into Constantine the Great's imperial capital and renamed after himself as Constantinople (City of Constantine) in 330. It is used to indicate the fact that not long after the fall of the west, this empire became centred on Greece and Greek in character after it lost most of its non-Greek territories. Greek replaced Latin as the official language of this empire in 620, some 150 years after the fall of the west.

Answer 2

The Byzantine army possessed not only the Roman traditions of strategy but also a complete system of tactics suited to the age.