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This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the
Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
, to its fall to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors (''symbasileis'') who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title. The following list starts with
Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
, the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as an imperial capital, Constantinople, and who was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. It was under Constantine that the major characteristics of what is considered the Byzantine state emerged: a Roman polity centered at Constantinople and culturally dominated by the
Greek East Greek East and Latin West are terms used to distinguish between the two parts of the Greco-Roman world and of Medieval Christendom, specifically the eastern regions where Greek was the ''lingua franca'' (Greece, Anatolia, the southern Balkans, the ...
, with Christianity as the state religion. The Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. Emperors listed below up to
Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire. The
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...
continued until 476. Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be rightful Roman emperors in direct succession from
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
; the term "Byzantine" was coined by Western
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
only in the 16th century. The use of the title "Roman Emperor" by those ruling from Constantinople was not contested until after the papal coronation of the
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
as Holy Roman Emperor (25 December 800), done partly in response to the Byzantine coronation of Empress Irene, whose claim, as a woman, was not recognized by Pope Leo III. In practice, according to the Hellenistic political system, the Byzantine emperor had been given total power through God to shape the state and its subjects, he was the last authority and legislator of the empire and all his work was in imitation of the sacred kingdom of God, also according to the Christian principles, he was the ultimate benefecator and protector of his people. The
title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially "''
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
''", although other titles such as ''
Dominus Dominus or domini may refer to: * Dominus (title), a title of sovereignty, clergy and other uses Art, entertainment, and media * Dominus (band), a Danish death metal band * Dominus (DC Comics), an alien character in DC Comics * Dominus (Mar ...
'' were also used. Their names were preceded by '' Imperator
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
'' and followed by ''Augustus''. Following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek '' Basileus'' (Gr. Βασιλεύς), which had formerly meant sovereign, though ''Augustus'' continued to be used in a reduced capacity. Following the establishment of the rival
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
in Western Europe, the title "'' Autokrator''" (Gr. Αὐτοκράτωρ) was increasingly used. In later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the "Emperor of the Greeks". Towards the end of the Empire, the standard imperial formula of the Byzantine ruler was " mperor's namein Christ, Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans" (cf. Ῥωμαῖοι and
Rûm Rūm ( ar, روم , collective; singulative: Rūmī ; plural: Arwām ; fa, روم Rum or Rumiyān, singular Rumi; tr, Rûm or , singular ), also romanized as ''Roum'', is a derivative of the Aramaic (''rhπmÈ'') and Parthian (''frwm'') ...
).Morrisson, Cécile (2013)
Displaying the Emperor's Authority and Kharaktèr on the Marketplace
in Armstrong, Pamela. ''Authority in Byzantium''. Routledge. p. 72.
In the medieval period,
dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
were common, but the principle of
hereditary succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.p. 183, Karayannopoulous, Yanis, "State Organization, Social Structure, Economy, and Commerce," ''History of Humanity – Scientific and Cultural Development from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries, Vol. IV,'' M. A. Al-Bakhit, L. Bazin, S. M. Cissoko and M. S. Asimov, Editors, UNESCO, Paris (2000) and hereditary succession was a custom rather than an inviolable principle. __TOC__


See also

*
Family tree of Byzantine emperors This is a family tree of all the Eastern Roman Emperors who ruled in Constantinople. Most of the Eastern emperors were related in some form to their predecessors, sometimes by direct descent or by marriage. From the Doukid dynasty (1059) onwards a ...
*
List of Roman emperors The Roman emperors were the rulers of the Roman Empire from the granting of the name and title ''Augustus'' to Octavian by the Roman Senate in 27 BC onward. Augustus maintained a facade of Republican rule, rejecting monarchical titles but callin ...
*
List of Trapezuntine emperors The Trapezuntine emperors were the rulers of the Empire of Trebizond, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire founded after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461. All but two of the Trapezuntine rule ...
*
List of Roman usurpers The following is a list of usurpers in the Roman Empire. For an overview of the problem and consequences of usurpation, see Roman usurpers. In the Eastern Roman Empire (395–1453), rebellion and usurpation were so notoriously frequent (in the vis ...
*
List of Byzantine usurpers The following is a list of usurpers in the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire, from the start of the reign of Arcadius in 395 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Usurper emperors The following is a listing of Byzantine emperors who ro ...
* Succession to the Byzantine Empire *
List of Roman and Byzantine empresses This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Greek ...
* List of Byzantine emperors of Armenian origin *
Family tree of Roman emperors This is a family tree of Roman emperors, showing only the relationships between the emperors. 27 BCE–192 CE The emperors from Augustus to Commodus can be organised into one large family tree. ...
*
History of the Byzantine Empire This history of the Byzantine Empire covers the history of the Eastern Roman Empire from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the transitional period during which the Roman ...


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byzantine Emperors
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Byzantine emperors This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...
Emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...