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The Byzantine Empire grew increasingly different

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from the old Empire of Rome.

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This occurred because its language was Greek, not Latin,

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and its traditions were deeply rooted

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in the civilization of ancient Greece.

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But perhaps the greatest difference

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was that the Byzantines were Christians,

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not pagans as the Romans had been.

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In fact, the Byzantine Empire

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was the world's first Christian state,

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and it sought to govern in accordance with Christian principles.

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But the Byzantine Empire shared much with the old Roman Empire

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that had given birth to it

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because both its legal system and its form of government were Roman

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and its rulers were the direct political descendants of the emperors of Rome.

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By 527 AD,

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slightly over half a century after the collapse of the Roman Empire,

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The Byzantine Empire was still limited to just the eastern Mediterranean region,

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but over the next 38 years, things changed rapidly

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as a powerful emperor recaptured most of North Africa,

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the Balkan Peninsula, part of Spain, and all of Italy for the Byzantines.

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The emperor's name was Justinian.

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Here he is depicted in a mosaic of tiny colored stones

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that adorns the wall of a 1,500-year-old church

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that stands near here in the city of Ravenna, Italy,

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once the most important Byzantine center west of Constantinople.

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Superficially, this mosaic simply portrays Justinian

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in the act of donating a golden bowl to the church.

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But it also shows us how the emperor was viewed by the people of this era

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to be a living bridge between the spiritual world of the church

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and the secular world of the state.

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To the left of the emperor are government officials and Byzantine soldiers

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symbolizing the power of the state,

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while to the right are a bishop and his priests

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symbolizing the power of the church.

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Justinian stands between the representatives of church and state.

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He wears the traditional purple robes of the Roman emperors,

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and a jeweled crown, signifying his role as the supreme earthly ruler.

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Justinian is also portrayed with a halo,

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showing that he was thought to possess enormous, almost saintly spiritual power as well.

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Most Byzantines believed that their empire was the one true Christian state

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established by God on earth,

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and that the main function of their state was to promote the Christian faith around the world.

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In fact, to demonstrate the strength of his faith, Justinian had old pagan temples torn down and used some of their stones to build this enormous church called Santa Sofia, which is the most famous building of the Byzantine era.

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The official state religion of the Byzantines developed into the type of Christianity called Eastern Orthodoxy,

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a faith that is headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople

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and that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church over 900 years ago.

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Orthodox Christians do not recognize the authority of the Pope

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and have never accepted Catholic religious innovations.

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Instead, they have tried to preserve the ancient traditions of the original Christian Church.

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Over the centuries, Eastern Orthodox Christianity was spread northward by the Byzantines into Russia and Eastern Europe,

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where today Orthodox Church members number in excess of 150 million souls.