Q 01/05

What did the citizens of the Byzantine Empire call themselves?

A) Byzantines

B) Romans

C) Greeks

D) Hellenes

Answer · why

B) Romans

The term 'Byzantine' was coined only after the empire's fall; they called their state Rhomania, 'Romanland'.

Q 02/05

The adjective 'Byzantine' derives from Byzantion, which was what?

A) A Persian frontier province in Mesopotamia

B) The Greek settlement on which Constantinople was built

C) A Roman legion stationed on the Danube

D) A Bulgarian tribe from the northern Balkans

Answer · why

B) The Greek settlement on which Constantinople was built

In the empire's own day the word described only inhabitants of the city, never the state.

Q 03/05

What did Constantine I call the city he rebuilt as his new capital between 324 and 330?

A) Byzantium

B) Constantia

C) New Rome

D) Nova Roma Orientalis

Answer · why

C) New Rome

It was later named Constantinople after him; he also introduced the gold solidus as a stable currency.

Q 04/05

Which emperor last ruled both halves of Rome and made Christianity the state religion?

A) Constantine I

B) Justinian I

C) Diocletian

D) Theodosius I

Answer · why

D) Theodosius I

After his death in 395 the West faltered while the East thrived under civilian administrators.

Q 05/05

Which emperor divided the empire into eastern and western halves under the Tetrarchy?

A) Diocletian

B) Constantine

C) Theodosius

D) Valens

Answer · why

A) Diocletian

The Tetrarchy quickly failed but the division proved enduring.