Byzantine Architecture

The Byzantines thought of themselves as the heirs of the Roman Empire, Greek remained the lingua franca of their domain, for example, as it had in this area under Roman rule, and we may approach their architecture from this position. One may interpret the works of civic architecture—the great walls and gates of the capital city, the Aqueduct of Valens, the Hippodrome, cisterns, fora and royal palaces—in light of Imperial functions, rituals and symbols. The public spaces and structures of Constantinople functioned within a complex ideology finding its expression in ceremonial and architectural monumentality.