Eastern Roman Empire Map: Territory Across Seven Dates
Read an Eastern Roman Empire map by date. Compare territory in 395, 565, 717, 1025, 1180, 1350 and 1450, with capitals, provinces and themes.
Last updated October 2026
Contents9
- Eastern Roman Empire map: at a glance
- Public maps to compare
- 395: the eastern Roman provinces
- 565: Justinian's Mediterranean reconquests
- 717: a smaller core and the themes
- 1025 and 1180: recovery with different limits
- 1350 and 1450: separated late holdings
- Capitals, provinces and themes
- Verdict: Eastern Roman Empire map
An Eastern Roman Empire map depends on its date. The broad eastern provinces of 395 grew wider under Justinian. Later maps show a smaller state around Constantinople and Asia Minor. By 1450, the capital and separate holdings in southern Greece were surrounded by much stronger neighbours. World History Encyclopedia: Roman Empire World History Encyclopedia: Byzantine Empire World History Encyclopedia: 1453: The Fall of Constantinople
Use the date before comparing borders. The Eastern Roman Empire gained and lost land often. So a single outline cannot represent its whole history.
TL;DR: Compare several snapshots. Justinian's empire spread around much of the Mediterranean. The medieval core lay in the Balkans and Asia Minor. Basil II enlarged it again, later losses broke it apart, and the final state held small separated lands. Map borders are summaries of control, not modern national borders.
Eastern Roman Empire map: at a glance
The entries follow World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia: Justinian I, World History Encyclopedia: Basil II, World History Encyclopedia: Manuel I Komnenos, World History Encyclopedia.
The later entries are approximate snapshots, not surveys of every local frontier.
| Date | Broad territory and map shape | Main point | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 395 | Eastern Balkans, Asia Minor, the Levant and Egypt | The eastern half received a broad Roman provincial base | Reviewed |
| 565 | Eastern core plus recovered North Africa, Italy and part of southern Spain | Justinian's reconquests created a wide Mediterranean outline | Reviewed |
| 717 | Much of Asia Minor, parts of the Balkans and surviving western holdings | Earlier losses had removed Egypt, the Levant and much of North Africa | Reviewed |
| 1025 | A stronger Balkan position and gains toward Armenia and Syria | Basil II's reign ended with a major expansion | Reviewed |
| 1180 | Much of the Balkans and western Asia Minor, with influence beyond direct borders | Manuel's empire was larger than the late state, but smaller than Justinian's | Reviewed |
| 1350 | Fragmented lands around Constantinople and parts of the Balkans and southern Greece | Civil war and rival powers made control unstable | Reviewed |
| 1450 | Constantinople and nearby land, with the Morea under imperial relatives | A small state with separated holdings | Reviewed |
| An exact border line for every year | Local control and claims could differ | Modern outlines need to be read as reconstructions | Disputed |
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Public maps to compare
For a sequence of outlines, use World History Encyclopedia: Map of the Byzantine Empire, c.520 - 1204. It compares the empire over several periods and makes the contrast between expansion and contraction easy to see. It is a public historical map source, rather than a modern political map.
For a closer medieval snapshot, use World History Encyclopedia: Byzantine Empire, 717 CE. That map marks provinces and themes as well as the empire's outline. It shows how the army's districts worked. These are different from the empire's outer borders.
Read each map's date and legend. A shaded land may mean direct rule, temporary occupation or a zone of influence, depending on the author. Two outlines can differ because they are answering different questions.
Modern country names are useful for orientation. But the empire did not rule those modern countries as units. A province might cross a current border. A modern state might contain both former imperial land and land the empire never held.
395: the eastern Roman provinces
After Theodosius I's death in 395, his sons ruled the eastern and western halves. The eastern government received populous provinces and the capital at Constantinople. The arrangement divided rule within a Roman imperial world, rather than creating a new culture overnight. World History Encyclopedia
A map of this eastern half should show the Balkans, Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean provinces. Egypt and the Levant were important parts of that early land. Later medieval maps omit them because control changed, not because they had never belonged to the East. World History Encyclopedia
The Theodosius page explains the succession behind this snapshot. The Western Roman Empire page follows the other half.
565: Justinian's Mediterranean reconquests
Justinian's armies recovered North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Ostrogoths. They also gained land in southern Spain. The resulting outline reached far beyond the later empire's usual Balkan and Anatolian core. World History Encyclopedia
These gains did not mean that the whole old Roman Empire had been restored. Nor did all the recovered land stay under Constantinople's rule for the rest of its history. The western campaigns created a wide but demanding set of holdings.
The sea linked this land. Modern land borders can hide Rome's sea routes. Ships linked ports, armies and distant governments.
717: a smaller core and the themes
The early Islamic conquests removed major eastern and southern provinces. The public map of 717 shows a smaller empire. Much of Justinian's land had been lost. Asia Minor remained crucial to its survival. World History Encyclopedia World History Encyclopedia
Themes were regional military and state units. They became an important feature of the medieval state as its government adapted to war and land loss. A theme map also shows how the surviving empire was organised as well as where its borders lay.
Do not treat themes as permanent modern states. Their boundaries and numbers changed. A theme's meaning changed with the period. It could name troops, a region or a unit of government.
1025 and 1180: recovery with different limits
Basil II's Bulgarian wars brought much of the Balkans under imperial control. His reign also strengthened the eastern frontier. A map near his death shows an enlarged empire compared with the earlier period of heavy losses. World History Encyclopedia
The Basil II biography explains the wars and alliances behind those gains. These borders reflect wars and deals. They do not show that every frontier was quiet.
Under Manuel I, the empire remained a major power in the Balkans and held much of western Asia Minor. Some neighbouring rulers fell within its influence without their lands becoming ordinary imperial provinces. A map must distinguish those relationships from direct rule. World History Encyclopedia
The snapshots also warn against a smooth story of decline. The empire recovered after severe losses. The size and strength of those recoveries varied, and later rulers did not inherit all earlier land.
1350 and 1450: separated late holdings
The capture of Constantinople in 1204 split the imperial world among successor states and outside powers. Its recovery in 1261 restored the capital. But the restored empire lacked its earlier land and resources. World History Encyclopedia
By the later period, a map shows increasingly fragmented holdings. Civil wars and the rise of neighbouring powers reduced the government's reach. The Morea in southern Greece and the capital should not be drawn as one continuous block of land. World History Encyclopedia
For the stages of loss, see when did the Byzantine Empire fall. For the final capital's capture, see when did the Eastern Roman Empire fall.
Capitals, provinces and themes
The entries follow World History Encyclopedia.
They help make sense of labels that appear inside an outline.
| Map label | Meaning | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Constantinople | The main imperial capital | A continuing centre despite changing borders |
| Province | An area of government in the traditional Roman system | Check the period before comparing names |
| Theme | A medieval regional military and administrative unit | Its borders could change over time |
| Nicaea | A major imperial successor centre after the capital's loss | Part of the period of exile before restoration |
| Morea | Southern Greek territory in the late imperial story | A separate holding from the capital |
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Verdict: Eastern Roman Empire map
The best Eastern Roman Empire map is a dated map. Compare the same kind of control across several periods, and keep direct rule separate from influence. The seven snapshots show expansion, recovery and fragmentation without suggesting that one outline lasted throughout the empire's life.
Sources checked for this page
- Roman Empire - World History Encyclopedia
- Byzantine Empire - World History Encyclopedia
- 1453: The Fall of Constantinople - World History Encyclopedia
- Justinian I - World History Encyclopedia
- Basil II - World History Encyclopedia
- Manuel I Komnenos - World History Encyclopedia
- Map of the Byzantine Empire, c.520 - 1204 - World History Encyclopedia
- Byzantine Empire, 717 CE - World History Encyclopedia
Questions people also ask
Where was the Eastern Roman Empire?
Its territory changed, but Constantinople, the Balkans and Asia Minor were central to its long history. Earlier periods also included Egypt and the Levant.
When was Justinian's empire at its widest?
The map near the end of his reign in 565 includes recovered land in North Africa, Italy and southern Spain.
Where can I see a public Byzantine map?
World History Encyclopedia provides a dated map of the empire in 717 and a sequence covering later outlines.
What were themes on a Byzantine map?
They were regional military and administrative units of the medieval empire. Their boundaries changed over time.
Did the empire grow under Basil II?
Yes. His reign strengthened imperial control in the Balkans and toward the eastern frontier.
Why is the map near 1453 so small?
Earlier losses, civil wars and Ottoman expansion had left the capital and separated holdings with far fewer resources.