In the Middle Ages, the Adriatic shores and the sea itself were controlled, to a varying extent, by a series of states most notably the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire.
The Crusaders never got to Jerusalem; instead, they attacked Christian cities, notably Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which they effectively destroyed.
Aside from Constantinople and Trebizond, other Byzantine cities also featured tzykanisteria, most notably Sparta, Ephesus, and Athens, an indication of a thriving urban aristocracy.
Although at various times the Byzantines made magnificent achievements in the application of the sciences (notably in the construction of the Hagia Sophia), after the 6th century Byzantine scholars made few novel contributions to science in terms of developing new theories or extending the ideas of classical authors.
Despite being the smallest member of the European Union, the Mediterranean archipelago below Sicily bears traces of numerous peoples and conquerors: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Spanish, French and, most notably, the European crusader knights known as the Order of Malta.
The Būyid state was then at its peak; it engaged in public works, building hospitals and the Band-e amīr (Emir's Dam) across the Kūr River near Shīrāz; it had relations with the Sāmānids, Ḥamdānids, Byzantines, and Fāṭimids; it patronized artists, notably the poets al-Mutanabbī and Ferdowsī.
Portraiture, schematically stiff on later Byzantine money, was revived with striking realism most notably in Renaissance Italy and thereafter flourished.
Great buildings, notably the palace complex at Aachen, also began to emerge, partly based on Byzantine models, such as the churches at Ravenna.
"They are works and objects from the Hellenistic and Roman eras, notably a marble figurine, architectural features from temples, capitals of columns and a Byzantine icon that has yet to be dated," Mr. Gligoris said.
During Andronikos II's long reign, the remaining Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor slowly fell to the advancing Turks, most notably the newly established Ottoman emirate.
527 565), playing an important role in the Byzantine emperor's religious policies and the relations with Sassanid Persia; most notably he led the negotiations for the peace agreement of 562 that ended the 20-year-long Lazic War.
