Constantinople was a major trade route among Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Because of this, the people of Constantinople were exposed to new ideas from other cultures. They blended those ideas with their own Roman, Christian, and Greek roots. Non-Roman influences took hold throughout the empire. People began to speak Greek, the language of the eastern empire, rather than Latin. Scholars studied Greek, not Roman, philosophy. Gradually, the empire lost its ties to the old Roman Empire, and a new society developed the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine's still preserved important Roman laws like the Twelve Tables but then Emperor Justinian removed any out-of-date or un-Christian laws to simplify it. He also integrated more Christian elements into the law like fair treatment for all.

Byzantine emperors were the leaders of both the church and the government. In the west,

The Byzantines thought the emperor had been chosen by God to lead both the empire and the church. Eastern emperors also had more power than Roman emperors in the west. The Western emperor was limited to political power. Popes and bishops ruled the church, but only the emperor held political power.

For hundreds of years, the church leaders of the east and west worked together. As time passed, people in the east and west began to interpret and practice Christianity differently. For example, eastern priests could get married, while priests in the west could not. Religious services were performed in Greek in the east. In the west, they were held in Latin. The differences between their ideas continued to grow. In time the differences led to a split within the Christian Church. Shortly after 1000, the church split in two. Christians in the east formed what is known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. This religious division opened a huge cultural gap between eastern and western Europe.