In fact, it wasn't until the Renaissance that the term “Byzantine Empire” was first used.

事实上，在文艺复兴时期“拜占庭帝国”的叫法才第一次出现。

But, of course, the Byzantine Empire didn't just rest on the laurels of Ancient Rome.

但当然，拜占庭帝国没有在罗马帝国的桂冠下止步不前。

Rome collapsed, but the Aksumite Empire or the Teotihuacans and of course the Byzantine Empire, carried on.

罗马帝国虽然崩溃了但阿克苏姆帝国，特奥蒂瓦坎文明，以及拜占庭帝国延续了下来。

By 600AD the Western Roman Empire was gone leaving behind the eastern Empire also known as the Byzantine Empire.

600年时，西罗马帝国，下了东罗马帝国也就是拜占庭帝国。

This medieval Roman Empire, which we usually refer to today as the Byzantine Empire, began in 330 CE.

中世纪的罗马帝国，在今日拜占庭帝国，于公元 300 年建立。

Sharing continuity with the classical Roman Empire gave the Byzantine empire a technological and artistic advantage over its neighbors, whom Byzantines considered barbarians.

和历史悠久的罗马帝国共存的拜占庭帝国比它的邻国多了几分科技和艺术的优势，拜占庭人将邻国们看作野蛮人。

The last half of the 15th century saw the fall of the Byzantine Empire, or if you prefer; the eastern Roman Empire.

15世纪的下半叶见证了拜占庭帝国的瓦，或者，如果大家愿意的话东罗马帝国的瓦。

The 1st princes of Kiev, the descendants of Rurik find with themselves alternately trading and fighting with the wealthy and ancient Byzantine Empire to the South.

基辅的第一位王子，留里克的继承人发现他们同南部的古老富有的拜占庭王国既有商贸往来有战争。

In the 12 century economic threats rose in the West as rising Italian Naval powers like Venice and Genoa started cutting Byzantine Empire out of Eastern markets.

12世纪来自西方的经济威胁渐盛，兴起的海上意大利城市如威尼斯和热那亚也开始把拜占庭挤出东部市场。

The Byzantine Empire started in the 4th century and lasted until the 15th century.

拜占庭帝国始于4世纪，一直持续到15世纪。

People still look to that emperor in the East in the Byzantine Empire.

人们仍然仰望着东边拜占庭帝国的皇帝。

Also, the fourth crusade pretty much doomed the Byzantine Empire, which never really recovered.

此外，第四次十字军东征几乎注定了拜占庭帝国从未真正恢复过来。

The plague tore across the Byzantine Empire,   reaching Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

瘟疫横扫拜占庭帝国，波及欧洲、非洲和中东。

But what exactly was the Byzantine Empire?

但拜占庭帝国究竟是什么？

The Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, formed in 330 CE, falls to the Ottoman Turks.

公元1453年，始建于公元330年的东罗马帝国，亦拜占庭帝国，被奥斯曼土耳其人所征服。

For about a century and a half, Venice was part of the Byzantine empire.

大约一个半世纪以来，威尼斯一直是拜占庭帝国的一部分。

The Rus were in frequent conflict with their most powerful neighbor, the Byzantine Empire.

罗斯人经常与他们最强大的邻国拜占庭帝国发生冲突。

Do Orthodox Churches still see a connection with Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire?

东正教会是否仍与君士坦丁堡及拜占庭帝国保持联系？

So Byzantine Empire, this is a, you know, a Christian time and a Christian empire.

所以拜占庭帝国，这是一个基督教时代，也是一个基督教帝国。

The Byzantine Empire had wheezed to its sad end in 1453, itself a continuation of the Roman Empire and they believed that they were the Roman Empire.

拜占庭帝国在1453年结束了自己的苟延残喘，它是罗马帝国的延续而且拜占庭人也自诩罗马人。