The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium was, at first, the eastern half of the Roman Empire that controlled the Middle Eastern territories. It went on to become its own society after the western half fell, and kept the new Roman capital, Constantinople, as its own. Once it became independent, the first Byzantine emperor, Justinian, went on to reclaim most of the western territories in Europe that had been conquered by Gallic tribes, touched up on the Corpus Juris Civilis; then implementing it into his new empire, and constructing the massive church; the Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople to cement the influence of the Eastern Orthodox
