In a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. However, his assassination caused a two-decade-long war with Sassanid Persia which exhausted the Empire's resources and contributed to major territorial losses during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. 582–602), the Empire's eastern frontier was expanded and the north stabilised. 527–565), the Empire reached its greatest extent after reconquering much of the historically Roman western Mediterranean coast, including north Africa, Italy, and Rome itself, which it held for two more centuries. The borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. Thus, although it continued the Roman state and maintained Roman state traditions, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome insofar as it was oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Orthodox Christianity rather than Roman polytheism.
610–641), the Empire's military and administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official use instead of Latin. And finally, under the reign of Heraclius (r. 379–395), Christianity became the Empire's official state religion and others such as Roman polytheism were proscribed. 306–337) transferred the main capital from Rome to Byzantium, later known as Constantinople ("City of Constantine") and Nova Roma ("New Rome"). 284–305) partitioned the Roman Empire's administration into eastern and western halves. Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the transitional period during which the Roman Empire's east and west divided. This history of the Byzantine Empire covers the history of the Eastern Roman Empire from late antiquity until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD.
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