1.) The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is one of the most studied and influential structures ever built. Explain in a well-constructed essay what made this building so unique and special?
Hagia Sophia was the star of the jewel of the reign of Justinian. It would become a symbol on his quest of the reunification the Roman Empire, in a turbulent era
But this reunification would not only be political, it would also be a more perfect version of the Empire. In his mind, Justinian saw Constantinople as the seat of a Christian and powerful State. Such a vision needed a symbol, and it was then that he decided to commision to the architect Isidore of Milletus the renovation of the ancient Great Church of Constatinople, that was destroyed during the Nike Rebellion in 532 AC. Mathematical works, such as that of Heron of Alexandria would be used to undertake the challenge of the dome construction. Such were for example the use.
After a five-year period, the emperor would inaugurate the Church shouting "Solomon, I have bested you".
Hagia Sophia would constitute the religious symbol of the Empire, and of its survival as the beacon of Eastern Orthodoxy, against Latin Europe and the Papacy in Rome, Islam and the diverse heretical movements that would evolve into the Copts. And that is the reason for its uniqueness, and not even the Ottomans would try to totally reconvert the Church, even after it became a mosque. And now, Hagia Sophia reminds us the ancient, rich and controversial history of the city of Istanbul, being now a treasure of humanity.
3) Both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires were among the largest and most powerful empires in history. How did these empires develop and become so powerful? How did these once mighty empires fall?
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The development of both empires is primarily due to the geographical location. Anatolia, the Middle East, the Balkans and Greece as well as Egypt were ancient lands, with a urban tradition, established trade routes and cultural development. This would facilitate the transition from the Eastern Roman Empire into what is known to be the Byzantine Empire.
It is important to quote that Byzantines considered themselves Romans, and as such heirs of the imperial traditions, albeit in a Christian and Hellenized way. The Empire would evolve from a centralized administration to a one based in agrarian communities, called "themas", to a more feudal-like administration in its final days. In the case of the Ottomans, their administration was completely militaristic, as it was based upon a feudal system (sipahis) and the devshirme system (that would create the Janissaries). Vital to both empires was the religious component, Christian in the case of Byzantium, and Islam in the case of the Ottomans.
So it can be concluded that both empires were based in the union of religion and State, and the heirloom of previous empires (Rome and Islam).
And this was the very root for both of it's fall. For the Byzantine Empire, the loss of central power to nobility would first unleash the disasters of the first Turkish expansion into Anatolia (that would create the Rum Sultanate), and more importantly of Fourth Crusade. The Byzantine reunification was never complete and a large string of civil wars, would make impossible to counter the Ottoman expansion in Anatolia and the Balkans. In addition, religious independence from Latin Christianity, and the rise of the Italian commercial republics undermined the economic stability of the empire.
This would be mirrored in the Ottoman Empire. First and foremost, the descentralization of the administration through the sipahi and baja system would eventually lead to the de facto independence of the North African provinces and Egypt. Then, the burden of economic dependence over European loans would destroy the Ottoman economy, even as it holded the important Middle East trade routes.
In both empires, wars would constitute the final blows to the political structure. The Fourth Crusade in the case of the Byzantine Empire had crippled the empire, and would make it weak to the incoming Ottomans. And the Ottoman empire would finally succumb with the First World War finally eroding the empire, and the rise of Arab nationalism contributing to the fall of the Ottoman armies, together with the Greek invasion. The combination of this would lead to the Kemalist Revolution and the creation of the modern Republic of Turkey.
Concluding, the rise of both empires was intrinsecally related to ther view as heirs of an imperial tradition, and with a strong religious component. And their fall was in both cases the result of economic crisis, and unwinnable wars due to the beforementioned crisis.
