The ethnic composition of the Byzantine Empire was extremely complex, including Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Armenians, Georgians, and Hellenistic Asians Minor. During the foreign invasion, the Goths (4th~5th century), Slavs (6th~7th century), Arabs (7th~9th century), and Turks (11th~13th centuries) migrated in. Over a long period of time, the people of all ethnic groups have gradually integrated. The Greeks played a decisive role in political and economic life, and the imperial Chinese language was mainly Latin in the 4~6th century and Greek in the 7~15th century. The Byzantine Empire blended the political traditions of the Roman Empire, Greek culture, and Orthodox Christianity to create a Byzantine culture with a unique style. In terms of architectural art, such as Hagia Sophia, it is particularly known for its majesty and solemnity; There was also the Emperor's Palace and the Racecourse, which were famous at the time. The Byzantine Empire passed the written word and Orthodox Christianity to the Slavs. The classical culture of Greece and Rome preserved by it played a certain role in the Renaissance movement in Italy.

The Byzantine Empire was located in the warm and humid Mediterranean climate zone, and the climate largely determined the eating and clothing habits of the Byzantine people. According to an anonymous Byzantine writer's On Food, the Byzantines ate slightly different diets in different regions, but the staple food was bread and beans (added to soups or dishes). In the capital, Constantinople, due to the high price of meat, the staple food of ordinary people is bread, olives, onions, lentils, cheese, and fish. In other places, cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry and livestock meat are widely eaten. The people of Constantinople were fond of marine fish, and freshwater fish were usually used to feed cats and dogs. Other vegetables mentioned in Byzantine sources include turnips, cabbage, garlic, onions, pumpkins, lettuce, leeks, cucumbers, spices such as sesame, coriander, pepper, and cloves, and fruits such as apples, figs, watermelons, apricots, and grapes. Drinks are home-brewed wine and beer. Olive oil is added to almost all foods. The food produced in various regions mainly meets local needs, while the capital and large cities such as Thessaloniki and Antioch rely on imported food and the government's allocation of granaries. After the Byzantine Empire lost the provinces of Egypt, Africa, and Syria in the 7th century, grain production declined, meat consumption began to increase, and wool and flax replaced raw cotton from Egypt as the main raw materials for textiles.

The Byzantine costumes also varied from region to region, with the cold and rainy winters of Macedonia and the Danube border region and the arid and hot regions of Egypt. Silk was the raw material of the royal monopoly, silk production was concentrated in southern Greece, and the trade in silk was strictly controlled by government merchants. Commoners were not allowed to wear silk clothing without the permission of the royal family. Purple silk robes were reserved for emperors and empresses, while high-ranking ecclesiastical figures wore brocade robes and vestments woven with gold and silver. Ordinary people's clothing is mostly woven from cotton and linen, and judging from the extant Byzantine painting scrolls, in the 1100-year history of the empire, the clothing style was basically a light and thin Mediterranean style, and the main clothing styles included robes, shawls, waist cloths, and leather boots.

Li Zhi is still very curious about the Byzantine Empire, a country that has existed for more than a thousand years, you must know that the longest history of the Chinese feudal dynasty is three or four hundred years, but the Byzantine Empire can exist for more than a thousand years, which makes Li Zhi very puzzled.

He used the cosmic network in the science and technology factory to conduct a related search, and naturally found some reasons, that is: geographically: Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome, is located at the junction of the Eurasian continent, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one side, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Economically: Since the Eastern Roman Empire ruled over the Balkans, Egypt, and part of Mesopotamia, which were historically the first to enter civilization, these regions had more and more mature cities than those in the west; Handicrafts, industry and commerce will be more prosperous and more civilized; Naturally, there are more ports than in the west: for example, the seaport of Alexandria in Egypt, the capital seaport connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, etc., so the maritime trade and commodity economy in the east is also more developed than in the west.

Militarily: Eastern Rome has greatly improved its military strength since the end of the barbarian invasion wave, which has shifted from infantry-dominated to cavalry-based tactics.

In other words, there are many factors that can create a thousand-year-old empire like Byzantium, and perhaps without any of these factors, Byzantium's national fortunes may not be so long.

Li Zhi doesn't know how long the Hou Tang he created can exist, what he can do is to make the Hou Tang Dynasty stronger during his reign, so that it is far ahead of the world in all aspects, as for what the heirs of the later generations will do, it is not up to him.

In the darkness of the night, Li Zhi took his six queens to the outside of Constantinople, and Li Zhi, who could be summoned at any time by the interdimensional space hotel in the technology factory, naturally did not have to worry about having no place to stay in the middle of the night.

And this can create a reasonable reason for him to use the Emgrand space when he is away, which can allow him to enjoy boundless beauty, so this trip around the world is definitely worth it, of course, except for hanging out with women makes him feel a little headache, everything else is good.

Catherine and the others naturally understood these thoughts of him, but they would not debunk Li Zhi's thoughts, and they did not reject Li Zhi's idea of sleeping with him very much in their hearts, but they always had to be reserved as women in the palace on weekdays.

Anyway, they had completely given themselves to Li Zhi, so as long as he liked it, they were still willing to make some sacrifices.

The next day, Li Zhi, who was full of energy, walked out of the mountains and forests with his woman, like the historic city of Constantinople.

Constantinople is located at the eastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, on the western shore of the southern mouth of the Bosphorus. The entrance to the Black Sea, when Europe and Asia are at the key point of communication, the strategic position is extremely important.

The whole city is triangular in shape, with the Golden Horn to the north and the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the coastal area is fortified, and the Golden Horn has a two-story wall. Outside the city was a trench 100 feet deep.

Standing outside the city and looking at the tall walls of Constantinople, I thought in my heart that in such an era of cold weapons, as long as there were tens of thousands of elite soldiers in this city and the materials in the city were sufficient, the enemies of Byzantium could only look at the wall and sigh. Read the latest chapter of "Li Zhi's Science and Technology Factory Claw Book House" for free for the first time.