 The Eastern Roman Empire, governed from Constantinople, is usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire after AD 476, the traditional date for the "fall of the Western Roman Empire" and beginning of the Early Middle Ages.The Eastern Roman Empire surviving the fall of the Western protected Roman legal and cultural traditions, combining them with Greek and Christian elements, for another thousand years.The name Byzantine Empire was used after the Byzantine Empire ended, the inhabitants calling themselves Romans since the term “Roman” was meant to signify all Christians.