Why was the Byzantine Empire important to world history?

Question:

The Byzantine Empire

By the 4th century CE, the Roman Empire was divided into two parts: the Latin West, governed from Rome, and the Greek East, governed from Constantinople. Although the western Roman Empire fell to Germanic invaders by 476 CE, the eastern part survived independently until 1453, an additional thousand years. It became known as the Byzantine Empire, a name derived from Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony founded on the site that became Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire displayed predominately Middle Eastern and Greek cultural characteristics.

Answer and Explanation: