When we think of Kings and Queens today, certain images pop into our minds that would not exist without the Byzantine emperors. The Byzantine emperors, starting with Constantine, were emperors in the most absolute sense of the word. They utterly dominated their empire to an extent few emperors of Rome ever did. Their rule and the iconography that sprang up around it were copied wholesale by royalty throughout Europe, which is why Europe's kings are so often portrayed, in art, in ways that are so similar to the Byzantine emperors. Constantinople gave the world the mold that all absolute rulers ever since have been cast in.
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When we think of Kings and Queens today, certain images pop into our minds that would not exist without the Byzantine emperors. The Byzantine emperors, starting with Constantine, were emperors in the most absolute sense of the word. They utterly dominated their empire to an extent few emperors of Rome ever did. Their rule and the iconography that sprang up around it were copied wholesale by royalty throughout Europe, which is why Europe's kings are so often portrayed, in art, in ways that are so similar to the Byzantine emperors. Constantinople gave the world the mold that all absolute rulers ever since have been cast in.