section_path: Geography
section_name: Geography
paragraph_text: Geography
  
  The Empire was centred in what is now Greece and Turkey with Constantinople as its capital. In the 5th century, it controlled the eastern basis of the Mediterranean running east from Singidunum (modern Belgrade) in a line through the Adriatic Sea and south to Cyrene, Libya. This encompassed most of the Balkans, all of modern Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine; North Africa, primarily with modern Egypt and Libya; the Aegean islands along with Crete, Cyprus and Sicily, and a small settlement in Crimea.
  
  The landscape of the Empire was defined by the fertile fields of Anatolia, long mountain ranges and rivers such as the Danube. In the north and west were the Balkans, the corridors between the mountain ranges of Pindos, the Dinaric Alps, the Rhodopes and the Balkans. In the south and east were Anatolia, the Pontic Mountains and the Taurus - Anti-Taurus range, which served as passages for armies, while the Caucasus mountains lay between the Empire and its eastern neighbours.
  
  Roman roads connected the Empire by land, with the Via Egnatia running from Constantinople to the Albanian coast through Macedonia and the Via Traiana to Adrianople (modern Edirne), Serdica (modern Sofia) and Singidunum. By water, Crete, Cyprus and Sicily were key naval points and the main ports connecting Constantinople were Alexandria, Gaza, Caesarea and Antioch. The Aegean sea was considered an internal lake within the Empire.