Byzantium’s greatest contribution to science is generally regarded as lying in the preservation and perpetuation of knowledge from the ancient world via the reproduction of texts in Byzantine calligraphic workshops. Nevertheless, the Byzantines did not merely limit themselves to copying ancient manuscripts; they also wrote new ones, laying out their own empirical discoveries and technological accomplishments.

Byzantine theological literature and hagiography incorporated many findings from ancient science. For instance, Philo of Alexandria and Basil the Great analyzed the sacred text of Genesis in such a way as to fit in with the generally accepted Greco-Roman astronomical model of a geocentric, spherical cosmos. In Constantinople itself, several works by ancient and modern scholars were reissued, such as those by Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius of Perga in Pamphylia, Claudius Ptolemy, Diophantus, Theon Alexandricus (the father of Hypatia) and others. Arab sources report the presence of Byzantine scholars in Baghdad and Damascus, which from the early 9^th century emerged as centres of mathematics (especially algebra) and astronomy. In general, Byzantium was in constant contact with the Arab caliphate at the time, and technical expertise in matters of peace and war was largely shared between them, as can be seen in the case of Greek fire.

Arab science also had a considerable impact on Byzantine scholars, particularly with regard to solving practical problems in mathematics and compiling astronomical tables. These contained predictions about the positions of celestial bodies, conjunctions and eclipses, which proved very useful in calculating Easter time and making horoscopes.

From Late Antiquity, eminent doctors and theorists in therapeutics and pharmacology cultivated the science of medicine in the largest imperial cities. The works of the great Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen formed the foundation of Byzantine medicine, though doctors did not follow the instructions found in ancient writings to the letter. Instead, they enriched their knowledge via observation and experience. Medicine developed in mid and late Byzantium through writings such as the Anatomy of Gender by Meletius the Monk, referring to human anatomy and physiology, Leo the Doctor’s Medical Compendium, focused on the theory of medicine, therapeutics and surgery, The Compendium of Disease Treatment by Theophanes Chrysobalantes, and many more.

It is in architecture and mechanics that Byzantium’s divergence from earlier tradition and its contribution to the advancement of science are most apparent. We know that in Late Antiquity special schools were already operating in Constantinople and large provincial cities, where those wishing to become architects studied the works of Euclid, Vitruvius and Pappus of Alexandria, gaining in-depth knowledge of arithmetic and geometry together with practical mathematics and its immediate application.

In Byzantine times considerable advances were made in music, which had borrowed features from both Ancient Greek and Roman music as well as from Jewish chant. It was originally coded by a system of limited expressive potential, but this later evolved in Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus. The first symbols indicating melodic variations appeared in the 9th century. Our knowledge of music in earlier periods thus derives mainly from the typika (rule books) of monasteries and from patristic texts. According to these, the first melodies were probably syllabic, i.e. one note corresponded to one syllable. In the late 9th century Byzantine music was orchestrated and acquired a new calophonic (embellished) and melismatic style (where one syllable of text spanned several notes), and ceased to be monophonic.

Byzantine musical output is preserved in manuscripts containing collections of church hymns and melodies, together with polychronia, poems written in honour of the emperor. We also have treatises on musical theory and notation, and descriptions of religious ceremonies and secular festivities where hymns and psalms were chanted and instrumental music was played.