2-640-611 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Byzantine Floor Mosaic in the Great Palace, (565-578 AD), Istanbul, 20th century. The Great Palace of Constantinople, also known as the Sacred Palace, was a large Imperial Byzantine palace which served as the main royal residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine emperors from 330 to 1081. Justinian (482- 565) sought to revive the empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the historical Roman Empire.