The Byzantine Papacy is a period of Eastern Roman imperial domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes require the approval of the Emperor in Constantinople for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Syria, or Sicily.
Justinian I, having conquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War (535–554), appoints the next three popes, a practice that will be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna.With the exception of Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questions the authority of the emperor to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome before consecration can occur; however, theological conflicts are common between pope and emperor in the areas such as monotheletism and iconoclasm.Greek speakers from Greece, Syria, and Sicily replace members of the powerful Roman nobles in the papal chair during this period.
Rome under the Greek popes constitutes a "melting pot" of Western and Eastern Christian traditions, reflected in art as well as liturgy.
