191-469: The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711. The Heraclians presided over a period of cataclysmic events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire and the world. Heraclius, the founder of his dynasty, was of Armenian and Cappadocian (Greek) origin. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire's culture was still essentially Ancient Roman , dominating
382-462: A sensational victory against Bulgaria and the Kievan Rus' in 971. John in particular was an astute administrator who reformed military structures and implemented effective fiscal policies. After John's death, Constantine VII's grandsons Basil II and Constantine VIII ruled jointly for half a century, although the latter exercised no real power before Basil's death in 1025. Their early reign
573-841: A Byzantine force sent into Syria and captured Damascus. The arrival of another large Byzantine army outside Antioch forced the Arabs to retreat. The Byzantines advanced in May 636. However, a sandstorm blew on 20 August 636 against the Byzantines and when the Arabs charged against them they were utterly annihilated: The Battle fought at Yarmuk was of the fiercest and bloodiest kind ... the Romans and their followers tied themselves to each other by chains, so that no one might set his hope to flight. By Allah's help some 70,000 of them were put to death and their remnants took to flight ... Jerusalem surrendered to
764-542: A Persian force in the Cappadocian highlands. Despite having no military experience in leading an army in the field, the Byzantine Emperor decisively routed the forces of the experienced Persian General Shahrbaraz , boosting his army's morale and recovering large amounts of territory. In early 623, Heraclius led his forces through Armenia and modern-day Azerbaijan . By moving towards Armenia, this forced
955-478: A chiefly agrarian, military-dominated society that was engaged in a lengthy struggle with the Muslim Rashidun Caliphate and successor Umayyad Caliphate . However, the Empire during this period became also far more homogeneous, being reduced to its mostly Greek -speaking and firmly Chalcedonian core territories, which enabled it to weather these storms and enter a period of stability under
1146-470: A child, although the marriage was seen by many as incestuous. In 624, Heraclius led another campaign towards Lake Van . However, the victory that he sought would not come to him until the following year. Leading his army through Ararat down the Arsanias River for some 200 miles (320 km) to capture the cities of Martyropolis and Amida , Heraclius finally encountered a Persian army north of
1337-467: A combination of external threats and internal instabilities caused the Roman state to splinter as regional armies acclaimed their generals as "soldier-emperors". One of these, Diocletian ( r. 284–305 ), seeing that the state was too big to be ruled by one man, attempted to fix the problem by instituting a Tetrarchy , or rule of four, and dividing the empire into eastern and western halves. Although
1528-645: A considerable increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a notable upsurge in new towns. Trade was also flourishing; the Venetians, the Genoese and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader states and Fatimid Egypt to the west and trading with the empire via Constantinople. Manuel's death on 24 September 1180 left his 11-year-old son Alexios II Komnenos on
1719-464: A contested legacy to Roman identity and to associate negative connotations from ancient Latin literature. The adjective "Byzantine", which derived from Byzantion (Latinised as Byzantium ), the name of the Greek settlement Constantinople was established on, was only used to describe the inhabitants of that city; it did not refer to the empire, which they called Romanía —"Romanland". After
1910-612: A crushing defeat on the Persians. During this battle, at Constantinople, the city was well defended with a force of some 12,000 cavalry (presumably dismounted), supported by the entire city's population. Indeed, the efforts of the Patriarch Sergius in whipping up the population into a religious and patriotic frenzy cannot be overlooked. When the Byzantine fleet annihilated a Persian and an Avar fleet in two separate ambushes,
2101-542: A distinction between the earlier Roman Empire and the later Byzantine Empire . During the earlier Pax Romana period, the western parts of the empire became increasingly Latinised , while the eastern parts largely retained their preexisting Hellenistic culture . This created a dichotomy between the Greek East and Latin West . These cultural spheres continued to diverge after Constantine I ( r. 324–337 ) moved
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#17327729472692292-412: A fit of rage, Heraclius ordered that everything be burnt to the ground. Moving on, he soon found that Khosrau no longer commanded the loyalty of his subjects—as they refused to rally to defend Ctesiphon. Heraclius waited a week or two before marching his army back. Khosrau's son Siroes took power as Kavadh II and had his father shot to death with arrows. Later, the formation of a peace treaty favourable to
2483-546: A fleet in 608 to restore order in the Empire. Heraclius gave the command of the army to Gregoras' son, Nicetas , whilst command of the fleet went to Heraclius' son, Heraclius the Younger . Nicetas took part of the fleet and his forces to Egypt , seizing Alexandria towards the end of 608. Meanwhile, Heraclius the Younger headed to Thessalonica , from where, after receiving more supplies and troops, he sailed for Constantinople. He reached his destination on 3 October 610, where he
2674-641: A gilded statue of himself erected on a monumental column in the Roman Forum , known as the Column of Phocas . Despite being appointed as Comes excubitorum , Priscus was not loyal to Phocas, and in 608 he appealed to Heraclius the Elder , the Exarch of Carthage , to rebel against Phocas. Heraclius the Elder agreed, and began to prepare to invade, by cutting off the supply of grain to Constantinople and assembling
2865-430: A large army and navy. Heraclius the Elder launched his invasion in 609, with his nephew, Nicetas , marching troops overland to the capital, and his son, Heraclius , leading a naval invasion of Thessalonica , before marching to Constantinople. Heraclius arrived outside Constantinople on 3 October 610, and seized the city on 5 October. Heraclius was declared emperor on the same day, and swiftly had Phocas executed. Phocas
3056-542: A large number in Venice. According to chronicler Niketas Choniates , a prostitute was even set up on the patriarchal throne. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected emperor of a new Latin Empire , and the Venetian Thomas Morosini was chosen as patriarch. The lands divided up among the leaders included most of
3247-512: A lengthy conflict against Sasanid Persia and ended in 363 with the death of his son-in-law Julian . The short Valentinianic dynasty , occupied with wars against barbarians , religious debates, and anti-corruption campaigns, ended in the East with the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Valens's successor, Theodosius I ( r. 379–395 ), restored political stability in
3438-651: 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
3629-453: A low-ranking officer under Emperor Maurice . In 602, the Byzantine army rebelled against Emperor Maurice , largely due to exhaustion and outrage over orders to continue campaigning north of the Danube in winter as well as previous cuts in wages. The army sent Phocas to Constantinople as a spokesperson on behalf of the legions, whereupon he declared himself emperor. On 23 November 602, Phocas
3820-417: A major critic of monothelitism was elected as Patriarch of Jerusalem , the Empire began once again to tear itself apart. To some in the Empire the Arabs' promise of religious freedom seemed preferable to the other, seemingly blasphemous politically motivated proposals. At his death bed on 11 February 641, Heraclius died whispering that he had lied; he was reluctant to support monothelitism. It appears that unity
4011-477: A new army, raising a crack force of approximately 50,000 men. Heraclius, it seems, was not only being outmaneuvered, but being outmaneuvered by several larger armies. However, Heraclius attempted to match the Persians by duplicating their strategy and dividing his forces into three separate contingents. One army would defend the capital, whilst another, under the command of the Emperor's brother Theodore , would face
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#17327729472694202-605: A precarious position, which led him to devote his energy to purging enemies and destroying conspiracies. Because of this focus, and the local resistance he faced all throughout the Byzantine Empire, he was unable to confront foreign attacks on the empire's frontiers. The Avars and Slavs launched numerous raids into the Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire, and the Sassanian Empire launched an invasion of
4393-567: A savage and bloody campaign to forcibly convert the Jews to Christianity . Persecutions and alienation of the Jews, a frontline people in the war against the Persians helped drive them into aiding the Persian conquerors. As Jews and Christians began tearing each other apart, some fled the butchery into Persian territory. Meanwhile, it appears that the disasters befalling the Empire led the Emperor into
4584-450: A small fleet of 100 ships to defend the capital, but other than that he was indifferent to the populace. He was finally overthrown when Isaac II Angelos , surviving an imperial assassination attempt, seized power with the aid of the people and had Andronikos killed. The reign of Isaac II, and more so that of his brother Alexios III , saw the collapse of what remained of the centralised machinery of Byzantine government and defence. Although
4775-417: A speedy and marked improvement. Gradually, however, Andronikos's reign deteriorated. The aristocrats were infuriated against him, and to make matters worse, Andronikos seemed to have become increasingly unbalanced; executions and violence became increasingly common, and his reign turned into a reign of terror. Andronikos seemed almost to seek the extermination of the aristocracy as a whole. The struggle against
4966-504: A spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the court of the Emperor Maurice . When the army revolted in 602, Phocas emerged as the natural leader of the mutiny. The revolt proved to be successful and led to the capture of Constantinople and the overthrow of Maurice on 23 November 602, with Phocas declaring himself emperor the same day. Phocas deeply mistrusted the uncooperative elite of Constantinople, to whom he
5157-424: A state of paranoia—although it must be said that there were numerous plots against his rule and execution followed execution. Among those individuals who were executed was the former empress Constantina and her three daughters. Due to the overwhelming crisis facing the Empire that had pitched it into chaos, Heraclius the Elder now attempted to seize power from Phocas in an effort to better Byzantium's fortunes. As
5348-619: A treaty favorable to Byzantium, which gained Armenia. Thus, after the death of Tiberius II , Maurice sought to restore the prestige of the Empire. Even though the Empire had gained smaller successes over the Slavs and Avars in pitched battles across the Danube , both enthusiasm for the army and faith in the government had lessened considerably. Unrest had reared its head in Byzantine cities as social and religious differences manifested themselves into Blue and Green factions that fought each other in
5539-517: A two-month siege on 29 May 1453. The final Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos , was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken. 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
5730-480: Is difficult to ascertain since emperors of the Heraclian dynasty who succeeded Phocas had a vested interest in tarnishing his reputation. Phocas was probably born in 547, as he was said to be aged 55 when he became emperor. He and his family were likely of Thraco-Roman or Cappadocian origin. The life of Phocas before his usurpation of the Byzantine Empire's throne is obscure, but it is known that he served as
5921-541: Is evidence that some Komnenian heirs had set up a semi-independent state in Trebizond before 1204. According to the historian Alexander Vasiliev , "the dynasty of the Angeloi, Greek in its origin, ... accelerated the ruin of the Empire, already weakened without and disunited within." In 1198, Pope Innocent III broached the subject of a new crusade through legates and encyclical letters. The stated intent of
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6112-447: Is generally depicted as a villain by Byzantines and modern historians alike, but some of the earliest sources available about Phocas' reign were written during the reign of Heraclius. The writings that survive are not reliably neutral and the writers would have good reason to demonize him in order to strengthen the rule of Heraclius. In the cultural sphere, the reign of Phocas is marked by the change of Imperial fashion set by Constantine
6303-480: Is impossible to precisely date the foundation of the Byzantine Empire. In a series of conflicts between the third and first centuries BC, the Roman Republic gradually established hegemony over the eastern Mediterranean , while its government ultimately transformed into the one-person rule of an emperor . The Roman Empire enjoyed a period of relative stability until the third century AD , when
6494-449: Is no consensus on a "foundation date" for the Byzantine Empire, if there was one at all. The growth of the study of "late antiquity" has led to some historians setting a start date in the seventh or eighth centuries. Others believe a "new empire" began during changes in c. 300 AD. Still others hold that these starting points are too early or too late, and instead begin c. 500 . Geoffrey Greatrex believes that it
6685-482: Is now known as the Theme system . This system was originally credited by Byzantine historians like George Ostrogorsky to Heraclius. He provides Theophanes as a source, quoting the expression "the district of the themes" in the year 622, showing the themes had begun to be created at this time. However, there is evidence presented by some modern historians that it could possibly be credited to Constans, and yet others leave
6876-715: The Tactica , a military treatise; and the Book of the Eparch , which codified Constantinople's trading regulations. In non-literary contexts Leo was less successful: the empire lost in Sicily and against the Bulgarians , while he provoked theological scandal by marrying four times in an attempt to father a legitimate heir. The early reign of that heir, Constantine VII , was tumultuous, as his mother Zoe , his uncle Alexander ,
7067-515: The Bosphorus . By the time his reign ended in 610, the Persians had already crossed the Euphrates and taken Zenobia. Contemporary accounts describe the Persians as being very brutal to the occupied population. The 'miracle of St Demetrios' described the carnage: [T]he devil raised the whirlwind of hatred in all the East, Cilicia, Asia, Palestine and all the lands from there to Constantinople:
7258-536: The Catalan Company ravaging the countryside and increasing resentment towards Constantinople. The situation became worse for Byzantium during the civil wars after Andronikos III died. A six-year-long civil war devastated the empire, allowing the Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan to overrun most of the empire's remaining territory and establish a Serbian Empire . In 1354, an earthquake at Gallipoli devastated
7449-706: The Council of Clermont and urged all those present to take up arms under the sign of the Cross and launch an armed pilgrimage to recover Jerusalem and the East from the Muslims. The response in Western Europe was overwhelming. Alexios was able to recover a number of important cities, islands and much of western Asia Minor. The Crusaders agreed to become Alexios' vassals under the Treaty of Devol in 1108, which marked
7640-633: The Council of Piacenza in 1095, envoys from Alexios spoke to Pope Urban II about the suffering of the Christians of the East and underscored that without help from the West, they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule. Urban saw Alexios' request as a dual opportunity to cement Western Europe and reunite the Eastern Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church under his rule. On 27 November 1095, Urban called
7831-423: The Danube , he pushed his troops too far in 602—they mutinied, proclaimed an officer named Phocas as emperor, and executed Maurice. The Sasanians seized their moment and reopened hostilities ; Phocas was unable to cope and soon faced a major rebellion led by Heraclius . Phocas lost Constantinople in 610 and was soon executed, but the destructive civil war accelerated the empire's decline. Under Khosrow II ,
Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty - Misplaced Pages Continue
8022-750: 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
8213-720: The Eastern Roman Empire , was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred in Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages . The eastern half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained
8404-636: The Empire of Trebizond , was created after Alexios I of Trebizond , commanding the Georgian expedition in Chaldia a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople, found himself de facto emperor and established himself in Trebizond. Of the three successor states, Epirus and Nicaea stood the best chance of reclaiming Constantinople. The Nicaean Empire struggled to survive the next few decades, however, and by
8595-584: The Hippodrome was pulled down and set aflame, along with the colors of the Blues that supported Phocas. After having married his wife in an elaborate ceremony and crowned by the Patriarch , the 36-year-old Heraclius set out to perform his work as Emperor. The early portion of his reign yielded results reminiscent of Phocas' reign with respect to trouble in the Balkans . The Avars and Slavs poured through
8786-641: The Komnenian restoration , and Constantinople would remain the largest and wealthiest city in Europe until the 13th century. The empire was largely dismantled in 1204, following the Sack of Constantinople by Latin armies at the end of the Fourth Crusade ; its former territories were then divided into competing Greek rump states and Latin realms . Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261,
8977-545: The Mediterranean and harbouring a prosperous Late Antique urban civilization. This world was shattered by successive invasions, which resulted in extensive territorial losses, financial collapse and plagues that depopulated the cities, while religious controversies and rebellions further weakened the Empire. By the dynasty's end, the Empire had been transformed into a different state structure: now known in historiography as medieval Byzantine rather than (Ancient) Roman,
9168-632: The Normans who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 11th century. During a period of strife between Constantinople and Rome culminating in the East-West Schism of 1054 , the Normans advanced gradually into Byzantine Italy . Reggio , the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured in 1060 by Robert Guiscard , followed by Otranto in 1068. Bari , the main Byzantine stronghold in Apulia ,
9359-581: The Pechenegs , who were caught by surprise and annihilated at the Battle of Levounion on 28 April 1091. Having achieved stability in the West, Alexios could turn his attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration of the empire's traditional defences. However, he still did not have enough manpower to recover the lost territories in Asia Minor and to the advance by the Seljuks. At
9550-580: The Renaissance . The fall of Constantinople is sometimes used to mark the dividing line between the Middle Ages and the early modern period . The inhabitants of the empire, now generally termed Byzantines, thought of themselves as Romans ( Romaioi ). Their Islamic neighbours similarly called their empire the "land of the Romans" ( Bilād al-Rūm ), but the people of medieval Western Europe preferred to call them "Greeks" ( Graeci ), due to having
9741-504: The Roman Empire ), beginning in 643 with an embassy sent by the king Boduoli (波多力, i.e. Constans II Pogonatos ) to Emperor Taizong of Tang , bearing gifts such as red glass . These histories also provided cursory descriptions of Constantinople , its walls , and how it was besieged by Da shi (大食; the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate ) and their commander "Mo-yi" (摩拽伐之; i.e. Muawiyah I , governor of Syria before becoming caliph ), who forced them to pay tribute. Henry Yule highlights
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#17327729472699932-407: The Roman papacy . In 780, Empress Irene assumed power on behalf of her son Constantine VI . Although she was a capable administrator who temporarily resolved the iconoclasm controversy, the empire was destabilized by her feud with her son. The Bulgars and Abbasids meanwhile inflicted numerous defeats on the Byzantine armies, and the papacy crowned Charlemagne as Roman emperor in 800. In 802,
10123-400: The Sassanid Empire . The Persians had conquered extensive amounts of territory in Anatolia , Mesopotamia , the Levant , and North Africa , but had yet to consolidate their hold on it. Heraclius decided to negotiate a peace with the Avars and Slavs by paying them a large amount of tribute so that he could freely move his armies from Europe to Asia in order to launch counter-offensives against
10314-661: The Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal the silkworm eggs . This resulted in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace , in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe until the loss of its territories in Southern Italy . The Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta , writing during the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), relayed information about China's geography , its capital city Khubdan ( Old Turkic : Khumdan , i.e. Chang'an ), its current ruler Taisson whose name meant " Son of God " (Chinese: Tianzi , although this could be derived from
10505-437: The Umayyad Caliphate , but the empire subsequently stabilised under the Isaurian dynasty. The empire was able to expand once more under the Macedonian dynasty , experiencing a two-century-long renaissance . This came to an end in 1071, with the defeat by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert . Thereafter, periods of civil war and Seljuk incursion resulted in the loss of most of Asia Minor . The empire recovered during
10696-405: The conquest of Persia by the growing Islamic caliphate . Other Byzantine embassies in Tang China are recorded as arriving in 711, 719, and 742. From Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas (Mie li sha ling kai sa 滅力沙靈改撒) of Fu lin dispatched a diplomatic mission to China's Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song . Like his predecessors,
10887-457: The sea walls of Constantinople , overhaul provincial governance, and wage inconclusive campaigns against the Abbasids. After his death, his empress Theodora , ruling on behalf of her son Michael III , permanently extinguished the iconoclastic movement; the empire prospered under their sometimes-fraught rule. However, Michael was posthumously vilified by historians loyal to the dynasty of his successor Basil I , who assassinated him in 867 and who
11078-438: The "Head of all Churches" and "Universal Bishop". Phocas transferred the title of "Universal Bishop" from the Diocese of Constantinople to the Diocese of Rome . Boniface sought and obtained a decree from Phocas in which he restated that "the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches" and ensured that the title of "Universal Bishop" belonged exclusively to the Bishop of Rome. This act effectively ended
11269-488: The 50,000 conscripts in Mesopotamia who were commanded by the Persian General Shahin . Meanwhile, the third, which would be personally commanded by the Emperor, would march through Armenia and the Caucasus and into Persia, which he believed would have been stripped of most of the able-bodied men due to Khosrau's conscription. This would allow his forces to easily advance into the heartland of Persia. Theodore's contingent fared well against Shahin in Mesopotamia, inflicting
11460-510: The 532 Nika revolt he rebuilt much of Constantinople, including the original Hagia Sophia . Justinian took advantage of political instability in Italy to attempt the reconquest of lost western territories. The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa was subjugated in 534 by the general Belisarius , who then invaded Italy ; the Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed in 554. In the 540s, however, Justinian began to suffer reversals on multiple fronts. Taking advantage of Constantinople's preoccupation with
11651-413: The Apostate ): . His army marched cautiously into this hostile terrain. It was known to Heraclius that a Persian force was close and an ambush was always a possibility. Meanwhile, Rhahzadh , the new Persian commander, was also not keen to face Heraclius until his army was ready for a pitched battle. After spending a greater part of 627 in Mesopotamia, Heraclius finally encountered the Persian army close to
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#173277294726911842-408: The Arab efforts to capture Constantinople in the 670s , but suffered a reversal against the Bulgars , who soon established an empire in the northern Balkans . Nevertheless, he and Constans had done enough to secure the empire's position, especially as the Umayyad Caliphate was undergoing another civil war . Justinian II sought to build on the stability secured by his father Constantine but
12033-420: The Arab fleet was sent to raid the Byzantine island of Cyprus —the island was barely defended, and the Arabs sacked the chief city of Constantia , destroyed its harbor installations, and ravaged the countryside. In 654, the Muslim fleet continued unopposed to the island of Rhodes . After the island fell, Constans II suffered another humiliating defeat at the Battle of the Masts , when he sent his fleet to engage
12224-526: The Arabs began to do just that. The Caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated in Medina . As a result, Ali , the Islamic Prophet Muhammed 's son-in law was elected as his successor. However, Muawiya , the governor of Syria who led the Arab fleet against Byzantium, was proclaimed Caliph in Syria, as well. Only when Ali was assassinated in 661 did the civil strife end, much to Byzantium's disappointment. Clearly, Byzantium stood no chance whatsoever of defending herself against her opponents when bishops tore
12415-407: The Arabs in 637, following a stout resistance; in 638, the Caliph Omar rode into the city. Heraclius stopped by Jerusalem to recover the True Cross whilst it was under siege. In his old age he was becoming increasingly unstable in his rule. Once the commander of his father's fleet, he developed a phobia of the sea, and refused to cross the Bosporus to the capital. Only when several boats were tied along
12606-416: The Arabs off Lycia . During the engagement, Constans II, fearing the possibility of being captured, exchanged clothing with another man so that he could escape without being identified. Though never captured, the experience was rather embarrassing for the so-called "King of Kings". By this point, the Arabs appeared to the Romans as invincible, and thus, could only hinder themselves. Fortunately for Byzantium,
12797-408: The Byzantine administration's policy of heavy taxation and abolishing of the levy. The weakening of Georgia and Armenia played a significant role in the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071. Basil II is considered among the most capable Byzantine emperors and his reign as the apex of the empire in the Middle Ages . By 1025, the date of Basil II's death, the Byzantine Empire stretched from Armenia in
12988-479: The Byzantine government spent few resources to aid Italy due to troubles elsewhere. In the entirety of Phocas' reign, the only public structure built with taxes in the city of Rome was a statue of Phocas completed in 608. When Phocas usurped Maurice, Gregory the Great was bishop of Rome and he praised Phocas as a restorer of liberty. Gregory referred to him as a pious and clement lord, and compared his wife (the new Empress) Leontia to Marcian's consort Pulcheria (whom
13179-420: The Byzantines led to the restoration of the pre-war boundaries. As an added bonus, all captives and Christian relics that had been captured by the Persians were returned. Thus, it was at the head of the True Cross that Heraclius entered the Capital on September 14, 628 triumphant. Leading a procession which included four elephants, the True Cross was placed high atop the altar of the Hagia Sophia. By this time, it
13370-442: The Byzantines, and now, the honours of the war were even. However, the Persian threat was not yet diminished. The long-awaited assault on Constantinople was finally beginning to materialize—the Avars began moving siege equipment towards the Capital (the siege began on June 29, 626) whilst Shahrbaraz was ordered by King Khosrau II to send his army to Chalcedon and link up with the Avars. Khosrau began conscripting able-bodied men into
13561-595: The Council of Chalcedon called the new Helena). In May 603, portraits of the imperial couple arrived in Rome and were ordered by the pope to be placed in the oratory of St. Caesarius in the imperial palace on the Palatine. Imperial approval was needed at that time to appoint a new pope, but the approval was delayed by a year upon the death of Pope Sabinian in 606, as Phocas was occupied with killing internal enemies that threatened his rule. He finally gave approval in 607 and Boniface III became pope. Phocas declared Rome "the head of all churches". Shortly afterwards, Phocas had
13752-544: The Emperor was facing. And to make matters worse for the Byzantines, the Arab armies gave no respite—by 647 the Exarchate of Carthage had been decisively defeated — another costly defeat as Africa was the Empire's main source of grain, aside from already lost Egypt. The list of defeats would continue to grow, as in 644, the Arabs began building a sizable fleet to take on the centuries of Greco-Roman naval dominance. In 657,
13943-417: The Empire to hold onto a vital city in the region. In 613, the Byzantine army suffered a crushing defeat at Antioch , allowing the Persians to move freely and swiftly in all directions. This surge caused the cities of Damascus and Tarsus to fall, along with Armenia . More seriously, however, was the loss of Jerusalem , which was besieged and captured by the Persians in three weeks. Countless churches in
14134-589: 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
14325-493: The Empire over theological debates. Constans II saw this and it seems that he had enough of it. In 648, Constans still only 18 years of age, declared an edict that no one would raise the monothelitism versus Chalcedon controversy under the pain of banishment, following an excommunication by the Pope Theodore I to the Patriarch of Constantinople Pyrrhus . When Theodore's successor, Martin I once again added fuel to
14516-453: The Empire was led into anarchy, the Exarchate of Carthage remained relatively out of reach of Persian conquest. Far from the incompetent Imperial authority of the time, Heraclius , the Exarch of Carthage, with his brother Gregoras, began building up his forces to assault Constantinople. After cutting off the grain supply to the capital from his territory, Heraclius led a substantial army and
14707-509: The Empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Avars and Slavs renewed their destructive raids on the Balkans, and the Sasanian Empire launched a massive invasion of the eastern provinces . Finally, the Exarch of Africa , Heraclius the Elder , rebelled against Phocas and gained wide support throughout the empire. Phocas attempted to use border troops to crush the rebellion, but this only resulted in allowing invaders to break into
14898-474: The Empire with loyal soldiers, and so began the Thematic armies of the Byzantine Empire that would prove to be reliable, though not unbeatable fighting force for centuries to come. Nonetheless, a native, well-trained army loyal to the state would serve the Empire far more than ill-disciplined mercenaries, whose loyalty to coin could be manipulated and turned against the state itself, as had been exemplified during
15089-400: The Empire, ostensibly to avenge Maurice, who had earlier helped him to regain his throne. Phocas was already alienating his supporters with his repressive rule (introducing torture on a large scale), and the Persians were able to capture Syria and Mesopotamia by 607. By 608, the Persians were camped outside Chalcedon , within sight of the imperial capital of Constantinople , while Anatolia
15280-432: The Empire. The emperor was the centre of the whole administration of the Empire, who the legal historian Kaius Tuori has said was "above the law, within the law, and the law itself"; with a power that is difficult to define and which does not align with our modern understanding of the separation of powers. The proclamations of the crowds of Constantinople, and the inaugurations of the patriarch from 457, would legitimise
15471-608: The Fall of the Western Roman Empire . Heraclius' inability to rule the Empire as his death neared did Byzantium no favors. After Heraclius' death in February 641, the former Empress Martina declared herself, her son, Heraclonas , and her stepson, Constantine III Heraclius , co-emperors. However, the citizens of Constantinople refused to accept this. And so, when Constantine III died sometime in May 641 (considered by
15662-539: The Great ( r. 306–337 ). Constantine and all his successors, except Julian the Apostate ( r. 361–363 ), were beardless. Phocas again introduced the wearing of the beard . This fashion lasted until the end of the Byzantine Empire. On 19 February 607, Emperor Phocas appointed Boniface III as the new bishop of Rome, then Phocas issued an imperial decree by the Roman government, recognizing Boniface III as
15853-580: The Mongol invasion also gave Nicaea a temporary respite from Seljuk attacks, allowing it to concentrate on the Latin Empire to its north. The Empire of Nicaea, founded by the Laskarid dynasty , managed to recapture Constantinople in 1261 and defeat Epirus . This led to a short-lived revival of Byzantine fortunes under Michael VIII Palaiologos , but the war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with
16044-587: The Normans were driven out of Greece, in 1186 the Vlachs and Bulgars began a rebellion that led to the formation of the Second Bulgarian Empire . The internal policy of the Angeloi was characterised by the squandering of the public treasure and fiscal maladministration. Imperial authority was severely weakened, and the growing power vacuum at the centre of the empire encouraged fragmentation. There
16235-531: The Persian palace at Ganzak . Burning numerous cities of his opponents, Heraclius made a risky decision and led his troops deep within the heartland of the Sassanid Empire to Ctesiphon , the Persian capital. However, Shahrbaraz began cutting off Heraclius' supply lines, forcing the latter to withdraw to the western shore of the Caspian Sea . There, his second wife and niece (Martina) safely delivered
16426-534: The Persians and restore the Empire, only to lose these provinces again shortly after to the sudden eruption of the Muslim conquests . His successors struggled to contain the Arab tide. The Levant and North Africa were lost, while in 674–678, a large Arab army besieged Constantinople itself. Nevertheless, the state survived and the establishment of the Theme system allowed the imperial heartland of Asia Minor to be retained. Under Justinian II and Tiberius III
16617-527: The Persians invaded the empire in 603. The Sassanids rapidly occupied the eastern provinces, leading the Magister militum per Orientem , Narses , to defect to their side. Phocas swiftly dealt with him, by inviting him to Constantinople under the promise of safe conduct, then having him burnt alive when he arrived. By 607, the Sassanids had occupied Mesopotamia , Syria , and much of Asia Minor , as far as
16808-514: The Persians to move from their positions in Asia Minor and to follow the army "like a dog on a chain". It was in Armenia that the Byzantine army once again found success against the Persian general Shahrbaraz, winning a large victory. Events in the capital forced Heraclius and his army to return to Constantinople, as the Avar Khan was threatening action on the city. Heraclius was forced to increase
16999-440: The Persians, officially adopt the title of Basileus , "King" in Greek, though the title had been used unofficially for centuries; Procopius used the title frequently, for example. There is no indication, as is, again, sometimes claimed, that Basileus became Heraclius's "primary" title, and other prominent Imperial titles since ancient/Latin era of the Empire, such as Augustus and Imperator , remained in varying degrees of use for
17190-487: The Persians. With his Eastern opponents still outside Chalcedon, in the spring of 622 Heraclius took the field. He sailed his newly created army down the Ionian coast and landed at Issus , the exact site where Alexander the Great had decisively defeated the Persians some 1,000 years prior. At Issus, Heraclius oversaw the extensive training of his men. In the autumn of that year, he marched his army northwards and encountered
17381-558: The Sassanids occupied the Levant and Egypt and pushed into Asia Minor, while Byzantine control of Italy slipped and the Avars and Slavs ran riot in the Balkans. Although Heraclius repelled a siege of Constantinople in 626 and defeated the Sassanids in 627, this was a pyrrhic victory . The early Muslim conquests soon saw the conquest of the Levant , Egypt , and the Sassanid Empire by
17572-470: The Tetrarchy system quickly failed, the division of the empire proved an enduring concept. Constantine I ( r. 306–337 ) secured sole power in 324. Over the following six years, he rebuilt the city of Byzantium as a capital city , which was renamed Constantinople . Rome , the previous capital, was further from the important eastern provinces and in a less strategically important location; it
17763-481: The Turkish invaders at the Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir , brought troops from the capital and was able to gather an army along the way, a sign that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western Asia Minor was still successful. John and Manuel pursued active military policies, and both deployed considerable resources on sieges and city defences; aggressive fortification policies were at
17954-617: The West in the hope of achieving better luck. Whilst the Saracens were establishing themselves in former Byzantine territory, the Avars and Bulgars still remained along the Danube river, as did the Slavs, whose annual payment to the Empire was falling short. Constans II then decided to move his capital to Syracuse in Sicily in 662. Some say that this was to escape horrible visions of his brother whom he had murdered two years past. His stay in Italy and Sicily can only be imagined as unpleasant for
18145-639: The West was achieved at the cost of Persian dominance in the East, where the Byzantines were forced to pay tribute to avert war. However, after Justinian's death, much of newly recovered Italy fell to the Lombards , and the Visigoths soon reduced the imperial holdings in Spain. At the same time, wars with the Persian Empire brought no conclusive victory. In 591 however, the long war was ended with
18336-546: The West, Khosrow I of the Sasanian Empire invaded Byzantine territory and sacked Antioch in 540. Meanwhile, the emperor's internal reforms and policies began to falter, not helped by a devastating plague that killed a large proportion of the population and severely weakened the empire's social and financial stability. The most difficult period of the Ostrogothic war, against their king Totila , came during this decade, while divisions among Justinian's advisors undercut
18527-401: The West. Zeno ( r. 474–491 ) convinced the problematic Ostrogoth king Theodoric to take control of Italy from Odoacer, which he did; dying with the empire at peace, Zeno was succeeded by Anastasius I ( r. 491–518 ). Although his Monophysitism brought occasional issues, Anastasius was a capable administrator and instituted several successful financial reforms including
18718-541: The Western provinces to achieve an economic revival that continued until the close of the century. It has been argued that Byzantium under the Komnenian rule was more prosperous than at any time since the Persian invasions of the 7th century. During the 12th century, population levels rose and extensive tracts of new agricultural land were brought into production. Archaeological evidence from both Europe and Asia Minor shows
18909-522: The abolition of the chrysargyron tax . He was the first emperor to die with no serious problems affecting his empire since Diocletian. The reign of Justinian I was a watershed in Byzantine history. Following his accession in 527, the law-code was rewritten as the influential Corpus Juris Civilis and Justinian produced extensive legislation on provincial administration; he reasserted imperial control over religion and morality through purges of non-Christians and "deviants"; and having ruthlessly subdued
19100-590: The administration's response. He also did not fully heal the divisions in Chalcedonian Christianity , as the Second Council of Constantinople failed to make a real difference. Justinian died in 565; his reign saw more success than that of any other Byzantine emperor, yet he left his empire under massive strain. Financially and territorially overextended, Justin II ( r. 565–578 )
19291-568: The aristocracy turned into wholesale slaughter, while the emperor resorted to ever more ruthless measures to shore up his regime. Despite his military background, Andronikos failed to deal with Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus, Béla III of Hungary who reincorporated Croatian territories into Hungary, and Stephen Nemanja of Serbia who declared his independence from the Byzantine Empire. Yet, none of these troubles compared to William II of Sicily 's invasion force of 300 ships and 80,000 men, arriving in 1185 and sacking Thessalonica . Andronikos mobilised
19482-511: The attempt by Patriarch Cyriacus of Constantinople to establish himself as "Universal Bishop". In calling the Pope the "head of all churches", Phocas' decree has been important in discussions about papal primacy and papal supremacy . Some Protestant historicist commentators have seen the decree of Phocas (usually taken to be in 606) as having eschatological significance. For example, in his Horae Apocalypticae , Edward Bishop Elliott took
19673-622: The besiegers appeared to have withdrawn in panic. And when word of Theodore's victory in Mesopotamia came, it was concluded by the besiegers that Byzantium was now under the protection of the Romans' Christian God. For Heraclius, 626 was a year of little action—it appears that in an attempt to bolster his forces, he promised the hand of his daughter Epiphania to the Khan of the Western Turkic Khaganate , Ziebel . Impressed by
19864-403: The capital to Constantinople and legalised Christianity . Under Theodosius I ( r. 379–395 ), Christianity became the state religion , and other religious practices were proscribed . Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use as Latin fell into disuse. The empire experienced several cycles of decline and recovery throughout its history, reaching its greatest extent after the fall of
20055-495: The capital, and Alexios Angelos was elevated to the throne as Alexios IV along with his blind father Isaac. Alexios IV and Isaac II were unable to keep their promises and were deposed by Alexios V . The crusaders again took the city on 13 April 1204 , and Constantinople was subjected to pillage and massacre by the rank and file for three days. Many priceless icons, relics and other objects later turned up in Western Europe ,
20246-701: The city (including the Holy Sepulchre ) were burnt and numerous relics, including the True Cross , the Holy Lance and the Holy Sponge , present at the time of Jesus Christ 's death, were now in Ctesiphon , the Persian capital. The Persians remained poised outside of Chalcedon , not too far from the capital, and the province of Syria was in total chaos. Despite Nicetas' earlier efforts, Egypt
20437-469: The city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed 's army of 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city. Despite a desperate last-ditch defence of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign), Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after
20628-573: The city. To recover from a seemingly endless number of defeats, Heraclius went about a reconstruction plan of the military, financing it by fining those accused of corruption, increasing taxes, and debasing the currency to pay more soldiers and forced loans. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Sergius , placed the finances of the Church into the hands of the State, a surprising but well-needed sacrifice. Heraclius now aimed to eliminate one of his dangerous foes,
20819-550: The crusade was to conquer Egypt , the centre of Muslim power in the Levant. The Crusader army arrived at Venice in the summer of 1202 and hired the Venetian fleet to transport them to Egypt. As a payment to the Venetians, they captured the (Christian) port of Zara in Dalmatia , which was a vassal city of Venice, it had rebelled and placed itself under Hungary's protection in 1186. Shortly afterward, Alexios IV Angelos , son of
21010-504: The deposed and blinded Emperor Isaac II, made contact with the Crusaders. Alexios offered to reunite the Byzantine church with Rome, pay the Crusaders 200,000 silver marks, join the crusade, and provide all the supplies they needed to reach Egypt. The crusaders arrived at Constantinople in the summer of 1203 and quickly attacked , starting a major fire that damaged large parts of the city, and briefly seized control. Alexios III fled from
21201-546: The desert expanse. Nonetheless, efforts were conducted, sometimes cooperatively, by the Byzantines and the Persians to stop the advance of the Arabs. On 8 June 632, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad died of a fever. However, the religion he left behind would transform the Middle East. In 633, the armies of Islam marched out of Arabia, their goal to spread the word of the prophet. In 634, the Arabs defeated
21392-550: The door open that Heraclius could possibly have done so in the late 630s in Cilicia . In any case, the debate over exactly when the thematic system originated continues on. The administrative regions created from this system were to be governed by a strategos , a military governor. The aim of these Themes was to maximize military potential—many able-bodied men and their families were settled in these four themes and given land for farming. In return for land, these men were to provide
21583-475: The east by allowing the Goths to settle in Roman territory; he also twice intervened in the western half, defeating the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius in 388 and 394 respectively. He actively condemned paganism , confirmed the primacy of Nicene Christianity over Arianism , and established Christianity as the Roman state religion . He was the last emperor to rule both the western and eastern halves of
21774-433: The east to Calabria in southern Italy in the west. Many successes had been achieved, ranging from the conquest of Bulgaria to the annexation of parts of Georgia and Armenia, and the reconquests of Crete , Cyprus , and the important city of Antioch . These were not temporary tactical gains but long-term reconquests. At the same time, Byzantium was faced with new enemies. Its provinces in southern Italy were threatened by
21965-442: The eastern provinces of the empire. The Avars were able to take all land in the Balkans north of Thessalonica. The populations of Christian cities were slaughtered or captured. The Byzantines transferred most of their forces to the eastern front due to the threat from the Persians. The Sassanid Persians had formerly been at peace with Maurice as a result of a treaty they made with him in 591. After Phocas usurped and killed Maurice,
22156-537: The emperor's role as the leader of the Christian world, John marched into the Holy Land at the head of the combined forces of the empire and the Crusader states; yet despite his efforts in leading the campaign, his hopes were disappointed by the treachery of his Crusader allies. In 1142, John returned to press his claims to Antioch, but he died in the spring of 1143 following a hunting accident. John's chosen heir
22347-533: The empire's eastern defences. The emergency lent weight to the military aristocracy in Anatolia, who in 1068 secured the election of one of their own, Romanos Diogenes , as emperor. In the summer of 1071, Romanos undertook a massive eastern campaign to draw the Seljuks into a general engagement with the Byzantine army. At the Battle of Manzikert , Romanos suffered a surprise defeat against Sultan Alp Arslan and
22538-496: The empire's fall, early modern scholars referred to the empire by many names, including the "Empire of Constantinople", the "Empire of the Greeks", the "Eastern Empire", the "Late Empire", the "Low Empire", and the "Roman Empire". The increasing use of "Byzantine" and "Byzantine Empire" likely started with the 15th-century historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles , whose works were widely propagated, including by Hieronymus Wolf . "Byzantine"
22729-499: The empire, gaining only short-term success. To avoid another sacking of the capital by the Latins, he forced the Church to submit to Rome, again a temporary solution for which the peasantry hated Michael and Constantinople. The efforts of Andronikos II and later his grandson Andronikos III marked Byzantium's last genuine attempts to restoring the glory of the empire. However, the use of mercenaries by Andronikos II often backfired, with
22920-468: The empire; after his death, the West would be destabilised by a succession of "soldier-emperors", unlike the East, where administrators would continue to hold power. Theodosius II ( r. 408–450 ) largely left the rule of the east to officials such as Anthemius , who constructed the Theodosian Walls to defend Constantinople, now firmly entrenched as Rome's capital. Theodosius' reign
23111-522: The end of the Norman threat during Alexios' reign. Alexios's son John II Komnenos succeeded him in 1118 and ruled until 1143. John was a pious and dedicated emperor who was determined to undo the damage to the empire suffered at the Battle of Manzikert half a century earlier. Famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign, John was an exceptional example of a moral ruler at a time when cruelty
23302-620: The enemies that surrounded it. To maintain his campaigns against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from Asia Minor and levied crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much resentment. Massive construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair the damage of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives were of any comfort to the farmers in Asia Minor suffering raids from Muslim ghazis. Rather than holding on to his possessions in Asia Minor, Michael chose to expand
23493-515: The entire Empire. After his death, Heraclius' corpse remained unburied for three days, guarded by his soldiers until it was laid to rest in the Church of the Holy Apostles within a sarcophagus of white onyx next to the founder of his Empire, Constantine I . The army of the Empire that Heraclius worked so hard to improve eventually was reorganized in Asia Minor into four Themes , in what
23684-701: The fact that Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651), last ruler of the Sasanian Empire , sent diplomats to China for securing aid from Emperor Taizong ( considered the suzerain over Ferghana in Central Asia) during the loss of the Persian heartland to the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate , which may have also prompted the Byzantines to send envoys to China amid their recent loss of Syria to the Muslims . Tang Chinese sources also recorded how Sassanid prince Peroz III (636–679) fled to Tang China following
23875-419: The factions, no longer content simply to spill blood in public places, attacked homes, slaughtered women, children, the aged, and the young who were sick; those whose youth and frailty impeded their escape from the massacre, [saw] their friends, acquaintances, and parents pillaged, and after all that, even set on fire so that the most wretched inhabitant was not able to escape. Phocas was unable to control either
24066-475: The fire by summoning a council in condemnation of Monethelitism in October 648, he was arrested, brought to the capital and badly mistreated as a common criminal. In prison it is said that his mistreatment was "such that blood was on the floor." Finally, after being accused of treason and regicide he was banished to the Crimea . Such was the frustration of the Emperor. Constans II decided to turn his attention to
24257-584: The former Byzantine possessions. Although Venice was more interested in commerce than conquering territory, it took key areas of Constantinople, and the Doge took the title of " Lord of a Quarter and Half a Quarter of the Roman Empire ". After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin crusaders, two Byzantine successor states were established: the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus . A third,
24448-554: The fort, allowing the Ottomans (who were hired as mercenaries during the civil war by John VI Kantakouzenos ) to establish themselves in Europe. By the time the Byzantine civil wars had ended, the Ottomans had defeated the Serbians and subjugated them as vassals. Following the Battle of Kosovo , much of the Balkans became dominated by the Ottomans. Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of
24639-431: The heart of their imperial military policies. Despite the defeat at Myriokephalon, the policies of Alexios, John and Manuel resulted in vast territorial gains, increased frontier stability in Asia Minor, and secured the stabilisation of the empire's European frontiers. From c. 1081 to c. 1180 , the Komnenian army assured the empire's security, enabling Byzantine civilisation to flourish. This allowed
24830-421: The heartlands of the Empire. Heraclius the Elder's son, Heraclius , took Constantinople on 5 October 610, executed Phocas the same day, and declared himself emperor. Surviving sources are universally extremely hostile to Phocas. He is described as an incompetent tyrant and usurper who brutally purged any real or perceived opposition and left the Empire wide open to foreign aggression. The veracity of these sources
25021-718: The imperial frontier in the East was stabilized, although incursions continued on both sides. The latter 7th century also saw the first conflicts with the Bulgars and the establishment of a Bulgarian state in formerly Byzantine lands south of the Danube , which would be the Empire's chief antagonist in the West until the 12th century. Ever since the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the Eastern Roman Empire continued to see Western Europe as rightfully Imperial territory. However, only Justinian I attempted to enforce this claim with military might. Temporary success in
25212-667: The later part of his reign, John focused his activities on the East, personally leading numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor. His campaigns fundamentally altered the balance of power in the East, forcing the Turks onto the defensive, while retaking many towns, fortresses, and cities across the peninsula for the Byzantines. He defeated the Danishmend Emirate of Melitene and reconquered all of Cilicia , while forcing Raymond of Poitiers , Prince of Antioch, to recognise Byzantine suzerainty. In an effort to demonstrate
25403-407: The length of the strait with shrubs placed along to hide the water did he ride across, "as if by land" as a contemporary put it. The Arab invasions and loss of territory was not all that bore heavily upon the Emperor's mind. It was rumoured that the incestuous marriage to his niece had incurred the wrath of God—of the nine children that he had, four had died in infancy, one had a twisted neck and one
25594-526: The locals. Everything of any value in Rome was requisitioned by the Byzantine army—even copper from the rooftops. It was to many people's relief that Constans II was murdered while bathing by his Greek servant on 15 July 668. Constans II left the Empire in a worse state than he had found it. The Byzantine-Arab wars became increasingly one-sided and the immense resources of the Caliphate meant that any reconquest
25785-413: The majority of the Byzantines to have been done by Martina's hand), Heraclonas and his mother were deposed the following summer. Heraclonas' nose was slit and Martina's tongue was wrenched out. These acts ensured that Heraclonas could never become Basileus (Emperor) – the physical deformation would have made it impossible. However, as suspects of committing regicide , their exile to the island of Rhodes
25976-418: The measures he took to reform the government of the empire have been praised by historians. According to the historian George Ostrogorsky , Andronikos was determined to root out corruption: under his rule, the sale of offices ceased; selection was based on merit, rather than favouritism; and officials were paid an adequate salary to reduce the temptation of bribery. In the provinces, Andronikos's reforms produced
26167-592: The mid-13th century it had lost much of southern Anatolia. The weakening of the Sultanate of Rûm following the Mongol invasion in 1242–1243 allowed many beyliks and ghazis to set up their own principalities in Anatolia, weakening the Byzantine hold on Asia Minor. Two centuries later, one of the Beys of these beyliks, Osman I , would establish the Ottoman Empire that would eventually conquer Constantinople. However,
26358-546: The most capable Byzantine emperors, withstood continued Arab attacks, civil unrest, and natural disasters, and reestablished the state as a major regional power. Leo's reign produced the Ecloga , a new code of law to succeed that of Justinian II, and continued to reform the "theme system" in order to lead offensive campaigns against the Muslims, culminating in a decisive victory in 740 . Constantine overcame an early civil war against his brother-in-law Artabasdos , made peace with
26549-434: The most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world . The term "Byzantine Empire" was only coined following the empire's demise; its citizens referred to the polity as the "Roman Empire" and to themselves as "Romans". Due to the imperial seat's move from Rome to Byzantium , the adoption of state Christianity , and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin , modern historians continue to make
26740-702: The name of Emperor Taizong of Tang ), and correctly pointed to its reunification by the Sui dynasty (581–618) as occurring during the reign of Maurice , noting that China had previously been divided politically along the Yangzi River by two warring nations . This seems to match the conquest of the Chen dynasty in southern China by Emperor Wen of Sui (r. 581–604). The Chinese Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang mention several embassies made by Fu lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantium ), which they equated with Daqin (i.e.
26931-405: The new Abbasid Caliphate , campaigned successfully against the Bulgars, and continued to make administrative and military reforms. However, due to both emperors' support for the Byzantine Iconoclasm , which opposed the use of religious icons , they were later vilified by Byzantine historians; Constantine's reign also saw the loss of Ravenna to the Lombards , and the beginning of a split with
27122-466: The newly-formed Arabic Rashidun Caliphate . By Heraclius' death in 641, the empire had been severely reduced economically as well as territorially—the loss of the wealthy eastern provinces had deprived Constantinople of three-quarters of its revenue. The next seventy-five years are poorly documented. Arab raids into Asia Minor began almost immediately, and the Byzantines resorted to holding fortified centres and avoiding battle at all costs; although it
27313-408: The next 350 years. By Heraclius's late reign, proper Latin had been reduced to a military and ceremonial role outside of the Exarchates , replaced by Greek as the language of court and high administration. This was the result of natural demographic shifts, and there was never an official change from language one to the other, as is sometimes claimed. He was also the first emperor to, after defeating
27504-405: The offer, the Khan fielded some 40,000 troops on the Byzantine side. However, the Khan died just two years later, in 628. Nonetheless, Byzantium made good use of the boost in troops when Heraclius marched into Mesopotamia the following year. His objective was clear: to destroy the Persians' army and march to Ctesiphon, doing what no Roman Emperor had done in nearly 300 years (since the days of Julian
27695-406: The outset of his reign, Alexios faced a formidable attack from the Normans under Guiscard and his son Bohemund of Taranto , who captured Dyrrhachium and Corfu and laid siege to Larissa in Thessaly . Guiscard's death in 1085 temporarily eased the Norman problem. The following year, the Seljuq sultan died, and the sultanate was split due to internal rivalries. By his own efforts, Alexios defeated
27886-521: The patriarch Nicholas , the powerful Simeon I of Bulgaria , and other influential figures jockeyed for power. In 920, the admiral Romanos I used his fleet to secure power, crowning himself and demoting Constantine to the position of junior co-emperor. His reign, which brought peace with Bulgaria and successes in the east under the general John Kourkouas , was ended in 944 by the machinations of his sons, whom Constantine soon usurped in turn. Constantine's ineffectual sole rule has often been construed as
28077-410: The pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and he successfully handled the passage of the crusaders through his empire. In the East, Manuel suffered a major defeat in 1176 at the Battle of Myriokephalon against the Turks. These losses were quickly recovered, and in the following year Manuel's forces inflicted a defeat upon a force of "picked Turks". The Byzantine commander John Vatatzes , who destroyed
28268-439: The ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to Italy in 1155, but disputes within the coalition led to the eventual failure of the campaign. Despite this military setback, Manuel's armies successfully invaded the southern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium . By 1168, nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands. Manuel made several alliances with
28459-441: The reconstituted empire would wield only regional power during its final two centuries of existence. Its remaining territories were progressively annexed by the Ottomans in perennial wars fought throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 ultimately brought the empire to an end. Many refugees who had fled the city after its capture settled in Italy and throughout Europe, helping to ignite
28650-486: The remainder of the empire's lifetime. Had Heraclius lived only until 629, he might have been remembered for his successful military reorganization and impressive handling of the last Persian war, which saw hope and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. However, his lengthy life meant that the Byzantines remembered him for his religious controversies, failures against the Arabs, and incestuous marriage to his niece, which many believed to have brought divine retribution upon
28841-474: The ruins of the city of Ninevah . For eleven hours, the Byzantines and the Persians fought each other continuously. In the thick of the fighting Razates issued a challenge to Heraclius, who accepted. Despite being wounded, Heraclius managed to decapitate Razates. When the sun finally began to set, the Persians had been defeated and both armies rested. Heraclius later moved on to the Great Palace of Dastagird only to discover that Khosrau II had fled his Palace. In
29032-429: The rule of an emperor. The senate had its own identity but would become an extension of the emperor's court, becoming largely ceremonial. Phocas Phocas ( Latin : Focas ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Φωκάς , translit. Phōkás ; 547 – 5 October 610) was Byzantine emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the Eastern Roman army , Phocas rose to prominence as
29223-564: The state or the army effectively. Due to his distrust of the bulk of Constantinople's elite, with whom he had had no connection before becoming emperor, frequently filling senior military positions with his relatives. He installed: his brother Domentziolus as Magister officiorum in 603; his nephew Domentziolus as Magister militum per Orientem in 604, giving him command over the eastern provinces; and his brother Comentiolus as Magister militum per Orientem around 610. All three remained loyal to Phocas until they were killed by Heraclius. Of
29414-482: The streets. The final blow to the government was a decision to cut the pay of its army in response to financial strains. The combined effect of an army revolt led by a junior officer named Phocas and major uprisings by the Greens and Blues forced Maurice to abdicate. The Senate approved Phocas as the new Emperor and Maurice, the last emperor of the Justinian dynasty , was murdered along with his four sons. The Persian King Khosrau II responded by launching an assault on
29605-419: The successor Isaurian dynasty . The Heraclian dynasty was named after the general Heraclius the Younger , who, in 610, sailed from Carthage , overthrew the tyrant Phocas , and was crowned Emperor. At the time, the Empire was embroiled in a war with the Sassanid Persian Empire , which in the next decade conquered the Empire's eastern provinces. After a long and exhausting struggle, Heraclius managed to defeat
29796-425: The three known male blood-relatives of Phocas, all three were appointed to senior posts, two in military positions and one in an administrative position. Phocas also appointed Priscus , who was his son-in-law by way of his marriage to Phocas' daughter Domentzia , as Comes excubitorum , the captain of the Excubitors , in 603. When Phocas was emperor, Byzantine Italy was under continual attack from Lombards , but
29987-491: The throne. Alexios was highly incompetent in the office, and with his mother Maria of Antioch 's Frankish background, his regency was unpopular. Eventually, Andronikos I Komnenos , a grandson of Alexios I, overthrew Alexios II in a violent coup d'état . After eliminating his potential rivals, he had himself crowned as co-emperor in September 1183. He eliminated Alexios II and took his 12-year-old wife Agnes of France for himself. Andronikos began his reign well; in particular,
30178-515: The town of Adana after marching 70 miles (113 km) through Mesopotamia . Initially, the battle went well for the Persians, as they obliterated the vanguard of the Byzantine army. However, Heraclius then seized the initiative by launching a seemingly suicidal charge across the River Euphrates , thus turning the tide of the battle. Shahrbaraz expressed his admiration at Heraclius to a renegade Greek: See your Emperor! He fears these arrows and spears no more than would an anvil! Victory belonged to
30369-415: The tribute being paid to the Avars, even having to go as far as sending hostages to the Khan to ensure payment. This once again shored up his rearguard, allowing him to re-engage the Persian army in March 623, as the Persian king Chosroes II had become ever more belligerent in his attitude, spurning a truce. On the way to Persia, the Byzantine army pillaged and looted extensively, including the destruction of
30560-442: The unpopular Irene was overthrown by Nikephoros I ; he reformed the empire's administration but died in battle against the Bulgars in 811. Military defeats and societal disorder, especially the resurgence of iconoclasm, characterised the next eighteen years. Stability was somewhat restored during the reign of Theophilos ( r. 829–842 ), who exploited economic growth to complete construction programs, including rebuilding
30751-465: The wars with the Saracens continued relatively unabated. Before becoming Emperor, Constantine IV was the administrator of his father's lands for the eastern portions of the Empire, what few territories they were. They became fewer still when the Arabs began taking one Imperial Byzantine city after another along the coast of Ionia. Finally in 672, Muawiya the Caliph captured the peninsula of Cyzicus , only 50 miles (80 km) from Constantinople. The scene
30942-406: The west during the reign of Justinian I ( r. 527–565 ), who briefly reconquered much of Italy and the western Mediterranean coast . The appearance of plague and a devastating war with Persia exhausted the empire's resources; the early Muslim conquests that followed saw the loss of the empire's richest provinces— Egypt and Syria —to the Rashidun Caliphate . In 698, Africa was lost to
31133-408: The west, the warlord Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus in 476, killed his titular successor Julius Nepos in 480, and the office of western emperor was formally abolished. Through a combination of luck, cultural factors, and political decisions, the Eastern empire never suffered from rebellious barbarian vassals and was never ruled by barbarian warlords—the problems which ensured the downfall of
31324-409: The western Adriatic , as well as through the southern and eastern portions of the Aegean area. Their sweeping movement into Dalmatia engulfed several Byzantine cities, namely Singidunum (Belgrade), Viminacium (Kostolac), Naissus (Niš), Sardica (Sofia), and destroyed Salona in 614. However, numerous attempts to take the city of Thessalonica by the Slavs and Avars ended in failure, allowing
31515-431: The word of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Upon his ascension, there was little time to implement a defence for Egypt —and when the province fell in 642, Constans II could hardly be blamed. The loss of Egypt and the Levant was catastrophic—along with the manpower from these regions, the substantial supply of food from Egypt was now but a thing of the past. Food shortages were now added to an increasing list of problems that
31706-422: The zenith of Byzantine learning , but while several works were compiled, they were largely intended to legitimise and glorify the emperor's Macedonian dynasty . His son and successor died young; under two soldier-emperors, Nikephoros II ( r. 963–969 ) and John I Tzimiskes ( r. 969–976 ), the Roman army claimed numerous military successes, including the conquest of Cilicia and Antioch , and
31897-433: Was a light punishment. With Constantine dead, the populace of Constantinople turned to his 11-year-old son (also known as Heraclius), who was crowned emperor and changed his name to Constantine. However, he later became known by the nickname "Constans", thus becoming Constans II . Constans II had inherited from his grandfather Heraclius the war with the Arabs, who were bent on conquering the Byzantine Empire and spreading
32088-401: Was a usurper and a provincial boor. He therefore attempted to base his regime on relatives installed in high military and administrative positions. He immediately faced challenges in domestic and foreign affairs, and responded with little success. He dealt with domestic opposition with increasing ruthlessness that alienated ever wider circles, including some of his own household. At the same time,
32279-461: Was all that he sought. Before his death Heraclius was "persuaded" by his wife Martina to crown her son Heraclonas ( Flavius Heraclius ) co-heir to the throne of the Empire with Constantine , the son of Heraclius' first wife Eudocia —all the meanwhile ignoring the numerous Byzantines who saw her as the reason for Byzantium's recent misfortunes. Her ambitions for power ensured that Byzantium would continue to succumb to disorder. Heraclius's reign
32470-404: Was all too depressingly familiar — the capital was under threat and the odds were not favorable to the defenders — the Arabs had brought with them heavy siege weapons and began the siege of Constantinople in 674. Despite this, Constantinople was simply too much for the Arabs — where else before disunity, sheer bad luck or skill & zeal had given the warriors of Islam victory, now it
32661-440: Was also conquered , resulting in a significant loss in manpower, food supplies and revenue. However, the situation was not entirely hopeless. Constantinople's walls were as powerful and well-defended as ever, and Heraclius still had a large, better-trained, and better-armed fleet than any of his "barbarian" opponents (especially the Slavs and Avars). The Persians had no vessels in the Bosporus , and thus unable to effectively besiege
32852-447: Was besieged in August 1068 and fell in April 1071 . About 1053, Constantine IX disbanded what the historian John Skylitzes calls the "Iberian Army", which consisted of 50,000 men, and it was turned into a contemporary Drungary of the Watch . Two other knowledgeable contemporaries, the former officials Michael Attaleiates and Kekaumenos , agree with Skylitzes that by demobilising these soldiers, Constantine did catastrophic harm to
33043-560: Was captured. Alp Arslan treated him with respect and imposed no harsh terms on the Byzantines. In Constantinople a coup put in power Michael Doukas , who soon faced the opposition of Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros III Botaneiates . By 1081, the Seljuks had expanded their rule over virtually the entire Anatolian plateau from Armenia in the east to Bithynia in the west, and had established their capital at Nicaea , just 90 kilometres (56 miles) from Constantinople. The Komnenian dynasty attained full power under Alexios I in 1081. From
33234-459: Was crowned by the patriarch Cyriacus in the church of St John the Baptist at the Hebdomon . He entered Constantinople two days later, on 25 November. Maurice fled the city with his sons, Theodosius and Tiberius , but they were soon after captured and executed. Maurice's wife and daughters were put in the monastery of Nea Metanoia and later killed. Despite the executions of the previous emperor and his dynastic successors, Phocas remained in
33425-458: Was deaf and dumb. Furthermore, it appears that the Empire was not even considering the Arab threat as a danger. The religious controversies once again emerged when the Patriarch of Constantinople Sergius proposed monothelitism as a compromise to the Chalcedonian Christians and the Monophysites . Heraclius agreed to the proposal. However, it received much criticism from both sides of the theological debate of Christ's true nature. When Sophronius ,
33616-420: Was generally expected by the Byzantine populace that the Emperor would lead Byzantium into a new age of glory. However, all of Heraclius' achievements would come to naught, when, in 633, the Byzantine–Arab Wars began. The threat of the Arabs from Arabia was overlooked by both Persia and Byzantium for several reasons—most compelling of all were the wars between the two powers, and the lack of communication across
33807-449: Was given credit for his predecessor's achievements. Basil I ( r. 867–886 ) continued Michael's policies. His armies campaigned with mixed results in Italy but defeated the Paulicians of Tephrike . His successor Leo VI ( r. 886–912 ) compiled and propagated a huge number of written works. These included the Basilika , a Greek translation of Justinian I's law-code which included over 100 new laws of Leo's devising;
33998-514: Was his fourth son, Manuel I Komnenos , who campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and east. In Palestine, Manuel allied with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt . Manuel reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with Raynald , Prince of Antioch, and Amalric of Jerusalem . In an effort to restore Byzantine control over
34189-487: Was invaded annually, Anatolia avoided permanent Arab occupation. The outbreak of the First Fitna in 656 gave Byzantium breathing space, which it used wisely: some order was restored in the Balkans by Constans II ( r. 641–668 ), who began the administrative reorganisation known as the " theme system ", in which troops were allocated to defend specific provinces. With the help of the recently rediscovered Greek fire , Constantine IV ( r. 668–685 ) repelled
34380-497: Was marked by the theological dispute over Nestorianism , which was eventually deemed heretical , and by the formulation of the Codex Theodosianus law code. It also saw the arrival of Attila 's Huns , who ravaged the Balkans and exacted a massive tribute from the empire; Attila however switched his attention to the rapidly-deteriorating western empire , and his people fractured after his death in 453. After Leo I ( r. 457–474 ) failed in his 468 attempt to reconquer
34571-406: Was not esteemed by the "soldier-emperors" who ruled from the frontiers or by the empire's population who, having been granted citizenship , considered themselves "Roman". Constantine extensively reformed the empire's military and civil administration and instituted the gold solidus as a stable currency. He favoured Christianity , which he had converted to in 312. Constantine's dynasty fought
34762-412: Was now remotely unlikely — and more so whilst disunity through dissatisfied peasants and restless Bishops lingered on. There also seem to have been interactions between the Byzantine realm and China at this time. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered how silk was made. From this revelation monks were sent by Justinian I as spies on
34953-506: Was occupied by conflicts against two prominent generals, Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas , which ended in 989 with the former's death and the latter's submission. Between 1021 and 1022, following years of tensions, Basil II led a series of victorious campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia , resulting in the annexation of several Georgian provinces to the empire. Basil's successors also annexed Bagratid Armenia in 1045. Importantly, both Georgia and Armenia were significantly weakened by
35144-445: Was one of mixed fortunes. He started his reign by losing the eastern provinces , brought it to its peak by retaking them against all odds, and ended it by losing them again . It was Heraclius who first withdrew the eastern field armies into Anatolia, sowing the seeds of the Theme system , and it was he who, through depopulation and the razing of fortifications, stabilized the Anatolian frontier , which would remain largely unchanged for
35335-441: Was overthrown in 695 after attempting to exact too much from his subjects; over the next twenty-two years, six more rebellions followed in an era of political instability . The reconstituted caliphate sought to break Byzantium by taking Constantinople, but the newly crowned Leo III managed to repel the 717–718 siege , the first major setback of the Muslim conquests. Leo and his son Constantine V ( r. 741–775 ), two of
35526-411: Was ravaged by Persian raids. Making matters worse was the advance of the Avars and Slavic tribes heading south across the Danube and into Imperial territory. While the Persians were making headway in their conquest of the eastern provinces, Phocas chose to divide his subjects rather than unite them against the threat of the Persians. Perhaps seeing his defeats as divine retribution, Phocas initiated
35717-467: Was soon at war on many fronts. The Lombards , fearing the aggressive Avars , conquered much of northern Italy by 572. The Sasanian wars restarted that year, and continued until the emperor Maurice finally emerged victorious in 591; by that time, the Avars and Slavs had repeatedly invaded the Balkans , causing great instability. Maurice campaigned extensively in the region during the 590s, but although he managed to re-establish Byzantine control up to
35908-428: Was the defenders of the capital who, armed with Greek fire repelled every Arab assault. Finally in 678, after suffering massive casualties, the Saracens withdrew and Muawiya accepted an offer of peace. By 680, Muawiya was dead and Constantine IV, now at the height of his popularity, had managed to defeat the Arabs, both at land in Lycia and at sea. Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire , also referred to as
36099-428: Was the norm. For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius . During his twenty-five-year reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the West and decisively defeated the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia . He thwarted Hungarian and Serbian threats during the 1120s, and in 1130 he allied himself with Lothair III , the German Emperor against the Norman King Roger II of Sicily . In
36290-479: Was unopposed as he landed off the shores of Constantinople, citizens greeting him as their deliverer. When Phocas was delivered to Heraclius, an interesting conversation took place: Heraclius : "Is it thus that you have governed the Empire?" Phocas : "Will you govern it better?" The reign of Phocas officially ended in his execution and the crowning of Heraclius by the Patriarch of Constantinople two days later on 5 October. A statue of Phocas that rested in
36481-415: Was used adjectivally alongside terms such as "Empire of the Greeks" until the 19th century. It is now the primary term, used to refer to all aspects of the empire; some modern historians believe that, as an originally prejudicial and inaccurate term, it should not be used. As the historiographical periodizations of " Roman history ", " late antiquity ", and "Byzantine history" significantly overlap, there
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