An Introduction to Byzantine History
This post is meant to be a rather short introduction to Byzantine history for people who do not know much about this empire. While my previous posts have focused on certain eras of Byzantine history and were meant for people who had a general sense of the subject and an interest in it, this post shall focus more on introducing the key elements of Byzantine civilization for people who don’t know much about it but want to learn more. As such there shall be less focus on linear history and more on the general elements of Byzantine civilization.
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire (and, after the deposition of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476, the Roman Empire). It was Orthodox Christian, Greek-speaking, with Greek culture being dominant and (as the Empire gradually lost more and more territories over the centuries) with a plurality (after the losses of the seventh century) and eventually a majority (after 1204) of Greeks as its population. Nevertheless, its political institutions and laws were Roman, its Emperors could trace their line of succession back to Augustus and the citizens of the Empire were Romans (as Caracalla in 212 had given Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire). The Byzantines took very seriously their Roman heritage: John Kinnamos professed to be close to tears when he considered those that “rashly declare that the Empire in Byzantium is different than that in Rome”. The names the Byzantines themselves used for their state were Roman Empire (‘Imperium Romanum’ — ‘Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων’), Roman Republic (‘Πολιτεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων’) and Rhomania (‘Ρωμανία’), land of the Romans.
Why then is it known as ‘Byzantine’ Empire? Westerners (after the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 as Emperor) denied for political and cultural reasons (and, after the schism of 1054, for religious reasons too) the Roman identity of the Empire. They claimed that they were the true heirs of Rome. Since Greek culture dominated the Empire, they began calling it the Greek Empire (‘Imperium Graecorum’) — despite the fact that the Empire was a direct continuation of the pagan Roman Empire. After the fall of Byzantium, the Westerns did not want to call that ‘decadent’ (in their view) Empire with the glorious name of ‘Greeks’ (who they began to admire due to Renaissance). So when a German historian (Hieronymus Wolf) named them Byzantine (after the ancient name of their capital — Constantinople), the name stuck.
Since the ‘Byzantine’ Empire is artificial (as it is a later name for the eastern part of the Roman Empire), there is no agreement about the birth of the Empire. Dates include:
- 284 — Diocletian first divided the Roman Empire in two administrative parts (East and West)
- 324 — Constantine the Great becomes sole ruler of the Roman Empire and begins construction of Constantinople on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium.
- 330 — Constantinople was consecrated.
- 395 — Division of the Empire between the two sons of Emperor Theodosius (East — Arcadius, West — Honorius)
- 527 — Justinian becomes Emperor.
- 565 — Death of Justinian.
- 641 — Loss of Egypt and Syria-Palestine to the Arabs.
- 717 — Leo III becomes Emperor.
Exactly because the dividing line between ancient Rome and Byzantium is artificial, there are so many different dates. The most usual one is 324. Personally I prefer 284 though for many Byzantine institutions were forged by Diocletian. The end of the Empire, on the other hand, is not disputed; the Empire fell on 29 May 1453 when the Ottoman forces of Mehmed II conquered Constantinople.
What were the defining features of the Empire?
Constantinople — From 330 to 1453 (with the exception of the Latin occupation of 1204–1261), it was the capital and the political, economic, cultural and religious center of the Empire. The Emperor resided there (in the Great Palace), the court was there, the seat of the Patriarchate was situated there, most scholars lived there. It was the most populous and economically prosperous city of the Empire. Its importance in the history of the Empire is the reason why the Empire is now known as ‘Byzantine’. Constantinople was the most populous city in Europe. It had a population of almost 400,000 when London had a population of 10,000. When the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade conquered the city, Robert de Clari referred to the vast wealth of Constantinople. He pointed out that such a wealth existed neither in the period of Alexander nor in the period of Charlemagne, neither before nor after; hardly enough could be found so much wealth among the forty richest cities as the one in the Byzantine capital alone; besides, the Greeks as well believed that two thirds of the earthly riches had been gathered at Constantinople whereas the rest one third was scattered around the world.
Emperor — The ruler of the Byzantine empire was known as Basileus (Βασιλεύς). His official title was Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans. The Byzantine emperors could trace their line of succession back to Octavian Augustus. The centralization of the state (of course compared to other pre-modern societies) and the ability of the state to collect taxes and maintain a regular army and large administration gave the Emperor far more power than that of Western European Kings. The Emperor was considered to be God’s Vicar on Earth: all other rulers were in Byzantine eyes thus inferior. As there is one God on heaven, there must be one Emperor on earth. On the other hand, the republican Roman traditions meant that any Byzantine citizen could become Emperor (Justin I and Basil I were peasants) and that the overthrow of a tyrannic ruler was justified, thus making the Byzantine throne more insecure than that of Western European rulers: according to one scholar, Byzantium faced more rebellions than any other medieval state.
Orthodoxy — Orthodox Christianity played a very important role in Byzantine history. It shaped peoples’ attitudes, it was an important part of everyday life for both commoners and the upper class, it influenced Byzantine literature and politics and it put the Empire in conflict with the Catholic West. Most of the art of the Empire is Christian and the conflict over the validity of venerating icons caused a dispute in the Empire known as the Iconoclasm. The supporters of the icons won the dispute and thus Byzantine Christian art flourished. The process through which Christianity came to have such an influence on Byzantine society was a long one. Constantine the Great initially tolerated the until then persecuted Christianity and, after becoming sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324, became its patron. In a Council in Nicaea (325) the Christian dogma was set. This was the first of many ecumenical councils assembled by Emperors to define Orthodoxy (correct dogma). Christianity became official imperial religion during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Great (380).
Roman Political Institutions — The Byzantine Empire inherited its administration, bureaucracy and political philosophy from ancient Rome. It is because of Rome’s republican tradition that Byzantium was a republican monarchy and not a monarchy by divine right. Anyone could theoretically become Emperor (as noted above). The Byzantine bureaucracy was a continuation of the bureaucracy created by the reforms of Diocletian. Latin terminology continued to be retained in court and Latin terms were adapted to Greek.
Roman Laws — From 529 to 534 the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian collected and codified Roman Law in his Codex Justinianus (Code of Justinian). This formed the basis of Byzantine law. In later centuries the Emperors translated the code in Greek and simplified it (the Basilika — royal laws — of Emperor Leo VI the Wise completed in 892 did just that).
Greek Language — After Heraclius’ reign, Greek became the official language of the Empire. Even before that date, Greek was informally the language used by most people and officials. Greek culture came to dominate the Empire as the scholars looked for inspiration to Ancient Greece. Byzantine scholars attempted to imitate the writing style of the ancient Greek authors and were using a form of Attic Greek, which was more prestigious, rather than the more simplified Greek language used by the church and the common people (which was closer to modern Greek). Byzantine historiography was especially influenced by Greek authors such as Thucydides. Homer’s epic literature was also taught as were Demosthenes’ orations. Scholars like Michael Psellus studied ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato.
Flexibility — The Byzantines were flexible. Diocletian and Constantine created a highly sophisticated bureaucracy and expanded the civil service and the armed forces to counter the enemies of the Empire. When that system was no longer viable due to the Arab invasions, the size of the government decreased and the ‘Theme System’ was created according to which the governor of a province had control over both its civil and military affairs. When that system no long worked during the 1090’s, Alexios Komnenos centralized the government and relied more on his relatives.
Foreign Invasions — Whatever date one chooses as the ‘starting date’ for the Byzantine Empire, it is commonly accepted that it faced one invasion after the other. Byzantium suffered Germanic invasions in the fourth and fifth centuries, Avar, Slavic, Persian and Arab invasions in the seventh and eighth centuries, Bulgarian invasions in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, Turkic invasions in the eleventh century, a Western crusade in 1204 and thereafter invasions by Serbs and Ottomans. While by no means always on the defensive (Justinian reconquered the West and the Emperors of the Macedonian dynasty recovered Byzantine lands), the Empire most of the time tried to maintain its territory from foreign invaders. The Byzantines managed to survive due to two factors:
- Their ingenious diplomacy — they played one enemy of the Empire against another and used their wealth to buy off invaders or even impress them so much that they would not dare invade. They also successfully used espionage.
- Their army, which was a successor of the Roman army of the Principate period — the Byzantine army retained much of the discipline, organization (thus the Byzantine army divisions of numerus and turmae) and strategic prowess of the earlier Roman army. The army was also well equipped, had a fully articulated staff organization that was professional and used carts and pack animals to speed mobility. The Byzantines made their own innovations on warfare too: they used Cataphracts (armored heavy cavalry), traction trebuchets, grenades and Greek Fire (flamethrower of the age).
The influence of the Byzantine Empire on the modern world is great:
- It defended Europe from eastern invaders for centuries. The Byzantine Empire acted as a bulwark for Europe against invaders from the east, first the Sassanid Persians, then the Arab Caliphates and finally the Seljuk and later Ottoman Turks for some time. All of them were fierce opponents; the Persian empire was a bureaucratic state comparable with Byzantium, the Arabs had some of the best soldiers and generals of the Middle Ages as well as more resources and the Turks were highly skilled cavalry warriors. Yet Byzantium managed to stand firm for centuries, despite the setbacks it suffered. Without Byzantium most of eastern Europe and parts of central Europe would have fallen into Arab control; there is no doubt that such a development would have profoundly changed European history and culture.
- It Christianized the Slavic peoples, including Russia, and integrated them into Christendom. With its proselytizing activities and efforts to bring the Slavic nations of the Balkans and Russia under its influence, Byzantium played a crucial role in Christianizing those peoples, transmitting them the Roman Orthodox civilization and the writings of the Greek church fathers and integrating them into broader Christendom and thus making them part of European civilization. Orthodoxy is still an important component of Balkan and Russian culture.
- Justinian’s Code had a lasting influence on European legal systems. From 529 to 534 Justinian collected and codified Roman Law in his Codex Justinianus (Code of Justinian). This not only formed the basis of Roman law for the next thousand years, but it also became the basis for much of the European law codes. The extend of its influence cannot be overstated.
- Byzantine art influenced the West and its traditions are maintained in Orthodox nations. Byzantine art was renowned in the Middle Ages for its splendor. Both the Caroligians and the Ottonians in the West made a conscious effort to produce art that would be fit to stand next to Byzantine art. Byzantine artistic traditions are still maintained in Orthodox countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia.
- Byzantium safeguarded ancient Greek literature. Without the Byzantine scholars, many ancient Greek texts would have been lost and our knowledge about the ancient Greek world would be much poorer. Byzantine scholars studied those texts and were deeply influenced by them.
- Byzantium contributed to scientific progress. Despite the stereotype of backward-looking Byzantines who did not innovate, the Byzantines made more than few inventions; ship mills, the pointed arch bridge, the pendentive dome, hand and counterweight trebuchet, Greek fire, grenades and an early version of the flamethrower (cheirosiphōn).
- Institutions of the Byzantine Empire influenced the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultans also claimed to be Emperors of the Romans (Kayser-i Rum).
