IIntroduction

The name Byzantine Empire is the name applied to the Eastern Roman Empire  which survived the Germanic invasions of the fourth century which toppled the Western Roman Empire and ruled for over a thousand years till the sacking of Constantinople in 1453  by the Ottoman Empire. Byzantine civilization spanned 11 centuries and three continents. When did the Eastern Roman Empire become the Byzantine Empire ? There is no official date, though most mark its beginnings with Constantine's transfer of the capital of the Eastern Empire from Nicomedia to Constantinople in 330. Some historians to date the commencement of the Byzantine Empire as early as the reigns of Zeno and Anastasius, and others to descend so late as the times of Heraclius who took the Greek title of Basileus instead of the Latin Imperator and replaced Latin with Greek as the official language, some by the accession of Leo the Isaurian. The inhabitants themselves called themselves Romans in Greek

.The Byzantine Empire was the last stronghold of Christianity in Asia Minor and one of the prime trade centers in the world, helped defend Western Europe from Muslim expansion, provided a stable gold currency for the Mediterranean world (the solidus,from which the word soldier is derived) , influenced the laws, political systems, and customs of much of Europe and the Middle East, and preserved much of the literary works and scientific knowledge of ancient Greece, Rome, and many other cultures. The Slavs and the Russians were converted to the Greek Orthodox faith." Byzantine " has become synonym for deceitful, overly complex or elaborate scheming and intrigue, due to such historians as Gibbon who branded the successors of Justinian and Heraclius as a series of vicious weaklings. Later historians have given the empire a more balanced and charitable accounting, considering the myriad of challenges it face and its ability to survive for so long .In the field of literature and learning the Byzantine civilization was distinctly conservative. The Greek classics were the basis of education. In the field of art and architecture the Byzantines archived its most original and creative expression in the brilliant frescoes,mosaics and sculptures found in such churches as the St. Sophia.

   Map of Byzantine Constantinople

D 

Division of the Roman Empire

Fall of the West and the Early Eastern Empire

more details on the founding of the Eastern Roman Empire

and the early emperors from Constantine to Justin I in 518

         Maps of the Early Byzantine Empire

         Map of The Eastern and Western Roman Empires, 395 AD    Map of Roman Empire, Huns and Vandals, 450

Map of the Byzantine Empire and Germanic Kingdoms, 486

The division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western halves began with the administrative reforms of Diocletian (r.284-305AD) and his Tetrarchy, or "rule of four." Once Diocletian retired, however, his Tetrarchic system collapsed and the empire broke into civil war. In 324 Constantine was able to reunite the empire and established the capital at Byzantium in 330, in recognition of the economic and political importance of the eastern half of the empire .With the growing decadence and turmoil in the West, eastern influences, such as a divine-right monarchy, philosophy,art and religion became favored. Constantine favored Christianity and his successors made it the state religion . In the 7th century, during the reign of Heraclius, Greek was made the official language of the empire .

Map of the heart of Constantinople in the early empire

T The Hippodrome

The Hippodrome ( A Hippodrome was a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing, Greek hippos ('ιππος), horse, and dromos (δρομος), path or way ) of Constantinople ( built between AD 203 and 330 ) The whole system of the chariot races between the teams that represented the " factions " of the Circus was reproduced at Byzantium with an energy that even surpassed the devotion of the Romans to horse racing. From the first foundation, of the city the rivalry of the factions (demes) " Blues " and the '' Greens " was one of the most striking features of the life of the place. It was carried far beyond the circus, and spread into all branches of life. We often hear of the " Green " faction identifying itself with Arianism, or of the " Blue " supporting a pretender to the throne. Not merely men of sporting interests, but persons of all ranks and professions, chose their colour and backed their faction. The system was a positive danger to the public peace, and constantly led to riots, culminating in the great sedition of A.D. 523. In the Hippodrome the " Greens " always entered by the north-eastern gate, and sat on the east side ; the " Blues " approached by the north-western gate and stretched along the western side. The emperor's box, called the Kathisma, occupied the whole of the snort northern side, and contained many hundreds of sears for the imperial retinue. The great central tnrone of the Kathisma was the place in which the monarch showed himself most frequently to his subjects, and around it many strange scenes were enacted. It was on this throne that the rebel Hypatius was crowned emperor by the mob, with his own wife's necklace for an impromptu diadem. Down the centre of the Hippodrome ran the " spina," or division wall. It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about 450 m (1,476 ft) long and 130 m (427 ft) wide. Its stands were capable of holding 100,000 spectators.

T The Justinian Dynasty (518-602)

Justinian (r.527-565) Revives the Empire

Map of Byzantine empire and Europe, 533-600

In the sixth century a series of vigorous and capable rulers emerged to defend and even expand the Eastern Roman Empire.The greatest of these was Justinian,who reigned from 527 to 565. Justinian codified Roman law,built the great church of St. Sophia and enjoyed military success in Africa, Italy and southern Spain with the goal of restoring Roman rule to the lost provinces of the West. In A.D. 526 the world learnt, to the horror of the respectable and the joy of all scandal-mongers, that he had declared his intention of taking to wife the dancer Theodora, the star of the Byzantine comic stage. Theodora, as even her enemies allow, was the most beautiful woman of her age. Procopius, the best historian of the day, says " that it was impossible for mere man to describe her comeliness in words, or imitate it in art."

However,the empire was not strong enough to hold these distant territories . Soon after Justianian's death the Lombards invaded Italy leaving the empire scattered costal holdings. In Spain the Visigoths re conquered much of Spain leaning the empire a few port holdings as well. the wars of reconquest in the West weakened the empire as Sassanid Empire in Persia and the Avars and Slavs on the Danube grew stronger.

The Hagia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom of God,was built by Justinian between 532 and 537 and was the largest church in the world for nearly a thousand years, constructed by Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles,who were the first to solve how to set a spherical dome on a square chamber on a large scale. The Hagia Sophia was center stage for important events in the empire,such as being where emperors were crowned and the Patriarch of the Orthodox church presided. The last emperor, Constantine Palaeologuus received communion here on the night before the city was taken by the Ottomans. It was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest with minarets added. It became a museum in 1935 by Kemual Ataturk .

Belisarius

According to popular legend, Belisarius was blinded and lived out his remaining days as a beggar despite his service to the empire.

Belisarius (505-565) Was a famous Byzantine general who rose to command the armies of Just in the Persian War of 592-532 ,in the following years he won Carthage from the vandals and won decisive victories over the Goths in Italy. Recalled to Italy in 540 and lived in retirement until 559, when he was called up again to save Constantinople from the Bulgars. He was imprisoned by Justinian in 562 for alleged conspiracy, but was freed before his death in 565. Belisarius was the source for the character General Bel Riose in Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire.

P Phocas (r.602-610)

For the first time since Constantinople had become the seat of empire the throne had been won by armed rebellion and the murder of the legitimate ruler.Phocas was a mere brutal soldier — cruel, ignorant, suspicious, and reckless, and in his incapable hands the empire began to fall to pieces with alarming rapidity. He opened his reign with a series of cruel executions of his predecessor's friends, and from that moment his deeds of bloodshed never ceased he burnt alive the able general Narses,^ who had won many laurels in the last Persian war.

Plot after plot was formed in the capital against Phocas, but he succeeded in putting them all down, and slew the conspirators with fearful tortures.Africa was the only portion of the Roman Empire which in the reign of Phocas was suffering neither from civil strife nor foreign invasion. It was well governed by the aged exarch Heraclius, who was so well liked in the province that the emperor had not dared to depose him. Urged by desperate entreaties from all parties in Constantinople to strike a blow against the tyrant, and deliver the empire from the yoke of a monster, Heraclius at last consented. He quietly got ready a fleet, which he placed under the orders of his son, who bore the same name as himself. This he dispatched against Constantinople, while at the same time his nephew Nicetas led a large body of horse along the African shore to invade Egypt.When Heraclius the younger arrived with his fleet at the Dardanelles, all the prominent citizens of Constantinople fled secretly to take refuge with him. As he neared the capital the troops of Phocas burst into mutiny : the tyrant's fleet was scattered after a slight engagement^ and the city threw open its gates. Phocas was seized in the palace by an official whom he had cruelly wronged, and brought aboard the galley of the conqueror. " Is it thus," said Heraclius, "that you have governed the empire . " "Will you govern it any better ? " sneered the desperate usurper. Heraclius spurned him away with his foot, and the sailors hewed him to pieces on the deck.

T

The Heraclian Dynasty (610-711) Victories over the Sassanid Persians-, the Rise of Islam

 Map of the Byzantine and Carolingian Empires and the Caliph, 814

 Heraclius (r.610-641)

Under Justinians successors a prolonged war was waged with the Persians and the Balkans were repeatedly ravaged by hordes of Avars and Slavs. It was not until Heraclius assumed the throne in 610 that the Byzantines were able to turn the tide. In the beginning of his reign the Avars penetrated to the walls of Constantinople and the Persians conquered most of Syria,Asia Minor and invaded Egypt.

By 619 the situation was so desperate that Heraclius bought off the Avars and devoted his resources to going to war with the Persians.For the first twelve years of his reign he remained at Constantinople, endeavouring to reorganize the empire, and to defend at any rate the frontiers of Thrace and Asia Minor. The more distant provinces he hardly seems to have hoped to save, and the chronicle of his early years is filled with the catalogue of the losses of the empire. Mesopotamia and North Syria had already been lost by Phocas, but in 613, while the imperial armies were endeavouring to defend Cappadocia, the Persian general Shahrbarz turned southwards and attacked Central Syria. The great town of Damascus fell into his hands In a great offensive from 622-28 Heraclius was able to defeat the Persians .

However, these gains were short lived as the Byzantines and Persians so weakened each other that Arab infused with the new religion of Islam  were able to sweep in. Within a decade all of Heraclius conquests were lost to the new Arab power. The Persian Empire was overrun and the Arab armies reached the gates of Constantinople.They were later driven from Asia Minor but retained Syria,Egypt and Africa. The last attack on Constantinople was repulsed in 718 by Leo III. At this point the empire only held the Balkans,Asia Minor,Sicily and coastal areas of Italy. Leo III and his Isurian dynasty brought a revival of strength which stopped the advances of the Bulgarians and Moslems. Leo began a campaign against the use of images and pictures in Christian worship, producing religious strife within the empire and driving a wedge between the eastern and western churches.The struggle came to an end in 843 with an imperial edict that restored images .During this period most of Italy and Sicily were lost, the feudal, landed aristocracy grew in power and the bureaucracy grew over-complex.

The Walls of Constantinople were some of the most elaborate defensive systems built in antiquity. The walls were started by Constantine with a new set of walls built Theodosius II, and thwarted many a siege by its enemies. Some argue the walls deflected the Germanic invasions to the west, saving the Easter Roman empire. The Turks were able to demolish the walls with the advent of gunpowder and large cannons . The modern name for Constantinople, Istanbul  , comes from a corruption of the Greek ' Eis tein polein' 'to the city.' The walls are being rebuilt .

I Isaurian Dynasty (717-866)

After the passing of the Moslem danger, the Byzantine government grew increasingly incompetent and rife with palace intrigues. The empress Irene (797-802) gained the throne by blinding here own son, but she lost the throne in an insurrection which were becoming increasingly common. the worst of a long line of decadent rulers was Micheal III (842-867) "the drunkard" whose favorite was a Macedonian horse trainer named Basil. Basil eventually murdered Micheal and became emperor (867-886),founding the Macedonian Dynasty, which was to rule during the most brilliant period of Byzantine history

T The Macedonian Dynasty (867-1081)

.Basil reformed the finances of the state and supplemented Justinian's law codes and tried to settle the ecclesiastical disputes between the eastern and western churches .A temporary settlement was reached in 898.In the tenth century the Russians advanced into Bulgaria. John Zimisces, led a campaign against the Russians in the mid tenth century, driving the Russians beyond the Danube.Under Basil II (976-1025) friendly relations were established with the Russians,who accepted the eastern Orthodox church of Byzantium. The Macedonian line ended after the second of Basil's daughters died unmarried and were followed by weak rulers. There was a fresh Moslem invasion led by the Seljuk Turks who annihilated the army of Romanus IV at Manzikert. Most of Asia Minor was lost and military power of the Byzantines seriously weakened. The Seljuks probably would have taken Constantinople except for the appearance of the Mongols who in turn delivered a serious defeat to the Seljuks, making them a vassal state. Mongol rule was to last only a generation. The Seljuks were not to revive, one of their emirates would rise to do so, the Ottoman Turks. At the same time,Normans from southern Italy were threatening attack from the west.

Map of the Byzantine empire and Turks, 1265 and 1355

Battle of Manzikert  1071

T The Commeni Dynasty (1081-1204)-Crusader sack of 1204 during the Forth Crusade-

The fall of the Byzantine Empire

Venetians attacking Constantinople during the Forth Crusade (1204)  

Map of the Byzantine Empire and Crusader Stats, 1140

Alexius Comnenus came to the throne in 1081and was able to recover parts of the Macedonian coast which had been lost to the Normans. Alexius wanted to use the heavy Frankish cavalry of the western Europeans against the Turks and made an appeal to the Pope, sparking the Crusades. This was a shock to Alexius who expected to gain a force of mercenaries, not great crusading armies led by hard to control land hungry nobles. The Crusaders fended off the threat of the Turks, but in the end so weakened to empire to cause its downfall. There was no love lost between the Crusaders and the Byzantines. The Byzantines considered the Crusaders to be uncivilized barbarians and the Crusaders considered the Byzantine to be ungrateful,conniving and lacking in valor.

The Crusading army reached the Dardanelles without having to strike a blow. The slothful and luxurious emperor let things slide, and had not even a fleet ready to send against them in the Aegean. He shut himself up in Constantinople, and trusted to the strength of its walls to deliver him, as Heraclius and Leo III. and many more of his predecessors had been delivered. If the siege had been conducted from the land side only, his hopes might have been justified, for the Danes and English of the Varangian Guard beat back the assault of the Franks on the land-wall. But Alexius III., unlike earlier emperors, was attacked by a fleet to which he could oppose no adequate naval resistance. Though the Crusaders were driven off on shore, the Venetians stormed the sea-wall, by the expedient of building light towers on the decks, and throwing flying bridges from the towers on to the top of the Byzantine ramparts.

Hearing that the enemy was within the ramparts, the cowardly Alexius III. mounted his horse and fled away into the inland of Thrace, leaving his troops, who were not yet half beaten, without a leader or a cause to fight for. The garrison bowed to necessity, and the chief officers of the army drew the aged Isaac II. out of his cloister prison and proclaimed his restoration to the throne. They sent to the Crusading camp to announce that hostilities had ceased, and to beg Prince Alexius to enter the city and join his father in the palace. The end of the expedition of the Crusaders had now been attained, but it may safely be asserted that the chief feeling in their ranks was a bitter disappointment at being cheated out of the sack of Constantinople, a prospect over which they had been gloating ever since they left Zara. They spent the next three months in endeavouring to wring out of their triumphant protégés, Isaac and Alexius, every bezant that could be scraped together.

The winter of 1203-4 was spent in ceaseless wrangling about the subsidy due to the Crusaders, till Alexius, growing seriously frightened, began exactions on his subjects which drove them to revolt. When he seized and melted down the golden lamps and silver candelabra which formed the pride of St. Sophia, stripped its eikonostasis of its rich metal plating, and requisitioned the jeweled eikons and reliquaries of every church in the city, the populace would stand his proceedings no longer. They would not serve an emperor who had sold himself to the Franks, and only reigned in order to subject the Eastern Church to Rome, and to pour the hoarded wealth of the ancient empire into the coffers of the upstart Italian republics. In January, 1204, the storm burst. The populace and troops shut the gates of the city, and fell on the isolated Latins who were within the walls.

The Crusaders took two months to prepare for their second assault on Constantinople, which they felt would be a far more formidable affair than the attack in the preceding autumn. They directed their chief efforts against the sea-wall, which they had found vulnerable in the previous siege, and left the formidable land-wall alone.

The attack was made on April 8th, at more than a hundred points along two miles of sea-wall, but it was beaten off with loss. Alexius Ducas had made his arrangements so well, that the fire of his engines swept off all who attempted to gain a footing on the ramparts. The ships were much damaged, and at noon the whole fleet gave back

Many of the Crusaders were now for returning ; they thought their defeat was a judgment for turning their arms against a Christian city, and wished to sail for the Holy Land. But Dandolo and the Venetians insisted upon repeating the assault. Three days were spent in repairing the fleet, and on April I2th a second attack was delivered. This time the ships were lashed together in pairs to secure stability, and the attack was concentrated on a comparatively small front of wall. At last, after much fighting, the military engines of the fleet and the bolts of its crossbowmen cleared a single tower of its defenders. A bridge was successfully lowered on to it, and a footing secured by a party of Crusaders, who then threw open a postern gate and let the main body in. After a short fight within the walls, the troops of Alexius Ducas retired back into the streets. The Crusaders fired the city to cover their advance, and by night were in possession of the north-west angle of Constantinople, the quarter of the palace of Blachern.

While the fire was keeping the combatants apart, the Emperor tried to rally his troops and to prepare for a street-fight next day. But the army was cowed ; many regiments melted away ; and the Varangian Guard, the best corps in the garrison, chose this moment to demand that their arrears of pay should be liquidated ; they would not return to the fight without their money ! The twenty years of disorganization under the Angeli was now bearing its fruit, and deeply was the empire to rue the next day.Alexius Ducas, in despair at being unable to make his men fight, left the city by night.In cold blood, twelve hours after all fighting had ended, the Crusaders proceeded with great deliberation to sack the place. The leaders could not or would not hold back their men, and every atrocity that attends the storm of a great city was soon in full swing. Though no resistance was made, the soldiery, and especially the Venetians, took life recklessly, and three or four thousand unarmed citizens were slain. But there was no general massacre ; it was lust and greed rather than bloodthirstiness that the army displayed. All the Western writers, no less than the Greeks, testify to the horrors of the three days' carnival of rape and plunder that now ;:et in. Every knight or soldier seized on the house that he liked best, and dealt as he chose with its inmates. Churches and nunneries fared no better than private dwellings;the orgies that were enacted in the holiest places caused even the Pope to exclaim that no good could ever come out of the conquest. The drunken soldiery enthroned a harlot in the patriarchal chair in St. Sophia, and made her rehearse ribald songs and indecent dances before the high altar. There were plenty of clergy with the Crusading army, but instead of endeavouring to check the sacrilegious doings of their countrymen, they devoted themselves to plundering the treasuries of the churches of all the holy bones and relics that were stored in them;, " The Franks," remarked a Greek writer who saw the sack of Constantinople, *' behaved far worse than Saracens ; the infidels when a town has surrendered at any rate respect churches and women."

 Map of the Byzantine empire in 1204

conquest of Constantinople in 1453

A contested throne gave the Crusaders the excuse they needed, aided by the seafaring Venetians to sack Constantinople in 1203-4.Most of the empire was divided up among the conquers. A small part of the Byzantine empire continued to exist in Asia Minor. Count Baldwin of Flanders became emperor of the new Latin Empire, which lasted till 1261, when Greek rule was restored under the Palaeologue dynasty. What remained of the empire was in such a weakened and depopulated situation that the Slavs and Ottoman Turks were able to advance. By 1355 the Ottomans held all of Asia Minor and sent expeditions across the Dardanelles into Thrace and the Ottomans conquered the Balkans, leaving Constantinople a Christian island in an Moslem sea.In 1453, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople and the last Byzantine empire died in battle, never to be found.

Byzantine Empire in 1450

The imperial emblem for the Byzantine Empire was the Double eagle, with the left side representing the Western Roman Empire and the right the Eastern Roman Empire .Sometimes seen with a cross and orb in the claws symbolizing spiritual and secular authority. The four Bs on the shield stand for Βασιλευς Βασιλεων Βασιλευων Βασιλευσιν (King of Kings)

BByzantine Art

Mosaic of the Empress Theodora bringing her offerings and her court at San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy c.547.

The lands of the eastern Mediterranean had always been more Hellenic than Roman at heart.At Constantinople the previous Eastern influences of the Near East coalesced with the Roman and Hellenic to form Byzantine art.The rise of Christianity marked the end of an aestheticism of ancient Greece on realism and physical beauty and infused it with a new  of inward looking spirit. The Byzantines concentrated their decoration within their buildings, rather than the exterior. For example, in the San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, the outside is made of a brick construction and almost barnlike in appearance, while the inside is covered with marble and glowing mosaics. Mosaics were used to great effect with a color charged shimmering richness illuminated by ever changing shafts of light. The mosaics were composed of small pieces with fractured edges to catch the light. Gold and silver tesserae were formed fusing a thin sheet of the metal between two layers of glass.

The one hundred and fifty years following the conversion of Constantine saw the development of monumental Christian art. The principle types of church architecture were established. Christian imagery, influenced by the imperial cult of the emperor created the type of Christ in majesty which was to become a central theme in the art of the Middle Ages .A Christian style was formed which brought a new spirituality into the classical concept of art . The period of Byzantine art can be divided into periods: The First Golden Age ( 527-726) a period of great architectural activity, the Iconoclastic Age (726-867)a period of internal strife,the Second Golden Age (867-1204), the Latin Domination (1204-1261, the Byzantine Renaissance

The First Golden Age of Byzantine Art (527-726)

While the Western Empire disintegrated after the 5th century, the eastern Empire by the time of Justinian saw the revival of Roman power.While the Latins continued to build basilicas in the traditional type, the Greek East devised the domed church on a cruciform ( Hagia Sophia) ,cross in square (St. Marks, Venice) and other forms to replace the basilica. With the Hagia Sophia,built between 532 and 537, the pendentive was perfected, surpassing the earlier Roman examples in domical construction.The arch,vault and domes were all supported on piers

mosaics from the second golden age of Byzantine art, from  the Hagia Sophia- the image of Christ Pantocrator

Late Byzantine art from the church of Nerez in Skopje, Macedonia (1164) painted with deep tenderness and poignant emotion, the descent from the Cross, the Virgin caresses Christ's cheek with her own, while St.John kisses his hand, shows an increasing technical mastery. The growing power of the Hesychasts,however, did much to check the influence of renaissance realistic techniques and byzantine artists turned again to the past.

A silk tapestry of the Virgin Mary and an angel. Byzantine silk was very precious, on par with gold.Its production was tightly controlled. Silkmaking began during the reign of Justinian when silkworm eggs were smuggled out of China.

The Barberini ivory, an imperial diptych of an emperor conquering with Christ above

R Religion in the Byzantine Empire

One of the world's first monasteries, St. Catherine's in Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have beheld the burning bush. A far outpost of the Orthodox Church built by Justinian. By the 8th century tens of thousands of men lived as monks, many being located on Mount Athos and Meteora. Usually a monastery began when a hermit attracted a band of followers.

The imperial Roman Church, what came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, never represented all Christians in the Empire, other forms of Christianity were allowed such as Nestorianism and other sects and Jews were tolerated, while suffering occasional persecution. To the Western European, the Orthodox Church with its icons which were holy themselves,miracles and a host of saints may strike him as a collection of superstition and glorified the mysterious, supernatural basis of Christian belief, a revival of the ancient mystery cults of the classical age .The Roman West developed ethical and legal elements. One of the heroes of the East was the otherworldly ascetic monk, in the West the monk was put to work.

The Ecumenical Councils

The Church held Ecumenical ( Greek for 'worldwide') councils to settle matters of dogma. The first, held in 325 at Nicaea under Constantine's chairmanship me to resolve the Arian controversy, over whether God and Christ were of the same nature or whether they differed in kind as the Arians maintained sine Christ came into being after God the Father.This first council resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Creed of Nicaea. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly . Approximately 250 to 318 bishops attended, from every region of the Empire except Britain. Constantine had invited all 1800 bishops of the Christian church (about 1000 in the east and 800 in the west), but a lesser and unknown number attended.

There were to be seven major religious assemblies between 325 and the 9th century.The second Council in 381 gave the patriarch second place in the state after the emperor and declared the Virgin Mary the Mother of God .The Third in 431, discussed the Nestorian sect whose members believed that Christ's human nature was more important than His divine nature. The Council declared Nestorianism to be heresy.The Fourth in 451 met to discuss the two natures of Christ and decided Christ to be fully God and fully human a result of which the Egyptian Church broke away from the Orthodox Church and became known as Coptic.The fifth Ecumenical Council of 533 was held to deal with Monophysitism, which holds that in the one person of Jesus Christ, Divinity and Humanity are united in one "nature" The sixth in 681 The conclusion of the council was that Jesus has two wills as well as two natures (divine and human), and that those two wills did not conflict with or strive against each other. In the seventh in 787 was the last to be accepted by both Eastern and Western churches. It was called to restore the honoring of icons after which had been suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Leo III (717 - 741). His son, Constantine V (741 - 775), had held a synod to make the suppression official. The eighth in 870 It deposed Photios, a layman who had been appointed as Patriarch of Constantinople, and reinstated his predecessor Ignatius.

The Iconoclastic Crisis

In the Christian world, veiled hostility to the use of images went back to the pagan idols of classical times. The movement against images began to take shape in the 8th century, and the excessive importance given to images produced a reaction. Images were condemned by Leo III in 726 and emperors were to led the movement against images for 120 years. Many images and statues were destroyed at this time and art produced during this period were mostly abstract. A reaction to the severity of the Iconoclastic period led to the renaissance of the Macedonian Emperors ( 867-1081).

Separation of Christianity into Roman Catholicism and the Greek Orthodox Church

The division of the Church arose in part over the rivalry between Rome and Constantinople. Both East and West held the same fundamental creed, but the Eastern Church did not recognize the supremacy of the pope. In the East, Greek was the language of ritual, not Latin and in the east married men were allowed to enter the lower clergy. The Greek Church used leavened bread, while the Roman used unleavened in the Eucharist. Monks in the East, the hair of monks was shaved off in the front in the West on the top.When the Bishop of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other in 1053-4, the separation was complete.One of the main doctrinal causes of the split in the 11th century was controversy over filoque Latin for "and (from) the Son." The Roman Church, following St.Augustine maintained that the Holy Ghost proceeded from both the Father and the Son. The Eastern Church maintained that there was no basis for such a doctrine and maintained that the Holy Ghost proceeded only from the Father.

Byzantine Military 

Byzantine fresco of Joshua in a Byzantine soldiers' dress, 10th century

The Byzantine military had an amazing record of efficiently organizing its relatively small forces. At its peak it probably numbered around 120,000. In the early Byzantine army, the cavalry became more prominent as the legion system disappeared in the early 7th century as it was not effective against the Byzantine arch enemy, the Persians. The legionary system was also ineffective against barbarian cavalry and would frequently depose emperors . To fight them a strong cavalry was needed.

Heraclius laid the foundation of the theme military district system which would be copied later by the Ottomans in their timar military fiefs when the empire was desperately short on man power . In the themes, soldiers were settled in the district, being paid for service with land .These were under command a Strategoi, a thematic general, who was responsible for drawing up the levies. This was a way to deal with a smaller tax base and place soldiers throughout the empire to maintain order. This was a change from the classic Roman system of a professional army paid with tax revenue . As the Strategoi, were hereditary, the theme system encouraged the growth of the aristocracy whose control over the military units decentralized the government. The theme army were based on the borders,while the another army was based in the capital.The free peasants over time became serfs of the large landholders.The themes became popular and many men volunteered for service in them. The legendary hero of the national epic, Digenis Akritas, was typical of the independent spirit of the theme holders. The shortage of men was also felt in the imperial body guards and more mercenaries were admitted into this corps, most of which were from the Varangians (Russians) and Anglo-Saxons. The Byzantines infantry attacked shield to shield yelling the war cry 'The Cross has conquered!" Each regiment had shirts dyed in the regimental colors .

The Byzantine Navy

a dromon (runner) usually armed with catapults,Greek fire and manned by 230 oarsmen and 70 marines. the dromon most important warships of the Byzantine navy from the 6th to 12th centuries. They were indirectly developed from the ancient trireme and were usually propelled by both oars and sails. the faster birema resembled a galleon.The fleets of the navy were also supplied from the themes, to encourge men to enter naval service,with an imperial fleet based in Constantinople.The Byzantine was the master of the Mediterranean till the rise of the venetian,Genoese and Turkish navies.The admiral of the fleet was called a drungarius. With the decline of the threat from Russia in the 11th century, the navy was allowed to decline and was never able to compete with the rising power of the Venetians and Genoese.

The Strategikon was a military manual used by many military leaders, compiled by the Byzantine emperor Maurice (582-602). Maurice introduced many military reforms, including compulsory service for men under 40 and to divide the army into forces.

Much of the Byzantine military focused on the strategy and skill of generals utilizing militia troops, heavy infantry were recruited from Frankish and later Varangian mercenaries. One of the favored books of Byzantine military leaders in the field was the  Strategikon  compilled by the Byzantine emperor Maurice (582-602).Attention was paid to strategy to avoid waste of men and equipment and much use was made of spies.After the collapse of the theme system in the 11th century, the Byzantines grew increasingly reliant on Tagmata troops - a professional standing army . The heavy cavalry were called Kataphraktoi and the light cavalry trapezitae . With the long tradition of Rome and the Hellenistic kingdoms, the Byzantines had some of the best heavy infantry in the early Middle Ages.The Akritoi were militia defenders of the Anatolian borders of the Empire during the age of Turkish expansion.

Constantinople was saved from many assaults by the use of Greek fire, a type of early napalm used in naval battles that could be projected. The Byzantines learned how to make Greek fire in the 7th century. Greek fire was credited with destroying Russia's Prince Igor's 10,000 ship invasion fleet in 941. A shock carrying it overland could cause it to explode, so it was mostly used in naval battles. It was a closely guarded state secret, made by only one family, which died with the after Constantinople fell in 1453. An early gernade, made from clay pots was filled with Greek fire. The last Byzantine emperors turned down the bombards of Urban as too expensive. Urban then provided them to the Ottomans,who used them to smash the walls of Constantinople in 1453.

Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (270-306), an important Orthodox military saint.

Administration of the Byzantine Empire and the Civil Service

One source of strength of the Byzantine Empire was the civil service tradition inherited from Rome. Officials of high offices were recruited after passing difficult exams, most were from noble families but was open to men of talent. Officials were nominated, promoted and dismissed by the emperor.For many centuries, the chief minister was the magister officii, head of the civil service,police and court ceremonies. Officials wore uniforms and badges indicating their rank. Entering the service was called ' taking the belt' after the military style belt worn by officials By the 8th century, themes, where civil and military administration is exercised by one person, the strategos had come about. while at time rife with corruption and maintain law and order in times of anarchy as well as resist tyranny( as well as reform).

Many of the high offices were held by eunuchs, who were not seen as a threat and many high posts were reserved for them and served as a check on the power of the nobility.. Patriarchs of Constantinople were frequently eunuchs as were generals such as Narses and admirals such as Eustathius Cymineanus.

Time Line of Byzantine History 

330     Constantine makes Byzantium into his capital(Nova Roma), which is renamed "Constantinople" (The City of Constantine), sometime after Constantine's death in 337. It would remain the capital of the Byzantine Empire, with a half-century exception, for over a thousand years.

395     The Empire is permanently split into eastern and western halves, following on the death of Theodosius I.

404 St. John Chrysostom is exiled because of his criticism of Empress Eudosia, first Hagia Sophia burned in riots

413 construction of Constantinople's triple walls begun under Theodosius II

476 Imperial rule comes to an end in the West

527     Justinian I is crowned "emperor".

April 7, 529    The Codex Justinianus is promulgated.

532 - 537 The Emperor, Justinian, builds the church of Hagia Sophia

542-544 Plague, Large numbers of deaths, Constantinople losses half of its population

533 - 554         Justinian's generals takes North Africa and Italy from the Vandals and the Ostrogoths.

568     The Lombard invasion results in the loss of most of Italy.

626 Avar armies attack Constantinople

634 - 641         The Arab armies conquer the Levant and Egypt. In the following decades, they take most of North Africa (and later conquer Sicily as well).

673 Arab armies besiege Constantinople

697 Carthage falls to the Arabs

717 Leo III defeats second Arab siege Constantinople

730 - 787 and 813 - 843     The Iconoclasm controversies result in the loss of most of the Empire's remaining Italian territories, aside from some of the territories of the Mezzogiorno.

797 Irene blinds her own son to become sole ruler, calls herself emperor

802  Irene deposed

813 Leo III the Armenian gains the throne

843 Iconoclastic controversy comes to an end, icons allowed again

843 - 1025        The Macedonian dynasty is established and the Empire experiences a military and territorial revival. Byzantine scholars record and preserve many of the remaining ancient Greek and Roman texts.

904 Arabs seize Thessalonica,second greatest city of the empire

941 Russians make surprise attack, fleet of 10,000 ships destroyed by Greek fire

1002 - 1018       The Emperor, Basil II, campaigns annually against the Bulgarians, with the object of annihilating the Bulgar state.

1014    The Bulgarian army is completely defeated at the Battle of Kleidon

(Basil II becomes known as The Bulgar Slayer).

1018    Bulgaria surrenders and is annexed to the empire. The whole of the Balkans is incorporated into the Byzantine Empire, with the Danube as the new Imperial frontier to the north.

1025    With the death of Basil II, the zenith of the Empire's power is passed and the long decline of the Byzantine Empire begins.

1054    The Schism (split between Church in Rome and the Church in Constantinople).

1071    The Emperor, Romanos IV, is defeated by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert, losing his position in most of Asia Minor. In the same year, the last Byzantine outposts in Italy are conquered by the Normans.

1081    The Komnenos dynasty is established by Alexios I and Byzantium becomes involved in the Crusades. Economic prosperity generates new wealth; literature and the arts reach new heights. In Anatolia, the Turks become established.

1091    The Imperial armies defeat the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion.

1096 First Crusade

1097    The recapture of Nicaea from the Turks by the Byzantine armies and the First Crusaders.

1097-1176       The Byzantine armies recapture the coasts of Asia Minor from the Turks, and push east towards central Anatolia. The Crusader Principality of Antioch becomes a Byzantine protectorate.

1122    The Byzantines defeat the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia.

1167    The Byzantine armies win a decisive victory over the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium and Hungary subsequently becomes a Byzantine client state.

1171 Venetians throughout the empire are arrested, property confiscated

1176    The Battle of Myriokephalon and the Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, attempts to capture Konya, the capital of the Seljuk Turks. He is forced to withdraw after the destruction of his siege equipment. This is the effective end of the Imperial attempts to recover Anatolian plateau.

1180    With the death of the Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, the decline of the Empire recommences.

1185    A successful rebellion is organized in Bulgaria and other lands are lost in the Balkans.

1204    Constantinople is conquered by Crusaders, attempting to establish a Latin Empire.

1261    Constantinople is reconquered by the Patriarch of Constantinople sponsored Emperor of Nicaea, Michael VIII Palaiologos, re-establishing Greek rule of a terminally diminished empire.

1453    The Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople, and with the death of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last de facto emperor of the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine Empire comes to an end.

Glossary 

acheiropoietos Greek 'not made by human hands' image of Chirst, the Virgin or a saint that appears in a miraculous fashion

akakia purple silk pouch carried by the emperor during court ceremonies containing dirt from a grave to remind the emperor that he was human

apse vaulted space of Byzantine Church that traditionally held a statue of the Virgin Mary

aspasmos veneration of an icon by kissing,bowing or embracing it

Athos center of Orthodox monasticism

Augustaion main square in Constantinople

autocephalous an ecclesiastical province

autokrator Greek  'absolute ruler' one of the titles of the emperor

basileus Greek 'king' principal title for emperor

boyat,bojar member of the military landed nobility in Bulgaria and Russia

bulla seal attached to a document

Cappadocia  ancient name for a hilly region of central Anatolia with many churches and monasteries, some carved out of rock

chiton tunic worn by Byzantine men and women

chlamys long cloak worn over chiton,became part of the military insignia of the emperor

chrysobull imperial documents signed by the emperor

Codex Justinianus compilation of imperial law by Justinian I, arranged according to subject, intended to be free of repetitions and contradictions

Codex Theodosianus Latin lawbook commissioned by Theodosis II and compiled in 429, superceded by the

 Codex Justinianus

coenobitic monastic rule where all possessions are held in common

demes factions of chariot racing supporters, lead by a demarch.

Deo coronatus Greek 'crowned by God' ruler who had God's approval

Digenes Akritic national epic compiled in the 12th century of warriors who fought in Anatolia

diptych a laterally connected pair of panels made of wood,ivory or precious metal

Dromon Byzantine warship

Edit of Milan  first decree granting tolerance of Christianity issued by Constantine the Great in 313

eparchy second only to the emperor,the eparch of Constantinople acted as governor,supreme judge, chief of police and controlled trade

Ferrara-Florence Council religious council held in 1438-45 to attempt to reunite the Orthodox and Roman Church, ended in failure

Greek fire early form of napalm, projected from ships

gynaikeion part of Byzantine house or palace reserved for women

Hagia Sophia cathedral of Holy Wisdom, the first was built in 360 ,destroyed by fire in 404 by supporters of John Chrysostom,rebuilt in 415 and destroyed again in the Nika Revolt of 532,rebuilt in 532-7 by Justinian, converted into a mosque by the Ottomans called the Ayasfya Camii, made a museum in 1935

Hippodrome arena for chariot races built by Septimus Severus in 196, area for sports,triumphs and proclamations of emperors

hosios saint

icon Greek 'image' any image of a sacred personage

Iconoclasm Greek 'breaking of images' movement during the 8th and 9th centuries that rejected the sanctity of icons and outlawed their veneration, officially ended in 843

Koilas klaphtmonos Byzantine slave market

logothetes one of the ministers of the emperor treasurer,prime minister and minister of foreign affairs

milion milestone in the Augustaion which distances from the empire were measured from

Pantokrator Greek all sovereign' best known type of Christ image, bearded and blessing with right hand, holding the Gospel in the left, usually decorates central dome of Orthodox churches

solidus or nomisma Byzantine gold coin, used as a medium of international trade due to its standard weight and purity to the 11th century, the word soldiers is derived from this word.

strategos Greek 'general'

Strategikon a military manual,compiled by the Byzantine emperor Maurice (582-602

stylities ascetic moks who lived on platforms on pillars

tagmatic army professional army under the direct command of the emperor

theme military division and territorial unit administered by a strategos with military and civil power, leader of a theme were responsible for gathering levies in time of war. Soldiers were given land in a theme in return for service

taxis organization of state and church along similar hierarchical lines, in imitation of the hierarchy of the heavenly realm

vita icon icon with scenes of the life of a saint

Trisagion Greek 'thrice holy' hymn

Byzantine Empire Links 

wikipedia

Virtual Hagia Sophia tour

Metropolitan Museum on Byzantine Art

Byzantine Army

Byzantine coinage

pictures of Byzantine clothing

Byzantine Icons

Byzantine Architecture

Byzantine Studies

Ottoman Empire

 12 Byzantine Rulers podcast

 by Lars Brownworth

 A Concise History of Byzantium

Warren Treadgold

 Classic general history of Byzantium

The Fall of Constantinople 1453

Steven Runciman

Sir Steven Runciman was one of the English language's (if not the world's) leading scholars of the Crusades and the Eastern Roman Empire. He weaves a story that is both historically accurate as well as emotionally moving

The Alexiad

Anna Comnena (1083-1153) wrote "The Alexiad" as an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. It is also an important source of information on the Byzantine war with the Normans, and on the First Crusade in which Alexius participated

Byzantium: The Lost Empire

Documentary(2 DVDS)

Listen to The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire (for free !)

*Conquests Of Justinian, Character Of Balisarius.

*From The Time Of Heraclius To The Latin Conquest.

  from librivox.org

The Life of Belisarius

Lord Mahon

 read online at archive.org

 Ancient Coin Collecting V: The Romaion/Byzantine Culture

Byzantine coins

The Secret History  (c500-565)

Byzantium

Stephen R. Lawhead

(Historical Fiction)

tells the story of Aidan, a 10th-century Irish monk sent to take the Book of Kells to the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. Separated from his fellow pilgrims, Aidan undergoes various exotic adventures, including capture by and life with Vikings, political intrigue in the Byzantine court, enslavement in a caliph's mine and loss of his all-important faith in God

Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe

The Emperor Justinian reunified Rome's fractured empire by defeating the Goths and Vandals who had separated Italy, Spain, and North Africa from imperial rule. At his capital in Constantinople, he built the world's most beautiful building, married its most powerful empress, and wrote its most enduring legal code, seemingly restoring Rome's fortunes for the next five hundred years. Then, in the summer of 542, he encountered a flea. The ensuing outbreak of bubonic plague killed five thousand people a day in Constantinople and nearly killed Justinian himself.

Art of the Byzantine Era

Byzantine Armies 886-1118 (Men-at-Arms)

Byzantine Armies AD 1118-1461

The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453

 The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer

 Paul Stephenson

 The long reign of the Byzantine emperor Basil II (976-1025) has been considered a "golden age", in which his greatest achievement was the annexation of Bulgaria after a long and bloody war.

 Heraclius Emperor of Byzantium

Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

Presents an overall view of the history and changing character of Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, from Rome and Milan to North Africa, Constantinople, Greece and the Balkans and from Egypt and Jerusalem to the villages and monasteries of Syria, Asia Minor, Armenia and Mesopotamia

 Medieval II: Total War

video game with the Byzantine empire

Byzantine Eagle T Shirt