Chapter 8
In This Chapter
• The origins of the Byzantine Empire
• The Byzantine culture
• The Slavs and the origin of Russia
• The third Rome
The Byzantine Empire emerged at first as part of the Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire declined, it took on a life and form of its own, which continued for a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire. Finally as it declined, some of the Byzantine traditions of government and religion were spread into southeastern Europe and Russia to be preserved.
The End of Rome?
The Byzantine Empire, or Byzantium as it is sometimes called, was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which had been divided administrativelyin 395 C.E. Its capital and cultural center was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), built by the Roman Emperor Constantine who favored the site and the eastern territories of the Roman Empire. The city itself is located on the narrow Bosporus Strait overlooking the Black Sea, making it a natural crossroads for trade between Europe and Asia. Constantinople is geographically located in Europe, but across the Bosporus Strait 12 miles away is the continent of Asia. This, in effect, gives the city a unique position of almost being of two worlds, the West and the East.
Maybe because of its unique position, Byzantium was able to survive long after the barbarian invaders killed the last Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Or maybe it was the combination of Latin and Greek heritage that it took on. The emperors still spoke Latin, but the people of the empire spoke Greek. The emperors did look to its Western Roman past, but also stressed the Greek heritage of the territoriesof Byzantium. Regardless of its dualistic nature, West and East or Latin and Greek, the Byzantine Empire, after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E., was considered by most people of the classical period to be the New Rome. So to most, Rome did not fall but continued on in another location. But eventually the Roman nature of the empire changed into something different, into the Byzantine Empire. This empire which was founded on Roman traditions developed with Greek and Persian influences.
The Byzantine Empire
The territory of the Byzantine Empire consisted of more than just the city of Constantinople and its immediate area. During various times the empire held territoryin Asia Minor, North Africa, the Balkans, and Italy, including the city of Rome itself. But as Islam expanded and the Germanic barbarians consolidated power and established rule under a monarch, the empire lost its territory in North Africa and in Italy. Although the walls of Constantinople were besieged several times, the empire retained its possessions in Asia Minor and the Balkans for most of its existence.
What in the World
Greek Fire was a weapon used by the Byzantines similar to a modern-day flame thrower. It was an incendiary material that could burn on most materials, even on water. The Byzantine Empire was able to win many battles expanding and defending the empire using this substance. What Greek Fire was and how to make it was a closely guarded state secret.
The Byzantine Emperors
During the Byzantine Empire’s reign there were many different dynasties and interestingcharacters as emperors. It would be pointless to evaluate the merits of each dynasty and its emperors, but some generalizations can be made.
First, there were many periods of political peace and prosperity, but there were also many times of instability caused by issues of imperial succession. During these periods,however, the imperial bureaucracy saved the day by continuing with the daily business of empire.
Some dynasties did stand out as being exceptionally able at ruling an empire. These were the dynasties of Justin (518-610 C.E.), Heraclius (610-717 C.E.), the Syrian dynasty (717-820 C.E.) and the Macedonian dynasty (867-1059 C.E.). Within those dynasties, some emperors truly stood out as exceptional rulers who put their stamp on the imperial office, including Justinian the Great, Heraclius, and Leo III.
Justinian the Great
Justinian the Great ruled the Byzantine Empire during the dynasty of Justin from 527 to 565 C.E. He was sometimes called the "Emperor who never sleeps” because of the long hours he dedicated to the empire at the height of its power.
Militarily, Justinian was able to defeat the Persians and secure the eastern borders of the empire. He also tried, with some success, to expand the empire’s border to include former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including territories in Italy, Sicily, and the city of Rome itself.
Notable Quotable
"Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render every one his due. The maxims of law are these: to live honestly, to hurt no one and to give every man his due.”
—Corpus Juris Civilis
Domestically Justinian reinitiated the Roman legal tradition by compiling the laws of the empire into the Corpus Juris Civilis, or The Body of Civil Law, which remained a legal standard in Europe well into the nineteenth century. He also spent time revitalizing Constantinople, includingoverseeing the additions to the Hagia Sophia. This large and beautiful Christian church became a central point of the city and inspired many people with its magnificent art and architecture. In one tenth centuryinstance, when a mission of pagan Russians came to the Hagia Sophia to see the Orthodox Christian religion, they were so impressed that one of the members of the delegation reportedly said, “There God dwells among men.”
Heraclius and Leo III
During the reign of Heraclius, from 610 to 641 C.E., the empire took a more eastern direction. Unlike previous emperors, Heraclius spoke Greek (not Latin). His entire reign was preoccupied with resisting several Islamic and Persian invasions. Although he was unable to completely stop the Islamic expansion into the Levant and Egypt, he did break Persian power and influence in Asia Minor.
Leo III, or Leo the Isaurian, who ruled from 717 to 740 C.E., was the first emperor of the Syrian dynasty. Unlike his predecessor Heraclius, he was able to defeat the Islamic armies and reclaim much of the territory of the Levant. Leo III also added more territory from Asia Minor to the Byzantine Empire. Interestingly, Leo III pursued a controversial iconoclastic policy that offended western Christians. This started the slow division in the Christian church that still exists to this day, although for other reasons than the theologyof icons. It has been speculated that Leo III, despite being a devout enemy of Islam, was heavily influenced by Islam’s theology, which resulted in his policy of iconoclasm.
definition
Iconoclasm or iconoclastic refers to policies or people who oppose the religious use of images and advocate the destruction of such images.
Byzantine Religion
Byzantine culture and religion were almost entirely inseparable just as the empire and the Christian church were. There was no separation of church and state. Christianity, culture, and empire were intertwined to produce the grandeur and ceremony that was the Byzantine Empire. Emperors led the Christian church just as they led the empire and the people.
This authoritative stance made relations difficult with the Christian church in the West and its leader, the bishop of Rome (also known as the pope). The iconoclastic controversy during Leo III’s reign was just one of many of the periods of disagreement between the Western and Eastern Christian churches. Eventually the friction between East and West lead to a schism or separation of the church in 1054 C.E., with the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East.
The Economy of Byzantium
The Byzantine Empire lasted for almost a millennium because of the strength of its economy. The base of this economy was agriculture, which was continually protected by the emperors’ governmental polices. Perhaps learning from the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the emperors appeared to have recognized the importanceof an agricultural base.
Notable Quotable
"Great stir and bustle prevails at Constantinople in consequence of the great conflux of merchants who resort thither from all parts of the world.”
—Itinerary, Benjamin of Tudela
In addition, because of the geographic location of the empire, commerce and trade fueled the economy. Using the well-developedSilk Road, goods from China and India poured into Constantinople before making their way into Europe. This made Byzantium and Constantinople one of the richest civilizations and cities of the late antiquity. Lastly, silk weaving developed as an industry in the empire as early as 550 C.E., again adding fuel to the massive economy of Byzantium.
Byzantine Art and Learning
Supported by the strength of the Byzantine economy, the arts and learning flourished within the borders of the empire. In art the subject of the Christian religion was dominant.Despite the iconoclastic tendencies of the empire, icons and mosaics depicted Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, saints, and martyrs. Intricate illuminated manuscripts of the Bible were made.
Just as art was heavily influenced by religion, so was education and learning. The Eastern Orthodox Church provided schools for parishes to train priests and the laity (only men at this point in history), all of which taught medicine, law, philosophy, math, geometry, astronomy, grammar, and music. Of course, all of the subjects were taught with a decidedly religious perspective. Higher education was also available at the University of Constantinople, founded in 850, which trained scholars and lawyers for service in the Byzantine imperial bureaucracy.
Some of those scholars spent their time copying the classical writing of the Greeks and Romans for the Byzantine libraries. Literary achievements of the empire were once again dominated by Christianity. Byzantium literature focused on the salvation of the soul and obedience to God’s will. Hymns and poems were written in honor of Jesus Christ and his mother, Mary. Books detailed the lives of the various saints for the people to learn from and imitate. Byzantine art, architecture, and scholarship were heavily studied and imitated in Europe by the Germanic and Slavic people. It even influenced the culture of Islam to the east.
The Spread of Eastern Orthodox Christianity
With the amazing amount of energy spent pursuing religious ends, it only seems fittingthat the Byzantine Empire sought to spread the message of Christianity. Many monasteries and religious communities were founded throughout the Byzantine Empire during the 300s and 400s C.E. Later these monasteries sent missionaries to the northern lands to convert the pagan Slavs and Germanic tribes.
The missionaries Saint Cyril and Methodius were the most successful at this type of dangerous missionary work. Around 863 C.E. Cyril developed an alphabet loosely based on the Greek alphabet to help in his conversion of pagan tribes. Known as the Cyrillic alphabet, it formed the basis for the Russian and other Slavic languages. This missionary work and subsequent spread of Christianity is arguably the most enduring legacy of the Byzantium Empire because, as it declined, it was the converted Christian Slavs who carried on its traditions.
The Decline and Fall of Byzantium
The decline of Byzantium occurred over an extended period of time. In general the never-ending struggle to maintain its borders on the east and the west put the empire at a disadvantage. In addition, the economic trading interests of Byzantium came into conflict with later Italian city-states such as Venice and Genoa. This led to several economic, political, and military conflicts that peaked during the period of the fourth Crusade (1202-1204 C.E.), when the Venetians convinced or possibly coerced crusadingEuropean knights to sack Constantinople.
Notable Quotable
"Sometimes [the cannon] demolished a whole section of a tower or turret. No part of the wall was strong enough to resist it .... Such was the unbelievable and inconceivablenature of the power of the implement. Such a thing the ancients neither had nor knew about.”
—History of Mehmed the Conqueror, Michael Kritovoulos
After that, the Byzantine Empire existed as a faded image of its former self until the walls of Constantinople were again breached and conquered by the invading army and cannons of the Ottoman Turks in 1453 C.E. Although it looked like the end of Byzantium, the leadership and traditions of the empire and Eastern Orthodox Church that was so much a part of it passed on to the Slavic people, whom missionarieshad begun to convert hundreds of years before.
The Slavs and the Origins of Russia
Historians and anthropologists have been uncertain as to the exact origin of the Slavic people for some time, but in general the following facts can be agreed on: The Slavs originally lived in the steppes of Asia north of the Black Sea. In the second half of the first millennium, the Slavic people separated into three distinct groups. The West Slavs migrated from the steppes and settled in east-central Europe. The South Slavs preferred to migrate and settled closer to the Byzantine Empire’s border in the Balkan Peninsula. The Eastern Slavs stayed put and continued to inhabit the area north of the Black Sea, in what is now Russia.
What in the World
One of the problems with tracingSlavic ancestry is that the name “Slav” was not used until the mid-sixth century. Before that time, the people were referred to as the Venedi or the Antes.
The Slavic people were, in a word, primitive. They spent their time hunting, fishing, and gathering their food, mostly because the areas in which they settled had rich soil for farming but not a good climate.
The Slavic people engaged in some primitive forms of trade and waited for foreign merchants to come to them. Following a combination of land and river routes, Byzantine merchants reached the Slavs to peddle their wares (silk was probably one of the fastest sellers, as it is very soft compared to fur and wool). The Slavic people were very impressed with the goods and culture of Byzantium, so much that on several occasions they invaded Byzantine territory. Of course the professional Byzantine army knew how to deal with these untrained and primitive armies, and when they could not, the empire gave the Slavs some token tribute (probably including lots of silk).
The migration of the Slavic tribes.
The Rise of Kievan Rus
The Eastern Slavic people also began to encounter different Viking groups out of Scandinavia, part of a larger Viking movement that lasted from 800 to 1100 C.E. The Vikings journeyed from their Scandinavian lands in search of plunder and new trade routes. By the late 800s they came to dominate the Eastern Slavs. The Viking rulersof the Slavs were called Rus, from which the name Russia comes. A Viking leader named Oleg founded the principality of Kiev at the beginning of the tenth century, which took control of the territory between the Baltic and Black Seas and the Danube and Volga Rivers.
Notable Quotable
[In the year 882] Oleg set himself up as a prince in Kiev and declared: "May this be the mother of Russian cities.”
—Primary Chronicle, Anonymous
The territory of Kiev developed into an organized collection of city-states or principalities. Each city-statehad its own self-government as long as it paid taxes and respect to the Grand Prince of Kiev. Democratic forms of government were also adopted in the city-states. Some city-states had councils of nobles called boyars who assisted the prince of the principality. Others had assemblies that represented all free adult male citizens.
The Conversion of Kiev
The growth of the principality of Kiev and its governmental structures attracted the attention of the Byzantine Empire, which saw the new, organized Slavs as a bit more troublesome than the old, unorganized Slavs. In response, the Byzantine Empire sent missionaries to convert the Slavs to Orthodox Christianity, which was inseparable in some respects from the empire itself.
Olga, a princess of Kiev, was one of the first nobles to convert to the new religion. Later, in 989 C.E., when Prince Vladimir wanted to marry the Byzantine emperor’s sister for political purposes, he had to accept Eastern Orthodox Christianity for himselfand his people. Thus Eastern Orthodox Christianity became the religion of the principality of Kiev, and Kiev in a sense became a cultural and political satellite of the Byzantine Empire.
The Golden Age of Kiev
With the development of a strong governmental system and the addition of the cohesiveforce of the Christian religion, the principality of Kiev enjoyed a golden age during the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Two rulers were also in part responsible for this peak in the Kievan Rus. Vladimir the Great, who ruled Kiev from 980 to 1015 C.E., was responsible for converting the principality to Eastern Orthodox Christianity by proclamation. Vladimir also expanded the western borders of Kiev.
Yaroslav the Wise ruled from 1019 to 1054 C.E. and improved the culture and educationof Kiev. More important, Yaroslav organized the Kievan legal system under the title Pravda Russkia, which means The Russian Justice. This action also gave him the nickname “The Wise,” an Old Testament reference to the wisdom and justice of the judgments of King Solomon.
The Decline of Kiev
Kiev’s cultural, commercial, and, to some degree, political dependence on the Byzantine Empire led to its decline. When the Byzantine Empire experienced economic, military, and political instability, Kiev also suffered, at least economically. So as the Byzantine Empire and trade declined, Kiev declined, too, until it was conquered in 1240 C.E. by Mongol invaders from the plains of central Asia.
Notable Quotable
"They [the Mongols] attacked Russia, where they made great havoc, destroying cities and fortresses and killing men; and they laid siege to Kiev, the capital of Russia; after they had besieged the city for a long time, they took it and put the inhabitants to death.”
—History of the Mongols, John of Plano
The Rise of the Third Rome
However, the story does not end there. The Mongols were able to conquer all of the city-states of the principality except one, the city-state of Moscow, which remained free by cooperating with the invading Mongol armies. By 1350 C.E. this cooperationwas paying huge dividends, and Moscow was the most powerful city-state in the region of Russia. Of course, the yoke of outside rule had to be thrown off eventually,and in 1380 C.E. the Muscovite forces defeated the Mongols and claimed independence.
Gradually the principality of Moscow acquired more territory from the Mongols. It also freed other Russian city-states from Mongol rule, which gratefully accepted the supremacy of Moscow. Finally in 1480 C.E., Ivan III, also known as the Great, pushed the last of the Mongols from Russian territories.
Ivan the Great earned his name for several very good reasons. He was, of course, an Eastern Orthodox Christian, which still indicated a strong relationship with the Byzantine Empire regardless of its stature or lack thereof. (Remember, Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453 C.E.)
In 1472 C.E., Ivan III married Sophia, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, which made Russia, to some, an extension of the Roman imperial tradition. Ivan III and all the subsequent rulers took the title of Czar, meaning “Caesar,” in reference to the power of the Roman imperial tradition. If the Byzantine Empire was an extension of the old Roman Empire, then Russia was now an extension of Byzantium, and thus the third Rome. That mentality influenced the Russian state and its political philosophy until early in the twentieth century, when revolution toppled the last czar.
Notable Quotable
"[The czar] is on earth the sole emperor of the Christians, the leader of the Apostolic church which stands no longer in Rome or Constantinople, but in the blessed city of Moscow. She alone shines in the whole world brighter than the sun ... Two Romes have fallen, but the third stands.”
—Letter from Philotheus of Pskov to Czar Basil III
The Least You Need to Know
• When the Western Roman Empire fell, the eastern Roman territories kept Roman imperial tradition alive as the Byzantine Empire.
• The Byzantine Empire was a crossroads of trade and a center of cultural diffusionbetween the East and the West.
• Byzantine missionaries spread Orthodox Christianity to the Slavic and Germanic tribes.
• The East Slavs migrated to the area of Kiev to form a principality of independentcity-states, which was later conquered by the Mongols.
• The principality of Moscow overthrew the Mongols and maintained a strong tie with Byzantine culture, identifying itself by extension with the tradition of imperial Rome.