Roman days, your earnings went to your father. Under the Byzantines,
you could keep them yourself.
Slaves also had to be treated with justice. Under Christianity, even
the most wretched slave was a human being with a soul which he could
lose or save. He was no longer cattle, and his master could not slay
him at will. He could not even treat him inhumanely.
Even the laws about business were based on the idea that the good
of everybody was more important than the good of any individual. In
fact, the Byzantines had an almost socialistic control of everything
and everybody that made money.
Every branch of Byzantine industry was organized into corporations
or guilds, and these corporations had the right to fix prices and
wages down to the last penny. They had the right to decide who could
go into a trade or business. They had the right to decide the exact
place where a shop or booth or factory could be set up; for example,
no shop selling wax and candles could be less than seventy yards from
another candle shop. They also had the right to decide what goods
could be imported, and what kind of goods, and in what amounts, could
be shipped abroad.
But even at that, the corporations did not have absolute control of
everything, for over them was the _eparch_, or lord mayor, and over
the _eparch_ was the emperor.
The emperor was supposed to be for all of the people and not for any
group of them, and the emperor had the last word.
In spite of all they accomplished and their charitable principles and
humane ideas, the Byzantines also had faults, however. There was a
black side to their civilization just as there was a bright side, and
some of it was very black indeed.
The Byzantines were very cruel. They were Greek, but they were also
Oriental, and had in them a ferocious streak that not only was
indifferent to suffering but seemed to take a fiendish pleasure in
it. Most mobs are savage, but the Byzantine mob was even more savage
than usual. Only the mobs of the French Revolution can compare with
it.
For instance, when the Byzantines overthrew the emperor Andronicus,
they were not satisfied with just tossing him from his throne. A
howling crowd of men and women tore out his beard, broke his teeth,
beat him, and dragged him through the streets at the tail of a mangy
camel while shouting fearful curses at him. He was seventy years old,
but although he begged to be put out of his misery, it was many hours
before a soldier who was not one of the crowd took pity on him and
killed him.
He was by no means the only emperor who died cruelly. As a matter of
fact, it was a very rare thing for an emperor to die peacefully in
his bed. Usurpers and would-be emperors were often treated just as
savagely as Andronicus had been.
Byzantine laws could be cruel, too, although their cruelty was in
the name of Christianity and mercy. The Byzantines thought it was
against the teachings of Christ to condemn a man to death, and so the
death penalty was rare. Instead, a criminal was mutilated; they tore
out his tongue or cut off his nose or a hand. Blinding was a common
punishment. The Byzantines actually thought it was merciful to blind
a man instead of executing him.
The Byzantines were treacherous, and, in fact, “Byzantine treachery”
became a well-known saying. Probably they were not as treacherous
as their enemies said they were, and their enemies, including the
crusaders, were also treacherous. But in everyday life just as when
they went to war, the Byzantines were always ready to plot, trick,
deceive, and lie. When they did tell the truth, it was usually
because honesty happened to be the best policy, and not because they
thought that honesty was the only right thing.
The emperors often gained the throne by trickery. Michael the
Drunkard made Basil I his co-emperor in the kingdom because Basil had
deceived him into thinking that Michael’s uncle, the _Caesar_ Bardas,
was a traitor. _Caesar_ Bardas was executed. Then Basil waited until
Michael was asleep, and had him murdered.
Michael’s grandfather, Michael the Stutterer, had come to the throne
in the same way. As a matter of fact, he was in prison when he
succeeded in outwitting a boyhood companion who was then the emperor.
He actually still had chains on his wrists and ankles when he was
crowned.
The Byzantines were corrupt and prospered on graft. Although most
of this graft and corruption centered around the imperial court,
business and the church were often corrupt. In all three of these
places, you got ahead by giving—and receiving—favors.
The Byzantines were high-strung, excitable, and fiery.
The Byzantines were very fond of luxury whether in dress, food,
jewelry, furniture, or even horses and chariots.
They craved entertainment. One emperor even told his signalmen not to
light the beacons that carried news of an approaching enemy from hill
to hill until it reached Constantinople. He was afraid it would cast
gloom upon the horse races.
The Byzantines were much too fond of pleasure.
Even so, when you add the pluses and subtract the minuses for the
Byzantines, it turns out that you have something pretty good,
particularly for those troubled times.
Besides, not all the Byzantines were unprincipled and evil. The mob
at the bottom and the courtiers and noblemen on top had glaring
defects, but the middle-class Byzantines, of whom there were more
than any other group, were often brave, high-spirited, and loyal;
and they were always intelligent. The Byzantine father was steady
and hard-working, and the mother sincerely pious and devoted to her
children. Their life was sometimes hard, but it was often happy. And
there always was a chance for self-respect.
[Illustration: Man and four horses]
LAST DAYS OF THE EMPIRE
Geoffrey of Villehardouin and Robert of Clari—the two
writer-crusaders—were among the last people to see Constantinople in
all its glory, and even they were not able to walk through streets
filled with magnificence for very long.
The knights and barons of the Fourth Crusade had promised to put the
young Alexius on the throne. This they did, and for good measure they
put his old blinded father back on the throne beside him too. They
let the rulers wear the imperial purple shoes and the glittering
brocaded robes, pretending to have restored the imperial power.
Alexius and his father could indeed wield the scepter and wear the
crown and be absolute monarchs, provided they did everything the
crusaders told them to.
In return, the young Alexius had promised to pay the crusaders
200,000 marks of silver, to lead an army to the Holy Land with them,
and to maintain and equip 500 of their knights in armor for as long
as he lived.
[Illustration: Men pulling horse statue]
This, however, was another matter, and when the two emperors made
even a half-hearted attempt to live up to their promises, the
Byzantines revolted. Another Alexius—Alexius Bushy Eyebrows—was made
emperor and he made it known that the Venetians and the crusaders
could whistle for their money. Not a single copper coin, let alone
200,000 silver ones, would they ever get from him!
This gave the crusaders the chance they had long been waiting for
and probably planning for, and they didn’t waste any time in taking
it. Proclaiming Bushy Eyebrows, as they called him, a traitor and
a caitiff villain, they attacked the city with ships, ladders,
and men-at-arms. On April 13, 1204, after five days of desperate
fighting, they burst into it. There for three days and nights, the
Christian soldiers—wearing the cross upon their shoulders—burned,
robbed, and murdered the Christian Byzantines.
“Even the followers of Mahound, the false prophet, were more merciful
when they took Jerusalem!” cried a Byzantine.
He was right. Little like it has ever happened anywhere else, except
during the invasions of Attila the Hun. Constantinople has never been
the same since.
The robbery was even more wholesale than the slaying. Churches,
private homes, and palaces were stripped to their bare stone walls,
and then all that was not hidden by private looters was piled where
it could be seen and divided.
“The booty was so great that no one could tell you of it,” said
Villehardouin.
It included gold and silver; vessels and precious stones; silk and
samite; robes of vair and robes of ermine; rare and irreplaceable
books; icons; beautiful carved chests; and, of course, all the
coinage in the treasury. In fact, everything that was not too heavy
to move.
The Venetians were immediately paid the 50,000 marks reckoned to
be their share. Even after that, not counting what had been stolen
and hidden, there may have been 400,000 silver marks’ worth of rare
prizes. To say nothing—and there was no knight who didn’t want one—of
10,000 fiery steeds!
There was no one who was too lofty or too pious to take his share
of this booty. The abbots and the warrior-bishops laid their hands
on every holy relic they could find. Most of these went to France,
where they disappeared during the French Revolution. The doge took
the four famous bronze horses of the Hippodrome, and even today the
Venetians point to them on the façade of the church of Saint Mark
just as proudly as if they had not helped themselves to them. There
was hardly a knight who did not wear rich fur-trimmed robes. There
was hardly a common foot soldier or even a jackallike camp follower
who did not have a fat purse, and a heavy chain of gold to boot.
The proud Byzantines returned to ruined churches and to charred and
plundered houses. Fabled Byzantium had become an empty shell.
The Byzantine Empire became an empty shell too. The crusaders
captured the new emperor and made him jump from the top of one of the
tall marble columns. Then, after a lot of bickering, they elected one
of their own number to succeed him. There was an empire, but it was
now a Latin empire and no one but the crusaders recognized it. Even
they did not leave it all its territory. Venice took over a third of
Constantinople and most of the Byzantine islands in the Aegean and
Ionian seas. Every knight or baron who wanted it was given a fief
or a principality in southern Greece. Besides that, three Byzantine
“governments in exile,” each claiming to be the real one, sprang into
being. One was at Trebizond near the eastern end of the Black Sea.
One was in Epirus, which is more or less the same as modern Albania.
The third and most important was at Nicaea, which was just across the
straights in Asia Minor.
So for fifty-seven years, there was not one Byzantine Empire, but
four of them, plus half a dozen other small states that all squabbled
with each other. Then, in 1261, Michael Paleologus, a great-grandson
of one of the old emperors recaptured Constantinople and put on the
imperial crown.
But although there was only one Byzantine Empire again, it was little
more than a shadow. Nor could any of the nine Byzantine emperors
who followed Michael restore the old-time glory. The crusaders had
done too good a job. Constantinople was now too poor and shabby. Its
trade was gone. Its famous bazaars were filthy, and their booths
were empty of wares. Most of the population had moved away. Even
the emperors themselves lived hand to mouth. Although they tried to
keep up the ancient ceremony, they couldn’t do it. At the wedding
of a daughter of one of the emperors, the guests had to eat off
earthenware plates.
Besides that, and probably because of it, anarchy reigned during the
200 years that the empire somehow lingered drearily on. Mercenary
bands moved about the countryside robbing and stealing, instead of
fighting for the emperor. They even moved on Constantinople when they
weren’t paid, or thought they were not paid enough.
The Byzantines also had to fight off outside enemies. The Bulgarians
renewed their old-time warfare and nibbled away at the shrinking
empire. A great Serbian king proclaimed himself Roman emperor as well
as Serbian monarch. He almost succeeded. The Byzantines had to fight
the Genoese, and sometimes the Venetians, and even the Frank barons,
descendants of the crusaders.
Finally the Ottoman Turks appeared upon the scene, and that was the
last blow. These wonderful fighters conquered all of Anatolia and
then step by step they worked their way into Europe. It was not long
before the Byzantine Empire was only Constantinople itself with a
few square miles of the surrounding countryside. The Byzantines soon
couldn’t even raise an army without Turkish permission, and usually
that permission wasn’t granted.
In 1453, which is one of the famous dates in history, even that much
freedom seemed too much to the Turks, and their young ambitious
sultan, Mohammed II, decided to take the city. Slowly and carefully
he laid plans to do so.
First he built one tower here and another there, ringing the city
and cutting off escape from it. Then he brought up a mighty navy of
493 ships, and a great army of 200,000 men. It was the first army in
history to be equipped with siege guns, and one of these was so big
it took 100 oxen to drag it. Mohammed, too, was so determined to take
Constantinople that when his ships could not break through the iron
chain the Byzantines had laid across the Golden Horn, he had a whole
fleet of them dragged overland, with the crew still sitting at the
oars—and all this in a single night.
What could the Byzantines do against all this power? They had only
8,000 soldiers, and many of these were monks and untrained citizens.
To be sure, they were led by two heroes, one an Italian mercenary,
the other the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI. Both of them
heroically lost their lives in the battle to defend Constantinople.
But heroism was not enough, and the city’s walls, mighty as they
were, could be smashed by cannon balls. After a month of siege the
howling Janizaries entered it. Once again, Constantinople was sacked
and looted, and although the Turks were not nearly so ruthless as the
crusaders had been, this time it did not rise again.
The empire did not rise again either. On May 29, 1453,
Constantinople, which had once been Byzantium, became Istanbul. It
has been Istanbul ever Since.
On that day, the Byzantine Empire ended too.
For more than a thousand years, it had carried the torch of Western
civilization, a torch that had been given to it by the Greeks and
Romans. Now, new nations took up the burden. Spain, France, and
England had become united and powerful. Italy was filled with all
the wonderful art and thought and writing and wealth that came with
the Italian Renaissance. Germany was stirring with new ideas. Even
in distant Poland, Copernicus would soon be looking through his
telescope and teaching us that the sun did not revolve around the
earth, but rather that the planets revolve around the sun. In only
forty years Columbus would discover America.
[Illustration: Boats and city]
So their job became our job, and it still is. They were not perfect,
but let us hope that we do it as well as they did. Let us hope that
our civilization lasts as long.
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART
OF
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
AND
WORLD EVENTS
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND WORLD EVENTS
| | ENGLAND AND
| BYZANTINE WORLD | WESTERN EUROPE
—————————+——————————————————————————————————+—————————————————————————
A.D. |Constantine the Great establishes |Teutonic and Asiatic
300-400 | capital of Roman Empire at | barbarians overrun Roman
| Constantinople on site of | Empire |
| ancient Byzantium, 330 | |
| | ↓
| First division of Roman Empire into East and West, 364
| |
| Final division of Roman Empire into East and West, 395
| |
| |
400-500 | | Visigoths sack Rome, 410
| |
| | Huns under Attila invade
| | Europe, 445-453
| |
| Period of decline | Western Europe lost to
| | Roman Empire
| |
| | First Saxon kingdom in
| | Britain, 477: Clovis I
| | founds Frank kingdom in
| | France, 481
| |
500-600 | Justinian the Great (Great | Beginning of modern
| advancement of Byzantine | Western European
| civilization), 527-565 | civilization
| |
| Laws codified |
| |
| Empire reaches greatest |
| territorial extent |
| (from Spain to Persia) |
| |
| Santa Sophia built, 532-537 |
| |
| First great age of |
| Byzantine art |
| |
600-700 | Persians defeated by Heraclius, |
| 641; end of Persian dominion |
| |
| Byzantines drive Arabs away from |
| Constantinople with “Greek |
| fire,” 677 |
| |
700-800 | Iconoclast controversy; image | Charles Martel defeats
| worship forbidden by Leo the | Moslems at Tours,
| Isaurian, 726 | France, 732; stops Arab
| | | expansion into Europe
| ↓ |
800-900 | Image worship restored, 843 | Charlemagne crowned
| | emperor of Holy Roman
| | Empire at Rome, 800
| |
| Byzantine missionaries convert |
| Bulgarians to Orthodox |
| Christianity, 864 |
| |
| Macedonian dynasty (founded by |
| | Basil I), 867-1056 |
| | |
| | Second great advancement |
| | of Byzantine civilization |
900-1000 | | | Arab rule in Spain at
| | | height; Cordova
| | | greatest intellectual
| | | center in Europe
| | Russians converted to |
| | Orthodox Christianity, 989 |
| | |
1000-1100| |Basil II conquers Bulgarians; | William the Conqueror
| | rules from Asia Minor to | invades England, 1066
| | southern Italy, 1014 |
| | |
| |Defeat by Seljuk Turks in | Crusades against Moslems
| | Armenia, 1071; decline of | in Holy Lands,
| ↓ Byzantine military power | 1096-1270
| | |
1100-1200|Comnenus dynasty unable to | |
| restore Byzantine power | |
| | |
1200-1300|Crusaders take Constantinople, | Magna Charta in England,
|1204 | 1215 |
| | |
|Michael VIII reconquers | |
| Constantinople; restores | |
| Greek rule, 1261 | ↓
| |
1300-1400|Ottoman Turks invade Europe, |
| defeat Serbs, 1389; Byzantine |
| Empire reduced to Constantinople|
| and surroundings |
| |
1400-1500|Tamerlane defeats Ottoman Turks | Renaissance
| at Ankara, 1402; delays fall of |
| Byzantine Empire |
| |
|John VIII agrees to unite Greek | Invention of printing,
| and Roman churches to gain | 1439
| Western aid, 1439; plan fails |
| |
|Ottoman Turks capture |
| Constantinople; end of |
| Byzantine Empire, 1453 |
| NEAR EAST AND ASIA | WESTERN HEMISPHERE
—————————+——————————————————————————————————+—————————————————————————
A.D. |Successive wars between Persians |
300-400 | and Romans |
| |
|Golden Age of Hinduism in India |
| |
|Divided empire in China (Tartar |
| and Chinese rule) |
| |
400-500 | |
| |
| |
500-600 | |
| |
| |
600-700 |Beginning of Arab Empire, 632 |
| |
|Byzantines defeat Persians, 641; |
| end of Persian dominion |
| |
700-800 |Moslem defeat at Tours, 732, |
| stops Arab expansion into |
| Europe |
| |
|Golden Age of Arab Empire, |
| 750-1258: Revival of Chinese |
| Empire under Tang dynasty |
| |
800-900 |Bulgarians converted to Orthodox |
| Christianity, 864 |
| |
|Beginning of Russia |
| |
900-1000 |Arab rule in Spain at height; | Maya civilization in
| Cordova greatest intellectual | Mexico and Central
| center in Europe | America
| |
|Russians converted to Orthodox | Eric the Red discovers
| Christianity, 989 | Greenland, about 985
| |
1000-1100|Baghdad seized by Seljuk Turks, | Leif Ericson visits
|1055 (Vinland), about 1000 | America
| |
|Crusades against Moslems in Holy |
| Lands, 1096-1270 |
| |
| Jerusalem captured by |
| crusaders, 1099 |
| |
1100-1200| |
| |
| |
1200-1300|Genghis Khan conquers central | Inca civilization in
| Asia and China, 1206-1221 | Peru
| |
|Mongols destroy Baghdad; |
| overthrow Arab Empire, 1258 |
| |
|Marco Polo at court of Kublai |
| Khan in China, 1271-1295 |
| |
|Ottoman Empire (Turks) founded, |
|1288 |
| |
1300-1400|Tamerlane ruler of Asia from | Aztec civilization in
| Russia to Persian Gulf, | Mexico
| 1369-1405 |
| |
| |
1400-1500|Ottoman Turks conquer most of |
| Asia; block trade routes to |
| Far East |
| |
|Moors expelled from Spain: | Columbus discovers
| Beginning of Spanish | America, 1492
| exploration in New World |
Baynes, Norman H., _The Byzantine Empire_. New York, Oxford
University Press, Inc., 1926.
Diehl, Charles, _Byzantium: Greatness and Decline_. New Brunswick,
Rutgers University Press, 1957.
Duggan, Alfred, _The Lady for Ransom_. New York, Coward-McCann,
Inc., 1954.
Hussey, J. M., _The Byzantine World_. New York, Rinehart & Company,
Inc., 1957.
Kielty, Bernardine, _The Fall of Constantinople_. New York, Random
House, 1957.
Lamb, Harold, _Constantinople: The Birth of an Empire_. New York,
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1957.
——, _Theodora and the Emperor: The Drama of Justinian_. Garden
City, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1952.
Masefield, John, _Conquer, A Tale of the Nika Rebellion in
Byzantium_. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1941.
Schoonover, Lawrence, _The Gentle Infidel_. New York, The Macmillan
Co., 1950.
Scott, Walter, _Count Robert_. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1953.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Alexius Comnenus (Alexius I), 19-20, 22
Alexius IV, 20, 22, 107-109
Alexius Bushy Eyebrows (Alexius V), 109
Andronicus, 104
Anna Comnena, 19, 100
Ariadne, 49
army, 46, 47, 57-63
art, 95-99
Augusta, the, 48
Augustaion, 34
Augustus, the, 32
_autokrator_ (ô-tok’rƏ-tēr), 44
_bandon_ (ban’dƏn), 59
Bardas, 105
Basil I, 51, 105
Basil the Bulgar Slayer (Basil II), 17
_basileus_ (bas’i-lūs), 45, 47
_basilissa_ (bas-i-lis’Ə), 48
bazaars, 34, 89
Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi, 17
bezant, 91-92
Blachernae, Palace of, 32
_Book of Ceremonies, The_, 50
Bosporus, 15, 25-26
Bouillon, Godfrey of, 14
Building of the Nineteen Beds, 29
Bukoleon, Palace of, 20, 28-32, 34, 87
Byzantine Empire, 17, 35, 38, 47,
fall of, 111-116
national traits, 44-45, 54, 68-69, 74, 103-106
origin of, 39-44
people of, 23-25
royalty, 33, 47-54
significance of, 93-103
Byzantium. _See_ Constantinople.
_caesar_ (sē’zēr), 41, 56
Caesar, Julius, 40, 58-59
_campagia_ (kam-pā’ji-Ə), 51
_cataphracts_ (kat’Ə-frakts), 59, 60, 61
Cathisma, 32
ceremonies, 33, 50-51
Chalké, 29
Charlemagne, 17, 99
Chrysopolis. _See_ Scutari.
Circus. _See_ Hippodrome.
Clari, Robert of, 28-29, 31-34, 43, 45, 107
Constantine the Great (Constantine I), 29, 41, 42-44, 73
Constantine Born-in-the-Purple (Constantine VII), 66-67, 99
Constantine XI, 113
Constantinople, 15, 16-17, 21, 25-35, 42-43, 45, 89
occupation during Fourth Crusade, 16-21, 107-111
seizure by Turks, 112-116
Cosmas Who-Sailed-to-India, 98
costume (military), 59; (royal), 50-51
crafts, 86
Crusades (First), 14, 20, 22;
(Fourth), 13-22, 45, 107-111
Cyril, Saint, 78, 80
Dandolo, Henry, 15-16, 20, 110
Daphne Palace, 29
Demetrius, Saint, 72
_Digenes Akrites_, 63-64
Diocletian, 41-42, 43, 44
diplomatic corps, 47, 65-66
_drungarius_ (drun-gâr´i-Əs), 47
Eastern Roman Empire. _See_ Byzantine Empire.
education, 99-101
_eikons_ (ī´kons), 75
_eparch_ (ep´ärk), 103
farming, 82-85
foreign trade, 82-83, 88-89, 91
Galata, 25
Golden Horn, 25-26
government, 46-56
officials, 55-56
Great Church. _See_ Santa Sophia.
Great Palace. _See_ Bukoleon, Palace of.
Greek Church. _See_ Orthodox Christian Church.
Greek Empire. _See_ Byzantine Empire.
Greek fire, 65
Gregory of Nyssa, Saint, 69
Harun al-Rashid, 101
Heraclius, 101
Hippodrome, 32, 35, 49, 50, 75, 110
Holy Chapel, 28-29
_homoiousion_ (ho-moi-ōō´si-Ən) = _homoousion_ (ho-mō-ōō´si-Ən)
controversy, 74
_How To Run the Empire_, 66-67
Iconoclast controversy, 74-76, 78
industry, 85-88, 103
Irene, 17, 48
_isapostolos_ (īs-Ə-pos´tƏl-Əs), 48
Istanbul. _See_ Constantinople.
John IV, 99-100
Justinian, 17, 38, 49-50, 51, 65
Kercuas, John, 17, 19
Khazars, 29
laws, 102-103, 104
Leo the Philosopher, 50, 99
Liutprand, Bishop, 29, 87-88
_logothesia_ (log-ō-thē´zhi-Ə), 56
_logothete_ (log´ō-thēt), 55
Logothete of the Dromos, or Grand Logothete, 55, 66
Lucas Notaras, 73
Magnaura Palace, 29
Manuel II, 99-100
Marmara, Sea of, 28
Mesé, 34
Methodius, Saint, 78, 80
Michael Paleologus, 111
Michael the Drunkard, 78, 105
Michael the Stutterer, 105
Michael Thinks-He’s-a-Soldier, 54
Micklegarth. _See_ Constantinople.
Midway. _See_ Mesé.
Mohammed II, 112-113
monuments and statues, 33, 34, 50
mosaics, 17, 95-98
navy, 46, 47, 64-65
New Rome. _See_ Constantinople.
Nicephorus Phocas, 19
Nika revolt, 32
_nipsistarios_ (nip-sis-ta´ri-ōs), 56
_orphanotrope_ (ôr-fan´Ə-trōp), 102
Orphanotrope, Grand, 102
Orthodox Christian, or Orthodox Eastern, Church, 17, 47, 48, 68-80,
101-103
patriarchs, 71
Pera quarter, 24, 25
Phocas, 51