It is necessary to begin a history of the middle ages with reference
to the decline of the Roman Empire. This decline was caused by various
circumstances, but chiefly by the weakened condition of society.
Instead of rearing a respectable lower and middle class, the Roman
aristocracy kept the mass of the people in slavery, so that at length
society consisted of but a comparatively small number of privileged
persons, including the military, and vast numbers of serfs or
slaves――the hangers-on of great men――and in effect paupers. ‘The
freedom of the ancient world expired in the course of ages,’ says
Alison, ‘from the small number of those who enjoyed its benefits. The
ruling citizens became corrupted from the influence of prosperity, or
by the seduction of wealth; and no infusion of energy took place from
the lower ranks to renovate their strength or supply their place.’
Besides this general, there was a special cause. In 321, Constantine
transferred the imperial abode from Rome to Byzantium, a city situated
on the Bosphorus, and afterwards called Constantinople. In his
endeavors to make this city the seat of government, Constantine only
partially succeeded; for it generally happened after his day that
there was one emperor in the East and another in the West, and not
unfrequently two or three different individuals in the provinces, at
the head of considerable military forces, claiming partial and even
universal empire. Rome itself, and the countries of western Europe,
were soon taken posession of by barbarous intruders, and lost all the
characteristics and individuality of empire; but Constantinople
continued for a thousand years the abode of men who had still the name
of emperors, reckoning themselves the descendants of the Cæsars,
although they had long ceased to wield anything but the shadow of
power. Constantine was himself instrumental in dismembering his
empire, having before his death divided it among no fewer than five
individuals――namely, his three sons, Constantine, Constans,
Constantius, and his two nephews, Dalmatius and Annipalianus, both of
whom bore in addition the surname of Cæsar――a name still popular among
a people who wished themselves to be considered Roman.
Constantine II soon fell a sacrifice to the cruelty and ambition of
his brother Constans, who in his turn lost his life in attempting to
quell a revolt among his subjects; and Constantius, the youngest of
the sons, having found means to destroy the two Cæsars, and five other
cousins, and two uncles, found himself at an early period of life the
undisputed master of the empire. He reigned twenty-four years, but
left no monuments of goodness or of greatness, having wasted his time
in the practice of vice, or in the equally unprofitable, if more
innocent, employment of disputing with bishops on the abstrusest
points of doctrinal theology; while a host of enemies, apparently from
every side of his dominions, were engaged in undermining and laying
waste the empire. It was in the West that these attacks were first
made, though perhaps it was in the East that they were fiercest.
Numberless and powerful barbarians now began to pour unceasingly upon
Gaul, Spain, and latterly upon Italy itself, from the forests of the
north, and in particular from those of Germany――a country whose
inhabitants have been remarkable in the history of the world, both as
having originated many of the greatest movements in society, and as
having laid open more of the sources of human thought than any people
that could be named. The Franks, Saxons, Goths, and Alemanni,
devastated the fine countries watered by the Rhine, and so effectually
severed them from the Empire, that from this period their history
becomes wholly separate. At the same time the Sarmatians, Persians,
Scythians, and others, made dreadful incursions in the East. All that
Constantius could do to stem this powerful tide was to raise his
kinsman Julian, whom he surnamed Cæsar, to command in the army.
Julian had been early instructed in the Christian religion, but he is
not known to have ever given it any credit, although he has been often
called apostate. He had imbibed the philosophy of Plato in the schools
of Athens; and with this learning, with the elements of a great
character in his mind, and with the models of Cæsar, of Trajan, and of
Marcus Antonius in his eye, he formed the design, and seemed to have
the ability, to raise up and consolidate the glories of a falling
Empire. His victories over the Alemanni in Gaul, although they
preserved the Empire, excited only the envy of the emperor, and
Constantius was about to depose him from his command, when his own
death saved him from the ignominy to which the soldiery would
certainly have subjected him for any attempt to degrade their favorite
commander. Julian was himself declared emperor by the army, and the
people had lost both the power and the will to resist. Unfortunately
for his fame, Julian perished in battle with the Persians only three
years after his accession. In that short period he had reformed many
abuses in the state; and though personally hostile to the Christian
religion, and though he used both arguments and ridicule against it,
he not only advocated, but practiced universal toleration. It is
creditable also to Julian, that in establishing the ancient orders of
Roman priesthood, he was at pains to enforce a strict morality in all
the relations of life. He was succeeded, after the fall of several
candidates, by Valentinian, whose father had been a soldier from the
Danube. This emperor took for colleague his brother Valens, to whom he
assigned Constantinople and the government of the East. The reign of
Valens was signalized by the irruption into Europe of an enemy till
then unknown to the Romans; these were the _Huns_, a confederation of
Tartar tribes, some of whom had obtained the ascendancy and control
over the rest, and led them on to invade the nations of Europe. Their
numbers and ferocity led the ancient writers to describe them in terms
of consternation, which to moderns, who are no strangers to Calmucs,
Cossacks, Tartars, and other tribes of similar origin, appear
sufficiently ludicrous. They never lived in houses, slept under trees,
ate raw flesh, and were altogether superior in war even to the Goths,
who were now in alliance with the Romans, and had begun to relish the
comforts of a settled life. They were, therefore, driven away before
the Huns, and were forced, in search of a home, to invade the Roman
territory. Here they were opposed by the Emperor Valens; but they
defeated his army, and made his own life a sacrifice. He was succeeded
by his nephew Gratian, who chose for his colleague Theodosius, a
general of talents and celebrity. This emperor restored the confidence
of his own army, and broke the power of the Goths, by his skill and
caution; and was the first of the emperors who practiced the mode of
dividing the barbarians against one another, by giving money to such
of their tribes as he imagined would make useful auxiliaries. This
system, which the wealth of the emperors (from their possession of all
the maritime and trading cities) enabled them long to use against
their poorer enemies, often saved the Empire at the expense of its
dignity; for though the money was given at first as a gratuity, it was
sometimes demanded in times of weakness as a tribute. This Theodosius
(commonly called the Great) was the first who made Christianity the
established religion of the Empire (390). He procured a senatorial
edict in favor of the Christians and their religion, sanctioned the
destruction of the heathen temples, and forbade the performance of
sacrifices either in public or private. The Empire under this prince
still preserved its original extent; but he divided it between his two
sons, Arcadius and Honorius (394), and its parts were never afterwards
reunited.
From the death of Theodosius II (449) to the reign of Justinian (527),
the Eastern Empire continued without any considerable alteration,
though there were many changes and intrigues in the court and army.
The reign of the latter prince is memorable on several accounts: it
was under his auspices that a knowledge of the silk manufacture was
first brought to Europe, where it gave employment to much ingenious
industry (900). Justinian also caused certain eminent lawyers to
prepare a code of laws, and an abridgement of law decisions, etc.
called the Pandects, which were used by all his successors, and have
been adopted as the basis of their laws by several countries of
Europe. With the single exception of the _Code de Napoleon_, these
form the only complete and perfect abstract of national law which any
government has given to its people. Whatever may have been Justinian’s
errors in other respects, his having projected this work, and procured
so many able ministers to execute it, must redound forever to his
honor. The talents and virtues of his general Belisarius regained to
the Empire Africa and a great part of Italy, from the Vandals and
Ostrogoths; this conquest, however, only prevented the latter region
from being united under one government, and has been the cause of its
remaining a feeble and divided country ever since. In the reign of
Tiberius shortly after (580), the people of Rome, though they
entreated with great earnestness the aid and pity of the emperor, who
now claimed to rule over them, were unable to obtain any relief, and
remained distracted between their attachment to the ancient head of
the Empire, and the claims of his enemies who occupied the rest of
Italy.
The next emperor who merits attention is Heraclius (610), a native of
Africa. The Eastern Empire had till now preserved its ancient
boundaries in their full extent, and was mistress of Carthage, Egypt,
Syria, and Asia Minor, besides Greece, and the countries on the
Danube. The Roman armies on the eastern frontier had, however, been
lately driven in by Chosroes, king of Persia, who now occupied all the
north of Africa and Syria. This was the first great violation of their
territory sustained by the emperors of Constantinople; and Heraclius
avenged it with a celerity and effect which made the Persians tremble.
His triumph, however, was short, for the latter part of his reign was
disturbed by the rise and victories of Mohammed. The successors of
this signal impostor, after breaking the power of Persia (already
weakened by the victories of Heraclius), immediately attacked the
Roman Empire; then defeated its armies in two battles, occupied all
Syria, and obliged the emperor (now an old man) to retire to
Constantinople. He died in 641.
The continued victories of the followers of Mohammed (called Arabs or
Saracens) soon deprived the Empire of Egypt, Africa, and Syria; and in
668 they followed up their success by attacking Constantinople itself.
The city sustained two sieges, in the first of which the Saracens were
encamped in its neighborhood, and carried on the operations of a siege
at intervals, for seven years; and in the second, for nearly two. In
both the Saracens wasted immense resources ineffectually.
The Empire had now lost all its provinces eastward of Mount Taurus,
and the cities of Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch, were in the
hands of the Mohammedans. There was little further change in its
condition till the year 867, under the Emperor Basil, who gave new
vigor both to the internal administration and to the military
resources of the government. This prince, and his immediate
predecessor Zimisces, made the Roman arms――for they still wished to be
called Romans――respected on the Euphrates, and Tigris, and asserted
the ancient warlike reputation and boundaries of the Empire. They
were now, however, deprived of the resources they had enjoyed in
the secure possession of the great commercial cities of the
Mediterranean――Alexandria, Carthage, Cæsarea, etc.; and the trade and
revenues of those which remained were crippled and diminished, from
the want of that free general intercourse which had existed when they
were all under one government. Hence the armies were maintained with
greater difficulty, and any victories that were gained could not be
followed up with effect. The early enemies of the Empire――the Goths,
Vandals, and Huns――had now settled into civilized communities, and
were no longer formidable. The foes with whom it contended latterly
were the Bulgarians and Seljukian Turks; the former of whom were
rather troublesome than dangerous, but the latter, who had succeeded
the Saracens in the dominion of Asia, aimed at nothing short of the
destruction of the Roman name. They succeeded at last by defeating and
taking prisoner the Emperor Romanus Diogenes, in tearing away almost
the whole province of Asia Minor (1099); so that the emperors were now
confined to the dominions in Europe, which, however, still formed a
monarchy not much smaller than France or Spain.
The manners of the court of Constantinople during much of this period
were dissolute and corrupt. We are told of one emperor who ordered a
plate of human noses to be brought to his table; another was
accustomed to seize the deputies of cities whose tribute was in
arrear, and suspend them with their heads downwards over a slow fire;
a third got up farces in mockery of the ceremonies of religion; and,
in general, the appointment of officers, and even the succession to
the Empire (where it was not seized by some successful general), were
in the hands of the women and eunuchs of the palace. The cities and
provinces generally acquiesced as to the choice of an emperor in the
decision of the capital or army; this circumstance shows that the laws
were attended to, and that there was a regular system of government,
which were not much disturbed by the personal character of the
reigning prince. The countries of Greece, however, which had formerly
been the seat of knowledge and the arts, were now sunk in ignorance;
and the little learning that was cultivated in Athens was only
scholastic divinity, or the pedantry of law and grammar. There is no
scholar, or philosopher, or poet, of the empire of Constantinople who
is generally known to posterity.
A great change took place in the relations of the Empire after the
eleventh century. It was still pressed by the Turks on the East, who
now occupied Asia Minor, and were only separated from Constantinople
by the Hellespont; while in Europe its territories were disturbed by
the incursions of certain Norman adventurers who had settled in
Sicily. Against these enemies the Emperor Claudius Comnenus, an active
prince, and full of resources, made all the resistance which his
diminished revenues allowed. He applied to the Christian sovereigns of
Europe to aid him in expelling the Mohammedans from the territories of
the Empire, but above all, to drive out the Turks from the land of
Judea, which they occupied and profaned, and where they harassed the
Christian pilgrims who desired to visit the scenes of Scripture
history. His appeal was received in Europe at a time when many
concurring causes had brought the mass of the people to a state of
uneasiness which at once foreboded and rendered necessary some
extensive change in their condition. Countrymen of their own, pilgrims
from the shrine of the tomb of Chist, had returned and filled them
with horror by a recital of indignities which Turkish infidels were
casting on those scenes and subjects with which their own most sacred
feelings were associated; and the result was that extraordinary
outpouring of the inhabitants of Europe upon Asia, which has been
termed the Crusades, and to which we shall afterwards advert.