Byzantium

1. Byzantium Chapter 9 EQs: Why is Byzantium called the “Second Rome”? How did Byzantium flourish while fending off Muslim and Barbarian invasions?

2. Beginnings • It was Constantine the Great who began the re-building of Byzantium in 324, naming the city Constantinople and dedicating it in 330. This founding marks the early beginnings of the empire. • Constantinople became the sole capital of the Eastern Roman Empire • The death of the complete Roman Empire in 476 AD marked the birth of the new Roman Empire in Constantinople. Greek influences resurfaced. • Greek thus became primary language in the 6th C • The empire was renamed Byzantine after the city Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople. • The empire benefited from being the focal point of trade from east to west and vice versa

3. Justinian • The greatest of all the eastern emperors was clearly Justinian (c.482-565), who reigned for thirty-eight years between 527 and 565. • Justinian was a reformer in the fashion of Augustus Caesar. • It was Justinian's desire to restore the Empire -- both East and West -- to all of its former glory. • In fact, it has been said that his desire to restore the former Roman Empire was an obsession (Nova Roma)

4. Justinian • His greatest accomplishment toward this end was the revision and codification of Roman law. Justinian understood that a strong government could not exist without good laws. • The Byzantine laws had grown too numerous and too confusing. • Justinian created a commission of sixteen men to bring order out of all the laws. • These men worked for six years and studied more than 2000 texts. • In 534, the commission produced the Corpus Juris Civilis – the Body of Civil Law (Justinian Code). • Contained laws pertaining to religion, anti-paganism, heresy crimes and anti-Semitism

5. Theodora’s Influence • Justinian was aided by his wife, Theodora (c.500-547), the daughter of a bearkeeper at the Hippodrome, and was no less ambitious than her husband. • In 532, mob violence erupted in Constantinople. These riots were called the Nika Riots ("Nika"= "Victory!"), and grew from political unrest over the government's fiscal measures. • Rival factions of Blues and Greens (admirers of rival chariot-racing teams) fought in the streets over the results of a chariot race (kinda like soccer hooligans). • Some Byzantine Senators saw this riot as an opportunity to overthrow Justinian • Justinian wanted to leave the city during the riots, but two of his generals (Belisarius and Narses) and his wife Theodora, persuaded him to stay. • Theodora took it upon herself to raise a personal army, an army that eventually killed 35,000 people in a single day and expelled the plotting senators.

6. Arab Pressures • Justinian’s successors began to concentrate on protecting the eastern frontier from Muslim invasions • The Byzantine Empire managed to withstand this threat, but not without losses • Byzantine control over the Mediterranean realm began to slip as the Arabs built a strong navy • Byzantium also held off a siege of Arab ships by using a new weapon called “Greek fire” • The empire lost key points in Phoenicia, Palestine and Egypt

7. The Bulgars • The most serious challenge to Byzantium was Bulgaria • Bulgarian kings were feisty and resisted Byzantine rule from Constantinople’s founding all the way thru the 11th century • 1014 – Basil II finally defeated the Bulgarian threat; he blinded their captive soldiers and bribed as many of their generals to gain their favor

8. Society/Politics • Similar to early China • Emperor ordained by God, was head of Orthodox church • Women held considerable authority throughout the empire’s history • Theodora (NOT Justianian’s wife) exerted her power as emperor • An elaborate bureaucracy (China similarity again) supported the emperor, one educated in Greek traditions/knowledge • Members of this bureaucracy could come from any social classes, though aristocrats dominated • This bureaucracy regulated trade (Silk Road) and food prices as well as taxed the peasants for resources • Military organization similar to Roman organization • Peasants served the army in return for land grants that could be passed down via inheritance

9. Society/Politics • Empire depended on control over countryside (rural base) • A large controlled peasant class was crucial to providing tax revenue to the empire’s treasury • The empire was not very urbanized; Constantinople was only large city • Trade was crucial • Held together the network of trade that linked China/India to the newly emerging European kingdoms • Life was centered on secular Greek traditions • Orthodox Christian artwork was took mosaic form, which even brought controversy (icons were considered graven idols)

10. Religious Influence and Issues • Little innovative artistic creativity emerged from Byzantium save those in the forms of religious arts and architecture (still influenced by Rome and Greece) • The construction of domed churches (ie. Haggia Sophia) continued Roman architectural forms • The creation of mosaics and icon painting flourished, enough to cause controversy…a brief clash over iconoclasm ensued (concern that icons were idols)…eventually it disappeared • What did occur was a rift between the West (Rome and Catholicism) and the East (the Orthodox Church of Byzantium)…the Greek Bible was translated into Latin…popes got involved with the iconoclasm issue…Charlemagne becomes declared the “true heir of Rome” • In 1054, the schism was made official (thanks to an argument over bread and sex) as pope and head of the Orthodox church excommunicated each other

11. Spreading Byzantium • Emperors realized they could gain influence over other areas by spreading Orthodox faith in Slavic “Cyrillic” language translation to various “barbaric” societies • Missionaries like St. Cyril and Methodius went into Eastern Europe and Kievan Russia and brought them a new language and a new faith • Each area was absorbed into the Byzantine Empire through this conversion

12. The Rise of Eastern Europe and Russia • Slavic peoples migrated into Russia and eastern Europe during the Roman Empire…they were simple agriculturalists organized in tribes and villages • They practiced animism, had rich oral traditions and songs to tell their histories • Some established trade on rivers, and began interacting with Byzantium…the traders gained political control/influence • A monarchy emerged in Kiev in the 9th C and flourished as a center of commercial trade…Byzantine influence began with the conversion of Vladimir the I to Orthodox Christianity in the late 10th C. • Vladimir preferred orthodox Christianity because it gave him direct power as ruler/controller of the faith…Roman Catholicism beckoned for control by the papacy.

13. Institutions and Culture in the Kievan Rus • Kiev borrowed much from Byzantium, but was unable to duplicate the bureaucratic system • Rulers favored the Byzantine style of rule, a god-like king who was leader of the church, devotion to God’s power, to saints, churches and iconic figures…even polygamy stopped and Russian priests were allowed to marry and have children • Literary styles emphasized religion and politics while art mainly depicted religion • Peasants were free farmers and the landed aristocracies (boyars) had less political power

14. Kievan Decline • Began in the 12th century when rival princes established competing governments • Asian invaders seized territory as trade diminished due to Byzantine decay…the Mongols were sweeping in from central Asia, blocking commercial contacts with the West • The culture, however, survived, because the tolerant Mongols did not interfere with local customs, just politics and trade…as long as tribute was paid, the Russians were left alone

15. Byzantine Decline • The major force that caused Byzantine decline was the Turks who converted to Islam • Seljuk Turks – fierce nomadic warriors who came from Central Asia and took their Asian provinces which provided food and taxes (Manzikert,1071) • Byzantium pleaded to European Christians for help, they got it in the form of the Crusades, but this eventually led to a greedy pillaging of their dying empire • 1453 – Beginning of the Ottoman Empire

16. This Week… • Tuesday: Document Analysis Pg 207 • Wednesday: PERSIA Chart on Byzantine Empire • Thursday: I/O on Byzantine Empire (see next slide for topic questions) • Friday: Chapter 9 test  Notes Due

17. Byzantine I/O • Topic questions for discussion • #1: Discuss the Byzantine Religious, Political and Social Structure. Is it “truly” a second Rome? • #2: In what ways is the Byzantine Empire similar/different to China? • #3: How is Russia a stepchild of the Byzantine Empire? Why was the rest of Eastern Europe not dominated by Byzantine culture?