The
Byzantines took their name from Byzantium, an ancient city on the
Bosphorus, the strategic waterway linking the Black Sea to the Aegean
Sea. The Roman Emperor Constantine had renamed this city Constantinople
in the 4th century and made it a sister capital of his empire. This
eastern partition of the Roman Empire outlived its western counterpart
by a thousand years, defending Europe against invasions from the east
by Persians, Arabs, and Turks. The Byzantines persevered because Constantinople
was well defended by walls and the city could be supplied by sea.
At their zenith in the middle 7th century, the Byzantines had recovered
much of the original Roman Empire, lacking only the Iberian Peninsula
(modern Spain), Gaul (modern France), and Britain. The Byzantines
held the Middle East briefly, but their empire consisted mainly of
the Balkans and modern Turkey.
The first great Byzantine Emperor was Justinian I (482-565). His
ambition was to restore the old Roman Empire and he nearly succeeded.
His instrument the greatest general of the age, Belisarius, who
crisscrossed the empire defeating Persians to the East, Vandals
in North Africa, Ostrogoths in Italy, and Bulgars and Slavs in the
Balkans. In addition to military campaigns, Justinian laid the foundation
for the future by establishing a strong legal and administrative
system, and by defending the Christian Church.
Dark Age
Feudal Age
Castle Age
Imperial Age
The Byzantine economy was the richest in Europe for many centuries
because Constantinople was ideally sited on trade routes between
Asia, Europe, the Black Sea, and the Aegean Sea. It was an important
destination point for the Silk Road from China. The nomisma, the
principal Byzantine gold coin, was the standard for money throughout
the Mediterranean for 800 years. Constantinople's strategic position
eventually attracted the envy and animosity of the Italian city-states.
A key strength of the Byzantine Empire was its generally superior
army that drew on the best elements of Roman, Greek, Gothic, and
Middle Eastern experience in war. The core of the army was a shock
force of heavy cavalry supported by both light infantry (archers)
and heavy infantry (armored swordsmen). The army was organized into
units and drilled in tactics and maneuvers. Officers received an
education in military history and theory. Although outnumbered usually
by masses of untrained warriors, it prevailed thanks to intelligent
tactics and good discipline. The army was backed by a network of
spies and secret agents that provided information about enemy plans
and could be used to bribe or otherwise deflect aggressors.
The Byzantine navy kept the sea-lanes open for trade and kept supply
lines free so the city could not be starved into submission when
besieged. In the 8th century a land and sea attack by Arabs was
defeated largely by a secret weapon, Greek fire. This chemical weapon,
its composition now unknown, was a sort of liquid napalm that could
be sprayed from a hose. The Arab navy was devastated at sea by Greek
fire.
In the 7th and 8th centuries, the Arabs overran Egypt, the Middle
East, North Africa, and Spain, removing these areas permanently
from Byzantine control. A Turkish victory at Manzikert in 1071 led
to the devastation of Asia Minor, the empire's most important source
of grain, cattle, horses, and soldiers. In 1204 crusaders led the
Doge of Venice used treachery to sack Constantinople.
In the 14th century the Turks invaded Europe, capturing Adrianople
and bypassing Constantinople. They settled the Balkans in large
numbers and defeated a large crusader army at Nicopolis in 1396.
In May of 1453, Turkish Sultan Mehmet II captured a weakly defended
Constantinople with the aid of heavy cannon. The fall of the city
brought the Byzantine Empire to an end.
The
Byzantines took their name from Byzantium, an ancient city on the
Bosphorus, the strategic waterway linking the Black Sea to the Aegean
Sea. The Roman Emperor Constantine had renamed this city Constantinople
in the 4th century and made it a sister capital of his empire. This
eastern partition of the Roman Empire outlived its western counterpart
by a thousand years, defending Europe against invasions from the east
by Persians, Arabs, and Turks. The Byzantines persevered because Constantinople
was well defended by walls and the city could be supplied by sea.
At their zenith in the middle 7th century, the Byzantines had recovered
much of the original Roman Empire, lacking only the Iberian Peninsula
(modern Spain), Gaul (modern France), and Britain. The Byzantines
held the Middle East briefly, but their empire consisted mainly of
the Balkans and modern Turkey.
