1. The Commonwealth of Byzantium
Chapter 13
The Commonwealth
of Byzantium

3. The Early Byzantine Empire
Capital: Byzantium
On the Bosporus
Commercial, strategic value of location
Constantine names capital after himself (Constantinople), moves capital there 330 CE
1453 falls to Turks, renamed Istanbul

4. The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium
Byzantine Empire inherits Roman Empire after fall of Rome in 5th c. CE
preserved Greco-Roman culture and advancements
Eastern territories remain major power until 13th c. CE

5. Shifts of the Byzantine Empire

6. The Later Roman Empire Roman infrastructure in place
Roads, institutional hierarchies
Challenges from strong Persian empire (Sassanid dynasty, CE)
Invasions of Germanic peoples

7. Caesaropapism Power centralized in figure of emperor
Christian leader cannot claim divinity, rather divine authority
Political rule
Involved in religious rule as well
Authority absolute

8. The Byzantine Court Etiquette reinforces authority of Emperor
Royal purple
Prostration
Mechanical devices designed to inspire awe

9. Justinian (527-565 CE) The “sleepless emperor”
Wife Theodora as advisor
Background: circus performer
Uses army to contain tax riots, ambitious construction program
The church of Hagia Sophia
Codification of Roman Law
Justinian’s Code

10. Mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and her retinue, from Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

11. The Hagia Sophia

12. The Hagia Sophia

13. Constantinople

14. Byzantine Conquests
General Belisarius recaptures much of western Roman Empire under Justinian
Unable to consolidate control of territories
Withdrew to defend empire from Sassanids, Slavs

15. The Byzantine Empire and its neighbors 527-554 CE

16. Islamic Conquests and Byzantine Revival
7th century Arab Muslim expansion
Besieged Byzantium ,
Defense made possible through use of a weapon “Greek fire”

17. Imperial Organization
Themes (provinces) under control of generals
Military administration
Control from central imperial government
Soldiers from peasant class, rewarded with land grants

18. Tensions with Western Europe
Church
Byzantine: Greek; Roman: Latin
Conflicts over hierarchical control
Fealty of Germanic peoples
Roman pope crowns Charlemagne in 800, a challenge to Byzantine authority

19. Byzantine Economy and Society
Constantinople largest city in Europe, 5th-13th c.
Dependent on small landholders, free peasants
Earlier large landholdings destroyed by invasions in 6th-7th centuries
Theme system rewards soldiers with land grants

20. Decline of the Free Peasantry
Despite economic and social benefits of small peasants landholdings, large landholdings on the increase
Reduces tax revenues, recruits to military
Last three centuries indicate steady decline of economy

21. Manufacturing and Trade
Trade routes bring key technologies, e.g. silk industry
Advantage of location causes crafts and industry to expand after 6th century
Tax revenues from silk route
Banking services develop

22. Urban Life
Aristocrats: palaces; artisans: apartments; working poor: communal living spaces
Hippodrome
Chariot races, “greens vs. blues”
Politically inspired rioting
Role of Theodora & Justinian

23. “Whether or not a woman should give an example of courage to men, is neither here nor there…At a moment of desperate danger, one must do what one can…If flight were the only means of safety, still I would not flee. Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss…Emperor, if you wish to flee, well and good, you have the money, the ships are ready, the sea is clear. But I shall stay. I accept the ancient proverb: Royal purple is the best burial sheet.”
Theodora, AD 532

24. Orthodox Christianity
Legacy of Classical Greece
Greek replaces Latin after 6th c. CE; language of New Testament
Byzantine education sponsors development of large literate class for state bureaucracy
Training in classical canon

25. The Byzantine Church
By 6th C. Christianity is the dominant cultural community
Church and state closely aligned
Council of Nicea (325) bans Arian movement
Human/divine nature of Jesus
Constantine favors Arians, but supports Nicean condemnation
Byzantine Emperors appoint patriarchs
Caesaropapism creates dissent in church

26. Iconoclasm Emperor Leo III (r. 717-741 CE) Icons seen as a heresy
Destruction of icons after 726 CE
Popular protest, rioting
Policy abandoned 843 CE

27. Greek Philosophy and Byzantine Theology
Attempt to reconcile Greek philosophy with Judeo-Christianity
Constantine establishes school to apply philosophical methods to religious questions

28. Ascetism Hermit-like existence Celibacy Fasting Prayer
St. Simeon Stylite
Lived atop pillar for 37 years in Syria

29. Byzantine Monasticism and St. Basil (329-379 CE)
Patriarch of Constantinople reforms monasteries
Communal living
Hierarchical structure
Mt. Athos
No women, female animals allowed
Currently a World Heritage Site, is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries

30. The church at the Monastery of Great Lavra was the first monastery built on Mount Athos in 963.

31. Tensions between Eastern and Western Christianity
Ritual disputes
Beards on clergy
Leavened bread for Mass
Right for clergy to marry (West - yes, East - no)
Services in Latin in West, Greek in East
Theological disputes
Iconoclasm
Nature of the Trinity

32. Schism Arguments over hierarchy, jurisdiction
Autonomy of Patriarchs, or Primacy of Rome?
1054 Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope of Rome excommunicate each other
East: Orthodox Church
West: Roman Catholic

33. Social Problems in the Byzantine Empire
Generals of themes become allied with local aristocrats
Intermarry, create class of elite
Occasional rebellions vs. Imperial Rule

34. Challenges from the West
Western European economic development
Normans from Scandinavia press on Byzantine territories
Crusades of 12th-13th centuries rampage through Byzantine territory
Constantinople sacked, 1204

35. Challenges from the East
Muslim Saljuqs invade Anatolia
Threatens grain supply
Defeat Byzantine army in 1071, creates civil conflict
Period of steady decline until Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople in 1453
Renamed Istanbul

36. The Byzantine empire and its neighbors about 1100 CE

37. Influence on Slavic Cultures
Relations from 6th c. CE
Bulgaria influenced culturally, politically
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Create Cyrillic alphabet
Slavic lands develop orientation to Byzantium

38. Kievan Rus Conversion of Prince Vladimir, 989 CE
Byzantine culture influences development of Slavic cultures
Distinctively Slavic Orthodox church develops
Eventual heir to Byzantium

39. St. Sophia Cathedral

40. St. Basil's Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower of Kremlin, Red Square, Moscow

41. Kievan Russia