<b>The Byzantines (476 to 1453)<b>

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 Emper
or Constantine had renamed this city Constantinople in the fourth century and ma
de 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 supplie
d by sea. At their zenith in the sixth century, the Byzantines covered much of t
he territories of the original Roman Empire, lacking only the Iberian Peninsula
(modern Spain and Portugal), Gaul (modern France), and Britain. The Byzantines a
lso held Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, but by the middle of the seventh century t
hey had lost them to the Arabs. From then on their empire consisted mainly of th
e Balkans and modern Turkey.
The first great Byzantine emperor was Justinian I (482 to 565). His ambition was
to restore the old Roman Empire and he nearly succeeded. His instrument was 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 syst
em and by defending the Christian Church.
The Byzantine economy was the richest in Europe for many centuries because Const
antinople 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 fro
m China. The nomisma, the principal Byzantine gold coin, was the standard for mo
ney throughout the Mediterranean for 800 years. Constantinople's strategic posit
ion 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 the Roman, Greek, Gothic, and Middle Eastern experience
in war. The core of the army was a shock force of heavy cavalry supported by bo
th 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 masse
s of untrained warriors, it prevailed thanks to intelligent tactics and good dis
cipline. The army was backed by a network of spies and secret agents that provid
ed 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 eighth ce
ntury, a land and sea attack by Arabs was defeated largely by a secret weapon, G
reek fire. This chemical weapon, its composition now unknown, was a sort of liqu
id napalm that could be sprayed from a hose. The Arab navy was devastated at sea
by Greek fire.
In the seventh and eighth centuries, the Arabs overran Egypt, the Middle East, N
orth Africa, and Spain, removing these areas permanently from Byzantine control.
A Turkish victory at Manzikert in 1071 led to the devastation of Asia Minor, th
e empire's most important source of grain, cattle, horses, and soldiers. In 1204
Crusaders led by the Doge of Venice used treachery to sack and occupy Constanti
nople.
In the fourteenth century, the Turks invaded Europe, capturing Adrianople and by
passing Constantinople. They settled the Balkans in large numbers and defeated a
large crusader army at Nicopolis in 1396. In May 1453, Turkish sultan Mehmet II
captured a weakly defended Constantinople with the aid of heavy cannon. The fal
l of the city brought the Byzantine Empire to an end.