Rome’s Three heirs: The Byzantine, Islamic and Early Medieval

Western Worlds.
The Byzantine Empire and its Culture.

Plan:
1. The successors of Rome.

2. Reappraised of Byzantine and Islamic civilizations.

3. The Byzantine achievement impressive despite weaknesses.

4. Problems of periodization in Byzantine history.

5. The reign of Heraclius: the rise of Islam.

A new period in the history of Western civilization began in the 7 th century, when
it became clear that there would no longer be a single empire ruling over all the
territories bordering on the Mediterranean. By about 700 A. D. in a place of
united Rome, there were three successor civilizations that stood as rivals on
different Mediterranean shores: the Islamic, the Byzantine and the Western
Christian. Each of these had its own language and distinctive forms of life. The
Byzantine civilization, which descended directly from the Eastern Roman Empire,
was Greek-speaking and dedicated to combining Roman governmental traditions
which intense pursuit of the Christian faith. The Islamic civilization was Arabic-
speaking and inspired in government as well as culture by the idealism of a
dynamic new religion. Western Christian civilization in comparison to the others
was a laggard. It was the least economically advanced and faced organizational
weaknesses both in government and religion. But it did have some basic of unity
in Christianity and the Latin language, and would soon begin to find greater
political and religious cohesiveness.

Because the Western Christian civilization ultimately outstripped its rivals

Western writers until recently have tended to denigrate the Byzantine and Islamic
civilizations as backward even irrational of the three, however, the Western
Christian was certainly the most backward from about the 7 th to the 11th
centuries.

For some four or five hundred years the West lived in the shadow of
Constantinople and Mecca. Scholars are only now beginning to recognize the full
measure of Byzantine and Islamic accomplishments. These greatly merit out
attention both for their own sakes and because they influenced Western
European development in many direct and indirect ways.

Once dismissed by the historian Gibbon as “a tedious and uniform tale of

weakness and misery” the story of Byzantine civilization is today recognized as a
most interesting and impressive one. It is true that the Byzantine Empire was in
was in many respectsnot very innovative, it was also continually beset by grave
external threats and internal weaknesses. Nonetheless it managed to survive for
a millennium. In fact the empire didn’t just survive, it frequently prospered and
greatly influenced the world around it. Among many other achievements, it
helped preserve ancient Greek thought, created magnificent works of art and
brought Christian culture to pagan peoples, above all the Slavs. Simply stated it
was one of the most enduring and influential empires the world has ever known.

It is impossible to date the beginning of Byzantine history with any precision

because the Byzantine Empire was the uninterrupted successor of the Roman
state. For this reason different historians prefer different beginnings. Some argue
that “Byzantine” characteristics already emerged in Roman history as a result of
the eastermizing policy of Diocletian, and others that Byzantine history began
when Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople, the city which
subsequently became the center of Byzantine world. (The old name for the site
on which Constantinople was built was Byzantium; from which we get the
adjective Byzantine; it would be more accurate but cumbersome to say
Constantinopotitine) Diocletian and Constantine; however, continued to rule a
united Roman Empire. As we have seen, as late as the 6 th century, after the
western part of the Empire had fallen to the Germans, the Eastern Roman
Emperor Justinian thought of himself as an heir to Augustus and fought hard to
win back the West. Justinian’s reign was clearly an important turning point in the
direction of Byzantine civilization because it saw the crystallization of new forms
of thought and art that can be considered more “Byzantine” than “Roman”. But
this still remains a matter of subjective emphasis some scholars emphasize these
new forms, while others respond that Justinian continued to speak Latin and
dreamed of restoring old Rome. Only after 610 did a new dynasty emerge that
came from the East, spoke Greek, and maintained a fully Eastern or properly
“Byzantine” policy. Hence although good arguments can be made for beginning
Byzantine history with Diocletian, Constantine or Justinian, we will begin here
with the accession in 610 of the Emperor Heraclius.

It is also convenient to begin in 610 because from then until 1071 main lines of
Byzantine military and political history were determined by resistance against
successive waves of invasions from the East when Heraclius came to the throne
the very existence of the Byzantine Empire was being challenged by the Persians,
who had conquered almost all of the empire’s Asian territories. As a symbol of
their triumph the Persians in 614 even carried off the relic believed to be part of
the original cross from Jerusalem. By enormous effort Heraclius rallied Byzantine
strength and turned the tide, routing the Persians and retrieving the cross in 627.

Persia was then reduced to subordination and Heraclius reigned in glory until 641.
But in his last years new armies began to invade Byzantine territory, swarming out
of hitherto placid Arabia. Inspired by the new religion of Islam and profiting from
Byzantine exhaustion after the struggle with Persia, the Arabs made astonishingly
rapid gains. By 650 they had taken most of the Byzantine territories the Persians
had occupied briefly in the early 7 th century, had conquered all of Persia itself and
were making their way westward across North Africa. Having become a
Mediterranean power, the Arabs also took to the sea. In 677 they tried to
conquer Constantinople with a fleet. Failing that, they attempted to take the city
again in 717 by means of a concerted land and sea operation.

The Arabs threat to Constantinople in 717 was a new law in Byzantine fortunes,
but the threat was countered by the Emperor Leo the Isaurian(717-741) with as
much resolution as Heraclius had met the Persian threat a century before. With
the help of a secret incendiary device known as “Greek fire” and great military
ability, Leo was able to defeat the Arab forces on sea and land. Leo’s relief
Constantinople in 717 was one of the most significant battles in European history,
not just because it allowed the Byzantine Empire to endure for centuries more,
but also because it helped to save the West: had the Islamic armies taken
Constantinople there would have been little to stop them from sweeping through
the rest of Europe. Over the next few decades the Byzantines were able to
conquer most of Asia Minor. This territory, together with Greece became the
heartland of their empire for the next three hundred years. Thereafter the
Byzantines achieved a statement with Islam until they were able to take the
offensive against a decaying Islamic power in the second half of the tenth century.

At the end of the period of Late Antiquity in the seventh century, Western
civilization centered around three great civilizations: the Byzantine, the Islamic,
and Western Europe. The history of these three civilizations through the eleventh
century is characterized by rivalries and interactions between them, each of
which preserved different aspects of the legacy they inherited.

The Byzantines spoke Greek and combined the imperial tradition of the Roman
world with an intense Christianity. Although they faced several challenges from
Persia, Islam, and the Seljuk Turks, their history is largely the story of violence and
palace revolts. Religious controversies sometimes spilled over into politics for the
simple reason that the emperor represented the highest power of church and
state. The Iconoclastic Controversy was as much about doctrinal disputes as it was
political machinations. Despite the palace intrigue, Byzantine civilization was an
important bulwark against Islamic encroachment as much as it was for preserving
Greek ideas and classical literature.

The Islamic world was quite different: it was Arabic speaking and the most
cosmopolitan of the three civilizations. Central to Islamic civilization was its
religion; the religion was founded by Muhammad while he was engaged in a
period of spiritual reflection in the Arabian desert. He was able to gain a few
converts; however, the community at Mecca, a large trading depot, would have
nothing to do with him. Migrating to Medina, his following grew until 630, when
he returned to Mecca. Mecca would emerge as the holiest site of Islamic
pilgrimage. After Muhammad's death, the religion split into various factions. The
issue was not necessarily theological, but rather political, and so Islam, like the
Byzantines, was a culture in which religion and politics were interconnected. Also,
like the Byzantine Empire, Islam helped to preserve and transmit the classical
heritage of learning. Scholars not only preserved and translated texts, they also
commented on them. In the end, our knowledge of Plato, Aristotle and others
was not only preserved by Islamic scholars, it was enriched at the same time.

In Western Europe, the situation is also quite different. While Byzantium and
Islam were building civilizations of great material wealth and internal dynamism,
Western Europe was rebuilding after the fall of Rome. In Gaul, came the
Merovingians who, under Clovis, became committed Christians. The number of
monastic houses increased dramatically and Pope Gregory I tried to mend the
theological split with Constantinople. The Frankish law of succession led to
nothing but political instability until the reign of Charlemagne at the end of the
seventh century. It has been said that "as Charlemagne ruled, Europe was born."
He stabilized his empire and conquered new lands-his goal was nothing short of a
Christian Republic, a unified Christian society. With the help of Alcuin of York,
Charlemagne also managed to institute the Carolingian Renaissance, in which
classical learning would find itself at the center of the palace and cathedral
schools. Following the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish kingdom collapsed as
Europe entered what is, perhaps, rightly called a Dark Age.

If history can be said to tell the story of Europe's triumph over all of the rest of
the world, then the Byzantine Empire played a significant role in Europe's victory.
At first, the Byzantine Empire was an ally of the West, although later it became an
adversary. In both cases, the Byzantine Empire stood as a bulwark against Eastern
expansion - first Persian and later Moslem.

The Byzantine Empire was the name applied to what remained of the eastern

Roman Empire after 450AD. It was centered around the eastern end of the
Mediterranean , and located between the Nile Valley, the southern shore of the
Black Sea, and inland as far as Mesopotamia. The principal city of the Byzantine
Empire was the former eastern capital, Constantinople.

The Byzantine Empire was surrounded by enemies. It was due west of the

powerful Persian empire that revived in Parthia following the Roman retreat. The
Byzantine Empire also faced a challenge from European barbarians in the West.
The central Asian nomads that challenged the Western Roman Empire also
offered a constant threat. Finally, because the Byzantine Empire was located
between Black and Mediterranean Seas, it was a major naval power .

The basic concern of emperors in both Rome and Constantinople was how to

maintain the empire . Once Rome was sacked in the fifth century AD, their
concern switched to "how to reconstruct the empire." That presented two
practical problems: how to raise an army, and how to organize a system of
administration. The answers to both problems required men, wealth and imperial
unity.

In the Byzantine Empire, the Christian Church became a tool for solving both
problems. The Church controlled great wealth through the system of tithes,
which required each Christian to donate one tenth of his earnings to the Church
to pay for good works. Later, Christianity also provided a sense of unity of
purpose for recolonizing the western Roman Empire in the name of Christianity.
Especially during the Crusades, Christian leaders were able to mobilize large
armies in defense of their religion.

Spiritual and political (physical) power: This quotation provided the basis for the
Christian Church's acquisition of wealth, and with that, political power.
Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of
Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye
shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.

Islam is one of the world's popular religions, and one that appears regularly in
world news. As of 1992, Islam had the second largest number of followers (935
million) in the world after Roman Catholicism.

Islam was founded in the Arabia Desert south of Mesopotamia in the early 7th
century. Theologically, Islam is the third religion based on Middle Eastern
monotheism. In each religion, a prophet revealed additional information about
the will of the supreme metaphysical power. The first prophet was Moses, who
founded the religion of Yahweh (Judaism) about 1200-1100BCE. The second was
Jesus, who teachings provided the basis for Christianity in 30-33CE. The third was
Mohammed, who laid the groundwork for Islam.

 As we established in class, the key tenets of civilizations are a written and spoken
language, city-state with a government, and a code of law. In particular, following
the collapse of the Roman Empire in West 476 AD, we saw these developments in
three important civilizations: Byzantine, Muslim, and the Frankish Kingdoms. 

   The Byzantine Empire was the first of Rome's great heirs to civilization. In many
ways, Byzantium was a continuance of Rome, as it was founded by the great
emperor Constantine in 324 AD. When Rome finally fell to persistent barbarian
attacks in the fifth century, Constantinople assumed the full responsibility of the
Roman Empire. In that regard, Byzantium was a true heir to Roman Civilization. 

         In the sixth century another great emperor assumed the throne in
Constantinople--Justinian. Most of Justinian's successes came second-handedly,
which illustrates how effective he was a at being a skilled delegator. During his
tenure, he recruited a stupendous banker, John the Cappadocian to rework the
Empire's finances. He also negotiated military expeditions with his Herculean
general Belisarius, who reconquered most of the land around the Mediterranean
that was lost when Rome fell in the West. Additionally, Justinian shrewdly sought
the council of a skilled lawyer, Tribonian, who revised the corpus juris civilis-- the
body of civil law that would established a remarkable government. Finally, his
choice of Theodora as a wife was a also a calculable and rewarding delegation, as
she helped promote his career immensely. In short, although Byzantium was a
direct descendant from Rome, its path to civilization was shaped by the brilliance
of a remarkable leader. 

    The second heir of Roman Civilization to emerge in the Early Middle Ages was
also an heir to the religion of Judaism--Islam. In 610, when Mohammed, a
Bedouin trader from Mecca, went to the desert to meditate he was visited by the
angel Gabriel, who told him to: "Proclaim! In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher,
who created man out of a mere clot of congealed blood. Proclaim! And thy Lord is
most bountiful. He who taught the pen, taught man that which he knew not." It
was at that point that Mohammed began his mission and submitted his will to the
will of Allah. 

        At first Mohammed found resistance in the Bedouin tradesman of Mecca,

and in 622 AD he retreated with a small band of followers to the city of Medina.
This migration became known as the hijrah because he attracted many devoted
followers there to which he used for his jihad  back to Mecca in 630 AD. On his
return to the ancient city of Mecca, Mohammed quickly converted the pagan
tradespeople this time and established a stronghold of Muslim Civilization
through customary and religious laws. The first source of authority is the holy
book of Muslims--Qur'an, which were the recitations of the Angel Gabriel to the
prophet Mohammed. The Qur'an is considered to be the Word of Allah, and it
states His will. The Sunna or simply the custom of following Mohammed's
example in life was another example of authority or law to the Muslim
community. Finally there was the all encompassing law of the Muslims--
Shari'a,  which regulates the family life, moral conduct, and business and
community life of Muslims. 

    Mohammed died shortly after his reentrance into the city of Mecca--632 AD,
but his legacy would live on in the rightly guided caliphs. For the rest of the
seventh century and into the eighth century, the mighty sword of Islam would
quickly conquer a vast amount of territory. By 750 AD, the Muslim Empire
stretched 6,000 miles from he the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus River. The impact
of the Muslim Civilization would also help shaped the west during the Early
Middle Ages. 
         The final and arguably most crucial heir of Rome was the Frankish Kingdom.
The Franks were typical German barbarians, who until until the 6th century
wandered around the hinterland of the old Roman Empire. Clovis, a descendant in
the Merovingian Dynasty, was the king of the Franks in the late fifth century,
according to the legend, told by Gregory of Tours, he united the Franks during the
Battle of Tolbiac, where he also miraculously converted to Christianity in the
midst of the war. Fearing defeat, he appealed to the Christian God: "For I have
called on my gods, but I find they are far from my aid... Now I call on Thee. I long
to believe in Thee. Only deliver me from my enemies." When the tide of the battle
shifted and the Franks won, Clovis and 3,000 of his warriors asked a bishop to
baptize them. The Church in Rome welcomed Clovis' conversions and supported
his military campaigns against other Germanic peoples. By 511, Clovis had united
the Franks under one kingdom. The strategic alliance between Clovis' Frankish
Kingdom and the Church marked the start of a partnership between two powerful
forces.  More important to the conversion story, however, was
the stabilizing signs of civilization that were formed by Clovis following the
miracle at Tolbiac. To begin, the Franks developed a system of written language
in the Merovingian minuscule to which he enhanced Salic Law, and thereby
established a stable government. 

     For the next two hundred years, the Merovingian Dynasty ruled the Franks and
continued the civilizing process in the nascent Europe. By 700 AD, an official
known as the major domoor the mayor of the palace had become the most
powerful person in the Frankish Kingdom. In 719, the mayor of the palace was
Charles Martel "the Hammer" and he held more power than the king. Martel
extended the Franks reign and expanded the territory significantly. He also
became a christian hero by defeating Muslim raiders from Spain at the Battle of
Tours in 732 AD. 

        After Martel's death, he passed his power to his son, Pepin the Short, who
had wished to more than the mayor of the palace. In order to achieve success as a
new dynasty for the Franks, Pepin wisely cooperated with the Church, who as we
saw previously established a strong connection with the Clovis and helped prompt
Frankish Civilization for the Merovingians. On behalf of the Church, Pepin agreed
to aid Pope Stephan II against the Lombards, who had invaded central Italy and
threatened Rome. For this service, Pope Stephan II anointed Pepin "King by the
Grace of God," which established the Carolingian Dynasty. 

          After Pepin died in 768 AD, he left a greatly strengthened Frankish Kingdom
to his two sons, Carloman and Charles. Fortunately for Charles, Carloman died in
771 AD, and Charles solely succeeded Frankish throne. An imposing figure,
Charles swiftly defeated barbarians across the European continent, the Saxons,
Lombards, Avars, and Saracens would fall to the mighty Charles, who because of
these feats would rightly gain the sobriquet, "The Great" or Charlemagne in the
790s. 

          As history so often shows, fate seemed to play an important role in the

development of the west with the rule of Charlemagne. Certainly Charlemagne
was great for factors that he personally controlled: He greatly expanded the
Frankish lands, he refined the minuscule of the Merovingians, and promoted
learning in and education in his kingdom. Additionally, Charlemagne contributed
to the development of civilization by instituting a system called the Missi
Dominici to keep track of the taxes in his vast realm. That notwithstanding, what
ultimately gave Charlemagne a foot ahead was the events leading up to the
coronation of Holy Roman Empire on Christmas Day 800 AD. 

          For more than sixty years, the Byzantine Empire was plagued by the
Iconoclast Controversy 726-787 AD, which brought strife between Rome and
Constantinople. The attack of the Lombards in Ravenna and the lack of Byzantine
presence in Rome due to the Muslim onslaughts in the eighth century, also paved
the way for the great Frankish King. In 797 AD, things really heated up when Irene
of Athens, captured her son, Constantine VI--the Emperor and had him killed by
gouging out his eyes. Once the assassination was complete, Irene assumed the
position of Emperor, which was not looked highly upon by Roman pontiff.
Therefore, in 799-800 when Pope Leo III experienced issues with an unruly mob
he reached out to Charlemagne, not Irene, for aid. In gratitude for Charlemagne
saving the Church, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor,
which signaled the joining of Germanic Power, the Church, and the heritage of the
Roman Empire. This event was a crucial one in the Making of Europe. 

     As one can see, the connection among these three civilizations saw the Birth of
Western society and culture. Paramount among these developments was the rise
of Feudalism, which was prevalent during the latter reign of Charlemagne.  As you
read for Week 2's class pay attention to the developments in Europe following the
Charlemagne. Specifically pay attention to the how Feudalism helped shaped
Europe society and culture, and therefore led to the making of European
Civilization.