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Textbook Byzantium at War Ad 600 1453 Essential Histories 1St Edition Haldon Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Byzantium at War Ad 600 1453 Essential Histories 1St Edition Haldon Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Essential Histories
Byzantium at War
Routledge
Taylor &Franch-
lohn Haldon
Contents
Introduction
Chronology 19
Background to war
The political world of Byzantium 23
Warring sicks
Neighbours and enemies 29
Outbreak
Why and how did B p n t i u m fight wars? 36
The fighting
Crrganising for war 47
Portrait of a sald~er
Recruitment, discipline, and life on campaign 61
Portrajt of a civjlian
Metrios - a farmer 80
Further reading 92
Index 94
Introduction
The Byzantine empire was not called by that 1lth centuries and, in the later 1lth and
name In its own time, and indeed the term 12th centuries, the Hungarians, later the
'Byzantine' was used only to describe Serbs and finally, after their conquests in
inhabitantsof Constanttnople, ancient Greece and the southern Bakans, the
Byzantion on the Bosphorus. The subjects of Ottoman Turks. Relations with the western
the emperor at Constantinople referred to powers which arose from what remalned of
themselves as Rhomaioi, Romans,kcause as the western Roman empire during the 5th
far as they were concaned Constantinople, century were complicated and tense, not least
the clty of Constantine I, the flrst Christian because of the political competition between
ruler of the Roman empire, had become the the papacy and the Constantinopolitan
capital of the Roman empire once Rome had patriarchate, the two major sees - Alexandria,
lost its o m preeminent position, and it was Antioch and Jerusalem were far less powerful
the CMstian Roman empire that carried an after the 7th century Islamic conquests - in
the traditions of Roman civilisation. In turn, the Christian world. Byzantium survived so
the latter was identified with civlIised society long partly because internally it was
as such, and Orthodox Christianity was both well-organised, with an efficient fiscal and
the guiding religrow and spiritual force which military system; and partly because these
defend4 and protected that world, but war advantages, rooted in its late R m a n past,
also the guarantor ~f Gad's continuing lasted well into the 11th century. But as its
support. Orthodoxy means, literally, correct western and northern neighbours grew in
belief, and this was what the Byzantines resources and political stability they were able
believed was essential to their own survival.
Thus, from the modern historian's
perspective, 'Byzantine' might be paraphrased
by the more long-winded 'medievaleastern
RomanJempire, for that is, in historical terms,
what 'Bymntium' really meant.
In its long history, from the later
5th century, when the last vestiges af the
western hatf of the Roman emphe were
absorbed into barbarian successor kingdoms,
until the fall in battle of the last eastern
Roman emperor, Constantine XI (1448-531,
the empire was almost constantly at war.Its
strategic situation in the southern B a b n s
and Asia Minor made this inevitable. It was
constantly challenged by its more or its less
powerful neighbours - at first, the Persian
empire in the east, later the various Islamic
powers that arose in that region - and by its
northern neighbaurs, the Shvs, the A m s (a Gold nornosma of h s t m t i n e VI PO-797). R e m e
Leo 111 (7 t 7-74 I), ConstantineV (74 1-775) and Leo IV
Turkic people) in the 6th and 7th centuries, ('775780),seated. (Courtesy of Barber In* of Fine
the Bulgars from the end of the 7th to early h, University of Birmingham)
The Byzantine Imds
The Byzantine, or medieval eastern Roman,
empire was restricted for most af its
existence to the wuthern Balkans P& M a
Minor - very roughly modern Greecx and
modern Turkey.In the d d d e of the
5th century, after the succes of the emperm
Justlnian'szeconguaf 5 In the west, the
empire had been much more extensive,
including all of the north African coastal
regions horn the Atlantic to Egypt, dong
with south-eatem Spain, Italy and the
Balkam up to the Danube. But by the later
6th century the Italian lands were already
contested by the Lombard$, while the
VisIgoths of Spain smn expelled the imperial
administration from their lands. The near
eastern provinces in Syria, Imq and the
T r a m p d m region a h g with Egypt were all
Zost to Islam by the early a, and north
Afrtca followed suit by the 4%. In a half
century of warfare, therefore, the empire last
some of its wedtble3t regions and much of
t h e revenue to sllpprt the govefmneht, ti-&
mling elite and vftal nee& such as the army.
. Much of the territory that remahed to
the emme was mountainous or arid, M that
the exploitable a m a wae really quite
-4 in exrent. Neverthdw, an efficient
(for times) fiscal administration
@'tax rt!ghe mtraaed the mrs;rtfmum fn
manp'wa bml @culmaI resaurces, whtie a
heavy rdhnce on well-planned d p l o m q ,
an extensive network of ambassadors,
emissaries and spies, a wikngness to play &
neighborn and enemIes against one another,
and to spend substantial sums on 'subsf[lies3
&em3 a f t r i d e t , 'MecUtemmm' type region3 fram central pkmm The complex
cUm&te, and were W the IT&& important m ae wa ~ e ~ tMad l wtm
c was
saurce of EvenUeS fax the govement. me partly rWded during the Byantlne period,
pattern of mkmmt war simm~ystrongy but tbe empire af&t the.6thcentury
-
differentiafed mst tawm'md cities were devehpd a of military mum homer
concen-ted in the coastal regions, while the with r series of fortEed p s t s and military
~OWIWIUand plateaux were much mare baws-forth~samemte3~~~
q ~ & ysPttled S W mmi4eratioys FWQS of access and egress fordxab fme.
applied to the Balka3hs, too, and in Wtb we Strategic needs dwqed, of qW3e, and so
this m a p h y a&ct@d mad s y s and ~ did~rOaasystm,wtOhmtes~tn
~mmunlatiom. l k empi* nMed to take and out of use.
these fidm into account m &at@c The Balkans pment a wged and
planning and campaign arganisation, of fragmented landscape falling broadly into
C O ~ for , logistid considmtims - t h e two m a :the coastal and riverhe plains (of
sources d manpaver, faod and &dm, Tbr;Pce, of T h S 6 d y ~d ~f die %nuth
H W w k and weapons, h ~ f w D move thw DanubEad am), which rnpmductfve and
@otmdJand how they were mmumed - fairly densely -pied; aad the mountain
played a key role fa the mpW%ability to mges that datlllnate the whole regf~nand
spwive kn the dlffleult skrategir: sftwtion in -
represent about W W ' & of its a k a the
which it fauna iW. Mmifc Alps inthe west, sWhbg-frdm
h m l e s , whether large or Small, and north-east to south-wt; the southeply
whether B-We or hostffe forces, faced Pindus r q e with which they merge, ~d
m y pr6bIem when caarpaigntng in or which together dominate w & m and
actass Asia Minm, tn particular tfre low m m a l Greece; and the Balltan chain ik&
smtches of mad through relatively waterless
and exposed counby, and the mgh r4q- oWtm in Constarttin* (4th century).
motlntabous tetrain q M i i H n g masW (A&& mkction)
I The east Roman empire in the middle of the 6th century
Introduction II
The conquests of the empwnrJustiniw re-established and the mlddle of the 2nd century AD. The
the eastern Roman empire as the dominam power in network also facilitated commerce, civilian
the Mditerranean.
trafac and the movement of information. But
in the later 4th and 5th centuries the roads
swtching from the Murava river as far as the -
went Into decline a reflection of economic
Black Sea coast, with the Rhodope r a w and soda1 changes across the empire m d the
forming an arc to the south, through consequences of these for local g w e m m and
Macedonia towards the plain of Thrace. The town coundls. One result w a s a d d n e in the
fragmented terrain has given dse ta a series use of wheeled vehiclm, which could not use
of Wet geopolitical units wpated by roads that were not properly maintained, and
ridges d highlands, fanning out along river a corresponding increzsse in dependence on
valleys t o w & the coastal areas. beasts of burden.
A number of major routes served from After the 6th century a Wted number
andent times to give access to the interior of of key routes was kept up by means of
the B d h n ream or to pass through it from compulsory burdens imposed on local
north to south or west to east, The Balkans communities.The fast post, consisting of
are characterised by relatively narrow and pad-animals, relay hones and light carts,
oftenquite high, easily canbmlled passes, and the slow post, which provided ox-carts
and this terrain was ideally suited to guerrilla and heavy vehicles, were amalgamated Into
strategy - tough campaigning wnditiana, a single system in the 6th or 7th century,
arid dWicult access to some regions during and continued to operate until the last years
the winter. The structure of commmcations of the empire. The imperial road systems in
and the effectiveness of Bymtlne political both the Balkans and Anatolia were less
authority demonstrate this, for there were no extensive than hitherto, but remained
obvious fDcal points in the ancient and nevertheless effective. But the costs of
medieval perid in the south Balkan region maintenance and the probIem of
apaa from Thessalofild and Constantinople, supervising upkeep meant that many routes
both on the edge of the peninsula and its were hardly more than tracks or paths
fragmented landscape. usable only by pack-animals, with paved or
Geography aected Iand use in the Balkans hard surfaces only near towns and fortresses,
as it did in Asia Minor. The uplands and Travel and bansport by water was usually
mountains, dom,inated by forest and faster and much cheaper. This was espedally
woodland, and the lower footbills by so in the case of the long-distance
woodland, saub and rough pasturage, were movement af bulk goods, such as grain, for
suited to pastoral acdvlty only. Agriculture example. The expense of feeding
was limited to the plains, dver vallm and draught-oxen, drovers and carters, paying
caa$tlands of Thessaly, Macedonla and the tolls, together with the slow rate of
Danube. The sea played an Important role, movement of ox-carts, added very
since it surroundsthe Balkan peninsula apart considerably to the price of the goods being
h m dong the northern boundary, and acted, transported, generally well beyond the price
as it still d w s today, as w &dent means of of ordhary subjects of the emperors. It was
communication dong the heavily Indented really only the government and the army,
coastline and with more distant regions. The and to a certain extent the Church and a
disadvantage of relatively easy seaborne few wealthy individuals, who could pay for
access, however,w a s that it opened up tfie this. In contrast, shipping was much more
s o u t h B & m peninsula to Invasion. cost effective, shce large quantities of gods
Otle of the factors that made the Roman could be transported in a single vessel,
m y so successful and effldent was the handled by a small crew, ~elatiwly
military road system, established for the most Inexpensively, once the capital investment
part between the end of.the 2nd cenhlv BC in vessel and cargo had been made.
and so forth. And geographical factors w e ,
of mucourse, r.umhnw~hlto w a h w and the
strategic otganisation of the empire,
Introduction 13
adopted Orthodox Christianity in the last cenMon Phokas was raised to the throne.
y e w of the 5th centuy in order to gain Phokas c602-10))popularly regarded in later
papal and imperial recognition and support Byzantine sources as a tyrant, ruled until he
for his rule, where he also claimed, at least was overthrown In 610, when he was in turn
nomWIy, to represent Roman rule. Roman replaced by Heraclius, the son of the military
emperors considered the west not as 'lostJ, governor of Africa. Heraclius was crowned
but rather as temporarily outside direct emperor and ruled until 641.
Lmgmial authority. But the emphe was unable to maintain its
The emperor Justinian (527-65) used this defences against external pressure. Withfn a
as the justffication for a series of remarlable few years the A m and Slws had overrun
retonquats, aimed at restoring Rome's power much of the Balkans, while the Persians
as it had been at its height - north Afrim occupied and set up thelr own provincial
from the Vandals by 534, Italy from the governments in Syria and Egypt between 614
Ostrogoths by 552. But the plan was too and 618,and continued to push rnto Ask
ambitious to have had army chance of Minor. Italy was left to its own devices and
permanent success. And while the emperor became Increasingly autonomous. In spite of
nevertheless came very close to achieving a a great siege of Constantinople by a Persian
major part of his ori@naIaims, the probkms and an A v a d l a v army in 626, Herachus
that arose after his death illustrated the proved an able strategist and by 628 had
problems hb polides brought with them. utterly destroyed the Persian armies in the
Warfare with the Persfan empire in the east east, restoring the situation at the end of
meant that resources were always stretched to Maurice's reign. The regional dominance of
the limit and there were never enough the Roman empire seemed assured. But w M e
soldiers for all fronts. Upon his death in 565 the Danube remained nominally the frontier,
Justlnlanleft a vastIy expanded but perlIously much of the Balkan region was no longer
overstretchd empire, in bath financial and under irnmal authority, except when an
military terms. Hls successors were faced with army appeared. The financial situation d the
the reality of dealing with new enemies, a empire, whose resources were quite
lack of ready cash, and internaI discontent exhaust& by the long wars, was desperate.
over high taxation and constant demands for The origins of Idam lie in the northern
soldiers and the necessities to supprt them. Arabian penlmula, where different farm of
The Persian war was -new&, while in 568 Christianity, Judaism and Indlgenws beliefs
the Germanic Iambad crossed &amtheir coexisted, in particular in the much-travelled
homeland along t h e western Danube and trading and cgravan communities of Mecca
Dxava regson into Italy, in thet efforts to flee and Medlna. Mohammed was hlmself a
the approaching Avars, a Turkic nomadic respected and established merchant who had
power which was establishing a vast steppe several times accompanied the trade
empire. The Lombds soon overran Roman caravans north to Roman Syria. Syria and
defensive positions in the north of the Palestine already had substantial papulatfom
peninsula, found@ a number of of Arabs, both farmers and herdsmen, as well
independent chiefdoms in the centre and as mercenary soldiers serving the empire as a
south, while the Avars established themselves buffer ag2llnst the Persians. Although
as a major challenge to imperial power in the Mohammed's preaching - a synthesis of his
nwthern Balkan region. Between the mhlfefs with Judaic and Chrhtlan ideas -
mid-570sand the end of the reign of the met initiaIly with stiff resistance fram his
emperor Maurice (582-602))the empire was own clan, by 628-29 he had established his
able t o re-establish a precarious balance in authority over much of the peninsula and
the east and along the Danube. begun to consider the future direction of the
Maurice was deposed in 602 fDUawlng a new IsIamic community.On his death
muthy of the Danube force, and the (traditionally placed in 632) there followed a
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I0 E s d l a l Histories t?lpnilum at War
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Background to war
There were perids when this system was Church of the at &phi, Greece
constrained by circumstances, resulting in ( 1 Ith mhry).Wc ~ i f ~ i o(AKG,
n . Min)
the ad hoe arrangements for supplying
soldiers and raising tax in kind, for example The growth in the powa of the elite was
(ain the 7th century), and it also varied by stimulatd by two dmIopments. In fhe ffrst
region. But in a &ety in which soda1 place, there took place an incrtasfng
status and advancement (including the subordination of the p.easmtxy to both
self-identity of the aristocracy) were private landtords and to holders of gxants of
c o n n e d with the state, these state revenue. In the second place the state
arrangements considerably hindered conceded from the later 11th century the
economic activity not dhectly connected right ta receive the rwenues from certain
with the state's activities. For the continued public (Le. fiscal, ax taxed) dtsMcts or of
power and attraction of the imperial certain imperial estates with their tenants,
establishment at ConstmtinopIe, with its encouraging a pwcess of very gradual
court and hietarchigal system of precedence, allenation of the state's fiscal and jmidfc;tl
as well as the highly centralised fiscal rlghts. By q l d t r n g the award by the
administrative structure, consumed the emperors of fiscal exemptions of varying
whole attention of the Byzantine elite, sorts, landlords -both secular and monastic
I hindering the evolution of a more localised
aristocracy which might otherwise have
- were able to k q a larger proption of the
revenues extracted from their peaant
invested in the economy and m e t y of its pmducers for themselves, as xent, while the
1 own localifies and towns, rather than in
the imperial system.
government's hold on the remaining -1
land of the empire was constantly
I
~ f II f8%~29j and CbkW@%
P m e w x ~~kdpaec
T h e m M ~imIsarbiw
, Inam af fine Am.Unmsiw
Warring sides
We have already referred to the strategically the fourth crusade in 1203-1204.The Latin
very awkward situation of the Byzantine division of the empire after 12U4 resulted in
state, with enemies or ptenthl enemies on the rapid growth of local Balkan cultural
M y every front and with a constant independence and the evolution of new
need to fight wan on more than one front at -
states the Serbian empire of Stefan m a n
a tlme. In the north and west the situation being perhaps the most remarkable. Only the
was especially complex as a result of the arrlval of the Ottomans in the 14th century
variety af neighbowing states and pohtlcal put an end to this development.
powers. From its establishment in the 680s, Relations with Italy and the west were
the Bulgar Khanate rapidly grew in power, similarly mrnplicated.As we have noted
and until its extinction at the hands of the already, Italy, north Africa and the
emperor B a d LI, known as the 'Bulw-slayer' southeastern comer of the Iberfan peninsula
(976-10251, represented a constant threat had been reconquered under Justinian, at
to the security of imperia1 territory in the e n o m s cost, bm the Ostrogotks, Vandals
Balkans. Throughout the 8th and and Visigaths respectively. But the a p p m c e
9th centuries and into the early of the Lambards In Italy (pursued by the
10th century, Bulgar power and Influence Avars, at Byzantine requat) soon resulted h
grew, in spite of successful counter-attacks the fragmentationof imperial pasasions into
undw the empaor fhnstantlne V in the a number of distinct regions under Wtaq
760s and 770s. The nadir of Byzantine commanders or duces. Impwfal tenitory In the
fortunes was probably the year 811, when north-east and central regions was represented
the Khan K m defeated and destroyed an by the exarch,an officer with military and
imperial army, kiMng the emperor civil authority. But distance from
Nikephoros I. Conversion to Christianity ~ t a n t i r r o p l elocal
, cultural differentiation
of elements of the r u h g elite in the 860s and political conditions, together with the
was Intended to stabilise the situation in spiritual and politid power of the Popes in
favour of Byzantium; but the gradual Rome soon led to the gradual but inevitable
Byzantinisation of this elite only contributed dimhution of imperial power. The &&ion
to the growth of an imperialistic BuIgar of the exarchate with the capture of Ravenna,
politics which hoped to bring the two states its capital at the hands af the Lombards in
together under a Bulgar dynasty. But Bulgar 751; increased papal dependence on the
successes under the Christian Tsar Symeon in Fmnks for support against the Lombards, and
the first 15 years of the 10th century were as hcreashgly autonomous and mutually
&ngerous; while the reassertion of 3u@r competing I d polities in the Italian
imperial ideology under Tsar Samuel peninsula had led to the reduction of
inaugurated a conflict - after a relatiwiy imperial power to the regions of Calabria,
peaceful period In the middle d the Brufflum and Sicily by the early 9th century.
10th century - and led finally to the Other political centres such as Naples
eradication of Bulgar independence and the remained technically Bymnttne, but were
recovery of much of the W h up to the in pxactrce quite independent. Venice,
Danube in the early I lth century. In spite of which grew in importance from the early
occasional rebellions, the region remained 9th century, likewise remained nominally
firmly in Byzantine hands until just before an imperial tenitory.
30 Essent~alH~siories Byzant~umat War
Antti hiihti yksinänsä eilisiä jälkiä. Taivas oli pilvessä ja ilma raskas ja
sumuinen. Raskaasti suksi liukui eteenpäin lumenpeittämällä
kentällä. Himmeänä siinsi metsä lakeuden toiselta rannalta.
Turvakodissa oli pöytä katettuna, kun hän astui sisään. Hän ei ollut
nähnyt Herttaa koko päivänä.
— Minun on niin vaikea saada sitä alas, sanoi hän hetken kuluttua
ja rykäisi. — Minun kurkkuni tuntuu niin karhealta.
Antti säpsähti.
— Hyvää yötä, antakaa minun nyt nukkua. Minä olen niin väsynyt.
Mutta oliko hän sittenkään niin yksin? Olihan hänellä isä, joskin
kaukana ja äiti vieläkin kauempana. Mutta hän tunsi hänen
läheisyytensä, tunsi sen siinä ilmassa, joka häntä ympäröi ja siinä
huminassa, joka hänen korviinsa kuulosti. Hertta hymyili. Hänen
kasvonpiirteensä rauhoittuivat ja hän katsoa tuijotti eteensä ja teroitti
kuulohermojansa. Hänen mielikuvansa yhä kasvoi ja sen muodot
selvenivät.
— Antti!
— Armaani, armaani — —
— Hertta, Hertta! Antti tarttui häneen kiinni. Hän suuteli häntä, hän
hyväili häntä, hän kutsui häntä hellimmillä sanoilla.