The Byzantine Empire: Part 1 - Foundations

AD 305-363

Oh boy. The book I read on this covers over a millennium of history condensed into three-hundred pages. Now I'm taking that and condensing it into blog form, further slimming down an entire empire that shaped much of our world as we see it into a few posts. It's not an easy task. However, there is an upside to it - condense that much time and you'll find that basically all you hear about is one of three things; revolutions, warfare, and assassinations. For the Byzantines, and pretty much every other civilization around at the time, that was their jam, so their story reads like something straight out of HBO. That would make sense, because of, you know, Rome. Anyways - the following blogs will show you the most important (or in my mind the most interesting) time periods of Byzantine history - just like you've always dreamed. Enjoy.

The Roman Empire at it's peak, roughly two hundred years before
the separation of east and west. An empire with both Sarmizegetusa and 
Lutetia Parisiorum? Are you kidding me?! Incredible!

So what exactly is the Byzantine Empire? Aside from the fantastic tech tree they had in Age of Empires II, I wasn't entirely sure - I knew they were old, now defunct, and their capital, Constantinople, spawned an intensely frustrating 1950s swing song about its name, but I didn't know much else. As it turns out, it all started out with the Roman Empire.

The Romans had been going through some tough times. While they may have created the greatest system of roads yet known to man, it kind of came back to bite them. Barbarians from the borders of their empire were using those roads, and were using them for things a little more nefarious than trade. I.e. looting and pillaging. Probably some other unpleasantries too, as those that loot and pillage typically are pretty loose in morals to begin with. Perhaps they would have been able to fight off those armies effectively, but they also had the debilitating problem of fighting themselves as well. Civil war was rampaging across the land as a number of would-be emperors were vying for the crown. Even further ruining the empire was the problem of inflation due to many of those emperor wanna-bes producing a ton of coin (or mad skrilla, as the Roman youth called it) causing tons of inflation in trying to fuel their uprisings. Essentially it was one problem creating another and creating another on top of that, ultimately leading to an issue even greater than the sum of its parts. The empire was collapsing, and they needed a hero. (By the way, you're going to be seeing that statement a lot throughout this blog series - good emperors seemed to crop up at opportune times fairly frequently.)

In comes Diocletian. A soldier who rose up and gained an army took the throne the only way someone takes a throne; by assassinations and crushing rival armies. Having the entire empire at his beck and call, he decided on something that few would be strong enough to do in that position, and relinquished some of the power. Proving to be a great show of foresight, he split the land in two with none other than an old drinking buddy of his, Maximian. We can only assume that when they were quite drunk one day Diocletian said "you know, if I ever rule over the entire empire in a bloody coup, I'm totally going to give you half, bud" and his friend took it to heart. Oddly enough, it ended up working very well. It was an easy separation, as the empire was already split across language barriers and culturally different from one another. Considering the empire was so huge, it also helped to better improve efficiency in tax collection and arming soldiers. He took the eastern side, mostly influenced by Greek culture through the wild exploits of Alexander. (Read about him here!)

He also made the role much more important than it had been in the past. Before, they followed in a
system that made it seem like the emperor was just a man, but a particularly smart or talented one that deserves respect and recognition. Unfortunately for the empire, that had meant that men could rise up and attack the throne if they believed themselves superior - which is ironic as that is just the way he rose to power. His solution for this problem was to make himself appear divine, linking himself with the gods, so anyone that dared try to usurp his position would lose the support of the common man and be labeled a heretic. You can attack an emperor if he's just a man, but you best not attack one that's chosen by the gods or you're getting a face full of lightning. Unfortunately for many in the empire, that meant he had to clear out Christianity as that no longer meshed with his beliefs. If he says he is chosen by the pagan gods, Christian followers will still theoretically be able to usurp him as they believe there is only one God (note the capital) and He can't be linked just to one single emperor.

There was a problem with succession, however. It's always been an issue for the Romans, and leaving someone who was ill equipped to lead may ruin all that he has done. Diocletian, thinking beyond his time on Earth, decided to retire (at the same time as Maximian) and left the rule to their Caesars (the rank below them). Those men, Galerius and Constantius, became co-emperors after their departures. Unfortunately, Diocletian made the mistake of giving power to two men who had sons - and sons typically meant a claim to the throne by birthright (ugh - such Roman nepotism). Maximian's son Maxentius and Constantius' son Constantine were made Caesars, but that did not necessarily slate them to become emperors. Once their leaders passed, they would be mere citizens when they believed they should inherit the throne. This didn't sit well with them.

Diocletian post-retirement. He went to go farm cabbage for
the remainder of his life, similar to George Bush painting in
his spare time upon his retirement. I don't want to say Bush
is the reincarnated Diocletian but, yes, yes I am saying that.

When Constantius passed on, a new emperor was chosen to lead by the name of Severus, much to the frustration and disappointment of Constantine. His army, whom he had successfully been leading, believed he was the true leader and Constantine agreed wholeheartedly. Not only did his army win out, claiming the eastern side as his own, but Maxentius took the western throne in a coup as well. However, Constantine wasn't quite done with his mission for power yet. In spite of a successful reign of co-emperors, Constantine wanted it all. He moved to attack Maxentius and gain full control, but just prior to his attack he prayed that the one true god would appear before him. According to his own words, God (like, Christian God - note the capital) showed himself and told him to lead by his banner. Upon the next morning he became a devout Christian, flying the banner of Christianity and attacking Maxentius successfully under the sign of the cross. Victorious, Constantine took the crown as the leader of the entire empire.

Perhaps his greatest achievement was using the massive treasury of the empire and having them produce a capital on an easily defensible position adjacent to a harbour. This would serve as the capital for his empire, having it built in only six years. Of course, he names it after himself, and Constantinople was born, and in turn, the Byzantine Empire. The name comes from the colony that originated there. To further cause confusion, it was also referred to as New Rome. To further cause confusion, in modern times it was renamed to Istanbul. But from now on, to make it clear, I will not call it Constantinople/New Rome/Byzantium/Instanbul but rather simply Constantinople.

Perhaps having a bit of an ego about him (being called an emperor must do that to you - just ask Napoleon) he also named all his sons as variations of Constantine as well. Household conversations must have been an infuriating affair. Worse yet, he didn't properly name a successor. That simple act of leaving one item off his ancient Roman to-do list (I assume some sort of stone tablet or something) meant that the moment he passed his family would be thrown into a civil war. Three brothers each named as a variation of the name Constantine battled it out for the throne. Through actions of slaughtering almost his entire family, the middle son took the helm, and Constantinius II is crowned.

He did, however, let his bookworm cousin Julian the Apostate live. Regardless of having no military experience, he sends the socially awkward, Woody Allen-esque guy named Julian to battle the barbarian Gauls in what was sure to be an absolute disaster. But, lo and behold, somehow it didn't pan out that way. He turned out to be a great leader, and against all odds his campaign was a massive success.

Now here's what's frustrating for the generals of the time; if you do poorly you get excommunicated, shamed, executed, or any number of awful punishments, but it's almost as dangerous as doing exceptionally well. Generals have had a storied history of rising to power in the Roman heritage and the riches and territory brought to the citizenship makes successful ones the most popular man in the... I don't know, public bath or wherever ancient Romans congregated. That means that those that do well, even those that are loyal to the crown (as Julian seemed to be) were looked upon with caution by their emperors that should be reaping the rewards of their generals' success.

Constantine just looked at his men
with those puppy-dog eyes and simply
asked to be emperor. Who could say no?

Constantinus II, in response to these victories and in a sense kind of worried that there would be more, recalled a number of his troops to go and fight in the east. This didn't go over all that well in the camp. Many of the men that had joined only did so on the promise that they wouldn't be going east. Naturally, this led to a revolt, and Julian the Apostate was ready to lead it. Planning to return to pagan roots, he sent messages promising a return to the old beliefs upon coming to power.

Meanwhile, Constantinus didn't really know this was going on. He was falling ill, and knew he was about to pass on soon. Believing Julian was still loyal to him and to Christianity, he named him as his successor.

Julian was not only true to his promise of returning to paganism, but overzealously true. He believed the Christian morals of generosity and forgiveness were making the empire weak and effeminate, and cracked down hard on the religion. Christianity would no longer be taught in schools, and Christians themselves could be killed or beaten with impunity. This didn't sit well with the public, and after a poor campaign against the Persians to the east, he died having lost all the popularity he had gained.

So what's next for the empire? Nothing but smiles and sunshine for the next thousand years until they leave the limelight satisfied? Well... no. Barbarians. A lot of barbarians are coming.