Byzantium: the history of the rise and fall

The Roman Empire, one of the greatest state formations of antiquity, declined in the first centuries of our era. Numerous tribes, standing on the lower levels of civilization, destroyed much of the heritage of the ancient world. But the Eternal City was not destined to perish: it revived on the shores of the Bosphorus and for many years struck contemporaries with its splendor.

Second Rome

The history of the Byzantine Empire dates back to the middle of the third century, when the Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantine, Constantine I (Great) became the Roman emperor. In those days, the Roman state was torn by internal strife and besieged by external enemies. The state of the eastern provinces was more prosperous, and Constantine decided to move the capital to one of them. In 324, the construction of Constantinople began on the shore of the Bosphorus, and already in 330 it was declared New Rome.

So began the existence of Byzantium, the history of which totals eleven centuries.

Of course, there was no question of any stable state borders at that time. Over the course of its long life, the power of Constantinople was weakened, then regained its power.

Justinian and Theodora

In many respects, the state of affairs in the country depended on the personal qualities of its ruler, which is generally characteristic of states with an absolute monarchy, to which Byzantium also belonged. The history of its formation is inseparably linked with the name of Emperor Justinian I (527-565) and his wife, Empress Theodora - a woman of very unusual and, apparently, extremely gifted.

By the beginning of the fifth century the empire had turned into a small Mediterranean state, and the new emperor was obsessed with the idea of reviving past glory: he conquered vast territories in the West, achieved a relative peace with Persia in the East.

The history of Byzantine culture is inextricably linked with the era of the reign of Justinian. It is thanks to his worries that today there are such monuments of ancient architecture as the Aya Sofia mosque in Istanbul or the San Vitale church in Ravenna. One of the most notable achievements of the emperor, historians consider the codification of Roman law, which became the basis of the legal system of many European states.

Medieval manners

Construction and endless warfare required huge expenditure. The Emperor increased his taxes without end. Discontent was growing in the society. In January 532, during the appearance of the emperor at the Hippodrome (a kind of analogue of the Coliseum, which housed 100 thousand people), riots began to develop into a large-scale riot. Suppress the uprising was unheard of cruelty: the rebels were persuaded to gather in the Hippodrome, as if for negotiations, after which they locked the gates and killed everyone.

Procopius of Caesarea informs about the death of 30 thousand people. It is noteworthy that the crown of the emperor was preserved by his wife Theodore, it was she who persuaded the ready to flee Justinian to continue the struggle, saying that he preferred death to flight: "the royal power is a beautiful shroud".

In 565 the empire included part of Syria, the Balkans, Italy, Greece, Palestine, Asia Minor and the northern coast of Africa. But endless wars affected the state of the country unfavorably. After Justinian's death, the borders again began to shrink.

"Macedonian Revival"

In 867, Basil I, the founder of the Macedonian dynasty, came to power, which existed until 1054. This era historians call the "Macedonian Renaissance" and consider the maximum flowering of the world medieval state, which at this time was Byzantium.

The history of the successful cultural and religious expansion of the Eastern Roman Empire is well known to all the states of Eastern Europe: one of the most characteristic features of the foreign policy of Constantinople was missionary work. It is thanks to the influence of Byzantium that the branch of Christianity that after the church schism of 1054 became Orthodoxy spread to the East.

The cultural capital of the European world

The art of the Eastern Roman Empire was closely connected with religion. Unfortunately, for several centuries, political and religious elites could not agree whether the worship of sacred images is idolatry (the movement was called iconoclasm). In the process, a huge number of statues, frescoes and mosaics were destroyed.

Extremely obliged to the Empire of the history of art: Byzantium throughout its existence was a kind of keeper of ancient culture and contributed to the spread of ancient Greek literature in Italy. Some historians are convinced that in many respects thanks to the existence of the New Rome the Renaissance became possible.

In the era of the Macedonian dynasty, the Byzantine Empire managed to neutralize the two main enemies of the state: the Arabs in the east and the Bulgarians in the north. The story of the victory over the last is quite impressive. As a result of a sudden attack on the enemy, Emperor Basil II managed to capture 14 thousand prisoners. He ordered them to be blinded, leaving only one eye for each hundredth, after which he let the crippled people go home. Seeing his blind army, the Bulgarian king Samuel suffered a blow from which he did not recover. Medieval manners were indeed very harsh.

After the death of Basil II, the last representative of the Macedonian dynasty, the history of the fall of Byzantium began.

End rehearsal

In 1204, Constantinople first surrendered under the onslaught of the enemy: enraged by an unsuccessful campaign in the "promised land", the Crusaders broke into the city, declared the creation of the Latin Empire and divided the Byzantine lands between French barons.

The new education did not exist for long: July 51, 1261 Constantinople without a fight took Michael VIII Palaeologus, who announced the revival of the Eastern Roman Empire. The dynasty founded by him governed Byzantium until its fall, but the government was rather pathetic. In the end, the emperors lived on handouts of Genoese and Venetian merchants, and they also naturally robbed church and private estates.

The fall of Constantinople

By the beginning of the XIV century , only Constantinople, Thessaloniki and small isolated enclaves in the south of Greece remained from the former territories. The desperate attempts of the last emperor of Byzantium Manuel II to enlist the military support of Western Europe were not successful. May 29, 1453, Constantinople was conquered the second and last time.

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II renamed the city of Istanbul, and the main Christian church of the city, the Cathedral of St. Sofia, turned into a mosque. With the disappearance of the capital, Byzantium also disappeared: the history of the most powerful state of the Middle Ages ceased forever.

Byzantium, Constantinople and New Rome

The fact that the name "Byzantine Empire" appeared after its collapse is very interesting: for the first time it is found in the study of Jerome Wolff already in 1557. The cause was the name of the city of Byzantium, on the site of which Constantinople was built. The inhabitants themselves called it only the Roman Empire, and themselves - Romans (Romans).

The cultural influence of Byzantium on the countries of Eastern Europe can not be overestimated. However, the first Russian scientist, who began to study this medieval state, was Yu. A. Kulakovsky. "History of Byzantium" in three volumes was published only at the beginning of the twentieth century and covered events from 359 to 717. In the last few years of life, the scientist was preparing to publish the fourth volume of the work, but after his death in 1919 the manuscript was never found.