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Emperors from Constantine to Heraclius Rolando Castillo Translated by Owen Williamson
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT Much can be said about Constantine, the great Roman emperor who stood out as a commander and man of iron will, but here we will limit ourselves to analyzing his influence on the future Byzantine Empire. Looking over his life as Caesar and Augustus, we can say that he overcame all his internal enemies, all of them great men including Maximianus, Licinius and Maxentius, even though he had armies that were numerically smaller than theirs. Once Constantine was sole ruler of Rome, he consolidated Diocletian’s reforms even though, due to his personal ambitions, he was the one responsible for the downfall of the Tetrarchy. In military matters he gave increased importance to the cavalry, both in numbers (even though it remained smaller than the infantry) and in strategy. His choice to found a new capital at Byzantium, an ancient Greek village, did more to transform the Roman world than any other decision he made. It was simultaneously the death knell for the western Roman world, which now found itself far from the capital and virtually abandoned to barbarian invasion, and the at the same time the key to the thousand year survival of the Eastern Empire which was more peaceful, prosperous and stable, economically dynamic and with vast areas of land under cultivation. Illuminated by supposed Christian visions such as his famous vision of the cross before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge against Maxentius in Rome, he made another of his great decisions: that of granting freedom of worship to Christians throughout the Empire. Even though this was originally Licinius’ initiative when he controlled the East, Constantine adopted the idea as his own and enacted it with the Edict of Milan. Even though paganism was not prohibited, this stimulated the building of churches; an enormous change for the new Empire which would develop into the Christian Empire of Byzantium. Constantine was worried by the ongoing polemics between Orthodox and Arian Christians, doctrinal disagreements which were of particular importance within the Army and among the barbarians who lived in the Empire. Realizing that what was needed was one single, strong and unified religion, in 325 he convoked the Council of Nicaea which finally condemned Arius and Arianism. This became a precedent which left its mark on the future of the church, which became intolerant of heresies, condemning them through church councils. Constantine would customarily appear in public, at church councils and before the imperial court dressed in the most luxurious manner, loaded down with gold jewelry in the Eastern style, and even though Diocletian had already shown hints of this in his imperial court at Nicomedia, this became a precedent for emperors who would rule in the name of God, surrounded by riches. In his personal life, Constantine executed his own son for raping his wife, and then when he learned that the charges were false, he murdered her as well. This fact did not stand in the way of his Christian baptism on his deathbed, perhaps in the hope of redemption and pardon, or of his being named a saint by the church, an institution which to a great extent owed its very existence and position in the empire to him. CONSTANTIUS II (337-361) Constantius had to confront Magnesius, the murderer of his brother Constans and usurper of power in the West. After defeated Magnesius in 353, he named his brother-in-law Julian as Caesar of the West. This son of Constantine went further than his father in religious matters, decreeing in 356 the persecution of all pagans. He was an Arian, and for this reason tolerated Arianism and fought against the most recalcitrant Orthodox bishops, provoking hostile reactions among the Orthodox. The Persians invaded the Empire in 359 and Constantius, who had increased taxes to intolerable levels in order to raise a great army, also requested military assistance from Julian but was turned down. At this, Constantius prepared for war against Julian as well, but died before fighting broke out. Before he died, Constantius received baptism and designated Julian as his successor, without knowing that the latter had renounced Christianity and become a devout pagan.
THEODOSIUS I THE GREAT (379-395) When Theodosius I the Great assumed the throne the history of the Empire underwent a correction, because this second great Emperor of the Romans knew how to carry out an effective policy to at least partially neutralize the barbarians’ influence in the Empire. In order to do this he decided to give them a degree of autonomy and include them in the army as “federated” troops. Even some important public posts were filled by Goths, which meant on the one hand resignation and recognition that the will of others could have a certain degree of power within the Empire. On the other hand, it was the beginning of the shows of diplomacy and finely-tuned political interplay that came to characterize Byzantine imperial policy. Theodosius was responsible for establishing the Orthodox Christian religion as the Empire’s only permissible faith, which means for the first time in history, the official religion. Theodosius I was the last Roman Emperor until the era of Justinian who governed both East and West. Before he died, Theodosius divided the Empire in two, naming Arcadius to rule the East and Honorius as ruler of the West. ARCADIUS (395-408) Arcadius was a weak emperor, dominated by various regents during his rule, which in spite of everything was distinguished by deft diplomacy given that the Visigoths, who had devastated the whole Balkan Peninsula, occupied some of the choicest government posts and formed their own exclusive military units commanded by their own chiefs. However, this situation provoked a violent reaction by the Romans of Constantinople and other parts of the Empire among supporters of Aurelianus’ anti-German party who could not tolerate Germanic domination. This in turn determined the policy, wisely directed by Antemius, of deflecting conflict toward the west, which brought about the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 under the equally weak government of Theodosius II. This proved that Roman sentiment was much stronger in the East than in the West, and in spite of the almost obligatory inclusion (under the policy of conciliation) of Gothic elements in the government and the Army, the Roman people did not support this turn of events and made it abundantly clear that it would not tolerate any more alien elements in their midst. This forced the imperial court to adopt riskier policies, trying to divert the attention of the Goths toward the West, whose emperors faced identical problems but with less economic resources and with a society which was much more vulnerable to the invaders, given that it could not produce what occurred in the East: a reaction against the Germanic element. THEODOSIUS II (408-450) The long rule of the scholarly but weak Theodosius II could be better described as the rule of his sister Pulqueria and his wife Eudocia. The Emperor himself preferred to spend his days in leisure or study, and apparently had no great interest in the political affairs of the Empire. However, these two women who often found themselves in conflict with one another were strong and managed to maintain a certain degree of stability in the Empire, allowing the Roman people to live in peace. None the less, Theodosius II had the luck to “rule” the Empire for a relatively long period, during which many significant events occurred. The University of Constantinople was founded in 425, no doubt due to the interest of his wife, Eudocia. The Theodosian Code was published, an enormous compendium of Roman law that was fundamental for Imperial life and for future generations. Finally, the famous walls of Constantinople were built, a labor worthy of admiration both as an amazing work of engineering and because of its later implications: Byzantium would not fall for 1,125 years, with the sole exception of the events of 1204. MARCIANUS (451-457) In 450 following the death of Theodosius II in an equestrian accident, the Empire was governed for a few months by Valentinian III until Pulqueria married general Marcianus and installed him in the top post, that of emperor. Marcianus, the first Emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch, was a good ruler, intelligent, capable, and by keeping the peace at all costs in spite of the threat posed by Attila the Hun, produced an economic upturn. Marcianus was also energetic and unbending with heretics. During his reign the Council of Calcedon took place in 451, following which the Emperor carried out measures against heretics and another already worrisome problem: the licentious behavior of monks. LEO I, THE THRACIAN (457-474) Marcianus died in 457 without descendents and without naming an heir, leaving the Empire in the hands of Aspar, an Alan who commanded the Army. Remarkably enough, he did not name himself emperor, but rather chose Leo I the Thracian (457-474), a protégé of his who quickly demonstrated that he had his own personality. Little by little Leo balanced his power with that of the Alan by recruiting supporters among the Isaurians, fellow countrymen of his son-in-law Zeno, and putting together an imperial court that was favorable to him while awaiting the right moment and the best opportunity to free himself from his powerful mentor. Why Aspar did not put himself forth as emperor when he had the opportunity is to be explained by the fact that popular opinion was not in his favor. That is, he held all real power in his hands by controlling the army but he was well aware of the Romans’ hostility toward barbarians, particularly in religious matters. The Alans, Goths and other barbarians who together formed the army were usually Arians, that is to say, heretics, who would never again be accepted by the Roman people as rulers. Aspar was obviously a man of power and intelligence, and not having himself named emperor certainly gave him both greater power behind the throne and greater personal safety, but even this did not stave off his eventual murder. This period was marked by Roman efforts to recover control of their own destiny in the face of the predominance of barbarians in power. And, being that in Constantinople popular opinion always carried great weight, we must assume that this influence helped open the way for an authentically Roman government, a goal which over time became a reality. One of the most famous events of the reign of Leo I was the attempt to protect the West from the Vandals. In 467 the Emperor sent his son-in-law Basiliscus with a fleet, but even though it was a large squadron and very well armed it was defeated under murky circumstances. Whether simple cowardice or treason was involved this reflected very poorly on Basiliscus. This failure dashed the West’s last hopes for survival, brought great loss of life and money and provoked a situation of near-despair in the East. It is indeed possible that Aspar had a hand in the matter, acutely aware of the Emperor’s power-games and seeking to bring about his downfall. This drove Aspar further away from the Emperor and from the Imperial Court, which caused great upset among those in power. Finally, in the face of problems that had emerged between Zeno and Aspar, Leo ordered the murder of Aspar and his son in 471. It is quite possible that the murder of Aspar may have been one of the key events that allow us to understand the decline of barbarian control in Constantinople, contrary to what was happening in the West. In any case, the Ostrogoths reacted violently and looted the Empire for about two years until the Emperor was able to contain them by offering them land in Iliria. Thus it is that during the rule of Leo I the Thracian, after the murder of Aspar also nicknamed Makelles (the Butcher), one may note a certain revival of the Roman element in the army and the government, even though the barbarian influence was never completely eliminated during his lifetime. ZENO (474-475 / 476-491) Leo the Thracian died on February 3, 474, leaving as heir his young son Leo, and meanwhile naming his son-in-law Zeno as Emperor. This Zeno was really Tarasicodissa, chief of one of the Isaurian contingents that were mobilized from Asia Minor to Thrace. He had major contingents of Isaurians in the army who supported him and who committed endless raids and pillaging, given the extremely violent character of this people. Intrigues and plots were a permanent feature of the first years of Zeno’s reign, which led to a rule of almost two years by Leo the Thracian’s son-in-law, Basiliscus, who showed himself incapable of governing. The imperial scepter was finally returned to Zeno. On the one hand the Emperor showed his effectiveness in the struggle against the Ostrogoths, whom he did not want to see within his borders, but on the other he showed excessive harshness in religious matters when dealing with the Monophysites who disagreed with the Council of Chalcedon. His actions provoked uprisings in the regions of Syria, Egypt and Palestine where patriarchs were assassinated and there was serious social unrest. In an effort to resolve this explosive situation Zeno promulgated in 482 the famous Henoticon, an edict which was aimed at uniting Orthodox and Monophysites. This was a failure, and provoked the reaction of a number of monks and clergy who did not accept such a union and who appealed to the Pope, who then excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius, causing the first schism between the two churches. In 488 Zeno was able to tempt the Ostrogoths who were devastating the Balkans with the conquest of Italy, which was by then in the hands of Odoacer (who, in turn, had put an end to the Western Empire in 476 by deposing Romulus Agustulus). By this means Byzantium was able to stop worrying for the moment about this powerful adversary lodged in their own territory. During the reign of Zeno the final fall of the West took place and several different kingdoms were born: the Visigoths in Hispania and the south of France, the Franks in Gaul, and the Ostrogoths in Italy. With this new reality politics took an important turn and international relations became considerably more complicated, above all if we take into account that many other barbarian peoples were looking for their identity and a territory in which to settle. The Emperor Zeno died of an epileptic attack in April of 491. ANASTASIUS (491-518) Anastasius was a senior official in Zeno’s imperial court and was already elderly when chosen as Emperor in 491. He was the first Roman to be named emperor after his barbarian predecessors and held the throne until his death in 518. A man of firm convictions, he was a fervent Monophysite, citing as his basis the Henoticon or Edict of Union which gained him the immediate support of the provinces of Syria and Egypt but which meant innumerable problems for him in Thrace, in Asia and above all in the capital where the Orthodox rebelled again and again against him. What is more, he was a fervent supporter of the Greens, one of the two strong parties in the capital, which produced serious uprisings on the part of the Blues, who had organized to oppose him and who tried endlessly to take power during his reign. Anastasius’ actions were those of an intelligent diplomat: he made concessions when the situation was critical, but then, bit by bit, returned to politics as usual. In spite of this, almost his entire reign was characterized by a climate of severe social unrest and internal war. The principal accomplishment of his reign was support for artisans and commerce. This was established after eliminating taxes on commercial exchanges and the production of goods, and resulted in a significant increase in commercial activities and the production of handicrafts. He also took highly successful measures to stabilize the value of the currency. None the less, he faced discontent among the peasant population who formed an absolute majority in the Byzantine Empire. This was due to the fact that even though he had eliminated some taxes, he demanded that the rest be paid in cash and not in kind as had normally been done before. This provoked still more uprisings and revolts due to the pressure that the farmers and small producers were under thanks to the Emperor’s edicts, and which also forced them to sell foodstuffs at low prices fixed by the government. In spite of all this, Anastasius may be recognized as an excellent administrator and a good Emperor, if only because the Imperial treasury grew by an unimaginable amount. When he died he left the Roman Empire with a healed economy and in a state of great economic and financial prosperity, ready for any challenge that might confront it. JUSTINIAN (527-561) To begin, one needs to clarify that when Justinian assumed power as Emperor he inherited an Eastern Roman Empire with a treasury of millions of gold coins thanks to the good emperor Anastasius, a fact which allowed the new emperor to set in march the actions that would lead to the fulfillment of his grand goals. Justinian was known as the emperor who never slept, due as much to his great rhythm of work as to the fact that his work touched the whole known political world, both domestic and foreign, and he did it with immense energy and without any rest until, in his final years, he devoted himself to theology and abandoned part of his political dreams. He was never popular. He was cold and distant with the people and reigned alone or with the counsel of his wife Theodora, avoiding the temptation to usurp power, even though he knew how to delegate responsibilities such as the construction of churches and public buildings, the compiling of laws or the waging of wars. He was an educated man; he spoke Latin, was studious, passionate about theological problems, intelligent, ambitious, but owed many of his best moments as ruler to the good judgment and bravery of his wife, Theodora. Justinian’s grand dream was to rebuild the Roman Empire, a task that he regarded as possible given the instability of the Germanic kingdoms in the West. To this goal he dedicated years of military activity, through his favorite general, Belisarius: the reconquest of western Africa (Carthage) from the Vandals, of the Italian peninsula from the Ostrogoths, and wresting the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula from the hands of the Visigoths. He also owed his success to his general Narses, and battled with the vicissitudes of an intermittent war and half-hearted peace treaties with Persia, whose king, Cosroes I, brought his country to the height of its power and cultural development during that same era. In the political realm he turned several small districts into larger provinces, giving more power to provincial governors. However, only a few of these held both military and civilian power at the same time, mostly in recently-conquered western provinces. He was an energetic builder, ordered cities to be founded and had churches, palaces, baths, bridges and aqueducts built. Most notable is the construction of the Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), an architectural creation of Antemius of Tralles and his assistants Isodore of Mileto and Ignatius. Due to the high cost of the wars he started and of his building program Justinian had a fiscal policy that became increasingly aggressive and oppressive. He always tried to make government officials less corruptible. For example, he did away with the “semi-illegal” custom of purchasing public posts. In any case, administrative reform was not enacted just for the sake of change or improvement, but rather with the overriding (and ultimately, the single) objective of making the administration more efficient in collecting greater sums of money to fund his projects. Along with the construction of the Church of Hagia Sophia, perhaps what made Justinian most famous was the recompilation of the Roman Laws, the Corpus Iuris Civilis, which was completed by Tribonianus and a select group of jurists. This became the basis of Byzantine jurisprudence and later had a great influence on the entire western world. Regarding religion, Justinian supported Orthodox Christianity unconditionally and he himself even dedicated much of his time (above all in his old age) to theological problems. However, in the matter of the Monophysite “heretics” his policies were ambiguous and changeable. Persecutions alternated with permissiveness, perhaps due to the influence of the empress Theodora who, it is known, defended them when she could. In Justinian’s day paganism still existed, and the emperor made no small effort to root it out from the Empire. One example was his decision to close the University of Athens, a center of paganism, in 529. Even though by this era its importance was limited, the University continued to influence the Greeks. Thus the emperor, by this and numerous other administrative measures, put an end to the problem. There is no report of pagan worship (within the Empire) beyond Justinian’s reign, so it seems that the emperor succeeded in stamping it out. However, his greatest dilemma was not the pagans, who by this time were few in number and easy to overcome, but rather the Monophysite schism which grew right in the richest provinces (basically Egypt and Syria). This meant he had to decide between crushing and persecuting the Monophysites with the risk of losing these provinces, or compromising with them and losing the support of the Orthodox (the majority in the Balkans and Asia Minor). As was usual with Justinian, his policies were inconsistent and bloody persecutions alternated with concessions that drew him too close to the “Monophysite heretics,” but which yielded him no positive results. It is likely that the people of Byzantium no longer yearned to return to the glory of the Imperial Rome of Augustus the way the emperor did, and it is very probable that so many wars that went on for so long may have had a negative effect on the spirit of the people who, before Justinian, had lived without so many military campaigns that were so expensive in lives and money. It is likely that, because of all of this, Justinian was not popular regardless of his accomplishments. In any case, it was this people and their descendents who inherited a very large empire, too large for stability given that the state treasury was now totally empty after so many wars and the western territories were too far away to defend at minimum cost. MAURICE (580-602) The Emperor Maurice was, before coming to the throne, an excellent general in the Roman Army who fought tirelessly to hold back the imminent danger of an expanding Persian Empire. His decision to support Cosroes II Parviz, grandson of the great Cosroes, as King of Persia left him in a position of friendship with greater Sasanid Persia. He obtained a broadly favorable peace treaty that granted to Byzantium a large part of Persian Armenia, with the importance this territory had as a producer of many great warriors, among many other things. His policy toward the problem of the West was one of great pragmatism: being that Italy was being invaded by the Lombards, savage barbarians who looted the peninsula without mercy, he gave the Exarchate of Ravenna a structure that would be imitated by several emperors until the end of the great Byzantium of the themes in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. The Exarchate was governed by an Exarch who had full military and civilian administrative powers, thus militarizing the zone. Exactly the same situation emerged in Carthage. By this means, Maurice was able to keep control of broad areas of the West which otherwise would have been lost beyond recovery. We can say that with these measures he assured continuing Byzantine influence over the West for approximately two hundred more years. However, the life of the Empire looked more and more toward the East. Once he achieved peace with Persia, Maurice decided to advance against the Slavs and Avars who since the time of Justinian had been invading the Balkans without anyone paying them much attention. In spite of several initial successes, the great mass of Slavic peoples who were not satisfied with looting and began to settle on Roman soil wanted more and more, which forced the Army to remain constantly in the field. This caused an important loss of morale among the exhausted and hungry soldiers who had to bear much more intense cold in the zone of the Danube than in Thrace. The emperor refused the troops’ requests for leave to come home to Thrace for the winter (there are also historians who suggest that Maurice refused to ransom Byzantine prisoners of war who were captured by the Avars, and the unlucky captives were beheaded). Phocas, a half Roman, half barbarian centurion, was proclaimed emperor and marched against Constantinople. On taking power, Phocas ordered the children of the now defenseless Maurice to have their throats cut before his own eyes, and then he had the emperor beheaded as well. The Roman Empire had the bad luck to undergo the assassination of a bright and innovative emperor who was a good administrator as well, but who did not know how to manage the critical situation that his soldiers were going through in the Balkans. The Balkans were left to the hands of the ever more dangerous Slavs and Avars, and civil war wracked the Empire for some eight disastrous years. HERACLIUS (610-641) In the face of the acts of terror perpetrated by the tyrant Phocas and the extensive territories lost to the Persians, with the Balkans occupied by Avars and Slavs, the Exarch of Carthage, Heraclius, put together his fleet and sailed for Egypt where he was joined by the local fleet. From there his young son, also named Heraclius, left for Constantinople, recruiting followers particularly from the Green party who hated Phocas. Once in Constantinople they overthrew Phocas, executed him, and carried out the well-deserved “damnatio memoriae,” pulling down the tyrant’s statue in the Hippodrome. Heraclius was proclaimed Emperor in the Empire’s most difficult moment, when the situation on all fronts was utterly desperate. So critical was the situation that during the first years he went as far as to seriously consider transferring the Imperial Court to Carthage in order to have the chance to regroup and reconquer what had been lost. However, the fear expressed by the inhabitants of the capital and, above all, the pleas of the Patriarch Sergius convinced Heraclius to remain in Constantinople. Administratively, Heraclius followed the example of Maurice and established themes (a structure of militarized provinces under the command of a governor with military and civil power) in the entire region of Asia Minor. This was a decision that was crucial and fundamental for the future of the Empire. This gave more power to those who governed, and facilitated the defense of each one of the territories. In the Balkans and in Greece it was not possible to establish this sort of structure because the Slavs had devastated the region and established a stable occupation there. The organization of the themes, which gave the soldiers land as payment for service, allowed the creation of a native army which was a great improvement over the mercenary army which was more expensive and less loyal. Once the territory was organized and the faithful cooperation of the Orthodox Church assured under the leadership of Patriarch Sergius, Heraclius signed a peace with the Avars at a heavy cost in tribute. In 622, he left Constantinople and crossed over to Asia Minor to organize his army. Finally, he headed for Armenia and won a victory over General Sahr Barz and his Persians, winning total control of Asia Minor. The war with Persia continued until 625, but Heraclius was not able to launch an invasion of the neighboring country. Then, in 626 came the much-feared attack: the Persians and the Avars united to besiege Constantinople. The Persian general, Sahr Barz and his ally, the Avar Khan, as well as an uncountable number of Slavs, Bulgars and Gepids attacked the walls. Patriarch Sergius assumed command of the defense of the city in the absence of the Emperor who was fighting in Lazica. Luckily for Byzantium its fleet remained efficient and powerful, defeating the Slav boats and forcing the Avars to flee, followed by the Persian boats which, after being defeated by Theodore, brother of Heraclius, fled to Syria. Once the immediate threat to Constantinople was lifted, the relieved emperor made an alliance with the Khazars of the Caucasus and in 627 organized an offensive against the very heart of Persia. Nineveh and Dastagerd were conquered and a civil war deposed Cosroes II. The son of Cosroes, Kovrad Siroe, was named King and signed a peace with Byzantium returning Syria, Armenia, Palestine, Egypt and Roman Mesopotamia to Byzantine control. The relic of the True Cross that had been stolen by the Persians was solemnly returned by the Emperor himself to the city of Jerusalem. The Persians and the Avars were definitively beaten by the Byzantine Empire. One must point out that under Heraclius’ government the growing importance of the Church in people’s lives and the great religiosity of the people were unprecedented and were to a large degree responsible for the victories that had been won. Heraclius hellenized a large part of the administration, putting it in tune with the people who spoke Greek instead of Latin, an example that was followed by his successors up to the hellenization of the laws by Leo II which was completed in the 8th century. For example, he refused the Roman title of “Imperator,” adopting instead the Greek title of “Basileus.” The great problem that Heraclius finally confronted was the declared Monophysitism of the reconquered provinces. Patriarch Sergius attempted to impose compromise solutions like that of monoenergism or monothelitism, trying to draw the Orthodox position nearer to that of the Monophysites, solutions which, however, seemed only to further upset both sides. However, at the end all the strategic, political and military efforts of the Emperor were crushed by the advance of the new regional power: Islam. Due to the weakness of the empire after its struggle against Persians and Avars the Monophysite provinces, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, fell easily into Arab hands following their major victory on the banks of the River Yarmuk in 635.
Rolando Castillo Translated by Owen Williamson |