Chapter 2: Stewards of the Future - The Rise of the Byzantine Empire PDF

# Chapter 2 - Stewards of the Future - The Rise of the Byzantine Empire The fall of Rome is often thought of as the end of a golden era, a time when civilization thrived and philosophers pondered human nature. Once Rome was no longer the seat of power in Europe, all of the continent was suddenly pl...

# Chapter 2 - Stewards of the Future - The Rise of the Byzantine Empire The fall of Rome is often thought of as the end of a golden era, a time when civilization thrived and philosophers pondered human nature. Once Rome was no longer the seat of power in Europe, all of the continent was suddenly plunged into a dark time when superstition reigned and the people were ignorant of even the most basic scientific ideas. There are many obvious problems with this misrepresentation of the time following the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The period between the 5th century and the 13th century was not nearly so unenlightened or barbaric as people believe, and it certainly was not the Dark Ages that it has come to be called. Over much of the continent, the fall of Rome did little to change the daily lives of the general population. The people most affected by the fall were those who lived near Rome or those who had power throughout the empire. All of the knowledge and brilliance from the height of the empire did not simply disappear, nor did the people suddenly become less mentally capable. Instead, many Romans left Rome, some looking for a simpler way of life, some for power they could not have obtained in Rome, and still others looking to rebuild their lives. However, those who were still proud to be Roman fled to the other capital of the empire – the city that would become the new capital of Europe, Constantinople. ## The Founding of the Future Rome The one thing to remember about the Byzantine Empire is that the people did not consider themselves to be any different than the Romans, except for where they lived. The region was not a completely separate empire that formed from the ashes of the Roman Empire; it was a part of the empire. It was more of a transition from Rome as the center of the empire to Constantinople as the center and with a transition to Greek instead of Latin as the primary language. Constantinople was founded while Rome was still the center of civilized Europe. Constantine was the Roman emperor who ruled all of the Roman Empire, both the west and the east, from 306 to 337 CE. During his reign, he moved the empire's capital to Byzantium (the name of the city while he was emperor) in May of 330 CE. Initially, Constantine called the capital New Rome, but the name that stuck was the City of Constantine. Over time, the official name of the city would become Constantinople. One of the attractions of this city was the natural defenses that surrounded it and the easy access to the harbor. Located between Europe and Asia, Constantinople was able to receive goods and news much faster than Rome, and it attracted a large number of people who wanted to live in a place that was more lively and thriving than Rome. To the astute observer, Rome had become stagnant. In contrast, Constantinople was growing and changing in ways that offered opportunities that many could not find in Rome. When Constantine died, no one was able to keep the large empire under control. The solution that followed was to divide the empire into two halves and to have two different emperors control it together. Emperor Valentinian I divided the empire soon after he took power because he realized that he could not manage to sustain the empire as Constantine had. He took control over the west and his brother, Valens, ruled over the east. The next 200 years would show just how different the two regions were. As Rome decayed and fell, Constantinople established itself as the dominant force, the beacon of hope for the intellectuals, artists, merchants, and opportunists. They maintained a strong military, and rulers focused on the betterment of the empire. The real power of the eastern empire began to show in 527 CE under Emperor Justinian. Under his control, the Byzantine Empire developed a military that would push east and west. As the western part of the empire stumbled and fell, the Byzantine Empire marched west, returning many of the cities and areas back to the fold. During its height, the Byzantine Empire would include much of what was once the Roman Empire. They would provide structure and assistance to these outer regions even as they pushed east and south, conquering areas that went well beyond Rome's reach. ## Progress The starting point for most of the men of the Renaissance was not the original teachings of the Romans but the teachings of the people who had fled Constantinople after it fell to the Ottoman Empire. While Western Europe seemed to be evaluating itself, the Byzantine Empire built on the ideas and thoughts of the Romans. Some of the most magnificent buildings in European history were built in Constantinople, with the former Greek Orthodox cathedral of Hagia Sophia being perhaps the most impressive and well-known example. It still stands today, over 1,500 years after its construction. Another major distinction between Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire was in their power and social structures. The power-hungry authorities of Europe began to claim their own lands, establishing feudal systems that put the majority of the people at the bottom with little room for advancement. The Byzantine Empire was far less oppressive of its people, offering opportunities to those with ideas and skills in its early years. Like many other empires before and since, its strength was in tapping the potential of many individuals regardless of social class. Talent and intellect were valued and listened to, just as they had been during the golden years of the Roman Empire. This created the thriving melting pot that would keep the culture and ideas of Rome going long after Western Europe had moved into a pettier, more mentally limited social structure. Over the centuries, the Byzantine Empire would suffer the same fate as Rome, with families and groups gaining power and influence and using it for selfish reasons instead of improving the empire. As the empire became more socially rigid, it would begin to stagnate and eventually fall. ## Leaders Who Sustained and Surpassed Rome There were many emperors and several empresses of the Byzantine Empire, some who were remarkable, many who were forgettable, and some were as bad as Nero and Caligula. Over a millennium, there were several who stood out as pushing the empire forward or in delaying the inevitable decline. Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora are perhaps the most famous of the Byzantine rulers. Both Justinian and his wife were born into lower stations. He was born to peasants in 482 CE. The early history of Empress Theodora is less clear, but it is known that she worked as a courtesan for several years. Justinian became smitten with her because she was both clever and practical, and they married in 525. He became co-ruler with Emperor Justin I in 527. Justin died not long after, and Justinian became emperor. When two factions began to war in Constantinople, Theodora was the one who pressed Justinian to stay and fight to remove the factions that were destroying the city (instead of sitting back in safety as others had told him to do.) Justinian successfully removed the threat, holding the empire together with his wife. Today's legal system is based on the Codex Justinianus, which was the code of law founded and implemented under Justinian. His wife worked alongside him, and many laws were named after her and her efforts. The Roman Catholic Church would even adopt many of the Byzantine laws during the Middle Ages, helping to provide a more progressive legal structure. Justinian was a great patron of the arts, and it was under his direction that Hagia Sophia was built. Following Theodora's death, he had her interred in one of the places that they had helped to build together, the Church of the Holy Apostle. They held different religious beliefs, but they proved that these differences could be used as a strength as they successfully ruled over much of what was once the Roman Empire. After her death, Justinian did not accomplish any further major changes or improvements. Emperor Heraclius ruled from 610 to 641 CE. During his reign, he managed to establish the direction and norms for his empire, making Greek the official language and creating a military that could expand the empire in almost all directions. Not all of his military campaigns were successful, and he lost some territories, including Mesopotamia and Egypt, to the growing Muslim population. Despite his losses, Heraclius is attributed with having a firm hand and minimizing or removing corruption so that his empire did not suffer the same fate as the Western Roman Empire. Leo VI has a legacy that is more akin to that of Julius Caesar. When Leo VI became Emperor in 886, he began to take power away from the Senate, which had retained the majority of the control of the government in the years prior to him taking the throne. Leo VI was unlike many of his predecessors as his earlier years had been focused primarily on scholarly pursuits and learning instead of the military. This gave him a distinct advantage since he was able to peacefully wrest control from those who had it, placing himself and future emperors in a much greater position of power. Over time, this situation would be just like the Roman Empire in that authority was with one person, and this would prove to be a part of the empire's undoing as no one person can properly manage an entire empire. This was very obvious as Leo VI suffered numerous military losses, some of them very costly, such as the war with the Bulgars who required an annual stipend after his loss to them. However, his reign saw more recordings of the history of the empire (not always objectively written), as well as adaptations of rules and laws to better fit the changing landscape. In a bid to ensure that the power he had amassed would pass on to his descendants, he married three different times in an effort to produce an heir. The third marriage was considered illegal, and the Byzantine Church was emphatic that he would not be allowed a fourth marriage when the third wife failed to produce an heir. As Henry VIII would do several hundred years later, Leo VI ignored the warnings of the Church and had an illegitimate son with a mistress. He then went on to have their union recognized, and his son eventually became the future emperor. No previous emperor would have been so successful in forcing the Church to ensure his legacy because no previous ruler had ever focused so much on taking control. It set up a dangerous precedent that would mean some people would later become rulers who were wildly unfit for the role instead of the emperor being the person best suited for the position. ## Seeds of the Renaissance from the Byzantine Empire Constantine was not a particularly religious man, but he understood that it was important to gauge the perceptions of his people. During his reign, it had become clear that Christianity had become a force that held far more sway than the old gods of the early Roman Empire. He realized that the best way to unite people was to convert the entire empire to Christianity. For roughly the next millennium, most of Europe and the Byzantine Empire (which stretched through the Middle East and into Northern Africa at its peak) were Christian. In the beginning, the powers of the Church were shared over several major cities all across Europe and the empire. The rise of Rome as the seat of power for Christians showed how divided east and west were by the difference in their religion and ideology. The Great Schism is detailed in a later chapter, but it is important to understand that no part of the Byzantine Empire saw Rome as the religious center that all of Western Europe so revered during the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church would emerge and claim to know the will of the Christian god. This would be the start of a power struggle that would last until the final years of the Byzantine Empire. Once the empire fell, the Church would become a much darker power that would ruthlessly remove anyone who disagreed with it. Some of the ruthlessness of the Catholic Church would emerge during the Middle Ages, but many of its most infamous acts would occur during the early modern era, such as the Inquisition and witch hunts. As much credit as the Renaissance may get for bringing Europe out of the "Dark Ages," most of their work owed everything to the people of the Byzantine Empire, to those people of what was once the eastern part of the Roman Empire who never went through a dark period. While the Catholic Church was consolidating power in the west, the Byzantine Empire was encouraging free thought and would see the advancement of those ideas and concepts that the Renaissance would come to revere. Writing, theories, theology, and boundaries continued to be tested and furthered for 1,000 years. When Constantinople fell, some of the survivors returned to Rome and helped to trigger the Renaissance.