Figure 1.--Here the great French painter, David, who often painted martial scenes and Napoleon as a great commander, depicts a scene in the life of the Eastern Roman Empire General Belisarius. He was the greatest millitary commander of the Eastern Empire. Here he has been reduced to begging. We are not sure who the child is, but he has been placed there because of the legend that Justinian had Belisarius blinded and a blind man needed a child to guide him. Note the Roman soldier, agast to see his former commndrr reduced to begging. Also notice the woman giving alms. This reflects the influence of the Enlightenment which promoted the idea of benevolence.

The Eastern and Western Empire after division did not become rival states, but rather generally cooperated with each other diplomatically and militarily. The Eastern Empire like the Western Empire were hard pressed by the Germanic Tribes, Avars, and Bulgars. The Eastern Empire attempted to work with the Western Empire and provide military support, but was unable to save it. Unlike the Western Empire, the Eastern Empire while hard pressed, managed to survive, but lost much of its European territory. Under the Emperor Justinian (527-65) there was a revival of the Eastern Empire. Justinian set out on a major effort to restablish Roman control of the Mediterranean territory of the Western Empire. Justinian managed to win back areas of Italy and support the Papacy in Rome against the Lombards. And they won back large areas of North Africa. The Eastern Empire at the time of Justinian still thought of themselves as Romans and spoke Latin. A major asset in this effort was the most powerful navy at the time. Also important was his General Flavius Belisarius (500-65), although Justinian never trusted him or fully supported him. The Byzantines thus played an important role in the early medieval world. This ended with the rise of Islam and conquest of the Levant. The Eastern Empire's effort to centalize rule and supress divergent Christian churches played a role in the success of Arab armies. From that point as the Eastern Empire evolved into the Byzantine Empire, the Empire was fighting for its life and ceased to play a major role in medieval Europe, although it did have an important non-military role with the Rus in the Ukraine.

Roman Empire

The vaunted Roman Legions suceeded over several centuries under both the Republic and then to a lesser extent under the Empire founded by Augustus, conquered a vast area of different territories centered on the Mediterranean Sea and ,ost of Western Europe north to Britain. Rome was not at first a maritime power, but became so during the Ounic Wars and its stryggle with Carthage. The Empire was a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic empire consiting of a large collection of territories. Theses territories and the people comprisung them were vastly different. They range from highly sophisticated peoples with long histories and literatyre like the Egyptians and Greeks to the more primitive pre-loyerate people like the Germans and North African nomads. The Romans made no effort to Romanize these people andc their culture, but they did insist on taxes and a superficial mloyalty to Rome such as public ceremonies venerating the emperor as a god. This is what set off the Jewish revolt. Ehat is not always understood is that at the time, it was the eastern half of the empire that was the most avanced, urbanozed, and sophisticated. This is because the eastern portion before being conquuered by Rome was united by Alexandr as akind of Macedonian Empire. And while Alexander died at an early age, the area was subsequently Hellenized creating a Greek cultural area whiuch the Romans admoired and to a degree internalized. The western portion of the empire was very different. It had not been Helenized and was much more diverse and less urbaized and developed. This basic division between a Hellenized East and a Latinized West has persisted into the modern age, although after the medieval era, it was the West which would become more advanced, in large measure because of the evolution of political liberty (democracy) and economic liberty (capitalism) in the West.

Division of the Empire

Governing the vast Roman Empire with the technology of the day proved a difficult undertaking. The Emperor Diocletian created a new administrative system called the Tetrarchy (293 AD). He began working with a a co-emperor titled Augustus. Under this system, each Augustus was to appoint a younger colleague as an assistant. This individual was given the the title of Caesar. He was to assist the Augustus during his rule and would eventually succeed him. The Eastern areas of the Empire did not experience the Barbarian invasions as masively as the Western Empire because of the nature of the Helenic culture and the tresures of Rome which were a greater lure. Diocletian in the Balkans withdrew south to what was once roughly Yugoslavia (305 AD). When Diocletian abdicated, the Tetrarchy collapsed. The Empire descended into rebellion and civil war for 7 years until Constantine finally prevails (312 AD). Constantine I replaced the Tetrarchy with the dynastic principle of hereditary succession as a way of stabilizing the Empire, avoiding struggles for power after the death of emperors. Constantine also moved the center of governamce from Rome to the still relatively small Greek port of Byzantium. Along with this move, he mandated toleratiomn for Christianity--the Edict of Milan (313 AD). Christinity would soon become the state religion. He also mandated a a series of civil changes to the constitution. He founded Constantinople as a kind of second Rome (330). While Byzantium was a then relatively minor port, he was strategically placed astride the vital trade routes that passed through the Bosporus. This essentially controlled the trade froutes from the Baltic amd Asia to the Mediterranean, linking both the North and East to the Roman Mediterranean world. Constantine united the Eastern and western Empires (324 AD). He chosea Byzantium, a relatively small, but strategically placed Greek colony at the mouth of the Thracian Bosphorous to be his imperial residence (324 AD). It is renamed "Constaninopolis nova Roma". The Germanic Visigoths defeat a Roman army at Adrianople (378). This defeat and the death of Emperor Valens is a defining point in Roman/Bizantine history and is often seen as the dividing point between the ancient and medieval worlds, perhaps more important than the fall of Rome in the 5th cntury. Theodosius suceedes in making allies of the Visigoths (378 AD). Theodosius I is the last Roman emperor to command a united empire. After defeating two rivals, Theodosius founds a dynasty whch endures until 450 AD in the Eastern empire. Theodosius I declares Christianity the sole religion of the Roman Empire (380 AD). The Emperor Theodosum I divided the Roman empire when he entrusted his son Arcadius with the Eastern provinces and his other son Honorius with the Western priovinces (395 AD), although a temporary split occurred even earlier. At the time the Empire was divided in 395, the Eastern Empire included Asian Minor, Syria, Pontus (Asiatic shore of the Black Sea), Egypt, Macedonia, Greece, and Crete.

Struggle for Survival

The Eastern and Western Empire after division did not become rival states, but rather generally cooperated with each other diplomatically and militarily. The Eastern Empire like the Western Empire were hard pressed by the Germanic Tribes, Avars, and Bulgars. The Eastern Empire attempted to work with the Western Empire and provide military support, but was unable to save it. Unlike the Western Empire, the Eastern Empire while hard pressed, managed to survive, but lost much of its European territory. Under the Emperor Justinian (527-65) there was a revival of the Eastern Empire.

Emperor Justinian (527-65)

Justinian I became emperor (527). It is not accurate to refer to him as the Byzantium or Eastern Emperor. By this time, Rome had fallen and he was the sole Roman empperor. Justinian had humble roots. He was the son of an Illyrian peasant. The Illyrians were a tribal group inhabiting the western Balkans (roughly modern Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro). Records about his early life are rare. Many historians believe tht Justinian was exercising effective control of the Empire under the reign of his uncle, Emperor Justin I (518–27). He was immediately confronted with serious challenges. To free his hands and reduce military demands, he attempted to pacify his eastern frontier, Justinian signed a peace treaty with Khosrau I a ruler of the Sassanid Persian dynasty (532). Military connflict from the Persian dynasty are related people had been a constant challege dating back centuries. Justinian agreed to annual tribute to Khosrau I which for a time pacified the eastern border. It is at this point that Justinian faced the most serious challenge to his rule--the Nika riots in Constaniople. For a time he considered fleeing the city, ending his reign. His wife Theodora is believed to have convinced him to remain in Constaninople and supresses the rebellion. Eventually his forces killed an estimated 30,000-35,000 rioters, ending the rebellion. This left Justinian firmly in power. Roman Pope Agapetus I came to Constantinople on the orders of the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, but failed to convince Justinain to sign a peace treatty. Rather than peace with the Ostrogoths, Justinian with a peaceful eastern frontier, set out on a major effort to restablish Roman control of the Mediterranean territory of the Western Empire. Justinian managed to win back areas of Italy and support the Papacy in Rome against the Lombards. And they won back large areas of North Africa. The Eastern Empire at the time of Justinian still thought of themselves as Romans and spoke Latin. A major asset in this effort was the most powerful navy at the time. Also important was his General Flavius Belisarius (500-65), although Justinian never trusted him or fully supported him. The Byzantines thus played an important role in the early medieval world. This ended with the rise of Islam and conquest of the Levant.

Arab Assault

The Eastern Empire's effort to centalize rule and supress divergent Christian churches played a role in the success of Arab armies. From that point as the Eastern Empire evolved into the Byzantine Empire, the Empire was fighting for its life and ceased to play a major role in medieval Europe, although it did have an important non-military role with the Rus in the Ukraine.