History of the Byzantine Empire: From the Foundation until the Fall of Constantinople (328-1453)
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Charles Oman
History of the Byzantine Empire: From the Foundation until the Fall of Constantinople (328-1453)
The Rise and Decline of the Eastern Roman Empire
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[email protected] 2018 OK Publishing ISBN 978-80-272-4108-8
Table of Contents
II. The Foundation Of Constantinople. (A.D. 328-330.)
III. The Fight With The Goths.
IV. The Departure Of The Germans.
V. The Reorganization Of The Eastern Empire. (A.D. 408-518.)
VII. Justinian's Foreign Conquests.
VIII. The End Of Justinian's Reign.
XI. Social And Religious Life. (A.D. 320-620.)
XII. The Coming Of The Saracens.
XIV. The Saracens Turned Back.
XV. The Iconoclasts. (A.D. 720-802.)
XVI. The End Of The Iconoclasts. (A.D. 802-886.)
XVII. The Literary Emperors And Their Time. (A.D. 886-963.)
XIX. The End Of The Macedonian Dynasty.
XXI. The Comneni And The Crusades.
XXII. The Latin Conquest Of Constantinople.
XXIII. The Latin Empire And The Empire Of Nicaea. (1204-1261.)
XXIV. Decline And Decay. (1261-1328.)
XXVI. The End Of A Long Tale. (1370-1453.)
Preface.
Fifty years ago the word “Byzantine” was used as a synonym for all that was corrupt and decadent, and the tale of the East-Roman Empire was dismissed by modern historians as depressing and monotonous. The great Gibbon had branded the successors of Justinian and Heraclius as a series of vicious weaklings, and for several generations no one dared to contradict him.
Two books have served to undeceive the English reader, the monumental work of Finlay, published in 1856, and the more modern volumes of Mr. Bury, which appeared in 1889. Since they have written, the Byzantines no longer need an apologist, and the great work of the East-Roman Empire in holding back the Saracen, and in keeping alive throughout the Dark Ages the lamp of learning, is beginning to be realized.
The writer of this book has endeavoured to tell the story of Byzantium in the spirit of Finlay and Bury, not in that of Gibbon. He wishes to acknowledge his debts both to the veteran of the war of Greek Independence, and to the young Dublin professor. Without their aid his task would have been very heavy—with it the difficulty was removed.
The author does not claim to have grappled with all the chroniclers of the Eastern realm, but thinks that some acquaintance with Ammianus, Procopius, Maurice's “Strategikon,” Leo the Deacon, Leo the Wise, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Anna Comnena and Nicetas, may justify his having undertaken the task he has essayed.
Oxford,
February, 1892.
I. Byzantium.
Two thousand five hundred and fifty-eight years ago a little fleet of galleys toiled painfully against the current up the long strait of the Hellespont, rowed across the broad Propontis, and came to anchor in the smooth waters of the first inlet which cuts into the European shore of the Bosphorus. There a long crescent-shaped creek, which after-ages were to know as the Golden Horn, strikes inland for seven miles, forming a quiet backwater from the rapid stream which runs outside. On the headland, enclosed between this inlet and the open sea, a few hundred colonists disembarked, and hastily secured themselves from the wild tribes of the inland, by running some rough sort of a stockade across the ground from beach to beach. Thus was founded the city of Byzantium.
The settlers were Greeks of the Dorian race, natives of the thriving seaport-state of Megara, one of the most enterprising of all the cities of Hellas in the time of colonial and commercial expansion which was then at its height. Wherever a Greek prow had cut its way into unknown waters, there Megarian seamen were soon found following in its wake. One band of these venturesome traders pushed far to the West to plant colonies