Time-Life Great Ages of Man Series – Byzantium.
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DESCRIPTION: Hardcover: 192 pages. Publisher: Time-Life Books Inc. (1970) 192 pages. Size: 10¾ x 8¾ x ¾ inches, 1¾ pounds.
The “Great Ages of Man” series was released in the mid-1960’s. Each volume undertakes to describe the major events that happened in one specific time period (or “age”) in the development of mankind’s civilization(s). The volumes are richly illustrated, and designed as an introduction to the time frame covered. Especially compelling are the artists interpretations or recreations of what various ancient civilizations would have looked like – their architecture, homes, monuments, cities, daily life, jewelry, food, family life, dwellings, occupations, etc. As just one instance, the ruins of Babylon and Ur, Athens and Rome hint at the incredible richness of those fabled cities. The artist’s recreations in this series are simply mind-numbing. This is as close as you can be to actually having been there. Equally noteworthy are the photographic collections of artifacts and relics attributed to the specific age, really exceptional.
The entire series is truly a magnificent introduction to the history of the era. If you could have just one book (or series of books) to introduce the history of humankind, this would have to be it. The overviews are concise and well-written. Together with the illustration and pictures they impart a wonderful mental and emotional “picture” of what life must have been like in various civilizations and at various times. Done in a style so wonderfully characteristic of Time-Life’s publications, these are over-sized “coffee table” type books full of impressive imagery. The pictures of the world’s greatest art and architecture alone are worth the cost of these books. But don’t get the impression that these volumes are “fluff”. While a particular volume might not quite take the place as a university degree, the material is well-written, informative, and immensely intellectually gratifying, overview though it might be.
Some of the subject material included is enumerated below so as to give you an idea of the rich content:
Atlas: The Byzantine World (England, London, Septum, Atlas Mountains, Cordoba, Cartagena, Rhone River, Paris, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Tyrrhenian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Genoa, Milan, Cologne, Rhine River, Ferrara, Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Milvian Bridge, Rome, Naples, Amalti, Sicily, Montreale, Palermo, Syracuse, Bari, Tripoli, Carthage, Vienna, Sava River, Moravia, Carpathian Mountains, Danube River, Alps, Belgrade, Naissus, Kossovo, Varna, Adrianople, Constantinople, Mount Athos, Thessaly, Sardica, Ohrid, Macedonia, Meterora, Epirus, Corfu, Dyrrachium, Adriatic Sea, Megara, Mistra, Athens, Daphni, Peloponnese, Patmos, Crete, Olympos, Karpathos, Rhodes, Chios, Brusa, Nicaea, Smyrna, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Heracles, Nicomedia, Chalcedon, Caesarea, Anatolia, Asia Minor, Don River, Dnieper River, Novgorod, Crimea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, Armenia, Kars, Ani, Manziken, Trehizond, Edessa, Aleppo, Antioch, Beirut, Damascus, Palestine, Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Alexandria, Nile River, Red Sea, Mount Sinai, Arabia, Ctesiphon, Euphrates River, Tigris River, Persia, Lake Van).
CHAPTER ONE: The New Rome. Byzantium’s Imperial Eagle on a Tenth Century Silk Shroud. The Cyrillic Alphabet. Fifth Century Ivory Plaques: Old and New Capitals of the Roman Empire. Christian Martyrs: Saint Domnius and the Romans. Picture Essay: Preserving a Heritage (Constantine’s Dream. The Codification of Roman Law: Justinian the Jurist. The Sixth Century: The Virtues of Justinian’s Code. The Sweeping Effect of Byzantine Art. Constantinople’s Church of the Holy Apostles: An Architectural Prototype (A Twelfth Century Illumination). A Mosaic in Saint Mark’s: A Byzantine Model. The Sculptured Horses of Constantinople’s Hippodrome. Relics of a Nation Ruled by Christ. A Jeweled Cross Sixth Century Gift of Emperor Justin II to the Vatican Featuring a Splinter of the “True Cross”. Constantinople’s Relics of the Passion of Christ: Nails, a Spear, and the Crown of Thorns. Rigorous Traditions of Monastic Life. Syrian Cave Dwellings: A Community of Monks. Cappadocian Turkey: The Holy Grottos of Byzantine Ascetics. Passing Civilization to the World. A Slavic Illumination: Byzantine Missionaries and the King and Queen of Bulgaria. Nubia’s Byzantine Churches: A Fresco of Archangel Michael Protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.).
CHAPTER TWO: Constantine’s City. An Ancient Mosaic: A Haloed Constantine Holding a Model of Constantinople. Byzantium’s Trade Routes: Gold, Ivory, Slaves, Cotton, Silk, Leather Furs, Honey, Wax, Copper, Iron, Silver, Jewels, Pepper, Spices, Sugar, Mercury, Grain, Linen, Corn, Salt, Alum, Wine, Lead, Olive Oil, Lumber, Fish, Wood, Woolens, Tin, Wool, Cork, Flax, Pitch, Sandalwood, Herbs (Jaffna, Malabar, Bay of Bengal, Caliana, Zhaia, Indian Ocean, Daibul, Peshawar, Khotan. Adulis, Red Sea, Jotabe, Cairo, Alexandria, Fez, Bokhara, Aral Sea, Caspian Sea, Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, Antioch, Trebizond, Black Sea, Tana, Cherson, Constantinople, Kiev, Novgorod, Riga, Danzig, Hamburg, Bruges, North Sea, Marseilles, Cordoba, Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, Salonika, Thebes, Corinth, Naples, Messina, Genoa, Venice, Vienna, Budapest). A Sixth Century Ivory Plaque from a Byzantine Reliquary Casket: A Horse-Drawn Procession of a Revered Relic. An Ornate Ivory Horn from Constantinople’s Hippodrome. Picture Essay: A Capital Observed (A View of Constantinople’s Skyline: The Tower of Galata and Hagia Sophia. A Rich and Holy Fortress, a Map of Ancient Constantinople: Gate of the Blachernae, Saint Mary in Blachernae, Blachernae Palace, Pharnar Gate, Gate of Saint Theodosia, Golden Horn, Plateria Gate, Gate of the Drungari, Gate of Saint John de Cornibus, Phosphorion Harbor, Gate of Saint Barbara, Bosphorus Chain, Wall of Galata, Tower of Galata, Pera, Mangana Tower, Saint George of Mangana, Mangana Palace, Saint Irene, Acropolis, Gate of Eugenius, Million Arch, Hagia Sophia, Senate, Augustaeum, Lighthouse, Hippodrome, Forum of Constantine, Boucoleon Harbor, Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Iron Gate, Harbor of Julian, Contoscalion Gate, Myrelaion Church. Harbor of Eleutherius, Sea of Marmara, Gate of Saint Aemilianus, Psamathia Gate, Saint John of Stoudian, Marble Tower, Golden Gate, Second Military Gate, Third Military Gate, Saint Andrew in Krisei, Gate of the Pege, Gate of Rhegium, Fourth Military Gate, Cistern of Saint Mocius, Forum of Arcadius, Forum Bovi, Old Golden Gate, Triumphal Way, Old Wall of Constantine, Gate of Saint Romanus, Gate of Charisius, Gate of Xylokerkos, Saint George, Saint Savior in Chora, Fifth Military Gate, Lycus River, Saint John in Petra, Virgin Pammakaristos, Saint Mary Panachrantos, Column of Marcian, Holy Apostles, Cistern of Aspar, Saint Savior Pantepopte, Saint Savior Pantocrator, Saint Theodore, Aqueduct of Valens, Monastery of Christ Akataleptos, Amastrianum, Forum of Theodosius, Forum Tauir, Palace Cistern. Constantinople’s Dramatic Landward Entrance: The Golden Gate. Constantine’s Forum: A Gold Cross Topped Porphyry. A Noisy Maze of Tenements: Constantinople’s Forums. Open-Air Bazaars and the Regulation of Commerce. Shoemakers and Leatherworkers: Localized Guilds. The Hippodrome: A Vast Arena for Public Spectacles. Saint Theodore Tyro: Domed Chapels of Brick and Marble. Saint Mary of Panachrantois: Dramatic Interiors and Mosaics. Hagia Sophia: Justinian’s 537AD Immense Cascade of Domes. Saint Savior in Chora: Justinian I’s and Interior Blazing with Mosaics and Frescoes. The Boucoleon Palace: The Imperial Palace complex of mosaics, marbles, workshops, pavilions, fountains, and fishponds. The Palace of Constantine Porphyrogentius: Incense-Clouded Processions Between Churches and Palaces.).
CHAPTER THREE: Chronicle of an Empire. Soldierly Saint George: Patron of Armies. The Conquests of Justinian: Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths. An Atlas of the Empire of Justinian I: Arabs, Persians, Lazians, Alans, Avars, Antae, Slavs, Gepids, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Franks, Sueves, Visigoths, Berbers, Vandals, Persians, Jerusalem, Beirut, Antioch, Euphrates River, Tigris River, Dara, Cherson, Varna, Adrianople, Constantinople, Black Sea, Danube River, Syracuse, Naples, Rome, Ravenna, Cordoba, Septum, Carthage, Tripoli, Alexandria, Nile River, Ephesus, Mediterranean. An Atlas: Post Justinian Thrusts of the Barbarians: Arabs, Persians, Bulgars, Avars and Slavs, Lombards, Visigoths Antioch, Caesarea, Constantinople, Salonika, Rome, Balearic Islands, Septum, Carthage, Tripoli, Alexandria, Syracuse, Jerusalem, Damascus. An Atlas: The Empire of Basil II: Mosul, Euphrates River, Tigris River, Vaspurkan, Ani, Taron, Iberia, Theodosiopolis, Mesopotamia, Edessa, Antioch, Teluch, Samosata, Melitwnw, Cyprus, Selucia, Tarsus, Iconium, Cappadocia, Caesarea, Charsianon, Sebastea, Colonea, Armeniakon, Chadlia, Terbizond, Paphlagonia, Optimaton Bucellarion, Nicaea, Opsikion, Abydos, Thracesion, Cibyraeots, Rhodes, Adrianople, Thrace, Constantinople, Varna, Cherson, Macedonia, Salonika, Thessalonika Strymon, Aegeean Sea, Aegaion Pelagos, Hellas, Peloponnese, Danube River, Cephalonia, Dyrrachium Nicopolis, Dalmatia, Sirium, Vidin, Bulgaria, Prilep, Ohrid, Sardica, Paristrion, Adriatic Sea, Bari, Italy, Taormina, Syracuse, Crete. Picture Essay: Basil the Magnificent (A Portrait as Emperor: Basil Sits on his Throne Dispensing a Stern Justice. The Legends of Baby Basil. Dreams of a Golden Destiny for Basil as Emperor of Byzantium. Bulgarian King Omurtag and Young Basil as a Captive. Basil as Master of the Stables for Emperor Michael III. Basil the Wrestler Bests Bulgaria’s Theophilitzes. Greece’s Wealthy Widow Danielis and Basil’s “Spiritual Brotherhood”. Basil’s Appointment to the Emperor’s Guard. Caesar Bardas and the Prophecy of Extermination. Basils Appointment as Grand Chamberlain and Marriage to Eudoxia Ingerina. Empress Theodora’s Warning. Basil as Co-Emperor and the Demise of Caesar Bardas. Emperor Michaels New Favorite; The Handsome Sailor Basiliskianos. The Assassination of Emperor Michael. Mother of the Emperor: The Window Danielis Returns. The Campaigns of Basil: The Defeat of General Procopius and the Taking of Tarentum. General Leo’s Punishment for Battlefield Failure: An Eye and a Hand. Admiral Nicetas Oryphas: The Defeat of an Arab Fleet in the Gulf of Corinth. The Conspiracies Against Bail: Leo and the Scheming Monk. The Imprisonment of Leo. The Restoration of Leo and the Banquet Parrot. Leo’s Innocence and Freedom, Appointment as Basil’s Heir and Successor. The Bequest of the Widow Danielis and the Death of Basil.).
CHAPTER FOUR: An Emperor Under God. God’s Spokesman: Emperor John Cantacuzene Announcing Religious Dogma to Bishops and Monks in 1351AD. A Table of Unlucky Emperors: Reigns that Ended Violently. Mosaics of Three Famous Empresses of Byzantium: Theodora, Zoe, Irene. Byzantine’s Theocratic Emperors: A Tenth Century Manuscript: David, A King Chosen by Divine Decree. Picture Essay: Techniques of War (Charging Cavalrymen and a Fan of Spears. Archers on Horseback and Armored Lancers. In fighters on Foot: An Ancient Depiction of an Byzantine Infantryman Armed with a Spear. A Cavalryman’s Uniform and Weaponry. An Infantryman’s Uniform and Weaponry. Engineering a Siege: Medium-Sized Catapults “Mangons. Drills for Boring Through Fortress Walls. Scaling Fortress Walls: Towers, Rams, and Ladders. Shipborne Bridges and Battering Rams. “Greek Fire”: Manning a Flame Gun. Fiery Guns and Ships. The “Dromon”: A Ship of the Line. The Formidable Walls of Constantinople. Constantinople: A Fortified Peninsula. City Walls, Towers, and Moats..).
CHAPTER FIVE: The Art of Byzantium and the Christian State Religion: Saints, Angels and Emperors. An Eleventh Century Illumination: Emperor Nicephorus III Receives a Book of Sermons from St. John Chrysostom and the Archangel Michael. The Parallel Paths of Two Religions: Centuries Three to Six Spread of Christianity through the Roman and Byzantine Empires and the Spread of Buddhism Through India, China, Korea, and Central Asia. The Pillar of Fifth Century Syrian Ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites. The Holy Establishment.Picture Essay: A Picture-Book Church (The 150+ Mosaics of Eleventh Century Hosios Loukas (the Holy Hermit Luke) Monastery Church of Phocis, Greece. A Master Plan for Mosaics: Michael III and the Church of Our Lady of the Pharos at the Constantinople Palace. The Crucifixion (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Narthex Mosaics of Hosios Loukas. Doubting Thomas Touching the Wounds of Christ (Hosios Loukas Mosaic)., The Descent of Jesus into Hell and the Freeing of Souls: King Solomon and King David Watch Jesus Lead Adam and Eve Out of Hell (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). Christ as Lord of the Universe (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Naos (Main Dome) of Hosios Loukas: Mosaics Portraying Scenes from the Birth, Presentation, and Bapt5ism of Christ. The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Nativity (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Temple Presentation of Jesus (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Sanctuary of Hosios Loukas: Mosaics Honoring Holy Men, Apostles and Mary. The Altar Dome of Hosios Loukas and the Pentecostal Mosaic (the Holy Spirit Descends Upon the Apostles). The Apse Half Dome of Hosios Loukas: The Mosaic of Mary as Mother of God and Protectress of the Church Holding the Infant Jesus. The Medallion of Saint Eleutherius, Second Century Bishop of Rome (Hosios Loukas Mosaic). The Almighty Figure in the Main Christ as Pantocrater (Hosios Loukas Mosaic).
CHAPTER SIX: The Round of Byzantine Life. An Eleventh Century Illustrated Manuscript: A Circle Dance with Dancers and Musicians. A Byzantine Gold Necklace. A Gold Nomisma/Bezant (Coin) Depicting Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. Picture Essay: Island of the Past (A Cowled Palm Sunday Worshipper. Echoes of Empire in a Rural Outpost. The Aegean Mountain Village of Olympos. The Palaeologus Byzantine Imperial Two-Headed Eagle: A Manuscript Illumination. Timeless Tasks of Home and Farm. A Thirteenth Century Miniature of a Woman Winding Yarn. Tending the Crops. Baking Bread. Preparing for Easter: Coloring Eggs and Baking Ornate Bread. The Pageantry of Holy Week: Good Friday and Resurrection. (Easter). A Procession of Icons: A Visit to the Cemetery. Boy Choristers and Byzantine Music. A Traditional Wedding: Crowns of Papers and Flowers. A Tenth Century Ivory Relief: The Crowning of the Imperial Couple (Romanus and Eudoxia) Crowned by Christ. An Old-Style Banquet: An Ancient Circle Dance and Homemade Bagpipes. A Wayside Chapel.).
CHAPTER SEVEN: A Glittering Culture. Preserving the Past: Restoring Byzantine Manuscripts at the Abbey near Padua, Italy. The Thirteenth Century Byzantine Tract “Geronticum Quodam” on the Lives of the Apostles and Saints. Singing Hymns by Symbols: A Twelfth Century
CHAPTER EIGHT: The Final Centuries. Besieging Constantinople in 1453AD: The Encampments of Mehmet II’s Turkish Army. Fading Phases of Empire and the Defeat at Manzikert (An Atlas of Important Battlefields): Ani, Manzikert, Caesarea, Angore, Philadelphia, Nicomedia, Nicaea, Brusa, Galipoli, Adrianople, Constantinople, Varna, Sardica, Naissus, Kossovo, Larissa, Salonika, Morea, Italy. The Conqueror of Constantinople: The Turkish Sultan Mehmet II. Picture Essay: Strongholds of Byzantium (Byzantium Emblem of the Double-Headed Eagle as a Flag Flying Over a Monastery on the Greek Island of Patmos. A Religious Oasis: The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. Monasterial Holy Mountains: Meteora and Mount Athos. The Great Lavra: Mount Athos’s Oldest Monastery (963 AD). The Ninth Century Cliff Dwellings of the Athos Peninsula. An Aerial Retreat: The Monastery of Roussanou at Meteora. A Heritage of Work and Prayer. Saint John’s Monastery on Patmos Island: A Refuge at the Fall of Constantinople. Monks Deep at Work: Blacksmiths, Woodcarvers, Tailors, Farmers, Building Craftsmen, Tailors. Living With the Past: Life on Mount Athos: The Imperial Monasteries of the Holy Mountain. A Continuing Call to Piety. A Charnel House at Athos. Announcing Prayers: A Wooden Semantron (Gong).
Chronology: A Listing of Significant Events During the Byzantine Empire.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
BYZANTINE HISTORY: The Byzantine Empire was the eastern remainder of the great Roman Empire, and stretched from its capital in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) through much of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and small portions of North Africa and the Middle East. Prior to the fifth century collapse of the Western Roman Empire, one of Rome’s greatest emperors, Constantine the Great, established a second capital city for the Roman Empire in the East at Byzantium, present day Turkey. Constantine The Great sought to reunite the Roman Empire, centered upon Christian faith, by establishing a second "capital" for the Eastern Roman, away from the pagan influences of the city of Rome. Established as the new capital city for the Eastern Roman Empire in the fourth century, Constantine named the city in his own honor, “Constantinople”.
After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the “Byzantine Empire”, lasted for another thousand years as the cultural, religious and economic center of Eastern Europe. At the same time, as a consequence of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, most of the rest of Europe suffered through one thousand years of the "dark ages". As the center of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was one of the most elaborate, civilized, and wealthy cities in all of history. The Christian Church eventually became the major political force in the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Constantine the Great is also credited with being the first Christian Roman Emperor, and was eventually canonized by the Orthodox Church. Christianity had of course been generally outlawed prior to his reign.
Under the Byzantine Empire, Christianity became more than just a faith, it was the theme of the entire empire, its politics, and the very meaning of life. Christianity formed an all-encompassing way of life, and the influence of the Byzantine Empire reached far both in terms of time and geography, certainly a predominant influence in all of Europe up until the Protestant Reformation. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Representations of Christ, the Virgin, and various saints predominated the coinage of the era. The minting of the coins remained crude however, and collectors today prize Byzantine coins for their extravagant variations; ragged edges, "cupped" coins, etc. Other artifacts such as rings, pendants, and pottery are likewise prized for their characteristically intricate designs [AncientGifts].
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE: The Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the Greek-speaking, eastern part of the Mediterranean. Christian in nature, it was perennially at war with the Muslims, Flourishing during the reign of the Macedonian emperors, its demise was the consequence of attacks by Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks. Byzantium was the name of a small, but important town at the Bosphorus, the strait which connects the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean to the Black Sea, and separates the continents of Europe and Asia. In Greek times the town was at the frontier between the Greek and the Persian world. In the fourth century B.C., Alexander the Great made both worlds part of his Hellenistic universe, and later Byzantium became a town of growing importance within the Roman Empire.
By the third century A.D. the Romans had many thousands of miles of border to defend. Growing pressure caused a crisis, especially in the Danube/Balkan area, where the Goths violated the borders. In the East, the Sasanian Persians transgressed the frontiers along the Euphrates and Tigris. The emperor Constantine the Great (reign 306-337 A.D.) was one of the first to realize the impossibility of managing the empire's problems from distant Rome. So, in 330 A.D. Constantine decided to make Byzantium, which he had refounded a couple of years before and named after himself, his new residence. Constantinople lay halfway between the Balkan and the Euphrates, and not too far from the immense wealth and manpower of Asia Minor, the vital part of the empire.
"Byzantium" was to become the name for the East-Roman Empire. After the death of Constantine, in an attempt to overcome the growing military and administrative problem, the Roman Empire was divided into an eastern and a western part. The western part is considered as definitely finished by the year 476 A.D. when its last ruler was dethroned and a military leader, Odoacer, took power. In the course of the fourth century, the Roman world became increasingly Christian, and the Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian state. It was the first empire in the world to be founded not only on worldly power, but also on the authority of the Church. Paganism, however, stayed an important source of inspiration for many people during the first centuries of the Byzantine Empire.
When Christianity became organized, the Church was led by five patriarchs, who resided in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome. The Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) decided that the patriarch of Constantinople was to be the second in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Only the pope in Rome was his superior. After the Great Schism of 1054 A.D. the eastern (Orthodox) church separated form the western (Roman Catholic) church. The centre of influence of the orthodox churches later shifted to Moscow.
Since the age of the great historian Edward Gibbon, the Byzantine Empire has a reputation of stagnation, great luxury and corruption. Most surely the emperors in Constantinople held an eastern court. That means court life was ruled by a very formal hierarchy. There were all kinds of political intrigues between factions. However, the image of a luxury-addicted, conspiring, decadent court with treacherous empresses and an inert state system is historically inaccurate. On the contrary: for its age, the Byzantine Empire was quite modern. Its tax system and administration were so efficient that the empire survived more than a thousand years.
The culture of Byzantium was rich and affluent, while science and technology also flourished. Very important for us, nowadays, was the Byzantine tradition of rhetoric and public debate. Philosophical and theological discources were important in public life, even emperors taking part in them. The debates kept knowledge and admiration for the Greek philosophical and scientific heritage alive. Byzantine intellectuals quoted their classical predecessors with great respect, even though they had not been Christians. And although it was the Byzantine emperor Justinian who closed Plato's famous Academy of Athens in 529 A.D., the Byzantines are also responsible for much of the passing on of the Greek legacy to the Muslims, who later helped Europe to explore this knowledge again and so stood at the beginning of European Renaissance.
Byzantine history goes from the founding of Constantinople as an imperial residence on 11 May 330 A.D. until Tuesday 29 May 1453 A.D. when the Ottoman sultan Memhet II conquered the city. Most times the history of the Empire is divided into three periods. The first of these, from 330 till 867 A.D., saw the creation and survival of a powerful empire. During the reign of Justinian (527-565 A.D.), a last attempt was made to reunite the whole Roman Empire under one ruler, the one in Constantinople. This plan largely succeeded: the wealthy provinces in Italy and Africa were reconquered, Libya was rejuvenated, and money bought sufficient diplomatic influence in the realms of the Frankish rulers in Gaul and the Visigothic dynasty in Spain.
The refound unity was celebrated with the construction of the church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople. The price for the reunion, however, was high. Justinian had to pay off the Sasanian Persians, and had to deal with firm resistance, for instance in Italy. Under Justinian, the lawyer Tribonian (500-547 A.D.) created the famous Corpus Iuris. The Code of Justinian, a compilation of all the imperial laws, was published in 529 A.D. Soon the Institutions (a handbook) and the Digests (fifty books of jurisprudence), were added. The project was completed with some additional laws, the Novellae. The achievement becomes even more impressive when we realize that Tribonian was temporarily relieved of his function during the Nika riots of 532 A.D., which in the end weakened the position of patricians and senators in the government, and strengthened the position of the emperor and his wife.
After Justinian, the Byzantine and Sasanian empires suffered heavy losses in a terrible war. The troops of the Persian king Khusrau II captured Antioch and Damascus, stole the True Cross from Jerusalem, occupied Alexandria, and even reached the Bosphorus. In the end, the Byzantine armies were victorious under the emperor Heraclius (reign 610-642 A.D.). However, the empire was weakened and soon lost Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Africa to the Islamic Arabs. For a moment, Syracuse on Sicily served as imperial residence. At the same time, parts of Italy were conquered by the Lombards, while Bulgars settled south of the Danube. The ultimate humiliation took place in 800 A.D., when the leader of the Frankish barbarians in the West, Charlemagne, preposterously claimed that he, and not the ruler in Constantinople, was the Christian emperor.
The second period in Byzantine history consists of its apogee. It fell during the Macedonian dynasty (867-1057 A.D.). After an age of contraction, the empire expanded again and in the end, almost every Christian city in the East was within the empire's borders. On the other hand, wealthy Egypt and large parts of Syria were forever lost, and Jerusalem was not reconquered. In 1014 A.D. the mighty Bulgarian empire, which had once been a very serious threat to the Byzantine state, was finally overcome after a bloody war, and became part of the Byzantine Empire. The victorious emperor, Basilius II, was surnamed Boulgaroktonos, "slayer of Bulgars". The northern border now was finally secured and the empire flourished.
Throughout this whole period the Byzantine currency, the nomisma, was the leading currency in the Mediterranean world. It was a stable currency ever since the founding of Constantinople. Its importance shows how important Byzantium was in economics and finance. Constantinople was the city where people of every religion and nationality lived next to one another, all in their own quarters and with their own social structures. Taxes for foreign traders were just the same as for the inhabitants. This was unique in the world of the middle ages.
Despite these favorable conditions, Italian cities like Venice and Amalfi, gradually gained influence and became serious competitors. Trade in the Byzantine world was no longer the monopoly of the Byzantines themselves. Fuel was added to these beginning trade conflicts when the pope and patriarch of Constantinople went separate ways in 1054 A.D. (the Great Schism). Decay became inevitable after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 A.D. Here, the Byzantine army under the emperor Romanus IV Diogenes, although reinforced by Frankish mercenaries, was beaten by an army of the Seljuk Turks, commanded by Alp Arslan ("the Lion"). Romanus was probably betrayed by one of his own generals, Joseph Tarchaniotes, and by his nephew Andronicus Ducas.
After the battle, the Byzantine Empire lost Antioch, Aleppo, and Manzikert, and within years, the whole of Asia Minor was overrun by Turks. From now on, the empire was to suffer from manpower shortage almost permanently. In this crisis, a new dynasty, the Comnenes, came to power. To obtain new Frankish mercenaries, emperor Alexius sent a request for help to pope Urban II, who responded by summoning the western world for the Crusades. The western warriors swore loyalty to the emperor, reconquered parts of Anatolia, but kept Antioch, Edessa, and the Holy Land for themselves.
For the Byzantines, it was increasingly difficult to contain the westerners. They were not only fanatic warriors, but also shrewd traders. In the twelfth century, the Byzantines created a system of diplomacy in which deals were concluded with towns like Venice that secured trade by offering favorable positions to merchants of friendly cities. Soon, the Italians were everywhere, and they were not always willing to accept that the Byzantines had a different faith. In the age of the Crusades, the Greek Orthodox Church could become a target of violence too. So it could happen that Crusaders plundered the Constantinople in 1204 A.D. Much of the loot can still be seen in the church of San Marco in Venice.
For more than half a century, the empire was ruled by monarchs from the West, but they never succeeded in gaining full control. Local rulers continued the Byzantine traditions, like the grandiloquently named "emperors" of the Anatolian mini-states surrounding Trapezus, where the Comnenes continued to rule, and Nicaea, which was ruled by the Palaiologan dynasty. The Seljuk Turks, who are also known as the Sultanate of Rum, benefited greatly of the division of the Byzantine Empire, and initially strengthened their positions. Their defeat, in 1243 A.D., in a war against the Mongols, prevented them from adding Nicaea and Trapezus as well. Consequently, the two Byzantine mini-states managed to survive.
The Palaiologans even managed to capture Constantinople in 1261 A.D., but the Byzantine Empire was now in decline. It kept losing territory, until finally the Ottoman Empire (which had replaced the Sultanate of Rum) under Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453 A.D. and took over government. Trapezus surrendered eight years later. After the Ottoman take-over, many Byzantine artists and scholars fled to the West, taking with them precious manuscripts. They were not the first ones. Already in the fourteenth century, Byzantine artisans, abandoning the declining cultural life of Constantinople, had found ready employ in Italy. Their work was greatly appreciated and western artists were ready to copy their art. One of the most striking examples of Byzantine influence is to be seen in the work of the painter Giotto, one of the important Italian artists of the early Renaissance. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].
ANCIENT CONSTANTINOPLE/BYZANTIUM: Built in the seventh century B.C., the ancient city of Byzantium proved to be a valuable city for both the Greeks and Romans. Because it lay on the European side of the Strait of Bosporus, the Emperor Constantine understood its strategic importance and upon reuniting the empire in 324 A.D. built his new capital there; Constantinople. Emperor Diocletian who ruled the Roman Empire from 284 to 305 A.D. believed that the empire was too big for one person to rule and divided it into a tetrarchy (rule of four) with an emperor (augustus) and a co-emperor (caesar) in both the east and west.
Diocletian chose to rule the east. Young Constantine rose to power in the west when his father, Constantius, died. The ambitious ruler defeated his rival, Maxentius, for power at the Battle of Milvian Bridge and became sole emperor of the west in 312 A.D. When Lucinius assumed power in the east in 313 A.D., Constantine challenged and ultimately defeated him at the Battle of Chrysopolis, thereby reuniting the empire. Constantine was unsure where to locate his new capital. Old Rome was never considered. He understood the infrastructure of the city was declining; its economy was stagnant and the only source of income was becoming scarce. Nicomedia had everything he could want for a capital; a palace, a basilica and even a circus; but it had been the capital of his predecessors, and he wanted something new.
Although he had been tempted to build his capital on the site of ancient Troy, Constantine decided it was best to locate his new city at the site of old Byzantium, claiming it to be a New Rome (Nova Roma). The city had several advantages. It was closer to the geographic center of the Empire. Since it was surrounded almost entirely by water, it could be easily defended (especially when a chain was placed across the bay). The location provided an excellent harbor; thanks to the Golden Horn; as well as easy access to the Danube River region and the Euphrates frontier. Thanks to the funding of Lucinius’s treasury and a special tax, a massive rebuilding project began. Constantinople would become the economic and cultural hub of the east and the center of both Greek classics and Christian ideals.
Although he kept some remnants of the old city, New Rome, four times the size of Byzantium, was said to have been inspired by the Christian God, yet remained classical in every sense. Built on seven hills (just like Old Rome), the city was divided into fourteen districts. Supposedly laid out by Constantine himself, there were wide avenues lined with statues of Alexander the Great, Caesar, Augustus, Diocletian, and of course, Constantine dressed in the garb of Apollo with a scepter in one hand and a globe in the other. The city was centered on two colonnaded streets (dating back to Septimus Severus) that intersected near the baths of Zeuxippus and the Testratoon.
The intersection of the two streets was marked by a four-way arch, the tetraphylon. North of the arch stood the old basilica which Constantine converted into a square court, surrounded by several porticos, housing a library and two shrines. Southward stood the new imperial palace with its massive entrance, the Chalke Gate. Besides a new forum, the city boasted a large meeting hall that served as a market, stock exchange, and court of law. The old circus was transformed into a victory monument, including one monument that had been erected at Delphi, the Serpent Column, celebrating the Greek victory over the Persians at Plataea in 479 B.C. While the old amphitheater was abandoned (the Christians disliked gladiatorial contests), the hippodrome was enlarged for chariot races.
One of Constantine’s early concerns was to provide enough water for the citizenry. While Old Rome didn’t have the problem, New Rome faced periods of intense drought in the summer and early autumn and torrential rain in the winter. Together with the challenge of the weather, there was always the possibility of invasion. The city needed a reliable water supply. There were sufficient aqueducts, tunnels and conduits to bring water into the city but a lack of storage still existed. To solve the problem the Binbirderek Cistern (it still exists) was constructed in 330 A.D.
Religion took on new meaning in the empire. Although Constantine openly supported Christianity (his mother was one), historians doubt whether or not he truly ever became a Christian, waiting until his deathbed to convert. New Rome would boast temples to pagan deities (he had kept the old acropolis) and several Christian churches; Hagia Irene was one of the first churches commissioned by Constantine. It would perish during the Nika Revolts under Justinian in 532 A.D. In 330 A.D., Constantine consecrated the Empire’s new capital, a city which would one day bear the emperor’s name. Constantinople would become the economic and cultural hub of the east and the center of both Greek classics and Christian ideals. Its importance would take on new meaning with Alaric’s invasion of Rome in 410 A.D. and the eventual fall of the city to Odoacer in 476 A.D. During the Middle Ages, the city would become a refuge for ancient Greek and Roman texts.
In 337 A.D. Constantine died, leaving his successors and the empire in turmoil. Constantius II defeated his brothers (and any other challengers) and became the empire’s sole emperor. The only individual he spared was his cousin Julian, only five years old at the time and not considered a viable threat; however, the young man would surprise his older cousin and one day becomes an emperor himself, Julian the Apostate. Constantius II enlarged the governmental bureaucracy, adding quaestors, praetors, and even tribunes. He built another cistern and additional grain silos. Although some historians disagree (claiming Constantine laid the foundation), he is credited with building the first of three Hagia Sophias, the Church of Holy Wisdom, in 360 A.D. The church would be destroyed by fire in 404 A.D., rebuilt by Theodosius II, destroyed and rebuilt again under Justinian in 532 A.D.
A convert to Arianism, Constantius II‘s death would place the already tenuous status of Christianity in the empire in jeopardy. His successor, Julian the Apostate, a student of Greek and Roman philosophy and culture (and the first emperor born in Constantinople), would become the last pagan emperor. Although Constantinius had considered him weak and non-threatening, Julian had become a brilliant commander, gaining the support and respect of the army, easily assuming power upon the emperor’s death. Although he attempted to erase all aspects of Christianity in the empire, he failed. Upon his death fighting the Persians in 363 A.D., the empire was split between two brothers, Valentinian I (who died in 375 A.D.) and Valens.
Valentinian, the more capable of the two, ruled the west while the weaker and short-sighted Valens ruled the east. Valens only contribution to the city and the empire was to add a number of aqueducts, but in his attempt to shore up the empire’s frontier --he had allowed the Visigoths to settle there-- he would lose a decisive battle and his life at Adrianople in 378 A.D. After Valens embarrassing defeat, the Visigoths believed Constantinople to be vulnerable and attempted to scale the walls of the city but ultimately failed. Valen’s successor was Theodosius the Great (379 – 395 A.D.).
In response to Theodosius outlawed paganism and made Christianity the official religion of the empire in 391 A.D. He called the Second Ecumenical Council, reaffirming the Nicene Creed, written under the reign of Constantine. As the last emperor to rule both east and west, he did away with the Vestal Virgins of Rome, outlawed the Olympic Games and dismissed the Oracle at Delphi which had existed long before the time of Alexander the Great. His grandson, Theodosius II (408 – 450 A.D.) rebuilt Hagia Sophia after it burned, established a university, and, fearing a barbarian threat, expanded the city’s walls in 413 A.D.; the new walls would be forty feet high and sixteen feet thick.
A number of weak emperors followed Theodosius II until Justinian (527 – 565 A.D.), the creator of the Justinian Code, came to power. By this time the city boasted over three hundred thousand residents. As emperor Justinian instituted a number of administrative reforms, tightening control of both the provinces and tax collection. He built a new cistern, a new palace, and a new Hagia Sophia and Hagia Irene, both destroyed during the Nika Revolt of 532 A.D. His most gifted advisor and intellectual equal was his wife Theodora, the daughter of a bear trainer at the Hippodrome. She is credited with influencing many imperial reforms: expansion of women’s rights in divorce, closure of all brothels, and the creation of convents for former prostitutes.
Under the leadership of his brilliant general Belisarius, Justinian expanded the empire to include North Africa, Spain and Italy. Sadly, he would be the last of the truly great emperors; the empire would fall into gradual decline after his death until the Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453 A.D. One of the darker moments during his reign was the Nika Revolt. It started as a riot at the hippodrome between two sport factions, the blues and greens. Both were angry at Justinian for some of his recent policy decisions and openly opposed his appearance at the games. The riot expanded to the streets where looting and fires broke out. The main gate of the imperial palace, the Senate house, public baths, and many residential houses and palaces were all destroyed.
Although initially choosing to flee the city, Justinian was convinced by his wife, to stay and fight: thirty thousand would die as a result. When the smoke cleared, the emperor saw an opportunity to clear away remnants of the past and make the city a center of civilization. Forty days later Justinian began the construction of a new church; a new Hagia Sophia. No expense was to be spared. He wanted the new church to be built on a grand scale -- a church no one would dare destroy. He brought in gold from Egypt, porphyry from Ephesus, white marble from Greece and precious stones from Syria and North Africa. The historian Procopius said: "it soars to a height to match the sky, and as if surging up from other buildings it stands as high and looks down on the remnants of the city … it exults in an indescribable beauty."
Over ten thousand workers would take almost six years to build it. Afterwards Justinian was reported to say, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee.” Near the height of his reign, Justinian’s city suffered an epidemic in 541 A.D. --the Black Death-- where over one hundred thousand of the city’s residents would die. Even Justinian wasn’t immune, although he survived. The economy of the empire would never completely recover. Two other emperors deserve mention: Leo III and Basil I. Leo III (717 – 741 A.D.) is best known for instituting iconoclasm, the destruction of all religious relics and icons, the city would lose monuments, mosaics and works of art, but he should also be remembered for saving the city.
When the Arabs lay siege to the city, he used a new weapon “Greek fire”, a flammable liquid to repel the invaders. It was comparable to napalm, and water was useless against it as it would only help to spread the flames. While his son Constantine V was equally successful, his grandson Leo IV, initially a moderate iconoclast, died shortly after assuming power, leaving the incompetent Constantine VI and his mother and regent Irene in power. Irene ruled with an iron hand, preferring treaties to warfare, aided by several purges of the military. Although she saw the return of religious icons (endearing her to the Roman church), her power over her son and the empire ended when she chose to have him blinded; she was exiled to the island of Lesbos.
Basil I (867- 886 A.D.), the Macedonian (although he had never set foot in Macedonia), saw a city and empire that has fallen into disrepair and set about a massive rebuilding program: Stone replaced wood, mosaics were restored, churches as well as a new imperial palace were constructed, and lastly, considerable lost territory was recovered. Much of the rebuilding, however, was lost during the Fourth Crusade (1202 -1204 A.D.) when the city was plundered and burned, not by the Muslims, but by the Christians who had initially been called to repel invaders but sacked the city themselves. Crusaders roamed the city, tombs were vandalized, churches desecrated, and Justinian’s sarcophagus was opened and his body flung aside. The city and the empire never recovered from the Crusades leaving them vulnerable for the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].
HISTORY OF ROMAN CONSTANTINOPLE: Constantinople grew from a tiny Hellenic city known as Byzantium into one of the ancient world’s greatest cities. Prior to the fifth century collapse of the Western Roman Empire, one of Rome’s greatest emperors, Constantine the Great, established a second capital city for the Roman Empire in the East at Byzantium, present day Turkey. Constantine The Great sought to reunite the Roman Empire, centered upon Christian faith, by establishing a second "capital" for the Eastern Roman, away from the pagan influences of the city of Rome. Established as the new capital city for the Eastern Roman Empire in the fourth century, Constantine named the city in his own honor, “Constantinople”.
Eventually the Byzantine Empire stretched from its capital in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) through much of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and small portions of North Africa and the Middle East. After the fifth-century collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the “Byzantine Empire”, lasted for another thousand years as the cultural, religious and economic center of Eastern Europe. At the same time, as a consequence of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, most of the rest of Europe suffered through one thousand years of the "dark ages".
As the center of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was one of the most elaborate, civilized, and wealthy cities in all of history. The Christian Church eventually became the major political force in the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Constantine the Great is also credited with being the first Christian Roman Emperor, and was eventually canonized by the Orthodox Church. Christianity had of course been generally outlawed prior to his reign. Under the Byzantine Empire, Christianity became more than just a faith, it was the theme of the entire empire, its politics, and the very meaning of life.
Christianity formed an all-encompassing way of life, and the influence of the Byzantine Empire reached far both in terms of time and geography, certainly a predominant influence in all of Europe up until the Protestant Reformation. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Representations of Christ, the Virgin, and various saints predominated the coinage of the era. The minting of the coins remained crude however, and collectors today prize Byzantine coins for their extravagant variations; ragged edges, "cupped" coins, etc. Other artifacts such as rings, pendants, and pottery are likewise prized for their characteristically intricate designs [AncientGifts].
BYZANTINE SHIPWRECKS: A trove of ancient Byzantine ships found in waters near Istanbul, Turkey, displayed more advanced construction than scholars previously knew for that era. The ships include two unique Byzantine galleys propelled by oars, which are the first of their kind to be salvaged and were previously known only from text and images. Officials are planning a large museum to show the ships, which date back between 800 and 1,500 years, but it may be several years before their hulls are prepared to the point that they may be exhibited. Ships so far removed from the waters of the Sea of Marmara have had to be continuously sprayed with water to prevent deterioration.
The Byzantine Empire, extant from 330 to 1450 A.D., at one point covered much of southern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. Several historians have called it a ‘maritime empire’ as the sea became vital to its very existence. Excavated along with the galleys, were 35 other Byzantine shipwrecks at the port of Yenikapi in Istanbul, known then as Constantinople. "Never before has such a large number and types of well-preserved vessels been found at a single location," study author Cemal Pulak of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University told LiveScience.com. "The ships are in very good condition."
A new report, published in December in the International Journal of Nautical Archeology, highlights eight of the ships. The report says the ships were built incorporating two techniques: building the shell first and then adding the skeleton, and vice versa. This shift in technique from shell first to skeleton first, which is more advanced, was underway by the seventh century. Scholars thought the skeleton-first technique came later in history. Six of the eight ships examined in the new report were round ships 26 to 48 feet (8 to 14.7 meters) long and between 8 and 16 feet (2.5 to 5 meters) wide. Round ships are propelled mostly or fully by sails. The two others were oar-propelled galleys 100 feet (30 meters) long by 13 feet (4 meters) wide.
“Previously, Byzantine galleys were known only from books and artwork dating to the time period, and such sources tend to be difficult to interpret. Therefore the well-preserved remains of these vessels at Yenikapi play a crucial role in archaeologists' study of Byzantine ships, the researchers said,” LiveScience reports. Much information about Byzantine ships prior to the 2004 find had come from several medium-size seagoing ships excavated in the Mediterranean Sea. "Yenikapi has yielded a wide array of small rowboats, fishing boats, utility vessels and even naval ships, all directly from Constantinople itself, the capital of the Byzantine Empire," Pulak told LiveScience.com.
Some magnificent discoveries have been made in Turkish waters in the last year, including eight Ottoman era shipwrecks near Antalya, and an ancient ship in the Port of Urla underwater site, a port city located near Izmir, which is believed to date back an incredible 4,000 years, making it the oldest known shipwreck in the world. [Ancient Origins].
THE ROYAL BYZANTINE BODYGUARD: THE VARANGIANS: The Varangian Guard: Berserkers of the Byzantine Empire. The tale of the Varangians continues in its prime in the form of the Varangian Guard, a prominent and selective Byzantine army arising in the tenth century. Composed of the Scandinavian marauders in the beginning, the Varangian Guard survived until the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries as the Byzantine Emperor's elite sentinel. Dressed in battle armor of blue tunics and crimson cloaks, with man-high battle axes gilded with gold, the bright colors of the Varangian Guard did nothing to quell the terrible berserking power, which they laid against all those who threatened their Byzantine leader.
Berserkers were Old Norse warriors who fought as unchecked, frenzied shock troops who, when deployed, appeared so mad that neither "fire nor iron" frightened them. Much of what is known about the Varangian Guard comes down through the centuries from scholars such as Princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I, and Michael Psellos, a monk from Constantinople—both writing in the eleventh century A.D. It is believed that the Varangian Guard had been formed around the year 874 when a treaty between the Rus' and Byzantine Empire dictated that the Rus' had to send warriors to the aid of the Empire as necessary.
Though it was initially a forced military draft, the practice later became voluntary, undoubtedly in part to ensure the Varangians did not revolt against their new Byzantine leaders. However, it was not hard to keep the foreign warriors working in the Empire, as the Empire reportedly treated the Varangians far more generously than the leaders of Rus', who tended to withhold payments and ignore promises of land and status. It was Emperor Basil II, also known as Basil Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar slayer), who truly brought the Varangians to the forefront of Byzantine culture in the tenth century. Born of Macedonian stock, Basil II reigned from 976 to 1025, and is in large part remembered for stabilizing the eastern empire against foreign threats.
The stabilization, however, was in large part due to Varangian aid, given to him by Vladimir I of the Kievan Rus', and cemented because of Vladimir's marriage to Basil's own sister, Anna. With this wedding, the Varangian forces became a interchangeable unit between Rus' and the Byzantine Empire, and they were uniquely tied for as long as the Empire remained. This is how the Varangians became Christianized (see Part 1). Part of Basil's agreement to allow Vladimir to wed his sister was that Vladimir had to accept Anna's religion. Thus, Vladimir was baptized and Rus' was Christianized not long after.
Initially, the Varangian Guard was utilized as extra fighting power in skirmishes between Byzantium and some of her eastern foes. However, as history shows, with usurpers such as Basil II's own namesake Basil I, the native protectors of the city and of the Emperor could easily be swayed to shift loyalties. Thus Emperor Basil II came to actually trust the Varangians more than his own people, and they were therefore given a more critical role in his armed forces. Princess Anna even notes in her work The Alexiad, the Varangians were uniquely known for their loyalty to the ruling emperor. (This is in reference to her father's own seizing of the Byzantine throne).
Eventually, they became the personal protectors of the emperor himself: an elite, close knit force that remained near the emperor's side at all times. Accompanying him to festivals and parties, religious activities and private affairs, the Guard remained at all times close to the emperor and his family. They were the guardians of his bedchambers in the evenings, remaining barracked within the palace to ensure they were always nearby, and went so far as to provide crowd control at illustrious gatherings to ensure the emperor was always protected and always had a way to escape. Within a short time, it became quite a prestigious endeavor to be one of the emperor's elite defenders. Though initially comprised of Scandinavian descendants, the Varangian Guard grew over the years to include most of the races of the British Isles: Anglo-Saxons, Irishmen, Scotsmen, etc.
A fee of seven to sixteen pounds of gold was charged to allow entrance into the army, oftentimes on a loan basis from the Byzantine emperor himself. The warriors then quickly repaid their debt with the large salary they were provided for their services, on top of the booty they were allowed to take after the success of decisive battles. Furthermore, modern author Lars Magnar Enoksen claimed that, upon the death of each Byzantine Emperor, it was customary for the Varangians to pillage the palace treasury in an Old Norse rite. This act made the warriors even wealthier, and in showing off this wealth to their own families, many other Scandinavians were eager to pay the fee to become part of the Guard.
The berserkers of the Byzantine Empire, the Varangian Guard allowed the Viking name to survive well into the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as protectors and warriors of the eastern empire. It can be postulated that without the Varangian Guard the Byzantine Empire could have taken a vastly different turn. The unyielding protection they provided their emperors helped prevented the vicious usurpations that had plagued the Roman Empire that preceded them. Though even this defense eventually came to an end with the Fourth Crusade's siege of Constantinople in the year 1204 AD, the Varangians survived long beyond their Viking ancestors as a strong, elite force, rich in both wealth, as well as power. [Ancient Origins].
SYMBOL OF BYZANTIUM – THE TWO-HEADED EAGLE: The double-headed eagle has been a popular symbol associated with the concept of a powerful Empire. Most contemporary uses of the symbol are exclusively associated with its use by the Byzantine Empire and the Greek Orthodox Church. However, the double-headed eagle has been in use for thousands of years – way before the Greeks identify it with the Byzantine Empire and Orthodox religion – while its original meaning is debated among scholars. The eagle was a common symbol representing power in ancient Greek city-states.
In Greek mythology, there was an implication of a "dual-eagle" concept in the tale that Zeus let two eagles fly East and West from the ends of the world with them eventually meeting in Delphi thus proving it to be the center of the earth. According to many historians, however, the two-headed eagle appears to be of Hittite origin. Early examples of the symbol come from the Hittite empire in central Anatolia, where two-headed eagles can be found on seals and also on sculptures. Interestingly, some of those sculptures also have other beasts in their claws and appear to be the symbol of the ruler standing on it.
Thus, the two-headed eagle could have been the symbol of the tribe of the ruler but also of the ruler himself. After the Hittite two-headed eagles there is a gap of almost two millennia to be filled. In the meantime, the emblem of the supreme commander in the Hellenistic world was a monstrous head, being the head of the army personified by Medusa or Nike (Goddess of Victory). The famous symbol re-appears again thousands of years later, during the Early Middle Ages, around the 10 th century, where it was mainly used as the absolute symbol of the Byzantine Empire. It is suggested that the early Byzantine Empire inherited the Roman eagle as an imperial symbol. During his reign, Emperor Isaac I Comnenus (1057–1059) modified it as double-headed, influenced by traditions about such a beast in his native Paphlagonia in Asia Minor.
After the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261, two crowns were added (one over each head) representing the newly recaptured capital and the intermediate "capital" of the empire of Nicaea. In the following two centuries (11th and 12th), representations of the symbol were also found in Islamic Spain, France and Bulgaria, while from the 13th century onward it becomes more and more widespread. In the meantime the two-headed eagle was adopted by the Islamic world as well, especially after the fall of the Seljuq Empire and the restoration of the temporal power of the Caliphate of Bagdad in 1157. This is testified mainly by coins bearing a two-headed eagle and from the vassals of the Caliphate.
Even more impressively, the two-headed bird is also found in Indian culture. Known as “Gandhabherunda” in India, the symbol has the same Hittite origin as the two-headed eagle in the West. A myth says that Vishnu assumed the form of a two-headed eagle to annihilate Sarabha, a form taken by Shiva to destroy Narasimha (an avatar of Vishnu) again, a sectarian device to humble a rival creed. Such a bird appears at Sirkap Stupa which usually is dated at about the beginning of the Christian era. It is depicted there sitting and turned to the dexter and this seems to have been the common attitude for centuries. It can also be found on a fresco in Brihadiswara Temple, consecrated 1010, and much later on a 16th century Vijayanagar coin.
However, it was Christianity that ultimately arrogated the symbol. The now widely-recognized yellow with a black crowned double-headed eagle flag, became the symbol of the Palaiologoi family, the last Greek royal family to rule the Byzantine Empire before the fall of Constantinople in 1453. As already mentioned, after Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople from the Crusaders in 1261, he adopted the double-headed eagle which symbolized the dynasty's interests in both Asia and Europe. During these two centuries of the dynasty’s reign though, the flag became identified not just with the specific family but with the Empire itself.
Additionally, in the eyes of the Byzantines the double-headed eagle gradually became the absolute symbol of Orthodoxy, symbolizing the unity between the Byzantine Orthodox Church and State, which was governed by the principle of “Symphonia”, thus the "symphony" between the civil and the ecclesiastical functions of Byzantine Orthodox society. In addition, the heads of the eagle also represented the dual sovereignty of the Byzantine Emperor, with the left head representing Rome (the Western part) and the right head representing Constantinople – the Hellenistic part of the Empire.
Apparently, when the Holy Crusaders passed through Constantinople on their way to what is now Israel, they most likely first came in contact with the impressive double-headed symbol embroidered in gold on heavy banners of silk, borne aloft by the Seljuk Turks. It was from the Turks and not the Byzantines, as some may falsely think, that the crusaders took this banner to adorn the courts of Charlemagne and hung as a sacred relic in the great cathedrals. Frederick of Prussia is the one to “blame” for popularizing the eagle symbol throughout Western Europe, as he was the one who supplied the emblem during the formative stages of the Rite, even though he or Prussia couldn’t use it exclusively as their own.
In England we find it used upon knightly arms. Most notably Robert George Gentleman displayed it upon his shield, with the motto, "Truth, Honour and Courtesy." In France, it became popular by Count de Montamajeur, who associated with the motto, "I shall hold myself erect and not blink,” and in Italy we find it upon the arms of the Duke of Modena in 1628 under the motto "No age can destroy it. As for its modern use? It remains the absolute symbol of the Greek Orthodox Church, while it is often seen in the world of sports. Several football (soccer) clubs across Europe, bear the double-headed eagle in their insignia, with the Greek sport club of AEK – Athletic Union of Constantinople – which was founded by Greek refugees who fled to Greece from Constantinople in the 1920s, being the most popular and successful of them. [Ancient Origins].
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ABOUT US: Prior to our retirement we used to travel to Eastern Europe and Central Asia several times a year seeking antique gemstones and jewelry from the globe’s most prolific gemstone producing and cutting centers. Most of the items we offer came from acquisitions we made in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) during these years from various institutions and dealers. Much of what we generate on Etsy, Amazon and Ebay goes to support worthy institutions in Europe and Asia connected with Anthropology and Archaeology. Though we have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, our primary interests are ancient/antique jewelry and gemstones, a reflection of our academic backgrounds.
Though perhaps difficult to find in the USA, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia antique gemstones are commonly dismounted from old, broken settings – the gold reused – the gemstones recut and reset. Before these gorgeous antique gemstones are recut, we try to acquire the best of them in their original, antique, hand-finished state – most of them originally crafted a century or more ago. We believe that the work created by these long-gone master artisans is worth protecting and preserving rather than destroying this heritage of antique gemstones by recutting the original work out of existence. That by preserving their work, in a sense, we are preserving their lives and the legacy they left for modern times. Far better to appreciate their craft than to destroy it with modern cutting.
Not everyone agrees – fully 95% or more of the antique gemstones which come into these marketplaces are recut, and the heritage of the past lost. But if you agree with us that the past is worth protecting, and that past lives and the produce of those lives still matters today, consider buying an antique, hand cut, natural gemstone rather than one of the mass-produced machine cut (often synthetic or “lab produced”) gemstones which dominate the market today. We can set most any antique gemstone you purchase from us in your choice of styles and metals ranging from rings to pendants to earrings and bracelets; in sterling silver, 14kt solid gold, and 14kt gold fill. When you purchase from us, you can count on quick shipping and careful, secure packaging. We would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from us. There is a $3 fee for mailing under separate cover. I will always respond to every inquiry whether via email or eBay message, so please feel free to write.
