The Ancient Middle East

1. The Ancient Middle East

2. 7. Byzantium: The "New Rome"

3. The Roman Empire Divided in 294

4. Constantine’s City--Constantinopolis

5. Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire

6. Constantinople: A Greek City(Istanbul Today)

7. Constantinople

8. Sunset on the “Golden Horn”

9. Overview: Byzantine Empire • Capital: Byzantium • On the Bosporus • Commercial, strategic value of location • Constantine names capital after himself (Constantinople), moves capital there 330 CE • 1453 falls to Turks, renamed Istanbul

10. The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium • Byzantine Empire inherits Roman Empire after fall of Rome in 5th c. CE • preserved Greco-Roman culture and advancements • Eastern territories remain major power until 13th c. CE

11. The Later Roman Empire • Roman infrastructure in place in East – even though West crumbled • Roads, institutional hierarchies • Challenges: Persian empire (Sassanid dynasty) & Germanic peoples

12. Caesaropapism • Emperor w/aura of divinity – divine authority • Centralized power (political & religious) • Authority absolute • Byzantine bureaucracy

13. The Byzantine Court – Don’t Write • Etiquette reinforces authority of Emperor • Royal purple • Prostration • Mechanical devices designed to inspire awe

14. Emperor Justinian [r. 527-564]

15. Empress Theodora

16. Mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and her retinue, from Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

17. Justinian (527-565 CE) • The “sleepless emperor” • Wife Theodora as advisor • Rebuilt Constantinople • Church of Hagia Sophia • Codification of Roman Law • Justinian’s Code

18. Justinian’s Empire at its Peak

19. The Hagia Sophia

20. Church of Hagia Sophia [Holy Wisdom]

21. Interior of the Church of Hagia Sophia

22. The Hagia Sophia

23. Justinian’s Code Corpus Juris Civilis: 1. Digest 2. Code 3. Institutes 

24. Byzantine & Sassanid Empires, 6c

25. 6c Arabia: A Threat to the Great Empires ? ?

26. The Byzantine Empire and its neighbors 527-554 CE

27. Islamic Conquests and Byzantine Revival • 7th century Arab Muslim expansion • Besieged Byzantium 674-678, 717-718 • Defense made possible through use of a weapon “Greek fire”

28. Imperial Organization • Themes (provinces) under control of generals • Military administration • Control from central imperial government • Soldiers from peasant class, rewarded with land grants

29. Tensions with Western Europe • Church • Byzantine: Greek; Roman: Latin • Conflicts over hierarchical control • Fealty of Germanic peoples • Roman pope crowns Charlemagne in 800, a challenge to Byzantine authority

30. Byzantine Economy and Society • Constantinople largest city in Europe, 5th-13th c. • Dependent on small landholders, free peasants • Earlier large landholdings destroyed by invasions in 6th-7th centuries • Theme system rewards soldiers with land grants

31. Decline of the Free Peasantry • Despite economic and social benefits of small peasants landholdings, large landholdings on the increase • Reduces tax revenues, recruits to military • Last three centuries indicate steady decline of economy

32. Manufacturing and Trade • Trade routes bring key technologies, e.g. silk industry • Advantage of location causes crafts and industry to expand after 6th century • Tax revenues from silk route • Banking services develop

33. Urban Life • Aristocrats: palaces; artisans: apartments; working poor: communal living spaces • Hippodrome • Chariot races, “greens vs. blues” • Politically inspired rioting • Role of Theodora & Justinian

34. “Whether or not a woman should give an example of courage to men, is neither here nor there…At a moment of desperate danger, one must do what one can…If flight were the only means of safety, still I would not flee. Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss…Emperor, if you wish to flee, well and good, you have the money, the ships are ready, the sea is clear. But I shall stay. I accept the ancient proverb: Royal purple is the best burial sheet.” Theodora, AD 532

35. Tensions with Western Europe • Church • Byzantine: Greek; Roman: Latin • Conflicts over hierarchical control • Fealty of Germanic peoples • Roman pope crowns Charlemagne in 800, a challenge to Byzantine authority

36. Orthodox Christianity • Legacy of Classical Greece • Greek replaces Latin after 6th c. CE; language of New Testament • Byzantine education sponsors development of large literate class for state bureaucracy • Training in classical canon

37. The Byzantine Church • By 6th C. Christianity is the dominant cultural community • Church and state closely aligned • Council of Nicea (325) bans Arian movement • Human/divine nature of Jesus • Constantine favors Arians, but supports Nicean condemnation • Byzantine Emperors appoint patriarchs • Caesaropapism creates dissent in church

38. Iconoclasm • Emperor Leo III (r. 717-741 CE) • Icons seen as a heresy • Destruction of icons after 726 CE • Popular protest, rioting • Policy abandoned 843 CE

39. Greek Philosophy and Byzantine Theology • Attempt to reconcile Greek philosophy with Judeo-Christianity • Constantine establishes school to apply philosophical methods to religious questions

40. Ascetism • Hermit-like existence • Celibacy • Fasting • Prayer • St. Simeon Stylite • Lived atop pillar for 37 years in Syria

41. Byzantine Monasticism and St. Basil (329-379 CE) • Patriarch of Constantinople reforms monasteries • Communal living • Hierarchical structure • Mt. Athos • No women, female animals allowed • Currently a World Heritage Site, is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries

42. The church at the Monastery of Great Lavra was the first monastery built on Mount Athos in 963.

43. Tensions between Eastern and Western Christianity • Ritual disputes • Beards on clergy • Leavened bread for Mass • Right for clergy to marry (West - yes, East - no) • Services in Latin in West, Greek in East • Theological disputes • Iconoclasm • Nature of the Trinity

44. Schism • Arguments over hierarchy, jurisdiction • Autonomy of Patriarchs, or Primacy of Rome? • 1054 Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope of Rome excommunicate each other • East: Orthodox Church • West: Roman Catholic

45. Social Problems in the Byzantine Empire • Generals of themes become allied with local aristocrats • Intermarry, create class of elite • Occasional rebellions vs. Imperial Rule

46. Challenges from the West • Western European economic development • Normans from Scandinavia press on Byzantine territories • Crusades of 12th-13th centuries rampage through Byzantine territory • Constantinople sacked, 1204

47. Challenges from the East • Muslim Saljuqs invade Anatolia • Threatens grain supply • Defeat Byzantine army in 1071, creates civil conflict • Period of steady decline until Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople in 1453 • Renamed Istanbul

48. The Byzantine empire and its neighbors about 1100 CE

49. Influence on Slavic Cultures • Relations from 6th c. CE • Bulgaria influenced culturally, politically • Saints Cyril and Methodius • Create Cyrillic alphabet • Slavic lands develop orientation to Byzantium

50. Kievan Rus • Conversion of Prince Vladimir, 989 CE • Byzantine culture influences development of Slavic cultures • Distinctively Slavic Orthodox church develops • Eventual heir to Byzantium