 Constantine was the
first emperor shrewd enough to see that Christianity, with its
power to sway the minds of men and harness their loyalty, was
the one force that could save empire. In 313 A.D. he declared
that Christianity was to be tolerated throughout its lands -
though he was not baptised himself until 25 years leter.
Constantine and Justinian - these two emperors, both born at
Naissus (Nish) in Serbia (Yugoslavia), set Byzantium on the path
to greatness. Constantine presided over some 250 bishops
assembled at Nicaea for the first of seven ecumennical, or
universal, councils that forged the Orthodox faith. Constantin
gave Byzantium its spiritual focus.
Soldier-emperor Heraclius (610-41) fails
to stem the Arab threat, and Africa, Spain and N. Italy are
lost. Religious controversy divides the empire when Leo III
bans icons in 726. Their use is restored in 843, under the
regency of Theodora, mother of Michael III (842-67), known as
Michael the Drunkard. He had gained a bad reputation in his
youth for wild drinking and horse-racing parties, but settled
down to become a good ruler, advised by his uncle, Bardas.
Later Michael Chose good generals who organised major campaigns
to recover Byzantine land in the east of Asia Minor. Michael was
murdered by one of his grooms, who became Basil I (867-86).
In 867 Basil I founds a new dynasty and revives Byzantine power. He
began the successful Macedonian dynasty, which held the throne
of Byzantium for the next two centuries. Basil's successors
extended the empire's boundaries to the Euphrates, and made
considerable inroads into Bulgaria. The empire's revival
continues under Basil II (976-1025). But pursuit of military
success overstrains the economy; in 1071 Anatolija falls to the
Seljuk Turks, and S. Italy and Sicily fall to the Normans.
Crusaders sack Constantinople and set up an empire (1204-61);
East-West relations never recover. Michael VIII (d. 1282)
recovers the capital and revives the empire. The Black Death
ravages the Balkans (1334-6).
Stephen Dusan of Serbia takes Byzantine territory. He bases a
law code on Justinian's, and Serbian and Bulgarian arts copy
Byzantine styles. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI,
fell fighting with his troops at the St. Romanus Gate -
Constantinople. He fell together with his city.
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Justinian (527-65A.D.) gave it its greatest temporal sway. He
reconquers much of former western Roman Empire and rebuilds
cities, monasteries, and 700 fortifications, including
Constantinople and St. Sophia. The most important and enduring
of Justinian's achievements was the orderly system of law which
he drew up, and which has been a major influence on the legal
structure of most nations of the Western world. Justinian tried
to keep Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Empire, as
the language of the court, but he recognised that Greek was the
tongue of the people.