Where is Byzantium

The great influence that the Byzantine Empire had on the history (as well as religion, culture, art) of many European countries (including ours) in the era of the dark Middle Ages is difficult to capture in one article. But we will still try to do this, and tell you as much as possible about the history of Byzantium, its life, culture and much more, in a word, using our time machine to send you to the times of the highest heyday of the Byzantine Empire, so sit back and go.

Where is Byzantium

But before we go on a journey in time, first let's figure out the movement in space, and determine where is (more precisely, was) Byzantium on the map. In fact, at different points in the historical development, the borders of the Byzantine Empire were constantly changing, expanding at moments of development and shrinking during periods of decline.

For example, on this map, Byzantium is shown in its heyday, and as we see at that time it occupied the entire territory of modern and Turkey, part of the territory of modern Bulgaria and Italy and numerous islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

During the reign of Emperor Justinian, the territory of the Byzantine Empire was even larger, and the power of the Byzantine emperor also extended to North Africa (Libya and Egypt), the Middle East (including the glorious city of Jerusalem). But gradually they began to be ousted from there, first, with which Byzantium had been in a state of permanent war for centuries, and then the warlike Arab nomads, carrying in their hearts the banner of a new religion - Islam.

And here on the map is shown the possessions of Byzantium at the time of its decline, in 1453, as we see at this time its territory was reduced to Constantinople with the surrounding territories and part of modern southern Greece.

History of Byzantium

The Byzantine Empire is the heir to another great empire -. In 395, after the death of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern. This division was due to political reasons, namely, the emperor had two sons, and it is likely that, in order not to deprive any of them, the eldest son Flavius ​​became the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the youngest son Honorius, respectively, the emperor of the Western Roman Empire. At first, this division was purely nominal, and in the eyes of millions of citizens of the superpower of antiquity, it was still the same one big Roman Empire.

But as we know, the Roman Empire gradually began to lean towards its own destruction, which was largely facilitated by both the decline in morals in the empire itself and the waves of militant barbarian tribes that now and then rolled onto the borders of the empire. And now, in the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire finally fell, the eternal city of Rome was captured and plundered by barbarians, in the era of antiquity the end came, the Middle Ages began.

But the Eastern Roman Empire, thanks to a happy coincidence, survived, the center of its cultural and political life concentrated around the capital of the new empire, Constantinople, which became the largest city in Europe in the Middle Ages. The waves of barbarians passed by, although, of course, they also had their influence, but for example, from the fierce conqueror Attila, the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire prudently preferred to buy off with gold rather than fight. And the destructive outburst of the barbarians was directed precisely at Rome and the Western Roman Empire, which saved the Eastern Empire, from which, after the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century, a new great state of Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire was formed.

Although the population of Byzantium consisted mainly of Greeks, they always felt they were the heirs of the great Roman Empire and were called accordingly - "Romans", which in Greek means "Romans".

Already from the 6th century, under the rule of the brilliant emperor Justinian and his no less brilliant wife (there is an interesting article on this "first lady of Byzantium" on our website, follow the link), the Byzantine Empire began to slowly recapture the territories occupied at one time by the barbarians. So the Byzantines seized large territories of modern Italy, once belonging to the Western Roman Empire, from the barbarians of the Lombards, the power of the Byzantine emperor extends to northern Africa, the local city of Alexandria becomes an important economic and cultural center of the empire in this region. The military campaigns of Byzantium also extend to the East, where for several centuries there have been continuous wars with the Persians.

The very geographical position of Byzantium, which spread its possessions on three continents at once (Europe, Asia, Africa), made the Byzantine Empire a kind of bridge between the West and the East, a country in which the cultures of different peoples mixed. All this left its mark on social and political life, religious and philosophical ideas and of course art.

Conventionally, historians divide the history of the Byzantine Empire into five periods, we will give a brief description of them:

• The first period of the initial flourishing of the empire, its territorial expansion under the emperors Justinian and Heraclius lasted from the 5th to the 8th century. During this period, there is an active dawn of the Byzantine economy, culture, and military affairs.
• The second period began with the reign of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian, it lasted from 717 to 867. At this time, the empire, on the one hand, reaches the greatest development of its culture, but on the other hand, it is overshadowed by numerous, including religious (iconoclasm), which we will write in more detail later.
• The third period is characterized, on the one hand, by the end of the troubles and the transition to relative stability, on the other hand, by constant wars with external enemies, it lasted from 867 to 1081. It is interesting that during this period Byzantium was actively at war with its neighbors, the Bulgarians and our distant ancestors, the Russians. Yes, it was during this period that the campaigns of our Kiev princes Oleg (Prophetic), Igor, Svyatoslav to Constantinople (as the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, was called in Russia).
• The fourth period began with the reign of the Comnenian dynasty, the first emperor Alexei Komnenos ascended the Byzantine throne in 1081. Also, this period is known as the "Comnenian Renaissance", the name speaks for itself, during this period Byzantium revives its cultural and political greatness, somewhat faded after unrest and constant wars. The Comnenes turned out to be wise rulers, skillfully balancing in those difficult conditions in which Byzantium found itself at that time: from the East, the borders of the empire were increasingly pressed against the Seljuk Turks, Catholic Europe breathed from the West, considering the Orthodox Byzantines as apostates and heretics, which is little better than infidel Muslims.
• The fifth period is characterized by the decline of Byzantium, which led, as a result, to its destruction. It lasted from 1261 to 1453. During this period, Byzantium waged a desperate and unequal struggle for survival. The Ottoman Empire, which gained strength, a new, this time Muslim superpower of the Middle Ages, finally swept away Byzantium.

Fall of Byzantium

What are the main reasons for the fall of Byzantium? Why did the empire, which possessed such vast territories and such power (both military and cultural), collapse? First of all, the most important reason was the strengthening of the Ottoman Empire, in fact, Byzantium became one of the first victims, later the Ottoman Janissaries and Sipahs would ruffle many other European peoples, even reaching Vienna in 1529 (from where they were knocked out only by joint efforts of the Austrian and the Polish troops of King Jan Sobieski).

But in addition to the Turks, Byzantium also had a number of internal problems, constant wars exhausted this country, many territories that it owned in the past turned out to be lost. Affected and the conflict with Catholic Europe, which resulted in the fourth, directed not against the unfaithful Muslims, but against the Byzantines, these "wrong Orthodox Christian heretics" (from the point of view of Catholic crusaders, of course). Needless to say, the fourth crusade, which resulted in the temporary conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders and the formation of the so-called "Latin Republic", was another important reason for the subsequent decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire.

Also, the fall of Byzantium was greatly facilitated by the numerous political turmoils that accompanied the final fifth stage of the history of Byzantium. So, for example, the Byzantine emperor John Palaeologus V, who ruled from 1341 to 1391, was dethroned three times (interestingly, first by his father-in-law, then by his son, then by his grandson). The Turks skillfully used intrigues at the court of the Byzantine emperors for their own selfish purposes.

In 1347, the most terrible plague epidemic swept through the territory of Byzantium, the black death, as this disease was called in the Middle Ages, the epidemic carried away about a third of the inhabitants of Byzantium, which was another reason for the weakening and fall of the empire.

When it became clear that the Turks were about to sweep away Byzantium, the latter began again to seek help from the West, but relations with the Catholic countries, as well as the Pope, were more than strained, only Venice came to the rescue, whose merchants traded profitably with Byzantium, and in Constantinople itself even had a whole Venetian merchant quarter. At the same time, Genoa, the former trade and political enemy of Venice, on the contrary helped the Turks in every possible way and was interested in the fall of Byzantium (primarily with the aim of causing problems for its trade competitors, the Venetians). In a word, instead of rallying and helping Byzantium to resist the blow of the Ottoman Turks, the Europeans pursued their own interests, a handful of Venetian soldiers and volunteers, still sent to the aid of Constantinople besieged by the Turks, could no longer do anything.

On May 29, 1453, the ancient capital of Byzantium, the city of Constantinople, fell (later renamed by the Turks to Istanbul), and the once great Byzantium fell with it.

Culture of Byzantium

The culture of Byzantium is the product of a mixture of cultures of many peoples: Greeks, Romans, Jews, Armenians, Egyptian Copts and the first Syrian Christians. The most striking part of Byzantine culture is its ancient heritage. Many traditions of the times of ancient Greece were preserved and transformed in Byzantium. So the spoken written language of the citizens of the empire was exactly Greek. The cities of the Byzantine Empire preserved Greek architecture, the structure of Byzantine cities, again borrowed from ancient Greece: the heart of the city was the agora - a wide square on which popular meetings were held. The cities themselves were richly decorated with fountains and statues.

The best masters and architects of the empire erected the palaces of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople, the most famous of which is the Great Imperial Palace of Justinian.

Remains of this palace in medieval engraving.

In the Byzantine cities, antique crafts continued to develop actively, the masterpieces of local jewelers, craftsmen, weavers, blacksmiths, artists were appreciated throughout Europe, the skill of Byzantine craftsmen was actively adopted by representatives of other peoples, including the Slavs.

Hippodromes, where chariot races were held, were of great importance in the social, cultural, political and sports life of Byzantium. For the Romans, they were about the same as football is for many today. There were even their own, in modern terms, fan-clubs supporting this or that team of chariot hounds. Just as modern ultras football fans who support different football clubs occasionally get into fights and fights among themselves, the Byzantine chariot racing fans were also very eager for this business.

But besides just riots, various groups of Byzantine fans also had a strong political influence. So once an ordinary scuffle of fans at the hippodrome led to the largest uprising in the history of Byzantium, known as "Nika" (literally "win", that was the slogan of the rebellious fans). The uprising of Nika fans nearly led to the overthrow of Emperor Justinian. Only thanks to the decisiveness of his wife Theodora and the bribery of the leaders of the uprising, he was suppressed.

Hippodrome in Constantinople.

In the jurisprudence of Byzantium, Roman law reigned supreme, inherited from the Roman Empire. Moreover, it was in the Byzantine Empire that the theory of Roman law acquired its final form, such key concepts as law, law, and custom were formed.

The economy in Byzantium was also largely driven by the legacy of the Roman Empire. Every free citizen paid taxes to the treasury on his property and labor activity (a similar tax system was practiced in ancient Rome). High taxes often caused massive discontent, if not unrest. Byzantine coins (known as Roman coins) circulated throughout Europe. These coins were very similar to the Roman ones, but the Byzantine emperors made only a few minor changes to them. The first coins that began to be minted in the countries of Western Europe, in turn, were imitations of the Romans' coins.

This is how coins looked in the Byzantine Empire.

Of course, religion had a great influence on the culture of Byzantium, as read on.

Religion of Byzantium

Religiously, Byzantium became the center of Orthodox Christianity. But before that, it was on its territory that the most numerous communities of the first Christians were formed, which greatly enriched its culture, especially in terms of the construction of temples, as well as in the art of icon painting, which originated precisely in Byzantium.

Gradually, Christian churches became the center of the social life of Byzantine citizens, pushing aside in this regard the ancient agoras and hippodromes with their violent fans. Monumental Byzantine churches, built in the 5th-10th centuries, combine both ancient architecture (from which Christian architects borrowed a lot) and already Christian symbolism. The most beautiful temple creation in this regard can rightfully be considered the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, later transformed into a mosque.

Art of Byzantium

The art of Byzantium was inextricably linked with religion, and the most beautiful thing that it gave to the world was the art of icon painting and the art of mosaic frescoes that adorned many temples.

True, one of the political and religious troubles in the history of Byzantium, known as Iconoclasm, was associated with icons. This was the name of the religious and political trend in Byzantium that considered icons to be idols, and therefore subject to destruction. In 730, Emperor Leo III the Isaurian officially banned the veneration of icons. As a result, thousands of icons and mosaics were destroyed.

Subsequently, the power changed, in 787 the Empress Irina ascended the throne, who returned the veneration of icons, and the art of icon painting was revived with the same force.

The art school of Byzantine icon painters set the traditions of icon painting for the whole world, including its great influence on the art of icon painting in Kievan Rus.

Byzantium, video

And finally, an interesting video about the Byzantine Empire.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments to the article. Also, you can write your wish / question / suggestion to my mail [email protected] or Facebook, sincerely the author.

Byzantium, Byzantine Empire - the name of this famous state is traditionally associated with Greek culture, although it arose as the eastern part of the Roman Empire and originally its official language was Latin, and the ethnic composition was more than diverse - Greeks, Italians, Copts, Syrians, Persians, Jews, Armenians, Asia Minor peoples. All of them called their state Romei, that is, Roman, and themselves - Romans, Romans.

Though Emperor Constantine the Great is considered the founder of Byzantium, this state began to form 60 years after his death. Emperor Constantine, who stopped the persecution of Christians, laid the foundation for the Christian empire, and the period of its formation stretched for almost two centuries.

It was Constantine who transferred the capital of the empire from Rome to the ancient city of Byzantium, by the name of which many centuries later the empire began to be called Byzantine. Actually, for more than a thousand years of its existence, it bore the name of the Eastern Roman Empire, and in the 15th century, historians renamed it Byzantine to distinguish it from the first Roman Empire, which ceased to exist in 480. So the name "Byzantium" arose and was firmly entrenched as a term denoting the great Christian state that existed from 395 to 1453.

Byzantium rendered great fundamental influence on the formation of European culture, on the education of the Slavic peoples. It is impossible to forget that the Orthodox traditions as we know them now, with the beauty of divine services, the splendor of churches, and the harmony of chants, are all a gift from Byzantium. But Byzantine culture is not limited by religious outlook, although everything is saturated with the Christian spirit... One of its striking features was the refraction of the entire wealth of knowledge accumulated by mankind in ancient times, through the prism of Christianity.

In addition to the Theological School, there were two Universities and a Law School in Constantinople. Prominent philosophers, writers, scientists, doctors, astronomers, and geographers graduated from these educational institutions. Significant discoveries and inventions of the Byzantines in various applied fields... For example, Lev the Philosopher created an optical telegraph, with the help of which it was possible to exchange information and warn of dangers.

From Byzantium came the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, equal to the apostles, thanks to whose educational activities the Slavic peoples acquired their own alphabet and writing, received translations of the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books into their native language. That is, all Slavic, including Russian, culture with its world-famous literature and art, has Byzantine roots.

Attempts to solve domestic problems through the adoption of new laws and legal norms developed Byzantine jurisprudence, which was based on Roman law. It is this the body of laws is still the main one in most European states.

Having enriched the whole world with its cultural heritage, reaching an unprecedented prosperity, Byzantium fell, disappearing as a state, but remaining in history as a unique and unforgettable civilization.

Golden Age of Byzantium

The formation of the Eastern Roman Empire began during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great, who transferred the capital in the small city of Byzantium, calling it "New Rome". The city was called Constantinople by the common people, but officially it did not bear this name.

Emperor Constantine, tired of the constant dynastic wars for the throne, which were fought in Rome, decided to make the capital subject only to him. He chose Byzantium, standing at the crossroads of important trade routes from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, which, like any port city, was rich, developed and independent. Constantine the Great declared Christianity to be one of the permitted state religions, thereby inscribing himself in history as a Christian emperor. But an interesting fact is that during his lifetime, in fact, he was not a Christian. Emperor Constantine, canonized by the Church, was baptized only on his deathbed, shortly before his death.

After the death of Constantine the Great, in 337, for two hundred years the young state was torn apart by wars, troubles, heresies and schisms. It took a strong hand to restore order and strengthen Byzantium. Such a strong ruler turned out to be JustinianI, who ascended the throne in 527, but for a whole decade before that, he was, in fact, in power, being a key figure under his uncle the Emperor Justin.

After a series of victorious wars, Emperor Justinian almost doubled the country's territory, he spread the Christian faith, skillfully led foreign and domestic policies, taking measures to combat the economic crisis that arose as a result of total corruption.

The Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea testifies that Justinian "having assumed power over the state, shaken and brought to shameful weakness, increased its size and brought it into a brilliant state." It is noteworthy that wife of Emperor Justinian Theodore, whom historians call "the most remarkable woman of the Byzantine era", was his loyal friend, assistant and advisor, often took on difficult state affairs.

Theodora came from the family of a poor circus caretaker and in her youth, distinguished by bright beauty, was a courtesan. Having repented of her sinful life, she experienced a spiritual rebirth and began to lead a strict ascetic life. It was then that young Justinian met Theodora and, having fallen in love, entered into marriage with her. This the happy union had a great impact on the Byzantine Empire, starting her Golden Age.

Under Justinian and Theodore, Byzantium became the center of culture, “the palladium of arts and sciences”. The imperial couple builds monasteries and temples, including Constantinople Cathedral of Hagia Sophia the Wisdom of God.

The Temple of Hagia Sophia is still one of the most magnificent works of architecture on earth. Its size is striking.: 77 meters long and almost 72 - wide, the height of the temple is just under 56 meters, and the diameter of the dome is about 33 meters. Under the dome, around the entire circumference, there are forty windows, penetrating through which sunlight seems to separate the dome, and it feels like it is standing in the sun's rays. In this regard, there was a belief that the dome of Hagia Sophia on golden chains descends from the sky.

Even turned into a mosque, the Hagia Sophia is striking in its grandiose power and beauty. " Everything here is brought into such wondrous harmony, solemn, simple, magnificent", - wrote the Russian artist Mikhail Nesterov, who visited Constantinople, or as it was called in Russia - Constantinople - in 1893.

The construction of such a building, not to mention the interior decoration, in the design of which was used marble, ivory, gold and precious stones, had a very high cost. All the revenues of the Byzantine Empire for five years of construction did not cover the cost of Hagia Sophia.

At the same time, the role of the Church as such was viewed by Justinian more as a tool for strengthening the empire, he intervened in church affairs, appointed and removed bishops. Thus, the role of the Church was reduced to serving the state interests; it was losing its spiritual authority among the people, which instead of strengthening it led to a weakening of the state.

On the one hand, holiness flourished in Byzantium. It is enough to name the three saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, who shone at the dawn of the Byzantine Empire, as well as Gregory Nicomedia, Mark of Ephesus, John the Postnik, Philaret the Merciful from the host of glorified and not so famous saints of Byzantium, to assert - the spiritual life of Byzantium did not fade away and gave birth to holiness... But holiness, as in all times, was also an exceptional phenomenon in the Byzantine Empire.

Poverty, the spiritual and cultural squalor of the majority of the population, drowning in gross debauchery and vulgarity, spending time in idleness - in taverns and circuses, the excessive wealth of those in power, drowning in luxury and the same debauchery, all this resembled crude paganism. At the same time, both those and others called themselves Christians, went to church and theologized. As the Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev said, “ there were more theologians in Byzantium than Christians". Duplicity, lies and sacrilege, of course, could not lead to anything good. Byzantium was to be comprehended by God's punishment.

Downs and ups

The successors of Emperor Justinian I, who died in 565, had to conduct constant wars in the West and East to preserve the borders of the Byzantine Empire. Germans, Persians, Slavs, Arabs - this is a far from complete list of those who encroached on the Byzantine lands.

By the end of the 7th century, Byzantium occupied about a third of its lands in comparison with the empire of Justinian. However, Constantinople was not surrendered, the people during the trials became more united and ethnically determined... Now the majority of the population of the Byzantine Empire were Greeks, the Greek language became the state language. Law continued to develop, sciences and arts continued to flourish.

Leo the Isaurian, founder of the Isaurian dynasty, who ruled under the name of Leo III, made the state rich and powerful. But, under him arose and developed the heresy of iconoclasm, which was supported by the emperor himself. Many saints who sacrificially defended holy icons shone in Byzantium at this time. The famous hymnographer, philosopher and theologian John Damascene was punished with cutting off his hand for protecting icons. But the Mother of God herself appeared to him and returned the severed brush. Thus, in the Orthodox tradition, an icon of the Mother of God of the Three Hands appeared, which also depicts the hand returned to John of Damascus.

Icon veneration was briefly restored at the end of the 8th century under Irina, the first woman empress. But later, the persecution of holy icons began again, which continued until 843, when the dogma of veneration of icons was finally approved under Empress Theodora. Empress Theodora, whose relics are now resting on the Greek island of Kerkyra (Corfu), was the wife of the iconoclast emperor Theophilos, but she secretly venerated the holy icons. Taking the throne after the death of her husband, she patronized the convocation of the VII Ecumenical Council, which restored the veneration of icons. For the first time under Theodore, in the temple of Sophia in Constantinople, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which is now celebrated annually in all Orthodox Churches.

At the beginning of the 9th century, with continued iconoclasm, crushing wars began again - with the Arabs and Bulgarians, who deprived the empire of many lands and nearly conquered Constantinople. But then the trouble passed, the Byzantines defended their capital.

In 867 came to power in Byzantium the Macedonian dynasty, under which the Golden Age of the Empire lasted for more than a century and a half... Emperors Basil I, Roman, Nikifor Phoca, John Tzimiskes, Basil II returned the lost lands and expanded the borders of the empire to the Tigris and Euphrates.

It was during the reign of the Macedonians that the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir came to Constantinople, about which the Tale of Bygone Years tells as follows: “We came to the Greek land, and led us where they serve their God, and did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth: for there is no such spectacle and such beauty on earth, and we do not know how to tell about it - we only know that God is there with people, and their service is better than in all other countries. " The boyars told Prince Vladimir: "If the Greek law was bad, then your grandmother Olga would not have accepted it, but she was the wisest of all people." And Vladimir asked: "Where will we be baptized?" They said: "Where do you like it." Thus began the history of a powerful new Christian state - Russia, which would later be called the successor of Byzantium or the Third Rome.

In 1019 the Byzantine emperor BasilII conquered Bulgaria... At the same time, he strengthened the economy and gave a new impetus to the development of science and culture. During his reign, the Byzantine Empire reached a great prosperity. It is known that Vasily, who received the nickname of the Bulgarian fighter for his victories over the Bulgarians, led an ascetic life. He was not married, history has not preserved information about any of his love affairs. He left no offspring, and after his death, a fierce struggle for the throne began.... The rulers, who succeeded each other one after another, could not adequately manage the huge empire, feudal fragmentation began, the central power was rapidly weakening.

In 1057, after overthrowing the Macedonian dynasty, Isaac Comnenus ascended the throne, but he did not last long as the head of state. The rulers continued to replace one another, not neglecting meanness, betrayal, murder. Anarchy grew, the state weakened.

The Byzantine Empire was in critical condition when Alexey Komnin came to power in 1081... The young commander seized Constantinople and the imperial throne by force. He successfully pursued foreign and domestic policy. He appointed either relatives or friends to all key government posts. In this way, power became more centralized, which helped to strengthen the empire.

The rule of the Komnenos dynasty, which historians called the Comnenian renaissance, was aimed at capturing Rome and overthrowing the Western Empire, whose existence hurt the pride of the Byzantine emperors. Under the son of Alexius Comnenus John and, especially, under the grandson Manuel Constantinople became the center of European politics, with which all other states were forced to reckon.

But after the death of Manuel, it turned out that, apart from hatred of Byzantium, none of the neighbors, who were ready to attack it at any moment, harbor any feelings. A deep internal crisis caused by the great poverty of the population, social injustice, the policy of infringing on their own people for the sake of foreign merchants, broke out in uprising and massacres.

Less than a year after the death of Manuel Comnenus, an uprising broke out in the capital, flooding the city with blood. In 1087 Bulgaria separated from Byzantium, and in 1090 - Serbia. The empire weakened as never before, and in 1204, Constantinople was captured by the crusaders, the city was plundered, many monuments of Byzantine culture were lost forever. Only a few areas remained under the control of the Byzantines - Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus. In all other territories, Catholicism was brutally implanted and Greek culture was exterminated.

Nicene Emperor Michael Palaeologus having concluded several political friendly alliances, managed to gather strength and return Constantinople... On August 15, 1261, on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, he solemnly entered the capital and announced the revival of the Byzantine Empire. Two decades of Michael's reign were years of relative prosperity for the state, and historians call this emperor himself the last significant ruler of Byzantium.

The foreign policy situation remained turbulent, and in the face of constant danger it was necessary to strengthen the empire from within, but the era of the Paleologian dynasty, on the contrary, was rife with unrest, internal conflicts and uprisings.

The decline and fall of the empire

The constant struggle for the throne, and most importantly, the spiritual crisis of a society that called itself Christian and led a life far from Christian ideals, finally weakened the Byzantine Empire.

Muslim Ottomans in just twelve years conquered Bursa, Nicaea, Nicomedia and reached the Bosphorus. The fall of Gallipoli under the onslaught of the Ottomans in 1354 marked the beginning of their conquests throughout Europe.

The Byzantine emperors had to seek support in Rome, their currying favor with the West reached the point that they rejected Orthodoxy by signing a union with the Catholics, which not only did not serve the good of the state, but only weakened it, both spiritually and morally. The majority of the population did not accept Catholicism, and the internal crisis reached its limit.

Over the next hundred years, the Ottomans took possession of almost the entire territory of the empire, and Byzantium was now a tiny province on the outskirts of Europe.

In 1453, on April 5, the Turks approached Constantinople and began a siege, and on May 30 Sultan Mehmed II victoriously entered the city. So ended the existence of the first Christian, once powerful, Byzantine Empire.

It's amazing that not only prosperity, but also fall great Byzantium, which once again proved that the earth and all the affairs on it will burn(2 Epistle of the Apostle Peter, 3, 10), continues to teach mankind a lot. An attempt to build a society on a sinful earth " unity in freedom according to the law of love", As the Russian philosopher Alexei Khomyakov said, is still one of the noblest undertakings that inspired many great people - politicians, philosophers, poets, writers, artists. Is this ideal realizable in a fallen world? Probably not. But he continues to live in minds like a lofty idea, as the pinnacle of the spiritual aspirations of mankind.

STATE AND BYZANTINE LAW

In 395 the Roman Empire was divided into Western (capital - Rome) and Eastern (capital - Constantinople). The first empire ceased to exist in 476 under the blows of the Germanic tribes. The Eastern Empire, or Byzantium, existed until 1453. Byzantium received its name from the ancient Greek colony of Megara, a small town of Byzantium, in the place of which Emperor Constantine
in 324-330 he founded the new capital of the Roman Empire - Constantinople. The Byzantines themselves called themselves "Romei", and the empire - "Romeian", because for a long time the capital was called "New Rome".

Byzantium was in many ways a continuation of the Roman Empire, preserving its political and state traditions. At the same time, Constantinople and Rome became two centers of political life - the "Latin" West and the "Greek" East.

The stability of Byzantium had its reasons behind
in the features of socio-economic and historical development. Firstly, the Byzantine state included economically developed regions: Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, the Balkan Peninsula (the territory of the empire exceeded 750,000 sq. Km
with a population of 50-65 million people), who conducted a lively trade
with India, China, Iran, Arabia and North Africa. The decline of the economy based on slave labor was not felt as strongly here as in Western Rome, since the population was
in a free or semi-free state. Agriculture was based not on forced labor in the form of large slave-owning latifundia, but on small peasant farming (communal peasantry). Therefore, small farms reacted more quickly to the changing market conditions and more quickly, in comparison with large farms, restructured their activities. And in the craft here the main role was played by free workers. For these reasons, the eastern provinces were less affected by the economic crisis of the third century than the western ones.

Secondly, Byzantium, possessing large material resources, had a strong army, navy and a strong ramified state apparatus, which made it possible to restrain the raids of the barbarians. There was a strong imperial power with a flexible administrative apparatus.

Thirdly, Byzantium was built on the basis of a new Christian religion, which, in comparison with the pagan Roman religion, had a progressive meaning.

The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest power
during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527-565), who made extensive conquests, and again the Mediterranean Sea became an inland sea, this time by Byzantium. After the death of the monarch, the state entered a long crisis. The countries conquered by Justinian were quickly lost. In the VI century. clashes with the Slavs begin,
and in the VII century. - with the Arabs, who at the beginning of the VIII century. seized North Africa from Byzantium.

At the beginning of the same century, Byzantium began to overcome the crisis with difficulty. In 717, Leo III, nicknamed the Isaur, came to power, who founded the Isaurian dynasty (717-802). He carried out a series of reforms. To find funds for their implementation, as well as for the maintenance of the army and administration, he decided to liquidate the monastic land tenure. This was expressed in the struggle against icons, since the church was accused of paganism - the worship of icons. The authorities used iconoclasm to strengthen their political and economic positions, to subjugate the church and its wealth. Laws are issued against the veneration of icons, regarding this as idolatry. The fight against icons made it possible to appropriate church treasures - utensils, icon frames, reliquaries with the relics of saints. They also confiscated 100 monastic estates, the lands of which were distributed to the peasants, as well as in the form of remuneration to soldiers for service.

These actions strengthened the internal and external position of Byzantium, which again annexed Greece, Macedonia, Crete, southern Italy and Sicily.

In the second half of the 9th century, and especially in the 10th century, Byzantium reaches a new rise, since the powerful Arab Caliphate gradually disintegrated into a number of independent feudal states and Byzantium conquered Syria and numerous islands in the Mediterranean from the Arabs, and at the beginning of the 11th century ... joins Bulgaria.
At that time, Byzantium was ruled by the Macedonian dynasty (867-1056), under which the foundations of a socially centralized early feudal monarchy took shape. Under her, Kievan Rus in 988 adopted Christianity from the Greeks.

Under the next dynasty, Comnenus (1057-1059, 1081-1185),
in Byzantium, feudalization intensified and the process of enslavement of the peasants was completed. Under her, the feudal institution is consolidated pronium("care"). Feudalization leads to the gradual disintegration of the state; small independent principalities appear in Asia Minor. The foreign policy situation is also complicated: the Normans advanced from the west, the Pechenegs from the north, and the Seljuks from the east. The first crusade saved Byzantium from the Seljuk Turks. Byzantium managed to regain part of its possessions. However, soon Byzantium and the Crusaders began a struggle between themselves. Constantinople was taken by the crusaders in 1204. Byzantium fell apart into a number of states, weakly connected with each other.

With the coming to power of the Palaeologus dynasty (1261-1453), Byzantium succeeded in strengthening, but its territory was noticeably reduced. Soon, a new threat hung over the state from the Ottoman Turks, who extended their rule over Asia Minor, bringing it to the shores of the Sea of ​​Marmara. In the fight against the Ottomans, the emperors began to hire foreign troops, who often turned their weapons against their employers. Byzantium was exhausted in the struggle, exacerbated by peasant and urban uprisings. The state apparatus fell into decay, which led to the decentralization of power and its weakening. The Byzantine emperors decide to seek help from the Catholic West. In 1439, the Florentine Union was signed, according to which the Eastern Orthodox Church submitted to the Pope. However, Byzantium never received real help from the West.
Upon the return of the Greeks to their homeland, the union was rejected by the majority of the people and the clergy.

In 1444 the Crusaders suffered a severe defeat from the Ottoman Turks, who dealt the final blow to Byzantium. Emperor John VIII was forced to seek mercy from Sultan Murad II. In 1148 the Byzantine emperor dies. The last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus fought the new Sultan Mehmed II Fatih (Conqueror). On May 29, 1453, under the blows of the Turkish troops, Constantinople was taken, and with its fall, the Byzantine Empire actually ceased to exist. Turkey turns into one
from the powerful powers of the medieval world, and Constantinople becomes the capital of the Ottoman Empire - Istanbul (from "Islambol" - "the abundance of Islam").

Probably, there is no other more distressful country in the world like Byzantium. Its dizzying rise and such a rapid fall still cause controversy and discussion both in historical circles and among those who are far from history. The bitter fate of the once strongest state of the early Middle Ages does not leave indifferent either writers or filmmakers - books, films, serials are constantly published, one way or another connected with this state. But the question is - is everything about them true? And how to distinguish truth from fiction? After all, so many centuries have passed, many documents of colossal historical value were lost during wars, seizures, fires, or simply by order of the new ruler. But we will still try to reveal some details of the development of Byzantium in order to understand how such a strong state could meet such a pitiful and inglorious end?

History of creation

The Byzantine Empire, often called Eastern or simply Byzantium, existed from 330 to 1453. With its capital in Constantinople, founded by Constantine I (b. 306-337 AD), the empire changed in size over the centuries, at one time or another, possessing territories located in Italy, in the Balkans, in the Levant, in Malaya Asia and North Africa. The Byzantines developed their own political systems, religious practices, art, and architecture.

The history of Byzantium began in 330 AD. At this time, the legendary Roman Empire was going through hard times - the rulers were constantly changing, money flowed out of the treasury like sand through their fingers, the once conquered territories easily won their right to freedom. The capital of the empire, Rome, is becoming an unsafe place to live. In 324, Flavius ​​Valerius Aurelius Constantine became emperor, who went down in history only under his last name - Constantine the Great. Having defeated all other rivals, he reigns in the Roman Empire, but decides to take an unprecedented step - the transfer of the capital.

In those days, the provinces were pretty calm - all the thick of events took place in Rome. Constantine's choice fell on the shores of the Bosphorus, where in the same year the construction of a new city began, which would be given the name Byzantium. Six years later, Constantine, the first Roman emperor who gave Christianity to the ancient world, announced that from now on the capital of the empire was a new city. Initially, the emperor adhered to the old rules and named the capital New Rome. However, the name did not catch on. Since there was once a city in its place that had the name Byzantium, it was abandoned. Then the locals began to unofficially use another, but more popular name - Constantinople, the city of Constantine.

Constantinople

The new capital had a beautiful natural harbor at the entrance to the Golden Horn and, owning the border between Europe and Asia, could control the passage of ships through the Bosphorus from the Aegean to the Black Sea, linking lucrative trade between West and East. It should be noted that the new state actively used this advantage. And, oddly enough, the city was well fortified. A large chain stretched through the entrance to the Golden Horn, and the construction of the massive walls of Emperor Theodosius (between 410 and 413) meant that the city was able to withstand attacks from both sea and land. Over the centuries, as more impressive buildings have been added, the cosmopolitan city has grown to be one of the finest of any era, and by far the richest, most generous and most important Christian city in the world. In general, Byzantium occupied vast territories on the world map - the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, the Aegean and Black Sea coasts of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania - all of them were once part of Byzantium.

Another important detail should be noted - Christianity became the official religion in the new city. That is, those who were mercilessly persecuted and brutally executed in the Roman Empire found shelter and peace in a new country. Unfortunately, Emperor Constantine did not see the flourishing of his brainchild - he died in 337. The new rulers paid more and more attention to the new city on the outskirts of the empire. In 379, Theodosius received power over the eastern provinces. First as a co-ruler, and in 394 he began to rule independently. It is he who is considered the last Roman emperor, which is generally true - in 395, when he died, the Roman Empire split into two parts - Western and Eastern. That is, Byzantium received the official status of the capital of the new empire, which began to be called also - Byzantium. Since this year, a new country has been counted on the map of the ancient world and the emerging Middle Ages.

Byzantium rulers

The Byzantine emperor also received a new title - he was no longer called Caesar in the Roman manner. The Eastern Empire was ruled by the Vasilevs (from the Greek Βασιλιας - king). They lived in the magnificent Grand Palace of Constantinople and ruled Byzantium with an iron fist, like absolute monarchs. The Church received tremendous power in the state. In those days, military talents meant a lot, and citizens expected from their rulers skillful fighting and protecting their native walls from the enemy. Therefore, the army in Byzantium was one of the most powerful and powerful. The generals, if they wanted, could easily overthrow the emperor if they saw that he was not capable of defending the city and the borders of the empire.

However, in ordinary life, the emperor was the commander-in-chief of the army, the head of the Church and government, he controlled public finances and appointed or dismissed ministers at will; few rulers before or since have ever had such power. The image of the emperor appeared on Byzantine coins, which also depicted the chosen successor, often the eldest son, but not always, since there were no clearly established rules of inheritance. Very often (if not always) the heirs were called by the names of their ancestors, therefore Constantines, Justinian, Theodosia were born from generation to generation in the imperial family. The name Constantine was my favorite.

The heyday of the empire began with the reign of Justinian - from 527 to 565. it is he who will slowly begin to modify the empire - Hellenistic culture will prevail in Byzantium, Greek will be recognized as the official language instead of Latin. Also, Justinian will take the legendary Roman law in Constantinople - many European states will borrow it in subsequent years. It was during his reign that the construction of the symbol of Constantinople - the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia (on the site of the former burnt church) will begin.

Culture of Byzantium

When talking about Byzantium, it is impossible not to mention the culture of this state. She influenced many subsequent countries of both the West and the East.

The culture of Byzantium is inextricably linked with religion - beautiful icons and mosaics depicting the emperor and his family became the main decoration of temples. Subsequently, some were numbered among the saints, and the already former rulers became icons to be worshiped.

It is impossible not to note the appearance of the Glagolitic alphabet - the Slavic alphabet by the works of the Byzantine brothers Cyril and Methodius. Byzantine science was inextricably linked with antiquity. Many works of writers of that time were based on the works of ancient Greek scientists and philosophers. Medicine has achieved particular success, and so much so that even Arab physicians used Byzantine works in their work.

The architecture was distinguished by its particular style. As already mentioned, the symbol of Constantinople and all of Byzantium was Hagia Sophia. The temple was so beautiful and majestic that many ambassadors, arriving in the city, could not restrain their delight.

Looking ahead, we note that after the fall of the city, Sultan Mehmed II was so fascinated by the cathedral that he ordered from now on throughout the empire to build mosques exactly on the model of Hagia Sophia.

Hiking to Byzantium

Unfortunately, such a wealthy and well-located state could not but arouse unhealthy interest in itself. Over the centuries of its existence, Byzantium has repeatedly been attacked by other states. Starting from the 11th century, the Byzantines constantly repelled the attacks of the Bulgarians and Arabs. At first, things were going well. The Bulgarian king Samuel was so shocked that he saw that he had a stroke and died. And the thing was - in the course of a successful attack, the Byzantines captured almost 14 thousand Bulgarian soldiers. Vasilevs Vasily II ordered to blind everyone and leave one eye to every hundredth soldier. Byzantium showed all its neighbors that they should not joke with it. For the time being.

1204 was the first news of the end of the empire - the crusaders attacked the city and completely plundered it. The creation of the Latin Empire was announced, all the lands were divided between the barons who participated in the campaign. However, the Byzantines were lucky here - after 57 years, Michael Palaeologus expelled all the crusaders from Byzantium and revived the Eastern Empire. And also created a new dynasty of Palaeologus. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to achieve the former flourishing of the empire - the emperors fell under the influence of Genoa and Venice, constantly robbed the treasury and carried out every decree from Italy. Byzantium was weakening.

Gradually, territories were separated from the empire and became free states. By the middle of the 15th century, only a memory remained of the former flower of the Bosphorus. It was an easy catch. The sultan of the young Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II, took advantage of this. In 1453 he easily invaded and conquered Constantinople. The city resisted, but not for long and not strongly. Before this sultan, the Rumeli (Rumelihisar) fortress was built on the Bosphorus, which blocked all communications between the city and the Black Sea. Also, the possibility of helping Byzantium to other states was cut off. Several attacks were repelled, the last one - on the night of May 28-29 - was unsuccessful. The last emperor of Byzantium died in battle. The army was exhausted. The Turks were no longer held back. Mehmed entered the city on horseback and ordered to convert the beautiful Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The history of Byzantium ended with the fall of its capital, Constantinople. Pearls of the Bosphorus.

Archangel Michael and Manuel II Palaeologus. XV century Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

1. The country called Byzantium never existed

If the Byzantines of the 6th, 10th or 14th centuries heard from us that they are Byzantines, and their country is called Byzantium, the overwhelming majority of them would simply not understand us. And those who did understand would decide that we want to flatter them, calling them residents of the capital, and even in an outdated language that is used only by scientists trying to make their speech as sophisticated as possible. Part of the consular diptych of Justinian. Constantinople, 521 Diptychs were presented to consuls in honor of their inauguration. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The country that its inhabitants would call Byzantium never existed; the word "Byzantines" has never been the self-name of the inhabitants of any state. The word "Byzantines" was sometimes used to refer to the inhabitants of Constantinople - after the name of the ancient city of Byzantium (Βυζάντιον), which in 330 was re-founded by the emperor Constantine under the name Constantinople. They were called so only in texts written in a conventional literary language, stylized as ancient Greek, in which no one spoke for a long time. No one knew other Byzantines, and these existed only in texts accessible to a narrow circle of the educated elite, who wrote in this archaized Greek language and understood it.

The self-name of the Eastern Roman Empire starting from the III-IV centuries (and after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453) had several stable and understandable phrases and words: the state of the Romans, or the Romans, (βασιλεία τῶν Ρωμαίων), Romania (Ρωμανία), Romáida (Ρωμαΐς ).

The residents themselves called themselves Romans- the Romans (Ρωμαίοι), they were ruled by the Roman emperor - basileus(Βασιλεύς τῶν Ρωμαίων), and their capital was New rome(Νέα Ρώμη) - this is how the city founded by Constantine was usually called.

Where did the word "Byzantium" come from, and with it the idea of ​​the Byzantine Empire as a state that arose after the fall of the Roman Empire on the territory of its eastern provinces? The fact is that in the 15th century, along with the statehood of the East Roman Empire (as Byzantium is often called in modern historical writings, and this is much closer to the self-consciousness of the Byzantines themselves), in fact, it lost its voice heard outside its borders: the East Roman tradition of self-description found itself isolated within the Greek-speaking lands that belonged to the Ottoman Empire; what was important now was only what Western European scholars thought and wrote about Byzantium.

Jerome Wolf. Engraving by Dominicus Kustos. 1580 year Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig

In the Western European tradition, the state of Byzantium was actually created by Hieronymus Wolf, a German humanist and historian, who in 1577 published the Corpus of Byzantine History, a small anthology of works by historians of the Eastern Empire with a Latin translation. It was from the "Corpus" that the concept of "Byzantine" entered the Western European scientific circulation.

Wolf's work formed the basis for another collection of Byzantine historians, also called the "Corpus of Byzantine History", but much more ambitious - it was published in 37 volumes with the assistance of King Louis XIV of France. Finally, the Venetian reissue of the second Corpus was used by the 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon when he wrote his History of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire - perhaps no book had such a huge and at the same time destructive impact on the creation and popularization of the modern image of Byzantium.

The Romans, with their historical and cultural tradition, were thus deprived not only of their voice, but also of the right to self-designation and identity.

2. The Byzantines did not know that they were not Romans

Autumn. Coptic panel. IV century Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, UK / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

For the Byzantines, who themselves called themselves Romans-Romans, the history of the great empire never ended. The very idea would have seemed absurd to them. Romulus and Remus, Numa, Augustus Octavian, Constantine I, Justinian, Phoca, Michael the Great Comnenus - all of them in the same way from time immemorial stood at the head of the Roman people.

Before the fall of Constantinople (and even after it), the Byzantines considered themselves residents of the Roman Empire. Social institutions, laws, statehood - all this was preserved in Byzantium from the time of the first Roman emperors. The adoption of Christianity had almost no effect on the legal, economic and administrative structure of the Roman Empire. If the Byzantines saw the origins of the Christian Church in the Old Testament, then the beginning of their own political history, like the ancient Romans, was attributed to the Trojan Aeneas - the hero of the poem Virgil, which was fundamental to Roman identity.

The social order of the Roman Empire and a sense of belonging to the great Roman patria were combined in the Byzantine world with Greek science and written culture: the Byzantines considered classical ancient Greek literature as their own. For example, in the 11th century, the monk and scholar Michael Psellus seriously discusses in one treatise who writes poetry better - the Athenian tragedian Euripides or the Byzantine poet of the 7th century George Pisis, the author of a panegyric about the Avar-Slavic siege of Constantinople in 626 and the theological poem "Six Days »About the divine creation of the world. In this poem, later translated into Slavic, George paraphrases the ancient authors Plato, Plutarch, Ovid and Pliny the Elder.

At the same time, at the level of ideology, Byzantine culture often contrasted itself with classical antiquity. Christian apologists noticed that all of Greek antiquity - poetry, theater, sports, sculpture - is permeated with religious cults of pagan deities. Hellenic values ​​(material and physical beauty, the pursuit of pleasure, human glory and honor, military and athletic victories, eroticism, rational philosophical thinking) were condemned as unworthy of Christians. Basil the Great, in his famous conversation "To the youths on how to use pagan writings," sees the main danger for Christian youth in an attractive lifestyle that is offered to the reader in Hellenic writings. He advises to select only morally useful stories for yourself. The paradox is that Basil, like many other Church Fathers, himself received an excellent Hellenic education and wrote his works in a classical literary style, using the techniques of ancient rhetorical art and a language that by his time had already fallen out of use and sounded archaic.

In practice, ideological incompatibility with Hellenism did not prevent the Byzantines from taking care of the ancient cultural heritage. The ancient texts were not destroyed, but copied, while the scribes tried to maintain accuracy, except that on rare occasions they could throw out too frank erotic passage. Hellenic literature continued to be the mainstay of the school curriculum in Byzantium. An educated person had to read and know the epic of Homer, the tragedies of Euripides, the speech of Demos-phenes and use the Hellenic cultural code in his own writings, for example, to call the Arabs Persians, and Russia - Hyperborea. Many elements of ancient culture in Byzantium survived, although they changed beyond recognition and acquired a new religious content: for example, rhetoric became homiletics (the science of church preaching), philosophy became theology, and an antique love story influenced hagiographic genres.

3. Byzantium was born when Antiquity adopted Christianity

When does Byzantium begin? Probably when the history of the Roman Empire ends - that's how we used to think. For the most part, this thought seems natural to us due to the tremendous influence of Edward Gibbon's monumental History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Written in the 18th century, this book still prompts both historians and non-specialists to look at the period from the 3rd to the 7th century (which is now increasingly called late Antiquity) as the time of the decline of the former greatness of the Roman Empire under the influence of two main factors - the invasions of the Germanic tribes and the ever-growing social role of Christianity, which in the IV century became the dominant religion. Byzantium, which exists in the mass consciousness primarily as a Christian empire, is portrayed in this perspective as a natural heir to the cultural decline that occurred in late Antiquity due to mass Christianization: a medium of religious fanaticism and obscurantism that stretched for a whole millennium of stagnation.

Amulet that protects from the evil eye. Byzantium, V-VI centuries

On one side there is an eye on which arrows are directed and attacked by a lion, a snake, a scorpion and a stork.

© The Walters Art Museum

Hematite amulet. Byzantine Egypt, VI-VII centuries

The inscriptions define him as “a woman who suffered from bleeding” (Luke 8: 43–48). Hematite was believed to help stop bleeding, and amulets related to women's health and the menstrual cycle were very popular from it.

Thus, if you look at history through the eyes of Gibbon, late Antiquity turns into a tragic and irreversible end of Antiquity. But was it only a time of destruction of beautiful antiquity? For more than half a century, historical science has been convinced that this is not the case.

The idea of ​​the allegedly fatal role of Christianization in the destruction of the culture of the Roman Empire turns out to be especially simplified. The culture of late Antiquity in reality was hardly built on the opposition of "pagan" (Roman) and "Christian" (Byzantine). The way the late antique culture was arranged for its creators and users was much more complicated: Christians of that era would have found the very question of the conflict between the Roman and the religious one strange. In the IV century, Roman Christians could easily place images of pagan deities, made in the antique style, on household items: for example, on one casket donated to newlyweds, naked Venus is adjacent to the pious call "Seconds and Project, live in Christ."

On the territory of the future Byzantium, an equally problem-free fusion of the pagan and Christian in artistic techniques took place for contemporaries: in the 6th century, images of Christ and saints were performed using the technique of the traditional Egyptian funerary portrait, the most famous type of which is the so-called Fayum portrait Fayum portrait- a variety of funerary portraits common in Hellenized Egypt in the Ι-III centuries A.D. e. The image was applied with hot paints to a heated wax layer.... Christian visuality in late Antiquity did not necessarily strive to oppose itself to the pagan, Roman tradition: very often it deliberately (or maybe, on the contrary, naturally and naturally) adhered to it. The same fusion of pagan and Christian is seen in the literature of late Antiquity. The poet Arator in the 6th century recites in a Roman cathedral a hexametric poem about the deeds of the apostles, written in the stylistic traditions of Virgil. In Christianized Egypt in the middle of the 5th century (by this time there have been various forms of monasticism for about a century and a half) the poet Nonn from the city of Panopolis (modern Akmim) writes an arrangement (paraphrase) of the Gospel of John in the language of Homer, preserving not only meter and style, but also deliberately borrowing whole verbal formulas and figurative layers from his epic Gospel of John 1: 1-6 (synodal translation):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything through Him began to be, and without Him nothing began to be that began to be. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not embrace it. There was a man sent from God; his name is John.

Nonn from Panopol. Paraphrase of the Gospel of John, ode 1 (translated by Y. A. Golubets, D. A. Pospelov, A. V. Markov):
Logos, God's Child, Light born of Light,
He is inseparable from the Father on an infinite throne!
Heavenly God, Logos, because You are the original
He shone together with the Eternal, the Creator of the world,
Oh, the oldest of the universe! All things have been accomplished through Him,
What is breathless and in spirit! Outside of the Speech, which does a lot,
Is it revealed that it is? And in Him there is eternally
Life that is inherent in everything, the light of a short-lived people ...<…>
In the bee-feeding more often
The mountain wanderer has appeared, an inhabitant of the desert slopes,
He is the herald of the cornerstone baptism, the name -
God's husband, John, counselor. ...

Portrait of a young girl. 2nd century© Google Cultural Institute

Funeral portrait of a man. III century© Google Cultural Institute

Christ Pantokrator. Icon from the monastery of St. Catherine. Sinai, mid-6th century Wikimedia Commons

St. Peter. Icon from the monastery of St. Catherine. Sinai, VII century© campus.belmont.edu

The dynamic changes that took place in different layers of the culture of the Roman Empire in late Antiquity can hardly be directly related to Christianization, since the Christians of that time were themselves such hunters for classical forms in the visual arts and in literature (as well as in many other spheres of life). Future Byzantium was born in an era in which the relationships between religion, artistic language, its audience, and the sociology of historical shifts were complex and indirect. They carried the potential of the complexity and diversity that developed later over the centuries of Byzantine history.

4. In Byzantium they spoke one language and wrote in another

The linguistic picture of Byzantium is paradoxical. The empire, which not only claimed succession to the Roman Empire and inherited its institutions, but also from the point of view of its political ideology, the former Roman Empire, never spoke Latin. It was spoken in the western provinces and in the Balkans, until the 6th century it remained the official language of jurisprudence (the last legislative code in Latin was the Code of Justinian, promulgated in 529 - after it laws were issued already in Greek), it enriched Greek with many borrowings (formerly all in the military and administrative spheres), early Byzantine Constantinople attracted Latin grammarians with career opportunities. Yet Latin was not even the real language of early Byzantium. Although the Latin-speaking poets Koripp and Pristsian lived in Constantinople, we will not find these names in the pages of a textbook on the history of Byzantine literature.

We cannot say at what point the Roman emperor becomes Byzantine: the formal identity of institutions does not allow drawing a clear line. In search of an answer to this question, it is necessary to address informalized cultural differences. The Roman Empire differs from the Byzantine one in that in the latter, Roman institutions, Greek culture and Christianity are merged and this synthesis is carried out on the basis of the Greek language. Therefore, one of the criteria on which we could rely is language: the Byzantine emperor, unlike his Roman counterpart, is easier to speak in Greek than in Latin.

But what is this Greek? The alternatives offered to us by bookstore shelves and philology programs are deceiving: we can find in them either ancient or modern Greek. There is no other starting point. Because of this, we are forced to proceed from the assumption that the Greek language of Byzantium is either distorted Ancient Greek (almost Plato's dialogues, but not quite), or Proton Greek (almost negotiations between Tsipras and the IMF, but not quite yet). The history of 24 centuries of continuous development of the language is straightened and simplified: this is either the inevitable decline and degradation of the ancient Greek (this is what Western European classical philologists thought before the establishment of Byzantinism as an independent scientific discipline), or the inevitable germination of the modern Greek (this is what the Greek scientists believed during the formation of the Greek nation in the 19th century) ...

Indeed, Byzantine Greek is elusive. Its development cannot be regarded as a series of progressive, sequential changes, since for each step forward in language development there was also a step back. The reason for this is the attitude towards the language of the Byzantines themselves. The linguistic norm of Homer and the classics of Attic prose was socially prestigious. To write well meant to write history indistinguishable from Xenophon or Thucydides (the last historian who decided to introduce into his text Old Attic elements that seemed archaic already in the classical era is a witness to the fall of Constantinople, Laonik Chalcocondilus), and the epic is indistinguishable from Homer. Throughout the history of the empire, educated Byzantines were required to literally speak one (changed) language, and write in another (frozen in classical immutability) language. The duality of linguistic consciousness is the most important feature of Byzantine culture.

Ostrakon with a fragment of the Iliad in Coptic. Byzantine Egypt, 580-640

Ostrakons - shards of earthen vessels - were used to record Bible verses, legal documents, bills, school assignments, and prayers when papyrus was unavailable or too expensive.

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ostrakon with the troparion to the Mother of God in Coptic. Byzantine Egypt, 580-640© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The situation was aggravated by the fact that since the time of classical antiquity certain dialect features were assigned to certain genres: epic poems were written in the language of Homer, and medical treatises were composed in the Ionian dialect in imitation of Hippocrates. We see a similar picture in Byzantium. In ancient Greek, vowels were divided into long and short, and their orderly alternation formed the basis of ancient Greek poetic meters. In the Hellenistic era, the opposition of vowels in longitude left the Greek language, but nevertheless, after a thousand years, heroic poems and epitaphs were written as if the phonetic system had remained unchanged since the time of Homer. Differences permeated other linguistic levels: it was necessary to construct a phrase, like Homer, select words, like Homer's, and inflect and conjugate them in accordance with the paradigm that died out in living speech thousands of years ago.

However, not everyone succeeded in writing with antique liveliness and simplicity; quite often, in an attempt to achieve the Attic ideal, Byzantine authors lost their sense of proportion, trying to write more correctly than their idols. So, we know that the dative case, which existed in ancient Greek, almost completely disappeared in modern Greek. It would be logical to assume that with each century in literature it will be encountered less and less, until it gradually disappears altogether. However, recent studies have shown that the dative case is used much more often in Byzantine high literature than in the literature of classical antiquity. But it is precisely this increase in frequency that speaks of a loosening of the norm! Obsession in using one form or another will tell about your inability to use it correctly, no less than its complete absence in your speech.

At the same time, the living language element took its toll. We learn about how the spoken language changed thanks to the mistakes of the scribes of manuscripts, non-literary inscriptions and the so-called folk-language literature. The term "folk-lingual" is not accidental: it describes the phenomenon of interest to us much better than the more familiar "folk" one, since often elements of simple urban colloquial speech were used in monuments created in the circles of the Constantinople elite. This became a real literary fashion in the XII century, when the same authors could work in several registers, today offering the reader exquisite prose, almost indistinguishable from Attic, and tomorrow - almost areal rhymes.

Diglossia, or bilingualism, gave rise to another typically Byzantine phenomenon - metaphrasing, that is, transposition, retelling in half with translation, presentation of the content of the source in new words with a decrease or increase in the stylistic register. Moreover, the shift could go both along the line of complication (pretentious syntax, exquisite figures of speech, antique allusions and quotes), and along the line of simplifying the language. Not a single work was considered inviolable, even the language of sacred texts in Byzantium did not have the status of a sacred one: the Gospel could be rewritten in a different stylistic key (as, for example, did the already mentioned Nonn Panopolitan) - and this did not bring anathemas on the author's head. It was necessary to wait until 1901, when the translation of the Gospels into colloquial New Greek (in fact, the same metaphor) brought opponents and defenders of language renewal to the streets and led to dozens of victims. In this sense, the outraged crowds who defended the "language of the ancestors" and demanded reprisals against the translator Alexandros Pallis were much further from Byzantine culture, not only than they would like, but also than Pallis himself.

5. In Byzantium there were iconoclasts - and this is a terrible mystery

Iconoclasts John the Grammaticus and Bishop Anthony Sileisky. Khludov Psalter. Byzantium, about 850 Thumbnail to Psalm 68, verse 2: "And they gave me bile for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." The actions of the iconoclasts, covering the icon of Christ with lime, are compared with the crucifixion on Calvary. The soldier on the right brings Christ a sponge with vinegar. At the foot of the mountain - John the Grammaticus and Bishop Anthony of Sileisky. rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.ru

Iconoclasm is the most famous period in the history of Byzantium for a wide audience and the most mysterious even for specialists. The depth of the trace that he left in the cultural memory of Europe is evidenced by the possibility, for example, in English to use the word iconoclast ("iconoclast") outside the historical context, in the timeless meaning of "rebel, subverter of foundations."

The event outline is as follows. By the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, the theory of worshiping religious images was hopelessly behind practice. The Arab conquests of the middle of the 7th century led the empire to a deep cultural crisis, which, in turn, gave rise to the growth of apocalyptic sentiments, the multiplication of superstitions and a surge of disordered forms of veneration of icons, sometimes indistinguishable from magical practices. According to the collections of the miracles of the saints, drunk wax from a melted seal with the face of Saint Artemy healed from a hernia, and Saints Cosmas and Damian healed the afflicted, commanding her to drink, mixing with water, the plaster from the fresco with their image.

Such veneration of icons, which did not receive a philosophical and theological justification, aroused rejection among some of the clergy, who saw in it signs of paganism. Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717-741), finding himself in a difficult political situation, used this discontent to create a new consolidating ideology. The first iconoclastic steps date back to 726-730, but both the theological substantiation of the iconoclastic dogma and full-fledged repression against dissidents fell on the reign of the most odious Byzantine emperor - Constantine V Copronymus (Gnoe-named) (741-775).

Claiming to the status of ecumenical, the iconoclastic council of 754 brought the dispute to a new level: from now on, it was not about fighting superstitions and fulfilling the Old Testament prohibition "Do not make yourself an idol", but about the hypostasis of Christ. Can He be considered depictable if His divine nature is “indescribable”? The “Christological dilemma” was this: icon-worshipers are guilty either of imprinting on icons only the flesh of Christ without His deity (Nestorianism), or of limiting the deity of Christ through a description of His depicted flesh (Monophysitism).

However, already in 787, Empress Irina held a new council in Nicaea, the participants of which formulated the dogma of icon veneration as a response to the dogma of iconoclasticism, thereby offering a full theological basis for previously unordered practices. An intellectual breakthrough was, firstly, the separation of "service" and "relative" worship: the first can be given only to God, while in the second, "the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype" (words of Basil the Great, which became the real motto of icon-worshipers). Secondly, the theory of homonymy was proposed, that is, uniformity, which removed the problem of portrait similarity between the image and the depicted: the icon of Christ was recognized as such not because of the similarity of features, but because of the spelling of the name - the act of naming.

Patriarch Nicephorus. Miniature from the Psalter of Theodore of Caesarea. 1066 year British Library Board. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

In 815, Emperor Leo V the Armenian again turned to iconoclastic politics, hoping in this way to build a line of succession in relation to Constantine V, the most successful and most beloved ruler in the army in the last century. The so-called second iconic struggle accounted for both a new round of repression and a new upsurge of theological thought. The iconoclastic era ends in 843, when iconoclasm is finally condemned as heresy. But his ghost haunted the Byzantines until 1453: for centuries, the participants in any church disputes, using the most sophisticated rhetoric, accused each other of hidden iconoclasm, and this accusation was more serious than any other heresy.

It would seem that everything is quite simple and straightforward. But as soon as we try to somehow clarify this general scheme, our constructions turn out to be very unstable.

The main difficulty is the state of the sources. The texts, thanks to which we know about the first iconoclasm, were written much later, and by icon-worshipers. In the 40s of the 9th century, a full-fledged program was carried out to write the history of iconoclasm from an icon-worshiping position. As a result, the history of the dispute was completely distorted: the works of the iconoclasts are available only in biased selections, and the textual analysis shows that the works of icon-worshipers, seemingly created to refute the teachings of Constantine V, could not have been written earlier than the very end of the 8th century. The task of the icon-worshiping authors was to turn the story we have described inside out, to create the illusion of tradition: to show that the veneration of icons (and not spontaneous, but meaningful!) Has been present in the church since apostolic times, and iconoclasm is just an innovation (the word καινοτομία - "innovation" in Greek - the most hated word for any Byzantine), and deliberately anti-Christian. The iconoclasts presented themselves not as fighters for the cleansing of Christianity from paganism, but as "Christian accusers" - this word began to designate precisely and exclusively iconoclasts. The parties to the iconoclastic dispute were not Christians, who interpreted the same teaching in different ways, but Christians and some external force hostile to them.

The arsenal of polemical techniques that were used in these texts to denigrate the enemy was very large. Legends were created about the hatred of the iconoclasts for education, for example, about the burning of the never-existed university in Constantinople by Leo III, while Constantine V was credited with participating in pagan rituals and human sacrifices, hatred of the Mother of God and doubts about the divine nature of Christ. If such myths seem simple and were debunked long ago, others remain at the center of scientific discussions to this day. For example, it was only very recently that it was possible to establish that the cruel massacre perpetrated on the glorified martyr Stephen the New in 766 is connected not so much with his uncompromising icon-worshiping position, as stated in his life, as with his closeness to the conspiracy of political opponents of Constantine V. controversy and key questions: what is the role of Islamic influence in the genesis of iconoclasm? what was the true attitude of the iconoclasts towards the cult of saints and their relics?

Even the language we use about iconoclasm is the language of the victors. The word "iconoclast" is not a self-name, but an offensive polemic label that their opponents have invented and implemented. No "iconoclast" would ever agree with such a name, simply because the Greek word εἰκών has much more meanings than the Russian "icon". This is any image, including intangible, which means that to call someone an iconoclast is to declare that he is struggling with the idea of ​​God the Son as the image of God the Father, and man as the image of God, and the events of the Old Testament as prototypes of the events of the New and so on. Moreover, the iconoclasts themselves argued that they somehow defend the true image of Christ - the Eucharistic gifts, while what their opponents call an image, in fact, is not such, but is just an image.

Conquer in the end their teaching, it is precisely this that would now be called Orthodox, and the teaching of their opponents we would contemptuously call icon-worship and would speak not about the iconoclastic, but about the icon-worshiping period in Byzantium. However, if this were so, the whole further history and visual aesthetics of Eastern Christianity would have been different.

6. The West never loved Byzantium

Although trade, religious and diplomatic contacts between Byzantium and the states of Western Europe continued throughout the Middle Ages, it is difficult to talk about real cooperation or mutual understanding between them. At the end of the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire disintegrated into barbarian states and the tradition of “Romanism” was interrupted in the West, but remained in the East. Within a few centuries, the new Western dynasties of Germany wanted to restore the continuity of their power with the Roman Empire, and for this they entered into dynastic marriages with Byzantine princesses. Charlemagne's court competed with Byzantium - this can be seen in architecture and art. However, Charles' imperial claims rather intensified the misunderstanding between East and West: the culture of the Carolingian Renaissance wanted to see itself as the only legitimate heir to Rome.

The crusaders attack Constantinople. Miniature from the chronicle "The Conquest of Constantinople" by Geoffroy de Villardouin. Roughly 1330, Villardouin was one of the leaders of the campaign. Bibliothèque nationale de France

By the 10th century, the routes from Constantinople to Northern Italy by land through the Balkans and along the Danube were blocked by barbarian tribes. There was only a way by sea, which reduced the possibilities of communication and made it difficult for cultural exchange. The division into East and West has become a physical reality. The ideological divide between West and East, fueled by theological controversies throughout the Middle Ages, was exacerbated by the Crusades. The organizer of the Fourth Crusade, which ended with the capture of Constantinople in 1204, Pope Innocent III openly declared the primacy of the Roman Church over all others, referring to the divine institution.

As a result, it turned out that the Byzantines and the inhabitants of Europe knew little about each other, but were unfriendly towards each other. In the 14th century, the West criticized the depravity of the Byzantine clergy and attributed the successes of Islam to it. For example, Dante believed that Sultan Saladin could convert to Christianity (and even placed him in his "Divine Comedy" in limbo - a special place for virtuous non-Christians), but did not do this due to the unattractiveness of Byzantine Christianity. In Western countries, by the time of Dante, almost no one knew Greek. At the same time, Byzantine intellectuals learned Latin only in order to translate Thomas Aquinas, and did not hear anything about Dante. The situation changed in the 15th century after the Turkish invasion and the fall of Constantinople, when Byzantine culture began to penetrate Europe along with Byzantine scholars who fled from the Turks. The Greeks brought with them many manuscripts of ancient works, and humanists were able to study Greek antiquity from the originals, and not from Roman literature and the few Latin translations known in the West.

But scientists and intellectuals of the Renaissance were interested in classical antiquity, and not in the society that preserved it. In addition, it was mainly intellectuals who fled to the West, negatively disposed towards the ideas of monasticism and Orthodox theology of that time and sympathizing with the Roman Church; their opponents, supporters of Gregory Palamas, on the contrary, believed that it was better to try to come to an agreement with the Turks than to seek help from the Pope. Therefore, the Byzantine civilization continued to be perceived in a negative light. If the ancient Greeks and Romans were "their own", then the image of Byzantium was entrenched in European culture as oriental and exotic, sometimes attractive, but more often hostile and alien to the European ideals of reason and progress.

The Age of European Enlightenment even branded Byzantium. The French enlighteners Montesquieu and Voltaire associated it with despotism, luxury, lavish ceremonies, superstition, moral decay, civilizational decline and cultural sterility. According to Voltaire, the history of Byzantium is "an unworthy collection of grandiloquent phrases and descriptions of miracles" that disgraces the human mind. Montesquieu sees the main reason for the fall of Constantinople in the pernicious and pervasive influence of religion on society and power. He speaks especially aggressively about Byzantine monasticism and clergy, about the veneration of icons, as well as about theological polemics:

“The Greeks - great talkers, great debaters, sophists by nature - constantly got into religious disputes. Since the monks enjoyed great influence at the court, which weakened as it became corrupted, it turned out that the monks and the court mutually corrupted each other and that evil infected both. As a result, all the attention of the emperors was absorbed in trying to calm down or provoke divine-word disputes, concerning which it was noticed that they became the hotter, the less insignificant the reason that caused them was. "

So Byzantium became part of the image of the barbarian dark East, which, paradoxically, also included the main enemies of the Byzantine Empire - the Muslims. In the Orientalist model, Byzantium was contrasted with a liberal and rational European society, built on the ideals of Ancient Greece and Rome. This model underlies, for example, the descriptions of the Byzantine court in the drama The Temptation of St. Anthony by Gustave Flaubert:

“The king wipes the scents from his face with his sleeve. He eats from sacred vessels, then breaks them; and mentally he counts his ships, his troops, his people. Now, on a whim, he will take and burn his palace with all the guests. He thinks to restore the Tower of Babel and to overthrow the Most High from the throne. Antony reads all his thoughts from afar on his brow. They take possession of him, and he becomes Nebuchadnezzar. "

The mythological view of Byzantium has not yet been fully overcome in historical scholarship. Of course, there could be no question of any moral example of Byzantine history for the education of youth. School programs were built on the models of classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, and Byzantine culture was excluded from them. In Russia, science and education followed Western patterns. In the 19th century, a dispute over the role of Byzantium in Russian history broke out between Westernizers and Slavophiles. Peter Chaadaev, following the tradition of European enlightenment, bitterly lamented about the Byzantine heritage of Russia:

"By the will of fatal fate, we turned for a moral teaching that was supposed to educate us, to corrupted Byzantium, to the subject of deep contempt of these peoples."

Byzantine ideologist Konstantin Leontiev Konstantin Leontiev(1831-1891) - diplomat, writer, philosopher. In 1875, his work "Byzantism and Slavism" was published, in which he argued that "Byzantism" is a civilization or culture, the "general idea" of which is composed of several components: autocracy, Christianity (different from Western, "from heresies and splits ”), disappointment in everything earthly, the absence of“ an extremely exaggerated concept of the earthly human personality ”, rejection of hope for the universal well-being of peoples, the totality of some aesthetic ideas, and so on. Since pan-Slavism is not a civilization or culture at all, and European civilization is coming to an end, Russia - which inherited almost everything from Byzantium - is precisely Byzantism that is necessary for flourishing. pointed to the stereotypical idea of ​​Byzantium, which was formed due to school education and the lack of independence of Russian science:

"Byzantium seems to be something dry, boring, priestly, and not only boring, but even something pathetic and vile."

7.In 1453 Constantinople fell - but Byzantium did not die

Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. Miniature from the collection of Topkapi Palace. Istanbul, late 15th century Wikimedia Commons

In 1935, the book of the Romanian historian Nicolae Yorgi "Byzantium after Byzantium" was published - and its name was established as a designation of the life of Byzantine culture after the fall of the empire in 1453. Byzantine life and institutions did not disappear overnight. They were preserved thanks to Byzantine emigrants who fled to Western Europe, in Constantinople itself, even under the rule of the Turks, as well as in the countries of the "Byzantine community", as the British historian Dmitry Obolensky called the Eastern European medieval cultures that were directly influenced by Byzantium - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia. The members of this supranational unity have preserved the legacy of Byzantium in religion, the norms of Roman law, the standards of literature and art.

In the last hundred years of the empire's existence, two factors - the cultural revival of the Palaeologians and the Palamite disputes - contributed, on the one hand, to the renewal of ties between Orthodox peoples and Byzantium, and, on the other, to a new surge in the spread of Byzantine culture, primarily through liturgical texts and monastic literature. In the XIV century, Byzantine ideas, texts and even their authors entered the Slavic world through the city of Tarnovo, the capital of the Bulgarian Empire; in particular, the number of Byzantine works available in Russia doubled thanks to the Bulgarian translations.

In addition, the Ottoman Empire officially recognized the Patriarch of Constantinople: as the head of the Orthodox millet (or community), he continued to rule the church, in whose jurisdiction both Russia and the Orthodox Balkan peoples remained. Finally, the rulers of the Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, even after becoming subjects of the Sultan, retained Christian statehood and considered themselves cultural and political heirs of the Byzantine Empire. They continued the traditions of the royal court ceremonial, Greek education and theology and supported the Constantinople Greek elite, the Phanariots Fanariots- literally "inhabitants of Phanar", the quarter of Constantinople, in which the residence of the Greek patriarch was located. The Greek elite of the Ottoman Empire were called Phanariots because they lived primarily in this quarter..

Greek uprising of 1821. Illustration from A History of All Nations from the Earliest Times by John Henry Wright. 1905 year The Internet Archive

Jorga believes that Byzantium died after Byzantium during an unsuccessful uprising against the Turks in 1821, which was organized by the Phanariot Alexander Ypsilanti. On one side of the Ypsilanti banner there was the inscription "Victory here" and the image of the emperor Constantine the Great, whose name is associated with the beginning of Byzantine history, and on the other - a phoenix rising from the flame, a symbol of the revival of the Byzantine Empire. The uprising was defeated, the Patriarch of Constantinople was executed, and the ideology of the Byzantine Empire then dissolved into Greek nationalism.