Book Review
The New Roman Empire A History of Byzantium
By
Anthony Kaldellis
Oxford University Press.
2023
This book is an excellent history of the Empire of New Rome from Constantine to the fall of Constantinople. It is very long at over nine hundred pages but very much worth reading. It is encouraging that the field of Byzantine studies is flourishing.
The book covers much ground by going through the reigns of all of Constantinople’s Emperors with great detail regarding their military campaigns and foreign relations. A great book but as with all works on Byzantine history, one can not help but get frustrated.
The author recounts the great successes of the Macedonian dynasty. Specifically, Nikephoras Phokas, John Tsimiscez, and Basil II. Here is where the Empire turned the tables on the Muslim invaders. Militarily and politically they could do no wrong. The murder of Phokas by Tsimizces was an outrage but at least the new ruler (on behalf of the child Emperor Basil II) kept the Enpire strong militarily and was feared by external enemies.
Basil II performed miraculously and crushed all foreign invaders. The Caliph fled Syria when he heard Basil was on his way. It would have been good to have more on Basil’s role in the conversion of Russia to Christianity, but what is here is great. It is noted that the treachery that would become a pattern in the Empire was not tolerated Basil. Basil crushed elements in the Empire that attempted to start a civil war while the Empire was at war.
This was the glory of the Empire. After Basil, the decline slowly began. In 1071, the Battle of Manzikert led to the devastating loss of territory in Asia Minor. Even after Manzikert, the great Komneni dynasty emerged that recovered much of this territory. But corruption and treachery led to the rise of the Angeli dynasty one of whose members stupidly brought the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople. Things were never the same after the Fourth Crusade attacked Constantinople.
Byzantine history is a joy to read, but also frustrating. The last two centuries saw the Turks take everything until the end came in 1453. Byzantine history is heartbreaking.
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One reply on “Frustrations And Byzantium”
The Byzantine Empire lasted almost 1000 years, we should be so lucky. It seems the American Republic is heading for self-caused destruction after only 250 years. While the Silk Roads were in existence and trade moved freely, Constantinople thrived economically and the people genuinely believed in the rightness of their Empire. But, with the approach of Islam and the Mongols, the trade routes got disrupted and the wealth began to disappear. And then you had all the fights for power, the intrigue and the subterfuge by various Byzantine families. Byzantium was already in decline when the 4th Crusaders sacked it in 1204 and that really accelerated it. It really amazes me they were able to put up a stiff resistance to the Turks in 1456, they almost survived that siege-but there were just too few of them and too little wealth left to hire mercenaries.