Byzantine Empire Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων (Ancient Greek) Imperium Romanum (Latin)
717–802
The Byzantine Empire after the coronation ofCharlemagne asImperator Romanorum, 800
Capital	Constantinople
Common languages	Greek Latin(in theExarchate of Ravenna untilc. 751)
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 717–741	Leo III the Isaurian
• 741–775	Constantine V
• 775–780	Leo IV
• 780–797	Constantine VI (with his mother Irene serving as regent from 780–790 and as co-ruler from 792–797)
• 797–802	Irene of Athens (as sole ruler)
History
• Accession ofLeo III the Isaurian	717
• Deposition ofIrene of Athens	802
Preceded by Succeeded by Twenty Years' Anarchy Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorian dynasty Principality of Serbia (early medieval) First Bulgarian Empire

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TheByzantine Empire was ruled by theIsaurian dynasty (orSyrian dynasty) from 717 to 802. The Isaurianemperors were successful in defending and consolidating the empire against thecaliphates after the onslaught of theearly Muslim conquests, but were less successful in Europe, where they suffered setbacks against theBulgars, had to give up theExarchate of Ravenna, and lost influence over Italy and thepapacy to the growing power of theFranks.

The Isaurian dynasty is chiefly associated withByzantine iconoclasm, an attempt to restore divine favour by purifying the Christian faith from all veneration of figural Christian iconography, which resulted in considerable internal turmoil.

By the end of the Isaurian dynasty in 802, the Byzantines were continuing to fight the Arabs and the Bulgars for their very existence, with matters made more complicated whenPope Leo III crownedCharlemagne asemperor of the Romans, which was seen as an attempt at making theCarolingian state the successor to theRoman Empire.

TheHeraclian dynasty (610–695 and 705–711) faced heavy challenges. After successfullyovercoming theSassanid Persians, the EmperorHeraclius (r. 610–641) and his exhausted realm were faced with the sudden onset of theMuslim expansion fromArabia into theLevant.^[1]

Following theMuslim conquest of Syria, the rich province ofEgypt, the Empire's chief source of grain and tax revenue, had fallen to the Arabs as well. The Byzantines also faced Arab attacks through Libya against theExarchate of Africa, againstCilicia, which controlled the southern passes intoAsia Minor, now the Empire's last major contiguous territory, and against theArmenian Highland, the Empire's chief source of manpower and a vital buffer between the now Arab-dominatedSyrian Desert region and the northeastern passage into Asia Minor. These three areas would be the main fields of Byzantine-Arab contention during the next half-century.^[2] The Arabs continued to make headway, most notably constructing a navy that successfully challenged Byzantine supremacy in the Mediterranean. The outbreak of theMuslim civil war in 656 bought the Byzantines time, and emperorConstans II (r. 641–668) reinforced his position in theBalkans and Italy. His successor,Constantine IV (r. 668–685), was able to beat off theFirst Arab Siege of Constantinople (674–678), and in its aftermath move into the counteroffensive, securing Asia Minor, recoveringCilicia and forcing the Caliphate to pay tribute. At the same time however, he was defeated by theBulgar khanAsparukh, and was forced to accept his people's settlement in Byzantine lands south of theDanube.^[3] With the first deposition of Constantine IV's son and heirJustinian II in 695 began aperiod of troubles that lasted almost a quarter-century and brought a succession of disasters that nearly brought about the downfall of the Byzantine state. Carthage finally fell in 697 and a Byzantine recovery attemptdefeated next year. Cilicia was conquered by the Arabs and turned into a base for raiding expeditions that penetrated deep into Asia Minor, sacking its forts and cities, while the Caucasus was brought under firm Muslim control. Finally, theUmayyad caliphSulayman ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 715–717) began preparing another huge expedition to conquer Constantinople.^[4][5]

At the same time, the disasters of the 7th century saw major changes in the society and nature of what remained of the Empire: the urbanised, cosmopolitan civilisation ofLate Antiquity came to an end, and theMedieval era began. With the decline of most cities to a small, fortified urban cores that functioned merely as administrative centres, society became largely agrarian, while education and intellectual life almost vanished. The loss of the Empire's richest provinces, coupled with successive invasions, reduced the imperial economy to a relatively impoverished state, compared to the resources available to theCaliphate. The monetary economy persisted, but thebarter economy experienced a revival as well.^[6][7] Administrative practice also changed: alongside the continued existence of the late Roman provincial system, the surviving field armies were reorganised into thetheme system as a means to preserve the remaining imperial territory, although the extensive power concentrated in the hands of the thematic commanders, thestrategoi, made them prone to rebel. At the same time, the central bureaucracy in Constantinople also rose in importance.^[8][9] In the religious field, the loss of theMonophysite eastern provinces ended the need for the unsuccessful compromise doctrine ofMonotheletism, which was abandoned at theThird Council of Constantinople in 680,^[10] while theQuinisext Council in 692 saw the promotion of the interests and views of thePatriarchate of Constantinople against theSee of Rome.^[11]

AfterJustinian II's second overthrow, the Byzantine Empire spiralled into another era of chaos matched only byPhocas' mishandling of the last Persian War.Philippikos Bardanes, the Crimean rebel who seized the throne proved to be totally incompetent for rule. Rather than face the looming threat of the Bulgars or the Arabs, he intended to reignite the religious controversies by imposing the much hated HeraclianMonothelitism. When KingTervel of Bulgaria (who was an ally of Justinian II) invaded Thrace, Bardanes had no choice but to summon the troops of theOpsician Theme to combat the Bulgars. Unfortunately for the Emperor, the troops had no loyalty whatsoever to him and after theritual blinding he was replaced in June 713 by the chief secretary of the Emperor, Artemios.

Artemios was crowned asAnastasios II. Anastasios gave the Empire a brief taste of good leadership, improving thewalls of the capital and filling the granaries of the capital to bursting point, in order that the newly reported Arab invasion be dealt with. Every citizen was told to gather enough food for three years for if the Arabs were to reach the straits it would undoubtedly be a lengthy siege. However, Anastasios proved too good for the Empire; in an effort to avert the Arab siege of the Capital, Anastasios planned a preemptive strike against the invaders, usingRhodes as a base. However the Opsician Theme once more revolted and Anastasios found himself in aThessalonika monastery by 715.

The Opsicians choseTheodosios, an unwilling tax-collector, to rule the Empire. The choice was hardly based upon his skills; when Leo the Isaurian,strategos of theAnatolic theme, asked theSenate and the Patriarch for his support in becoming emperor, it took little persuading to obtain it.

Leo III, who would become the founder of the so-called Isaurian dynasty, was actually born inGermanikeia in northernSyria c. 685; his alleged origin fromIsauria derives from a reference inTheophanes the Confessor, which however may be a later addition. After being raised tospatharios by Justinian II, he fought the Arabs inAbasgia, and was appointed asstrategos of the Anatolics by Anastasios II.^[12] Following the latter's fall, in 716 Leo allied himself withArtabasdos, the general of theArmeniacs, and was proclaimed emperor while two Arab armies, one under the Caliph's brotherMaslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, campaigned in Asia Minor. Leo averted an attack by Maslamah by clever negotiations, in which he promised to recognise the Caliph's suzerainty, but on 25 March 717, he entered Constantinople and deposed Theodosios.^[13][14][15]

Within months, the new Emperor faced his first great challenge, with amassive Muslim attack on the imperial capital: the Caliphate's army and navy, led by Maslamah, numbered some 120,000 men and 1,800 ships according to the sources. Whatever the real number, it was a huge force, far larger than the Imperial army. Thankfully for Leo and the Empire, Anastasios II had repaired and strengthened the capital's sea walls. In addition, the Emperor concluded an alliance with the Bulgar khanTervel, who agreed to harass the invaders' rear.^[16]

From July 717 to August 718, the city was besieged by land and sea by the Muslims, who built an extensive double line ofcircumvallation andcontravallation on the landward side, isolating the capital. Their attempt to complete the blockade by sea however failed when theByzantine navy employedGreek fire against them; the Arab fleet kept well off the city walls, leaving Constantinople's supply routes open. Forced to extend the siege into winter, the besieging army suffered horrendous casualties from the cold and the lack of provisions.^[17][18] In spring, new reinforcements were sent by the new caliph,Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (r. 717–720), by sea from Africa and Egypt and over land through Asia Minor. The crews of the new fleets were composed mostly of Christians, who began defecting in large numbers, while the land forces were ambushed and defeated inBithynia. As famine and an epidemic continued to plague the Arab camp, the siege was abandoned on 15 August 718. On its return, the Arab fleet suffered further casualties to storms and an eruption of the volcano ofThera.^[18][19]

Even during the siege, Leo had been able to stifle attempts at secession: his troops swiftly overthrew a revolt inSicily, where a certainBasil Onomagoulos was declared emperor. In 719, he also weathered an attempt by the deposed Anastasios II to recover his throne with Bulgar help.^[13][20] Leo further strengthened his position by crowning his wifeMaria asAugusta in 718 and his sonConstantine as co-emperor in 720.^[20][21] Profiting from the weakened state of the Caliphate after the enormous losses they had suffered before Constantinople, Leo was able to launch a counter-offensive which achieved some success. The Arabs soon recovered however, and from 720 launched annual raids that devastated large parts of Asia Minor, despite a Byzantine alliance with theKhazars, who launched attacks on the Caliphate's northern flank.Iconium andCaesarea were sacked, and Byzantine troops were again driven out of Armenia.^[18][22]

Leo's frustration at his military failures led him to believe, in the fashion of the time, that the Empire had lost divine favour. Already in 722 he had tried to force the conversion of the Empire's Jews, but soon he began to turn his attention to the veneration oficons, which some bishops had come to regard asidolatrous. Following the renewed eruption of Thera in 726, he published an edict condemning their use, and had the image ofChrist removed from theChalke Gate, the ceremonial entrance to theGreat Palace of Constantinople. The Emperor showed himself increasingly critical of theiconophiles, and in a court council in 730 he formally banned depictions of religious figures.^[18][23][24]

Leo's espousal of iconoclasm caused reactions among both the populace and the Church. The soldiers that took down the image of Christ from the Chalke were lynched, and a thematic rebellion that broke out in Greece in 727, was at least in part motivated by iconophile fervour. ThePatriarch Germanos I resigned, to be replaced by the more pliantAnastasios. The emperor's edict drew the condemnation of popesGregory II andGregory III, as well asJohn of Damascus. Generally however, the dispute remained limited, as Leo refrained from actively persecuting iconophiles.^[18][25]

The rift with the Papacy had other reasons as well: Leo transferred the dioceses of the eastern Illyricum (roughly the oldDiocese of Macedonia) from Rome to the jurisdiction of Constantinople, and further deprived the Pope of the revenues of Sicily andCalabria. At the same time, Leo failed to provide aid to the embattled Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. In 727, the local Byzantine forces overthrew their commander, and in c. 738, the city was taken for a time by theLombard kingLiutprand.^[26][27][28]

The adoption of iconoclasm seemed indeed to be vindicated in the Emperor's eyes, for success returned to the Imperial arms, and the Muslims suffered a series of defeats between 727 and 732. The next years were more difficult, especially as the Arabs defeated the Khazars and forced their leader to convert toIslam. In 740 however the emperor and his son scored a decisive victory over an invading Arab army atAkroinon, which halted the momentum of the Arab attacks.^[28][29][30]

In March 741 (older sources prefer to date it to 726), Leo also promulgated theEcloga, a revised selection of laws, drawn chiefly from the olderCodex Justinianus. Christian influence is evident in the marked decrease of crimes subject tocapital punishment, but the collection conversely expanded the use of mutilation, perceived as more humane, as punishment. TheEcloga proved popular as a concise legal handbook, remaining the standard legal text until the introduction of theEpanagoge in the late 9th century, and was translated intoSlavonic,Arabic andArmenian.^[31][32]

Leo died peacefully in his bed on 18 June 741, the first emperor to do so since Constantine IV. During his reign, he had succeeded in warding off the Arab attacks and consolidating the Empire's eastern frontier. On the other hand, his introduction of a new and unnecessary theological dispute, albeit for the moment relatively mild, compromised his efforts to restore stability to the Empire.^[33]

Constantine was born inConstantinople, the son and successor of EmperorLeo III andMaria. In August 720 he was associated on the throne by his father, who had him marryTzitzak, daughter of theKhazar khaganBihar. His new bride was baptized as Irene (Eirēnē, "peace") in 732. Constantine V succeeded his father as sole emperor on April 19, 741.

Constantine was crossingAsia Minor to campaign against theUmayyad Caliphate underHisham ibn Abd al-Malik on the eastern frontier in June 741 or 742. But during this course Constantine was attacked by the forces of his brother-in-lawArtabasdos, thestratēgos of the Armeniactheme. Artabasdos was the husband ofAnna, an older sister of Constantine.

Defeated, Constantine sought refuge inAmorion, while the victor advanced onConstantinople and was accepted as emperor. While Constantine now received the support of theAnatolic andThracesian themes, Artabasdos secured that of the themes ofThrace andOpsikion, in addition to his own Armeniac soldiers.

After the rival emperors had bided their time in military preparations, Artabasdos marched against Constantine, but was defeated in May 743. Three months later Constantine defeated Artabasdos' son Niketas and headed for Constantinople. In early November Constantine was admitted into the capital and immediately turned on his opponents, having them blinded or executed. Perhaps because Artabasdos' usurpation was interconnected with the restoration of veneration of images, Constantine now became perhaps an even more ferventiconoclast than his father.

Constantine's derogatory epithetKopronymos ("Dung-named": fromkopros, "feces" or "animaldung"; andonoma, "name"), was applied to him by his avowed enemies over this extremely emotional issue, theiconodules. Using the obscene name they spread the rumour that, as an infant, he had defecated in his baptismal font, or the imperial purple cloth with which he was swaddled.

Constantine's position about iconoclasm was clear:

....He cannot be depicted. For what is depicted in one person, and he who circumscribes that person has plainly circumscribed the divine nature which is incapable of being circumscribed.^[34]

In February 754 Constantine convened asynod at Hieria, which was attended entirely byIconoclast bishops. The council approved of Constantine's religious policy and secured the election of a new Iconoclast patriarch, but refused to follow in all of Constantine's views. The council confirmed the status of Mary as Theotokos, or Mother of God, reinforced the use of the terms "saint" and "holy" as meet, and condemned the desecration, burning, or looting of churches in the quest to quench Iconophiles.

It was followed by a campaign to remove images from the walls of churches and to purge the court and bureaucracy ofIconodules. Since monasteries tended to be strongholds ofIconophile sentiment, Constantine specifically targeted the monks, pairing them off and forcing them to marry nuns in theHippodrome and expropriating monastic property for the benefit of the state or the army. The repressions against the monks (culminating in 766) were largely led by the emperor's generalMichael Lachanodrakon, who threatened resistant monks with blinding and exile.

An iconodule abbot,Stephen Neos, was brutally lynched by a mob at the behest of the authorities. As a result, many monks fled to southern Italy andSicily. By the end of Constantine's reign, Iconoclasm had gone as far as to brandrelics and prayers to thesaints asheretical.

Ultimately, iconophiles considered his death a divine punishment. In the 9th century, he was disinterred and his remains were thrown into the sea.

Constantine was also an able general and administrator. He reorganised thethemes, the military districts of the empire, and created new field army divisions calledtagmata. This organization was intended to minimize the threat of conspiracies and to enhance the defensive capabilities of the Empire. With this reorganized army he embarked on campaigns on the three major frontiers.

In 746, profiting by the unstable conditions in the Umayyad Caliphate which was falling apart underMarwan II, Constantine invaded Syria and captured Germanikeia (modernMaraş, his father's birthplace). He organised the resettlement of part of the local Christian population to imperial territory inThrace. In 747 his fleet destroyed the Arab fleet offCyprus. In 752 Constantine led an invasion into the newAbbasid Caliphate underAs-Saffah. Constantine captured Theodosioupolis and Melitene (Malatya), and again resettled some of the population in theBalkans. These campaigns failed to secure any concrete gains (apart from additional population employed to strengthen another frontier), but it is important to note that under Constantine V the Empire had gone on the offensive.

These successes made it possible to pursue an aggressive policy in the Balkans. With the resettlement of Christian populations from the East into Thrace, Constantine V aimed to enhance the prosperity and defence of this area which caused concern to the Empire's northern neighbour,Bulgaria, and the two states clashed in 755.Kormisosh of Bulgaria raided as far as theAnastasian Wall, but was defeated in battle by Constantine V, who inaugurated a long series of nine successful campaigns against the Bulgarians in the next year, scoring a victory over Kormisosh's successorVinekh atMarcellae.

Three year later he was defeated in thebattle of the Rishki Pass but the Bulgarians did not exploit their success. In 763, he sailed to Anchialus with 800 ships carrying 9,600 cavalry and some infantry. Constantine's victories, including that atAnchialus in 763 caused considerable instability in Bulgaria, where six monarchs lost their crowns on account of their failures.

In 751,Lombard kingAistulf capturedRavenna, ending over two centuries of Byzantine rule.

In 775, Constantine was persuaded to reveal to the Bulgarian rulerTelerig the identities of his agents in Bulgaria. These were promptly eliminated; thus, Constantine began preparations for a new campaign against the Bulgarians – during which he died on September 14, 775.

Constantine's campaigns were costly; during his reign the Byzantine Empire's annual revenues were reduced to about 1,800,000nomismata due to his various wars and the Arab conquests.

Leo was the son of EmperorConstantine V by his first wife,Tzitzak ofKhazaria (known as Irene upon her conversion),^[35] the daughter of a Khagan of the Khazars (thought to beBihar). Crowned co-emperor by his father in 751 Leo then marriedIrene, an Athenian from a noble family, in December 769. In 775 Constantine V died, leaving Leo as sole emperor.^[36]

On 24 April 776 Leo, following the precedent set by his father and grandfather, appointed his son, Constantine VI, co-emperor. This led to an uprising of Leo's five half-brothers, includingCaesarNikephoros, who had hoped to gain the throne themselves. The uprising was put down quickly, with the conspirators being beaten,tonsured, and exiled toCherson under guard.^[37]

Leo IV was raised as aniconoclast under his father but was married to Irene, aniconodule.^[38][39] Realizing the division in his realm he pursued a path of conciliation towards the iconodules, previously declared heretical under imperial policy. Leo allowed monks, persecuted and deported under his father, to return to their monasteries, and he was anointed by some among the orthodox as “Friend to the Mother of God” for allowing monks to retain images of theTheotokos. In addition to the concessionary actions Leo also appointed an iconodule sympathizer,Paul of Cyprus, to the position of patriarch of Constantinople upon the death of the predecessor. At the end of his reign, Leo reversed his stance of toleration.^[40]

Leo's reign coincided with that of the thirdAbbasid Caliph,Al-Mahdi, who invaded Byzantine lands on successive occasions from 777 to 780 before ultimately being repulsed by Leo's armies, led by generals such asMichael Lachanodrakon. Leo himself set out with his army against theBulgars but died of fever while on campaign.^[41][42] Leo's death on 8 September 780 resulted in the ascension of his wife, Irene, to the throne.

The only child of Emperor Leo IV and Irene, Constantine VI was crowned co-emperor by his father in 776. Leo's premature death in 780 left Constantine as sole emperor at the age of nine, with Irene serving as his regent.

In 782 he was betrothed toRotrude, a daughter of theFrankish KingCharlemagne by his third wifeHildegard. Irene herself broke off the engagement in 788. In 787 Constantine had signed the decrees of theSecond Council of Nicaea, but he appears to have hadiconoclast sympathies.

Upon turning sixteen, Constantine was eligible to rule independently. Irene remained an active participant in the government; after a conspiracy against her was suppressed in the spring of 790, she sought official recognition as empress. With military support from theArmeniacs, Constantine rebuffed his mother and entered upon a period of sole rule. In 792 he reversed his position, granting Irene the title of Empress and making her his official colleague.

The weakness of Constantine caused dissatisfaction among his supporters. He showed unheroic behaviour after the defeats at the hands ofKardam of Bulgaria in 791 and 792. A movement developed in favour of his uncle, theCaesarNikephoros. Constantine had his uncle's eyes put out and the tongues of his father's four other half-brothers cut off. His former Armenian supporters revolted after he had blinded their generalAlexios Mosele. He crushed this revolt with extreme cruelty in 793.

He then divorced his wifeMaria of Amnia, who had failed to provide him with a male heir, and married his mistressTheodote, an unpopular and possibly illegal act, although thePatriarch ignored it. By his actions Constantine had lost all support, both of the ruling orthodox and the iconoclast opposition.

In 797 Constantine was captured and blinded by the supporters of his mother, who had organised a conspiracy. According to most contemporary accounts, he died from his wounds a few days later, leaving Irene to be crowned as first Empress regnant of Constantinople. Pretenders to the throne claiming to be Constantine VI later appeared during the reign ofMichael II.

Although it is often claimed that, as monarch, Irene called herself "basileus" (βασιλεύς), 'emperor', rather than "basilissa" (βασίλισσα), 'empress', in fact there are only three instances where it is known that she used the title "basileus": two legal documents in which she signed herself as "Emperor of the Romans" and a gold coin of hers found in Sicily bearing the title of "basileus". In relation to the coin, the lettering is of poor quality and the attribution to Irene may, therefore, be problematic. In reality, she used the title "basilissa" in all other documents, coins and seals.^[43]

• Family tree of Byzantine emperors

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• Haldon, John F. (1990),Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, Cambridge University Press,ISBN 978-0-521-31917-1
• Haldon, John (1999).Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565–1204. London: UCL Press.ISBN 1-85728-495-X.
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
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• Ostrogorsky, George (1997),History of the Byzantine State, Rutgers University Press,ISBN 978-0-8135-1198-6
• Rochow, Ilse (1994),Kaiser Konstantin V. (741–775). Materialien zu seinem Leben und Nachleben (in German), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang,ISBN 3-631-47138-6
• Runciman, Steven (1975),Byzantine civilisation, Taylor & Francis,ISBN 978-0-416-70380-1
• Treadgold, Warren (1988).The Byzantine Revival, 780–842. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.ISBN 978-0-8047-1462-4.
• Treadgold, Warren (1997).A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, California:Stanford University Press.ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
• Whittow, Mark (1996).The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-20496-6.

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• Isaurian dynasty
• 8th century in the Byzantine Empire
• 9th century in the Byzantine Empire
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