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The Byzantine empire; the rearguard of European civilization - BY EDWARD FOORD
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This volume is an attempt to supply theneed of a short popular history of the LaterRoman Empire. There is at present, I believe, no book on the subject in the Englishlanguage between Professor Oman's sketch in the' Story of the Nations ' series and monumentalworks like those of Gibbon, Finlay, and Bury. TheEarly Middle Age of Europe has always had afascination for me, and on the wonderful story of the' Byzantine' Empire I have concentrated much attention. When, therefore, Mr. Gordon Home broachedthe idea of the present volume, I readily undertookthe task, believing that a knowledge of what wasrequired, combined with a real enthusiasm for mysubject, might enable me to produce a book whichwould fill the gap.For me this work is only a preface to a largerone, embodying the results of my own originalresearch, which I hope in the future to produce.I had the advantage of reading Dr. Bussell's first volume on the Roman Empire before publication ; the second appeared when this book was nearingcompletion.The orthography of the innumerable propernames has given a good deal of trouble, and I shouldnot like to say that I have solved the problem. Asregards chronology, I have generally followed Bury.The Maps are all from the author's drawings.That of the Roman Empire in 395 is based uponviiPrefacethe one in Kiepert's Atlas. The remaining fiveconstitute, I believe, the first real attempt to illustratethe strange territorial fluctuations of the Empire ona rational principle. In every case the culminationof a particular epoch has been chosen. The Mapsare supplemented by carefully compiled statistical tables, which may serve to give the reader a concrete idea of the extent of the domain of ImperialRome. The Map of the Hellenic Colonies wasadded at the suggestion of Mr. Gordon Home, andI must thank him for much valuable assistance inthe matter of the illustrations.Little space has been wasted on ecclesiastical controversies, these being, in my opinion, entirelysecondary to the Empire's work as preserver ofcivilization and rearguard of Europe. I have nothesitated to express the opinion that Byzantinecruelty is largely a myth, and otherwise it may befound that my estimate of certain rulers differs fromthat which commonly prevails.Four of the genealogical tables have been copiedor adapted from those in Professor Bury's work; thefifth and sixth were compiled with the assistance ofmy friend Mr. R. M. Cuningham, a fellow-enthusiastin things Byzantine, whose painstaking kindness I cannot too warmly acknowledge. Nor must I forgetto thank Miss Marguerite Cartal for aiding me in thecompilation of what, I hope, is a satisfactory index.I have elsewhere discussed and defended the use,for popular purposes at least, of the adjective' Byzantine,' and do not need to do so here.

The main idea of imperial defence in the period 395641 was that the Hne of the Danube was defended by one army, the Armenian frontier by another, and the Euphrates in Mesopotamia by a third, while reserves of native and foreign troops lay near the capital. None of these armies were territorial ; their strength varied ; it was kept up by levies from different parts of the Empire. The disasters of the Late-Dardanian, Maurician, and
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Heracliad epochs brought about the beginnings of a scientific territorial system. Such a system had of course, to some extent, existed in the earlier Empire. The frontier legions were largely recruited in the districts in which they lay ; the recruits were, however, for the most part camp children or chance waifs who drifted into cantonments ; the populations of the provinces in the rear were debarred from bearing arms. But after 640 a complete change took place ; it had, indeed, been in progress for some time previously. The armies of the East (Syria) and of the Armenian border had now fallen backbehind the line of Taurus ; each was cantoned over a wide extent of country, which became its regular recruiting district. The same was done with the Imperial Guard, native (Obsequi) and foreign (Buccellarii), the foederati (Optimati), and a division of the army of Thrace which had been sent across to Asia. The coast districts from Mysia to Cilicia became the Naval Theme. In Europe the armi
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204 The Themes At first the themes varied greatly in size and strength. The Anatolikoi were by far the largest of the armies, and could practically give the law to the others. Leo III. perhaps, as Professor Bury suggests, made the system somewhat more symmetrical, but still the Anatolikoi were very strong. In the civil war of 740742 Constantine VI. was supported by them and by the Thracesians only on land ; he seems to have been outnumbered by two to one ; but then Artavasdos controlled the Thracians, Optimati, Obsequi, Buccellarii, Armeniakoi, and a host of Amenian volunteers and raw levies. The Optimati probably in course of time disappeared, and their district either ceased to be a military department or was united to Opsikion or Bukellarion. During the ninth century considerable alterations were made, chiefly in the direction of decentralization ; the danger of the large Anatolic and Arme
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In 863, when the whole force of Asia took the field against Omar of Melitene, we hear nothing of the Optimati ; but five old themes, the Anatolikoi, Armeniakoi, Thracesians, Bukellarians, and Opsikians, were all present, and three new ones, the Paphlagonians, Koloneians, and Cappadocians, besides two ' Kleisourarchies ' (frontier divisions), those of Seleucia and Charsiana. The European troops which co-operated in the campaign were the themes of Thrace and Macedonia. Fifty years later we find that Charsiana and Seleucia have become themes also. During the period 750900 there were no territorial acquisitions of any importance the conclusion is, roughly speaking, that each great 205 The Naval and Military Systems theme was divided into two or more smaller ones. Anatolikon, Armeniakon, and Bukellarion, were split into eight, and the border districts of Charsiana and Seleucia were enlarged and raised to the rank of themes. Two themes,
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