The word "Byzantine" is generally used as a verb in modern day society, usually in a way that is derogatory and describes how bureaucratic an organization is. What Byzantine really is, is the history of an Empire that had a rich and complex history and represents the bulwark that held Islam in check, literally blocking the entry into Europe for Sultans, Caliphs and jihad for centuries. The reason I mention it here is that I feel there are parallels in history that Americans should know if they want to understand what is happening in todays world.
Typically, the start of the Byzantine Empire is marked by the rise of the Emperor Heraclius in 610 simply because that's when what was kown as the eastern half of the Roman Empire stopped using Latin as the"official" language, and moved to the heterogeous, greek speaking civilization distinct from it's Roman past. However, what people really fail to grasp is that the Byzantines were the survivors of the Roman Empire, or put another way, the only seat of Christian Roman Empire. We like to think of the Romans as always Chrisitian and always based in the eternal city.
This is not true.
Rome, whaile it was the center of the government for much of its' history, it NEVER ruled as a Christian center. The entire time Rome was the center of government it was a PAGAN government. The man who moved the government from Rome to what was originally known as the city off Byzantium was Constantine the Great, who was the first Christian Emperor. After the historic battle on the Milvian Bridge, he almost immediately decided to move all Imperial power out of Rome because he considered it hopelessly "
pagan". A couple of his successors did rule the Empire from Italy for a time, but that was in Milan. Theodosius I moved back to Byzantium (now named
Constantinople) in 390AD where the capitol stayed until the fall of the Empire in 1453.
So, why is this extinct Empire so important in regard of modern history?
Sure, there's the war with Islamic forces, and there's even the political intrigues between church and state on a few occasions. However, what I'm concerned with is the relationship between the Imperial Court and the aristocratic class of late antiquity.
First off, it's hard to deny the similarities between an Emperor and a President, or a corporation and aristocrats (with the notable exception that aristocrats were actual people while a corporation is only a legal person). It's also notable that aristocrats, like corporations, have a huge impact on the societies they operate in. In some ways, the true measure of a leader, be it a President or an Emperor, is how they cope with such grand forces. Which leads us to one of the most influential men to wear the purple, Justinian.
Justinian was born Peter Sabbatius, and came from humble origins in the ancient lands of Macedon, now part of Greece. However, he was fortunate enough to be the favorite nephew of Justin, a man would came to Constantinople,joined the Imperial army, then the Palace Guard, and was uniquely positioned in the Palace to seize power when the previous Emperor, Anastsius I, died.
Justin was not well educated and considered elderly when he ascended to the throne, so the populace did not consider him qualified. However, it seems Justin was smart enough to send for his youthful nephew, a man 36 years of age who possessed a sharp intellect and extraordinary ability to command respect. Justin adopted him (a common occurance among Emperors) and in gratitude, Peter took the name Justinian.
It wouldn't be long before Justin was dead and Justinian would now be the man in Purple. Justinian was a visionary who had grand designs for the Empire.
Unfortunately, the aristocratic class, who thought little of this upstart, did not share it. Instead, they looked down their noses at him and worked to undermine his legitimacy as Emperor because they thought they were the only ones worthy to rule in that aristocratic way such people have.
Justinian understood that, to make a political entity like an Empire, a state or a country work properly, that entity hadto take in enough revenue for it to not just maintain the current infrastructure, but to expand it as well.
Of course, the nobility hated that idea. They worked to clog up the bureaucracy with their constant attempts to maintain the status quo. they would do anything they could to expande their lands and dodge their responsibilities to the government that provided for their safety and well being.
Justinian would have none of these games, and hired a man named John the Cappadocian to run his tax collections. John was ruthless, had no charm and suffered the cries of the aristocrats even less than Justinian. He closed loopholes, streamlined the system, and attacked corruption.
This is not to say that this did not cause problems down the road. Most historians blame these actions as a major factor that set off what's known as the Nika riot. It was certainly not the high point of Justinian's rule, since the population almost sent the Emperor running back to Macedon with his tail between his legs. The only reason he stayed was because of the tenacity of his wife (who the aristocrats also hated) and told her husband that she would rather
die than retreat.
Andthen the blood flowed in the overrun ampitheatre. It was quite gruesome, and any leader should have some shame if they ever approved such a massacre. However, after the riots, the aristocrats were back on the defensive. John the Cappadocian was again unleashed on them, and Justinian didn't have to worry about their interference anymore.
It's a far cry from what happened later in the Byzantine Empire's history. By the 11th Century and the death of Basil II, a series of weak and pliable Emperors were installed by the aristocratic class, and the mediocre caliber of these "leaders" essentially guaranteed the Empire's decline. These so-called nobles gobbled up all the farmland to expand their wealth, which is important because the Empire usedto use this land to give to citizen soldiers. The deal was, they get the land to farm, and in return they would fight for the Empire when an imminent threat loomed. Since the noble's greed wiped out this farmer-soldier class, the Empire had to employ mercenaries
(Blackwater, anyone?) to protect the Empire. They also had a trade problem. The city of Venice had positioned itself so it could monopolize the import-export industry of Constantinople. The Empire was able to eject the Venetians for a time, but the man who ran the trading industry, Doce Enrico Dandolo, found a way to exact his revenge years later.
What did Dandolo do? He hijacked the Crusades. In 1204, the Western Crusaders came to Constantinople with pious murder in their hearts, and the great city of Constantinople was nearly crushed, never to regain its' great glory and strength. This was the beginning of the end as the after effects of the 4th Crusade would eventually bring the city to the point where it could no longer be the plug of Europe that stopped Islam.
The walls crumbled and Islam took the city, renaming it Istanbul.
That is what an aristocratic class can do to destroy an Empire, and it serves as a warning as how corporations could destroy our President and our country.
You see, yesterday's aristocrats are today's corporations.
