The Empire That Would Not Die: The Paradox of Eastern Roman Survival, 640–740 The Paradox of Eastern Roman Survival, 640–740

The Eastern Roman Empire Was The Largest State In Western Eurasia In The Sixth Century. Only A Century Later, It Was A Fraction Of Its Former Size. Surrounded By Enemies, Ravaged By Warfare And Disease, The Empire Seemed Destined To Collapse. Yet It Did Not Die. In This Holistic Analysis, John Haldon Elucidates The Factors That Allowed The Eastern Roman Empire To Survive Against All Odds Into The Eighth Century. By 700 Ce The Empire Had Lost Three-quarters Of Its Territory To The Islamic Caliphate. But The Rugged Geography Of Its Remaining Territories In Anatolia And The Aegean Was Strategically Advantageous, Preventing Enemies From Permanently Occupying Imperial Towns And Cities While Leaving Them Vulnerable To Roman Counterattacks. The More The Empire Shrank, The More It Became Centered Around The Capital Of Constantinople, Whose Ability To Withstand Siege After Siege Proved Decisive. Changes In Climate Also Played A Role, Permitting Shifts In Agricultural Production That Benefitted The Imperial Economy. At The Same Time, The Crisis Confronting The Empire Forced The Imperial Court, The Provincial Ruling Classes, And The Church Closer Together. State And Church Together Embodied A Sacralized Empire That Held The Emperor, Not The Patriarch, As Christendom’s Symbolic Head. Despite Its Territorial Losses, The Empire Suffered No Serious Political Rupture. What Remained Became The Heartland Of A Medieval Christian Roman State, With A Powerful Political Theology That Predicted The Emperor Would Eventually Prevail Against God’s Enemies And Establish Orthodox Christianity’s World Dominion.-- Introduction: Goldilocks In Byzantium -- The Challenge: A Framework For Collapse -- Beliefs, Narratives, And The Moral Universe -- Identities, Divisions, And Solidarities -- Elites And Interests -- Regional Variation And Resistance -- Some Environmental Factors -- Organisation, Cohesion, And Survival -- A Conclusion. John Haldon. Based On The Carl Newell Jackson Lectures--half Title Page. The Present Volume Represents A Considerably Expanded Version Of The Four Carl Newell Jackson Lectures ... Deliver[ed By The Author] At Harvard University In April 2014.--page Xi. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 363-409) And Index. The eastern Roman Empire was the largest state in western Eurasia in the sixth century. Only a century later, it was a fraction of its former size. Surrounded by enemies, ravaged by warfare and disease, the empire seemed destined to collapse. Yet it did not die. In this holistic analysis, John Haldon elucidates the factors that allowed the eastern Roman Empire to survive against all odds into the eighth century. By 700 CE the empire had lost three-quarters of its territory to the Islamic caliphate. But the rugged geography of its remaining territories in Anatolia and the Aegean was strategically advantageous, preventing enemies from permanently occupying imperial towns and cities while leaving them vulnerable to Roman counterattacks. The more the empire shrank, the more it became centered around the capital of Constantinople, whose ability to withstand siege after siege proved decisive. Changes in climate also played a role, permitting shifts in agricultural production that benefitted the imperial economy. At the same time, the crisis confronting the empire forced the imperial court, the provincial ruling classes, and the church closer together. State and church together embodied a sacralized empire that held the emperor, not the patriarch, as Christendom s symbolic head. Despite its territorial losses, the empire suffered no serious political rupture. What remained became the heartland of a medieval Christian Roman state, with a powerful political theology that predicted the emperor would eventually prevail against God s enemies and establish Orthodox Christianity s world dominion." "In the middle of the sixth century the eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire was the largest state in western Eurasia. A century later it was a fraction of the size, its eastern provinces torn away by the early Islamic conquests in the middle of the seventh century. It had lost three-quarters of its lands and probably more of its tax revenues. How did it survive beyond the year 700 CE? Surrounded on all sides by challenges, most particularly from the dynamism and strength of the Islamic Caliphate, it should not have done: massively outnumbered and out-resourced, its territory repeatedly and continuously laid waste, its towns turned to fortresses, its population decimated by warfare and plague, even the capital, Constantinople, the largest city in the western world, besieged and threatened. Yet it did survive. By bringing together evidence for beliefs, identities and attitudes, administrative structures and the search for resources, the organization of its armies and the system of crisis management in its tax system, this book seeks to locate and describe the mechanisms of survival. The author places all these developments into their environmental context, looking at how the Byzantine state benefited from small-scale climatic changes--of which it was, of course, largely unaware--and how, together with other elements, these created the conditions that permitted the eastern Roman empire not just to survive, but indeed to recover sufficiently to mount its own major challenge to the Islamic world in subsequent centuries."--Provided by publisher Contents List of Illustrations and Tables Note on Names Acknowledgments Introduction: Goldilocks in Byzantium 1. The Challenge: A Framework for Collapse 2. Beliefs, Narratives, and the Moral Universe 3. Identities, Divisions, and Solidarities 4. Elites and Interests 5. Regional Variation and Resistance 6. Some Environmental Factors 7. Organization, Cohesion, and Survival A Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

The eastern Roman Empire was the largest state in western Eurasia in the sixth century. A century later, it was a fraction of its former size. Ravaged by warfare and disease, the empire seemed destined to collapse. Yet it did not die. John Haldon elucidates the factors that allowed the empire to survive against all odds into the eighth century.