Chapter VIII: Glory and Decline of the Empire (4)

[65] These numbers are given by Leo Diaconus.[b] Cedrenus[c] gives five thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry; Zonaras,[d] the same number. The proportion affords some insight into the constitution of Byzantine armies at this period of military glory. The cavalry served as the model for European chivalry, but the sword of the legionary could still gain a battle.

[66] Leo Diaconus[b] calls the larger vessels triremes, though they certainly had not more than two tiers of oars.

[67] The Russians then wore armour similar to that worn by the Normans in western Europe at a later period, according to Leo Diaconus.[b]

[68] Leo Diaconus,[b] 171.

[69] Cruelty similar to that of Basil was perpetrated on a smaller scale by Richard Cœur-de-Lion, though of course it is not necessary to place strict reliance on the numbers reported by the Byzantine historians. Richard, to revenge the loss of a body of men, ordered three hundred French knights to be thrown into the Seine, and put out the eyes of fifteen, who were sent home blind, led by one whose right eye had been spared. Philip Augustus, nothing loath, revenged himself by treating fifteen English knights in the same way.--Putting out men’s eyes was, for several centuries, a common practice all over Europe, and not regarded with much horror. As late as the reign of Henry IV. 1403 A.D., an Act of Parliament was passed, making it felony for Englishmen to cut out one another’s tongues, or put out their neighbours’ eyes.

[70] [He was utterly defeated by the Saracens at Agaz in 1030; the fleets, however, won two victories.]

[71] [The Saracens attacked the empire on all sides, and Sicily was all but won by the general Maniaces. It was lost through the incapacity of Michael’s brother-in-law Stephen. In 1040 Servia regained her freedom, and the Slavonians and Bulgarians were driven to rebellion by the fiscal exactions of the eunuch Joannes called Orphanotrophus.]

[72] [It was merely an hereditary surname, according to Finlay.[e]]

[73] [Maniaces revolted, and proclaimed himself emperor. He was killed in the moment of victory by an arrow. Leo Tornicus, a relative of the emperor, besieged Constantinople but was repulsed. The imperial troops suffered defeats from the Servians, but repulsed the Russians and the Patzinaks. Armenia was conquered, 1045, and two invasions of Seljuk Turks beaten off.]

[74] “To contemporaries, this revolution presented nothing to distinguish it from the changes of sovereign, which had been an ordinary event in the Byzantine Empire, and which were ascribed by the wisest statesmen of the time to the decree of heaven, and not to the working of political and moral causes, which the will of God allows the intelligence of man to employ for effecting the improvement or decline of human affairs. Perhaps no man then living perceived that this event was destined to change the whole system of government, destroy the fabric of the central administration, deliver up the provinces of Asia an easy conquest to the Seljuk Turks, and the capital a prey to a band of crusaders.”[e]

[75] [In 1059 Isaac marched against the Hungarians and Patzinaks, who were ravaging the northern frontier, and the invaders were soon compelled to sue for peace. This is the only opportunity Isaac had of showing his military ability.]

[76] [Togrul Beg and Alp Arslan began their invasion from Mesopotamia in 1060; Avii was captured in 1064.]

[77] [The campaign of 1070 was conducted by Manuel Comnenus, but after Alp Arslan captured Manzicert Romanus returned to the command.]

[78] [The Turkish war was renewed in 1072 when Alp Arslan was unable to obtain payment of Romanus’ ransom. He finally conquered the Byzantine portion of Asia Minor and gave it to Suleiman to rule over. In 1076 Jerusalem fell before the Seljuks, and this event was the direct cause of the Crusades. Nor were these the only foreign troubles of the empire at this period. In 1073 the Bulgarians made a desperate attempt to regain their liberty.]

[79] [The Roman Augustobona, afterwards Tricassæ.]

[80] [The Roman Augusta Suessonum.]