The (Revised Edition) Byzantine Empire

3. The Golden Age of Byzantium 867-1081

3 THE GOLDEN AGE OF BYZANTIUM 867-1081 The Harbaville Triptych, now in the Louvre, Paris. An ivory carving of the late tenth century, it shows Christ flanked by John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary, who intercede for mankind; in the lower and side panels are saints. The ivory is a slightly lush example of high-quality metropolitan art. Courtesy ofThe Louvre, Paris (Hirmer Fotoarchiv ). Frontier of the Empire in 867 Frontier of the Empire in 1025 Frontier of the Empire in 1081 Coinciding frontiers of the Empire in 1025 and 1081 THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE 867-1081 ~ • Damascus o 100 200 300 400 Km ! I I ! ! eJerusalem REBIRTH AND RECONQUEST The accession ofBasil I, however questionable the manner in which it was carried out, marked the beginning ofa new epoch in the history of the Byzantine Empire in more ways than one. Basil founded a dynasty which occupied the throne for nearly two centuries and which numbered among its members some of the most able and dynamic rulers in the long history of the empire. He continued and developed with energy and brilliance the move from defense to expansion which had been cautiously and tentatively begun by his immediate predecessors in the mid-ninth century. The age of the Macedonian dynasty-the name is that used by modern historianssaw not only the reassertion ofByzantine military power and political authority but also the revival and flowering of Byzantine culture in all its aspects from philosophy to painting. It was as if, after two centuries of struggle merely to keep alive, Byzantine society was at last able to pursue more ambitious ends. Men appear to have reached back, at first hesitantly, over the long gap and to have made contact with the rich and brilliant world before the Arab and Slav invasions. They were consciously and deliberately engaging in a work ofrestoration -restoration of the world of Justinian. Like other restorations, their achievement contained more elements of originality than they themselves recognized. Let us first look at the political history ofthe Macedonian age. The attempt to bring Bulgaria into the Byzantine sphere of influence, in which the conversion of the country played the central role, proved difficult to realize. King Boris, unwilling to see his country become a Byzantine protectorate, flirted with the German Empire and the Church of Rome. In the end the Bulgarian church was brought back to obedience to the Church ofConstantinople, though with a certain measure of independence of action, while Boris himself avoided the dangers ofhostility to the empire and subjection to it. While he lived, the problem could be left unsolved. But after his death, all the awkward consequences of the existence of a powerful Christian state within a few days' march ofConstantinople were strikingly revealed. 95 The Golden Age of Byzantium In the early years ofBasil's reign, the attacks ofArab raiding forces upon the cities ofthe southern Dalmatian coast were met by vigorous defensive measures. A new theme of Dalmatia was created, with its own local army and fleet. At the same time, combined missionary and diplomatic activity led to the conversion ofthe Serbs and the Slav principalities of present-day Hercegovina and Montenegro. In this way the hinterland ofthe Dalmatian cities was brought back into the Byzantine sphere ofinfluence. Attempts to oust the Arabs from their toeholds in southern Italy at first met with failure, and provoked the Arab occupation in 870 of Malta, the last Byzantine outpost in the southwest. According to the chroniclers, the inhabitants ofthe island sided with the invaders and massacred the Byzantine garrison. But by the early 870S the Byzantine forces in Italy had been strengthened, and in 873 Bari was recaptured from the Arabs. On the more important eastern front, the empire built up its forces and prepared for an assault on Arab positions that was no longer merely local. First of all the independent Paulician state had to be eliminated. A series of hard-fought campaigns ended in a decisive victory over the Paulicians in 872. Their capital, Tephrike (the modern Divrigi), and a number of other strongholds were razed to the ground, and many ofthe captured Paulicians were resettled in Thrace. In the next year the Arabs were driven from Samosata (Samsat), and a long period ofgradual advance and consolidation in the east began. As the enemy was driven back, new fortifications were built and new administrative districts set up. These were...