The Slavs, the Empire, and the Rise of Islam

The failure to take Constantinople did not halt the Slavic penetration of imperial territory. Settlements known as “Sclaviniae” began to appear scattered throughout the Balkan Peninsula mainly in river valleys.

The sea lanes were open, however, and even as late as the 7th century the Eastern Empire retained Corsica, Sicily, the Greek cities in the Italian “heel” and “toe” (Bruttium) as well as all of north Africa along the Mediterranean coast. Also in the north the cities of Naples, Rome, and Ravenna, and the terri­tories belonging to Perugia and Pentapolis were still under the Imperial authority of Constantinople. Actually in 663, five years before his assassination, Emperor Constans II transferred his capital to Syracuse in southern Italy together with his entire court. In spite of many heretical Christian sects, particularly in the eastern provinces, the Church was a binding force for the imperial state. Both East and West were still united in Ortho­doxy (the “Right Faith”), which was proclaimed to be Catholic (Universal) in the Empire.

The reconciliation of the Church came just in time to meet two new challenges to its authority. Monophysitism was gaining in popularity and many bishops in the Middle East and Egypt had become adherents of the heresy which was treasonous and thus subject to persecution. A second threat lay in the new and powerful faith which had arisen in Arabia. Several years before the siege of Constantinople by the Avars and the Slavs a mer­chant by the name of Mohammed preaching a new faith called Islam (“Submission”) fled from Mecca in 622 to seek refuge in Medina. He died in 632 in his early 60s after a brief illness, and a year later an army of Islam composed of Arab tribesmen began to spread the Word of God by the sword. A root cause for the exodus was probably overpopulation of the arid Arab peninsula, largely composed of desert.

At first the Arabs were not taken seriously since only a small Romanian force was sent out against them, which was quickly annihilated. Finally a large imperial force reportedly 80,000 strong was sent to block the Muslim army. Led by their commander Khalid and outnumbered, the Arab forces fell back to the Yarmuk River, just south of Galilee. Both armies halted, facing each other for some three months, neither side daring to make the first move.

After a prolonged siege the Patriarch of Jerusalem who was in charge of the city’s defense surrendered, and in February 638 Caliph Omar rode into Jerusalem on a white camel. By 640 Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia had also fallen, and in the mid-640s Egypt, with its Greek center of learning at Alexan­dria, was in Arab hands. An important role in the conquest was played by the Monophysite and Nestorian Christians who were viewed as heretical and were persecuted by the official Ortho­dox Church just as the Arians had been a few centuries before. Orthodoxywas firmly established as the official state religion, as expressed in the final verse of the great Graeco-Roman epic poem, “Digenes Akritas,” the half-Arab hero who performs many feats of valor fighting the Muslims, as he gives advice to the Emperor: “So I beseech your glorious majesty: love him who is obedient, pity the poor; deliver the oppressed from male­factors, forgive those who Unwittinglymake blunders, and heed no slanders, nor accept injustice; sweep heretics out, confirm the Orthodox.” Promised freedom of worship, the “heretics” allied themselves with the Muslim Arabs and greatly contrib­uted to their victory.

The Arabs’ main objective was Constantinople, the seat of imperial power and its fabled wealth, and by 644 they turned their attention to the sea. AMuslim fleet commanded by Mua- wiya, the conqueror and governor of Syria, captured Cyprus with its important naval base. Next in 654 the island of Rhodes fell.

Muawiya the founder of the Umayyad dynasty transferred the Muslim capital from Medina to his Syrian city of Damascus, and began to make preparations to move against Constanti­nople the gateway and capital of Europe. In 672 Muawiyas fleet entered the Sea of Marmara and captured the coastal territory with the objective of establishing a naval base. After two years of preparation the siege of Constantinople began in earnest, and would last for five years. Never again would the city have to undergo such a test of its defenses. Once again the heavy cat­apults which were brought up against the city failed to breach the massive fortifications. The defense of the Imperial capital was decided by a secret weapon recently invented and deployed for the first time—Greek Fire, known to the Romanians as Medean Fire. It would save Constantinople and Europe time and time again, yet even today we are unsure of its composition. It seems to have been an oil-based compound used as a modern flame thrower, with the liquid ignited and sprayed on enemy ships, or onto the surrounding waters. Alternatively it could be placed into baked clay pots, ignited and catapulted onto enemy positions.

Muawiya had broken with past Arab practice by installing himself as a royal authority in Damascus, and clearly imagined himself to be the successor to the imperial throne. As pointed out by the great Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun: “The first to use a throne in Islam was Muawiya. (The Muslims) had despised pomp, which has nothing whatever to do with the truth. The Caliphate then came to be royal authority, and the Muslims learned to esteem the splendor and luxury of this world.”

Before his death Muawiya had also broken with the past by designating his son Yazid to succeed him as Caliph. The tra­ditional clans in Medina, which opposed the undemocratic move encouraged Alis son Hussain to rebel but his outnum­bered force was surrounded in the desert at Kabala, and refusing to surrender it was annihilated to a man. Hussain became a Shiite martyr and his followers would feel a deep sense of guilt and shame for not being able to come to his assistance. Even to this day Shiites practice a ritual self-flogging with the more devout inflicting wounds on themselves. Yazid died suddenly in 683 and more rebellions and a civil war followed. Muawiyas cousin succeeded him briefly followed by his son Abd Al-Malik who, by 692, had overcome his rivals and in the process drove back the Romanian armies, who were attempting to recover their lost territory.

The rise of Islam and its threat to the Christian Graeco­Roman Empire was accompanied by the pagan Slavic pressure in the Balkans, but due to its commitments in Asia Minor and the Middle East the Romanian emperors had generally adopted a defensive strategy against the Slavs. Now they began to take the initiative. The chronicler Theophanes records that in 658 Emperor Constans II campaigned against the Sklavinias in Macedonia, taking “many prisoners” and bringing “many people underhis control.” This seems to have backfired somewhat since there were Slavs who were also serving in the imperial forces, who reacting negatively to Constans’ campaign against their kinfolk began to desert to the Muslims. As commented by Theophanes: “Abd Al-Rahman (an Arab general), the son of Khalid attacked Romania; he wintered there after devastating many towns. The Sklavinoi went over to him and 5,000 went to Syria with him. Theywere settled in the village of Seleukobo- Ios near Apamea (Syria).”⁴⁷

In the west the Imperial forces had their hands full with the Germanic tribes as well, which were pushing into Italy par­ticularly the Lombards who began to control a large part of the Italian Peninsula. As if the Slavs, Lombards and Arabs were not enough, another invader began to threaten the Balkan Penin­sula. The Eurasian plain which had long been the home of Indo- European nomads had come under the control of Turkic tribes, who themselves were of a mixed Indo-European and Mongolian (or Ugro-Finnic) background. Like the Scythians and the Sar­matians before them they were mounted archers and lancers, and could cover great distances in a short period of time. The first Asian invaders whose arrival created a stir not seen since the Germanic wars were the Huns, who were followed two centuries later by the powerful Avars. Unable to penetrate the walls of the Roman capital Constantinople, the Huns and the Avars were eventually defeated and little was heard of them again. Now in the 7th century they were replaced by yet a third Turkic group of tribes, the Bulgars, who together with the Slavs would carve out a powerful kingdom in the Balkan Peninsula.

As part of its foreign policy the Romanian Empire had al­ways used missions to spread Christianity amongst the barbar­ians, in an attempt to gain some influence over the pagan tribes. In 619 Emperor Heraclius had invited the Onogur king Organa and his nephew Kovrat to Constantinople as guests. Both were baptized as Orthodox Christians, with Heraclius becoming godfather to Organa. When Organa left to join his people in the Pontic Steppe, Kovrat remained behind to be raised in Heraclius’ court, and become a close friend of the Emperor. When Organa died Kovrat assumed command of the Ono- gurs and began to put the affairs of his people in order. First he rose against the Avars (who had retreated from Europe and were now the Bulgars’ overlords) and expelled them from Onogur territory. Next he confirmed his alliance with

Constantinople, in return being made a “patricius” of the Empire by Heraclius to whom he remained loyal until his death in 642. All land stretching from the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains to the Don and Dnipro Rivers was recognized by Constantinople as Onogur territory and became known as “Old Bulgaria.”

New Bulgaria would not prove to be as friendly. Soon after Kovrat s death the alliance broke up, probably due to Constan­tinople’s failure to come to the Onogurs^, aid against a new Turkic invader, the Khasars. By about 670 Old Bulgaria was smashed, and led by Kovrat s son Asparuch, a large part of the surviving Bulgar army began to move west toward the Danube delta. Realizing they were no longer allies, a strong Romanian force was sent to prevent them from crossing into imperial ter­ritory. Following traditional strategy a flotilla carrying infantry set out towards the Danube in 680 under the command of Em­peror Constantine IV, while cavalry units were sent overland from Thrace to meet the fleet. Constantine s force disembarked on the north shore of the Danube and deployed for battle, but the outnumbered Bulgars retreated behind the swamps and the lagoons of the delta and set up defensive positions. Not being able to advance, Constantine began to move his men out of the area to board ships for a more favorable beachhead. This proved to be a blunder for which he would pay dearly. As his men began to board, Asparuch took advantage of the emperor s exposed flanks and attacked, inflicting heavy casualties on the Romanian infantry. Constantine barely escaped with what re­mained of his army and the Bulgars began to cross the Danube at their leisure. Advancing south the Bulgars occupied most of Moesia (today s southern Rumania and northern Bulgaria) forc­ing many of the scattered Sclavene into submission. Their pres­ence in Moesia was recognized by a peace treaty concluded in 681 with the Empire which granted the Bulgars an annual trib­ute.

Part of the IerritorywhichAsparuch Occupiedwas already settled by Slav tribes, each operating independently but not being strong enough to dominate any area of notable size. Unlike the Slavs, the Bulgars (as most Turkic tribes) were gov­erned by hereditary Kagans or kings, and soon a number of Slavic tribes became incorporated into their system. While maintaining their own religion, customs, and most social con­ditions many Slavboyars now began to owe personal allegiance to the Kagan. This was the beginning of an embryonic state, and elementary though it was it permitted the formation of inter-tribal Slavic military units, backed by the powerful Bulgar cavalry. Asparuch established his capital in Eastern Moesia in the Slavic town of Pliska, resettling some of the Slav tribes along the borders of his kingdom to reinforce the frontiers against the Avars and the Imperial forces. In two or three generations the leadership of the army would pass into Slavic hands and we hear of the Kagans military commanders being addressed as “boyars.” Bulgaria would become a Slavic state united in Or­thodox Christianity, led by a Tsar, with the boyars forming the military aristocracy.

The Slavic settlements in the Balkans and the Greek peninsula, particularly the rise of the Bulgarian kingdom intro­duced a new dimension into the affairs of the Eastern Roman Empire. Unlike the Goths and Vandals who were mainly tran­sient migrants attempting to carve out territory the Slavs and the Bulgars had established themselves as permanent occupiers; and they were still pagans, opposed to any form of Christianity. The fortunes of the Eastern Empire would depend on a hostile kingdom established on its territory, but the reforms which Heraclius had introduced were beginning to pay off. The Themes system proved to be a success with Imperial armies now consisting largely of farmer-soldiers and not mercenaries as had occurred in the West. When Constantine IV died of dysentery in 685 at the age of 33 he was succeeded by his young SonJustinian II, who renewed his fathers military activities. First he marched against the Muslims in the Caucasus and the Middle East and forced Caliph Abdul-Malik to sue for peace. Next, during 688-89 he led a successful expedition against the Slavs and Bulgars, making a triumphal entry into Thessalonica which had been taken by the Slavs. Many Slav villages were transported to the Theme of Opsikion on the south shore of the Sea of Marmara, seemingly with their agreement but the expedition ended with an imperial defeat. A record was left by Theophanes.

In this year (688) Justinian campaigned against Sklavinia and Bulgaria. Advancing to Thessalonika, he thrust back as far as pos­sible the Bulgars he encountered. He conquered large hosts of Slavs (some in battle but others went over to him) and settled them in the Opsikion, sending them across by way of Abydos. While he was withdrawing the Bulgars stopped him on the road at the narrow part of a mountain pass. He was barely able to get through, and his army took many casualties.⁴⁸

Always in need of manpower, the Eastern Empire began to recruit Slavs into its land forces. A^aSpecial Army” of30,000 men was raised from the re-settled Slavs to fight the Muslims.⁴⁹ The re-settlement may not have been that voluntary for in 691 many Slavs deserted and joined the ArabsJustinian reacted by massacring the remaining Slavs of Bithynia (northwestern Turkey) with their wives and children being thrown into the sea from a high cliff.

Justinian, confident in them (the SpecialArmy) wrote to the Arabs that he would not abide by the peace which had been agreed upon in writing. Taking up his SpecialArmy and all the thematic cavalry, he traveled by sea to Sebastopolis (south-east­ern shore of the Black Sea).... They (the Arabs) armed them­selves and went to Sebastopolis, though the Emperor had per­verted what the two sides had agreed upon with oaths. God would be the judge and avenger of their charges. But since the Emperor would not tolerate hearing any such thing, being in­stead eager for battle, they dissolved the written peace treaty and rushed against the Romanians. They hung a copy of the treaty from a spear to go before them in place of a banner. Muhammad was their general as they joined battle. At first the Arabs were defeated, but Muhammad bribed the general of the Slavs allied to the Romanians. He sent him a purse loaded with numismata (Romanian gold coins) and, deceiving him with many promises, persuaded him to desert to the Arabs with 20,000 Slavs. Then Justinian massacred the remaining Slavs and their wives and chil­dren at Leukate, a precipitous place by the sea on the gulf of Nikomedeia.⁵⁰

The Romanian army was defeated, and the Arabs and Slavs occupied Armenia and Khorasan (inner Persia). The Arab- Slav alliance seems to have lasted, since a few years later in 694 the Arab commander Muhammad "attacked Romania; he had with him the Slavs who had fled, as they had experience of Romania.” The Slavs seem to have converted to Islam follow­ing Muhammad s victory, for Theophanes noticed that there was a slaughter of pigs in Syria where the Slavs had been set­tled.

The time of unrest and civil strife ContinuedJustinian was arrested and executed in Asia Minor in 711 by an upstart, who was followed by two others before Leo III succeeded to capture the throne in 717. With Leo III came a period of internal stability and another attack on the capital. Islam had not given up hope for the capture of Constantinople and a preparation was made for a final assault on the city. The time seemed to be ripe. During the reign ofAbdAl-Malik, civil strife had destabilized the Chris­tian empire, and following the Caliph s death his son and suc­cessor Al-Walid laid the finishing touches for the siege of Con­stantinople which had begun earlier by his brother Suleyman and cousin Umar.

Led by the Caliph s brother Maslama a force of reportedly 80,000-120,000 men began advancing on Constantinople from Asia Minor, arriving before the city on 15 August 717. On Sep­tember 1 an 1800-vessel fleet entered the Sea of Marmara and the second Muslim siege of Constantinople began. The only surviving Christian account of the siege is that of Theophanes. With a south wind blowing the Muslim fleet advanced towards the city, a part of the fleet sailing through to the Bosphorus. Laden with heavy supplies the great ships made slow progress, giving Leo a chance to send lighter Greek Fire ships in pursuit. Maslama s fleet was attacked and almost totally destroyed de­priving the besieging army of reserve food, supplies, and equip­ment. In addition, the winter of 717-18 was unusually cold, with snow covering the ground. This took a further toll on the men and animals, who were not accustomed to the cold and could only take shelter in flimsy tents. Facing a desperate situation Maslama sent for fresh supplies and reinforcements, and soon a 400-ship fleet from Egypt and 200 ships from Western Africa arrived with men and food. Fearing the Greek Fire, Maslama ordered his vessels to hide in the bays of the Sea of Marmara but their locations were revealed by Christian sailors from Egypt and North Africa who, disenchanted with Muslim rule, "consulted among themselves. That night they took the mer­chant ships’ light boats and, acclaiming the Emperor, fled to the city.” Trapped in the bays, most of the warships were destroyed, with their supplies falling into Christian hands.

The land forces besieging the city fared no better. A year before the siege began Emperor Theodosius had signed a treaty with the Bulgar Tsar Tervel, and now a Bulgar-Slav army ap­peared before Constantinople and proceeded to attack the weakened Muslim forces.⁵¹ The result was a devastating defeat for the armies of Islam, and as recorded by Theophanes: ""as say those who know such things exactly (Tervels army) slaughtered 22,000 Arabs.” As usual with many Chronicles, perhaps an ex­aggerated number.

In August 718, Maslama lifted the siege of the city and began to pull out. Loading his men on ships he headed out to the Sea of Marmara, where a great storm broke out and sank most of his fleet. The remaining ships made it out to the Aegean Sea, but fared no better. Most were swept up by huge tidal waves and only ten ships survived the storm. As if this was not enough, they were attacked by a Christian fleet and only five Arab ships managed to make it to safety. In Constantinople the total victory was celebrated as a clear sign from Heaven, the Mother of God once again saving her city. Religious beliefs and attitudes were an important part of a military conflict and a Victorywas con­sidered as a revelation of Gods preference for the righteous. Conversely, a defeat was a clear sign from Heaven of Gods dis­pleasure with Mans sins, which had to be uncovered and con­fessed.

The Muslim drive to conquer the remaining Christian lands in Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula had failed, and their attention was now diverted eastwards. The powerful Ab- basid clan in former Persian Iraqwhich had risen to prominence began to challenge the Umayyad Caliphs. The Abbasid leader al-Saffah was proclaimed Caliph in 749 by his followers, and in February of the following year the Abbasid and Umayyad armies fought it out at the Zab, a tributary of the Tigris River. Led by their Caliph Marwan II the Umayyads were defeated, and al-Saffah was proclaimed Caliph of the entire Muslim world. Following his death four years later amidst rebellions, he was replaced by his younger brother al-Mansur, who after putting down the uprisings decided to move the capital from Damascus to a new site close to Ctesiphon the Persian capital. Called Madinat al-Salam (""city of peace”) it was strategically located on the Tigris River close to the Euphrates, and lay on the junction of the east-west and north-south trade routes. Ships sailed up the Tigris form India, East Africa and Arabia, while from the north came goods from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kur­distan as well as valuable fur from Eastern Europe. Also goods traveled down the Euphrates from Syria, the Roman Empire, Egypt and North Africa. Ctesiphon lay on the Silk Road to China which wound its way through the Persian trade centers at Khorasan, Isfahan, and on to Central Asia. The prosperous trade was encouraged by the high quality silver dirhams which began to be minted in large amounts by the Abbasid dynasty. The city soon became known by its Persian name of Baghdad and by the time of al-Mansur s grandson Harun al-Rashid half a century later, Baghdad rivaled Constantinople in size and prosperity. The silver coins minted in the Citywould soon play an important role in east European trade. Some of the magical splendor of the city of a million inhabitants has come down to us in the tales of "Arabian Nights,” which probably gives a fairly accurate picture of Baghdad at that time. Unlike the Germanic occupation of the western Roman world, the Arabs preserved most of the classical Greek literature, mathematics, medicine, architecture, construction, and metallurgy.

Coming into contact with the Graeco-Roman technology and science the Arabs realized the importance of Greek manu­scripts, and in the 8th century began to translate some of the texts. It was not until the 9th century that a systematic trans­lation of Greek scrolls began when the Abbasid Caliph al- Mamun wrote to the Eastern Roman Emperor with a request; could he send his scholars to Constantinople to select books on the classical philosophies and sciences? At first he was met with a refusal—the Christians and Muslims were, after all, still enemies—but then the Emperor gave his consent and al- Mamun sent learned scholars to make a selection. So was born the ""House of Wisdom,” which began to make translated Greek texts available to Muslim scholars.⁵² The translations were un­dertaken by Nestorian Christians, who had escaped to Persia before the Muslim conquest to avoid persecution by the Or­thodox Church. Having originally come from Syria the Nesto- rians spoke Syriac, another Semitic language similar to Arabic, which made the translations an easier task.

Todaywe owe a great debt to those who were responsible for the translations of the Greek works, many of which would have been lost otherwise, particularly during the Papal Cru­sades. We know that mechanics were studied in the universities ofAthens and Constantinople, and that the Greeks had devel­oped water-powered machines using gears. Heron of Alexandria had also produced motion using steam, which theoretically could have been developed into a rudimentary steam engine. There is some speculation as to how far classical science could have gone to produce machines to do work. Further develop­ment was possible and certainly did occur, but generally it was heading towards a dead end. Certainly there were individuals in the past who were capable of solving complex problems and in fact did so, such as Archimedes, but Classical society was highly stratified with deep class divisions, which made further progress in acquiring knowledge very difficult if not impossible. A constant supply of slaves provided most of the necessary work, removing any incentive to discover and develop other forms of energy. The use of measurements was associated with artisans, builders and construction workers, a class of free men with a low social status. The use of measuring instruments and shop-like experimentation was below the dignity of the philosopher-scholar, thus restricting the application of mathe­matics mainly to the measurement of land and space.

Leo III died in 741 and was succeeded by his son Con­stantine V. The new Emperor was a good tactician, popular with his soldiers, and is credited with temporarily halting the Arabs’ advance. In a series of victories he re-occupied Syria, Armenia and Mesopotamia (Iraq), and with peace established on the eastern borders he turned his attention to the Bulgarian problem. The Empire had signed three peace treaties with Bul­garia, from weakness rather than strength. The area occupied by the pagan barbarians was always considered to be Imperial Romanian territory, and the long-term objective of Constan­tinople was to recover the lost lands and place them under im­perial governance. To be sure, the Kagan of Bulgaria was theo­retically a vassal of the Romanian Basilevs (Emperor), but he certainly did not consider himself as such. The pagan Bulgars and Slavs viewed the Graeco-Roman and Christian state with great hostility and did not wish to be any part of it. Constantines opportunity came in 763 when a revolt broke out in Bulgaria against the military aristocracy. He was already in possession of Sklavinian Makedonia and he now moved against Bulgaria, both by land and sea. The main events were described by Theo­phanes with the usual imperial bias and exaggeration.

The Bulgars rose up and murdered their rulers, whom they hanged on a rope. They elevated an evil-minded man named Teletzes, who was thirty years old. Many Slavs fled and went over to the Emperor, who settled them at Artana. OnJune 15 the Em­peror went to Thrace. He also sent a fleet by way of the Black Sea; it had about 800 warships, each of which carried about 12 horses. When Teletzes heard of the movement against him, he made allies of20,000 men from neighboring tribes and secured Hmselfbyputting them in his strongpoints. The Emperor ad­vanced to camp at the fortress of Ankhialos. Teletzes and his host from the tribes appeared on FridayJune 30, of the first indica­tion. The two sides joined battle and cut each other badly, the battle raging from the fifth hour until evening. Large numbers of Bulgars were killed, others were overcome, and still others went over to the Emperor. He was exalted by the victory, and held a triumphal procession at the Citybecause of it. He and his army entered Constantinople under arms; the people acclaimed him as he dragged along the overpowered Bulgars with wooden in­struments of torture. He ordered the people to put them to death outside the Golden Gate.⁵³

Christianityhad not brought kindness to the Empire. The battle ofAnkhialos was one of Constantines greatest victories, following which the Bulgars elected a new Kagan who pro­ceeded to make peace with Constantinople. The opposition amongst the Slavs does not seem to have been over, however.

The Emperor secretly sent men into Bulgaria who seized Skla- bounos, ruler of the Sebereis (the Slavic Severani tribe), a man who had worked many evils in Thrace. Christianos, an apostate from Christianitywho headed the Skamaroi, was also captured. His hands and feet were cut off at the mole of St. Thomas. They brought in doctors who cut him open from his groin to his chest in order to ascertain the constituent parts of man, and then he was burned.⁵⁴

An interesting description of one of the earliest commando raids, as well as what was a “medical” examination.

Constantine V died in 775, leaving the empire stronger than it had been since Emperor Maurice. His successors con­tinued the policy ofregaining territory lost to the Slavs and Bul­gars, and his widow Irene sent a large imperial force against the Slavtribes in the vicinity of Thessalonika. Manyprisoners and much booty was taken and the occupied Sklavinias were incor­porated into imperial Theme governance. The campaign ended in 783 in another triumphal procession in the chariot racing hippodrome of the capital. Imperial rule in the conquered Sklavinias did not seem to be very firm, however, since in 802 the Peloponnese Slavs revolted and attacked the city of Patras. The revolt was put down with some difficulty and by 805 Em­peror Nicephorus I was beginning to resettle the pagan Slavic population, to replace some of it by Christian Greeks. Without an effective kingdom, or some other overall system which could unite the scattered tribes, it was inevitable that the Sklavinias would be overcome, one by one.