14. THE FIFTH CENTURY

The fifth century marked a definite turning point in the history of the Byzantine Empire. In cultural terms the Council of Chalcedon separated the orient form the central heartland while the most barbarian invasions cut off the western provinces. One of the most remarkable phenomena of the period, in fact, was the way in which the eastern empire was able to deflect the barbarian threat and survive one danger after another.

A. Politics of the Fifth Century

1. The House of Theodosius in the East:

a. Theodosius I (379-95)

b. Arcadius, son of Theodosius I (395-408)

c. Theodosius II, son of Arcadius; ruled jointly with his sister Pulcheria and his wife Athenais/Eudokia (408-50)

d. Marcian, husband of Pulcheria (450-57)

2. The Successors:

a. Leo I (457-74), came to the throne as the candidate of the Germans under Aspar the Alan: came to reply on the Isaurians for support and in 471 there was a revolt against the Germans.

b. Zeno (474-91), real name was Tarasicodissa, an Isaurian; came to the throne after the death of the young Leo II; survived the revolt of Basiliscus.

c. Anastasius (491-519), a senator and high court official, supported monophysitism and reformed the economy, adding considerably to the treasury.

d. Justin I (519-27), a partly-Romanized soldier from peasant stock who became commander of the palace guard and forced himself on the empire.

B. The Barbarian Invasions

1. There had been considerable pressure on the northern frontier for some time, but this became greater in the late fourth century.

a. It is uncertain what caused this movement of peoples (possibly population increase; most peoples wanted farm land), but it was exacerbated by the appearance of people from the steppes (non-Germans).

b. The Romans, following long custom, frequently enrolled barbarians into the Roman army as foederati; this practice worked quite well.

2. The Battle of Adrianople

a. In 378 the Visigothic foederati in Thrace rebelled against what they took to be unfair treatment by Roman government officials.

b. The emperor Valens hastened to meet them and was decisively defeated at the Battle of Adrianople, where he was killed.

c. Theodosius I dealt with the Visigoths by essentially granting their request for land.

3. Alaric and the Visigoths

a. After the death of Theodosius the Visigoths under their first king Alaric again revolted and ravaged Thrace and Greece.

b. Driven from the Balkans, Alaric invaded Italy and sacked Rome in 410.

c. After the Death of Alaric the Visigoths settled in Gaul.

4. Under their king Geiseric the Vandals began their invasion on North Africa in 429; by 442 the Vandals were recognized as an independent kingdom.

5. Attila the Hun

a. The Huns were a Turkic people who arrived along the Danube frontier in the early part of the fifth century, impelling many of the Germanic peoples into the empire.

b. Attila welded these diverse peoples into a powerful barbarian empire and threatened Constantinople which paid him huge indemnities during the reign of Theodosius II.

c. Marcian refused to pay the indemnity and in 450 the Huns began to move westward.

d. In 451 Attila invaded Gaul but was defeated at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields by a coalition of Romans and Visigoths.

e. In 452 he invaded Italy, where Rome was spared after negotiations with Pope Leo I.

f. Attila died and his empire melted away.

C. The Principles of Imperial Policy

1. The eastern empire was able to deflect the barbarian threat and to survive the worst ravages of the invasions; the threat was not only a military one, since in the west the barbarians did not overwhelm the empire, but merely infiltrated it.

2. Constantinople was generally willing to pay the barbarians a huge indemnity, which often caused them to leave the empire alone.

3. Diplomacy was frequently used to stir up animosity among the various barbarian peoples and prevent them from making a common effort against the empire.

4. Powerful fortifications were constructed at Constantinople (413) and elsewhere (e.g. Isthmia).

5. A "Byzantine" ethnic reaction also developed as a response to the barbarian threat.

a. This was evident right at the beginning of the fifth century when the people of Constantinople rioted against the barbarians in the army.

b. The presence of the Isaurians gave the Byzantines an alternate source of soldiers who could counter the Germanic threat.

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