Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/521

BYZANTINE EMPIRE 515 668). In his reign the empire lost Cyprus and Rhodes to the Saracens, and suffered defeat at the hands of the Lombards in southern Italy. Constans became the victim of a conspiracy at Syracuse, in Sicily, while endeavoring to pro- tect the coasts and islands of the Mediter- ranean from the Saracens. He published the Typos, an edict intended to quiet the contro- versy between the orthodox and the Monothe- lites. Pope Martin I. condemned the edict, and was thrown into prison by the eastern em- peror. He was succeeded by his son Constan- tine IV., Pogonatus (668-685). The Moslems now repeatedly besieged Constantinople by sea, but were forced to retire by the terrible Greek fire. On the other hand, the government was compelled to pay tribute to the Bulgarians, who had conquered and founded a kingdom in ancient Mcesia. Justinian II., Rhinotmetus, or Shorn Nose, succeeded his father (685-711). His tyranny caused an insurrection which cost him his nose and ears and an exile to the Crimea. During his exile Leontius and Tiberius III., two generals, reigned successively. Justinian re- turned and was assassinated. With him the race of Heraclius became extinct. Philippicus Bardanes, his general, succeeded him. Next came Anastasius II., whose troops mutinied as he was leading them against the Saracens. He resigned his authority and took refuge in a cloister, and was succeeded by Theodosius III. Leo III., the Isaurian, reigned from 718 to 741. He beat back the Arabs from Constantinople, but not till after they had ravaged Thrace. The image controversy now became violent. Leo sided with the innovators, and ordered the removal and afterward the destruction of all images in the churches. This iconoclasm roused the island population of the Cyclades to revolt, but Leo repressed the sedition. This position of Leo weakened the Byzantine power in Italy, and the year 728 saw the last of the exarchate of Ravenna. His son Constantino V. succeeded him (741-775). He was as much of an iconoclast as his father, and a more for- tunate general. The dislike between him and the monks was mutual. He shut up many of the monasteries and convents, because he al- leged that the inmates were sluggards and cor- rupted the people. He reconquered from the Arabs a part of Syria and Armenia, and de- stroyed their fleet off Cyprus. In 759 he drove out of the Peloponnesus 200,000 Slavs, and ended his successful career by victories over the Bulgarians. Leo IV., the Khazar, his son, succeeded him (775-780). The boun- daries of the empire were well maintained against numerous foes. Constantino VI. suc- ceeded under the guardianship of his mother Irene. She was an image-worshipper, and assembled the second council of Nice, where- at the iconoclasts were condemned by 370 bishops. Eventually she put out her son's eyes (797), and occupied the imperial throne in his stead. She now desired to marry the new emperor of the West, Charlemagne; but this idea of reuniting the Eastern and Western em- pires was so repugnant to popular opinion, that an insurrection took place which ended in her dethronement (802). Nicephorus, the high treasurer, was proclaimed emperor. He made a treaty with Charlemagne, which con- stituted the free territory of Venice as the limit of the two empires, became tributary to Haroun al-Rashid, and fell in an engagement against the Bulgarians (811). To him succeeded Stauracius and Michael L, who fought unhap- pily against the Bulgarians. Leo V., the Ar- menian, a reputable general, succeeded (813). Krumn, khan of the Bulgarians, devastated Thrace, took Adrianople, and laid siege to Constantinople, when a sudden death sur- prised him. Leo then drove the barbarians back and forced them to a 30 years' truce. He ruled ably, but his dislike to the use of images raised up enemies and cost him his life (820). Michael II., the Stammerer, reigned from 820 to 829. About 824 the Saracens of Spain wrested from the empire the island of Crete, and in 827 the Aglabite Saracens seized Sicily. The same reign witnessed the loss of Dalmatia to the Bulgarians. The public-spirited Theophi- lus, son of the preceding (829-842), fought long and bravely against the Arabs, but on the whole fruitlessly. After some reverses he died of grief, leaving Constantinople much strengthened and embellished. He favored the iconoclasts. His son, Michael III., suc- ceeded (842-867), at first under the guardian- ship of his mother Theodora, who put an end for ever to the iconoclast controversy by the restoration of images, which was ratified by the council of Constantinople (842). In his reign the Russians first appear as enemies of the em- pire, and the patriarch Photius quarrelled with the pope, Nicholas L, and laid the foundation for the separation of the eastern and western churches. The Paulician schismatics were persecuted. After Michael came Basil I., the Macedonian (867-886), founder of the Macedonian dynasty, which lasted till 1057. In 877 he published a compilation of laws, completed by his son, which, under the name of Basilica, formed the code of the em- pire. In foreign relations, he beat the Sara- cens in the East and crossed the Euphrates triumphantly, protected Dalmatia and Ragusa from the Aglabites, and reestablished the By- zantine power in Apulia and Calabria, which the Saracens had occupied. On the other hand, the Saracens completed the conquest of Sicily by the capture of Syracuse, and ravaged the Peloponnesus. His son Leo VI., the Philoso- pher (886-911), was an author and a patron of the arts and sciences ; but his reign was dis- astrous in a military point of view. He called in the aid of the Turks against the Saracens ; this showed the former the way into the By- zantine empire, and they captured the island of Samos for themselves. In the same way Leo called in the aid of the Hungarians against the Bulgarians. The Russians appeared before