History of Byzantium - VOL 7 - The Nightmare Decade

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during the Hundred Years War to life this was a fascinating yet gruesome ordeal and here you can witness it firsthand right now there's a special offer for only YouTubers use the code history hit and you'll save 60 for the first six months and have access to some of the best podcasts and video documentaries out there so do yourself a favor hit that link below use the code and sign up for history hit today [Music] foreign [Music] rise from his apparent death bed having shaken off his battle with yasinia pestis to find that the Glorious Roman Empire he was attempting to restore had been devastated by the plague the emperor had to immediately pull out deep austerity measures in order to pay his armies who had to continue fighting on every front it's certainly not an uplifting story in fact since 539 turned into 540 the news for Justinian and the byzantines has been nothing but terrible kusro's invasion of the East and the sack of Antioch was swiftly followed by news that the Goths had undone belisarius's work in Italy and were on the offensive then the plague changed everything suddenly all was chaos famine and death expensive war on the Eastern Front continued Africa broke into Revolt the war in Italy turned disastrous and the Slavs and bulgars were making dangerous noises on the Danube today we take the story forward from 5 45 to 5 50. as the painful crawl toward recovery begins [Music] we pick up the story in Italy where the new Gothic King totilla had used a combination of good generalship and Savvy PR to turn the Italian Countryside into his domain the remaining Byzantine troops had been driven back to the Fortified coastal cities like Rome and Ravenna while the Goths retook the majority of the country in despair at what was being lost the emperor turned again to belisarius temporarily in disgrace the general was ready to resume his duties and head back to the country he had so nearly conquered four years previously unfortunately as I explained last episode The Empire was in no real position to raise new armies and it's doubtful if the suspicious Justinian would have wanted to give belisarius the kind of force he would need to crush the Goths so belisarius made his way to illyricum and recruited 4 000 troops from the Army there before sailing to Ravenna in September 544. as soon as he'd arrived though news reached them that the balgars were on the move again and had raided illyricum the troops who had just made the crossing insisted on heading home immediately to see if they still had homes to return to belisarius was now in command of the army of Italy but had no actual Army to do much with as it was spread around garrisoning the remaining Imperial strongholds during the campaign season of 544 totilla had secured control of the flaminian way which linked Ravenna and Rome and had begun a Siege of the Eternal City belisarius knew that he had to do something to save Rome but would have to sail all the way around the peninsula to get there as he made his way down the coast he was able to relieve a few besieged towns but everywhere he put in he found morale at rock bottom with troops who hadn't been paid in a year and stories of men slipping through the gates to find totilla and join his army he wrote to Justinian explaining that without money and reinforcements there was little he could do surprisingly belisarius gave this letter to John the nephew of Battalion who he'd already had serious problems with during the first Italian campaign and sure enough John took his sweet time in getting to Constantinople and coming back however when he did return in summer 545 he brought around 5 000 men with him once again though he refused to cooperate with his General belisarius's plan was to make an amphibious assault from portus the port of Rome while basis inside the city would distract the Goths with a sortie and then John would March up and fall on the besieging Goths instead John marched South insisting on recapturing the towns that had been lost before moving North and basses refused to let his men out of the city fearing they would simply be cut down left alone to carry out the plan belisarius launched a fleet up the Tiber in an attempt to at least resupply the Garrison of Rome the assault failed though not for lack of preparation procopius tells the familiar tale that one of belisarius's sub-commanders disobeyed orders leading the general to fear that portus had been taken which if true would have meant his wife antonina was amongst the captured or killed when he returned she was fine but the chance to reach Rome was gone the siege of Rome continued for another year with basus allowing any civilians who wanted to leave to abandon their homes and wander miserably through the countryside looking for Refuge in the end it was an isorian soldier who agreed to turn traitor and open the gates in December 546. bessis and his remaining men fled and totilla marched into the practically abandoned city [Music] with Rome in his possession the gothic King wrote to Justinian asking for peace bar the few remaining Byzantine strongholds he had recaptured most of Italy he offered to resume the former terms of rule between King and Emperor he would rule in Justinian's name and continue the partnership which theodoric and Zeno had set up a half century before he also Darkly hinted that he might destroy Rome if he didn't get his way and when Justinian refused to even discuss terms he apparently intended to do just that again according to procopius belisarius intervened writing to the gothic King to point out that Rome was still admired by the world for its beauty and Legacy did tortilla want to be remembered as the stupid Barbarian who destroyed the greatest city in the world whether it was this call from posterity that stayed his hand or more practical concerns we don't know but by Spring 547 the king left Rome as he'd found it and headed South with his army to take back the towns now in the possession of John although he left a Garrison behind he did take the precaution of pulling down sections of the aurelian walls to prevent the byzantines from retaking the city so he must have been pretty Furious when a few weeks later news came that as soon as he'd gone belisarius had attacked the city taken it and patched up the walls unable to catch Jon or dislodge belisarius totilla faced his first serious setback in the war and to add to the good news for the Imperial forces events in Africa now allowed 2 000 extra troops to be sent North to reinforce Rome needless War had broken out across the African prefecture leading to the death of the governor Solomon and serious trouble for the plague affected Byzantine Army for four years between 543 and 47 the conflict dragged on before finally John troglita the capable Duke of Mesopotamia was appointed as sole Commander initially he fought indecisive battles with the Moors but soon began to work the old Roman magic of divide and conquer befriending tribal leaders and turning them against one another John was able to win a crushing battle with the most prominent rebellious tribes in 548 which was to leave Africa at peace for another decade peace in Africa though was no great Victory conflict shouldn't have broken out there in the first place and the two thousand men who arrived in Italy only confirmed the stalemate in that country belisari has spent parts of 547 and 48 traveling around the country trying to find a way to win the war but he couldn't he didn't have enough men in the peninsula to press the Goths who themselves were too small a force to successfully starve the byzantines out this futile deadlock was benefiting no one so belisarius sent his wife antonina back to Constantinople in the summer of 548. he hoped that her friendship with the Empress Theodora might persuade Justinian to send the troops he badly needed however when antonina arrived in the capital it was to the news that Theodora was dead the empress had been in her late 40s and the historical consensus suggests that it was cancer Justinian went into sincere and public mourning for his beloved wife and never would marry again A procession of constantinople's notable citizens walked past the empress as she lay in state and when the emperor approached to put a necklace on her he broke down in tears it's a fascinating part of Justinian's story that here was a man who refused to bend in the face of his Minister's advice or in the face of Common Sense some might say as he strove to restore the Roman Empire and yet he would bend for Theodora and publicly credited her with helping to shape policy or amend laws from an imperial point of view though you wonder if he should have listened knowing what really went on behind closed doors is hard to ever ascertain but from what we do know there were times when the empress harassed men who would have served the Empire well during the darkest days of the plague men like belisarius John the cappadocian and germanus would have been better served undisturbed at their former posts while by protecting and encouraging the monophysites Theodora greatly hindered any hopes of reconciliation between the churches from a minovicides point of view though she was their champion [Music] part of the reason the empress gets such attention in the historical narratives is that visitors to Ravenna today can still look up and see her fearsome Visage staring back at them the church was begun in the 520s under Gothic rule but only finished in the 540s when the byzantines controlled Ravenna it seems like the leading Orthodox Bishop in the city maximian made sure that as the church neared completion it should honor the Imperial couple who now ruled from Constantinople and it should be noted that maximian himself gets a prominent placement too but it's Justinian and Theodora who are most famously captured on either side of the church's apps overlooking the altar they are standing awaiting the Eucharist the mass or communion which would take place on that spot just like the vice Regent of God and his wife should Justinian carries the bread Theodora the wine the Mosaic panels are remarkable for many reasons but two are important for our story one is that they survived it all many great visual representations in the Byzantine world were destroyed During the period of iconoclasm another religious dispute which will break out in a few centuries time Ravenna by then lost to the Empire was out of the reaches of those who did not wish to see God represented in art the other is simply The prominent place of Theodora in the representation the empress is tall Stern and Powerful looking given essentially equal Place alongside her husband we know that back in the capital only the emperor would have been allowed to stand alongside the clergy during the Liturgy so the empress's elevation is something of an anachronism it seems like Bishop maximian was well aware of how powerful the empress was and if she was likely to hear of the beautiful new depiction of her in Ravenna then she might well look kindly on the man who made it happen unfortunately for maximian the church was consecrated just before news arrived that the empress had taken Bread and Wine for the last time the situation looked hopeless Justinian had other things on his mind and didn't seem likely to offer her husband any help in Italy by the following year though she had successfully lobbied to have belisarius recalled the general returned to the capital in 549 to a warm greeting from the bereaved Emperor and then retired from military service he left the world stage a rich and successful man but to contemporaries and posterity alike the question aimed at him would always be what might have been belisarius left Rome to be held by three thousand men but to underline the futility of the war in Italy the Eternal City changed hands for the fourth time in early 550 when once again isorian soldiers who hadn't been paid in months betrayed the gates to totilla in the meantime Justinian appointed liberius the career bureaucrat whose career keeps getting more amusing to be the new commander in Italy now to be fair liberius was an Italian So the appointment had that going for it but he was now in his mid 70s with no significant military experience at all he made his way to Sicily with a few troops only for totilla to cross to the island and set up the identical stalemate that existed on the mainland Imperial forces in the coastal towns Goths in the countryside it was only by 550 that Justinian felt the Empire's resources were restored enough that he could contemplate the creation of an army that could actually finish the war in Italy with recruits from the Western Field armies and other mercenary forces the Army gathered in Solona and was given a proper Commander the emperor's cousin germanus with Theodora gone germanus was free to assume the role that had always seemed his The Heir Apparent by winning the war in Italy he could return home and fully expect to be seen as the next Emperor should Justinian pass away to bolster his chances of winning over the Goths he married Mata santha the daughter of a malasantha and therefore granddaughter too theodoric everything seemed to be lining up for germanus when suddenly he fell ill and died in the summer of 550. together with the loss of its Commander the Army left behind in Dalmatia had to deal with a massive Slavic invasion of the area three years earlier a major raid through illyricum had been identified for the first time as being Slavic only having nothing to do with their bulgur Neighbors the Raiders had captured several fortified towns during their stay which was a worrying development for the byzantines the following year in 548 another Slavic party crossed the Danube defeated the Garrison guarding the settlement of topiris and sacked it the invasion in 550 saw an even larger group attempt to carry off the wealth of the Empire but they were surprised by the large Imperial Army blocking their path through Dalmatia the group moved East to avoid battle and the leaderless Army chose to maintain their position rather than chase after The Intruders who were now loose in the Balkans with these major blows to Justinian's morale and planning we end the nightmare decade on the Western Front and turn East we return now to 5 45 but on the Eastern front where the five-year truce was signed with the sasanids Justinian badly needed peace and never had a problem paying khusro to stay on his side of the line in two areas though the fighting continued throughout the decade the less immediately important struggle for us was that between the lakhmid and gasanid Arabs in the Syrian desert it had taken harith of the ghasanids a few years to exert his control over the tribes in his area but slowly they became more Adept at defeating their persian-sponsored neighbors the lakhmeds had enjoyed raiding Imperial territory in the 520s and 530s and hostilities with the gasanids became more bloody the more able harith became at blocking their attacks on Syria things became Darkly personal in 545 when mundir the man best known to you for sacrificing Byzantine nuns to his deity captured one of harith's sons in battle he too was killed in honor of the goddess al-uza and harith was left to plot bitter revenge on his rival the other active theater of war was in the northern kingdom of lasika lazica was the kingdom which had set off the wars between Persia and Byzantium way back in 527 the labs were by now a Christian people and had decided to ask for Byzantine protection when Justinian became emperor in order to escape Persian domination after a war was fought to secure a protectorate over his country the last king gubazis decided that he could now get a better deal from the Persians after hearing about the sack of Antioch in 540. the Persians marched in and took control of the country and the key to Port City of Petra the byzantines couldn't allow the Persians access to the Black Sea but their play-gravaged armies were in no position to do anything about it until 5 48. by then gubizzes was once more thinking about a u-turn he and his people found the Persians more distasteful overlords than they'd expected and he asked Justinian to restore Byzantine protection with the worst of the financial crisis over Justinian was able to send 7 000 men under the commander of the army of Armenia dagistayas joining up with the Laz Army the combined forces drove out the sasana troops guarding the passes back to Persia but couldn't take Petra the Persians counter-attacked in 549 and 550 and although the Laz Byzantine forces kept them out they did succeed in resupplying the Garrison at Petra the byzantines closed the decade besieging the city proud to have seen off the Persian occupation but watching The Horizon to see if kusro would send more men against them later on while Justinian juggled Wars Financial crises and famine he also turned his mind once more to the problem of the monophysites it can be difficult to understand the mindset of people who lived hundreds of years ago and it says a great deal but with so much already heaped on his plate the emperor saw the unity of his church as one of his highest priorities perhaps he even felt that the plague and accompanying disasters were signs that it still wasn't High Enough Justinian had always been keenly interested in Theology and so looked for an intellectual solution to the issue not a political compromise as had been the case with Zeno's hinoticon you may recall that soon after Nika the emperor invited distinguished monophysites to come to the capital and debate their differences with clergy who supported the Council of chalcedon now with the plague subsiding Justinian began to put into practice some of the ideas which emerged from those discussions Justinian had noted that one of the monophysite objections to chalcedon was The ecumenical council had tolerated the contributions and Theology of three men who were associated with nestorius now nestorian Christianity is the teaching which emphasizes the division of Jesus's humanity and Divinity the polar opposite of what the monophosites argued which as you know was the mono one nature of Christ Justinian concluded that if he could have these three men condemned and thus remove the taint of their nestorianism from the Council of chalcedon then the monophysites would once more be able to join their Orthodox Brethren around this statement of belief everyone agreed that nestorius's teachings were heretical and his supporters had long been pushed out of the empire it was a thoughtful solution to the issue and one the emperor hoped would be able to please everyone as is becoming a familiar refrain the condemnation of the so-called three chapters was welcomed by no one the compliant Patriarchs of the East accepted the edict with some reluctance but the news caused dismay amongst the clergy of Italy and Africa they had no interest in seeing chalcedon edited in this way and were worried about the precedent of besmirching long dead and respected churchmen who could no longer defend themselves the sitting Pope vigilius was caught in an unenviable position he had been forcibly removed from the many sieges of Rome and transported to Constantinople by 5 48. the pope was sympathetic and no doubt intimidated by Justinian's proposals but knew that his own position in the west would be hopelessly undermined if he caved in so he delayed and got into arguments with the patriarch and War on Justinian's already shredded patients the pope would end the decades still refusing to give in to Imperial demands and would eventually take refuge in a church where the citizens of the capital looked on in horror as Justinian soldiers tried to drag the Vicar of Christ off against his will they eventually let him be and the emperor was forced to negotiate with his pontiff ending the decade no closer to a solution to the church's divisions the five thirties had been a decade of optimism growth and success for the empire the 540s had been a disaster amidst all the ruin and misery Justinian had clung grimly on and the Empire would emerge into the 550s still intact with its economy functioning and its Army still fighting the emperor deserves credit for keeping the state together in the face of these trials but he also deserves the blame for some of that misery particularly when Imperial Tax Collectors pushed on in the face of people whose lives had been turned upside down the emperor had never been a beloved figure and now many were nursing very real reasons to resent him however his control of the state remained firm and as the Empire recovered some of its former strength in the next decade Justinian would continue to single-mindedly pursue his ambitions with Theodora gone the emperor would be married to his work from now on [Music] [Music]

Channel: Flash Point History

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Keywords: plague, bubonic, pandemic, infectious, bacteria, virus, History of Byzantium, podcast, robin, pierson, Byzantium Podcast, byzantine, history, roman, roman history, eastern, eastern roman history, documentary, biography, justinian, theodora, battle, persian, rise of justinian, emperor, audiocast, history of the roman empire, empire, the history of rome, audio, byzantium, renovatio, imperii, Great, persia, khosrow, belisarius, general, italian, rome, antioch, sack, death of theordora, death, empress, empress theodora

Id: yL-nJf3j-xw

Length: 28min 10sec (1690 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 13 2022