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The Historians' History of the World 07 [The History of the Later Roman Empire]
- Автор: Gutenberg
- Год: 1905
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: История
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It is doubtful whether Zimisces imbrued his hands in the blood of his sovereign; but he enjoyed the inhuman spectacle of revenge. The murder was protracted by insult and cruelty; and as soon as the head of Nicephorus was shown from the window, the tumult was hushed, and the Armenian was emperor of the East. On the day of his coronation, he was stopped on the threshold of St. Sophia by the intrepid patriarch; who charged his conscience with the deed of treason and blood; and required, as a sign of repentance, that he should separate himself from his more criminal associate. This sally of apostolical zeal was not offensive to the prince, since he could neither love nor trust a woman who had repeatedly violated the most sacred obligations; and Theophano, instead of sharing his imperial fortune, was dismissed with ignominy from his bed and palace.
In their last interview, she displayed a frantic and impotent rage; accused the ingratitude of her lover; assaulted with words and blows her son Basil, as he stood silent and submissive in the presence of a superior colleague; and avowed her own prostitution in proclaiming the illegitimacy of his birth. The public indignation was appeased by her exile and the punishment of the meaner accomplices; the death of an unpopular prince was forgiven; and the guilt of Zimisces was forgotten in the splendour of his virtues. Perhaps his profusion was less useful to the state than the avarice of Nicephorus; but his gentle and generous behaviour delighted all who approached his person; and it was only in the paths of victory that he trod in the footsteps of his predecessor. The greatest part of his reign was employed in the camp and the field. His personal valour and activity were signalised on the Danube and the Tigris, the ancient boundaries of the Roman world; and by his double triumph over the Russians and the Saracens, he deserved the titles of saviour of the empire and conqueror of the East.g
FOOTNOTES
[42] [Isauria is an obsolete name referring to a district in Asia Minor bounded by Cilicia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia. The region was cold and rugged and the Isaurians accordingly independent and fond of raids. In 75 B.C., the Roman proconsul, P. Servilius, brought them to terms and received the epithet Isauricus, but the Romans were eventually glad to grant them freedom in return for peace. Justinian claimed to have subdued them. Two emperors came from Isauria, Zeno (474-495) and the epoch-making Leo.
Hertzbergb says that Leo was called Isaurian “probably from the nativity of his parents,” and thinks he was “born about 675 at Germanicia, on the borders of Cappadocia, Armenia, and Syria,” whence he was taken to Mesembria in Thrace by his parents after the Arab invasion. K. Schenk,c however, says, “I employ the epithet consecrated by the error of centuries, although Leo was sprung from Germanicia, and therefore is a Syrian.” Gelzerd accordingly calls Leo “the Syrian (Isaurian) emperor.” He calls the accession of Leo “a moment of true world-historical meaning.”]
[43] [Clintone says, “The empire of Rome, properly so called, ends at 476 A.D.,” which is the third year of Zeno. Numismatists, like Saulcy,f place the commencement of the Byzantine Empire in the reign of Anastasius I. Gibbong tells us, “Tiberius by the Arabs, and Maurice by the Italians, are distinguished as the first of the Greek Cæsars, as the founders of a new dynasty and empire. The silent revolution was accomplished before the death of Heraclius.” Bury,h on the other hand, vehemently denies the justice of using the word “Byzantine” at all, saying “no Byzantine Empire ever began to exist; the Roman Empire did not come to an end until 1453.” He accordingly clings to the expression “Later Roman Empire.” None the less, since Finlayi finds the word Byzantine a convenient term and places its proper beginning here, and since so many other historians old and new have given the word authority, it may well be allowed to stand.]
[44] Theodosius ended his life at Ephesus, where he was buried in the church of St. Philip. He ordered that his tombstone should bear no inscription but the word ΥΓΕΙΑ (Health).
[45] [This was in August, 717, according to western authorities, though the Arabs set it in 716.]
[46] [On the 8th of October, according to Theophanes.j]
[47] [According to Hefelem this commonly accepted statement is not true, since Leo’s first order was the total abolition of images.]
[48] [June, 741, is the date usually assigned to Leo’s death, but Buryh thinks that Theophanesj made a miscalculation, and he reckons from a solar eclipse and an Easter date, that Leo’s death actually occurred in 740.]
[49] [According to other accounts, he actually smote the statue in the face three times.]
[50] [His brother-in-law Artavasdos rebelled shortly after his accession and held Constantinople for two years before he could be expelled and imprisoned in a monastery.]
[51] [So Nicephorusk says, but Theophanesj says they returned unmolested.]
[52] [During the reigns of Leo IV, Constantine VI, and Irene there were frequent conflicts with the Saracens, the Bulgarians, and with the troops of Charlemagne, who at one time purposed to reunite the old Roman Empire by marrying Irene, on which Buryh comments that such a marriage of ill-assorted nations would have been followed by a speedy divorce.]
[53] [He called a General Council which anathematised Tarasius and Nicephorus, and, repealing the acts of the Council of Nicæa, reasserted those of 754.]
[54] [“‘Crete and Sicily’ were conquered by the Saracens without offering the resistance that might have been expected from the wealth and number of their inhabitants. Indeed, we are compelled to infer that the change from the orthodox sway of the emperors of Constantinople to the domination of the Mohammedans was not considered by the majority of the Greeks of Crete and Sicily so severe a calamity as we generally believe.”—Finlay.n]
[55] [“It is the boast of orthodox historians that ten thousand Paulicians perished in this manner. Far greater numbers, however, escaped into the province of Melitene, where the Saracen emir granted them protection, and assisted them to plan schemes of revenge.”—Finlay.n]
[56] [Finlayn thinks that some of these stories may be the inventions of flatterers of Michael’s assassin and successor, Basil.]
[57] [“Basil founded,” says Finlayn, “the largest dynasty that ruled in the Byzantine empire.”]
[58] [The Saracens were driven out of various Italian strongholds which gave allegiance to Constantinople. But Sicily was lost in 878, and though Cyprus was regained, it was also lost again.]
[59] [That is, the colony of Paulician fugitives formed at Tephrike after the persecutions of Theodora.]