Fortifications
Building city walls was of fundamental concern to the imperial
administration, as is evident from Justinian’s plan to build walls around many
cities and fortify areas of major strategic significance.
Together with the political and economic decline that
gradually set in from the late 4th century, natural disasters and epidemics
led to significant changes in the form of cities.
Some were abandoned and
others shrunk in size and population, while new cities were established at virtually
inaccessible sites, their main aim being to provide security to inhabitants. The
fundamental objective of fortifications was to ward off attacks by creating
barriers, which were set up one after the other so as to guarantee defence. The
number and height of walls, the shape and form of towers, the number of gates
and their guard systems were all determined by the lie of the land,
developments in warfare and prevailing economic and building potential.
As a rule, walls consisted of towers with two or more
levels, from which the defenders would attack the enemy, and of high curtain walls
thick enough to withstand attacks. Cities on the plains had another lower outer
wall punctuated by towers, in front of which was a moat that could be flooded
to check the enemy. At the highest point of the settlement lay the acropolis or
citadel. With its own wall for defensive autonomy, this was the last refuge for
defenders, and housed the seat of church authority and military command. From
as early as Justinian times, an intermediary wall divided the city in two, thus
providing a further line of defence. The gates opened at sunrise and closed at
sunset. They were few in number, since they were established at the most
vulnerable points in the fortifications.
As an outstanding set of defences, the walls of Constantinople
set the standard for fortifications around Byzantine cities. Indicative of
their quality is the fact that the walls withstood siege by the Ottomans for
over a thousand years.
Lastly, fortresses and towers were fortifications
which, like city-castles, adopted the rationale of successive lines of defence.
Their aim was to control strategic positions and passes and defend wider geographical
areas. In addition, they provided storage for agricultural produce,
accommodation for local rulers and shelter for the population in times of
danger.
Glossary (1)
moats:
deep defensive ditches usually filled with water, surrounding castles, forts or cities.
Information Texts (2)
Justinian I:
Byzantine Emperor
(527-565), nephew and successor of Justin I. One of his first acts was to
reform the tax system and recode Theodosius’ laws. He was personally involved
in religious conflicts and convened the 5th Ecumenical Council
(553). Justinian considered himself primarily an orthodox emperor and took
harsh measures against the remaining pagans. Many of his political and fiscal
actions provoked strong reactions on the part of the senate and the factions
and led to the Nika Riots. Justinian instigated numerous building projects,
erecting approximately 30 churches in Constantinople,
including the famous church
of Agia Sophia.
Regarding foreign policy, he successfully confronted the Persians and the
Vandals in the East and focused on the recovery of the West. This he temporarily
achieved, but at such cost that the Empire was left exhausted; the barbarians in
the Balkans plundered the Greek peninsula as far as the Isthmus and barbarian
tribes settled at the borders. His military operations exhausted Byzantium financially and
militarily and had no real effect, as Italy and other areas he conquered
were soon lost again. After his death, the weakened empire had to face new
attacks, culminating in the Arab conquests, which negated the majority of
Justinian’s conquests beyond the borders.
The city:
Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine
Empire, was built on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, on the
triangular peninsula formed by the Golden Horn,
the Bosporus and the Sea
of Marmara. This was an excellent location that controlled trade
routes linking the Aegean to the Black Sea. Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople
in 330 AD as a city to rival Rome
in splendour, wealth and power. The city grew fast, leading to problems of
space and facilities, so Theodosius I extended it to the west by building new
strong walls that protected Constantinople
until the end of the Byzantine Empire.
The
city was laid out after Rome.
A main road, the Mese Odos, linked the palace to the Golden
Gate. On this road was the Forum, a circular plaza with a statue
of Constantine
mounted on a column, surrounded by public buildings. Theodosius I and Arcadius later
built more forums decorated with their own statues.
Following
the Nika riots in the 6th century, Justinian adorned Constantinople
with magnificent edifices, palaces, baths and public buildings. This time also
saw the construction of Agia Sophia (the Holy Wisdom), the church which served
as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the Byzantine period.
During
the 7th and 8th centuries Constantinople faced
major problems that threw it into disarray: attacks by the Avars (a siege in
674) and Arabs (attacks in 674 and 717-718); natural disasters (a powerful,
destructive earthquake in 740); and epidemics (plague in 747). Limited building
activity resumed in the 8th and 9th century, mainly concentrated on
strengthening the city's fortifications.
With
the recovery of the Byzantine Empire from the
9th to the 11th century, Constantinople became
the most populated city in Christendom; the majority of inhabitants were
Greek-speaking, but many other ethnic groups lived alongside them, such as
Jews, Armenians, Russians, Italians merchants, Arabs and mercenaries from Western Europe and Scandinavia. Many public, private and church-owned buildings were erected at the time, with
an emphasis on establishing charitable institutions such as hospitals, nursing
homes, orphanages and schools. Higher education flourished, thanks to the care
of the state and the emergence of important scholars. This renaissance lasted
until the mid-11th century, when economic problems due to poor management set
in, compounded by the adverse outcome of imperial operations beyond the borders.
The
Crusaders left Constantinople entirely
unscathed when first passing through, but in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 the
Franks conquered and ransacked the city, slaughtering those inhabitants they
did not take prisoner or drive out. In 1261 the city was retaken by Michael
VIII Palaeologus, who rebuilt most of the monuments and the walls but proved
unable to restore the city to its former splendour and glory. Enfeebled as it
was, the empire was incapable of checking the advance of the Ottomans, and in
1453 Constantinople finally fell into their
hands.
The fall signalled the end of the empire. Nevertheless, the Byzantine intellectual
tradition remained significant, as many scholars settled in the Venetian dominions
of Crete and the Peloponnese,
as well as in European countries, conveying Greek learning to the West.
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