Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty
Byzantine Empire Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων ( Latin ) | |||||||||||||
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| 610–711 | |||||||||||||
.png) The calvary Constantine III | |||||||||||||
• February–October 641 | Heraclonas | ||||||||||||
• 641–668 | Constans II | ||||||||||||
• 668–685 | Constantine IV | ||||||||||||
• 685–695 · 705–711 | Justinian II | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Accession of Heraclius | 5 October 610 | ||||||||||||
• Second deposition and execution of Justinian II | 4 November 711 | ||||||||||||
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Heraclian dynasty | ||
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The
By the dynasty's end, the Empire had been transformed into a different state structure: now known in historiography as medieval Byzantine rather than (Ancient) Roman, a chiefly agrarian, military-dominated society that was engaged in a lengthy struggle with the
The Heraclian dynasty was named after the general
His successors struggled to contain the Arab tide. The
Background
Ever since the fall of the
However, after Justinian's death, much of newly recovered Italy fell to the
Even though the Empire had gained smaller successes over the Slavs and
The Persian King
While the Persians were making headway in their conquest of the eastern provinces, Phocas chose to divide his subjects rather than unite them against the threat of the Persians.[7] Perhaps seeing his defeats as divine retribution, Phocas initiated a savage and bloody campaign to forcibly convert the Jews to Christianity. Persecutions and alienation of the Jews, a frontline people in the war against the Persians helped drive them into aiding the Persian conquerors. As Jews and Christians began tearing each other apart, some fled the butchery into Persian territory. Meanwhile, it appears that the disasters befalling the Empire led the Emperor into a state of paranoia—although it must be said that there were numerous plots against his rule and execution followed execution. Among those individuals who were executed was the former empress Constantina and her three daughters.[7]
Heraclius
Fall of Phocas
Due to the overwhelming crisis facing the Empire that had pitched it into chaos,
When Phocas was delivered to Heraclius, an interesting conversation took place:[11]
Heraclius: "Is it thus that you have governed the Empire?"
Phocas: "Will you govern it better?"
The reign of Phocas officially ended in his execution and the crowning of Heraclius by the Patriarch of Constantinople two days later on 5 October. A statue of Phocas that rested in the Hippodrome was pulled down and set aflame, along with the colors of the Blues that supported Phocas.[10]
Early failures
After having married his wife in an elaborate ceremony and crowned by the
In 613, the Byzantine army suffered a crushing
Despite Nicetas' earlier efforts, Egypt was also
Byzantine counter offensive
To recover from a seemingly endless number of defeats, Heraclius went about a reconstruction plan of the military, financing it by fining those accused of corruption, increasing taxes, and debasing the currency to pay more soldiers and forced loans. The Patriarch of Constantinople,
In early 623, Heraclius led his forces through
In 624, Heraclius led another campaign towards
See your Emperor! He fears these arrows and spears no more than would an anvil!
— Shahr-Baraz, [17]
Siege of Constantinople
Victory belonged to the Byzantines, and now, the honours of the war were even. However, the Persian threat was not yet diminished. The long-awaited assault on
Theodore's contingent fared well against Shahin in Mesopotamia, inflicting a crushing defeat on the Persians.[17] During this battle, at Constantinople, the city was well defended with a force of some 12,000 cavalry (presumably dismounted), supported by the entire city's population. Indeed, the efforts of the Patriarch Sergius in whipping up the population into a religious and patriotic frenzy cannot be overlooked. When the Byzantine fleet annihilated a Persian and an Avar fleet in two separate ambushes, the besiegers appeared to have withdrawn in panic. And when word of Theodore's victory in Mesopotamia came, it was concluded by the besiegers that Byzantium was now under the protection of the Romans' Christian God.[17]
Triumph
For Heraclius, 626 was a year of little action—it appears that in an attempt to bolster his forces, he promised the hand of his daughter Epiphania to the
After spending a greater part of 627 in Mesopotamia, Heraclius finally encountered the Persian army close to the ruins of the city of
Heraclius later moved on to the Great Palace of
By this time, it was generally expected by the Byzantine populace that the Emperor would lead Byzantium into a new age of glory. However, all of Heraclius' achievements would come to naught, when, in 633, the
Decline
The threat of the Arabs from Arabia was overlooked by both Persia and Byzantium for several reasons—most compelling of all were the wars between the two powers, and the lack of communication across the desert expanse.[20] Nonetheless, efforts were conducted, sometimes cooperatively, by the Byzantines and the Persians to stop the advance of the Arabs.
On 8 June 632, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad died of a fever.[21] However, the religion he left behind would transform the Middle East. In 633, the armies of Islam marched out of Arabia, their goal to spread the word of the prophet.[21] In 634, the Arabs defeated a Byzantine force sent into Syria and captured Damascus.[22] The arrival of another large Byzantine army outside Antioch forced the Arabs to retreat. The Byzantines advanced in May 636. However, a sandstorm blew on 20 August 636 against the Byzantines and when the Arabs charged against them they were utterly annihilated:[22]
The
Battle fought at Yarmuk was of the fiercest and bloodiest kind ... the Romans and their followers tied themselves to each other by chains, so that no one might set his hope to flight. By Allah's help some 70,000 of them were put to death and their remnants took to flight ...— Al-Baladhuri, [23]
Jerusalem surrendered to the Arabs in 637, following a stout resistance; in 638, the Caliph Omar rode into the city. Heraclius stopped by Jerusalem to recover the True Cross whilst it was under siege.[22] In his old age he was becoming increasingly unstable in his rule. Once the commander of his father's fleet, he developed a phobia of the sea, and refused to cross the Bosporus to the capital. Only when several boats were tied along the length of the strait with shrubs placed along to hide the water did he ride across, "as if by land" as a contemporary put it.
The Arab invasions and loss of territory was not all that bore heavily upon the Emperor's mind.
Before his death Heraclius was "persuaded" by his wife
Assessment of his rule
Heraclius's reign was one of mixed fortunes. He started his reign by
By Heraclius's late reign, proper Latin had been reduced to a military and ceremonial role outside of
Had Heraclius lived only until 629, he might have been remembered for his successful military reorganization and impressive handling of the last Persian war, which saw hope and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. However, his lengthy life meant that the Byzantines remembered him for his religious controversies, failures against the Arabs, and incestuous marriage to his niece, which many believed to have brought divine retribution upon the entire Empire.
After his death, Heraclius' corpse remained unburied for three days, guarded by his soldiers until it was laid to rest in the
The Theme system
The army of the Empire that Heraclius worked so hard to improve eventually was reorganized in Asia Minor into four
The administrative regions created from this system were to be governed by a strategos, a military governor. The aim of these Themes was to maximize military potential—many able-bodied men and their families were settled in these four themes and given land for farming. In return for land, these men were to provide the Empire with loyal soldiers, and so began the Thematic armies of the Byzantine Empire that would prove to be reliable, though not unbeatable fighting force for centuries to come. Nonetheless, a native, well-trained army loyal to the state would serve the Empire far more than ill-disciplined mercenaries, whose loyalty to coin could be manipulated and turned against the state itself, as had been exemplified during the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.[8]
Constans II
Death of Heraclius
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Heraclius' inability to rule the Empire as his death neared did Byzantium no favors. After Heraclius' death in February 641, the former
With Constantine dead, the populace of Constantinople turned to his 11-year-old son (also known as Heraclius), who was crowned emperor and changed his name to Constantine. However, he later became known by the nickname "Constans", thus becoming Constans II.
Wars with the Arabs
Constans II had inherited from his grandfather Heraclius the war with the Arabs, who were bent on conquering the Byzantine Empire and spreading the word of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
The loss of Egypt and the Levant was catastrophic—along with the manpower from these regions, the substantial supply of food from Egypt was now but a thing of the past. Food shortages were now added to an increasing list of problems that the Emperor was facing.
Respite
By this point, the Arabs appeared to the Romans as invincible, and thus, could only hinder themselves. Fortunately for Byzantium, the Arabs began to do just that. The
Attempts to deal with religious controversies
Clearly, Byzantium stood no chance whatsoever of defending herself against her opponents when bishops tore the Empire over theological debates. Constans II saw this and it seems that he had enough of it. In 648, Constans still only 18 years of age, declared an edict that no one would raise the
To the West
Constans II decided to turn his attention to the West in the hope of achieving better luck. Whilst the
Constans II left the Empire in a worse state than he had found it. The Byzantine-Arab wars became increasingly one-sided and the immense resources of the Caliphate meant that any reconquest was now remotely unlikely — and more so whilst disunity through dissatisfied peasants and restless Bishops lingered on.
Tang-dynasty China
There also seem to
The Chinese
Constantine IV
Siege of Constantinople
Like his predecessors, the wars with the Saracens continued relatively unabated. Before becoming Emperor, Constantine IV was the administrator of his father's lands for the eastern portions of the Empire, what few territories they were. They became fewer still when the Arabs began taking one Imperial Byzantine city after another along the coast of Ionia. Finally in 672,
Wars with the Bulgars
With the Saracen threat averted, the Byzantines turned their attention to the west, where the Bulgars were encroaching on Imperial territory. In 680, Constantine IV launched a naval expedition to drive them back — the expedition failed and the Bulgars grew even bolder.[44] Unable to stop them by force, Constantine settled for a humiliating, but not disastrous treaty whereby "protection" money had to be paid to the Bulgar King.[45] The greatest implication of this treaty was that Byzantium would no longer have to worry about the Bulgars for the rest of Constantine's reign.
Third Council of Constantinople
Constantine IV was determined to solve the problem of the monotheletism/chalcedon controversy once and for all. Calling forth representatives from all corners of Christendom to discuss the matter at hand, they debated until in 681 when Constantine IV, who had presided over much of the meetings, endorsed the virtually unanimous findings. Four years later in 685, Constantine IV died. His death at thirty three years robbed Byzantium of a good Emperor who had defeated her enemies from within as well as without.[45]
Constantine's wife Anastasia had given him a son, Justinian. As it would turn out, his name would dictate his foreign policy in an attempt to emulate Justinian I's conquest of the West — a risky move considering what few resources the Empire had to defend herself.[45]
Justinian II
Victories
_-_Sant%27Apollinare_in_Classe_-_Ravenna_2016_(2).jpg)
The beginning of Justinian's reign continued the successes his father had enjoyed against the Arab invaders. Campaigning into Armenia, Georgia and even Syria, he was able to enforce a renewal of a peace treaty signed by his father and the Caliph.[45] With the wars in the east favorably concluded, Justinian II turned his attention to the west where he sent an expedition against the Slavs between 688 and 689. His success in the west was crowned with a triumphant entry into Thessalonika, the second city of the Empire.[46]
Following these victories, Justinian set about attempting to increase the Opsikion Theme by bringing in some 250,000 settlers of Slavic origin into Asia Minor. The benefit of the move was twofold—in addition to opening up more agricultural land, there would also have been an increase in the population and a larger number of Thematic militia troops could be raised — allowing the Empire to wage war with more. Furthermore, the increase in the lower classes shifted the balance of power from the aristocracy to the class of well-off peasants. These self-sufficient peasants, who owned their own land formed the backbone of the Thematic armies. Under such circumstances the power of the Empire and the Emperor increased simultaneously. Since pre-Imperial times the Plebeians looked towards a military champion to combat the rule of the aristocracy, thus the Plebs supported a strong emperor.[46]
Failures
In 691, war with the Arabs resumed and Justinian began increasing taxes in order to finance the conflict. However, in the face of these extortionate requisitions some 20,000 Slavic soldiers deserted to the Arabs—with them went Armenia to the enemy. Enraged, Justinian ordered the extermination of all Slavs in Bithynia—countless men, women and children were put to the sword in rage.[46]
Justinian then turned his attention to religious matters, which had been quieted down by the efforts of his father. When he called another council to wrap up loose ends from the previous (
Upon hearing of this, Justinian is said to have gone into another one of his rages. He was already unpopular at the young age of 23. His heavy handedness in extracting the tax money from the peasants and the rich made him deeply resented, especially with his use of torture, which included the use of fire and whips. It was therefore to no one's surprise (though to many a Byzantine's delight) that rebellion came from the ranks of the aristocracy. The revolt found a leader in a professional but disgraced soldier, Leontius.[47]
Non-dynastic: Leontius
Prisoner
Leontius was in prison when a monk once told him that he would one day wear the Imperial diadem.[47] Such talk was not only dangerous for the monk (who if discovered would have been blinded and exiled for treason) but also dangerous for the man whose ears received — and preyed upon Leontius' mind until in 695 (after being released) he immediately began a relatively unplanned coup. Fortunately for him many of his comrades had also been imprisoned (suggesting that perhaps his entire unit may well have been disgraced) so when he marched upon his former prison to release the inmates, many declared their support for him.
Rise and fall
Marching on to the Hagia Sophia, he was fortunate enough to find the support of the
With the support of the fanatical Hippodrome Blue team, Leontius and his men overthrew Justinian II, cutting his nose off in the oriental process of rhinokopia and declaring himself as Basileus.[47]
Leontius' rule was both brief and a miserable failure. The armies of Islam were once more on the march and this time the Exarch of Carthage was in serious trouble. Earlier defeats had established Arab supremacy in the region. Leontius, despite his military background, had an unsuccessful expedition sent to Carthage. Rather than report their loss and face the inevitable wrath of the Emperor, the defeated troops decided to name one of their own as Basileus (a German called Apsimar) and with the support of the Hippodrome Green team (a serious rival of the Blue team that promoted Leontius to the Imperial throne) established Apsimar as Basileus Tiberius III.[47]
Non-dynastic: Tiberius III
Tiberius' rule was similarly short but slightly more impressive for his successful campaigning against the Saracens—indeed it seems that his Germanic heritage had given him the same appetite for war that had allowed many of his "barbarian" kind to conquer the Western Empire, with his troops reaching into Armenia and even Muslim-held Syria.[48] But by that time in 705, he was overthrown by military force. Justinian, who for ten years was in exile, returned. The Byzantine population could not have asked for a worse overthrow.
Justinian II (restored)
Years in exile
After having been deposed by Leontius, Justinian escaped to the
Restoration and rule
In the spring of 705, Constantinople found itself surrounded by yet another army of Slavs and Bulgars, led by Justinian. After three days of scouting his men found an abandoned conduit running across the walls and managed to slip inside. There he surprised the sleeping guards at the Palace of Blachernae. Within moments, the building was his and Tiberius fled to Bithynia whilst the citizens of the capital surrendered—the alternative would have been a savage sack that in the mind of the vengeful Justinian, was what it needed.[48] The following day, Justinian was given the title of Caesar and a purple robe.
With his coup successful, Justinian II set about bringing his wife back and settling the numerous scores he had with his disloyal subjects. Tiberius and his predecessor Leontius were both executed the previous day after a humiliating pelting at the Hippodrome. Next the
Expeditions of revenge
Ravenna
Bent upon making others suffer as he had, Justinian had an expedition sent against the Exarchate of Ravenna, for reasons which elude historians today—though sheer madness cannot be ruled out. Upon arriving there the expedition led by Theodore sacked the city whilst his men deceptively invited the officials to a banquet where they were seized and sent to Constantinople. Upon arrival they were met by Justinian, who had them all executed except the Archbishop, who nonetheless suffered a blinding and the usual exile—not being able to return until Justinian was in his grave. It was this execution that led to Ravenna being looted by Theodore and his men.[49]
In Rome however the mood was calmed by the Pope Constantine the Syrian. Relations between the Pope and the Emperor had greatly improved—with the Emperor kissing the Pope's feet and sending an impressive delegation before him to meet the Pope (consisting of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Justinian's son and co-emperor). Arriving at Constantinople in 711 he came to an accord with Justinian finally approving half of the 102 canons still outstanding from the Quinisext Council (dealing with the trivial matters he addressed before his exile) and agreeing to drop the other, perhaps less important canons. Satisfied he allowed the Pope a safe journey to Rome.[50]
Cherson
Justinian then targeted his former place of exile in the Crimea. There his brother-in-law, the Khagan, had infringed on Imperial territory by establishing a Khazar governor of his own to run Cherson. Upon arriving there, the expedition set about doing its work—countless citizens were drowned (apparently with weights attached) and seven were roasted alive. The Tudun, the governor appointed by the Khagan was sent to Constantinople with 30 others. However, a storm destroyed his army and his fleet when he ordered it to return. Justinian is said to have greeted the news with great laughter. Another fleet was sent but the arrival of the Khagan's army made Justinian reconsider his move to a more diplomatic one. He decided to send the Tudun back to the Khagan with his apologies and had George of Syria to present the Imperial apology. The citizens of Cherson were naturally in no mood to hear any apology after what Justinian had done. When the Tudun died along the way, the Khazars took it upon themselves to send his 300-strong escort to the afterlife with him.[50]
Overthrow
After the fiasco of the Cherson expedition, the citizens there proclaimed a new man, Bardanes (an exiled General) the Basileus of Byzantium.[50] Justinian was enraged at these turn of events. Once more he began redirecting resources to another expedition under the Patriarch Maurus against Cherson, resources that could have been better spent against the Arabs or the Bulgars. The Khazars appeared at the scene preventing the expedition from destroying no more than two defense towers before being obliged to make terms.[51] The Patriarch realized that returning to the capital in defeat would undoubtedly lead to a violent retirement at the hands of Justinian. Therefore, in a similar case to Leontius and Tiberius' usurpation, he defected and, with the army and navy under his command, declared his support for the renegade Bardanes, who changed his name to Philippicus.
As Philippicus headed for the Capital Justinian was making his way to Armenia, a warzone between the Byzantines and Arabs. He reached as far as Nicomedia when attempting to turn back, he was caught at the twelfth mile stone of the Capital and executed on the spot.[51] Philippicus had arrived before he could and was greeted with open arms at the capital.
Theodora, the Khazar wife of Justinian II escaped to a nearby monastery with her son and former co-emperor Tiberius. The young boy was holding on to the True Cross when a soldier entered and forced his hand from it. It is said that the soldier then laid the Cross with great respect on the altar. Following this rather pious act, he then dragged the boy outside and beneath the porch of a nearby church, butchered the line of Heraclius into extinction forever.[51]
Heraclian dynasty family tree
| Maurice emperor | Gregoras patricius | Epiphania | Heraclius the Elder exarch of Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theodore curopalates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fabia Eudokia | Heraclius 610–641 | Martina empress regent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nike | Constantine III 641 | Eudoxia Epiphania | illegaitimate John Athalarichos | Theodosios | Fabius (Flavius) (?) | Constantine caesar | Heraclonas 641 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theodosios | Manyanh | Martinus caesar | Augoustin | Martina | Febronia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tiberius | Heraclius | Constantine IV 668–685 | Anastasia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Heraclius | Eudokia | Justinian II 685–695 705–711 | Theodora of Khazaria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anastasia | Tiberius | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
- Byzantine–Arab Wars
- Family tree of Byzantine emperors
Notes
- ^ Kaegi 2003, p. 21.
- ^ Geanakoplos 1984, p. 344.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 287.
- ^ a b Norwich 1997, p. 74.
- ^ Norwich 1997, p. 76
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1997, pp. 82–83.
- ^ a b c d e f Norwich 1997, pp. 88–89
- ^ a b c d e Norwich 1997, p. 90
- ^ Norwich 1997, p. 298
- ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 85
- ^ Bury 1889, p. 205
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 93
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 95
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, p. 91
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 100
- ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 101
- ^ a b c d e Norwich 1997, p. 92
- ^ a b c Norwich 1997, p. 93.
- ^ Grant 2005, pp. 65.
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, pp. 93–94
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, p. 95
- ^ a b c d e Norwich 1997, p. 96
- ^ Grant 2005
- ^ Norwich 1997, p. 78
- ^ Norwich 1997, p. 97
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1997, p. 101 Ostrogorsky states in the footnotes that in Theophanes 303(under the year 622), "the expression 'the districts of the themes' shows that the process of establishing troops (themes) in specific areas of Asia Minor has already begun at this time."
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 316 Treadgold in the footnotes states that Constantine VII's De Thematibus first mentions the system under Constans in 668, and that because he was in the West at the time, Constans had to have first organized the themes before 662. Treadgold supposes that Constantine had access to state archives when he wrote it in the 10th century.
- ^ Haldon, John F. (2003). Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World. London: Routledge. p. 114.
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, p. 98
- ^ a b c Norwich 1997, p. 99
- ^ Norwich 1997, pp. 99–100
- ^ a b Norwich 1997, p. 100
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 496
- ^ Durant (2011), p. 118.
- ^ LIVUS (28 October 2010). "Silk Road" Archived 2013-09-06 at the Wayback Machine, Articles of Ancient History. Retrieved on 22 September 2016.
- ^ Yule 1915, pp. 29–31; see also footnote No. 4 on p. 29; footnote No. 2 on p. 30; and footnote #3 on page 31..
- ^ Yule 1915, p. 30 and footnote #2.
- ^ a b c d Hirth (2000) [1885], East Asian History Sourcebook. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
- ^ Henry Yule expressed some amazement that even the name of the Byzantine negotiator "Yenyo" (i.e. the patrician Ioannes Petzigaudias) was mentioned in Chinese sources, an envoy who was unnamed in Edward Gibbon's account of the man sent to Damascus to hold a parley with the Umayyads, followed a few years later by the increase of tributary demands on the Byzantines; see Yule 1915, pp. 48–49; and for the brief summary of Edward Gibbon's account, see also footnote #1 on p. 49.
- ^ Yule 1915, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Schafer 1985, pp. 10, 25–26.
- ^ Yule 1915, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Sezgin et al. 1996, p. 25.
- ^ a b Norwich 1997, p. 101
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, p. 102
- ^ a b c d Norwich 1997, p. 103
- ^ a b c d e Norwich 1997, p. 104
- ^ a b c Norwich 1997, p. 105
- ^ a b Norwich 1997, p. 106
- ^ a b c Norwich 1997, p. 107
- ^ a b c Norwich 1997, p. 108
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 308
- ^ Bury 1889, p. vi
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 916
References
- ISBN 9780804726306.
- Geanakoplos, Deno J. (1984). Byzantium: Church, Society, and Civilization Seen Through Contemporary Eyes. ISBN 9780226284606.
Some of the greatest Byzantine emperors—Nicephorus Phocas, John Tzimisces and probably Heraclius—were of Armenian descent.
- Bury, J. B. (1889). A History of the Later Roman Empire: From Arcadius to Irene. Macmillan and Co. p. 205.
- Durant, Will (1949). The Age of Faith: The Story of Civilization. Simon and Schuster. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-4516-4761-7.
- Grant, R. G. (2005). Battle a Visual Journey Through 5000 Years of Combat. London: Dorling Kindersley.
- Haldon, John F. (1997). Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31917-1.
- ISBN 1-85728-495-X.
- Hirth, Friedrich (2000) [1885]. Jerome S. Arkenberg (ed.). "East Asian History Sourcebook: Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. – 1643 C.E." Fordham.edu. Fordham University. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
- Howard-Johnston, James (2010), Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-920859-3
- Jenkins, Romilly (1987). Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, 610–1071. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-6667-4.
- Kaegi, Walter Emil (2003). Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-521-81459-1.
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- LIVUS (28 October 2010). "Silk Road" Archived 2013-09-06 at the Wayback Machine, Articles of Ancient History. Retrieved on 22 September 2016.
- Mango, Cyril (2002). The Oxford History of Byzantium. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-814098-3.
- Norwich, John Julius (1997). A Short History of Byzantium. New York: Vintage Books.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1997). History of the Byzantine State. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1198-6.
- Schafer, Edward H. (1985) [1963]. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T'ang Exotics (1st paperback ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05462-8.
- Sezgin, Fuat; Ehrig-Eggert, Carl; Mazen, Amawi; Neubauer, E. (1996). نصوص ودراسات من مصادر صينية حول البلدان الاسلامية. Frankfurt am Main: Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften (Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University). p. 25. ISBN 9783829820479.
- Sherrard, Philip (1975). Great Ages of Man, Byzantium. New Jersey: Time-Life Books.
- Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3163-2.
- ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
- Yule, Henry (1915). Cordier, Henri (ed.). Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol I: Preliminary Essay on the Intercourse Between China and the Western Nations Previous to the Discovery of the Cape Route. London: Hakluyt Society. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
