In 293 with the Roman Empire becoming more cumbersome Diocletian (64; r.284-305) tried to steady it by splitting it into two administrative halves, East and West. In 310 Saint Nicolas of Myra was imprisoned by Diocletian for his efforts to spread Christianity. Saint Nicolas was released when Constantine-I (65; r.306-337) ascended the throne and declared Christianity to be the official state religion. In 330 Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium on the European side of the Bosporus. In the beginning the city was called New Rome but it soon became known as Constantinopolis (‘Constantine’s city’).
In 363 Julian (c.31; r.361-363) defeated a Sassanid army at the Battle of Ctesiphon but during his retreat along the Tigris he was killed at the Battle of Samarra. His successor Jovian (33; r.363-364) found his army in a disadvantageous position. He decided to sue for peace and had to surrender the districts won in 298 and most of Anatolia to Persia.
Shapur II (r.309-379) forced the defection and capture of the Armenian king Arsaces II (r.350-367). Arsaces’ son Pap (c.21; r.368-374) escaped to Valens (50; r.364-378) and with Roman backing was placed on the Armenian throne in 370. In the following spring, forces were sent to regain Iberia and to garrison Armenia. When Shapur counterattacked in 371 his forces were bested at Bagavan. A truce then held the peace for the next five years. In 382 Theodosius-I (48; r.378-395) made peace with the Goths; and in 387 he and Shapur III (r.383-388) partitioned Armenia. Arsaces III (r.378-389) was given control over the Byzantine controlled western region. Chosroes IV (r.384-389) continued to rule over Greater Armenia under the Sassanids.
In 395 the Huns poured through the Caucasus, overran Armenia and pillaged Cappadocia. The armies of the empire were in the West so the Huns remained unopposed until the end of 398 when Eutropius (d.398), an East Roman official, gathered a force composed of Romans and Goths and succeeded in restoring the peace.
While dying, Theodosius had divided the empire between his two sons, Honorius (38; r.395-423) and Arcadius, (30/1; r.395-408). Honorius was given Western (=Roman) Empire; Arcadius was given the Eastern (=Byzantine) Empire ruled from Constantinople. When Rome fell in 476 the Eastern Empire retained Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Balkans. Justinian-I (82; r.527-565) pushed the boundaries of the empire to include southern Spain, North Africa and Italy.
After Justinian’s death the empire was attacked in both the west and east: in the west the Lombards conquered Italy (568-572); the armies of Chosroes II (r.590-628) overran the Byzantine provinces in the Near East and carried off the True Cross of Christ from Jerusalem. In 622 Heraclius (c.66; r.610-41) assembled his forces in Asia Minor, defeated Chosroes, reconquered Armenia, Syria and Palestine, and returned the True Cross to Jerusalem.
The cumulative effect of the Roman-Persian wars left both empires crippled, facilitating the expansion of both the Slavs from the north and the Muslims from the southeast. The Arabs conquered the Sassanid Empire in 644. Turning westward, they took Syria and Egypt, penetrated Asia Minor and reached the Bosporus. However, after Arab attempts to capture Constantinople itself (670-674) and (711-718) were defeated, the Byzantine Empire began a slow recovery.
Central to the recovery of the Byzantine Empire was the organisation of the empire into military provinces called themes, each ruled by a general. In 741 Constantine V (57; r.741-775) advanced the Byzantine frontier. This process was continued by his son Leo IV (30; r.775-780). In the 850s the Arabs began to lose control of its border regions. In 900 Leo VI (45; r.886-912) invaded Tarsus, and also attacked Armenia. In 926 Romanus-I (c.78; r.920-944; d.948) renewed the attacks upon the Arabs and sacked Melitene.
In the eleventh century the Seljuk Turks, a nomadic people from Central Asia, moved gradually into Persia and Armenia as the Abbasids weakened. By the last quarter of the eleventh century the Seljuks were exerting pressure on Egypt and the Byzantine Empire. In 1071 the Byzantine army was routed at Manzikert, near Lake Van, and the victors took over most of the Anatolian Peninsula. The empire turned to the west for help, setting in motion the Crusades.
In 1204 the Fourth Crusade en route to the Near East sacked the capital city and briefly set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople. In 1235-6 in alliance with Nicaea, the Bulgarians laid siege to Constantinople but were unsuccessful. In 1261 the Byzantines recaptured the city but the empire had been fatally weakened. Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman Turks on 29 May 1453.
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