IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1035: Byzantine Military Matters

Wednesday 9 July 2014, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:	Jonathan Shepard, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
Paper 1035-a	Barbarians and Brothers-in-Arms: Byzantines on Barbarians in the Age of Justinian (Language: English) David Parnell, Department of History, Indiana University Northwest Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Onomastics, Rhetoric, Social History
Paper 1035-b	All Roads Lead To Constantinople: The Via Militaris in the Middle Ages (Language: English) Matthew Larnach, Medieval & Early Modern Centre, University of Sydney Index terms: Archaeology - General, Byzantine Studies, Military History
Paper 1035-c	Byzantine Maritime Defense System: Upgrading Its Administration and Organisation Aiming to Reinforce the Empire's Armour (Language: English) Aspa Veneri, Département d'histoire, Université Paris IV - Sorbonne Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract	Paper -a: The Byzantine Empire inherited a complex legacy from Rome and Greece, not least in the tradition of ethnography and the term 'barbarian'. While there was considerable antagonism between Romans and those they considered barbarians in the 5th century, the situation changed dramatically in the 6th century. Byzantines were quite accepting of non-Romans in the army and government service during the Age of Justinian. Behind this pragmatism, however, there may have lurked some suspicion and unease about these barbarians. This paper will examine the complex and sometimes contradictory opinions Byzantines in power had about the non-Romans they worked with most closely. Paper -b: Whilst it once could be said that all roads led to Rome, was the same true for the capital of the Byzantine empire? This paper seeks to explore that question through the analysis of one road in particular, the Via Militaris, which diagonally bisected the Balkan peninsula, from Belgrade to Constantinople. In what condition was the road in the Middle Ages (6th - 12th centuries), and how navigable was it? What efforts, if any, were made to maintain it, and what can we learn from this of the Byzantine's ability to project power over the frontier regions of the empire? Paper -c: Byzantium faced a host of hostile and determined enemies who continually challenged the control and the sovereignty of her coastal frontier. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos noted that only the emperor who fully controls the sea can keep hold of power. The Byzantines, convinced of the above mentioned belief, comprehended thereafter that the supremacy by sea could even guarantee the supremacy by land and followed an upgrade policy regarding the navy, aiming to defend their coasts and islands and to repel at the same time invaders who were claiming their territories. The rulers of Constantinople, according to the Empire's needs, took the first steps in a defensive direction by inaugurating a wholesale organization of the Byzantine military and naval power.