1.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
2.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
3.
Byzantine
–
It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
Byzantine
–
Tremissis with the image of
Justinian the Great (r. 527–565) (see
Byzantine insignia)
Byzantine
–
Byzantine
lamellar armour klivanium (Κλιβάνιον) - a predecessor of Ottoman krug
mirror armour
Byzantine
–
The Baptism of Constantine painted by
Raphael 's pupils (1520–1524,
fresco, Vatican City,
Apostolic Palace);
Eusebius of Caesarea records that (as
was common among converts of early Christianity) Constantine delayed receiving
baptism until shortly before his death
Byzantine
–
Restored section of the Theodosian Walls.
4.
Heraclius
–
Heraclius was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641. He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Roman Empires official language and his rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heracliuss reign was marked by military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers, Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military, Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavadh II and this way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires. Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests, emerging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the Sassanid empire. In 634 the Muslims marched into Roman Syria, defeating Heracliuss brother Theodore, within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia and Egypt. Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats and Serbs in the Balkans and he tried to repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites, by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. The Church of the East was also involved in the process, eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute. Heraclius was the eldest son of Heraclius the Elder and Epiphania, of an Armenian family from Cappadocia, beyond that, there is little specific information known about his ancestry. His father was a key general during Emperor Maurices war with Bahrām Chobin, usurper of the Sassanid Empire, after the war, Maurice appointed Heraclius the Elder to the position of Exarch of Africa. In 608, Heraclius the Elder renounced his loyalty to the Emperor Phocas, the rebels issued coins showing both Heraclii dressed as consuls, though neither of them explicitly claimed the imperial title at this time. Heracliuss younger cousin Nicetas launched an invasion of Egypt, by 609, he had defeated Phocass general Bonosus. Meanwhile, the younger Heraclius sailed eastward with another force via Sicily, when he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite Imperial Guard unit led by Phocass son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. When Heraclius captured Phocas, he asked him Is this how you have ruled, Phocass reply—And will you rule better. —so enraged Heraclius that he beheaded Phocas on the spot. He later had the genitalia removed from the body because Phocas had raped the wife of Photius, a powerful politician in the city. On October 5,610, Heraclius was crowned for a time, this time in the Chapel of St. Stephen within the Great Palace, at the same time he married Fabia
Heraclius
–
Tremissis of Emperor Heraclius.
Heraclius
–
Gold
solidus of Heraclius and his father in consular robes, struck during their revolt against Phocas
Heraclius
–
The assassination of Khosrau II, in a
Mughal manuscript of ca. 1535,
Persian poems are from
Ferdowsi 's
Shahnameh
Heraclius
–
Cherub and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrau II; plaque from a cross (
Champlevé enamel over gilt copper, 1160–1170,
Paris,
Louvre).
5.
Curopalates
–
The female variant, held by the spouses of the kouropalatai, was kouropalatissa. The title is first attested in the early 5th century, as an official of vir spectabilis rank under the castrensis palatii, unlike them, however, it later came to be granted to important foreign rulers, mostly in the Caucasus. Thus, from the 580s to the 1060s, sixteen Georgian ruling princes and kings held that honorific, as well as, after 635, according to the Klētorologion of Philotheos, written in 899, the insignia of the rank were a red tunic, mantle and belt. Their award by the Byzantine emperor signified the elevation of the recipient to the office, the title survived into the Palaiologan period, but was rarely used. Justin II, under his uncle Emperor Justinian I, baduarius, under his father-in-law Emperor Justin II. Peter, the brother of Emperor Maurice, domentziolus, the nephew of Emperor Phocas. Artabasdos, under Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, Michael I Rangabe, the son-in-law of Emperor Nikephoros I. Bardas, uncle and effective regent for Emperor Michael III, Leo Phokas, general and brother of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Darigbed, the Sassanian equivalent Bury, John Bagnell, the Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century - With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. Basil II and the Governance of Empire, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, martindale, John Robert, Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, Morris, J. eds. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III, A. D. 527–641, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press. Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography, Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, washington, District of Columbia, Georgetown University Press
Curopalates
–
Lead seal of Michael Kontostephanos, kouropalates and
doux of
Antioch, ca. 1055
6.
Muslim conquest of Syria
–
During the Roman period, beginning after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70, the entire region was renamed Palaestina, subdivided into Diocese I and II. The Romans also renamed an area of land including the Negev, Sinai, part of the area was ruled by the Arab vassal state of the Ghassanids symmachos. Thus, on the eve of the Muslim conquests the Romans were still in the process of rebuilding their authority in these territories, politically, the Syrian region consisted of two provinces, Syria proper stretched from Antioch and Aleppo in the north to the top of the Dead Sea. To the west and south of the Dead Sea lay the province of Palestine, Syria was mostly a Syriac and Hellenized land with some Jewish presence and with a partly Arab population, especially in its eastern and southern parts. The Ghassan Dynasty became one of the princely dynasties of the Empire, with the Ghassan king ruling over the Arabs in Jordan. The last of the Ghassan kings, who ruled at the time of the Muslim invasion, was Jabla bin Al Aiham, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, after re-capturing Syria from the Sassanians, set up new defense lines from Gaza to the south end of the Dead Sea. These lines were designed to protect communications from bandits, and the bulk of the Byzantine defenses were concentrated in Northern Syria facing the traditional foes. This defense line had as a drawback that it enabled the Muslims, the 7th century was a time of fast military changes in the Byzantine Empire. Muhammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr was appointed Caliph, soon after Abu Bakrs succession, several Arab tribes revolted against him in the Ridda wars. The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during the year of the Hijri. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on 18 March 633, with Arabia united under the authority of the Caliph at Medina. After successful campaigns against the Sassanids and the ensuing conquest of Iraq Khalid established his stronghold in Iraq, while engaged with Sassanid forces, confrontation also ensued with the Byzantine Arab clients, the Ghassanids. Tribal contingents were recruited to the call from Medinah from all over the Arabian peninsula. The tradition of raising armies from tribal contingents remained in use until 636, Abu Bakr organised the army into four corps, each with its own commander and objective. Move on Elat route, then across Valley of Arabah, Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan, Objective Damascus. Move on Tabuk route after Yazid, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Objective Emesa. Move on Tabuk route after Shurahbil, in case the corps had to concentrate for one major battle, Abu Ubaidah was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire army. In the first week of April 634, the Muslim forces began to move from their camps outside Medina, the first to leave was Yazids corps, followed by Shurahbil, Abu Ubaidah and Amr, each a days march from the other
Muslim conquest of Syria
–
The Scene of the
Roman Theatre at Palmyra
Muslim conquest of Syria
–
Ruins of Ancient
Petra, one of the first cities to fall to invading Muslim armies.
Muslim conquest of Syria
–
Byzantine temple in
Idlib.
Muslim conquest of Syria
–
Temple of Jupiter, Lebanon.
7.
Solidus (coin)
–
The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arabian dinar, in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also functioned as a unit of weight equal to 1/72 of a pound. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in AD301 as a replacement of the aureus, composed of solid gold. His minting was on a scale, however, and the coin only entered widespread circulation under Constantine I after AD312. Constantines solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of gold, each coin weighed 24 Greco-Roman carats. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 increasingly debased denarii, with the exception of the early issues of Constantine the Great and the odd usurpers the Solidus today is a much more affordable Gold Roman Coin to collect compared to the Older Aureus. Especially those of Valens Honorius and later Byzantine issues, the solidus was maintained essentially unaltered in weight, dimensions and purity until the 10th century. During the 6th and 7th centuries lightweight solidi of 20,22 or 23 siliquae were struck along with the weight issues. Many of these coins have been found in Europe, Russia and Georgia. The lightweight solidi were distinguished by different markings on the coin, usually in the exergue for the 20 and 22 siliquae coins and by stars in the field for the 23 siliquae coins. In theory the solidus was struck from pure gold, but because of the limits of refining techniques, in the Greek-speaking world during the Roman period, and then in the Byzantine economy, the solidus was known as the νόμισμα nomisma. Initially it was difficult to distinguish the two coins, as they had the design, dimensions and purity, and there were no marks of value to distinguish the denominations. The only difference was the weight, the tetarteron nomisma was a lighter coin, about 4.05 grams, but the histamenon nomisma maintained the traditional weight of 4.5 grams. To eliminate confusion between the two, from the reign of Basil II the solidus was struck as a coin with a larger diameter. From the middle of the 11th century the larger diameter histamenon nomisma was struck on a concave flan, former money changer Michael IV the Paphlagonian assumed the throne of Byzantium in 1034 and began the slow process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma and the histamenon nomisma. Alexius reformed the coinage in 1092 and eliminated the solidus altogether, in its place he introduced a new gold coin called the hyperpyron nomisma at about 20. 5k fine. The weight, dimensions and purity of the hyperpyron nomisma remained stable until the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, after that time the exiled Empire of Nicea continued to strike a debased hyperpyron nomisma
Solidus (coin)
–
Solidus of Constantine I, minted in 324/5 AD
Solidus (coin)
–
Julian solidus, ca. 361.
Solidus (coin)
–
Avitus tremissis, one-third of a solidus, ca. 456.
Solidus (coin)
–
Northern Gaul "sou", 440–450, 4240mg.
8.
Exarch of Africa
–
It was created by emperor Maurice in the late 580s and survived until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the late 7th century. It included the provinces of Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, Tripolitania, Numidia, Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis, in the 560s, a Roman expedition succeeded in regaining parts of southern Spain, which were administered as the new province of Spania. Under Justinian I, the process was reversed for provinces which were judged to be especially vulnerable or in internal disorder. Two exarchates were established, one in Italy, with seat at Ravenna, the first African exarch was the patricius Gennadius. The Visigothic Kingdom was also a continuous threat, the African exarch was in possession of Mauretania II, which was little more than a tiny outpost in southern Spain. The conflict continued until the final conquest of the last Spanish strongholds in c.624 by the Visigoths, the Byzantines retained only the fort of Septum, across the Strait of Gibraltar. Due to religious and political ambitions, the Exarch Gregory the Patrician declared himself independent of Constantinople in 647, the first Islamic expeditions began with an initiative from Egypt under the emir Amr ibn al-As and his nephew Uqba ibn Nafi. Sensing Roman weakness they conquered Barca, in Cyrenaica, then successively on to Tripolitania where they encountered resistance, due to the unrest caused by theological disputes concerning Monothelitism and Monoenergism the Exarchate under Gregory the Patrician distanced itself from the empire in open revolt. Carthage being flooded with refugees from Egypt, Palestine and Syria exacerbated religious tensions, afterwards the Exarchate became a semi-client state under a new Exarch called Gennadius. Attempting to maintain tributary status with Constantinople and Damascus strained the resources of the Exarchate, the peak of resistance reached by the Exarchate with assistance from the Berber allies of king Kusaila was the victory over the forces of Uqba ibn Nafi at the Battle of Vescera in 682. This victory caused the Muslim forces to retreat to Egypt, giving the Exarchate a decades respite, the repeated confrontations took their toll on the dwindling and ever-divided resources of the Exarchate. In 698, the Muslim commander Hasan ibn al-Numan and a force of 40,000 men crushed Roman Carthage, many of its defenders were Visigoths sent to defend the Exarchate by their king, who also feared Muslim expansion. Many Visigoths fought to the death, in the ensuing battle Roman Carthage was again reduced to rubble and it was also an enormous blow because it permanently ended Roman presence in Africa. Histoire de la Domination Byzantine en Afrique, Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. Histoire de lAfrique du Nord, vol.1 - Des origines a la conquête arabe,1961 edition, Paris, Payot Pringle, Denys. The Defence of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest, An Account of the Military History, oxford, United Kingdom, British Archaeological Reports
Exarch of Africa
–
The conquests of Justinian I
overextended the resources of the Eastern Roman Empire, and led to the establishment of the Exarchates
9.
Heraclius the Elder
–
Heraclius the Elder was an East Roman general and the father of Byzantine emperor Heraclius. Of possible Armenian origin, Heraclius the Elder distinguished himself in the war against the Sassanid Persians in the 580s, as a subordinate general, Heraclius served under the command of Philippicus during the Battle of Solachon and possibly served under Comentiolus during the Battle of Sisarbanon. In circa 595, Heraclius the Elder is mentioned as a magister militum per Armeniam sent by Emperor Maurice to quell an Armenian rebellion led by Samuel Vahewuni and Atat Khorkhoruni. In circa 600, he was appointed as the Exarch of Africa and in 608, using North Africa as a base, the younger Heraclius managed to overthrow Phocas, beginning the Heraclian dynasty, which would rule Byzantium for a century. Heraclius the Elder died soon after receiving news of his sons accession to the Byzantine throne, Heraclius the Elder was possibly of Armenian origin and presumably bilingual at an early age. His origin is deduced by a passage of Theophylact Simocatta, which him a native of Byzantine Armenia. Heraclius the Elders own city is not specifically mentioned, mary and Michael Whitby suggest that Heraclius the Elder was at the time the magister militum per Armeniam. If so, his city was Theodosiopolis, the headquarters of the Roman forces in Armenia, as the chief military stronghold along the northeastern border of the empire, Theodosiopolis held an important strategic location that was contested in wars between the Byzantines and Persians. Emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I both refortified the city and built new defenses during their reigns, nothing is known of the specific ancestry of Heraclius the Elder, but this has not prevented modern historians from speculating on the matter. Cyril Mango has supported a theory which suggests that he was a descendant of Heraclius of Edessa. A passage from Sebeoss History has been understood to suggest an Arsacid origin of Heraclius the Elder and this theory was strongly supported by Cyril Toumanoff, while considered likely by Alexander Vasiliev and Irfan Shahîd. John of Nikiû and Constantine Manasses seem to consider his son, Heraclius the Younger, to be a Cappadocian, the Historia syntomos of Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople mentions a single brother of Heraclius the Elder, named Gregoras, who was the father of Nicetas. Theophanes the Confessor mentions Epiphania as the mother of Emperor Heraclius, thus wife of Heraclius the Elder, in contrast, there is no source mentioning him in the same sentence as the siblings of Emperor Heraclius. That he was their father can be assumed though. The best attested sibling of Heraclius the Younger was arguably Theodore, maria, sister of Heraclius the Younger, is mentioned by Nikephoros I and identified as mother of Martina, whom Heraclius the Younger would go on to marry. Finally, Theophanes briefly mentions another Gregoras as a brother of Heraclius the Younger on the occasion of the death at Heliopolis circa 652/653. This is the mention of this sibling. Theophanes, however, might have misunderstood the relation between Gregoras and the emperor, Heraclius the Elder is first mentioned in 586 as a general serving under Philippicus during the Roman–Persian War of 572–591
Heraclius the Elder
–
Gold
solidus struck during the revolt of the Heraclii, depicting them both wearing the consular robes
Heraclius the Elder
–
The Roman-Persian frontier between 565 and 591
10.
Phocas
–
Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war. Phocas was a Greek-speaking native of Thrace, almost nothing is known of Phocass early life and the name of his father is unknown. He had at least two brothers, Comentiolus and Domentziolus, by 600, he was a subaltern officer in the Byzantine army serving in Maurices Balkan campaigns, and he was apparently viewed as a leader by his fellow soldiers. He was a member of a delegation sent by the army in that year to Constantinople to submit grievances to the government, the Avars had defeated the Byzantines in 598, had taken a large number of prisoners, and demanded a ransom. Maurice refused to pay and all the prisoners were killed, causing consternation among the army, the delegations complaints were rejected, and, according to several sources, Phocas himself was slapped and humiliated by prominent court officials at this time. The army almost immediately revolted and marched on the capital, with Phocas at its head, within a month, Maurices government had collapsed, the Emperor abdicated and fled the city, and the Green faction in Constantinople acclaimed Phocas as emperor. Phocas was crowned in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Maurice, who represented little genuine threat, was dragged from his monastic sanctuary at Chalcedon, and killed along with his six sons. It is said that he had to watch as his sons were executed in front of his eyes, the bodies were thrown in the sea and the heads of all were exhibited in Constantinople before Phocas made arrangements for a Christian burial for the relics of his deeply pious predecessor. Phocass rule was welcomed at first because he lowered taxes. Fulsome letters of praise from Pope Gregory I attest to this. The pope, Saint Gregory, appreciated his acceptance of the reforms he had begun, the agrarian reforms of the Church in Italy and particularly in Sicily had been followed in Egypt by the Orthodox Patriarchs. The Church needed money to pay for hospitals, maternity wards, Phocas faced rising opposition and was regarded by many as a populist. His coup détat was the first violent regime change in Constantinople since its foundation by Constantine and he is reported to have responded to this opposition with cruelty, allegedly killing thousands in an effort to keep control of the government. No histories written under Phocas survive, and thus we are dependent for information on historians writing under his successors, the Column of Phocas was the last Imperial monument ever to be erected in the Roman forum. In Phocass reign, the Byzantines were sovereign over the city of Rome, Phocas tended to support the popes in many of the theological controversies of the time, and thus enjoyed good relations with the papacy. Phocas gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV for use as a church, in gratitude Smaragdus erected in the Roman Forum a gilded statue atop the rededicated Column of Phocas, which featured a new inscription on its base in the Emperors honour. The fluted Corinthian column and the plinth on which it sits were already standing in situ
Phocas
–
Phocas wearing consular uniform on a coin
Phocas
–
Column of Phocas, the last monument erected in the
Roman forum.
11.
Magister militum per Orientem
–
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the referred to the senior military officer of the Empire. In Greek sources, the term is translated either as strategos or as stratelates, the title of magister militum was created in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine the Great deprived the praetorian prefects of their military functions. Initially two posts were created, one as head of the troops, as the magister peditum, and one for the more prestigious horse troops. The latter title had existed since Republican times, as the second-in-command to a Roman dictator, on occasion, the offices would be combined under a single person, then styled magister equitum et peditum or magister utriusque militiae. As such they were directly in command of the mobile field army of the comitatenses, composed mostly of cavalry. Other magistri remained at the disposal of the Emperors, and were termed in praesenti. By the late 4th century, the commanders were termed simply magister militum. In the Western Roman Empire, a commander-in-chief evolved with the title of magister utriusque militiae and this powerful office was often the power behind the throne and was held by Stilicho, Flavius Aetius, Ricimer, and others. In the East, there were two generals, who were each appointed to the office of magister militum praesentalis. In the course of the 6th century, internal and external crises in the provinces often necessitated the temporary union of the regional civil authority with the office of the magister militum. In the establishment of the exarchates of Ravenna and Carthage in 584, indeed, after the loss of the eastern provinces to the Muslim conquest in the 640s, the surviving field armies and their commanders formed the first themata. Supreme military commanders sometimes also took this title in early medieval Italy, for example in the Papal States and in Venice, whose Doge claimed to be the successor to the Exarch of Ravenna. 383-385/8, Flavius Bauto, magister militum under Valentinian II 385/8-394, Arbogast, magister militum under Valentinian II and Eugenius 383–388, Andragathius after 383-408, –419, Flavius Gaudentius 425–433, Flavius Aetius 435-439, Litorius 452–456, Agrippinus 456–461, Aegidius 461/462, Agrippinus. 468–474, Julius Nepos 477–479, Onoulphus 479–481, Sabinianus Magnus 528, Ascum 529–530/1, Mundus 532–536,550, John 568–569/70, Bonus 581–582, Theognis c. 503–505, Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus 505–506, Pharesmanes. 516-.518,554, Artabanes 588, Priscus 593, Priscus 593–594, Peter 594–ca. Justinian 528, Leontius 528-529, Phocas 520-538/9, Sittas 536, Germanus 536, Maxentianus 546–548, Artabanes 548/9–552, Suartuas 562, Constantinianus 582, Germanus 585–ca. In the Gesta Herwardi, the hero is several times described as magister militum by the man who translated the original Early English account into Latin
Magister militum per Orientem
–
The original command structure of the
Late Roman army, with a separate magister equitum and a magister peditum in place of the later overall magister militum in the command structure of the army of the Western Roman Empire.
12.
Priscus (general)
–
Priscus or Priskos was a leading East Roman general during the reigns of the Byzantine emperors Maurice, Phocas and Heraclius. Priscus comes across as an effective and capable leader, although the contemporary sources are markedly biased in his favour. Under Maurice, he distinguished himself in the campaigns against the Avars, Priscus, however, also negotiated with and assisted Heraclius in the overthrow of Phocas, and was entrusted with command against the Persians in 611–612. After the failure of this campaign, he was dismissed and tonsured, Priscus first appears in the historical sources when he was appointed, in late 587 or early 588, to command in the East against the Persians as magister militum per Orientem, replacing Philippicus. He only reached the East in spring, and assumed his new command at Monocarton in April, Priscus not only failed to restore order, but was himself attacked and forced to flee to Constantina, while the soldiers elected the dux of Phoenice, Germanus, as their leader. Priscuss attempts from Constantina to calm the soldiers by employing the local bishops as mediators, Philippicus was restored to command by Maurice, while Priscus returned to Constantinople. Despite this debacle, in the summer he was entrusted with the post of magister militum for Thrace. His deputy Salvianus with 1,000 cavalry was sent to hold the passes of the Haemus Mountains, outflanked, Priscus retreated to Tzurullum, where he was besieged by the Avars. The Avar khagan was persuaded that the letter was true and prepared to return home in haste, the 12th-century history of Michael the Syrian gives this as 800 pounds of gold, a considerably reduced sum compared to the 100,000 solidi agreed in 584. The Avars departed for their country, while Priscus disbanded his army, Priscus disappears for the next few years, as he fell into disfavour with Maurice. By 593, he had recovered his position, as a letter by Pope Gregory the Great which congratulates him on returning to the emperors favour testifies, the Popes letter also testifies that by this time, Priscus had been given the Empires supreme honorary rank, that of patrikios. In spring 593, Priscus was re-appointed in command as commander of the cavalry in Thrace, Priscus, as the more senior of the two, also held overall command. Both generals marched to Dorostolon on the Danube, and campaigned with success against the Slavic tribes preparing to cross the river under their leaders Ardagastus and Musocius, crossing the river, both Slavic hosts were annihilated in surprise night attacks. At the same time, however, Priscus reportedly quarrelled with his men over the distribution of the booty captured, the soldiers were eventually placated, and the booty sent back to the capital with an escort. Maurice also sent orders for the army to winter north of the river, Priscus chose to disobey the emperors order and crossed again with his army to winter in the southern bank. In the autumn of 593, he was replaced by Maurice with his own brother Peter. In late 594, however, after Peter was heavily defeated by the Slavs, Priscus was again appointed to command as magister militum of Thrace, a post he proceeded to hold continuously for several years. In 595, he marched up the Danube, crossing the river and marching along its bank to Novae
Priscus (general)
–
Gold
solidus of Emperor
Maurice (r. 582–602).
Priscus (general)
–
Map of the Byzantine-Persian frontier
Priscus (general)
–
Gold solidus of Emperor
Phocas (r. 602–610).
Priscus (general)
–
Gold solidus of Emperor
Heraclius (r. 610–641).
13.
Philippicus (general)
–
Philippicus or Philippikos was an East Roman general of Armenian origin, comes excubitorum, and brother-in-law of Emperor Maurice. His successful career as a general spanned three decades, chiefly against the Sassanid Persians, little is known about Philippicuss early years. He was married to Gordia, sister of Emperor Maurice, probably in 583 and he commanded numerous raids into Persian territory in 584–585, ravaging the plains near Nisibis, and making inroads in the regions of Arzanene and eastern Mesopotamia. During the same period, he tried to improve the discipline. Philippicus spent the winter of 585-586 in Constantinople, and returned to his headquarters in Amida in the spring, after Persian peace proposals were rejected, he advanced his troops to the frontier, where he defeated a superior Persian force under Kardarigan at the Battle of Solachon. He then proceeded to invade and plunder Arzanene and laid siege to the fortress of Chlomaron, however, the approach of a Persian relief army panicked the Romans, who fled in disorder back into Roman territory. There, possibly due to illness, he handed command of his army to his hypostrategos Heraclius. In spring 587, he was ill, and unable to campaign in person. He assigned two thirds of his army to Heraclius and the remainder to generals Theodore and Andreas, and he did not campaign himself that year, and in the winter, he set off towards Constantinople. On his way, he learned that he had replaced by Priscus. When Priscus arrived in the East, however, the soldiers refused to obey him, Philippicus, who was soon re-appointed as commander of the East, could only assume his command after the mutiny was quelled through the intervention of the Patriarch of Antioch. Philippicus failed to retake it and was defeated by a Persian relief force led by Mahbodh and Aphrarat, except for a diplomatic mission in 590 to the recently deposed Persian ruler Khosrau II, who had taken refuge in Roman territory, Philippicus disappears from the scene for several years. At some point in 602, suspicions fell upon him of plotting against Emperor Maurice, since a prophecy stated that the name of Maurices successor would begin with a Φ. Indeed, soon after, Maurice was deposed and killed by a revolt in the Balkan army led by Phocas, as a close associate of Maurice, Philippicus was tonsured and forced to enter a monastery in Chrysopolis. He was still at the monastery when Heraclius overthrew Phocas in 610, the new emperor recalled him and sent him to negotiate with Phocass brother, Comentiolus, who commanded the eastern army. Comentiolus imprisoned him and intended to execute him, but Philippicus was saved when Comentiolus himself was murdered, in 612, he was again appointed by Heraclius as magister militum per Orientem succeeding the disgraced Priscus, and campaigned against the Persians in Armenia. In 614, as a Persian army under Shahin invaded Asia Minor and reached the shores of the Bosporus at Chalcedon, Philippicus invaded Persian territory in turn, Philippicus died shortly after, and was buried in a church he had built at Chrysopolis
Philippicus (general)
–
Map of the Roman-Persian frontier.
14.
Sasanian Empire
–
The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V. According to a legend, the vexilloid of the Sasanian Empire was the Derafsh Kaviani, in many ways, the Sasanian period witnessed the peak of ancient Iranian civilization. Persia influenced Roman culture considerably during the Sasanian period, the Sasanians cultural influence extended far beyond the empires territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe, Africa, China and India. It played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art, much of what later became known as Islamic culture in art, architecture, music and other subject matter was transferred from the Sasanians throughout the Muslim world. Conflicting accounts shroud the details of the fall of the Parthian Empire, the Sassanid Empire was established in Estakhr by Ardashir I. Papak was originally the ruler of a region called Khir, however, by the year 200, he managed to overthrow Gochihr, and appoint himself as the new ruler of the Bazrangids. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the governor of Pars. Papak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power all of Pars. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the nature of the sources. It is certain, however, that following the death of Papak, Ardashir, sources reveal that Shapur, leaving for a meeting with his brother, was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By the year 208, over the protests of his brothers who were put to death. Once Ardashir was appointed shahanshah, he moved his capital further to the south of Pars, the city, well supported by high mountains and easily defendable through narrow passes, became the center of Ardashirs efforts to gain more power. The city was surrounded by a high, circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgird, in a second attempt to destroy Ardashir, Artabanus V himself met Ardashir in battle at Hormozgan, where Artabanus V met his death. Following the death of the Parthian ruler, Ardashir I went on to invade the provinces of the now defunct Parthian Empire. Ardashir was aided by the geography of the province of Fars, in the next few years, local rebellions would form around the empire. Nonetheless, Ardashir I further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana, Balkh and he also added Bahrain and Mosul to Sassanids possessions. In the west, assaults against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene met with less success, in 230, he raided deep into Roman territory, and a Roman counter-offensive two years later ended inconclusively, although the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, celebrated a triumph in Rome. Ardashir Is son Shapur I continued the expansion of the empire, conquering Bactria, invading Roman Mesopotamia, Shapur I captured Carrhae and Nisibis, but in 243 the Roman general Timesitheus defeated the Persians at Rhesaina and regained the lost territories
Sasanian Empire
–
Normal domains
Sasanian Empire
–
Derafsh Kaviani
Sasanian Empire
–
Ghal'eh Dokhtar (or "The Maiden's Castle") in present-day
Fars,
Firuzabad,
Iran, built by Ardashir in 209, before he was finally able to defeat the Parthian empire.
15.
Antioch
–
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greco-Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the city of Antakya, Turkey. Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, the citys geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants, particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Persian Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the city of the Near East. It was also the center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Most of the development of Antioch was done during the Roman Empire. Antioch was called the cradle of Christianity as a result of its longevity, the Christian New Testament asserts that the name Christian first emerged in Antioch. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, a single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley. The settlement of Meroe pre-dated Antioch, a shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the Persian Artemis, was located here. This site was included in the suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Io and this name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians—an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the citys coins. Io may have been an early colony of trading Greeks. John Malalas also mentions a village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch and this account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch, and may be legend intended to enhance Antiochs status. But the story is not unlikely in itself, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, his generals divided up the territory he had conquered. Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four sister cities in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch and he is reputed to have built sixteen Antiochs. Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means, an eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the year of his reign
Antioch
–
Ancient
Roman road located in
Syria which connected Antioch and
Chalcis.
Antioch
–
Map of Antioch in Roman and early Byzantine times
Antioch
–
This
argenteus was struck in Antioch mint, under
Constantius Chlorus.
Antioch
–
The Antioch Chalice, first half of 6th century,
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
16.
Cilicia
–
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus, Cilicia extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia, to the Nur Mountains, which separated it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the central plateau of Anatolia. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River, salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices, as from the Troad in the northernwesternmost part of Anatolia, the English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin accounts for its pronunciation in English. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia, many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three rivers, the Cydnus, the Sarus and the Pyramus, each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus on the Cydnus, Adana on the Sarus, Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows, Aceramic/Neolithic, 8th and 7th millennia BC, Early Chalcolithic,5800 BC, Middle Chalcolithic, c. 3400 BC, and Early Bronze Age IA, 3400–3000 BC, EBA IB, 3000–2700 BC, EBA II, 2700–2400 BC, EBA III A-B, the area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era. The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya, a plain, and rough Cilicia, in the mountainous west. The Cilicians appear as Hilikku in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the part of the first millennium BC were one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the Aleian plain in which Bellerophon wandered, the Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names, Tarzu, Ingira, Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri, Kundu and Karatepe. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, the first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a great king in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicias power in the region
Cilicia
–
Fugitive slave treaty between Idrimi of
Alalakh (now
Tell Atchana) and Pillia of
Kizzuwatna (now Cilicia), (c. 1480 BC) Ref: 131447.
Cilicia
–
Cilicia
Cilicia
–
The Persian
Pharnabazus, pictured, as Satrap of Cilicia (379-374 BC).
British Museum.
Cilicia
–
A Roman-period triumphal arch at
Anazarbus, later converted into the city's south gate
17.
Shahin Vahmanzadegan
–
Shahen or Shahin was a senior Sasanian general during the reign of Khosrau II. He was a member of the House of Spandiyadh, following the expulsion of Roman forces from that region, in 611 Shahin led an advance into Anatolia, capturing Caesarea. There, Phocas son-in-law Priscus, started a siege to trap them inside the city. However, Shahins troops escaped Priscus blockade and burned Caesarea, much to Heraclius displeasure, in 613 the Roman offensive pressed on into Syria, but the combined Persian armies under Shahin and Shahrbaraz crushingly defeated Heraclius near Antioch. After this victory the Persians looted the city, slew the Patriarch of Antioch, Roman forces lost again while attempting to defend the area just to the north of Antioch at the Cilician Gates, despite some initial success. The Persians then captured Tarsus and the Cilician plain and this defeat cut the Byzantine empire in half, severing Constantinople and Anatolias land link to Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the Exarchate of Carthage. In 614 Shahin was able to all the way across Anatolia to Chalcedon on the shore of the Bosphoros opposite Constantinople. On the shore of Chalcedon, Heraclius held a conference with Shahin, however this is inconsistent with the account of Theophanes the Confessor, who claims that Shahin fought against Byzantine forces in the following years. By 624, Heraclius wintered in Caucasian Albania, gathering forces for the next year, Khosrau was not content to let Heraclius quietly rest in Albania. He sent three armies, commanded by Shahin, Shahrbaraz, and Shahraplakan, to try to trap, Shahraplakan retook lands up as far as Siwnik, aiming to capture the mountain passes. Shahrbaraz was sent to block Heraclius retreat through Caucasian Iberia, Heraclius, planning to engage the Persian armies separately, spoke to his worried Lazic, Abasgian, and Iberian allies and soldiers, saying, Do not let the number of our enemies disturb us. For, God willing, one will pursue ten thousand, two soldiers who feigned desertion were sent to Shahrbaraz, claiming that the Byzantines were fleeing before Shahin. Due to jealousy between the Persian commanders, Shahrbaraz hurried with his army to take part in the glory of the victory, Heraclius met them at Tigranakert and routed the forces of Shahraplakan and Shahin one after the other. Shahin lost his train, and Shahraplakan was killed, though he re-appears later. After this victory, Heraclius crossed the Araxes and camped in the plains on the other side, Shahin, with the remnants of both his and Shahraplakans armies joined Shahrbaraz in the pursuit of Heraclius, but marshes slowed them down. At Aliovit, Shahrbaraz split his forces, sending some 6,000 troops to ambush Heraclius while the remainder of the troops stayed at Aliovit, Heraclius instead launched a surprise night attack on the Persian main camp in February 625, destroying it. Shahrbaraz only barely escaped, naked and alone, having lost his harem, baggage, Shahin then regrouped with Shahrbaraz, shadowing Heraclius through Armenia in an inconclusive campaign for the remainder of that year. In 626 Khosrau ordered a levy of troops from across his empire to revive the faltering war effort
Shahin Vahmanzadegan
–
Achaemenid Empire
Shahin Vahmanzadegan
–
Campaign map from 611 to 624 through
Syria,
Anatolia,
Armenia, and
Mesopotamia
18.
Anatolia
–
Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
Anatolia
–
The traditional definition of Anatolia within modern Turkey
Anatolia
–
The location of
Turkey (within the rectangle) in reference to the
European continent. Anatolia roughly corresponds to the
Asian part of Turkey, except the eastern parts historically known as the
Armenian Highlands
Anatolia
–
1907 map of Asia Minor, showing the local ancient kingdoms
Anatolia
–
Mural of
aurochs, a
deer, and humans in
Çatalhöyük, which is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. It was registered as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
19.
Siege of Constantinople (626)
–
The Siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Sassanid Persians and Avars, aided by large numbers of allied Slavs, ended in a strategic victory for the Byzantines. In 602, Phocas overthrew Maurice, the incumbent Byzantine emperor, laws were passed condemning Jews whilst religious and administrative mishandling left the Empire in a sorry state when the Sassanid king Khosrau II attacked, using the coup as a pretext for war. Initially, the war went well for the Persians, until only Anatolia remained in Roman hands, later, Phocas was overthrown by the son of the then Exarch of Carthage, Heraclius. A general of astounding energy yet limited experience, Heraclius immediately began undoing much of Phocass damaging work that he had procured whilst Emperor. Yet, despite his offensives into Mesopotamia Heraclius was unable to stop his Persian enemies from laying siege to his capital where from Chalcedon they were able to launch their attack and he did this to conserve government resources, but he was removed. However, there were disturbances in the city. Khosrau, seeing that a counterattack was needed to defeat the Byzantines. Khosrau also coordinated with the Khagan of the Avars so as to launch an attack on Constantinople from both European and Asiatic sides. The Persian army stationed themselves at Chalcedon, while the Avars placed themselves on the European side of Constantinople, because of the Byzantine navys control of the Bosphorus strait, however, the Persians could not send troops to the European side to aid their ally. This reduced the effectiveness of the siege, because the Persians were experts in siege warfare, furthermore, the Persians and Avars had difficulties communicating across the guarded Bosphorus—though undoubtedly, there was some communication between the two forces. The defense of Constantinople was under the command of Patriarch Sergius, on 29 June 626, a coordinated assault on the walls began. The Persians had arrived in Chalcedon before Phocas was overthrown, however, it was only when the Avars began moving forward heavy siege equipment towards the Theodosian Walls that a siege became clear. Furthermore, the cries for religious zeal among the peasantry around Constantinople was made ever more effective by the fact that they were facing heathens. Consequently, every assault became a doomed effort, on August 7, a fleet of Persian rafts ferrying troops across the Bosphorus were surrounded and destroyed by Byzantine ships. The Slavs under the Avars attempted to attack the sea walls from across the Golden Horn, patrician Bonus galleys rammed and destroyed the Slavic boats, the Avar land assault from August 6 to the 7th also failed. With the news that Theodore had decisively triumphed over Shahin, the Avars retreated to the Balkan hinterland within two days, never to seriously threaten Constantinople again, even though the army of Shahrbaraz was still encamped at Chalcedon, the threat to Constantinople was over. The loss in the siege came just after news had reached them of yet another Byzantine victory, furthermore, after the emperor showed Shahrbaraz intercepted letters from Khosrau ordering the Persian generals death, the latter switched to Heraclius side. Shahrbaraz then moved his army to northern Syria, where he could decide to support either Khosrau or Heraclius at a moments notice
Siege of Constantinople (626)
–
Depiction of the siege from the Chronicle of
Constantine Manasses
Siege of Constantinople (626)
–
The Siege of Constantinople in 626 depicted on the
murals of the
Moldovița Monastery,
Romania
20.
Pannonian Avars
–
The Pannonian Avars /ˈævɑːrz/ also known as the Obri, the Abaroi and Varchonitai, and the Pseudo-Avars and Varchonites, were a group of Eurasian nomads of unknown origin during the early Middle Ages. The name Pannonian Avars, is used to them from the Avars of the Caucasus – who may or may not have been an unrelated people. They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and they were ruled by a khagan, who was assisted by an entourage of professional warriors. The language or languages spoken by the Avars are now unknown, denis Sinor states that most of the Avar words used in contemporaneous Latin or Greek texts, appear to have their origins in Siberian languages, especially Tungusic languages and Mongolian. There is also evidence, however, that ruling and subject clans spoke a variety of languages, proposals by scholars include Caucasian, Iranian, Tungusic, Hungarian and Turkic. A few scholars suggest that Proto-Slavic became the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate, according to Gyula László, the late 9th century Pannonian Avars spoke a variety of Old Hungarian, thereby forming an Avar-Hungarian continuity with then newly arrived Hungarians. The earliest clear reference to the Avar ethnonym comes from Priscus the Rhetor,463, the Šaragurs, Onogurs and Ogurs were attacked by the Sabirs, who had been attacked by the Avars. In turn, the Avars had been driven off by people fleeing man-eating griffins coming from the ocean, whilst Priscus accounts provide some information about the ethno-political situation in the Don-Kuban-Volga region after the demise of the Huns, no unequivocal conclusions can be reached. Denis Sinor has argued that whoever the Avars referred to by Priscus were, they differed from the Avars who appear a century later, during the time of Justinian. The next author of late antiquity to discuss the Avars, Menander Protector in the 6th century, each time, the Turks appear angered at the Byzantines for having made an alliance with the Avars, whom the Turks saw as their subjects and slaves. Turxanthos, a Turk prince, calls the Avars Varchonites and escaped slaves of the Turks, many more, but somewhat confusing, details come from Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote c. 629, but detailed the two decades of the 6th century. For it is by a misnomer that the barbarians on the Ister have assumed the appellation of Avars, so, when the Avars had been defeated some of them made their escape to those who inhabit Taugast. Taugast is a city, which is a total of one thousand five hundred miles distant from those who are called Turks. These make their habitations in the east, by the course of the river Til, the earliest leaders of this nation were named Var and Chunni, from them some parts of those nations were also accorded their nomenclature, being called Var and Chunni. Then, while the emperor Justinian was in possession of the royal power and these named themselves Avars and glorified their leader with the appellation of Chagan. Let us declare, without departing in the least from the truth, for this reason they honoured the fugitives with splendid gifts and supposed that they received from them security in exchange. In point of fact even up to our present times the Pseudo-Avars are divided in their ancestry, some bearing the time-honoured name of Var while others are called Chunni
Pannonian Avars
–
Warrior with captive, from a golden ewer of the
Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós. There is no agreement as to whether he represents an Avar, a Bulgar or a Khazar warrior.
Pannonian Avars
–
Gold Avar bowl, found in modern
Albania.
Pannonian Avars
–
Avar territory in the 6th century.
Pannonian Avars
–
Avar findings from Ozora-Tótipuszta, Hungary
21.
Khagan
–
Khagan or Qagan is a title in the Mongolian language equal to the status of emperor and used to refer to someone who rules a khaganate or empire. The title was adopted by Ögedei Khan from the Turkic title kaɣan and it may also be translated as Khan of Khans, equivalent to King of Kings. In modern Mongolian, the title became Khaan with the g sound becoming almost silent or non-existent, since the division of the Mongol Empire, emperors of the Yuan dynasty held the title of Khagan and their successors in Mongolia continued to have the title. Kağan and Kaan are common Turkish names in Turkey, the common western rendering as Great Khan, notably in the case of the Mongol Empire, is translation of Yekhe Khagan. In the speech one of the Murongs general named Yinalou addressed him as kehan, the Rouran Khaganate was the first people to use the titles Khagan and Khan for their emperors, replacing the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, whom Grousset and others assume to be Turkic. However, many believe the Rouran were proto-Mongols. The Avar Khaganate, who may have included Rouran elements after the Göktürks crushed the Rouran ruling Mongolia, the Avars invaded Europe, and for over a century ruled the Carpathian region. Westerners Latinized the title Khagan into Gaganus or Cagan, Khagan or Khaan refers to Emperor or King in the Mongolian language, however, Yekhe Khagan means Great Khagan or Grand Emperor. Thus, the Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan, coexisting with the independent Mongol khanates in the west, including the Chagatai Khanate, only the Ilkhanate truly recognized the Yuans overlordship as allies. Later Yuan emperors made peace with the three khanates of the Mongol Empire and were considered as their nominal suzerain. The nominal supremacy, while based on nothing like the foundations as that of the earlier Khagans, did last for a few decades. After the breakdown of Mongol Empire and the fall of the Yuan dynasty in the mid-14th century, dayan Khan once revived Emperors authority and recovered its reputation in Mongolia, but with the distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs it again caused decentralized rule. The last Khagan of the Chahars, Ligdan Khan, died in 1634 while fighting the Qing dynasty founded by the Manchu people, in contemporary Mongolian language the word Khaan and Khan have different meanings, while English language usually does not differentiate between them. The title is used as a generic term for a king or emperor. Minor rulers were rather relegated to the title of khan. Khagan is the title of Safavid and Qajar shahs of Iran. For example, Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, Fath Ali Shah, the nickname of Shah Ismail and other Safavid shahs is Kagan-i Suleyman shan. Emperor Taizong of Tang was crowned Tian Kehan, or heavenly Khagan after defeating the Tujue, a later letter sent by the Tang court to the Yenisei Kirghiz Qaghan explained that the peoples of the northwest had requested Tang Taizong to become the Heavenly Qaghan
Khagan
–
8 of 15 Khagans of the
Mongol Empire.
22.
Kavadh II
–
Shērōē, better known by his dynastic name of Kavadh II, was king of the Sasanian Empire briefly in 628. He was the son of Khosrau II and he became king after orchestrating a coup détat against his father. Kavadh II was the son of Khosrau II, the king of the Sasanian Empire, and Maria, daughter of Maurice, Kavadh was later imprisoned by his father who wanted to ensure the succession of his favorite son Mardanshah, the son of his favorite wife, Shirin. His fathers reputation had been ruined during the last phase of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 627, the Sasanian general Rhahzadh was slain and Dastgerd, the kings favorite residence, had been sacked by Heraclius, who was advancing towards Ctesiphon. On 25 February, Kavadh, along with Aspad Gushnasp, captured Ctesiphon, Kavadh II then proclaimed himself as king of the Sasanian Empire and ordered the execution of all his brothers and half-brothers, which included Mardanshah, the favorite son of Khosrau II. Three days later he ordered Mihr Hormozd to execute his father, however, after the execution of his father, Kavadh had Mihr Hormozd killed. Kavadh also appointed Varaztirots II Bagratuni as Marzban of Persian Armenia, Kavadh II later died from plague after a few months reign on 6 September 628. He was succeeded by his eight-year-old son Ardashir III for whom he decreed Emperor Heraclius act as regent and these decisions along with his Christian faith led the Zoroastrian priesthood to eliminate him and his young heir not long after. A passage of the Chronicle of Edessa identifies Anzoy the Roman as the wife of Kavadh II, the woman was probably a Christian princess from the Byzantine Empire. Siroe is the subject of operas by a number of composers including Pasquale Errichelli, Johann Adolph Hasse, Leonardo Vinci, Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel. Morris, John, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III, AD 527–641, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-20160-8 Morony, decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire, The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. Al-Tabari, Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir, the History of Al-Tabari, The Sasanids, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press
Kavadh II
–
Coin of Kavadh II.
23.
Edessa, Mesopotamia
–
Edessa was a city in Upper Mesopotamia, founded on an earlier site by Seleucus I Nicator ca.302 BC. It was also known as Antiochia on the Callirhoe from the 2nd century BC and it was the capital of the semi-independent kingdom of Osroene from c.132 BC and fell under direct Roman rule in ca. It became an important early centre of Syriac Christianity and it fell to the Muslim conquest in 639, was briefly re-taken by Byzantium in 1031, and became the center of the Crusader state of the County of Edessa during 1098–1144. It fell to the Turkic Zengid dynasty in 1144 and was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The modern name of the city is Şanlıurfa, in Turkeys Southeast Anatolia Region, the earliest name of the city was Adma recorded Assyrian cuneiform sources in the 7th century BC. It was renamed Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe in the 2nd century BC and it was named Justinopolis in the early 6th century. According to Jewish and Muslim tradition, it is Ur Kasdim, in the second half of the 2nd century BC, as the Seleucid monarchy disintegrated in the wars with Parthia, Edessa became the capital of the Abgar dynasty, who founded the Kingdom of Osroene. This kingdom was established by Nabataean or Arab tribes from North Arabia, and lasted four centuries, under twenty-eight rulers. Edessa was at first more or less under the protectorate of the Parthians, then of Tigranes of Armenia, Edessa was Armenian Mesopotamias capital city, from 212 to 214 the kingdom was a Roman province. The emperor Caracalla was assassinated on the road from Edessa to Carrhae by one of his guards in 217, Edessa became one of the frontier cities of the province of Osroene and lay close to the border of Sassanid Persia. The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerianus and Sassanid forces under Shahanshah Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Persian forces, including Valerian himself, the literary language of the tribes that had founded this kingdom was Aramaic, from which Syriac developed. The precise date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa is not known, however, there is no doubt that even before AD190 Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that shortly after the royal house joined the church. Yet various sources confirm that the Abgar who embraced the Christian faith was Abgar IX, under him Christianity became the official religion of the kingdom. As for Addai, he was one of the seventy-two disciples as the legend asserts. He was succeeded by Aggai, then by Palout who was ordained about 200 by Serapion of Antioch, a Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197. In 201 the city was devastated by a flood. In 232 the relics of the apostle Thomas were brought from Mylapore, India, under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa, Sts
Edessa, Mesopotamia
–
The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of
Şanlıurfa.
Edessa, Mesopotamia
–
King
Abgar holding the Image of Edessa.
24.
Emesa
–
Homs, previously known as Emesa, is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is 501 metres above sea level and is located 162 kilometres north of Damascus, located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Its population reflects Syrias general religious diversity, composed of Sunni and Alawite, there are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a world heritage site. Homs did not emerge into the record until the 1st century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name, originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century and made capital of a district that bore its current name, throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the citys strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, in the ongoing Syrian civil war, Homs became an opposition stronghold and the Syrian government launched a military assault against the city in May 2011. The following Siege of Homs left much of the city completely destroyed, the war in the city ended in 2015 when rebels evacuated the city, resulting in a government victory. The origin of the modern name is that it is an Arabic form of the citys Latin name Emesus. The name Emesa seems to derive from the nomadic Arab tribe, called Emesenoi by the Greeks and the Romans, Emesa was shortened to Homs or Hims by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria. This name has been preserved throughout the period of Islamic rule continuing to the present day and it was known as la Chamelle by the Crusaders, although they never ruled the city. For approximately 2,000 years, Homs has served as a key market, production site. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, excavations at the Citadel of Homs indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified the city with Zobah mentioned in the Bible, in 1274 BCE, a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Homs. It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5, at this time, Greek philosopher Strabo spoke of a tent-dwelling tribe called the Emesani living in the area around the Orontes and south of the Apamea region. They were an Arab tribe in the area and settled in Emesa—which derived its name from them. Their chief at the time, Sampsiceramus I, gained the status as King of Emesa, but their capital was at Arethusa, a city north of Emesa, also along the Orontes River
Emesa
–
Homs city landmarks
City centre and the Old Clock Tower • New Clock Tower Square • Dablan Street •
Krak des Chevaliers •
Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium •
Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque • New Clock Tower • City landscape from Rooftops
Emesa
–
The Emesa temple to the sun god El-Gabal, with the holy stone, on the reverse of this bronze coin by
Roman usurper Uranius Antoninus
Emesa
–
The
Krak des Chevaliers, a famous world heritage site near Homs
Emesa
–
Some frescoes inside the
Church of Saint Elian date back to the 6th-century
25.
Damascus
–
Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the ongoing battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine, in addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant. The city has an population of 1,711,000 as of 2009. Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a metropolitan area of 2.6 million people. The Barada River flows through Damascus, first settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad, Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the government and all of the government ministries. The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as T-m-ś-q in the 15th century BC, the etymology of the ancient name T-m-ś-q is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-ḳw in Egyptian, Dammaśq in Old Aramaic, the Akkadian spelling is found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name include a intrusive resh, perhaps influenced by the root dr. Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is Damascus which was imported from originated from the Qumranic Darmeśeq, and Darmsûq in Syriac, meaning a well-watered land. In Arabic, the city is called Dimašqu š-Šāmi, although this is shortened to either Dimašq or aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbours. Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for Levant and for Syria, the latter, the Anti-Lebanon mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon. The range has peaks of over 10,000 ft. and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean sea, however, in ancient times this was mitigated by the Barada River, which originates from mountain streams fed by melting snow. Damascus is surrounded by the Ghouta, irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, maps of Roman Syria indicate that the Barada river emptied into a lake of some size east of Damascus. Today it is called Bahira Atayba, the hesitant lake, because in years of severe drought it does not even exist, the modern city has an area of 105 km2, out of which 77 km2 is urban, while Jabal Qasioun occupies the rest. The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, to the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages, Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These neighbourhoods originally arose on roads leading out of the city and these new neighbourhoods were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule
Damascus
–
View of Damascus from
Mount Qassioun
Damascus
–
Damascus in spring seen from
Spot satellite
Damascus
–
One of the rare periods the
Barada river is high, seen here next to the
Four Seasons hotel in downtown Damascus
Damascus
–
Umayyad Mosque façade
26.
Battle of Yarmouk
–
The Battle of Yarmouk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Arab forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The result of the battle was a complete Muslim victory which ended Byzantine rule in Syria, in order to check the Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. The battle is considered to be one of Khalid ibn al-Walids greatest military victories and it cemented his reputation as one of the greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history. During the last Byzantine–Sassanid Wars in 610, Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, meanwhile, the Sassanid Persians conquered Mesopotamia and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia, occupying Caesarea Mazaca. Heraclius, in 612, managed to expel the Persians from Anatolia, over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer Palestine and Egypt. Meanwhile, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack and rebuilt his army, nine years later in 622, Heraclius finally launched his offensive. Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with a ceremony in 629. Meanwhile, there had been rapid development in Arabia, where Muhammad had been preaching Islam and by 630. When Muhammad died in June 632, Abu Bakr was elected Caliph, troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakrs succession, when several Arab tribes openly revolted against Abu Bakr, who declared war against the rebels. In what became known as the Ridda wars, Abu Bakr managed to unite Arabia under the authority of the Caliph at Medina. Once the rebels had been subdued, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest, sending his most brilliant general, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Iraq was conquered in a series of successful campaigns against the Sassanid Persians. Abu Bakrs confidence grew, and once Khalid established his stronghold in Iraq, the Muslim invasion of Syria was a series of carefully planned and well coordinated military operations that employed strategy instead of pure strength to deal with Byzantine defensive measures. The Muslim armies, however proved to be too small to handle the Byzantine response. Khalid was sent by Abu Bakr from Iraq to Syria with reinforcements, in July 634, the Byzantines were decisively defeated at Ajnadayn. Damascus fell in September 634, followed by the Battle of Fahl where the last significant garrison of Palestine was defeated and routed, Caliph Abu Bakr died in 634. His successor, Umar, was determined to continue the Caliphate Empires expansion deeper into Syria, though previous campaigns led by Khalid were successful, he was replaced by Abu Ubaidah. Having secured southern Palestine, Muslim forces now advanced up the route, where Tiberias and Baalbek fell without much struggle. From thereon, the Muslims continued their conquest across the Levant, having seized Emesa, the Muslims were just a march away from Aleppo, a Byzantine stronghold, and Antioch, where Heraclius resided
Battle of Yarmouk
–
Across the ravines lies the battlefield of Yarmouk, this picture taken about 8 miles away, from Jordan.
27.
Heraclonas
–
Heraklonas was probably born at Lazica while his father was on campaign against Khosrau II of the Sassanid Empire. He was probably the son of Martina and Herakleios, but the first one born free of physical deformity. The premature death of Constantine III, in May 641, left Heraklonas sole ruler, but a suspicion that he and Martina had murdered Constantine led soon after to a revolt under the general Valentinus, who forced Heraklonas to accept his young nephew Constans II as co-ruler. Martina intended to balance this setback with the coronation of her son the Caesar David as emperor. But this merely irritated the supporters of Constans II, and Valentinus spread rumors that Martina and Heraklonas intended to eliminate Constans, the revolt which ensued toppled Heraklonas and his mother, who were subjected to mutilation and banishment. This was the first time an emperor had been subjected to mutilation. Nothing further is known about Heraklonas after his removal and exile to Rhodes and he is presumed to have died later that year. Constans II, the son of Constantine III, became sole emperor, list of Byzantine emperors This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991, media related to Heraclonas at Wikimedia Commons
Heraclonas
–
Heraklonas with his father,
Heraclius and brother,
Constantine III
28.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
29.
Cambridge University Press
–
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the worlds oldest publishing house and it also holds letters patent as the Queens Printer. The Presss mission is To further the Universitys mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, Cambridge University Press is a department of the University of Cambridge and is both an academic and educational publisher. With a global presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 countries. Its publishing includes journals, monographs, reference works, textbooks. Cambridge University Press is an enterprise that transfers part of its annual surplus back to the university. Cambridge University Press is both the oldest publishing house in the world and the oldest university press and it originated from Letters Patent granted to the University of Cambridge by Henry VIII in 1534, and has been producing books continuously since the first University Press book was printed. Cambridge is one of the two privileged presses, authors published by Cambridge have included John Milton, William Harvey, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, and Stephen Hawking. In 1591, Thomass successor, John Legate, printed the first Cambridge Bible, the London Stationers objected strenuously, claiming that they had the monopoly on Bible printing. The universitys response was to point out the provision in its charter to print all manner of books. In July 1697 the Duke of Somerset made a loan of £200 to the university towards the house and presse and James Halman, Registrary of the University. It was in Bentleys time, in 1698, that a body of scholars was appointed to be responsible to the university for the Presss affairs. The Press Syndicates publishing committee still meets regularly, and its role still includes the review, John Baskerville became University Printer in the mid-eighteenth century. Baskervilles concern was the production of the finest possible books using his own type-design, a technological breakthrough was badly needed, and it came when Lord Stanhope perfected the making of stereotype plates. This involved making a mould of the surface of a page of type. The Press was the first to use this technique, and in 1805 produced the technically successful, under the stewardship of C. J. Clay, who was University Printer from 1854 to 1882, the Press increased the size and scale of its academic and educational publishing operation. An important factor in this increase was the inauguration of its list of schoolbooks, during Clays administration, the Press also undertook a sizable co-publishing venture with Oxford, the Revised Version of the Bible, which was begun in 1870 and completed in 1885. It was Wright who devised the plan for one of the most distinctive Cambridge contributions to publishing—the Cambridge Histories, the Cambridge Modern History was published between 1902 and 1912
Cambridge University Press
–
The University Printing House, on the main site of the Press
Cambridge University Press
–
The
letters patent of Cambridge University Press by
Henry VIII allow the Press to print "all manner of books". The fine initial with the king's portrait inside it and the large first line of script are still discernible.
Cambridge University Press
–
The Pitt Building in Cambridge, which used to be the headquarters of Cambridge University Press, and now serves as a conference centre for the Press.
Cambridge University Press
–
On the main site of the Press
30.
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
–
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium is a three volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. It contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzantine Empire and it was edited by Dr. Alexander Kazhdan, and was first published in 1991. Kazhdan was a professor at Princeton University who became a Senior Research Associate at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington and he contributed to many of the articles in the Dictionary and always signed his initials A. K. at the end of the article to indicate his contribution. The dictionary is available in printed and e-reference text versions from Oxford Reference Online and it covers the main historical events of Byzantium, as well as important social and religious events. It also includes biographies of eminent political and literary personalities and describes in detail religious, cultural topics include music, theology and the arts
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
–
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
