The Aegean coastlands under threat: Some coins and coin hoards from the reign of Heraclius

1962 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 14-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Metcalf
Keyword(s):  
Regional Economy ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
The North ◽  
Coastal Cities ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The Subject

The new Rome inherited from the old a strategic situation in the Mediterranean world that was essentially similar at the beginning of the seventh century to what it had been in the first. Persia, vetus hostis, was still a threat in the east, while in the north there was the less organized but no less persistent threat of migratory peoples pressing across the Danube. By the middle of the seventh century the Byzantine supremacy in the east Mediterranean had been destroyed, and a profound reshaping of the state had been set in train. In discussing some coins and coin hoards from the reign of Heraclius (610–41), I wish to draw attention to the place of the Aegean coastlands in the regional economy of the Byzantine Empire as it was before the Arab expansion. The revival of commerce in the provinces in the ninth century seems to have begun in the coastal cities of the Aegean: this prompts an inquiry into their importance in the sixth and seventh centuries.The second and third decades of the seventh century were a time of disaster for the Empire, when it was attacked from both the east and the north. The Persian armies conquered Syria in 611 and thereafter were able to make incursions into western Asia Minor, on occasion reaching as far as the shores of the Bosporus. Thomas Presbyter records that they carried captives away from Rhodes, while in the same year the Slavs invaded Crete. The Miracula S. Demetrii gives a graphic account of a naval blockade of Salonica by the Slavs and mentions sea raids on the whole of Thessaly and near-by places and the Greek islands which depopulated many cities and regions. The Avars, in alliance with Slavs, Bulgars, and Gepids, besieged Constantinople itself by land and sea, while the Persians occupied Chalcedon. The records of events in the first part of the reign of Heraclius are fragmentary in the extreme, and the chronology in particular has been the subject of much debate.

Churches

2019 ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Charles Anthony Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Christian Congregations ◽  
The Church ◽  
Local Body

Churches have been the subject of archaeological examination since the sixteenth century. As the most monumental expression of Christianity, they represent complex religious and societal ideologies, rooted in Jewish concepts of the synagogue and messianic kingship. The institution of the church was initially viewed as both a physical local body and a global spiritual kingdom, and these notions eventually became symbolized by architecture. In Christianity’s first three centuries, a variety of buildings could accommodate Christian congregations. During the emperor Constantine’s reign, the basilica became the most prestigious form of church and, by the end of the seventh century, was commonplace in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. Churches were not just assemblages of various materials; they also housed burials, shrines, artifacts, and artistic programs. Archaeology examines how and when churches were designed, constructed, and changed, and how they contributed to the wider society.

Bronze Coinage and City Life in Central Greece circa A.D. 1000

1965 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
D. M. Metcalf
Keyword(s):  
Ninth Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
North West ◽  
City Life ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Military

In the decades around the millennium the issues of bronze coinage of the Byzantine Empire, except at Cherson, were exclusively ‘Rex Regnantium’ folles. In accordance with the theocratic political philosophy of the time, the portrait they bore was that not of the emperor but of Christ, ‘the King of those who Rule’. The inscriptions were analogous: Ἐμμανουήλ and Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Βασιλεὺς τῶν Βασιλευόντων. Some issues were similar in size and fabric to the earlier issues of the Macedonian dynasty, but others were large, heavy coins, superior to any that had been generally available since the days of Justinian the Great. Quite probably, indeed, they were modelled on the sixth-century folles, as those of Constantine IV certainly had been, with the intention of recalling the glories of the past. The intervening period had witnessed an almost total decline in the circulation of petty currency in the provinces. It is to be seen as evidence of a corresponding decline in city life, for which, in turn, a complex of causes is to be discerned—demographic decline; the Islamic expansion into the eastern provinces and into the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean; the pressure of the Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars in the north-west; the strain imposed on the Byzantine treasury by the military effort expended in containing these threats; provincial self-sufficiency, and lowered standards which necessarily followed from the impoverishment of the state and its peoples. The revival of the Empire's fortunes began in the ninth century, and reached a climax under Basil II (976–1025), who re-established Byzantine rule firmly over territories extending from the Adriatic coasts to the upper valley of the Euphrates. By the end of Basil's reign the use of petty currency, which during the ninth and tenth centuries had still been significantly restricted to a few cities of the Aegean and Black Sea coastlands, was spreading much more widely through the Balkans and Asia Minor. Also, the reconquest of Antioch and the cities of Cilicia added to the needs that the imperial coinage had to meet.

The Aegean

2020 ◽  
pp. 539-570
Author(s):  
Jacke Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
General Lack ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Considerable Depth

Aegeanists rather than Egyptologists have investigated Bronze Age Egypto-Aegean relations. Although a few Egyptologists consider these issues in considerable depth, a general lack of communication still exists between the disciplines. Two issues dominate research and debate: cross-cultural chronology and dating, and consideration of the imported goods and tangible/intangible influence of one civilization upon the other. Less controversial is the issue of contact routes and means, with visible remains and intangible cultural norms. This chapter concerns only Egypt and the Aegean, but they cannot be isolated from developments throughout the East Mediterranean world. All median cultures (and others interacting with them) must also be considered in any discussion. This chapter concentrates mostly on developments since 1990, when Bernal’s Black Athena volumes and the ensuing reaction undoubtedly re-stimulated interest in the subject.

scholarly journals Development of rural non-importables for the development of rural agribusiness to boost regional economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 13047
Author(s):  
Igor Aleksandrov ◽  
Marina Fedorova
Keyword(s):  
Regional Economy ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
The North ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government ◽  
North Western

The main aim of the research is to propose options for nonimportables producing at rural territories to boost the development of agribusiness. One of the most possible and promising non-importable to be developed and which ensures sustainability is rural and ecotourism. We revised the development of Russian tourism with the help of statistical data and used the regressions method for different periods of time to understand whether the process was stable and positive. Another goal was to estimate whether the government procedures play real efficient role in the development of tourism industry of tourist destinations of the North Western Federal District, or the bottom up development is more appropriate for little tourist destinations. To analyze this hypothesis the tourism development from 2006 to 2016 in the regions the Northwestern Federal District was revised. The methods of theoretical research come from the analysis of theoretical research on the subject. The methods of empirical research are based on comparison, analogy and generalizations according to statistic and other officialdata.

scholarly journals Periodic Revival or Continuation of the Ancient Military Tradition? Another Look at the Question of the KATÁFRAKTOI in the Byzantine Army

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 195-220
Author(s):  
Michał Wojnowski
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Practical Effect ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Military Tradition ◽  
Protective Armour

This article discusses the question of origin and identity of katáfraktoi – heavy-armoured cavalry in Byzantium. In the specialist literature on the subject, there is a widespread opinion that the heavily-armoured elitist cavalry, defined as catafracti and clibanarii had existed from the Hellenistic period until the end of Late Antiquity. Whereas a comparison of the construction, material and use of the individual elements of weapons and armour used by the Byzantine heavy cavalry from the sixth century and the first half of the seventh century with those of the ancient catafracti and clibanarii, allows us to draw the conclusion that the Byzantine heavily armed cavalry was its continuation, not necessarily in respect of the identity of the formations and their tactics, but more so in respect of the used arms and other elements of equipment. The term catafracti was not used at that time. Classifying the Byzantine cavalry from this period as catafracti, despite the fact that it is not usually defined in this way is based on the opinion of emperor Leo VI, expressed in Tactica, in accordance with which the chief element which distinguished catafracti and clibanarii units from other types of cavalry, was the complete armour of both the horse and rider. In spite of the fact, that the Romans, in response to the Sasanid heavy horsemen created their own mailed cavalry described by names catafracti or clibanarii, the influence of the Steppe people (principally the Huns and Avars) was more pronounced in the next centuries. Their weapons and tactics completely transformed the Byzantine way of war. In particular, this development concerned the cavalry – the main striking force of Byzantine army at this time. As we have seen, a disappearance of the ancient terms catafracti and clibanarii and their tactics (fighting in wedge-column order) was linked with this process of change. In the 10th century, in contemporary military treatises the term katáfraktoi appeared once again, a fact that can be connected with a usage typical for the “Macedonian renaissance”. At this time, the elitist formations of this type constituted a force marginal as compared to other cavalry units making up the Byzantine forces. However, the appearance of the 10th century katáfraktoi were a practical effect of the revival of ancient traditions in the Byzantine culture: they were not a formation which was only modeled on its ancient predecessor, but its constituted a continuation of the ancient patterns. The horsemen were equipped with similar protective armour as their ancient forerunners. They also applied the same tactics, for instance by fighting in the wedge-column order, which is ascribed to the ancient cavalry of this type. Sources mentioned above indicates, that this kind of battle array was reintroduced at this time. Moreover, the katáfraktoi were also present as a main striking cavalry force in the Comnenian army, which indicates, that heavy-armoured cavalry was still necessary. There is no reason to accept the opinion that there was no continuous tradition of heavy-armoured cavalry in the Byzantine Empire.

Sicily between Byzantium and the Islamic World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Davis-Secord
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
Exchange Material ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines patterns of travel and communication that linked Sicily to the Islamic world during the centuries prior to the Muslim conquest in the ninth century. Covering the period of transition to Muslim rule, it shows how Sicily began to “drift” closer to North Africa already in the seventh century. This growing relationship was established through a series of both military and diplomatic connections that brought Muslims into contact not only with Greek Christians in Sicily but also, due to the relationship between the island and Latin Christendom, with Latin Christians. During these years of both violence and diplomacy, from the first seventh-century raids through the ninth-century conquest, Sicily and the Islamic world also began to exchange material goods and economic products. In some ways, then, Byzantine Sicily acted as a meeting ground in the central Mediterranean world for Muslims, Greek Christians, and Latin Christians.

Baal in Hellas

1917 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-211
Author(s):  
Theodore H. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Northern Africa ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Human History ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Races Of Mankind

In proportion to their numbers the Semitic peoples have exercised a greater influence on the course of human history as a whole than any other of the large races of mankind. As far as our records carry us, it appears that the early spirit of exploration and adventure, as distinct from racial migration, had its origin with them. Even in Homeric times, the Phoenician trader or pirate was a familiar feature of the Mediterranean world. Greece, commonly regarded by us as the home of true culture, admitted that she owed to Phoenicia her first introduction to the art of writing. Semitic establishments were spread over the whole of the ancient world, and the only state that ever seriously contested with Rome the sovereignty of the world was Carthage. Though not famed more for military prowess than other races, the Semitic branch of mankind in the seventh century of our era swept over northern Africa and western Asia, overflowing at two points into Europe itself.

Body condition variation of wild rabbit population in the north-east Mediterranean island of Lemnos — Greece

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasileios J. Kontsiotis ◽  
Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis ◽  
Apostolos C. Tsiompanoudis ◽  
Panteleimon Xofis
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
Rabbit Population ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Mediterranean Island

A Short Survey of Yemeni Sufism from Its Inception up to the Thirteenth Century

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Muhammad Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Short Survey ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intellectual Activities

This paper analyzes the historical conditions of Yemen’s Sufi movement from the beginning of Islam up to the rise of the Rasulid dynasty in the thirteenth century. This is a very difficult task, given the lack of adequate sources and sufficient academic attention in both the East and theWest. Certainly, a few sentences about the subject can be found scattered in Sufi literature at large, but a respectable study of the period’s mysticism can hardly be found.1 Thus, I will focus on the major authorities who first contributed to the ascetic movement’s development, discuss why a major decline of intellectual activities occurred in many metropolises, and if the existing ascetic conditions were transformed into mystical tendencies during the ninth century due to the alleged impact ofDhu’n-Nun al-Misri (d. 860). This is followed by a brief discussion ofwhat contributed to the revival of the country’s intellectual and economic activities. After that, I will attempt to portray the status of the major ascetics and prominent mystics credited with spreading and diffusing the so-called Islamic saintly miracles (karamat). The trademark of both ascetics and mystics across the centuries, this feature became more prevalent fromthe beginning of the twelfth century onward. I will conclude with a brief note on the most three celebrated figures of Yemen’s religious and cultural history: Abu al-Ghayth ibn Jamil (d. 1253) and his rival Ahmad ibn `Alwan (d. 1266) from the mountainous area, andMuhammad ibn `Ali al-`Alawi, known as al-Faqih al-Muqaddam (d. 1256), from Hadramawt.

Evil Lords and the Devil

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumi Shimahara
Keyword(s):  
Ninth Century ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Biblical Commentaries ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
The Devil

Perceptions of tyranny are also the subject of this chapter, which discusses the ways in which terms deriving from the root ‘tyran-’ were employed in biblical commentaries and other sources of the Carolingian era. The chapter shows that eighth- and ninth-century authors developed a distinct discourse on tyranny by blending pagan and patristic views with their own ethical-political principles. Carolingian conceptions of tyranny were grounded in considerations pertaining both to legality and to morality, with vice, eschatological concerns, and the association with the devil playing as important a role as issues of illegitimacy, usurpation, or malfeasance. These conceptions were moreover fairly elastic, as related terms not only had a wide connotative range but were also used to describe a variety of abusive behaviors of a royal, secular, or ecclesiastical origin.

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