The Persian war was exhausting, but successful: on the northern frontier, however, the Roman army had been faring far worse, and serious losses of territory were beginning to take place. Continue reading “Avaro-Slav invaders (6th c. AD) almost exterminated the Roman population over the greater part of the country north of the Balkans – The tragic end of Emperor Maurice”
Pope Gregory the Great (6th c. AD) behaves as if he considered the Roman Emperor his suzerain rather than his immediate ruler
After the Lombard conquest the imperial dominion in Italy were administered by a governor, called the Exarch, who dwelt at Ravenna, the northernmost and strongest of the imperial fortresses. Continue reading “Pope Gregory the Great (6th c. AD) behaves as if he considered the Roman Emperor his suzerain rather than his immediate ruler”
The partition of Italy between the Lombards and the Empire (6th c. AD)
The thirty years which followed the death of Justinian are covered by three reigns, those of Justinus II [565-578], Tiberius Constantinus [578-582], and Maurice [582-602]. Continue reading “The partition of Italy between the Lombards and the Empire (6th c. AD)”
The sack of Rome by Alaric’s Goths
The fall of Stilicho was the signal for the Roman troops to massacre with brutal perfidy the families of the barbarian auxiliaries who were serving in Italy. The foreign soldiers, 30,000 of them, straightway marched to Noricum, joined the standard of Alaric, and urged him to descend on Italy. Continue reading “The sack of Rome by Alaric’s Goths”
Emperor Justinian’s codification of the laws & his work as a builder
From the days of Diocletian the style of architecture which we call Byzantine, for want of a better name, had been slowly developing from the old classic forms, and many of the emperors of the fourth and fifth centuries had been given to building. Continue reading “Emperor Justinian’s codification of the laws & his work as a builder”
Polybius on the decay of states
That all existing things are subject to decay and change is a truth that scarcely needs proof; for the course of nature is sufficient to force this conviction on us. Continue reading “Polybius on the decay of states”