Central Peripheries. Empires and Elites across the Byzantine-Arab Frontier in Comparison (700–1100)

Central Peripheries. Empires and Elites across the Byzantine-Arab Frontier in Comparison (700–1100)

“Die Interaktion von Herrschern und Eliten in imperialen Ordnungen“, Münster 2015 Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Austrian Academy of Sciences – Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz

The emergence of the Byzantine-Arab Frontier (al-thughūr) “When a great and innumerable army of Arabs gathered and surged forwards to invade Roman territory, all the regions of Asia and Cappadocia fled from them, as did the whole area from the sea and by the Black Mountain and Lebanon as far as Melitene and by the river Arsanias [Murat Nehri] as far as Inner Armenia [the region of Theodosiupolis/Erzurum]. All this territory had been graced by the habitations of a numerous population and thickly planted with vineyards and every kind of gorgeous tree; but since that time it has been deserted and these regions have not been resettled.” J.-B. Chabot, Anonymi auctoris chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens (CSCO 109). Louvain 1937 (reprint 1965), 156–157; The Seventh Century in the West-Syrian Chronicles, introd., transl. and annotated by A. Palmer. Including two seventh-century Syriac Apocalyptic Texts, introd., transl. and annotated by S. Brock with added Annotation and an historical Introduction by R. Hoyland. Liverpool 1993, 62.

The „central periphery“ of Byzantium, Persia and the Caliphate: Armenia, Lazika, Iberia und Caucasian Albania

From: Hewsen, R. H., Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago, 2001.

The houses of the Armenian aristocracy (naχarark‛) and the fragmentation of power

From: Hewsen, R. H., Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago, 2001.

The divisions of Armenia between Rome and Persia (387 and 591) and the end of the Arsacid monarchy

Noble mobility to and from Byzantium Itineraries of four Armenian noblemen in Byzantine services, 530-554 AD

Armenian commanders in Byzantine Anatolia, 778 AD

The gradual Arab conquest (640-700) and the establishment of al-Arminiya

From: Hewsen, R. H., Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago, 2001.

Cooperation and resistance among the noble houses of Armenia under Arab rule “The Armenian patricians (baṭrīq) did not cease to hold their lands as usual, each trying to protect his own region; and whenever a ‛âmil (tax collector) came to the frontier they would coax him; and if they found in him purity and severity, as well as force and equipment, they would give the kharâj and render submission, otherwise they would deem him weak and look down upon him.” Al-Baladhuri IV: 330 (transl. Hitti)

The Eastern Frontier of the Caliphate

Armenian noblemen in the Byzantine court hierarchy

Inscription on the Church of Mren mentioning the patrikios and kuropalates Dawit Saharuni, Prince of Armenia (ca. 637 AD)

“When this same Krikorikios [Grigor, prince of Taron] had entered the city protected by God (= Constantinople), and had been honoured with the rank of magistros and military governor of Taron, he was also given for his residence a house called the house of Barbaros, now the house of Basil the chamberlain. He was honoured with an annual stipend (roga) of ten pounds in gold and a further ten pounds in miliaresia (silver coins), making twenty pounds in all. After some sojourn in the imperial city, he was escorted back again to his country by this same protospatharius Constantine.” Const. Porph., De admin. imp. 43: 190, 64–192, 71 (Moravcsik and Jenkins)

Tools of network building in Byzantium, Armenia and the Caliphate

Emperor Theophilos [829-842] and his court (Illustrated Manuscript of the History of John Skylitzes; Skylitzes Matritensis, Biblioteca Nacional de España)

“Patrons, clients, and allies of various ethnicities could engage in informal, mutually acceptable, reciprocal relationships because there were widely shared values and expectations regarding political networking throughout Eastern Eurasia (…) Patrimonialism may have been a uniform element of Eurasian culture, but it offered the utilitarian advantage of extending a Sui-Tang emperor´s power to spaces within a large multiethnic empire that were beyond the reach of bureaucratic control.” J. K. Skaff, Sui-Tang China and its TurkoMongol neighbors. Culture, power, and connections, 580-800. Oxford 2012, 75 and 104.

The rise of Emperor Basil I (r. 867-886)

Coronation of Basil the Macedonian as co-emperor by Michael III (right) (Skylitzes Matritensis, Biblioteca Nacional de España)

The rebellion of Bardas Skleros, 976-979

SYRIA - CAPPADOCIA

ARMENIANS - CHALDIA

SKLEROI

HELLAS (?) WESTERN ASIA MINOR

Byzantines Armenians Arabs

MESOPOTAMIA - ARABS

Graph: J. Preiser-Kapeller, 2014

Courts, careers and cultural mobility “From northern Arabia to the Caucasus, from Mesopotamia to Afghanistan, regional elites of the Sasanian Empire and its frontiers became familiar with epic traditions celebrating the kings and heroes of ancient Iran. By adopting Sasanian cultural and artistic models, provincial elites claimed these epic traditions as their own. Stories about Iranian kings on the hunt, on the polo field, and in battle provided a heroic ideal that could be translated into a wide range of narrative media. As a cultural language of power, Sasanian epic traditions endured long after the fall of Ctesiphon to the Arabs in 637.” J. Th. Walker, The Legend of Mar Qardagh. Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London 2006.

A “cosmopolitan” elite and an “aristocratic koine” across early medieval Eurasia

The imperial palace in Constantinople with the location of the polo field • •

Painting of polo players at the Chinese court, Prince Zhang Huai's tomb, 706 AD

Matthew P. Canepa, Distant Displays of Power. Understanding Cross-Cultural Interaction among the Elites of Rome, Sasanian Iran, and Sui–Tang China. Ars Orientalis 38 (2010) 121– 154. Cf. also Alicia Walker, The Emperor and the World. Exotic Elements and the Imaging of Middle Byzantine Imperial Power, Ninth to Thirteenth Centuries C. E. Cambridge 2012.

(Christian and non-Christian) heroic horsemen: Smbat Bagratuni Xosrov Šum “He was a man gigantic (anheded) in stature and handsome of appearance, strong and of solid body. He was a powerful warrior, who had demonstrated his valor and strength in many battles. Such was his power that when he passed through dense forests under strong trees on his big-limbed and powerful horse, grasping the branch of a tree he would hold it firmly, and forcefully tightening his thighs and legs around the horse's middle he would raise it with his legs from the ground, so that when all the soldiers saw this they were awestruck and astonished.” Sebēos c. 20: 93 (Abgaryan)

St. George and St. Theodore, horseback saints killing the dragon with their spears (from Göreme Yilanli Church, Cappadocia, Turkey, 11th century)

Heterodoxy and „communities of violence“ in the frontier lands: Paulicians and Khurramites

From: Hewsen, R. H., Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago, 2001.

The Khurramites and the rebellion of Bābak, 816-837 Bābak´s fortress of al-Badd

Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs and the Afshīn of Ustrushana

Sogdian wallpaintings of horse warriors from Bunjikat and Panjikant (8th cent.)

The Khurramites under Nasr in the service of Emperor Theophilos and the campaign of 837

From: Juan Signes Codoner, The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829-842. Ashgate 2014.

Caliph al-Muʿtaṣim and his retinue on the campaign in 838 (Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs Afshīn, Abū Jaʽfar Ashinās, Emir ʿUmar al-Aqta of Melitene, Bagarat Bagratuni of Taron)

The Battle of Anzes and the crisis in the retinue of Emperor Theophilos

The Byzantine army under Emperor Theophilos retreats towards a mountain after the defeat at Anzes (Skylitzes Matritensis, Biblioteca Nacional de España)

The fall of Amorion and the crisis in the retinue of Caliph al-Muʿtaṣim

The siege of Amorion 838 (Skylitzes Matritensis, Biblioteca Nacional de España)

Competing and overlapping networks and mobile elites between frontiers

Frontiers, networks, elites and empires The Abbasid Caliph alMamun sends an envoy to the Byzantine Emperor Theophilos (Skylitzes Matritensis, Biblioteca Nacional de España)

“Empire (…) is about political authority relations (as well as many other transactions) between a central power and many diverse and differentiated entities. (…) the imperial state does not have complete monopoly of power in the territory under control. It shares control with a variety of intermediate organizations and with local elites, religious and local governing bodies, and numerous other privileged institutions. To rule over vast expanses of territory, as well as to ensure military and administrative cooperation, imperial states negotiate and willingly relinquish some degree of autonomy. No matter how strong an empire is, it has to work with peripheries, local elites, and frontier groups to maintain compliance, resources, tribute, and military cooperation, and to ensure political coherence and durability.” Barkey, Empire of Difference, 9–10

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