Italy toward the end of Basil's reign. The smaller Italian posses-
sions, such as the duchies of Naples, Beneventum, Spoleto, the prin-
cipality of Salerno, and others, frequently changed their attitude to
the Byzantine Empire in correspondence with the course of the By-
zantine campaign against the Arabs. Disregarding the recent break
with the Eastern church, Pope John VIII began active negotiations

961with Basil I, for he fully appreciated the extent of the Arabian
menace to Rome. In striving to form a political alliance with the
Eastern Empire the Pope showed his readiness to make many con-
cessions. Some scholars go so far as to attribute the absence of an
emperor in the West for three and a half years after the death of
Charles the Bold (877) to the fact that John VIII purposely de-
layed the coronation of a Western ruler in order to avoid hurting
the feelings of the Byzantine Emperor, whose aid was so much
needed by Rome.48 886-912

In the time of Leo VI, Byzantine possessions in Italy were divided into two themes: Calabria and Longobardia. The Calabrian theme was all that was left of the vast Sicilian theme when, through the fall of Syracuse and Taormina, Sicily was entirely in the hands of the Arabs. It seems that as a result of the success of Byzantine arms in Italy Leo VI definitely separated Longobardia from the theme of Kephallenia, or the Ionian Islands, and made it an independent theme with its own strategus. Because of the incessant warfare, during which Byzantine forces were not always victorious, the borders of Calabria and Longobardia changed frequently.

With the increase of Byzantine influence in Southern Italy in the tenth century there was also a noticeable growth in the number of Greek monasteries and churches, some of which later became important cultural centers.

In the same century the Byzantine Empire and Italy witnessed

the rise of a strong rival in the person of the German Ruler, Otto I,-962-
crowned with the imperial crown in Rome by Pope John XII in the
year 962. He is known in history as the founder of "The Holy Ro-
man Empire of the German Nation." Upon assuming the imperial
title, Otto strove to become master of all Italy. This was, of
course,
a direct infringement upon Byzantine interests, especially in Longo-

4 A. Gasquet, L'empire byzantin et la monarchie franque (Paris, 1888), pp. 459-60.

963 169

bardia. Negotiations between Otto and the Eastern Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, who was at this time probably dreaming of an offensive alliance with the German ruler against the Muslims, progressed very slowly, and Otto suddenly made an unsuccessful inroad into the Byzantine provinces of Southern Italy.

For new negotiations with the Eastern Emperor the German ruler sent to Constantinople his legate, Liudprand, the bishop of Cremona, who had been once before ambassador to the Byzantine court in the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. The shores of the Bosphorus did not greet him with due respect, and he was exposed to great humiliation and many insults. He later wrote an account of his second sojourn at the Constantinopolitan court in the form of a malicious libel, which was in sharp contrast to his reverent description of his first visit to the Eastern capital. From this second account, usually known as the Relation on the Constantinopolitan Legation (Relatio de legatione constantinopolitana), it appears that the Byzantine Empire continued the old disputes about the title of basileus assumed by the Western ruler. Liudprand accused the Byzantines of being weak and inactive, and justified the claims of his sovereign. In one part of this work he wrote, "Whom does Rome serve, about whose liberation you make so much noise? To whom does the city pay taxes? And did not this ancient city formerly serve courtesans? And then, in a time when all men were asleep and even in a state of impotence, my sovereign, the most august emperor, freed Rome of that shameful servitude." When Liudprand became aware of the fact that the Greeks were prolonging the negotiations intentionally in order to gain time for the organization of an Italian campaign, forbidding him meanwhile to hold any communications with his Emperor, he made every effort to depart from Constantinople, succeeding only after much trouble and prolonged delay.

The break between the two empires was accomplished, and Otto I invaded the province of Apulia. However, the new Byzantine Emperor John Tzimisces completely altered the Byzantine policy toward Italy. Not only did he conclude a treaty of peace with the German ruler, but strengthened his relations with him by ar

Liudprandi, Legatio, cap. XVII.

1100

ranging the marriage of Otto's son and heir, Otto II, to the Byzan-
tine Princess Theophano. Thus an alliance was finally formed be-
tween the two empires. The Arabian attacks on Southern Italy,
against which the successor of John Tzimisces, Basil II, could do
nothing because his attention was claimed by the internal disturb-
ances in the Byzantine Empire, forced the young Emperor Otto II
to organize a campaign against the Arabs. In one of the battles he
was defeated, and died soon after. From this time on German ad-
vance into the Byzantine themes of Italy ceased for a long period of
time.

At the end of the tenth century an administrative reform took
place in Byzantine Italy. The former strategus of Longobardia was
replaced by the catapan of Italy, who resided in Bari. As long as
the various Italian kingdoms were engaged in mutual strife, the By-
zantine catapan was able to handle the difficult problem of defend-
ing the southern coast of Italy against the Saracens.

The son of the Princess Theophano, Otto III, educated in profound reverence for the Byzantine Empire and classical culture, was a contemporary and a relative of Basil II and a pupil of the famous scholar, Gerbert, who later became Pope Sylvester II. Otto III made no secret of his hatred for German coarseness, and dreamed of the restoration of the ancient Empire with Old Rome as the capital. According to James Bryce, "None save he desired to make the seven-hilled city again the city of dominion, reducing Germany and Lombardy and Greece to their rightful place of subject provinces. No one else so forgot the present to live in the light of the ancient order; no other soul was so possessed by that fervid mysticism and that reverence for the glories of the past whereon rested the idea of the Medieval Empire."50 And although the prestige of ancient Rome was extremely high in Otto's imagination, still he was attracted chiefly to Eastern Rome, to that court of fairy-like magnificence where his mother had been born and bred. Only in following the footsteps of the Byzantine rulers did. Otto III hope to restore the imperial throne in Rome. He called himself imperator romanorum, and referred to the future worldmonarchy as Orbis romanus.

00 J. Bryce, The Holy Roman Empire (New York, 1919), p. 148 (chap. ix).

996

107.9

This young enthusiast, whose illusory schemes promised to introduce disturbance and difficulty into the life of the Byzantine Empire, died suddenly at the very beginning of the eleventh century, at the age of twenty-two.

While in the early eleventh century Byzantine provinces in Southern Italy were made safe from Arabian attacks through the interference of the Venetian fleet, they soon became exposed to danger from a new and formidable enemy, the Normans, who later began to threaten the Eastern Empire.

The first large detachment of Normans arrived in Italy at the beginning of the eleventh century at the invitation of Meles, who rose in rebellion against Byzantine domination. The allied forces of Meles and the Normans were defeated, however, near Cannae, so famous in history since the victory of Hannibal during the Second Punic War. Basi II owed part of his success in this battle with the Normans to the Russian soldiers, who served in the ranks of the Byzantine army. The victory at Cannae strengthened the position of Byzantium in Southern Italy to such an extent that in the fourth decade of the eleventh century Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian equipped an expedition for the reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs. This expedition was led by George Maniaces. In his army were the Scandinavian hero, Harold Fairhair, and the Varangian-Russian Druzhina (Company). Although this campaign was

1030s successful, and achieved, among other things, the occupation of

Messina, the reconquest of Sicily was not accomplished, mainly because George Maniaces was recalled when he was suspected of having ambitious schemes.

*10641

During the period of strife between Byzantium and Rome which ended in the division of churches in the year 1054, the Normans sided with Rome and began to advance, slowly but steadily, in Byzantine Italy. By the end of this period, i. e., about the middle of the eleventh century, there rose among the Normans in Italy a very capable and energetic leader, Robert Guiscard, whose major activities developed in a period subsequent to the Macedonian dynasty.

867

886

II. THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE MACEDONIAN DYNASTY

in the realm of church affairs was the

1034

542-67

Church affairs in the epoch of the Macedonian dynasty.—The
major event in the church life of the Byzantine Empire in the time
of the Macedonian dynasty was the final separation of the Christian_
church into the eastern Orthodox and the western Catholic, which
took place in the middle of the eleventh century after long disputes
which lasted for almost
two centuries.
The first act of Basil
deposition of Patriarch Photius and the reinstatement of Ignatius,
who had been deposed in the time of Michael III By this measure
Basil hoped to strengthen his position on the throne which did not
rightfully belong to him. He felt that by raising Ignatius he was
accomplishing the double purpose of maintaining peaceful rela-
tions with the Pope and gaining the support of the Byzantine peo-
ple, many of whom, as he knew very well, were Ignatians, i.e., par-
tisans of the deposed Ignatius. In their letters to the Pope both
Basil and Ignatius acknowledged his authority and influence in the
affairs of the Eastern church. The Emperor, for example, wrote,
"Spiritual Father and divinely reverend Pontiff! Hasten the im-
provement of our church and through your interference with injus-
tice give us the abundance of goods, namely, pure unity and spirit-
ual joining free from any contention and schism, a church one in
Christ, and a flock obedient to one shepherd." A letter full of
humility was sent by Ignatius to the Pope with the request that the
Roman Patriarch send vicars to Constantinople. In the concluding
statement he writes, "With them [the vicars] we should well and
suitably arrange our church, which we have received by the provi-
dence of God manifested in the intercession of the sublime Peter
and at your instance and intervention."52 These letters indicate that
this was a moment of apparent triumph for the papacy in the East,
but Pope Nicholas I did not live to witness this victory, because the
letters sent to him from Byzantium came after his death and were
received by his successor, Hadrian II.

At the Roman councils, and later in Constantinople in the year

51 Mansi, Conciliorum collectio, XVI, 47; see Lebedev, A History of the Separation of the Churches, p. 117 (in Russian).

52 Mansi, XVI, 49; cf. A. Lebedev, p. 120 (in Russian).