Italy toward the end of Basil's reign. The smaller Italian posses- 961with Basil I, for he fully appreciated the extent of the Arabian 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- 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- At the end of the tenth century an administrative reform took 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 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). |