POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE - HISTORY - 2025

The political and social organization of the Byzantine Empire refers to the structures of power and order that remained in force in the Byzantine period: from the dawn of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Renaissance. The Byzantine Empire developed in the Eastern Mediterranean, so its main city was Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).

It is also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, since its first centuries of existence occurred during late antiquity, when the Western Roman Empire still existed. For this reason, some historians consider that Byzantium was actually a Greek empire that maintained a political alliance with Rome.

The Byzantine Empire managed to cover a vast territory. Source: Plandeestudios

Throughout its long history, the Byzantine Empire suffered countless wars and territorial losses; however, it was a notable economic and military power in the Near East, Europe, and the eastern Mediterranean for much of medieval times.

Its last power recovery took place during the Comneno dynasty in the 12th century. However, it suffered its last decline when the Ottoman-Byzantine wars began, culminating in the loss of Constantinople and the conquest of the other territories under the rule of the Turks.

Likewise, the Byzantine Empire is remembered for having been a notable bastion of Christianity, constantly preventing the advance of Islam towards Western Europe. It was also one of the most important commercial centers in the world, which is why it established a stable currency that circulated throughout the Mediterranean area.

The power of the Byzantium Empire was so overwhelming that it even had a decisive influence on the political systems, laws and other customs of the rest of the Middle East and Europe. In addition, this Empire allowed many scientific and literary works from the classical world and other cultures to be preserved and transmitted.

Political organization

He

The Byzantine Empire was ruled by a supreme chief called basileus, which is a Greek word that means "king." The term was used for the first time in 629 thanks to the Emperor Heraclius, who decided to replace the old title introduced by the Romans of "Augustus".

The feminine form for basileus was basilissa, which was used to designate the empress. On the other hand, the noun basileopator was an honorary title that was used to name the father of the king or emperor.

The king of the Byzantine Empire was directly related to the Church, which is why one of his titles was isapóstolos, which means "equal to the apostles." Thanks to this coalition between Church and State, the Empire of Byzantium was a theocratic state, where the bases of authority had to be based on the will of God.

The military might of Byzantium

The Byzantine army was one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean basin, since it inherited the traditions of the Roman legions; however, it was reformed according to the needs of the empire.

Between the 3rd and 4th centuries a modification was introduced in which the offensive was called catrafacta, which means “heavy cavalry”.

Byzantine armor also played an important role in the maritime hegemony of Byzantium, as they had agile vessels called dromos and other weapons invented by themselves, such as Greek fire.

Byzantium maintained a naval superiority that allowed it to conquer and dominate the eastern Mediterranean; however, this only lasted until the 11th century, when Byzantine naval might began to be displaced by the fleets of Italian city-states, such as Venice.

Likewise, in Byzantium two types of troops were developed: in the first place there were the limitnei, who were located on the borders acting as gendarmerie corps; then there were the Comitatenses, who consisted of highly mobile expeditionary troops.

Later, in the 7th century Byzantium began to organize itself into thematas, military and administrative constituencies led by strategists who were generally very powerful heads of state.

Negotiations and weaknesses

The Byzantine Empire was also characterized by having a remarkable diplomatic capacity; For example, when victory could not be assured through the use of military force, he sought to buy or pay tribute to his enemies in order to keep them away.

Despite their good tactics, Byzantium had a weakness that hurt them at times: the Byzantine army had the peculiarity of resorting to mercenary warriors of dubious loyalty.

For example, on more than one occasion they hired the Viking Varangian guard, who came to star in some of the bloodiest clashes.

Social organization

The organization and social structure of the Byzantine Empire is very similar to that of the rest of the great empires of the Middle Ages, since in most cases the State and religion came together to coordinate societies through a "divine mandate".

For this reason the highest social class was composed of the nobility, where the basileus, the patriarchy and the high aristocracy were found; The clergy, the bourgeoisie, some landowners and heads of state also entered this first class.

According to the Byzantine tradition, the basileus obtained his authority from the divine mandate of God, so he was his representative on Earth and he was the only one who had the power to appoint the patriarchs who led the Orthodox Church.

Classes without privileges

After this first class were the middle sectors without political privileges. The merchants and artisans entered there, who notoriously prospered thanks to the purchasing and economic capacities of the Empire.

Although many merchants managed to obtain and save great wealth, they could not enter the privileged sector since they did not have the power to exercise political office. As for the lower class, it was made up of slaves and serfs, who lacked rights.

The woman

On the other hand, the role of women in the Byzantine Empire was not so marginalized thanks to the work of the Empress Theodora (501-548), who introduced some laws that allowed the protection of women in several cases. For example, this queen succeeded in imposing punishments on rapists and succeeded in banning forced prostitution.

References

1. SA (1989) The political-strategic thought in Byzantium. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Revista de Marina: revistamarina.cl
2. SA (2008) Great Civilizations of History: Byzantine Empire. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from SocialHizo: socialhizo.com
3. SA (2018) Byzantine Government. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu
4. SA (2018) Society in the Byzantine Empire. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Khan Academy: khanacademy.org
5. SA (nd) The Byzantine Empire. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Grupo EDEBÉ: edebe.com
6. SA (nd) The Eastern Roman Empire: Byzantium. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Extension UNED: extensionuned.es
7. SA (nd) Byzantine Empire. Retrieved on July 31, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org