The Byzantine Empire
Structure of the Empire
The Byzantine emperor (
basileus in Greek; imperator in Latin) was a much more effective monarch than any of his counterparts in the West. His theoretical powers were greater, and most of the time he was able to turn theory into practice. He had most of the expectations and responsibilities of a Western king, but he was also more influential in religious matters.
But the emperor could not rule alone. His effective power was limited, and during the crusading centuries he could intervene in a particular area for a certain length of time only, or else risk losses on another front. A hallmark of this period in the Empire was the constant need for alliances and subtle diplomacy; we will see the emperors making temporary friends with enemies on every front.
Within the Empire, government rested on four main pillars: the army, the Greek Orthodox Church, the imperial bureaucracy, and a handful of noble families. From the latter came the emperors themselves. From the great nobles, too, came much of the top level of imperial government--military commanders, provincial governors, and so on. From their estates came men for the army and money for governing, and from them, too, came plots and rivals. Every emperor had to court the great nobles while at the same time being careful not to let any of them grow too powerful.
As with any government, the army was of vital importance, but in the Empire it held a particular political significance. In the Western monarchies, armies existed only for the duration of a war and so did not become a political force. The Empire, however, had a standing army of professional soldiers. An emperor needed victory in the field to enhance his prestige and fend off rivals, so he needed the loyalty of the army and especially of its officer corps. Moreover, the most prestigious posting was at Constantinople itself, or nearby, making it tempting for the army to meddle in imperial politics. If the army's loyalty should go to a rival, an emperor was doomed.
The daily business of government, in matters great and small, was in the hands of a bureaucracy that was far greater than anything the Western monarchs could imagine. The layers of government—imperial, provincial and municipal—had been inherited from the old Roman Empire and never ceased to function. Local authority was at the municipal level; cities in the Empire were commercial and religious focal points as they were in the West, but they were also centers of administration, justice and tax collection. The next layer up was the province (theme, in Greek), ruled by governors, appointed by the emperor from among the great families. Their prime duties were the collection of taxes and the appointing of local officials. They were supplemented by military governors who commanded mostly native troops and who were to keep public order.
The Greek Orthodox Church was the fourth base on which the Byzantine Empire rested. As in the West, it was an enormous landowner and possessed vast wealth which it protected jealously but which emperors did tap when they could. In general, the Greek Orthodox Church was much more under the control of the state than the Roman Catholic Church was. The emperor could speak with authority on religious matters, and he had the privilege of nominating the Patriarch. At the same time, bishops in the major towns could become popular leaders in ways that western bishops rarely did. A bishop could pose as a champion of the poor, or a defender against oppression, and so stir the populace as to effect rebellion. The most dramatic case of this came in the 13th century, when for a time the Byzantine Emperor agreed to submit to the Catholic Church and allowed a Latin Patriarch at Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire was polyglot, consisting of numerous peoples and cultures. At the imperial level it was Greek, which was the language of learning, commerce, religion, politics and the military. Greek philosophy ruled intellectual life, Greek Orthodox was the only faith officially supported by the state (others were tolerated). Its political structure and its law were Roman, and indeed its emperors called themselves Emperor of the Romans.
At the local level, national cultures prevailed. Local laws and customs were generally respected by the Byzantines, in the Roman tradition—as long as the locals behaved themselves, paid their taxes and contributed men to the army, they were allowed to keep their customs and sometimes even their own laws and governments.
One last point worth making: Constantinople was the keystone to it all. Political power and religious authority converged only here. Whoever controlled the city controlled the empire; similarly, no claimant to the throne could be successful until he had taken the city. Palace intrigues were therefore more important in the Empire, and the actions of a family member might weigh more heavily than the loyalty of entire cities.