Lost To The West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization, Lars Brownworth, c. 2009

Lost To The West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization, Lars Brownworth, c. 2009.

Reading this at the same time The Vikings: A History, c. 2009.

Coincidentally, the two books, the biography of the Vikings, and the biography of Constantinople, overlap in time and story.

Approximately 300 AD to 1200 AD.

Roman Empire beginning to implode in 300 A.D. to 400 A.D. Major disruptions as the Roman Empire moved from paganism to Christianity.

The Roman Empire imploded and the west was ruled by the Franks. What we think of the Roman Empire today was now the Franks -- beginning with Pippin or Pepin the Short whose son Charles eventually became Charlemagne. It was not until 800 AD, however, that Charlemagne was crowned "Emperor of the Romans" by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Rome's Old St Peter's Basilica. Constantinople recognized him as the emperor of the Franks and the Germans, but not as emperor of the Romans, a term they reserved for themselves. Charlemagne died in 814; buried in his imperial capital city of Aachen.

Meanwhile, to the Far East, the Persians, and the Abbasids and the Umayyads. The former eventually replaced the latter. Separating the two, the Arab caliphs and the Franks was Christian Constantinople.



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3


Chapter 4

Chapter 5
Attila the Hun arrives in Rome; turned away by Pope Leo; Attila dies shortly thereafter, 453 AD. 

Chapter 6: The Fall of Rome
Even though Attila turned away from Rome, eventually the "Vans" did enter Rome and sack the city, once and for all, 455 AD
Interestingly and coincidentally, a new ruler put in place in Constantinople, a 56-year-old Christian lieutenant named Leo. So now, we had Pope Leo in Rome, and "emperor" Leo in Constantinople, who initially was a puppet of the barbarians, who now controlled Constantinople. -- p. 58.

Again, a reminder: Constantinople at this time was the "capital" of the Roman Empire. 

Aspar, the Sarmatian general, controlled Constantinople, but his Arian religion made his unpopular. Because of his religion / unpopularity, he couldn't assume the throne directly. He put in his place on the throne, his proxy, a Christian lieutenant named Leo. (So, now we have Pope Leo in Rome, and Emperor Leo in Constantinople.)

Leo was too strong for Aspar, so he found a rough general from the backwoods, Tarasicodissa. The latter Hellenized his name to Zeno.

Leo dies; Zeno takes over.


The story of Zeno, p. 59.

476 AD: official end of the Western Roman Empire, page 64.

Leo's brother-in-law: Basiliscus.

Chapter 7: The Rise of Peter Sabbatius 
518 AD: 78-year-old emperor, Emperor Justin
nephew Peter Sabbatius, age 36 years old, from Macedon; Zeno made him his son
If I have the story correct:
Zeno;
Zeno's successor, not mentioned by name in the book; alluded to on page 67; dies
Justin, who was a nobody, rose to commander of the palace guard; then to Emperor
Justin, now 78 years old
nephew Peter Sabbatius as noted above -- takes his uncle's name, and from then on know as Justinian

Chapter 8: Nika! (Conquer / victory)
Justinian (brought Constantinople into its golden age)
Justinian Codex
strong man: John the Cappadocian
Tribonian: legal mind; Justinian Codex
528 A.D. war with Persia
riots
Justinian saved by Basiliscus who had just returned from Persia; and,
coincidental, a large group of Scandinavian mercenaries in Constantinople at the time
Chapter 9: Of Buildings and Generals
Justinian's general takes Carthage; destroys the Vandals.
On to Italy. Re-take Rome, Italy.
Chapter 10: Yersinia Pestis
541 A.D. -- the high point for both Justinian's reign and the Byzantine Empire.
in the west, Belisarius had returned both Africa and Italy to imperial control
in the east, he had pushed the Persians back and now seemed on the verge of conquering their capital, Ctesiphon, east side of the Tigris, about 20 miles southeast of present-day Baghdad