Page:A General Sketch of Political History from the Earlist Times.djvu/142

 13° THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES neither Greek nor Roman. The organisation of the Gothic kingdom in Italy was falling to pieces. It was the ambition of Tustinian to restore the ancient empire with its old Belisarms. ', . __. . *l ,. boundaries. His armies were led by the great General Belisarius. The first step towards the recovery of empire was the overthrow in Africa of the Vandal kingdom, which was now completely and deservedly wiped out; it had been little more than a nest of brigands and pirates. The next step was to break the supremacy of the Goths in Italy. This was accomplished by the arms of Belisarius, who was then called away to repel the attacks of Mongol hordes who were thrusting themselves across the lower Danube and even threatening the Imperial capital. The Goths renewed the struggle under the chief name Totila, but Belisarius was Gothic Power succeeded by a general only less brilliant than broken. himself, the Armenian Narses, who crushed Totila and remained to rule Italy under the title of Exarch of Ravenna, which became the seat of government. But this was the last great effort of the Byzantine Empire in Italy. Justinian and Belisarius both died in 565; the new Emperor Justin removed Narses, and Italy was immediately overrun by a The fresh swarm of Teutonic invaders, this time the Lombards. Langobards or Lombards led by Alboin. An Exarch remained at Ravenna, but thenceforth the Imperial control in Italy was never more than nominal. It must not be forgotten that what is called the Eastern, Greek, or Byzantine Empire, with its headquarters at Con- stantinople, was the actual legitimate continuation of the Roman Empire which had sprung up from the Latin city- 2. The Eastern state. The centre had been definitely shifted Empire. eastwards in the time of Diocletian and Con- stantine, and it had assumed a correspondingly oriental character. That is to say it was a blend of eastern and western; but the western element in it was Greek, not Roman. Its effective dominion still extended over Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, as well as over the Balkan or Grecian penin- sula; and it was still nominally recognised as having a very shadowy authority even in the west. But the empire had