Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/122

Rh appearance both by laud and sea, and one division, landing at the Pirteus, succeeded in carrying Athens by storm ; but an Athenian of rank called Dexippus, afterwards the his torian of these events, succeeded in assembling a sufficient force to compel them to retire. This reverse was the prelude to their total overthrow, for succours were meanwhile arriv ing from Italy, by which their separate bands were attacked in detail and destroyed. Some years later, after other inroads, during which many cities of Greece successfully defended themselves, the power of the Goths was broken by the emperor Claudius II. at the great battle of Naissus (2G9 A.D.). But it was clearly proved at this time that the spirit of the Greeks, which had had no opportunity of dis playing itself since the siege of Athens by Sulla, was not extinct, and that, if they had been unwarlike in the interval, it was mainly because their masters had denied them the use of arms. It is not to be overlooked that, when the same barbarians subsequently attacked the Western empire, it went down before them, the reason being that the nations of the West had no such distinctive nationality as the Greeks, and no such municipal institutions to rally round. Anyhow the Greek character was benefited by the public spirit thus evoked, and by the activity infused into society by the feeling th;kt every nun might be called on to defend his person and property.

The other and far more important influence which regenerated the Greeks at this time was Christianity. This religion, which had long been working in secret, though in ways which it is almost impossible to trace, now began to produce a marked impression on Greek society. Its power was the greater because it had worked from below upward, and had permeated to a great extent the lower and middle classes. It improved the moral condition of the Greeks by elevating their views of life, by quickening the conscience, and by inf asing earnestness into the character ; and it reno vated their social condition by pointing out to them their duties to one another, by encouraging corporate feeling, and in particular by purifying the domestic relations through its influence on the female sex. At the same time the habit of meeting for the administration of their communities accustomed .the Christians to discussion and action in com mon, and the fact that they formed a powerful corporation independent of the state, which was the reason why they were persecuted by the Roman authorities, was in itself a means of political education. Such an influence, which not merely pervaded every relation of life, but penetrated also to the motives and springs of action, is sufficient of itself to account for the regeneration of the Greeks, which the his torian traces in its effects at the end of the 3d century. The scene now changes, and from the land of Hellas our attention is transferred to the city of Constantinople.

II. Period of Greek Revival&thinsp;: from Constantine the Great to Leo III. (the Isaurian), 323-716 A.D.

The principal events of the first half of this period, the two centuries which intervened between Constantine and Justinian, are the foundation of Constantinople (330 A.D). ; the emperor Julian s attempted restoration of Paganism (361) ; the defeat of Valens by the Goths near Adrianople, and his death (378) ; the establishment of Christianity by Theodosius the Great as the religion of the empire (383) ; the partition of the Roman empire between Arcadius and Honorius (395) ; the publication of the Theodosian code (438) ; and the extinction of the empire of the West (476). The reign of Justinian (527-565) comprises the great cam paigns of Belisarius and Narses, whereby the kingdom of the Vandals in Africa was overthrown, and Sicily, Italy, and southern Spain were recovered to the Roman empire, the Greek possessions in Italy being henceforth governed by an exarch, who resided at Ravenna ; the building of the church of St Sophia at Constantinople; and tho reformation of the Roman law. Finally, in the century and a half between Justinian s death and the accession of Leo III., occurred the birth of Mahomet (571) ; the victori ous expeditious of Heraclius against the Persians (G22-8); and the seven years siege of Constantinople by the Saracens in the reign of Constantine Pogonatus (668-G75).

The reforms effected by Constantine formed one of the greatest revolutions the world has ever seen, and his sagacity is shown by the completeness with which they were carried out, and by the permanence of their effects, for from them proceeded both the strength and the injuriousness of the .Byzantine system, which lasted even to the latest days of the empire. To describe them in brief, he centralized the executive power in the emperor, and constituted a bureaucracy for the administration of public business ; he consolidated the dispensation of justice throughout his dominions ; he rendered the military power, which had hitherto been the terror and bane of the state, subservient to the civil power; he adopted a new religion, and established a new capital. Henceforth the world was ruled by the emperor and his household, and this administration was wholly irresponsible ; and as the interests of the Government were un connected with those of any nationality and any class of its subjects, there was sure to be a continual struggle between the rulers and those whom they governed. In order that the emperor might be regarded as a being of a different order from the people, he and his court were surrounded by lavish splendour ; and in order to check the ever imminent danger of rebellion through pretenders to the throne, the offices of the court were made magnificent prizes, so that ambitious persons might feel that advancement could be obtained by a safer method than civil war. But to meet these expenses, and at the same time to maintain a power- f al army, an elaborate system of taxation was necessary ; taxation, in fact, came to be regarded as the first aim of government, and the inhabitants of the empire were impoverished for objects in which they had no direct concern. The principal instrument which Constantine used for en forcing this was the Roman municipal system, and this he introduced into Greece, notwithstanding the existence of a national and traditional organization. According to this, each town, with the agricultural district in its neighbourhood, was administered by an oligarchical senate called the curia, elected from among the landed proprietors ; by them the municipal officers were appointed, and the land-tax collected, for the amount of which they were made respon sible ; while those who did not possess land, such as merchants and artisans, paid the capitation tax, and formed an inferior class. As wealth declined, the oppressiveness of this system was more and more felt, especially as the private property of members of the curia was confiscated when the tem&amp;gt; required amount was not forthcoming; and hence, in order to prevent a further diminution of the revenue, an elaborate caste-system was subsequently introduced, which fixed the condition of every class, and required a son to follow the calling of his father, lest the number of persons liable to a certain kind of taxation should decrease. With the same view, the free rural population came to be tied to the soil, to prevent the ground from falling out of cultivation. Since, however, it was foreseen that such a system would produce discontent, the people everywhere were carefully disarmed, and the possession of arms was made a thing apart, the military class being separated from all others. For the same reason barbarians were much used as troops, because they could have no sympathy with the citizens. The harshness of this system caused general poverty, and deep-seated hatred of the central government, often resulting in a disposition to call in the barbarians ; while its jealousy was the origin of the weakness of the empire, because the pro- 