Centralization In The Byzantine Empire History Essay

Centralization In The Byzantine Empire History Essay In his article OsmanlÄ ± PadiÃ…Å ¸ahÄ ± published in 1958 Halil Ä °nalcÄ ±k wrote â€Å"It was obligatory to comply to caliph-sultan who had been designed by God to direct Muslims with shariaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Subjects had to show absolute obedience to the sultan and this relationship was similar with relationship between father and sonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The idea of absolute and indivisible authority and the regulations in the organization of state to materialize this idea was important.†Ã‚   [ 1 ]   Georg Ostrogorsky writes the lines below for Byzanine emperors in his book History of the Byzantine State: â€Å"The state was completely identified with the Emperor and with his military and bureaucratic machine. The Emperor is chosen of God, and under the protection of Divine Providence. He is entire master of the government of the Empire, commander-in-chief of the army, supreme judge and sole law-giver, protector of the Church and guardian of the true f aithà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ his judicial sentence is final and irrevocableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦As master of the State the Emperor has in practice unrestricted power.†Ã‚   [ 2 ]    To read merely these two observations on the Ottoman and Eastern Roman empires together gives a considerable idea already on the permanent link between the two empires. Yet, it is necessary to pay attention to the claims of â€Å"former orientalism†, with the expression of Halil Berktay, which suggests that the single source of the Ottoman institutions was Byzantine`s socio-political organization.   [ 3 ]   However, an attempt in instantiating this claim should be cautious regarding the ultra-nationalistic tendencies which completely refuse the similarities between the two empires. In this essay I seek to analyze the centralization, which was one of the major common aspects between the Ottoman and the Byzantine empires, in the reign of Justinian. The centralization policies of Justinian, who was in th e throne between 527 and 565, seemed to be simultaneously emerged through the political fragmentation and decentralization processes in Europe. Therefore, an investigation on the centralization of the reign of Justinian can create opportunities for comparisons between the West and the Byzantium The Mainlines of Justinian Period and the Political Centralization To understand centralization policies throughout the period of Justinian, it will be useful to see mainlines of his era briefly. Justinian ruled the empire two centuries later Constantine who had founded the capital Constantinople   [ 4 ]   and was the first emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Throughout two centuries the Empire tried to get over the crisis that had destroyed Europe with a minimum damage. However, this crisis had affected its political and social life and it reached to the capacity to regain the western lands after the fifth century. According to Ostrogorsky, even though the estranged administrations of t he western and eastern sides of the Roman Empire, the ideas of unity and universality of the empire continued during the Germanic invasions. Within the sixth century when the Byzantine Empire reached the capacity to adopt an active policy, instead of a â€Å"passive actor†, an emperor came to the throne to get this idea into happening: Justinian. It is possible to summarize the goal of Justinian as reconstructing the heritage of Roman Empire, and establishing an empire within its former borders as a Christian and Roman empire. For this aim, the North Africa, Italy and South Spain were conquered and the Mediterranean became a Byzantine lake. However, those wars in the west decreased the defensive power of the Empire against Persia and throughout the Danube borders. Therefore, it can be said that while Byzantine armies were celebrating their victories in the distant west, the center of the Empire had been ravaging.   [ 5 ]   However, these conquests which were held in order to restorate the Roman Empire caused to a dramatic increase in the taxes and the discontentedness of people caused the Nika Revolt in 532. The Greens and the Blues got united to overthrow the emperor and the revolt was widely disseminated and gained strength within a short time. In so much that a nephew of the former emperor Anastasios was announced as the new emperor. However, the revolt stifled with the efforts of Theodora, Belisarios and Narses.   [ 6 ]   It is necessary to mention that to see the financial outcomes of the conquest policy as the only reasons for revolt would be inaccurate. Obviously, an increase in taxes was a significant factor for the revolt. However, the other reason which lied behind the revolt summarized the characteristic of the period of Justinian.