Heraclius and the Byzantine Thalassocracy? 610-625 AD

Authors

  • Carlos Martínez Carrasco Universidad de Córdoba — Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas de Granada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i22.791

Keywords:

Maritime History, Mediterranean Sea, Byzantium, Persia, Slavs

Abstract

The first fifteen years of the reign of Heraclius (610-641) were crucial to explain the subsequent territorial, political and military reorganization of the East that emerged after the end of the war with Sassanid Persia. In this scenario, the Mediterranean is a fundamental actor for all that it represents, hence it is necessary to address naval history during the period 610-625, in which we will find many of the keys that will allow us to understand subsequent events. A space in which until then there was only one undisputed power, Byzantium, but to which some competitors will emerge who want to enter an area of enormous economic relevance, despite the fact that at the beginning of the 7th century the effects of a crisis in which northern Europe had been plunged since the 5th century. Like Rome, the Byzantine is a terrestrial empire that uses the navy to maintain a certain communication with the parts furthest from the political center, those that are not can be accessed by land. We start from an idea of unreal peace that makes the Empire turn its back on the sea, despite the fact that Constantinople depended for its survival on the opening of sea routes. More than unconsciousness, it is about the fear of the unknown and from which all possible evils came: epidemics, invasions and natural catastrophes. The maritime history of these years should serve to interrogate us about the social and economic conditions of cities and their inhabitants affected by the events related to the struggle for control of the Mediterranean. In this sense, the main sources will be the chronicles contemporary to the events, which form the nucleus from which to assemble the story. But for this study other sources are necessary that go beyond political events to approach other aspects of daily life, such as hagiographic, epigraphic or papyrological. Some materials that also respond to the multi-ethnic character of Byzantium, including works written in Greek, Coptic, Pahlavi and Syriac, which also contribute the points of view of their respective communities. What one tradition silences, another gathers it with profusion of detail, showing that sources are sometimes worth as much for what they are silent as for what they tell.

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Author Biography

  • Carlos Martínez Carrasco, Universidad de Córdoba — Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas de Granada

    Carlos Martínez Carrasco: doctor en Historia medieval por la Universidad de Granada, actualmente profesor sustituto interino en la Universidad de Córdoba e investigador del Centro de Estudios Bizantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas. Sus principales líneas de investigación son las relaciones bizantino-árabes en el marco de las conexiones mediterráneas en la Antigüedad Tardía y la Alta Edad Media.

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Published

2022-07-26

How to Cite

Heraclius and the Byzantine Thalassocracy? 610-625 AD. (2022). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 11(22), 87-107. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i22.791

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