In the context of geography, the Byzantine Empire was not as big the Pagan Roman Empire. The Roman Empire seems neat on the maps, but the Byzantine Empire always seems to be under siege, not able to out of the Balkans or the Mediterranean.
Modern people have a tendency to underestimate people before the steam engine. However, our ancestors were very smart and managed to secure vast territories. Many of such empires were expansive realms that encompassed many climates and cultures.
Under Emperor Justinian, the Byzantines were able to somewhat restore some of the Roman Empire. It was an empire that was able to stretch from Southern Spain to the banks of the Euphrates. In the span of his age, Justinian had managed to bring some of the Western Roman Empire back under his control. However, as later emperors such as Tiberius II would find see that maintaining such a large empire is a huge task which was causing difficulty with the treasury and the
The Byzantine Empire’s size can seem surprising by the limitations in transportation, but this is one of the great achievements of the age. The armies of generals such as Narses and Belisarius were pivotal in expanding the territory of the empire.
Belisarius was also innovative in the Siege of Rome.
He innovated in the area of ship mills. He had ships with water mills on the Tiber that grind grain. This gave him the ability to feed the city of Rome while it was under siege by the Ostrogoths.
Such innovations did not require steam engines or powered machinery. The machinery here was using the natural world around them. With such advancements stemming from the Hellenistic Age, empires from the time of Sargon of Akkad were being surpassed by the Roman and Byzantine Empire.
The size of Byzantine Empire is some ways was necessary beyond the technical abilities of the age.
The need for security in the Early Middle Ages
The Roman Empire had always been playing a game of defensive offensive actions. However, the old system of playing the tribes against one another wasn’t working after Emperors of the Roman Principate age. The frontiers needed to be toughened up and tactics were changed here.
The need for security was highly important for Constantinople to prosper. Just like in old Roman times, defensive warfare was important to safeguard the interests of the elites.
The Byzantine Empire’s need to enlarge was a matter of personal pride for men such as Emperor Justinian. Procopius in Secret History attacks him for being a demon and having an immoral entourage. However, Justinian was a man of incredible ambition and intelligence.
His wars were able to bring some semblance of unity between the East and West once again. He wasn’t able to gain back the Hispania, Gallic or Britannia. Such provinces would have required a much larger effort and stretching resources.
In comparison with the armies of the Late Republic, the Byzantine Army was much more cavalry focused and more about mobility. However, such an army is more expensive to maintain as a human and horse have to be maintained with a highly sophisticated logistics supply and population centers that are willing to support that army while it is out on campaign.
Natural boundaries of the Byzantine Empire
Before the rise of Islam, the Byzantine Empire had three main natural boundaries that explain its size.
The Danube
This famous river marked the boundary of the Balkans provinces of the Byzantine Empire. Only in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries was this boundary broken. The Emperor Trajan would launch the Dacian Wars and conquer the areas that are located in what is now known as Romania.
However, after the Barbarian invasions of the 3rd Century, the borders returned to the Danube River, which are an excellent means of defense for the Empire in the Balkans.
The Euphrates/Tigris
These rivers are where civilizations began and clashed with each other.
For the Byzantine and the Sassanid Empires, these rivers represented a boundary which would change hands many times.
The size of the empire before the Islamic Conquests and even after during its Macedonian era, were a result of an empire with the ability to project power and understood the importance of geography to provide the protection that soldiers were not able to provide.
The Byzantine Empire was big because of the necessity and its abilities
Players love map painting to build big empires in video games.
However, the Byzantine Empire did not get big simply because its rulers wanted to conquer. The pagan Romans before Christianity had more of that mindset than the Byzantines. It was a need for maintaining the borders of the empire so it could prosper. There was also the ability that was available in the hands of the emperors.
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