One of the most enigmatic episodes in Byzantine history is Iconoclasm, which ran its course from the seventh (c. 680) to the ninth (c. 850) centuries. The book under review provides a popular account of one of the central emperors in the story, Constantine V, and one which covers more than just his role in Iconoclasm. Following the appraisal of much scholarship of the past few decades, Leslie Ivings’ portrait is largely positive. While I.’s account is very readable and contains some interesting insights, some tweaking would have righted a few wrongs and so made this book even more appealing to a general audience.
The book contains seven chapters as well as a prologue, conclusion, an epilogue, chronological tables, three appendices, and a glossary of terms. I. aims to focus on politics and military affairs, so very much in keeping with the approach adopted in the work of scholars like Haldon, Brubaker, and Decker. The prologue covers some of the scholarship and sources, and sets out the terms of the book, so serving more as an introduction than as a means of setting the scene. Chapter 1 covers the reign of Constantine V’s predecessors including Philippicus, Anastasius II, Theodosius III, and Leo III (whose names are sometimes jumbled). I. covers some of the religious conflict, the external threats like those provided by the Umayyads and the Bulgars. I. also discusses changes to the theme system as well as the Ecloga. It finishes by touching on the rebellion of Artabasdos before getting to Constantine’s accession. Chapter 2 provides a more sustained account of Artabasdos’ uprising. I. also uses the Battle of Amorium as an opportunity to discuss Byzantine tactics and strategy, a sensible premise. Here I. covers aspects of Byzantine cavalry, as well as its infantry, the legionaries and archers. Next I. shifts to religion and the Council of Hieria in 754, as well as its later impact including not just on the church but wider society, from the removal of images from religious buildings to violent unrest involving monastic militias.
Chapter 3 returns to religious and cultural change. Iconoclasm features prominently, with I. getting into some of the changes that came out of this. He then turns to some of the literary output of Constantine’s reign (and beyond), with the works of John of Damascus and Theophanes the Confessor attracting the lion’s share of the attention. I. alludes to Byzantine women authors without, unfortunately, naming any. That said, I. has some interesting things to say about women’s roles in preserving oral and folk traditions, a factor recognized in other parts of the pre-modern Mediterranean world (Greece and Rome, for example). I. does not only look inward for Byzantium’s cultural outputs, for he also gets into varied intellectual interactions between the residents of the Byzantine state and the (fading) Umayyad Caliphate (and later Abbasid Caliphate). This discussion includes not just the translation of works of Greek philosophy, for example, but the visual arts. The rest of the chapter looks at Iconoclasm’s conclusion and its economic impact.
In Chapter 4, I. returns to military matters. He emphasizes the new Byzantine command structure as well as improved training and the rise of a military elite. I. also discusses Byzantine campaigns against the Umayyads in the 740s, followed by the Bulgars. He then turns back to the Arabs and an envisioned siege of Constantinople around 746, as well as subsequent counter-campaigns led by the Byzantines in 760. I. also touches on changes to the navy including a naval victory against the Umayyads in 762 at Syllaeum. It is administrative change that is the focus of Chapter 5. Again, I. touches on changes to the themes, and the place of their soldiers in the local communities. Tax reforms come up too, as does the reallocation of land, including a brief discussion of pronoia, and assorted infrastructure projects. I. also looks into the impacts of all these changes on people across the Byzantine social spectrum, from the peasants to the elite, which includes the redistribution of wealth.
Chapter 6 looks at Constantine’s historical reputation, which means a return to some of the sources, like Theophanes, and how they characterized the emperor. At last, I. gets into how Constantine got his nickname, copronymus (‘dung-named’). After rehashing some familiar subject matter, we get another close analysis of a battle, here the Battle of Akroinon in 747, which includes some comments on the two sides’ weapons and armour. At last, the tagmata make an appearance. Then we get an interesting portrait of the general Lachanodraon. In the last chapter, 7, I. touches on the aftermath of many of Constantine’s changes. This includes brief discussions of the efforts of Leo IV and then Irene. It continues on to Theophilos and others, before discussing some of the ways that Constantine has been characterized in the scholarship. The appendices provide concise overviews of some of the issues already raised, like the sources for his reign.
As I said at the beginning, the book reads well, and it covers one of the most interesting periods in Byzantine history, as well as a figure who is little known outside of a smaller, more specialized audience. So efforts to bring Constantine and his reign to a wider audience are commendable. There are also bits of genuine insight, like I’s occasional attention to combined arms, to my mind a topic that has been little utilized in discussions of pre-modern world warfare. All the tables and appendices will be invaluable to readers new to the period and subject.
On the other hand, as the astute reader might have noticed, there are some errors sprinkled in the text. To give just a few examples, so far as I know there was no Battle of Amorium in 742 on the scale that I. envisages. That said, Constantine’s forces did pull off a significant victory over Artabasdos’ in 743 at or just outside of Sardis. The Battle of Akroinon, fought between the Byzantines and Umayyads, was in 740 rather than 747. Although the name ‘legion’ had a history that extended at least into the very late sixth or even seventh century CE, I do not know that we can still call the primary infantry of the eighth century legionaries. Even the heavy cavalry, who I. styles as cataphracts, were usually characterized in other ways, with the cataphracts better associated with late antiquity and then the tenth century CE onwards. While the themes (themata) feature in various places, the tagmata, arguably Constantine’s most significant military reform, are mentioned only in passing, a missed opportunity.
So while the story that I. tells is, at various points, engaging (not surprising when the main character is nicknamed ‘dung-named’), a few tweaks, and perhaps some modifications to its organization, could have made this book even more attractive.
