Interview: War, Byzantium, and Military Saints
In an absorbing interview, Dr. James Skedros, Cantonis
Professor of Byzantine Studies and Professor of Early Christianity at Holy
Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, leads us
into the tumultuous world of Byzantine warfare to examine Orthodox views on war
and peace, the veneration of military saints in the Christian Roman Empire, and
what the Byzantine experience can teach our own turbulent times.
RTE: Dr. Skedros, before we discuss the veneration of
Byzantine military saints, would you begin by describing how military activity
was viewed in the Christian Roman Empire?
DR. SKEDROS: Military activity was a dominant and
constant aspect of the East Roman Empire. Not that Byzantine society was
militaristic in the way that ancient Spartan culture was, but rather, as an
imperial power with enemies on all of its borders, the Byzantines were
constantly at war. The Byzantine State was very large—at its height it covered
nearly as much territory as that of the imperial Roman Empire. Its borders were
vulnerable and the Byzantines always seemed to be prosecuting some sort of
war—whether for defensive purposes, for retaliation, trying to regain land, or
all of the above. War was a recurring event. Byzantium emerged from the late
Roman world where an organized professional military was part and parcel of
society. Further, like their ancient predecessors and medieval contemporaries,
the Byzantines took advantage of any means possible to defend themselves—not
only direct military action, but also through political and economic means, the
creation of alliances, hiring of mercenaries, the paying of tribute to keep
enemies at bay, and arranging of inter-dynastic marriages. Then there was this
incredible secret weapon—so secret that we still don’t know exactly what it was
made of—Greek fire.
The Byzantines also had great tactical minds. They
produced treatises and handbooks on warfare and military tactics and they had
an incredible foundation of Roman soldiery that stays with them throughout all
of their eleven-hundred-year history. They also have a well-organized
bureaucracy of negotiation: sending diplomats here, marrying a member of the
imperial family off to create an alliance, paying 30,000 gold coins a year, for
example, to enemies such as the Bulgarians to obtain a thirty-year truce,
particularly when they are defending multiple borders at the same time. They
are always thinking, planning, dealing with, and guarding their borders. The
question is, to what extent does war trickle down into the provinces or the
hinterland? If you are living in Asia Minor, in Cappadocia for example, it may
very well be that from the third century to the Arab raids of the seventh
century, you have three or four hundred years of relative peace. Do people in
the center of such peaceful areas have a kind of Pax Romana period? I don’t
have a sense that the experience of war is trickling down to everyone, but as a
state apparatus, Byzantines are always, if not actively at war, certainly aware
that war is on the horizon. The borders, however, were always vulnerable.
RTE: I wonder if this period of Cappadocian peace is
similar to our situation in North America, where over the past century we have
participated in distant wars, but not at home on our own soil. For them, like
us, there were probably intermittent drafts, and certainly taxes for defense.
DR. SKEDROS: Yes, particularly during the Macedonian
Dynasty, roughly the 9th, 10th, and early 11th centuries, it is estimated that
nearly three quarters of the budget was spent on military activity. This is a
rebirth, the attempt of Byzantium to regain territory, and a period where you
have a succession of military rulers who themselves went out and fought in
battle.
RTE: To modern ears, paying invaders such as the
Bulgarians a yearly retainer to maintain a thirty-year truce seems almost
dishonorable, but in context it was extremely shrewd because they saved both lives
and money and could concentrate their military endeavors on other borders, such
as during the Persian or Arab invasions. Geographically, they were extremely
vulnerable.
DR. SKEDROS: It also speaks to the wealth of an empire that has the
resources to fight on one front while paying off the other.
RTE: As a Christian empire, how would the Byzantines
have looked at war? We hear of pacifist writings in early centuries. Did that
change after the Roman Empire became Christian?
DR. SKEDROS: Already in early Christianity there seems
to be a tension between those who support war and those who reject it
wholesale. When you look outside of the New Testament texts, you hear pacifist
voices at the end of the second century. By the beginning or middle of the
third century, you find statements like, “Christians shouldn’t be involved in
the military,” which suggests that they were in the military. It seems that the
biggest challenge for Christians who served in the Roman army before
Constantine, as seen also in the lives of military saints, is not so much the
concern over killing in battle, but the question of whether or not a Christian
can or should participate in the various pagan rituals associated with being a
member of the military. Having said that, I think you can find post-New
Testament Christian authors who, if not 100% pacifist, are pacifistic voices.
By the fourth century you have a Christian emperor, and a slow shift towards a
Christian empire that still needs to be defended. The New Testament reads very
much as if Christ and the early Church are against violence, so why haven’t
Christians become out-and-out pacifists? Is it because they are realists and
see that evil in the world needs to be confronted, or have they somehow sold
out?
Read full interview here:
http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/back_issue_articles/RTE_52/WAR_BYZANTIUM_AND_MILITARY_SAINTS.pdf
