Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
When the East-Romans defeated the Caliphate
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="Herberto, post: 3037295, member: 74222"][ATTACH=full]757642[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Leo III the Isaurian with Constantine V, Sear 1530. Minted in Syracuse. It is very crude and it looks easier when holding it, but I have made some red marks to outline the portrait.</p><p><br /></p><p>Info on that coin: <a href="http://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=15300" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=15300" rel="nofollow">http://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=15300</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Coins from 600-800 or so tend to be very crude since the economic foundation was destroyed, and it was first until around 800 that Byzantine coins again became decent.</p><p><br /></p><p>What is the connection between Leo III the Isaurian and Syracuse? - Beneath I will summarize what happened.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the 400s the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire survived Attila the Hun and the barbarian attacks. In the 500s Justinian and Belisarius expanded westward, and eventually Maurice Tiberius expanded eastward. In the first half of 600s Heraclius won a war that exhausted both Byzantines and Persians, and for that reason the Muslims could easily expand.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 717 Leo III the Isaurian became the emperor, and the Umayyad Caliphate planned to give the deathblow to the Romans by capturing the rich city of Constantinople. The Umayyads made expensive investments and thought that as soon as Constantinople was captured, the investment would pay back many times as they would control a trade center alongside its spoils. They believed that Allah had helped/guided them, and that it was Allah’s wish that Islam should spread. Umayyad Caliphate stretched from Spain to Pakistan so it was naturally that they turned their attention to Constantinople.</p><p><br /></p><p>When Leo III became the emperor, the empire <span style="color: #ff0000">EDITED: LANGUAGE</span>. And it even sunk<span style="color: #ff0000">LANGUAGE</span>because at the same time an official, Basil Onomagoulos, in Syracuse/Sicily rebelled and declared himself (illegitimate) emperor.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757633[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>How did the Byzantines react to the threat from the Umayyads? Did they just sit down and squabbled about theological discussions and were inflicted with “intrigues” so they became ineffective? No way, that is myth and bad history without strong academic foundation. Rather they planned how to beat the crap out of the Caliphate. And did it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantinople was like a reverse triangle: in the upper part laid the Theodosian Wall, a double wall. Around the sea a smaller wall was sufficient since the water functioned as protection. Inside was aqueduct(s) which meant they had water supply. However, Leo III ordered to put a long chain in the river of Golde Horn meaning they had a harbor of 700 meters. Same decades earlier the Byzantines had invented the “Greek Fire” which was a fire that could burn on water. The recipe to Greek Fire was secret, and only few Byzantines knew how to produce it.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757634[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Umayyads’ plan to capture Constantinople was very reasonable: they planned to starve it to surrender. They planned to put many soldiers to block outside the Theodosian Wall, and many ships to block the harbors so food supply could not enter Constantinople.</p><p><br /></p><p>Green are the Umayyads, and black the Byzantines, that was the Umayyad Caliphate's plan:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757635[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>But the Umayyads’ sea blockade was prevented: although the Byzantine warships were numerically inferior to the Umayyads ships, the Byzantine had a super weapon: Greek Fire. It meant that the smaller Byzantine fleet could defeat Umayyad fleet in the long end:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757636[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now the original plan of the Umayyads was destroyed. It makes no sense just to block on land since supply could enter Constantinople’s harbor behind the chain. But the Umayyads decided to stay outside the Theodosian wall. And that was indeed stupid, because after 4 months of siege a brutal winter arrived and decimated the Umayyad army:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757637[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the spring 718 the Umayyad Caliphate decided still to maintain the siege, and sent fresh supply of ships and a new Arab army. The Arab army marched through Anatolia in order to reach to Constantinople to help to block the city. The Umayyad ships anchored in the mouth of Nicomedia in secret. But some Umayyad ships rebelled because some Copts(Egyptian Christians) were unsatisfied for whatever reason, so they sailed to Constantinople and revealed the positions of the Umayyad ships and army. The Byzantines did not hesitate: they sent a squadron of Byzantine ships with Greek Fire and burned the Umayyad fleet entirely outside Nicomedia. At the same time a guerilla-tactic was used to ambush the marching Muslim army in Anatolia, so the Umayyads supply was eradicated and never reached to the hungry Umayyad soldiers outside Constantinople:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]757638[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now there were many hungry Umayyads outside the Theodosian Wall who have waited for many months without progress, and as you know hungry stomach tends to cause to be easily annoyed. The Byzantines had destroyed their fleet after all, and thus forced them to eat their horses, camels, then the bark and the leaves, and eventually they apparently resorted to cannibalism also, and even ate their own excrement. Very delicious.</p><p><br /></p><p>But Leo III the Isaurian is still not finish with them: he contacted the Bulgarian Khan, Tervel, and forged an alliance. Leo III convinced the Khan Tervel to do a specific thing: to attack the Umayyad army in the flank and rear, and hit the hungry crap out of them:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]757639[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>After about one year of siege, the Umayyad Caliphate finally realized it was totally hopeless to continue the siege, so they decided to cut their major lost a bit, and shipped their army home. However, later a hurricane arrived and smashed their fleet when they were sailing home:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]757640[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Prior the Siege of Constantinople in 717 the Muslims believed that Allah had guided them, because how could they expand and expand? At the same time the Byzantine’s borders were shrinking, and Umayyads invested very expensive in the siege, and decided to keep it for a year, but the Byzantines inflicted a disastrous defeat upon them, and now the steam went out, and the Muslims became insecure.</p><p><br /></p><p>Eventually the Abbasids rebelled, and took the power and the Umayyads escaped to Spain. The Abbasids were coherent somehow only in the beginning, but after the death of Harun al-Rashid in 809 the Abbasid Caliphate gradually fragmented, and around 850 it was splitted in many pieces.</p><p><br /></p><p>Had the Byzantines lost in 717-718, a rich Arab-Muslim culture would had prospered around Constantinople, and eventually Pagan (East)Europe may had went to Islam. But that did not happen, and a rich Byzantine-Christian culture prospered instead.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Byzantine Empire expanded again, and eventually spread Christianity to East-Europe, and particularly to Russia. In 1204 during the Latin Sack of Constantinople, the Byzantines lost its strength and was eventually conquered by Ottomans in 1453.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]757641[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Oh, and of course: In Syracuse the Byzantine official, Basil Onomagoulos, who declared himself (illegitimate) emperor, was eventually overthrowm and killed. And that coin of mine was minted soon after.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>SOURCES:</p><p><br /></p><p>That youtube-video is not supposed to be academic, and obviously some minor things differ from my description, but perhaps it could be interested to check. I liked it very much. From 7:22:</p><p><br /></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]n4BtmRMwYmw[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I normally don’t link to Wikipedia, but here is a readable text(it really does not contradict the other academic works I have consulted):</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%93718)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%93718)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717–718)</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Herberto, post: 3037295, member: 74222"][ATTACH=full]757642[/ATTACH] Leo III the Isaurian with Constantine V, Sear 1530. Minted in Syracuse. It is very crude and it looks easier when holding it, but I have made some red marks to outline the portrait. Info on that coin: [url]http://labarum.info/lbr/show.php?coin=15300[/url] Coins from 600-800 or so tend to be very crude since the economic foundation was destroyed, and it was first until around 800 that Byzantine coins again became decent. What is the connection between Leo III the Isaurian and Syracuse? - Beneath I will summarize what happened. In the 400s the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire survived Attila the Hun and the barbarian attacks. In the 500s Justinian and Belisarius expanded westward, and eventually Maurice Tiberius expanded eastward. In the first half of 600s Heraclius won a war that exhausted both Byzantines and Persians, and for that reason the Muslims could easily expand. In 717 Leo III the Isaurian became the emperor, and the Umayyad Caliphate planned to give the deathblow to the Romans by capturing the rich city of Constantinople. The Umayyads made expensive investments and thought that as soon as Constantinople was captured, the investment would pay back many times as they would control a trade center alongside its spoils. They believed that Allah had helped/guided them, and that it was Allah’s wish that Islam should spread. Umayyad Caliphate stretched from Spain to Pakistan so it was naturally that they turned their attention to Constantinople. When Leo III became the emperor, the empire [COLOR=#ff0000]EDITED: LANGUAGE[/COLOR]. And it even sunk[COLOR=#ff0000]LANGUAGE[/COLOR]because at the same time an official, Basil Onomagoulos, in Syracuse/Sicily rebelled and declared himself (illegitimate) emperor. [ATTACH=full]757633[/ATTACH] How did the Byzantines react to the threat from the Umayyads? Did they just sit down and squabbled about theological discussions and were inflicted with “intrigues” so they became ineffective? No way, that is myth and bad history without strong academic foundation. Rather they planned how to beat the crap out of the Caliphate. And did it. Constantinople was like a reverse triangle: in the upper part laid the Theodosian Wall, a double wall. Around the sea a smaller wall was sufficient since the water functioned as protection. Inside was aqueduct(s) which meant they had water supply. However, Leo III ordered to put a long chain in the river of Golde Horn meaning they had a harbor of 700 meters. Same decades earlier the Byzantines had invented the “Greek Fire” which was a fire that could burn on water. The recipe to Greek Fire was secret, and only few Byzantines knew how to produce it. [ATTACH=full]757634[/ATTACH] The Umayyads’ plan to capture Constantinople was very reasonable: they planned to starve it to surrender. They planned to put many soldiers to block outside the Theodosian Wall, and many ships to block the harbors so food supply could not enter Constantinople. Green are the Umayyads, and black the Byzantines, that was the Umayyad Caliphate's plan: [ATTACH=full]757635[/ATTACH] But the Umayyads’ sea blockade was prevented: although the Byzantine warships were numerically inferior to the Umayyads ships, the Byzantine had a super weapon: Greek Fire. It meant that the smaller Byzantine fleet could defeat Umayyad fleet in the long end: [ATTACH=full]757636[/ATTACH] Now the original plan of the Umayyads was destroyed. It makes no sense just to block on land since supply could enter Constantinople’s harbor behind the chain. But the Umayyads decided to stay outside the Theodosian wall. And that was indeed stupid, because after 4 months of siege a brutal winter arrived and decimated the Umayyad army: [ATTACH=full]757637[/ATTACH] In the spring 718 the Umayyad Caliphate decided still to maintain the siege, and sent fresh supply of ships and a new Arab army. The Arab army marched through Anatolia in order to reach to Constantinople to help to block the city. The Umayyad ships anchored in the mouth of Nicomedia in secret. But some Umayyad ships rebelled because some Copts(Egyptian Christians) were unsatisfied for whatever reason, so they sailed to Constantinople and revealed the positions of the Umayyad ships and army. The Byzantines did not hesitate: they sent a squadron of Byzantine ships with Greek Fire and burned the Umayyad fleet entirely outside Nicomedia. At the same time a guerilla-tactic was used to ambush the marching Muslim army in Anatolia, so the Umayyads supply was eradicated and never reached to the hungry Umayyad soldiers outside Constantinople: [ATTACH=full]757638[/ATTACH] Now there were many hungry Umayyads outside the Theodosian Wall who have waited for many months without progress, and as you know hungry stomach tends to cause to be easily annoyed. The Byzantines had destroyed their fleet after all, and thus forced them to eat their horses, camels, then the bark and the leaves, and eventually they apparently resorted to cannibalism also, and even ate their own excrement. Very delicious. But Leo III the Isaurian is still not finish with them: he contacted the Bulgarian Khan, Tervel, and forged an alliance. Leo III convinced the Khan Tervel to do a specific thing: to attack the Umayyad army in the flank and rear, and hit the hungry crap out of them: [ATTACH=full]757639[/ATTACH] After about one year of siege, the Umayyad Caliphate finally realized it was totally hopeless to continue the siege, so they decided to cut their major lost a bit, and shipped their army home. However, later a hurricane arrived and smashed their fleet when they were sailing home: [ATTACH=full]757640[/ATTACH] Prior the Siege of Constantinople in 717 the Muslims believed that Allah had guided them, because how could they expand and expand? At the same time the Byzantine’s borders were shrinking, and Umayyads invested very expensive in the siege, and decided to keep it for a year, but the Byzantines inflicted a disastrous defeat upon them, and now the steam went out, and the Muslims became insecure. Eventually the Abbasids rebelled, and took the power and the Umayyads escaped to Spain. The Abbasids were coherent somehow only in the beginning, but after the death of Harun al-Rashid in 809 the Abbasid Caliphate gradually fragmented, and around 850 it was splitted in many pieces. Had the Byzantines lost in 717-718, a rich Arab-Muslim culture would had prospered around Constantinople, and eventually Pagan (East)Europe may had went to Islam. But that did not happen, and a rich Byzantine-Christian culture prospered instead. The Byzantine Empire expanded again, and eventually spread Christianity to East-Europe, and particularly to Russia. In 1204 during the Latin Sack of Constantinople, the Byzantines lost its strength and was eventually conquered by Ottomans in 1453. [ATTACH=full]757641[/ATTACH] Oh, and of course: In Syracuse the Byzantine official, Basil Onomagoulos, who declared himself (illegitimate) emperor, was eventually overthrowm and killed. And that coin of mine was minted soon after. SOURCES: That youtube-video is not supposed to be academic, and obviously some minor things differ from my description, but perhaps it could be interested to check. I liked it very much. From 7:22: [MEDIA=youtube]n4BtmRMwYmw[/MEDIA] I normally don’t link to Wikipedia, but here is a readable text(it really does not contradict the other academic works I have consulted): [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%93718)']https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717–718)[/URL][/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
When the East-Romans defeated the Caliphate
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...
