Реферат: Islamic Conquests Up To 700 Ad
the entry into Ctesiphon was the culmination of two decades of damaging warfare
with the Persians.? It was remarkable
that Heraclius managed to raise the necessary resources to launch his
counter-offensive against the Turks.? At
the time the Persians occupied large parts of Palestine and Syria and the imperial
authorities faced a financial crisis.?
The melting down of bronze statues and the removal of plate from
churches highlight the financial plight of the empire.? Similarly the need for Turkish allies shows
us the severe recruitment crisis faced by Heraclius.? Heraclius? remarkable comeback was achieved at a cost.? Generations of civilians in Syria and
Palestine had grown up without imperial rule.?
The populations of these important border lands were alienated from the
empie.? The religious divisions that
plagued the near east can only have intensified this alienation.? Whilst we must not suggest that the division
between Monophytism and imperial orthodoxy encouraged active resistance to the
Byzantines, it cannot have encouraged passionate resistance to Muslim
invaders.? In Egypt however the
religious divisions were more pronounced.?
These divisions, which were inextricably linked with cultural divisions,
created a popular attitude that was ambivalent at best to Byzantine rule.? The situation in Egypt was not helped by the
appointment of the militantly orthodox Cyrus as governor.? The war with Persia had economic and
political effects.? The Byzantines
needed time to recover administrative control over its peoples, as well as time
to recover the economic and military resources that were so depleted during the
Persian wars.Again the lack of evidence makes
it difficult for us to ascertain the precise reasons for Byzantine military
failure, but the apparently large number of Arabs in the Byzantine army shows
us of the recruitment problem.? The
surprise element of the Muslim conquests exemplifies certain Byzantine
weaknesses.? The Byzantines lacked the