Kings, Emperors and Madmen

The Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire) continued after the fall of Rome for another thousand years; like the Western Roman Empire it had the emperor form of government.  It was ruled by emperors to the end in 1453 when the Muslim Turks conquered the last piece of land left:  the city of Constantinople, modern day Istanbul.  The emperor form of government must be one of the worst types of government ever established.  The emperor was all powerful; he was the law, the judge and the executioner.  He could kill you at will or maim you at his discretion.  The citizens had no say in who ruled them.  Many emperors got the job by murdering their predecessor; so a common thug with some personal power and supporters or a military strongman could assassinate the emperor and the next day be proclaimed the new emperor.  Many military strongmen could march on Constantinople and usurp the throne, either by murdering the existing emperor or by popular acclaim by the people.  Many emperors lived in fear of such usurpers and would occasionally either order the death of his potential usurpers or have them blinded; a common Byzantine practice.  In the 13th century when emperor Theodore II died he left the throne to his seven-year old son John IV.  As was the custom a regent was assigned to rule for the child, Michael Palaiologos, a protege of John III, emperor of the city of Nicaea was selected.  After serving as temporary emperor for about five years, he felt secure enough that he usurped the throne by having the rightful heir, 11 year-old John IV, blinded so he could eliminate any opposition.

Emperors have been brutal, tyrannical, and madmen.  Justinian (527-565), for example, had 30,000 people who had rioted against him, murdered in his Hippodrome, in Constantinople. He ordered his best military commander of the empire, Belasarius to block the exits and then systematically execute all inside.  Although Justinian had some success in his reign, many Byzantine emperors were terrible and disastrous administrators.  The empire was vast and difficult to control.  Borders were always in flux; whomever conquered the area annexed it to his.  Arabs, Slavs, Turks, Persians, Russians, and Muslims kept eating away at Byzantine territory.  Wars were a constant.  Many emperors paid protection money to their enemies to bribe them not to invade, draining their government coffers in the process, making it unable to pay their soldiers in many cases.

The Roman Republic on the other hand had a well-functioning type of government up until the time of Caesar, 44 BC.  Most of the Roman territory had already been won during the Republic (see adjoining map).   Prior to Caesar and the emperors Rome had a representative form of government with two Consuls elected by the people.  The emperors, with few exceptions, were a disaster.   The first Roman emperor was Caesar Augustus in 31BC.  As with the Byzantines, many rose to be emperor by assassinating their predecessor. Rome, as with the Byzantines, had some of the worst emperors such as Caligula and Nero.  Imagine, if you will, that our form of government was like that today. Total lawlessness. Disaster and total chaos can’t be too far down the line. For a free online college course see Hillsdale College’s course on the Roman Republic, called “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic.”  The adjoining map is from this course. An excellent course.

After the rise of Christianity with Emperor Constantine in 325 AD, the emperor also controlled the church. Emperors would be crowned by bishops. Emperors could call church councils.   The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD (now the town of Iznik, Turkey) was called by Emperor Constantine.  Here is where the separation of church and state is paramount.  When the two are mixed bad things will happen; religion and politics can’t be separated.  In the Byzantine empire, church leaders were at the mercy of the emperors and had to bend to his wishes.  Any church leader not pleasing the emperor was replaced.  The emperor ruled the church like his empire.

Up to the 18^th century, in England, the King was the law, judge and jury.  He could have anyone who displeased him killed at his command, as Henry VIII did.  Henry VIII took control of the church and governed both at his will.  To this day, the King or Queen of England is the head of the Anglican Church.  Anyone not a member of the Anglican Church has been marginalized and discriminated against since the time of Henry.  Nowhere in Europe will you find discrimination against Catholics as in England.  Today you cannot be a British Prime Minister if you’re Catholic for instance.  Members of the royal family cannot be Catholic.  Catholic Ireland was severely oppressed by the British for hundreds of years until independence came in early 20^th Century. 

The American founding fathers were the most brilliant and savvy men of all time.  They learned from history and designed a government that would be representative and not tyrannical.  Our form of government is a Republic, not a democracy.  Here is a terrific five-minute video description of a Republic by Professor Robert George of Princeton University.  Spanish philosopher George Santayana stated it well “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Our founding fathers did learn.  Not many others have.

Kings and emperors are selected not by their citizens but by an accident of birth or by usurpers in some cases.  You could be totally insane, as I’m sure Henry VIII was, and be king and tyrant.  You are the law, the court, and the executioner.  You could send thousands of your citizens to their death by starting a war, just because you feel like it.  One person with all the power and millions of citizens toally powerless.  Today, the British monarch has been defanged but other tyrants such as Kim Jung Un of North Korea or Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jing Ping of China have total control; their people have no say.  In China for instance 1.5 billion people are powerless; one man has all the power.   Any of these could start a war killing hundreds of thousands for any reason or no reason. Kim, like Henry VIII is probably mentally insane or deranged; drunk with power, and eager to use it.

The Byzantine Empire, lasted another thousand years by sheer luck but finally succumbed to bad, corrupt government and bad leaders.  It took a long time to end but the seeds of destruction were there with all the tyrants and incompetent emperors.  Santayana was right. 

Recommended reading: 

1.        “Lost to the West” by Lars Brownworth, Crown Publishers, 2009

Lars Brownworth has a terrific podcast on this book called 12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of Byzantine Empire.  Click here for the link.

2.         “The Lost World of Byzantium” by Jonathan Harris, Yale University Press, 2015