No More Learning

Theodore forwarded the African letter with a remonstrance
of his own; and Paul answered by an enunciation of the Monothelete
doctrine; upon which Theodore declared him deposed.
Gregory rebelled in 647: but in 648. he fell in battle with the Arabs;


## p. 401 (#433) ############################################

648-653] Arrest of Pope Martin 401
and Pyrrhus, having nothing more to hope from the party of Maximus,
went to Ravenna and made his peace with the government by recanting
his recantation. Theodore then solemnly deposed and anathematised
him in St Peter's. Meanwhile, as the Ekthesis had only shifted the
dispute from operations to wills, Paul made another attempt on the
same lines to restore peace. An imperial edict, known as the Type, was
at his instigation put forth, by which the Ekthesis was abrogated and
all controversy on either question forbidden under heavy penalties (648);
and, when the papal representatives refused to accept this, they were
punished by imprisonment, flogging, or exile.
Theodore died in May 649; and his successor, Martin, who was
consecrated without awaiting the imperial confirmation (5 July), im-
mediately held a synod in the Lateran, which asserted the doctrine of
two wills, denounced all who maintained one operation or one will, and
condemned the Ekthesis and the Type, and Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul,
Cyrus, and Theodore of Faran (5—31 Oct. ). The synodal acts were
sent to the Emperor; and Paul of Thessalonica, who refused to accept the
Roman theology, was declared deposed by a letter of the Pope.
Martin by his illegal consecration and flagrant disregard of the edict
had defied the Emperor; and the answer of Constans, acting under the
advice of Paul, was to send the chamberlain Olympius to Italy as exarch
with orders to find out the general disposition towards the Type, and, if
it should be favourable, and if the local army supported him, to arrest
Martin, whom the Emperor did not recognise as Pope, have the Type
read in all the churches, and make the bishops sign it; but, if not, to
wait till a stronger force could be collected. Olympius however, observing
the state of affairs at Rome, preferred to play the part of Gregory,
and accordingly came to an understanding with the Pope and threw off
allegiance to the Emperor. Some time afterwards he died in Sicily,
whither he had gone to repel an Arab invasion; and after the imperial
authority was thus restored in Italy, the new exarch, Theodore Calliopas,
entered Rome with an army (15 June 653), and arrested Martin in the
Lateran church (17 June) on charges of sending a letter and money to
the Arabs and of disrespect to the Virgin (i. e. Nestorianism). At mid-
night on the 18th he was removed from Rome, conveyed to Misenum
(1 July) and placed on board ship for Constantinople, which after a
short stay in Naxos he reached (17 Sept. ). He was kept in prison till
20 Dec, and then brought before the Senate. Being ill from the voyage
and the long confinement, he was carried to the court in a litter. The
charges of usurpation and disobedience, the real ground of his arrest,
were kept in the background, nor do we hear anything more of those
made against him at Rome; but he was accused of complicity with
Olympius. Next, after the Emperor had been consulted, he was first
exposed to the public gaze in the entrance-hall of the building, and then
placed in a gallery overlooked by a hall in the palace where Constans
C. MED. H. VOL. II. CH. XIII. 26


## p. 402 (#434) ############################################

402 Deposition of Martin [645-6»
was: here a crowd was allowed to surround him. The treasurer after
again consulting the Emperor finally ordered him to be deprived of his
pontifical headdress, as not being lawful Pope, and delivered to the
praefect to be beheaded. He was then stripped naked except for one
torn garment and dragged with a chain round his neck over rough
stones to a common prison with a sword in front of him, and thence
to the praefect's praetorium, where he was chained to the jailer: but in
the evening the praefect sent food with an assurance that the sentence
would not be executed, and the chains were removed. The sentence had
in fact been passed in order to frighten him into submission; and after
Paul's death, which shortly followed, unsuccessful attempts were made to
extort a statement that Pyrrhus, who had returned to Constantinople
after his reconciliation and was seeking restoration, had recanted under
compulsion at Rome. Nevertheless Pyrrhus was restored, but died on
Whit Sunday following (1 June 654). As all attempts to induce Martin
to communicate with the clergy of Constantinople were vain, he was on
15 Mar. removed to the house of a scribe, and thence on 11 Apr. to a
ship, in which he was conveyed to Cherson in the Crimea (15 May),
where he remained till his death in Sept. 655, complaining bitterly of
the lack of food and the neglect of his friends at Rome to send supplies.
Martin had however better reason to complain of the fickleness of
the Romans. At the time of his arrest the exarch had ordered the
clergy to elect a new pope; and after a year's resistance they yielded,
and (10 Aug. 654) Eugenius was consecrated to the papacy. The new
Pope sent envoys to Constantinople without a letter; and these com-
municated with the new patriarch, Peter, under a compromise. It
had been implied in the Type that the expressions "one will'" and "two
wills" were both in a sense correct: and, though this doctrine had been
condemned by the synod, the envoys acquiesced in it (655). Peter then
sent a synodical to the Pope in which this principle was stated; but
popular clamour compelled Eugenius to reject it.
Maximus had since 645 been living in Rome; and, as he was
believed to have been the chief instigator of Martin's resistance, it was
thought that, if he could be induced to submit, the cause would be won.
Accordingly an imperial commissioner who had been sent to order
Eugenius1 to communicate with Peter tried to persuade Maximus to
accept the Type; and on his refusal he was arrested and conveyed to
Constantinople, where he was brought before the treasurer and Senate
and accused of advising the magister militum of Nuraidia to disobey
the orders of Heraclius to march against the Arabs in Egypt, of
encouraging Gregory's rebellion, of disrespect to the Emperor, and of
anathematising the Type (655). During part of the proceedings the
patriarchs Peter of Constantinople and Macedonius of Antioch, who
resided in the capital, were present, and on Whit Sunday (17 May)
1 "rbv 8forl)irp-ov wdwwav " must be Eugenius, since Martin was never recognised.


## p. 403 (#435) ############################################

656-677] Exile of Maximus 403
Peter made a special attempt to induce him to accept the compromise
which had satisfied the Roman envoys: but, as he refused to yield
anything, he was banished to Bizye in Thrace. On 24 Aug. 656
Theodosius, bishop of Caesarea in Bithynia, and two senators came to
Bizye with an offer to repeal the Type if he would communicate with
the Church of Constantinople; and on this being rejected Theodosius
agreed to accept two wills and operations, that is without condemning
the other doctrine according to the compromise; and, as Maximus
insisted on the Emperor and the patriarch sending a profession of
faith to the Pope, Theodosius undertook to try to bring this about.
Maximus promised that, if Theodosius were sent to Rome, he would
go with him, but refused to accept,one will and one operation in any
sense. Constans would not concede this, but made another attempt
to win Maximus over. On 8 Sept. he was brought with great respect
to the monastery of Theodore at Rhegium, and the next day Theo-
dosius and two patricians came and promised him high honours if
he would accept the Type. This he also refused, and the patricians
assailed him with blows and abuse till persuaded by Theodosius to
desist. He was then conveyed under military guard to Selymbria
(14 Sept. ), and thence to Perberis. Five years later he was brought
before a synod at Constantinople, anathematised with Sophronius and
Martin, and flogged. He was then deprived of his tongue and right
hand, taken to Lazica (8 June 661), and imprisoned. In this exile
he died at the age of 82 (18 Aug. 662).
The Armenians had outwardly accepted orthodox communion in
631; but, when Constans in 648 ordered them to receive the Synod of
Chalcedon, they in a synod at Dvin openly refused. In 652, the chiefs
having invited the Arabs into the country, Constans came with an army
and lodged at Dvin in the house of the Catholicus, Nerses, who inclined
to the Roman party and from opposition to the chiefs proclaimed the
Synod, but had so little support that, when the Emperor returned early
in 653, he was forced to go with him and did not return to his see till
658. After his death in 662 no more was heard of the union.
Vitalian, who succeeded Eugenius on 30 July 657, announced his
ordination to Constans and sent a synodical to Peter in which he
conformed to the Type. Peter in answer wrote a letter in which the
numbers "one " and "two" applied to operations and wills were declared
immaterial, the Emperor sent presents and renewed the privileges of the
Church of Rome, and Vitalian's name was inserted in the diptychs of
Constantinople, which did not contain that of any of his predecessors
since Honorius. Peter's successor, Thomas (17 Apr. 667-15 Nov. 669)
sent no synodical; but for this the Arab attack was afterwards alleged as
a. reason. The next two patriarchs, John (Nov. /Dec. 669-Aug. 675) and
Constantine (2 Sept. 675-9 Aug. 677), sent synodicals in which no
reference was made to the disputed points; but, Constans being dead,
ch. xin. 26—2


## p. 404 (#436) ############################################

404 Sixth General Council [670-681
Vitalian yielded to popular feeling and rejected John's synodical: similarly
his successor, Adeodatus (672-676), rejected that of Constantine; and
his name was therefore not inserted in the diptychs of Constantinople.
Accordingly the next patriarch, Theodore, sent no synodical, and, sup-
ported by Macarius of Antioch, urged Constantine IV to have Vitalian's
name expunged from the diptychs. The Emperor, not wishing to per-
petuate the schism, refused the request and wrote to Pope Donus
(676-678), asking him, as the war prevented a general synod, to send
deputies to discuss the disputed points with the two patriarchs. When
the letter arrived, Donus was dead; and, as his successor, Agatho
(678-681), had no intention of sending deputies to confer with Theodore,
no answer came, and the Emperor was persuaded to allow Vitalian's
name to be struck off. The original purpose of Monotheletism however,
the reconciliation of the Monophysites, had been nullified by the Arab
conquests; and, as the Pope conceded nothing, Constantine saw that
to restore unity he would have to sacrifice the patriarch. Theodore was
therefore deposed, and his place taken by George (Nov. or Dec. 679).
Agatho then summoned a synod, which met at Rome on 27 Mar. 680,
maintained the doctrine of two operations and two wills, condemned
Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Peter, Cyrus, and Theodore of Faran, and sent
its decree to the Emperor with a long dogmatic letter from Agatho
on the model of the Tome of Leo. Similar decrees were passed by
synods at Milan and at Hatfield in England (17 Sept. ). The deputies
from Rome, who reached Constantinople on 10 Sept. , were also accredited
as representatives of the Pope and the synod at the proposed conference:
and, peace having now been made, Constantine requested the patriarchs
to summon the bishops under their jurisdiction to a synod, which met in
the domed hall (trtdlus) of the palace in the presence of the Emperor
and the chief officers of state (7 Nov. ), and, as representatives of the
non-existent patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem were somehow
procured, called itself oecumenical. The sittings, of which there were
eighteen, continued to 16 Sept. 681; and the synod agreed as well
with the Pope in dogmatic matters as that of Chalcedon. The
letter of Menas was pronounced spurious, as were also two letters
ascribed to Vigilius. Macarius brought forward patristic passages in
support of Monotheletism; but they were declared to prove nothing,
and quotations were produced on the other side. George now professed
himself in agreement with the letters of the Pope and the Roman synod;
and at his request Vitalian's name was restored to the diptychs. Macarius
on the other hand refused to abandon his Monothelete opinions and was
deposed together with his disciple, the archimandrite Stephen, and
Theophanes was appointed to succeed him. All the Monothelete leaders
mentioned in the Roman decree were then condemned with the addition
of Honorius, and their writings ordered to be burnt. An attempt at a
compromise made by the presbyter Constantine of Apamea in Syria was


## p. 405 (#437) ############################################

670-682] Constantine and his Brothers 405
rejected, and those condemned were formally anathematised in spite of
the protest of George against the inclusion of his predecessors in the
anathema: with these Macarius and other living Monotheletes were
joined. A statement of faith was then drawn up, and a letter addressed
to the Pope with a request to confirm the proceedings. Finally an
imperial edict was posted up in the vestibule of St Sophia, which forbade
anyone under severe penalties to teach one will or operation. Macarius
and his followers were banished to Rome, where, with the exception of
two who recanted, they were shut up in separate monasteries. The
papal envoys, who took back with them the synodal Acts and a letter of
the Emperor addressed to the Pope-elect, Leo II, dated 31 Dec. , reached
Rome in June 682; and Leo after his consecration (17 Aug. ) confirmed
the Acts in a letter to Constantine.
After the peace with the Arabs and the defeat by the Bulgarians in
680, which compelled the Emperor to cede the country north of Haemus,
his chief attention was given to the succession. The ancient practice
had been to divide an emperor's dominions between his sons after his
death: and such a division had been projected by Maurice, but prevented
by his overthrow. After the Arab conquests the reduced size of the
Empire made this practically impossible: and Heraclius therefore arranged
that the only two among his sons who had reached years of discretion
and were not disqualified by any physical defect should reign jointly, a
provision of which we have seen the bad result. Constans went further
and gave the imperial title to all his sons while they were children, and
therefore at his death left three nominal colleagues on the throne: but,
as joint government was impossible, the exercise of the imperial functions
fell to the eldest. This state of affairs quickly led to trouble. The
Anatolic troops soon after their return from Sicily marched to Chrysopolis
and demanded that Heraclius and Tiberius should be given an equal
share of power with their elder brother, saying that, as there was a
Trinity in heaven, there should be a Trinity on earth (670). Constantine
pretended to agree and issued a proclamation that all three should
receive equal honour, while he sent Theodore of Colonia to invite the
leaders to come into the city and confer with the Senate, but, as soon as
they were in his power, had them arrested and hanged; and the troops,
deprived of their leaders, retired. Still however the younger brothers
bore the imperial title, and their names appeared upon coins and in
official documents, so that, when Constantine had sons of his own, the
difficulty arose that in case of his death his brother Heraclius, as
senior Emperor, would exclude them from the sovereignty. Accordingly,
when his elder son, Justinian, had reached the age of 12, he deprived
his brothers of their titles and cut off their noses (681)'. Henceforth
the younger sons of emperors, though they might bear imperial titles,
1 The last meeting of the synod is dated by the years of all three Emperors, but
the edict of confirmation is in Constantino's name only.


## p. 406 (#438) ############################################

406 Accession of Justinian II [683-691
were usually excluded from power and from marriage; and, as the
daughters of an emperor who had sons had been excluded from marriage
since Theodosius1 time, collateral branches, and therefore disputed suc-
cessions, were avoided; but on the other hand a lasting hereditary
succession was made impossible, and the crown lay open to any ambitious
man or any nominee of the army—a state of affairs which continued
till the system was abolished by the Comneni.
Having thus cleared the way, Constantine in 685' crowned Justinian
as Augustus, but avoided his father's mistake of also crowning his other
son, Heraclius. It was nearly his last act: at the beginning of September
he died of dysentery, and the boy Justinian became sole emperor.
Constantine had taken advantage of the anarchy which followed the
death of the Caliph Yazld (688) to renew the war; and Melitene was
destroyed by the Romans, and the Arabs forced to abandon Germanicea.
Hence 'Abd-al-Malik on succeeding his father, Marwan, as Caliph in
Syria, was compelled to renew the peace by paying a larger tribute
(7 July 685). Nevertheless the new Emperor not only sent an army
under the Isaurian Leontius to Armenia and the adjacent countries as
far as the Caucasus, which, having seceded from the Arabs, had been
invaded by the Chazars (687), but sent another to co-operate with the
Mardaites in Syria, and Antioch was occupied (688) for a time. Upon
this 'Abd-al-Malik, not even yet being in a position to carry on war,
again asked for terms, and a truce was made for ten years on the
conditions that he should pay the same tribute as before, that Armenia,
Iberia, Arzanene, and Atropatene should be ceded, and the tribute of
Cyprus divided, and that Justinian should transfer the Mardaites to his
own dominions (689). The Emperor then went to Armenia, where he
appointed chiefs, took hostages, and received 12,000 Mardaites, whom
he settled in different parts of the empire (690). By this step his
forces were increased; but the Mardaites would perhaps have been of
more use to him in the Caliph's territories.
Justinian had been willing to make peace because he had become
involved in a war with the Bulgarians, in which he suffered a defeat
(689). During this war however he reduced large numbers of Slavs,
whom he settled in the north-west of Asia Minor and organised as a
military force under the name of "peculiar people" (kaos ireptova-uKY '■
this force is said to have amounted to 30,000 men.
Having made peace with the Bulgarians and strengthened the offensiTe
power of the Empire by the acquisition of Mardaites and Slavs, he
sought an opportunity of breaking the peace with the Arabs. He began
by a breach of the spirit of the compact by which the tribute of Cyprus
had been divided; for he removed a large proportion of the population to
1 The dating of Justinian's years shews that it was not done earlier: 6ee Byz.
Zeitschr. vi. p. 62, n. 4.
* Deut. xiv. 2, xxvi. 18; Tit. ii. 14.


## p. 407 (#439) ############################################

686-695] Battle of Sebastopolis 407
the Hellespont and other districts in the south and west of Asia Minor
(691): and as Justinian I, whose example he seems always to have had
in mind, had refounded his native town as Nova Justiniana and given it
primatial rights in northern Illyricum, so Justinian II founded the city
of Nea Justinianopolis for the Cypriots in the Hellespont, and the synod
of 691 recognised the metropolitan of Cyprus, now bishop of this city,
as metropolitan of the Hellespont, in prejudice of the rights of Cyzicus,
and enacted that he should enjoy the same independence of the patriarch
as in Cyprus. Next the Emperor refused to receive the tribute-money
in the new Arabic coinage, on which texts from the Koran were imprinted,
and in spite of the Caliph's protests announced that he would no longer
observe the treaty, and collected forces for an attack. 'Abd-al-Malik,
delivered from his rival 'Abdallah1, had no reason to reject the
challenge, and sent his brother Mahomet into Roman territory. Mean-
while Justinian with a large army, in which the bulk of the Slavs were
included, marched to Sebastopolis, while the Arabs occupied Sebastia.
Between these two places the armies met, and the Arabs went into the
battle with a copy of the treaty displayed instead of a flag (693).
At first victory inclined to the Romans; but, most of the Slavs having
been induced by promises to go over, they were routed; and Justinian
on reaching the district where the Slavs were settled massacred all whom
he could find with their wives and children. The first result of the
defeat was the loss of Armenia; and in 694 Mahomet with the Slavs
again invaded the Empire and carried off* many captives, while an
attempt of the Romans to invade Syria from Germanicea led to another
disastrous overthrow, which forced them to abandon that city, and in
695 Yahya raided the country S. W. of Melitene.
The ex-patriarch Theodore by accepting the new order of things had
escaped condemnation at the synod, and after Constantino's death
induced the new Emperor to deprive George and restore him to the see
(Feb. /Mar. 686). As his restoration would be likely to rouse the Pope's
suspicions, Justinian laid the synodal Acts before the patriarchs of Con-
stantinople and Antioch, the Pope's responsalis, such bishops as were in
the city, the chief civil and military officials, and the heads of the civic
factions, obtained their confirmation of them (686)2, and announced
the fact to Pope John V with an assurance of his intention to maintain
the authority of the synod (17 Feb. 687).
But the mental attitude of East and West differed so much, and
through their different surroundings their practices had become so diver-
gent, that concord could not long be maintained. Neither the fifth nor the
sixth synod had passed canons; and therefore, though the Arab invasions
had in many ways introduced new conditions which needed regulation,
1 See Ch. xi.
1 As John died in Aug. 686, the date of the letter can only be that of the
Emperor's official signature.


## p. 408 (#440) ############################################

408 Trullan Council [688—695
there were no canons of general obligation later than those of Chalcedon.
Accordingly at the end of 691 a synod was held in the Domed Hall for
the purpose of making canons only. This synod, generally known as
the Trullan from its place of meeting, or the Quinisext because it com-
pleted the task of the fifth and sixth synods, called itself oecumenical:
it was attended by the patriarchs Paul of Constantinople (Jan. 688-
Aug. 694) and George of Antioch, and titular patriarchs of Alexandria
and Jerusalem; and, though the papal legates did not formally take
part in it, Basil of Gortyna claimed to represent the Roman Church.
The assembly drew up a list of existing canons which were to be held
binding, regularised the practice that had grown up with regard to the
Eastern patriarchates by enacting that a bishop should suffer no detriment
because he was prevented by barbarian incursions from going to his see,
laid down rules dealing with the monastic life, the receiving of the
eucharist, and the taking of orders, and condemned some surviving
heathen observances and some practices prevailing in outlying parts of
the Empire such as Armenia and Africa. If it had done no more, little
would have been heard of it; but in the following points it offended the
Church of Rome. It accepted all the apostolic canons, whereas the
Roman Church received fifty only, and it laid special stress on the sixty-
fifth, which forbade the Roman practice of fasting on Saturdays in Lent;
following Acts xv. 29, it forbade the eating of flesh that contained
blood; it forbade the representation of Christ as a lamb in pictures;
above all it gave the patriarch of Constantinople equal rights with
the Pope, and in regard to the question of clerical celibacy, on which
the Eastern and Western customs differed, it not only condemned the
practice of compelling men to separate from their wives on taking higher
orders, but declared such separation, except under special circumstances,
to be unlawful. On the other hand it condemned marriage after ordina-
tion to the sub-diaconate and forbade the ordination of men who had
been married twice. These regulations were described as a compromise;
but in reality they differed little from a confirmation of the Eastern
practice, with a prohibition of irregularities. Papal legates were present
in Constantinople, and were afterwards induced to sign the Acts; but
Pope Sergius disowned them, and, when urged to sign himself, refused.
Justinian at last ordered him to be arrested and brought to Constanti-
nople; but the army of Italy supported the Pope, and it was only by
his intercession that the imperial commissioner escaped with his life (695).
At the beginning of his reign Justinian was necessarily in the hands
of others; and, as he afterwards devoted his restless energies almost
entirely to foreign and ecclesiastical affairs, the civil administration con-
tinued to be conducted by ministers who, as is natural in men who know
that their power is precarious, had little scruple about the means adopted
to extort money. Of these the most obnoxious were the two finance-
ministers, the treasurer, Stephen, a Persian eunuch, who is said to have


## p. 409 (#441) ############################################

687-695] Deposition of Justinian 409
flogged the Emperor's mother, Anastasia, during his absence, and the
public logothete (yeviicos Xoyodirrjt;), Theodotus, an ex-monk, who used
to hang men up over fires for purposes of extortion. Such abuses were
promoted by the fact that Justinian, as in other matters, so in the love
of building followed the model of his namesake, and for these operations
large sums were needed; and his unpopularity was increased by the conduct
of Stephen, who, acting as superintendent of the works, had the work-
men and their overseers tortured or stoned if they did not satisfy him.
Further, on one occasion, in spite of the opposition of the patriarch
Callinicus, the Emperor pulled down a church to gain room for building,
and so made the clergy of the capital his enemies. Again, whereas in
earlier times prisons had generally been used to keep persons in custody
for a short time, it now became the practice to detain men for long
periods in the praetorium by way of punishment; and, though this may
often have been a mitigation, the novelty roused hostility, and the
existence of many disaffected persons in one place constituted a danger
which brought about the Emperor's fall.
Among the prisoners was Leontius, who commanded in Armenia in
687. One night towards the end of 695, after he had been in prison
three years, he was suddenly released, named general of Hellas (as this
theme is not otherwise known at this time, it was perhaps a temporary
commission), supplied with a military train sufficient to fill three cutters,
and told to start immediately. Unable to believe in the Emperor's
sincerity, he consulted two of his friends, Paul, a monk and astrologer,
and Gregory the archimandrite, an ex-military officer, who urged him
to strike a blow at once, assuring him of success. Leontius and his small
following then went to the praetorium and knocked at the gate, saying
that the Emperor was there. The praefect hastily opened the gate and
was seized, beaten, and bound hand and foot; and the prisoners, of
whom many were soldiers, were released and armed. The whole force
then went to the Forum, where Leontius raised the cry, " All Christians
to St Sophia! " and sent messengers to do the same all over the city,
while a report was spread that Justinian had given orders for a massacre
(perhaps of the Blue faction), and that the life of the patriarch was in
danger. A great crowd, especially of the Blues, collected in the baptistery
of the cathedral, while Leontius with a few followers went to the patri-
arch and compelled him to come to the baptistery, where he gave his
sanction to the rising by the words, "This is the day that the Lord
hath made," which the crowd answered by the formula of imprecation,
"May the bones of Justinian be dug up! " They then rushed to the
circus, to which at daybreak the Emperor, deserted by all, was brought.
The people demanded his immediate decapitation; but Leontius was
content with cutting off his nose and tongue (not so completely as to
prevent him from speaking) and banishing him to Cherson. The multi-
tude then seized Stephen and Theodotus, dragged them by ropes along


## p. 410 (#442) ############################################

410 Deposition of Leontius [697-705
the main street till they were dead, and burnt their bodies. The
Blues proclaimed Leontius emperor, and he was crowned by the
patriarch.
As the Arabs were preparing to reconquer Africa, there was little
fighting in Asia Minor during Leontius' reign. In 697 the Caliph's son.
Walld, invaded the Empire from Melitene, and the patrician Sergius,
who commanded in Lazica, betrayed that country to the Arabs.
Further invasions were prevented by a plague and famine; and in 698
the Romans entered the district of Antioch and gained an unimportant
victory.
In 697 Leontius sent the whole fleet under John the patrician to
recover Africa, which had for the second time fallen into the hands' of
the Arabs; and John, having expelled the enemy from Carthage and the
other fortified towns on the coast, reported his success to the Emperor
and remained in Carthage for the winter. But early in 698, when a
larger armament arrived from the east, he was unable to withstand it.
and, abandoning his conquests, returned for reinforcements. When he
reached Crete however, the crews renounced their allegiance and pro-
claimed Apsimar, drungarius (vice-admiral) of the Cibyrrhaeots, emperor
under the imperial name of Tiberius. They then sailed to Constantinople,
which was suffering from plague, and after a short resistance the besiegers
were admitted through the gate of Blachernae at the N. W. corner by
the treachery of the custodians, and plundered the capital like a con-
quered city. Leontius was deprived of his nose and sent to a monastery,
and his friends and officers were flogged and banished and their property
was confiscated (end of 698).
The new Emperor, as a sailor, gave special attention to the defence
of the Empire on the sea side, restoring the sea-wall of Constantinople,
and settling the Mardaites on the Pamphylian coast. He further re-
peopled Cyprus by sending back the inhabitants whom Justinian had
removed (699). Military operations also were conducted with consider-
able success, which must be ascribed to an innovation which Tiberius
immediately after his accession introduced by appointing his brother
Heraclius, who as a general shewed himself not unworthy of his name,
commander-in-chief of all the Asiatic themes, and charging him with the
custody of the Cappadocian frontier. In 701 the Romans made a
successful raid as far as Samosata, and in 704 Heraclius killed or
captured the whole of an Arab force which was besieging Sisium in
Cilicia. On the other hand Walld raided Roman territory in 699, his
brother 'Abdallah took Theodosiopolis in 700, in 703 Mopsuestia was
occupied and Armenia Quarta betrayed to the Arabs, and in 705 the
Caliph's son, Maslama, took two fortresses, and a Roman army was
defeated in Armenia.
Meanwhile Justinian was living in Cherson, a place which, whik
acknowledging the supremacy of the Emperor, was not governed by an?


## p. 411 (#443) ############################################

705-706] Restoration of Justinian 411
imperial official, and enjoyed a large measure of republican freedom.
Here he made no secret of his intention to seek restoration, and the
citizens, fearing the Emperor's vengeance, determined either to kill him
or to send him to Constantinople. He had however friends in the town,
who informed him of their purpose, and, fleeing to Dora, in the south-
east of the Crimea, he asked to be allowed to visit the Khan of the
Chazars, who ruled in the neighbourhood. The Khan granted the
request, received him with honour, and gave him his sister in marriage,
to whom in memory of the wife of Justinian I he gave the name of
Theodora. He then settled at Phanagoria.
Tiberius in alarm promised the Khan many gifts if he sent him either
Justinian himself or his head; and the Khan, agreeing to this, sent him
a guard under pretence of protection, while instructing his representative
at Phanagoria and the governor of Bosporus to kill him as soon as
orders should be received. Of this Theodora was informed by a slave of
the Khan and told Justinian, who sent for the two officials separately
and strangled them. Sending Theodora back to her brother, he embarked
on a fishing-boat and sailed to Symbolum near Cherson, where he took
his friends from the city on board, one of whom bore the Georgian name
of Varaz Bakur. He then asked the aid of the Bulgarian ruler, Tervel,
promising him liberal gifts and his daughter in marriage. To this he
agreed; and, accompanied by Tervel himself and an army of Bulgarians
and Slavs, Justinian advanced to Constantinople (705). Here the citizens
received him with insults; but after three days he found an entrance with
a few followers by an aqueduct, and the defenders, thinking the walls
were undermined, were seized with panic and made no resistance. Tiberius
fled across the Propontis to Apollonia, but was arrested and brought
back, while Heraclius was seized in Thrace and hanged on the walls with
his chief officers. Tervel was invited into the city, seated by Justinian's
side as Caesar, and dismissed with abundance of presents, while Varaz
Bakur was made a proto-patrician and Count of Obsequium. Tiberius
and Leontius were exhibited in chains all over the city, and then brought
into the circus, where Justinian sat with a foot on the neck of each, while
the people, playing on the names "Leontius1' and "Apsimar," cried,
"Thou hast trodden upon the asp and the basilisk (kinglet), and upon
the lion and the dragon hast thou trampled. " They were then taken to
the amphitheatre and beheaded. Of the rest of Justinian's enemies
some were thrown into the sea in sacks, and others invited to a banquet
and, when it was over, arrested and hanged or beheaded; but Theodosius
the son of Tiberius was spared, and afterwards became celebrated as
bishop of Ephesus. Callinicus was blinded and banished to Rome, and
Cyrus, a monk of Amastris, made patriarch (706). On the other hand
6000 Arab prisoners were released and sent home. As soon as his throne
was secure, Justinian fetched his wife, who had in the meantime borne
him a son, whom he named Tiberius and crowned as his colleague.


## p. 412 (#444) ############################################

412 Reconciliation with the Pope [706-711
One of the first objects to which the restored Emperor turned his
attention was the establishment of an understanding with Rome as to the
Trullan synod. Having learned that coercion was useless, he tried
another plan. He sent the Acts to John VII, asking him to hold a
synod and confirm the canons which he approved and disallow the
rest; but John, fearing to give offence, sent them back as he received
them. His second successor, Constantine, however consented to come to
Constantinople and discuss the matter (710). Landing seven miles from
the capital, he was met and escorted into the city by the child Tiberius
and the senators and patriarch; and Justinian, who was then at Nicaea,
met him at Nicomedia, and, prostrating himself before him, kissed his
feet. A satisfactory compromise (of what nature we do not know) was
made, and the Pope returned to Rome (Oct. 711).
In the time of Tiberius the Arabs had never been able to cross the
Taurus; but with the removal of Heraclius Asia Minor was again laid
open to their ravages. A raid by Hisham the son of 'Abd-al-Malik in
706 produced no results: but in 707 Maslama, accompanied by Maimun
the Mardaite, advanced to Tyana (June). A rash attack by Maimun
cost him his life; and the Caliph Walid sent reinforcements under
his son, 'Abbas. All the winter the Arabs lay before Tyana, which
was stoutly defended; and Justinian, who had fallen out with Tervel and
required the Asiatic troops in Europe, sent an army mostly of rustics to
its relief. The generals however quarrelled, and the rabble was easily
routed by the Arabs, who pressed the siege of Tyana until it surrendered
(27 Mar. 708). The inhabitants were removed to Arab territory. Maslama
then raided the country to the north-east as far as Gazelon near Amasia,
while 'Abbas after defeating a Roman force near Dorylaeum, which he
took, advanced to Nicomedia and Heraclea Pontica, while a small detach-
ment of his army entered Chrysopolis and burnt the ferry-boats. In 709
Maslama and 'Abbas invaded Isauria, where five fortresses were taken;
but at sea the Romans captured the admiral Khalid, whom however
Justinian sent to the Caliph, and attacked Damietta in Egypt. In 710
an unimportant raid was made by WalTd's son, 'Abd-al-'AzIz: but in
711 Maslama took Camacha, as well as Taranta and two other fortresses
in Hexapolis1, which was now annexed; and, as Sisium was the same year
occupied by Othman, the frontier was advanced to the Sarus. On the other
hand a Roman army sent to recover Lazica, where Phasis only remained
in Roman hands, after besieging Archaeopolis was compelled to retreat.
After a defeat by the Bulgarians (708) and the restoration of peace,
Justinian turned his energies to exacting vengeance from the Chersonites,
who had now accepted a Chazar governor. In 710 he collected ships of
all kinds, for the equipment of which he raised a special contribution
from all the inhabitants of the capital, and sent them to Cherson under the
patrician Stephen Asmictus, whose orders were to kill the ruling men
1 "Khspolis" (Michael, p. 462) is a corruption of Hexapolis.


## p. 413 (#445) ############################################

7io-7ii] Rebellion of Philippines 413
with all their families and establish Elijah the spatharius (military
chamberlain) as governor. With him was sent a certain Vardan, who
in spite of his Armenian name (probably derived from his mother's family)
was son of the patrician Nicephorus of Pergamum who had commanded in
Africa and Asia under Constans, and, having been banished to Cephallenia
by Tiberius and recalled by Justinian, was to be again exiled to Cherson.
The city was unable to resist, the chief magistrate, Zoilus, and forty of
his principal colleagues with their families and the Tudun (the Chazar
governor), were sent in chains to Justinian, seven others were roasted over
a fire, twenty drowned in a boat filled with stones, and the rest beheaded.
The children were however spared for slavery; and Justinian, furious at
this, ordered the fleet to return (Oct. ),
Off Paphlagonia the fleet was almost destroyed by a storm; but he
threatened to send another to raze Cherson and the neighbouring places
to the ground and kill every living person in them. The citizens then
strengthened their defences and obtained the help of the Khan, while
Elijah and Vardan made common cause with them. Justinian sent 300
men under George, the public logothete, John the praefect, and
Christopher, turmarch of the Thracesii, with orders to replace the
Tudun and Zoilus in their positions, and bring Elijah and Vardan
to Constantinople (711). The citizens, pretending to accept these
terms, admitted the small force; but immediately shut the gates,
killed George and John, and handed the rest over to the Chazars, and
the Tudun having died on the way, the Chazars avenged him by killing
them. The Chersonites then proclaimed Vardan emperor, and he
assumed the Greek name of Philippicus. Justinian, more enraged than
ever, had Elijah's children killed in their mother's arms and compelled
her to marry her negro cook, while he sent another fleet with powerful
siege-engines under the patrician Maurus Bessus with the orders which
he had before threatened to give. Philippicus fled to the Chazars, and
Maurus took two of the towers of the city, but, Chazar reinforcements
having arrived, was unable to do more, and, afraid to return, declared
for Philippicus and asked the Khan to send him back, which he did on
receiving security in money for his safety. The fleet then sailed for
Constantinople. Justinian's suspicions had been aroused by the delay;
and, thinking himself safer in the territory of the Obsequian theme,
commanded by Varaz Bakur, he took with him the troops of that
theme, some of the Thracesii, and 3000 Bulgarians sent by Tervel, and,
having crossed the Bosporus and left the rest in the plain of Damatrys
about ten miles east of Chalcedon, proceeded with the chief officers and
the Thracesian contingent to the promontory of Sinope, which the fleet
would pass. After a time he saw it sail by, and immediately returned
to Damatrys. Meanwhile Philippicus had entered Constantinople with-
out opposition. The Empress Anastasia took the little Tiberius to the
church of the Virgin at Blachernae, where he sat with amulets hung
CH. XIII.


## p. 414 (#446) ############################################

414 Reign of Philippicus [711-713
round his neck, holding a column of the altar with one hand and. a piece
of the cross with the other. Maurus and John Struthus the spatharwi
had been sent to kill him; and, when they entered the church, Maurus
was delayed by Anastasia's entreaties, but John transferred the amulet;
to his own neck, laid the piece of the cross on the altar, and carried the
child to a postern-gate of the city, and cut his throat. Varaz Bakur.
thinking Justinian's cause desperate, had left the army and fled, but he
was caught and killed. Elijah was sent with a small force against
Justinian himself, whose soldiers on a promise of immunity deserted their
master, and Elijah cut off his head and sent it to Philippicus, who sent
it to Rome (end of 711).
The new Emperor was a ready and plausible speaker, and had a
reputation for mildness; but he was an indolent and dissolute man,
who neglected public affairs and squandered the money amassed bv
his predecessors. Accordingly no better resistance was offered to the
Arabs. In 712 Maslama and his nephews, 'Abbas and Marwan, entered
Roman territory from Melitene and took Sebastia, Gazelon, and Amask
whence Marwan advanced to Gangra, while Walid ibn Hisham took
Misthia in Lycaonia and carried off many of the inhabitants of the
country. In 713 'Abd-al-'Aziz again raided as far as Gazelon, while
Yazid invaded Isauria, and 'Abbas took Antioch in Pisidia and
returned with numerous captives. Meanwhile Philippicus for some
unknown reason expelled the Armenians from the Empire, and they
were settled by the Arabs in Armenia Quarta and the district of
Melitene (712). In Europe also the Bulgarians advanced to the gates
of Constantinople (712).
There was however one subject on which Philippicus shewed a
misplaced energy. Having been educated by Stephen, the pupil of
Macarius, he was a fervent Monothelete, and even before entering the
city he ordered the picture of the sixth synod to be removed from the
palace and the names of those condemned in it restored to the diptychs.
Cyrus, who refused to comply with his wishes, was deposed and confined
in a monastery, and a more pliant patriarch found in the deacon John
(early in 712), who was supported by two men afterwards celebrated.
Germanus of Cyzicus and Andrew of Crete. Shortly afterwards the Acts
preserved in the palace were burnt, and a condemnation of the synod and
the chief Dithelete bishops was issued, while many prominent men who
refused to sign this were exiled. At Rome the document was con-
temptuously rejected, the Romans retaliated by placing a picture of the
six synods in St Peter's and abandoning the public use of the EmperorV
name; and Peter, who was sent to Rome as duke, was attacked and
forced to retire (713).
An emperor without hereditary claim to respect, who could not
defend the Empire from invasion and wantonly disturbed the peace of
the Church, was not likely to reign long; but the fall of Philippicus w&>


## p. 415 (#447) ############################################

713-715] Accession of Anastasius II 415
eventually brought about by a plot. A portion of the Obsequian
theme, which had been the most closely attached to Justinian, had been
brought to Thrace to act against the Bulgarians, whose ravages still
continued; and, trusting to the support of these soldiers and of the
Green faction, George Buraphus, Count of Obsequium, and the patrician
Theodore Myacius, who had been with Justinian at his return from
exile, made a conspiracy against the Emperor. After some games in
the circus, in which the Greens were victorious, he had given a banquet
in the baths of Zeuxippus, returned to the palace and gone to sleep,
when an officer of the Obsequian theme and his men rushed in, carried
him to the robing room of the Greens, and put out his eyes (3 June 713).
The conspirators were however not ready with a new emperor: and, as
the other soldiers were not inclined to submit to their dictation, they
were unable to gain control of affairs; and on the next day, which was
Whit Sunday, Artemius, one of the chief imperial secretaries, was chosen
emperor and crowned, taking in memory of the last civilian emperor
the name of Anastasius. George and Theodore were requited as they
had served Philippicus, being blinded on 10 and 17 June respectively
and banished to Thessalonica.
The ecclesiastical policy of the late Emperor was immediately
reversed, the sixth synod being proclaimed at the coronation, and the
picture soon afterwards restored. Anastasius wrote to assure the Pope
of his orthodoxy; and John, who under Philippicus had from fear of
offending either Emperor or Pope sent no synodical to Rome, wrote to
the Pope to explain that he had always been an adherent of the synod.
He therefore retained the see till his death, when he was succeeded by
Germanus (11 Aug. 715), who had also abandoned Monotheletism.
Anastasius was a great contrast to his predecessor. A capable man
of affairs, he set himself to place the Empire in a state of defence and
appoint the best men to civil and military posts: but in the condition
to which affairs had been brought by the frenzy of Justinian and the
indolence of Philippicus a stronger ruler than tbis conscientious public
servant was needed. In 714 Maslama raided Galatia, 'Abbas took
Heraclea (Cybistra) and two other places, and his brother Bishr wintered
in Roman territory. On the other hand an Arab general was defeated
and killed. In the anarchic state of the Empire however Walld
wished to send out something more than raiding expeditions; and
Anastasius, hearing reports of this, sent Daniel the praefect on an
embassy with instructions to find out what was going on; and on his
reporting that a great expedition was being prepared ordered all who
were unable to supply themselves with provisions for three years to leave
Constantinople, while he set himself to build ships, fill the granaries,
repair the walls, and provide weapons of defence.
In 715 a fleet from Egypt came, as in 655, to Phoenix to cut wood
for shipbuilding; and Anastasius chose the fastest ships and ordered


## p. 416 (#448) ############################################

416 Deposition of Anastasius [715-716
them to meet at Rhodes under a certain John, who also held the offices
of public logothete and deacon of St Sophia. Some of the Obsequian
theme, whom it was probably desired to remove from the neighbourhood
of the capital, were sent on board; and, when John gave the order to
sail to Phoenix, these refused to obey, cast off allegiance to Anastasius,
and killed the admiral. Most of the fleet then dispersed, but the
mutineers sailed for Constantinople. On the way they landed at
Adramyttium, and, not wishing to be a second time defeated by the
absence of a candidate for the throne, chose a tax-cdllector named
Theodosius, whom, though he fled to the hills to escape, they seized and
proclaimed emperor. Anastasius, leaving Constantinople in a state of
defence, shut himself up in Nicaea, where he could watch the disaffected
theme: but the rebels rallied to their cause the whole theme with the
Gotho-Greek irregulars of Bithynia, collected merchant-ships of all
kinds, and advanced by land and sea to Chrysopolis (Sept. ). The
fighting lasted six months, after which on the imperial fleet changing
its station they crossed to Thrace and were admitted by treachery
through the gate of Blachernae. The houses were then pillaged, and
the chief officials and the patriarch arrested and sent to Anastasius, who,
thinking further resistance useless, surrendered on promise of safety and
was allowed to retire as a monk to Thessalonica (5 Mar. 716)1.
Meanwhile the Arab preparations were going on with none to hinder.
Even when the civil war was ended, there was little hope of effectual
resistance from the crowned tax-gatherer and his mutinous army; and.
if the Empire was to be saved, it was necessary that the government
should be in the hands of a soldier. The Obsequian theme, though
from its proximity to the capital it had been able to make and unmake
emperors, was the smallest of the three Asiatic themes; and the other
two were not likely to pay much regard to its puppet-sovereign. The
larger of these, the Anatolic, was commanded by Leo of Germanicea,
whose family had been removed to Mesembria in Thrace when Germanicea
was abandoned. When Justinian returned, Leo met him with 500 sheep
and was made a spatharius. Afterwards he was sent to urge the Alans
of the Caucasus to attack the Abasgi, who were under Arab protection,
and in spite of great difficulties he was successful: moreover, though he
seemed to be cut off from the Empire, by his courage, presence of mind.
and cunning (not always accompanied by good faith) he effected not
only his own return but that of 200 stragglers from the army which
had invaded Lazica. This exploit made him a marked man, and he
was chosen by Anastasius for the command of the Anatolic theme: on
that Emperor's overthrow both he and the Armenian Artavazd, who
commanded the Armeniacs, refused to recognise Theodosius.
Late in 715 Maslama, who had been appointed to lead the expedition
1 I take Leo's term in the xP°v°ypo(petov ascribed to Nicephorus as dating froE
this time.


## p. 417 (#449) ############################################

715-717] Leo and the Arabs 417
against Constantinople, took the Fortress of the Slavs, which commanded
the passes of the Taurus, and returned to Epiphania for the winter;
and in 716 he sent his lieutenant Sulaiman in advance, intending to
follow with a larger army, while Omar was appointed to command the
fleet. Sulaiman penetrated without opposition to Amorium, which, as
it had then no garrison and was on bad terms with Leo because of
his rejection of Theodosius, he expected easily to take. The Arabs
moreover knew Leo to be a likely candidate for the crown and hoped
to use him as they had used Sapor: accordingly, as Amorium did not
immediately fall, they proclaimed him emperor, and the citizens were in-
duced by the hope of escaping capture to do the same. Sulaiman having
promised thatj if Leo came to discuss terms of peace, he would raise the
siege, Leo came with 300 men, and the Arabs surrounded him to prevent
his escape; but Leo, who as a native of a town which had only been in
Roman hands for ten years since 640 (he was probably born a subject of
the Caliph), was well acquainted with the Arab character and could
perhaps speak Arabic, induced some officers whom he was entertaining
to believe that he would go and see Maslama himself, while he conveyed
a message to the citizens to hold out, and finally escaped on the pretext
of a hunting expedition. Soon afterwards the Arabs became tired of
lying before Amorium and forced Sulaiman to raise the siege; whereupon
Leo threw 800 men into the city, removed most of the women and
children, and withdrew to the mountains of Pisidia, where he was safe
from attack by Maslama, who had now entered Cappadocia and, in hope
of gaining Leo's support, refrained from plundering the country. To him
Leo sent an envoy to say that he had wished to come and see him,
but treachery had deterred him from doing so. From this envoy
Maslama heard of the garrisoning of Amorium; but this made him the
more desirous of securing Leo; and he promised, if he came, to make
satisfactory terms of peace. Leo pretended to agree, but protracted
negotiations till Maslama, unable for reasons of commissariat to remain
in Anatolic territory, had reached Acroinus (Prymnessus) in the Obsequian
district, and then, having previously come to an understanding with
Artavazd, to whom he promised his daughter in marriage (which, as he
had no son, implied an assurance of the succession), started for Constan-
tinople, while Maslama passed into Asia, where he wintered. The fleet
was however less successful, for the Romans landed in Syria and burnt
Laodicea, while the Arabs had only reached Cilicia. Meanwhile Leo
made his way to Nicomedia, where Theodosius' son, who had been made
Augustus, and some of the chief officers of the palace, fell into his power.
The Obsequians were unable to organise serious resistance, and Theodosius
after consulting the Senate and the patriarch sent Germanus to Leo, and
on receiving assurance of safety abdicated. Leo made a formal entry by
the Golden Gate and was crowned by the patriarch (25 Mar. 717).
Theodosius and his son took orders and ended their days in obscurity.
C. MED. H. VOL. II. CH. XIII. 27


## p. 418 (#450) ############################################

418
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EXPANSION OF THE SLAVS.
The Slavs, numbering at present about one hundred and fifty million
souls, form with the Baits (the Letts, Lithuanians, Prussians) the Balto-
Slavonic group of the Indo-European family. Their languages have
much in common with German on the one hand and with Iranian
on the other. The differentiation of Balto-Slavonic into Old Baltic
and Old Slavonic, and then of Old Slavonic into the separate Slavonic
languages was caused partly by the isolation of the various tribes
from one another, and partly by mutual assimilation and the influence
of related dialects and unrelated languages. Thus it is not a
matter of genealogy only, but is partly due to historical and political
developments. ■
Until lately the place where the Old Balto-Slavonic branched off"
from the other Indo-European languages and the place of origin of
the Slavs were matters of dispute. But in 1908 the Polish botanist
Rostafiriski put forward from botanical geography evidence from which
we can fix the original home of the Balto-Slavs (and consequently
that of the Germans too, for the Baits could only have originated in
immediate proximity to the Germans). The Balto-Slavs have no ex-
pressions for beech (fagus sylvatica), larch (lariw europaea), and yew
(taxus baccata), but they have a word for hornbeam (carpinus bettdus).
Therefore their original home must have been within the hornbeam zone
but outside of the three other tree-zones, that is within the basin of the
middle Dnieper (v. map). Hence Polesie—the marshland traversed by the
Pripet, but not south or east of Kiev—must be the original home of the
Slavs. The North Europeans (ancestors of the Kelts, Germans, and Balto-
Slavs) originally had names for beech and yew, and therefore lived north
of the Carpathians and west of a line between Konigsberg and Odessa
The ancestors of the Balto-Slavs crossed the beech and yew zone and
made their way into Polesie; they then lost the word for beech, while
they transferred the word for yew to the sallow (Slav, iva, salix caprea)
and the black alder (Lithuan. yeva, rhamnus Jrangula), both of which
have red wood. It is not likely that the tree-zones have greatly shifted


## p. 419 (#451) ############################################

Original Home. Soil and Climate 419
since, say, b. c. 2000. For while the zones of the beech and yew extend
fairly straight from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the boundary of the
hornbeam forms an extended curve embracing Polesie. The reason for
this curve is the temperate climate of Polesie which results from the
enormous marshes and is favourable to the hornbeam, which cannot
withstand great fluctuations of temperature. And this curve must have
been there before the rise of the Old Balto-Slavonic language, other-
wise the Balto-Slavs living without the limit of the beech and yew could
not have possessed a word for the hornbeam. According to a tradition
the Goths in their migration from the Vistula to the Pontus about the
end of the second century a. d. came to a bottomless marshland, obviously
on the upper Niemen and Pripet, where many of them perished. At
that time the impassable morasses of Polesie had already existed for
centuries, though their enormous depths may first have become marsh-
land in historic times owing to the activity of the beaver—which raises
dams of wood in order to maintain a uniform water level; and, as
floating leaves and other remains of plants stuck in the dams, a gradually
thickening layer of peat was formed from them and the land became
continually more marshy. It follows that though the curve of the
hornbeam boundary may have been a little smaller in prehistoric times
than it is now, it cannot have been greater, and there can be no objection
to the argument from the four tree-boundaries.
Polesie—a district rather less than half as large as England—is a
triangle, of which the towns Brest Litovsk, Mohilev, and Kiev are roughly
speaking the apices. It was once a lake having the form of a shallow
dish with raised sides, and before its recent drainage seventy-five per cent,
of it was nothing but marsh, covered to half its extent partly with pine
groves and partly with a mixed forest, but otherwise treeless. The upper
layer consists of peat extending to eighteen feet in depth, and here
and there under the peat is a layer of iron ore about two inches thick.
Enormous morasses traversed by a thick and intricate network of streams
alternate with higher-lying sandy islets. The flow of water is impeded,
because the subsoil is impervious, the gradient of the rivers is slight, and
the bed of the lower Pripet is confined by high banks. The morasses
are covered with reeds and rushes—less often with sweet flags on sandy
ground—the surface of the streams with water-lilies and the like, which
so hinder their flow that they constantly have to change their course.
Between reeds and rushes there are places with reed-grass—and
less often with soft grass—which the peasants mow standing up to
the waist in water, or from a boat. Only the higher-lying places—
small oases difficult to get at—can be cultivated.
The average temperature throughout the year is over 43° Fahr. ;
January mean 20° Fahr. , July mean 65^° Fahr. The average fall of
moisture is 16-24 inches i depth of snow seven inches at the most; snow
remains not quite three months (from the middle of December nearly
cb. xiv. 27—2


## p. 420 (#452) ############################################

420 Anthropology. Ethnology. Society
to the middle of March), often only for two or three weeks. The
Pripet is frozen from the middle of November to the middle of January;
it is navigable for 220 to 300 days. Notwithstanding the soft mild
climate, the land is unhealthy: the putrefying marsh develops mias-
matic gases causing epidemic lung and throat diseases, and the loathsome
elf-lock {plica polonica); and the swarms of gnats cause intermittent
fever. But since draining, the weakly breed of men and beasts has
visibly improved.
This anomalous land has developed a singular people. The present
population does not even now reach half a million; so that the entire Old
Slav race in Polesie cannot have amounted to more than a few hundred
thousand souls. The inhabitants of Polesie are White Russians, but
those of the southern tract are black-haired mongoloid Little Russians
who emigrated from the South to escape the advance of the Altaian
mounted nomads.