Greatest Emperor (of Byzantium)

The Greatest Emperor poll goes to Byzantium. Coming up with a list of nominees was a bit harder than doing so for the Roman Empire because Byzantium lasted 11 centuries compared to Rome's 5. It seemed like there were a few "really famous" emperors, but it was hard filling in the rest of the list. I really don't think this list is very good as a top 9. An interesting person that I thought much of including was Irene. Although she was an empress, she titled herself "emperor" therefore especially fitful to this poll in a peculiar way.



Justinian
To western scholars, one of the most famous emperors. Often times, the history of Rome is extended to Justinian, reconquered a good part of the fallen western Empire and was the last burst of Imperial glory (..."and then after that, Byzantium survived declining until 1453 under anonymous emperors...").  In a list of Roman emperors, he is sometimes the last one listed, rather than Romulus Augustulus. The main problem with his reconqust was that it was only for the feel and was geographically illogical. As a result, he had to pay off the Persians with a huge annual tribute in order to wage his reconquest without warring the Persians. At the end of his reign, the empire was bankrupt. However, during his reign, he was also skillful at legal administration. His "Justinian's code" was so clear that it became a model for future legal codes. On the other hand, Justinian was very reliant on his wife Theodora in running the empire, most notably in resolving the hippodrome crisis.

Heraclius
He was an unlikely one to rule the empire, but he rose to the throne and deposed the wretched Phocas. During the reign of Phocas, Byzantium lost many territories to foreign powers: the southern part was lost to Persians and the north to Avars. Heraclius overturned these with four sucessful campaigns against the Sassanid. However, this campaign proved fatal to both Byzantium and Persia as it weakened them both for Arab conquest. The lands reconquered were soon lost to Arabs. The plunder gained was already used to pay soldiers and the empire. Nonetheless, during his triumphs, he was regarded as a great hero, and cannot really take the blame for the defeats against the Arabs because he did not command the army against them. Heraclius also switched the language from latin to Greek. Heraclius is credited with creating the Theme system of organizing the empire.

Some of the bios are gonna be short. Sorry, but I'm just running low on time.

Leo III
The third "Leo" was the first emperor of the Isaurian dynasty. His greatest accomplishment during his reign was the repulse of the massive Ummayad attack on constantinople. On the other hand, Leo was known for his iconoclasity, which IMO was an ultimate failure because it hurt the relation between Constantinople and Italy.

Basil I
Although overshadowed by Basil II, Basil I was a crucial emperor to Byzantium. His dynasty ruled the empire at its high point, largely due to Basil I's skillful administration of the empire's law code and finances. He is remembered today also in a rarely preserved "picture book".

John Tzimisces
He won victories against the Abassid and reconquered territories north of the capital. An intersting trivia is that his daughter was the first byzantine to marry with the Holy Roman Empire line.

Basil II
One of the most famous emperors, Basil fully restored the empire from crisis to a height in five centuries. At the time, the Bulgars still held much of the balkins. After a long war, Basil defeated the Bulars, with a slaughter so intense that he took the title "Bulgar Slayer". His other victories including restoring Byzantine power to armenia and souther Italy. Few emperors manipulated the army as skilfully as Basil. He ruled with simple austerity. He even scorned the use of jewels and wore a simple outfit. Basil improved the contact with Rus into an alliance with a marriage of his daught to Prince Vladmir. This led to his baptism, and the alliance with Rus became crucial to the Byzantine military. From another perspective, Basil's rule was important because it lasted half a centuries. Few emperors can claim to have ruled gloriously for that long. Basil's Byzantium is considered by many to be at its height.

John Ducas
After the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders, the Nicean sucessor state became the most powerful, largely due to the skillful administration and military leadership of John Ducas.

Michael VIII Palaeologus
Emperor of Nicea, he recaptured Constantinople and founded the Palaeologus dynasty.

Manuel II Palaeologus
An admirable character who ruled a decaying state. He travelled across europe in person to enlist the support of the west for the Byzantines. This was unsucessful, but after Tamerlane's victory at Ankara, he was able to make peace with the Ottomans. Manuel was a most intellectual emperor who wrote a varitey of works.

Hello!

For me, it wasn`t difficult: Justinian II. Remeber he didn`t only fought succesful wars, he also wrote a new code of laws.

/Capa

Not even close, Justinian all the way.

yes Justinian had a great general but he treated him like crap and it always makes me mad when I read about it!

What about Alexius Comnenus?

Edited by Degredado

Definitially Basileios II Bulgaroktonos.

The Roman Empire politicially ended at May 29, 1453.

Culturally, by the 7th century...

Justinian. Conquered a large part of the Western Roman Empire.

Agree with Skyth (as usual :-)

Justinian ruined the state's economy with his megalomaniac pursuits. Not to mention that most of his conquests were lost soon after.

But he did built Agia Sophia, married a whore and codified Law (his code is still the basis of law in most western countries today) and for all those he will be eternally remembered...

 

 

Erm, I hope someone can explain to me how is it that the Roman Empire was only 500 years while the East was in for a 1000 years. Rome began in the 800s BC (and is now being estimated to be a century earlier than that), and the Roman Empire lasted until 476 (West), which, IIRC, is a lot more than 500 years. Also, the Eastern Roman Empire survived until the fall of Constantinople in 1453, but, like Ihsan said, it's culture fell in the 7th century.