Byzantine Empire: The Dark Ages

Arjun Malhotra

Byus

Honors History 10 Period 4

24 November 2015

The Value of Gold

The Dark Ages are seen by many as a time of suffering and pain, where people were overcome by a pessimistic view on life, and learning grieved. This view however, is euro-centric; it fails to recognize the Byzantine Empire and the success it experienced. The Byzantine Empire flourished during the Dark Ages due to its profusion of natural resources which created cosmic sums of wealth for the empire, leading to hefty and fruitful economy which would be the driving force for a new golden age.

The Byzantine Empire had many, profuse natural resources, which are essential to a successful economy. During the infancy of the Byzantine Empire, “Gold in any form was far

The army that the Byzantines were able to create was enormous, as “An armada of eleven hundred ships...was assembled from across the eastern empire" (Heather 400). The great amounts of gold collected was used to create a gargantuan armada. This collection of ships could be used to fight wars, trade around the world, and enforce the authority of the commanding Byzantine Empire. This army served a diplomatic purpose as well, with Justinian negotiating “an ‘Endless Peace’ with the Persian king, Khosrow, which freed the Roman’s hands for operations in another quarter of the globe” (“Byzantine”). With such a bulky army, Justinian was able to fight on two fronts while managing an empire. He knew that this could not be maintained for an extended period of time, so he used his influence to make peace in the East so he could focus all of his energy on the West. This worked to an extent as Justinian brought Rome back under the Byzantine

There was a massive amount of gold in Anatolia with mines hitting their peak production, and all of this gold was used to create a large military and economy, both of which helped create the Byzantine golden age. The Dark Ages were not that dark after all, when one takes a step back from Western Europe. Works Cited

"Byzantine Empire." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Cantor, Norman F. The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. New York: Viking, 1999. Print.

Heather, Peter J. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

Jordan, William C. "Byzantine Empire." The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996. N. pag.