Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests
This book presents an inquiry into a fundamental historical problem in early Byzantine history: why the Byzantine Empire failed to contain emergent Islam in the new religion's initial years, and in particular how and why the Byzantines first lost Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia before a partial recovery. Using Greek and Arabic as well as other primary sources (including coinage) in the light of recent advances in late Roman, early Islamic, and Byzantine studies, Professor Kaegi assesses imperial conditions on the eve of the appearance of Islam, including ethnic stereotypes, military and religious miscalculations, dangerous strains and inertia in obsolescent fiscal, military, and political institutions and attitudes, as well as some principal military campaigns and battles. He places local officials' and civilians' collaboration with the Muslims in a longer late Roman context, and shows that it was neither unique to the seventh century nor primarily the result of Christian doctrinal disputes. Byzantine stabilization and resilience appeared in intellectual rationalizations of defeat and in institutional transformations and readjustments: demarcation of new borders, improvisations in new military commands and controls to prevent or discourage local collaboration with the Muslims, and new fiscal measures, all intended to prevent further disintegration of the empire
Print Book, English, 1995
1st pbk. ed
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995