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Index

Armenia

The Urartu Civilisation

Victory for Independence

Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne

Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

The Acceptance of Christianity

Defending Christianity

Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty

Cilicia - the New Armenia

Armenia Under Turanian Rule

The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia

The Eastern Question

Russia in the Caucasus

The Armenian Question

Battle on Two Fronts

Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians

The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I

The First World War

The Resurrection of Armenia

Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

Eastern Armenia

Western Armenia

"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)

"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)

The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia

Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917

Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)

War and Independence (April-May, 1918)

The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia

The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)

In conclusion

Soviet Armenia

The Second Independent Republic of Armenia

Epilogue

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It is also interesting to imagine how the destiny of Europe would have differed if the Byzantine Empire, during the 7th and the 8th centuries, had not stopped the Arabs from opening another foothold in a weak and divided Europe. And how history would have panned out had the empire not continued its resistance against the Turks during the 11th and the 12th centuries and delayed their invasion until the 15th century when Europe was strong enough to be able to organize a counterattack during the 17th and the 18th centuries. 8

In this chapter, dedicated to the relations between Armenia and Byzantine, we shall try reveal the important role which Armenia, or more accurately the Armenians, played in this "Half of European history during the Middle Ages", and examine how Armenia participated in the development of Byzantine, a role no less important than that which Byzantine had in shaping Armenia.

The history of the Eastern Roman Empire can be divided into three coherent parts: from 330 to 770 A.D., which is the Eastern Roman period; from 771 to 1071, which is the era of the Byzantine Empire 9; and finally, from 1071 to 1453 which is the Greek period of the empire. In keeping with most historic accounts, all of these political organizations come under the name of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine.

The Armenian Soldiers of Byzantine

The most important contribution that Armenia made to Byzantine was through its troops of soldiers. Byzantine was in need of a good army as it was constantly being threatened and was itself often on the attach, grappling in a never-ending war with the east, and also the Slavic people in the west on occasion. Since the citizens of Byzantine felt themselves above the life of a soldier, its army was not a national force, but consisted of professional soldiers from other countries and was very much like the British and the American armies during the 19th century. This army was relatively small never exceeding 150,000 men. The military units sent to different parts of the empire, and even those which took part in the most fierce battles (for instance, at the re-conquering of Italy, the defence of Asia Minor and the battle against the Slavic tribes), never exceeded 20,000 or 30,000 men.

Tthis army, due to its outstanding organization, courage and discipline, was able to compensatefor its size and according Wigram was the only technical and practical force of its time. However, such a skilled and well-equipped army was very difficult to replace with reinforcements following heavy losses, a problem that countries with national armies avoided. This Byzantine superiority to the military life forced the emperor to recruit mercenaries from other countries.

Among these there were often soldiers from Rome and European barbarians (Huns, Goths and Vandals), Slavs, Scandinavians, Nomads, Cilicians, and Latin people (French, Italians, Germans and Anglo-Saxons) 10. However, it was the Armenians who made up the military core of the Byzantine army and its assault forces.

This fact has been proved by the same historians who have researched and written the history of Byzantine. Charles Diehl writes: "The strong mountaineers of Armenia were outstanding military soldiers." 11 Similarly, Bussel points out: "From Emperor Justinianus' time downwards, the Armenians constituted the best soldiers of the empire" 12.