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Notable from the 8th century are Patrice Vartan, General Tadjat Anzevatsi, who led the Byzantine forces against the Bulgarians, and General Artavazd Mamikonian, who defeated the Arabs. From this period onwards the Armenians formed the majority of the Byzantine army. As Basil points out, it was during the bloody war against the Arabs that the Armenian commanders began to compete with the Greek military leaders in the Byzantine Empire and gained more prominence. It was they who maintained the old Roman military customs in the Byzantine army and were among the bravest defenders of the empire. 59
The influence that the Armeniansexerted on Byzantine becomes clearer during the 11th century. 60 Oswald Spengler observes that from this period onwards the Armenians played the same role in Byzantine as that of the Turks in Baghdad: they were a foreign military force which controlled the central government. 61 Byzantine came to boast some of the greatest military leaders. Among these leaders, who according to Basil were the real rulers and defenders of Byzantine, we can mention Manuel Mamikonian; Ohannes Gourgen (Jean Curcuas), who took back the cities of Theodosiopolis (Erzurum) and Melitene (Malatya); Bardas (Vartan) Phocas and his sons Nicephorus, Levon and Constantine; and finally John Tzimiskes and Grigor Taroni. 69
These men played, indirectly, a major role in the creation of Bagratouni Armenia, by weakening the Arabs in their wars against Byzantine. As Bury writes "the successes of the Armenians were a new driving and life-giving force for Byzantine, playing a vital role in maintaining and strengthening the existence of the empire."
The Armenian Emperors of Byzantine
Not only did Armenia provide some of Byzantine's most distinguished military commanders, it also was the birthplace of a number of Byzantine emperors during the 9th and the 10th.
During previous centuries Armenian men and women had sat on the Byzantine throne, including Philippicus Bardanes (Vartan) who ruled between 711-713 and Artavazd, son in law to Levon II, who ruled for a short period in 741. 71
During the 9th century, emperor Levon V, "the Armenian", who was a member of the famous Artzrouni noble family, came to power. This great commander, who led the Asiatic army of Byzantine, took power after a military coup in 813. Like the old emperors, he was strictly against hero worshiping, a distinctive characteristic of Armenian influence on Byzantine. 72 Levon V defended the empire against the Bulgarian forces, who in 813 took the city of Andrinople and advanced all the way to the walls of Constantinople. Levon V defeated the Bulgarian forces at Mesembria, in 817, and saved the empire. 74 He was murdered in 820, after a bloody coup, fairly regular occurrence in Byzantine history. 75
The most famous emperors came from the Macedonian dynasty, which emerged.
Basil I, the founder of the dynasty came from a peasant-family which belonged to the Armenians settlers in the outskirts of Andrinople. Having disposed of Michel III (who also had an Armenian mother), he came to power; an act both brutal and treacherous, but one which was quite common for the period.
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59) F. W. Bussel, Essays on the Constitutional History of the Roman Empire, London, 1910, vol. II, p. 325, 336-337 and 344-345
60) J. B. Burys book A History of the later Roman Empire from Irene to Basil I, London, 1912, p. 429
61) Oswald Spengler, Der Untergang des Abendlandes, München, 1927, vol. II, p. 531
69) F. W. Bussel, Essays on the Constitutional History of the Roman Empire, London, 1910, vol. II, p. 402-404 and 417-418; See also Alfred Rambaud, L'Empire grec au X siècle, Paris, 1870, p. 535-538 and also Schlumberger, Un Emperor byzantin au X siècle, Paris, Nicéphore Phocas, Paris, 1890, p. 276 and 350
71) It should be pointed out that Adontz Heraklianus is also accounted to the Armenian emperors.
72) F. W. Bussel, Essays on the Constitutional History of the Roman Empire, London, 1910, vol. II, p. 124-125, 339 and 393-396. If it is true that the first emperor against figure worshiping, Levon III, was of Issurian origin, than his behaviour was most likely due to the military influences from the Armenian element. At the same time we should point out that the strict simplicity in the Armenian Church has always been in colision with the rich decorations in the Catholic and the Orthodox churches. All statues and sculptures have been taken away from the Armenian churches, but the statues of St Maria and her son in the alter of the churches.
74) C. Diehl, Histoire de l'Empire byzantin, Paris, 1922, p. 81
75) About the reign of Levon V, see J. B. Bury's book A History of the later Roman Empire from Irene to Basil I, London, 1912, p. 43-55
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