What were relations like between the Byzantine Empire and its neighbors?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A. Relations between the Byzantine Empire and its neighbors
1. events of the seventh and eighth centuries shifted its frontiers and
changed its character
a. Arab expansion after the death of Muhammad stripped away
the empire's territory south of the Mediterranean; Syria, Egypt, and North Africa
b. speakers of Slav languages slowly colonized much of the
Balkans, including Greece
c. Arabs from the south, Bulgars from the east, and Russians from
the north threatened Constantinople itself
2. in defense of the empire, missionaries and diplomats were as
important as armies
a. missionaries invented the alphabets in which Slav languages
were written
b. helped to spread statehood, legitimating strong rulers,
sanctifying weak ones
c. missionary efforts launched from Constantinople to secure the
Balkan states that slipped and slid between allegiance to the
Latin- and Greek-speaking churches
d. greatest success for this religious diplomacy was the
conversion of the rulers of much of what is now Russia
e. rulers' ability to impress or intimidate surrounding
"barbarians"
f. wealth of the empire underpinned this diplomatic strategy and
paid for vital military backup
3. marriage between Byzantine princesses and neighboring state leaders
was used to secure alliances
4. Byzantine "commonwealth" of Christian states was being built up like a diplomatic ring of outer defenses
5. intimidating visiting barbarians with elaborate ceremonials
6. wealth depended on security, which was hard to guarantee
a. effectiveness of Byzantine diplomacy had its limits
7. most steppeland peoples, and the Muslims who predominated to the east and south, were indifferent to Byzantine religion and unintimidated by Byzantine methods
8. Byzantines tended to see their predicament as a test of faith—an
episode of sacred history
LO 1