Constantinople: Birth Of An Empire

by Harold Lamb

Harold Lamb gives a comprehensive account of the life and reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian I (482-565), from his origin as the peasant Petrus Sabbatius, to the purple clad Imperator. Upon Justinian’s ascension to the throne the western provinces had been occupied by hostile barbarians for over a generation. In the east, what remained of the Roman Empire faced invasion by the Huns from the north, and by an undiminished Persian Empire across the eastern border. Despite all of this Justinian managed to withstand the waves of invasion, embark on vast architectural projects across the empire, and restore Roman mastery over Mediterranean. Lamb also examines the colorful personalities surrounding Justinian. His wife Theodora, the actress turned empress, who was more spymaster than anything else; the ever victorious count Belisarius, who, despite his popularity with the military, the people, and the lost provinces he reclaimed for the empire, refused to take up arms and overthrow his emperor as so many other Roman generals had done before him. Birth of an Empire is a great resource for anyone interested in eastern Roman/Byzantine history during the age of Justinian.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

334 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Harold Albert Lamb was an American historian, screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist.

Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb built a career with his writing from an early age. He got his start in the pulp magazines, quickly moving to the prestigious Adventure magazine, his primary fiction outlet for nineteen years. In 1927 he wrote a biography of Genghis Khan, and following on its success turned more and more to the writing of non-fiction, penning numerous biographies and popular history books until his death in 1962. The success of Lamb's two volume history of the Crusades led to his discovery by Cecil B. DeMille, who employed Lamb as a technical advisor on a related movie, The Crusades, and used him as a screenwriter on many other DeMille movies thereafter. Lamb spoke French, Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and, by his own account, a smattering of Manchu-Tartar.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sequoyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Age of Faith by Will Durant, Durant mentions three or four individuals that I was especially interested in reading more about; Justinian was one of them. In Durant’s books, he paints a brief overview of Justinian’s reign, focusing on the division of power between him and Theodora, his wife, Justinian’s efforts at reconquering much of the western Roman Empire, and his relationship with his general Belisarius. Much of this interested me, as he seemed to be the last important Roman emperor. In Harold Lamb book, on the other hand, Justinian and the supporting characters in this story are fully fleshed out, given personality, and are thoroughly painted by an incredible story of loyalty, deception, naïvety, and vain hopes of glory and reformation.

Never before have I read such a uniquely written history. Lamb’s prose is not only beautiful, but his historiographic method of telling the story of Constantinople and Justinian is so vibrant and full of odd quirks that it is wholly endearing and completely unique to me. This isn’t just a history of a century, this is a fully fleshed out biography, where Lamb makes these ancient characters truly human. He adds odd nuances to try and immerse you into the streets of Constantinople herself, the eating of nuts while waiting, the feeling of anticipation during a riot, specific individuals’ in-depth emotions at critical events. A genuinely impressive work of history.

Here are some of my thoughts on the story itself though, which make me wants to delve into the primary sources to sort things out:

It is a shame to watch unfold such treachery against both Justinian and Belisarius. Theodora, Justinian’s empress actively sought to undermine her husbands decrees and will, which is odd to me because without the people’s faith Justinian and his officials’ ability to carry out those decrees, she would lose any power that she held. And Justinian is deemed as increasingly paranoid of his friends, but why is this? Because Theodora dislikes Justinian’s friends, so the only people to support Justinian in his efforts to grasp Rome’s former glory, are being undermined by the Empress herself because of personal differences. Belisarius, the only man capable of protecting Constantinople, and absolutely subservient to Justinian (Lamb states that he was the only person who could have overthrown Justinian with a few words, but the thought never even crossed his mind, for his loyalty was absolute) was actively being ruined by the secret machinations of the Empress. Which blows my mind because he was the only man responsible for protecting both Justinian and Theodora’s seats of power.

While preoccupied with wars on two fronts, and having only one general capable of fighting them both (and him with only 18,000 men), and trying to build up enough bank reserve to keep his country going. Theodora connives behind his back, dividing his generals and public officials, creating domestic political instability. All while Justinian is facing the the impossibilities of governance alone.

I think this history really shows that one person is worth praise in this entire story: Belisarius. Justinian, faced with the impossibility of reforming an entire nation without advisors, falls into certain inescapable flaws and policy mistakes (like banning his entertainment at the Hippodrome (terrible idea)). Although, in my opinion, Justinian’s policies were for the good and glory of his people, perhaps not totally altruistic or well thought out, but he suffered from paranoia, allowing Theodora to carry out her own policy of personal purges, and not fully trusting the one man who made his foreign policies possible. Belisarius, throughout the story, seems like a man so capable through his strategic knowledge (or luck) and his loyalty to Justinian, but is constantly held consequent to his naïvety, especially with his cheating, conniving, wife and that of the ever divisive Theodora. Regardless of this, I think Belisarius is the only man in this story who is truly admirable with all his flaws laid bare. And as the student at the Strategium said when Belisarius died, “The army will do well enough without Belisarius, but what will the emperor do?”

You end up pitying Justinian and his intelligence, all his efforts being undermined and brought to nothing through war and pestilence, and his willful disregard of Theodora’s machinations. You end up holding a grudge against Theodora for acting opposite Justinian, but her actions are a completely understandable reaction to power and the human qualities that power corrupts. You also end up pitying Belisarius for his loyalty and the way he is treated by those he loves.

Overall, all three of the primary characters, Justinian, Theodora, and Belisarius, and their stories are immensely interesting and a lot more nuanced than I make out. The power dynamic (and Byzantine society itself) is definitely unusual and trying to understand their reasoning behind all their actions makes me want to read even more. I whole heartedly recommend this book (if you can find it) for the knowledge and enjoyment I got out of it.

[Bill Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Lamb has done an elegant job providing an introduction to Constantinople and one of its early rulers Justinian and his wife Theodora.

Remarkable challenges faced from the East and West along with famine, plague, earthquakes and political intrigue.

[Edward]

Rushdoony commented:

"I would like to go on to another book now and this by a writer immensely readable, disliked by many professional historians because he was popular and well read. And I would agree that very often the popularizers overlook certain things and do not give the right emphasis. But Harold Lamb was a good writer and this book, published in 1957 he wrote on the title Constantinople: Birth of an Empire. It is, in part, about Justinian and Theodora, but he wrote another book about them. In this he concentrates on the city and, to a very large extent, on Justinian and his life as centered on the city of Constantinople, Byzantium. His motto for the book tells you his whole premise. It is taken from a letter by a confederate soldier written shortly before his death. What the letter was talking about, I don’t know. But this sentence in it is marvelous.
“Men who saw night coming down about them could somehow act as if they stood at the edge of dawn. Men who saw night coming down about them could somehow act as if they stood at the edge of dawn.”
A tremendous statement. And I think that describes Justinian, Theodora his empress and the brilliant group of men around him.

Now Justinian did have some scoundrels that rose to high places whom he trusted. But when you look over the roll of men that he had, it is amazing. More than a few of them have had books written about them, because their attainment was so great."

[Mhbright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both erudite and readable, this is a fascinating account of Constantinople during the reign of Justinian by the inimitable Harold Lamb.