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VALENS. Eastern emperor from 364 to 378, appointed by Valentinian I, who was his older brother and western co-emperor. Valens’s adherence to Arianism resulted in a persecution of the Orthodox late in his reign, but he was soon consumed with the revolt of the Visigoths in 376. Two years later he died fighting the Visigoths at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. See AQUEDUCTS AND CISTERNS; DE REBUS BELLICIS; PROKOPIOS; SELEUKEIA.

VALENTINIAN I. Emperor of the West from 364 to 375, chosen by the army after the death of Jovian. He appointed his younger brother Valens as emperor in the East, while he ruled the West, including Illyricum from Milan. Their joint rule reflected the increasing separation of the eastern and western halves of the empire. For example, Arianism, which had more support in the East, was embraced by Valens. Valentinian I remained loyal to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, as did most citizens in the West. Throughout his reign, Valentinian I was preoccupied chiefly with barbarian invasions in Britain and along the Rhine. See also DE REBUS BELLICIS.

VALENTINIAN II. Emperor of the West from 375 to 392, succeeding his father Valentinian I when he was only four years old. He never actually ruled in his own right. His half-brother Gratian exercised actual power until Gratian was murdered in 383. Valentinian II was dominated by Theodosios I and by the western general Arbogast, who may have been responsible for the young emperor’s death in 392. Valentinian II’s reign was punctuated by the revolt of Maximus, who ruled Britain, Gaul, and Spain from 382 to 388, and who invaded Italy in 387, forcing the young emperor to flee to Thessalonike. See also ALTAR OF VICTORY.

VALENTINIAN III. Emperor of the West from 425 to 455. For the first part of his reign (he became emperor at age six) his mother Galla Placidia exerted real power, as did the general Aetius. His independence came only late in his reign, when he assassinated Aetius (454). However, Valentinian III was himself assassinated in 455 by one of Aetius’s followers, and the same year the Vandals sacked Rome. These events plunged Italy into political turmoil. See also CODEX THEODOSIANUS.

VALENTINOS ARSAKUNI. Usurped the throne briefly in 645 before being lynched in a popular uprising in Constantinople. He was a former commander of the theme of Opsikion who became count of the exkoubitores and who engineered the downfall of Martina. His death in 645 left Constans II in sole control.

VALLA, LORENZO. See DONATION OF CONSTANTINE; THEODORE OF GAZA.

VANDALS. Germanic people who crossed the Rhine in 406. From there, they moved into Spain, and in 429 they crossed into North Africa, seizing Carthage in 439. Their pirate fleet menaced the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy. By treaty in 442, the emperor Valentinian III recognized the existence of a Vandal state, doubtless in the vain hope that formal relations with the Vandal king Gaiseric would curb his ambitions. Instead, Gaiseric’s fleet sacked Rome in 455, kidnapping Valentinian III’s widow and daughters. The expedition of Leo I against the Vandals in 468, led by the incompetent Basiliskos, failed. By 475 the Vandals had conquered Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica.

Only much later (in 533) did Justinian I’s general Belisarios vanquish the Vandal state, a state that had promoted Arianism, persecuted its Orthodox citizens, and menaced the entirety of the western Mediterranean for a century. See also BARBARIANS; CRETE, DIPLOMACY; MOORS; NAVY; RICIMER; THAMUGADI; VICTOR OF VITA; WAR.

VARANGIAN GUARD. See VARANGIANS.

VARANGIANS. Vikings, also called Rus, who served as mercenaries in the Byzantine army. In 988 a contingent of 6,000 Varangians was sent by Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, to help Basil II suppress the revolt of Bardas Phokas. They became the elite shock troops of Basil II’s army. Subsequently they formed the famous Varangian Guard, the imperial bodyguard stationed in the Great Palace at Constantinople.

The most famous commander of the Varangians was Harold Hardrada, who fought under George Maniakes in Sicily in 1038. Hardrada died fighting Harold of England at Stamford Bridge in 1066 during his attempt to claim the English throne. After 1066, defeated Anglo-Saxons migrated to Byzantium where they found employment in the Varangian Guard. Indeed, by the 13th century the Varangian Guard was almost entirely English and their acclamations to the emperor were in that language. The guard was fiercely loyal to the reigning emperor and fierce to behold with their swords and battle-axes. In battle, the “axe-bearers” were sometimes pitted against western troops, though not always successfully.

When Alexios I Komnenos attempted to raise the siege at Dyrrachion in October 1081, he placed on the front line a shield wall of Varangians that was almost wiped out by a Norman cavalry charge, reminiscent of the battle of Hastings. In 1204 Varangians vainly defended the walls of Constantinople against knights of the Fourth Crusade.

In the late Byzantine army (from 1261 to 1453) their role changed to that of imperial bodyguards and prison guards. The last historical reference to the Varangians is from the chronicle of Adam of Usk, who, in Rome in 1404, inquired of Byzantine ambassadors whether any of his countrymen lived in Byzantium. They told him of British axe-bearers who fought there for the emperor. See also HERVÉ FRANKOPOULOS; MERCENARIES; NOVGOROD.

VARNA, CRUSADE OF. The last effort by western Christendom to save Constantinople and Eastern Europe from the Ottomans. Preached by Pope Eugenius IV in 1440, the Crusade included forces under Hunyadi and George Brankovich. After agreeing to a 10-year truce, the Crusaders broke their agreement, which prompted a quick response from Sultan Murad II, who annihilated the western army (10 November 1444) on the coast of the Black Sea near Varna, before the Crusade could relieve Constantinople. See also DOBRUDJA; HUNGARY.

VASPURAKAN. Region of southeast Armenia annexed in 1022 by Basil II, as Byzantium expanded eastward. From the opposite direction there was pressure on Armenia from the Turks, all of which combined to encourage large-scale Armenian emigration into Byzantine territory. In exchange for ceding Vaspurakan, its last king, Senecherim Arcruni, received Sebasteia along with landed estates in Cappadocia. See also ASIA MINOR.

VELBUZD, BATTLE OF. A decisive battle (28 July 1330) in the history of the medieval Balkan Peninsula that laid the foundation for the rise of Serbia as a great power. Andronikos III Palaiologos and his Bulgarian allies were defeated by Stefan Urosh III Dechanski and his son Stefan Urosh IV Dushan. The Serbian victory opened up Byzantine Macedonia to further Serbian expansion.

VENICE. Greatest of the Italian maritime republics. Its traditional foundation date is 421, but more likely is a date after 568 when refugees fled there to escape the Lombards. Its location on a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice (part of the Adriatic Sea) provided a safe haven for commercial expansion and, in the ninth century, independence from Byzantium.

Basil II extended commercial privileges to Venice, but those it received from Alexios I Komnenos provided the cornerstone of Venetian commercial power in the East. In return for help against the Normans in 1082 Alexios I granted Venice unrestricted trade throughout the empire, exemption from customs duties, in addition to several warehouses and quays in Constantinople.

These privileges were confirmed in 1126. In retrospect, this proved to be a major blunder, one that slowly increased Venice’s role in the Byzantine economy, altering the political equation between Byzantium and Venice in the process. Manuel I Komnenos attempted to reverse Venice’s growing stranglehold over eastern trade by confiscating Venetian goods and expelling Venetians from the empire in 1171. Increasingly, support was given to Venice’s rivals Pisa and Genoa, in a vain attempt, as the events of 1203–1204 demonstrated, to thwart Venetian expansion.

The conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, led by Doge Enrico Dandalo, was the culmination of this process and, indeed, Venice was the greatest single beneficiary, gaining Crete, Euboea, numerous other islands, and mainland ports. A Venetian, Thomas Morosini, was the first patriarch of the Latin Empire. The reconquest of Constantinople in 1261 proved to be a temporary setback for Venetian commercial expansion, despite the favoritism Michael VIII Palaiologos showed to the Genoese. The Venetians fought and intrigued their way through the 14th century, intervening in Byzantine politics in hopes of placing an emperor on the throne who would favor their interests against the preferred Genoese. This long and bitter rivalry reached a peak in 1376–1381 when fleets from Venice and Genoa fought for control of Tenedos. Andreas Dandalo, writing in the 14th century, could look back with pride on Venetian expansion, especially on the contribution made by his ancestor Enrico Dandalo.

The 15th century was more mixed for the Venetians. They were given Thessalonike to defend in 1423, but they lost it to the Ottomans in 1430. Further losses seemed inevitable after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453. However, not until the next century did the Ottomans develop a fleet that could effectively challenge Venetian maritime supremacy, a supremacy founded on the ruthless pursuit of profit in Byzantine waters. See also DALMATIA; INNOCENT III; ISTRIA; NAVY; PARTITIO ROMANIAE; PATMOS; TARANTO; TIMBER.

VERINA. Empress; wife of Leo I, whose daughter Ariadne married Zeno. Verina was a remarkable intriguer. She helped her brother Basiliskos gain Zeno’s throne. Shunted aside, she intrigued for the return of Zeno, but once that occurred she plotted unsuccessfully to assassinate the real power behind Zeno’s throne, Illos. For this Zeno banished her to a nunnery in Tarsos.

In 484 she joined forces with Illos in a revolt against Zeno that ended up supporting the very general, Leontios, who was sent by Zeno to suppress the revolt. Verina crowned the usurper with her own hands, but soon thereafter she died while the revolt was being suppressed. See also WOMEN.

VERROIA. See BERROIA.

VESTIARION. The term can refer to any treasury administered by a vestiarios (treasurer). It can also refer to the state treasury, which served as an arsenal for the army and fleet, and was the repository for precious objects. It should not be confused with the sakellion, which was the state treasury for coined money. See also COINAGE.

VIA EGNATIA. Major road that traversed the Balkan Peninsula laterally from Constantinople to the Adriatic Sea, via Thessalonike, Pella, Edessa (Vodena), Herakleia, Ohrid, and then, finally, to either Dyrrachion or Apollonia (it had two terminal points). Across the Adriatic at Brindisi it connected to the Via Appia, which continued on to Rome via Capua.

Built by the Romans around 130 b.c. as the shortest route to their Asian possessions, the Via Egnatia continued to be used throughout the Byzantine period as one of the main roads to and from the West. In the 12th century, for example, Manuel I Komnenos’s bride, Bertha of Sulzbach, used the Via Egnatia to reach Constantinople.

The road was particularly important in connection with invasions of Byzantium from the West. When the Normans attacked Dyrrachion in 1081 it was with the object of marching along the Via Egnatia to Constantinople. In 1185 William II of Sicily sacked Dyrrachion and used the Via Egnatia to march to Thessalonike, which was captured and pillaged. Charles I of Anjou had the same intentions when he besieged Dyrrachion in 1274. See also DEVOL; HIGHWAYS AND ROADS; SELYMBRIA; THRACE; TRANSPORTATION.

VICTOR OF VITA. Bishop of Vita in North Africa who wrote a history (ca. 489) of the cruel persecution of the Orthodox population by the Vandals during the reigns of Gaiseric, Huneric, and Gunthamund. He wrote his work (in Latin, entitled Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae) from exile near Tripolis. While dealing chiefly with the Orthodox church, the work is also valuable as a contemporary account of fifth-century North Africa.

VIDIN. Bulgarian fortress, strategically situated on the Danube, which Basil II captured in 1003 after a siege of eight months. It was restored to Bulgaria in the early 14th century and was occupied by the forces of Hungary from 1365 to 1369. For a while in the late 14th century, the Ottomans allowed Vidin to become a semi-independent Bulgarian principality before it was conquered by Bayezid I in 1396.

VIGILIUS. Pope from 537 to 555. Justinian I installed Vigilius as pope after Belisarios captured Rome from the Ostrogoths. However, when Vigilius refused to approve of the Three Chapters, Justinian I had him arrested (545) and transported to Constantinople.

In Constantinople, Vigilius first condemned the patriarch Menas for his support of the Three Chapters. But under pressure he yielded to Justinian and reversed himself, condemning the Three Chapters in a statement called Judicatum (Pronouncement). When Vigilius heard that a council of African bishops excommunicated him for this, he changed his mind once again and condemned his statement.

Justinian exiled him to an island in the Sea of Marmara until he consented to sign the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople. Only then was he allowed to return to Rome. He died along the way. The fate of Vigilius is often cited as an example of Justinian I’s caesaropapism. See also EUTYCHIOS.

VIGLA. The tagma of the Watch, a cavalry corps stationed in Constantinople to guard the Great Palace. It was created in the eighth century, probably by Irene. Among its commanders was Petronas, who served as droungarios tes viglas under Theophilos. See also ARMY.

VIKINGS. Northmen from Scandinavia who traversed the waterways of Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries as pirates and merchants. From ca. 835 Viking raids on Britain, Ireland, and the Carolingian empire became incessant.

The first Rus were Vikings who established a state at Kiev, from which they launched an attack on Constantinople in 860. In 988 Vladimir I of Kiev sent 6,000 Rus soldiers to serve with Basil II, after which these Varangians (as they were also called) fought for Byzantium. The elite Varangian Guard was stationed in the Great Palace in Constantinople.

In the 11th century, adventurers from the Viking state of Normandy, carved out a state in southern Italy by 1071, then conquered Sicily. Normans also fought as mercenaries in Byzantine armies throughout the 11th century, including at the Battle of Mantzikert in 1071. Among the most famous Viking adventurers was Harold Hardrada, whose career included service with George Maniakes in Sicily. See also ARMY.

VILLAGE. Until the seventh century villages were under the control of nearby cities. However, the decline of cities during the Dark Ages allowed villages to become independent. From the seventh to the 11th century, villages of free peasants who owned their own property and were jointly responsible for village taxes owed to the state (allelengyon, epibole) were the rural norm.

In the 10th century large estates multiplied as the power of the military aristocracy (dynatoi) increased in the countryside, especially in Asia Minor, encroaching on the land of free villages. Late Byzantine peasants (paroikoi) were dependent workers on large estates, by which time villages had lost their independence. See also AGRICULTURE; ECONOMY; PAROIKOS; TAXATION.

VILLEHARDOUIN, GEOFFREY. See GEOFFREY DE VILLEHARDOUIN.

VIRGIN MARY. The mother of Jesus Christ. Mary was commonly referred to as Theotokos (“Bearer of God”), a term that defines her importance and the basis of her veneration. Byzantine piety emphasized the intercession of saints, and thus the Virgin Mary was widely viewed as the chief intercessor to Christ. Her relationship was that of motherly love, hence another of her epithets, elousa, meaning compassionate. The Virgin Eleousa was often portrayed in Byzantine art, as were other standard representations of her either alone, where her role as intercessor is emphasized, or holding Christ in various motherly poses, including nursing Christ.

There were famous portable icons of the Virgin Mary that bore the name of the church or monastery where the originals were located (e.g., those at the monastery of Blachernai, each referred to as Virgin Blachernitissa). Perhaps the most important portable icon in Constantinople was that of the Virgin Hodegetria, so named because it was kept in the Hodegon Monastery. The icon was taken out on special occasions and processed around the walls when Constantinople was besieged.

Mary’s role as Theotokos was important in the heresy of Nestorianism. Nestorios, bishop of Constantinople from 428 to 431, denied her role as Theotokos, substituting the epithet Christokos, bearer of the man Christ. Her cult was also attacked during Iconoclasm. See also WOMEN.

VISIGOTHS. Division of the Goths who, along with the Ostrogoths, converted to Arianism. This probably occurred (in the third century, rather than in the fourth century) through the missionary activity of Ulfilas.

In 376 the Visigoths requested permission from Valens to seek safety from the Huns by crossing the Danube, which they promised to defend. This first experiment in settling an entire German tribe on Roman soil proved disastrous. Valens died in the Battle of Adrianople (378) trying to suppress their rebellion. Not until 382 was peace restored following an agreement to settle the Visigoths as foederati in Thrace.

Under Alaric in 395 they rebelled again, launching a series of invasions into Greece (396–397) and Italy (401, 408) that culminated in the pillage of Rome in 410. Alaric’s successor, Athaulf, married Galla Placidia and invaded Spain, where, as foederati, the Visigoths warred against the Vandals, creating a kingdom for themselves in the process. Despite attacks by the Franks under Clovis the Visigothic kingdom survived until 711 when it fell to the Arabs. See also BARBARIANS; SERDICA.

VITA. Latin for “life,” referring to the biography of a saint. Typically, the vita of any saint contains visions, miracles, and heroic asceticism. Invariably, hagiography, which is the study of saints’ lives, provides rich information on social conditions in the empire. Eusebios of Caesarea’s biography of Constantine I the Great, the Vita Constantini, can be viewed as having a hagiographical intent, given the saintly qualities Eusebios attributes to this ideal Christian emperor.

VITA BASILII. See THEOPHANES CONTINUATUS.

VITA CONSTANTINI. Eusebios of Caesarea’s Life of Constantine, composed between 337 and 339. It is a panegyric that approaches hagiography whose historical value has been much debated. In it we hear in Constantine’s own words the story of his miraculous vision of a cross of light in the sky, accompanied by the words “By this, conquer!” Even Eusebios found the story incredible and made Constantine swear an oath that it was true. However, there are decrees, including a letter to the king of Persia, from Constantine’s own hand, that Eusebios seems to quote verbatim. In these the reader may perhaps hear the words of a new convert, even a religious zealot, convinced by the victory-bringing labarum.

VITALIAN. Army commander in Thrace who revolted against Anastasios I from 513 to 515, representing himself as a champion of Orthodoxy against Monophysitism. After Anastasios’s death in 518, Justin I conciliated Vitalian by honoring him with the titles of patrikios and consul. Vitalian was assassinated in 520, apparently at the instigation of the future Justinian I, who regarded him as a rival.

VITIGES. King of the Ostrogoths from 536 to 540, succeeding Theodahad. Vitiges besieged Belisarios in Rome in 537. However, when in 538 Byzantine reinforcements arrived in Italy, Vitiges retreated to Ravenna, where he attempted vainly to convince Chosroes I to launch a diversionary attack in the East. In 540 Belisarios tricked Vitigis into opening the gates of Ravenna, and he was taken prisoner. He died in exile two years later. See also AMALASUNTHA; THEODAHAD.

VLACHS. Pastoralists of the Balkan Peninsula who speak a Romance language and whose ancestors probably originated in ancient Dacia. For centuries they moved their sheep and goats from winter pastures in the plains to summer pastures in the mountains, as far south as the Pindos and Thessaly, appearing first in Byzantine sources of the 11th century, for example, in the works of Anna Komnene and Kekaumenos. Nicetas Choniates suggests that Peter of Bulgaria and his brother Asen I, founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, were Vlachs.

VLAD IV “THE IMPALER.” See WALLACHIA.

VLADIMIR I. Prince of Kiev from 980 to 1015; saint; son of Svjatoslav. In 988 he contributed 6,000 Varangians to help Basil II subdue the rebel Bardas Phokas. In return he was rewarded with a Byzantine bride, Basil II’s sister Anna. Vladimir’s marriage to Anna was an opportunity to greatly enhance his prestige, which is why he took the daring step of converting to Christianity (988) to be allowed to marry her. It was more than just a marriage, for it brought the Kievan Rus into the orbit of Byzantine civilization. It can be seen as the single greatest historical event in Kievan Rus history, perhaps in the entirety of Russian history. See also CHERSON.

VODENA. The Slavic name for Edessa, the last major city (heading east) on the Via Egnatia before reaching Thessalonike. When southern Macedonia was threatened, Vodena was a likely target. For example, Bohemund captured it briefly in 1083, when he fought Alexios I Komnenos for control of south Macedonia.

VOISLAV, MICHAEL. See CONSTANTINE BODIN.

VOISLAV, STEFAN. Prince of Zeta who revolted against Byzantine rule around 1034. In 1042 he defeated the strategos of Dyrrachion, gaining for Zeta its independence, which Byzantium recognized by awarding him the title of protospatharios.

VOITECH, GEORGE. See CONSTANTINE BODIN.