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The Arab siege of Constantinople in 717-718, (commonly known as the second Arab siege) is regarded as one of the most important battles in European history. This was the most determined effort by the Caliphs to conquer the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Leo III managed to defeat the besieging Muslims army and navy. This battle saved the successor state to the Roman Empire and allowed it to continue in one form for another for over 600 years. It ended the Arab campaign to conquer the Byzantines and helped to undermine the Umayyad Caliphate. Moreover, the Byzantine victory prevented the Muslims from entering Eastern Europe, therefore preventing the Islamization of the region. Finally, the siege also indirectly led to a religious revolution known as Iconoclasm.

====Byzantium and the Arabs: Balance of Power====

The siege was a complete victory for Leo III and the Christian Empire. Moreover, he had saved the Byzantine Empire. He had displayed extraordinary leadership and had inspired the defenders to resist the repeated assaults on the walls of the city. He and his navy and army were heavily outnumbered by the Arabs, but Leo's tactics kept the Muslims at bay for two years. If the Umayyad forces had been able to capture the city known as the New Rome the Byzantine Empire would have almost certainly collapsed. Constantinople was the focal point of the Empire. The bureaucracy in the city helped to keep the very diverse Empire together. While the metropolis was at a centre of the extensive trade network that bound the Empire together. Moreover, the city was the military and naval stronghold of the sprawling Byzantine realms, if Constantinople had fallen the Empire would have been left defenceless.

====The future of Europe====

The Byzantine Empire was to resist Muslim attacks until it's fall in 1453. It has been described as the bulwark of Europe by many historians. If the Arabs had succeeded in capturing the city, they could have conquered the Christian Empire and used it as the gateway into Europe. At this time Eastern Europe was largely tribal and pagan, but the Byzantine Church was slowly spreading its influence, especially in the Slav and the Bulgar realms. Eventually, the Byzantines secured the conversion of the peoples of the Balkans and later Russia. The Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe and Russia are the ‘daughter churches’ of the Byzantine Church.<ref>Meyendorff, John. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0913836907/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0913836907&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=54b9a005dc6c444f0ade105baf1f1862 The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church]</i> (Yonkers: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), p. 19</ref> Moreover, through the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church, the culture of Constantinople was transmitted throughout Eastern Europe and Russia. This is evident in the Cyrillic Alphabet and in the art of Eastern Europe in later centuries.