Changes

In Autumn 717 the Caliph Umar II ordered his brother Masalama to besiege Constantinople. He led an army of 80,000 and a fleet of some two hundred ships, mostly oared galleys<ref> Davis, Paul K. "Constantinople: August 717–15 August 718". 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2001). pp. 99–102</ref>. The Caliph personally directed the attack from Damascus. Leo III was an experienced soldier and he had strengthened the walls of the city and had stockpiled supplies. He ordered any civilian who did not have three years supply of food to leave the city. The Byzantine navy was able to keep the Bosporus open despite continued efforts of the Arab fleet to blockade the waterway and cut off the city from the Black Sea. The Christian navy had a secret weapon, and this was ‘Greek Fire’ <ref> Davis, p. 100</ref>. This was a flammable liquid that could be directed upon the enemy with devastating effects. The Byzantines used Greek Fire in a similar manner to a modern flamethrower. This weapon allowed the Christian ships to destroy many Arab galleys. The Byzantines received regular supplies by sea, but the Arabs suffered great hardship, especially in winter. The Caliph sent reinforcements from Egypt. Despite many assaults, the Arabs could not breach the walls of Constantinople. Leo III then entered an alliance with the Bulgars, a Turkish people who had established a powerful kingdom on the borders of Byzantium<ref> Davis, p. 101</ref>. They agreed to attack the Arab forces besieging the capital of the Christian Empire, in return for payments of gold. In the summer of 718 AD, the Bulgars attacked the Arabs and destroyed a 5000-strong foraging party. The Umayyad forces were almost trapped between the walls of Constantinople and the Bulgars. The Caliph ordered a retreat from Constantinople but during this, the Bulgar Khan's forces massacred some 30,000 Muslim soldiers before they could board the ships. The Byzantine navy pursued the Muslim navy and destroyed many galleys, many more Muslim ships were lost in a storm<ref>Davis, p. 101</ref>.

[[File: Siege of Con Two.jpg Constantinople 2.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A manuscript showing the Bulgars attacking the Arabs in 718]]

==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 defeat of the Arabs outside the walls of ‘New Rome’ saved the Empire, from almost certain destruction. Indeed, such was the enormity of the defeat suffered by the Muslims that they never again attempted to conquer Constantinople <ref> Treadwell, p. 167</ref>. The heirs of Umar II and the later Abbasid dynasty never seriously considered another siege of the great Christian metropolis. The Arabs continued to raid Christian territory but no longer posed an existential to Byzantium. These raids concentrated on securing booty rather than territory. The Umayyad army was weakened in the aftermath of the siege and Leo III began to retake territories that had been lost to the Muslims. The Muslim fleet had been destroyed at Constantinople and it never recovered and the Byzantine regained their old supremacy at sea. The defeat of the Arabs in 718 A.D can be seen as the beginning of a new era for the Christian Empire which saw it expand its territory, economy and cultural and religious influence<ref> Treadwell, p. 145</ref>.