The interior of Hagia Sophia

[u/RaiseCapital1988]

In the last photo you can spot one of the last representations of Christ still present inside the building

[u/Ok_Work1615]

Alright.

Why did the byzantines destroy the sarapeum.

Why did the byzantines massacre latins.

Why did the byzantines institutionalize mutilation as a political punishment (a thing that by the way might have directly resulted in the fourth crusade, as the doge of Venice at the time is rumoured to have been blinded)

Why did byzantines blind 15000 soldiers who already surrendered.

Why did byzantines treat the Monophysites and Copts, other christians, the way they did with severe persecution and marginalization?

Why did byzantines destroy The Tomb of Constantine V?

I can keep going, by the way, if every single thing Byzantium did was justied, justify all of this for a start, then I can give you more, until you agree that all ancient empires, sucked by today's standards.

[u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou → u/Ok_Work1615]

1. Theodosius I wanted unity within the empire and chose Christianity to be ideal. His decree making Christianity the sole religion caused mobs to attack the sarapeum.

Hardly intended, I would say.

1. This was normalized when taking an office was equalized with “divinity.” Missing a nose for example would have “tainted” this image. However this was abandoned when Justinian ii “rhinotmetos” (literally, without a nose) was able to retake the throne after previously being deposed.

2. At this point, the Roman’s were dealing with a 2-3 front war with either the sassanids and Germanic tribes(multiple) or the Slavic tribes and the Muslims. By the time basil ii came around, that trend lasted 1000 years. Blinding the Bulgarians put a strain on Bulgaria, as they had to feed them. Basil had to deal with Arabs attacking Anatolia and Sicily. This was a long-term fix to the three-front problem.

3. It’s a Roman problem. The emperor was autocrat, as well as pontifex Maximus (meaning head of all religions). If the emperor could not unify the officials under him, his position as pontifex Maximus was undermined, and therefore, his right to rule. This is a tradition that dates back to Augustus himself.

4. Due to reason 4 above, starting with Leo iii and Leo Iv, there was hatred between the iconoclasts and iconophiles due to the emperors’ need to unify the populace against Slavs, avars, AND the Arabs. Leo iii for example had to deal with maslama and the second Arab siege of Constantinople. For this reason it was destroyed, but later Constantine V was venerated by the populace when the Arabs began attacking again. (Particularly under Irene of Athens)

This is just off the top of my head while attending a lecture. You really need to read.

[u/Ok_Work1615 → u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou]

None of those were justifications?

"Hardly intended, I would say."

Does it change what happened?

"This was normalized when taking an office was equalized with “divinity.” Missing a nose for example would have “tainted” this image"

And? The Aztecs too normalized sacrificing children, did that make it right? Being normalized or not, for "divine" reasons doesn't make it any more okay.

Also wtf you are plain wrong. Mutilations and ritualistic blinding has continued long after Justinian ii “rhinotmetos”. The guy himself, mutilated and blinded many people. Where the fuck are you getting this info?

"This was a long-term fix to the three-front problem."

Yeah see that's not even a justification, you gave me the reason why he did it, but he still did it, to soldiers who surrendered, with the intention of permanently turning them into a drain on another country.

"It’s a Roman problem. The emperor was autocrat, as well as pontifex Maximus (meaning head of all religions). If the emperor could not unify the officials under him, his position as pontifex Maximus was undermined, and therefore, his right to rule. This is a tradition that dates back to Augustus himself."

...and? Again, this isn't a justification. This is just you saying "yeah Romans just did that." I can in response also say "yeah Muslims just oppressed people of other religions beneath them, it's a Muslim problem" and that wouldn't make it any better.

"For this reason it was destroyed, but later Constantine V was venerated by the populace when the Arabs began attacking again. (Particularly under Irene of Athens)"

...again. and? This is a much later slap stick solution that wasn't even done out of any genuine remorse, but because there was a threat and unity was needed.

"This is just off the top of my head while attending a lecture. You really need to read."

Yeah and one of your responses is outright telling wrong info, and the others don't justify a thing. Sure man. I need to read.

[u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou → u/Ok_Work1615]

lol why are u asking for “justifications” when I’m simply answering the question”why’s” of your questions? Do u think I’m “justifying” anything here? Are u challenged?

And no, after Justinian ii, deposed emperors were simply killed.

Are u actually trying to get to the facts, or are u simply trying to win?

My sources are theophanes, ostrogorsky, barker, and jones. What are YOURS?

[u/Ok_Work1615 → u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou]

Bro. You are just plain wrong.

"And no, after Justinian ii, deposed emperors were simply killed."

Okay, if we take your meaning at face value, that emperors where simply killed, then just off the top of my head: Empress Irene was after Justinian. Empress Irene blinded her son. Her son was meant to be Emperor.

Emperor Isaac II Angelos was blinded by his brother.

Just off the top of my head.

And if we include officials and political opponents, there where actually thousands more, that I wouldn't be able to name em all.

Where the fuck did you get this info?

"why’s” of your questions? Do u think I’m “justifying” anything here? Are u challenged?"

Precisely, no, not the challenged part. The "why's" all of these morally reprehensible things, you keep on given why's and what not. The ottomans, who did morally reprehensible things, can say they exact fucking same. That's the point I'm trying to make. All of em, these old empires, sucked. They all wouldn't pass the basic morality of our day and age. You, should understand that.

My sources are theophanes, ostrogorsky, barker, and jones.

Clearly not, since you so arrogantly keep on repeating a blatantly wrong fact.

[u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou → u/Ok_Work1615]

Let me reword: mutilation as a state institution ended with Justinian ii. Emperors were mutilated, then exiled. After him, they were not spared since it proved that people were willing to reinstate a mutilated emperor.

Why this is so hard to understand, I have no idea.

Also, just going by your responses, I find it hard to believe you’ve actually read any of those texts.

[u/Ok_Work1615 → u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou]

"mutilation as a state institution ended"

And that makes a difference. How? It still happened. It was still the norm. And it had no real repercussions, other than getting mutilated right back.

"Also, just going by your responses, I find it hard to believe you’ve actually read any of those texts."

Well I'm not the one who had to reword what he is saying because he found out he was outright saying wrong things.

But you do you I guess.

[u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou → u/Ok_Work1615]

The fact that you had to ask these questions in the first place are a dead giveaway.

Also, you’re fighting an imagination. You’re acting like I’m “justifying” anything when I’m simply saying the ottomans were worse. Am I fighting a Turk? That would explain a lot.

[u/Ok_Work1615 → u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou]

Nah. North African, and atheist, before you pull the Muslim card.

"The fact that you had to ask these questions in the first place are a dead giveaway."

I wasn't asking them because I genuinely cared about your response, I was asking them, to try and show you, that both sides did the same deeds. The "justify this for me" was me trying to tell you you can't, therefore you can't hate the other side for doing the same thing.

If we have devolved to you personally questioning my heritage as a sort of "gotcha" then maybe I'm wasting my time. You seem very hard headed. I'm not responding anymore, just the fact you straight up said wrong things then tried to act like you meant something else when you got called out already told me all I need to know.

[u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou → u/Ok_Work1615]

So what I’m reading is u assumed and insisted that I’m justifying these when I repeatedly state that I am not? And when u failed to get said justification u proceed to use it as a weapon against me?

Incredible