Chapter 71: Next To Godliness

''In the aftermath of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Roman Empire had inherited the full formalized legal and political structure of the old Roman Empire itself, without needing to reinvent it. This structure gave it the internal cohesion it needed to maintain its political and military strength. As part of that political strength, the Empire was noted for playing its various rivals and neighbors off against one another in order to keep threats at bay.''

''One of the core aspects of Byzantine military policy was their use of diplomacy and foreign influence in the furtherance of military strategy. They maintained active ambassadors with every neighboring state and many that were further away, and did not hesitate to meddle in the internal affairs of other states.''

''This made the Byzantine Bureau of Barbarians (Greek: Skrinion tōn Barbarōn) an office of considerable influence and importance in the intricate bureaucratic and political structures of the Byzantine government, and it did its job masterfully. Suspected of having been the espionage office of the Empire by modern scholars, it was, officially, a protocol office for dealing with the ways of foreigners. However, the office also maintained lists of rivals to foreign thrones, and would happily supply those individuals with money and support if it looked as if the current throne-holder might become a threat, or possibly merely uncooperative.''

''The Empire also made use of a similar tactic on a larger scale—supporting rival states if their neighbors threatened the Empire. If the Rus' threatened war, then the Pechenegs could be subsidized. If the Bulgarians grew restive, then the Rus' could be contacted and favors called in. A noted exemplar of such divide-and-conquer tactics was Emperor Heraclius, who once intercepted a note from the Persian king ordering the execution of a general and his staff. The emperor added 400 names to the execution list and sent the note on its way, and watched as the Persian empire fought itself to put down the rebellion that ensued.''

''Another example of such manipulation occurred when it came to light that Sigurd Trondsson (see Chapter 21: The Dragon Riders) was actually Snotlout clan Jorgenson, effectively next in line to inherit the chiefdom of Berk after Hiccup clan Haddock and his issue. The Bureau…''

—Constantinople: The Child of Rome's Empire, Venice, Italy, 1725

Foreshadowing
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Epigraph Tie-In

 * The epigraph describes the function of the Byzantines' Bureau of Barbarians. The chapter shows that one of their envoys have arrived in Berk's territory to open relations.

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