BYZANTINE AUTHORS ON CIVIL WARS: (Contribution to the issue)

Abstract

In spite of the characteristics of human evolution, the nature of war is universal, timeless and eternal, and the man is the only of primates that practices war. The wars have been waged incessantly, from the dawn of the civilization to the present day, and one of their special variations is the civil war. The history of the Byzantine Empire holds many forms of this kind of internal confrontations, starting with simple usurpations to all-around upheavals which directly involved many layers of the Romeian society. Conscious of the dangers the civil wars were posing on the Empire, the Byzantine men of fine letters constantly warned about their deadly and devastating consequences. This contribution contains the opinions of great many historians, chroniclers, philosophers and intellectuals of various backgrounds. The Byzantine civilization was not familiar with the institutions of “Peace of God” and “Truce of God,” that existed in the Latin world of Western Europe.