Did the Byzantines Ever Truly Win?

For centuries, the Byzantine Empire stood as the heir to Rome, the last bastion of ancient civilization in a world increasingly shaped by new powers. Its capital, Constantinople, was a city of golden domes and towering walls, a bridge between East and West. But power is never permanent, and the empire found itself locked in a cycle of war, expansion, and retreat, forever battling to secure its place in history.

In 628 CE, the Byzantine Empire was on the verge of collapse. For nearly three decades, it had fought a devastating war against the Sassanid Persian Empire. The Persians had overrun vast Byzantine territories, sacking Jerusalem in 614 and even reaching the walls of Constantinople. The war had drained both empires, leaving them vulnerable to new threats.

Then came the final counterattack. Emperor Heraclius, one of Byzantium’s greatest warrior-rulers, launched a daring campaign deep into Persian lands. By 627, he had struck the heart of the Persian Empire, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Nineveh. The following year, the Persians, exhausted and facing internal turmoil, surrendered. The Byzantines reclaimed their lost territories, including Jerusalem and Egypt. It was a moment of triumph—perhaps the last great Roman victory.

But history has a cruel sense of irony. Just as the Byzantines celebrated their triumph, a new force was rising in the Arabian Peninsula. Within a decade, Arab armies inspired by the teachings of Muhammad would storm out of the desert, shattering both the weakened Persian Empire and the exhausted Byzantines. The lands Heraclius had fought so hard to regain—Syria, Egypt, and North Africa—were lost forever.

The Conquest of Bulgaria (1018 CE)

Yet Byzantium endured. Over the next few centuries, it transformed from a shrunken empire into a medieval powerhouse. Under the Macedonian dynasty, Byzantine armies pushed back their enemies, reclaiming lost territories in the Balkans and Anatolia.

By 1018, Emperor Basil II—later known as the "Bulgar Slayer"—achieved what no emperor before him had managed: the complete conquest of Bulgaria. For decades, the Bulgarians had been a formidable enemy, threatening Byzantine dominance in the Balkans. But Basil waged a relentless war, crushing their armies and forcing their last ruler, Tsar Ivan Vladislav, to surrender. Bulgaria was absorbed into the empire, and for the first time in centuries, the Byzantines controlled the entire Balkan Peninsula.

It seemed like the empire was entering a new golden age. Trade flourished, Constantinople was the largest city in Europe, and Byzantine culture influenced lands from Russia to Italy. But power is fleeting. Just over 50 years later, a single battle would shatter the illusion of Byzantine invincibility.

In 1071, Emperor Romanos IV led a massive army eastward to confront the Seljuk Turks, a rising power in Anatolia. The Byzantines had long relied on Anatolia as their military heartland, supplying them with soldiers and resources. Losing it would be unthinkable.

At the Battle of Manzikert, the Byzantine army faced disaster. Romanos was betrayed by his own generals, and his forces were surrounded by the Seljuks, led by Alp Arslan. The emperor himself was captured, an unprecedented humiliation for the Byzantines. Though he was eventually released, his capture shattered imperial authority. In the years that followed, Byzantine control over Anatolia unraveled as Turkish warriors flooded into the region. The empire had lost its most vital land, and within a few decades, the Turks would establish the Sultanate of Rum on what was once Byzantine territory.

The Battle of Manzikert was more than just a military defeat—it marked the beginning of Byzantium’s long decline. The empire would survive for centuries more, but it would never again be the dominant power it once was. The road to the Crusades, and eventually to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, had begun.

The story of Byzantium is one of constant struggle—victory followed by unexpected defeat, triumph overshadowed by looming threats. The Persian War of 628 saved the empire but left it vulnerable to the Arabs. The conquest of Bulgaria in 1018 seemed to mark a high point, yet within a generation, the Battle of Manzikert would send the empire into decline. Power, as history repeatedly shows, is never permanent. Even the mightiest empires must one day face their reckoning.