BYRON'S ISLAND BYZANTINE EM PI RK. 



777 



Danger and Byron's island ; sailed by the Carolinas 

 into the Chinese sea ; thence proceeding southerly, 

 lie passed through the straits of Banca to Batavia ; 

 from whence he set sail at the close of the year 1765, 

 and, in May, 1766, arrived in England. Although 

 B.'s voyage was not fruitful in discoveries, it still de- 

 serves an honourable place in the history of voyages 

 round the world, since he was the first of those re- 

 nowned circumnavigators of the globe, including 

 Wallis, Carteret, and Cook, whose enterprises were 

 not barely mercantile, but were directed to scientific 

 objects. In 1769, Commodore Byron was appointed 

 to the government of Newfoundland, which he held 

 till 1775. He was raised to the rank of vice-admiral 

 of the white in 1779, and died in 1780. Such was 

 his general ill fortune at sea, that he was called by 

 the sailors, " Foul-weather Jack." 



BYRON'S ISLAND ; a small island in the Pacific, 

 about twelve miles in length, abounding in cocoa- 

 trees. It was discovered by commodore Byron (q. v.) 

 in 1765. Lon. 173 16' E. ; lat. 1 18' S. 



BYSSTIS (gossypion and ffjflon), cotton, was brought 

 from India about the time of Herodotus, and still 

 earlier from Egypt. In this latter country, it was 

 used in embalming, and the mummies are still found 

 wrapped in it. As an article of dress, it was worn 

 only by the rich. Dives, in Christ's parable (Luke 

 xvi. 19), was clothed in byssus, and it is mentioned 

 among the riches of fallen Babylon (Rev. xviii. 12). 

 Byssus was formerly erroneously considered as a fine 

 kind of linen. The fine stuff manufactured from the 

 byssus is called, more particularly, smdon. Foster 

 derives the word byssus from the Coptic. Byssus 

 was also used by the ancients, and is still used, to 

 signify the hair or thread-like substance (called 

 heard), with which the different kinds of sea- muscles 

 fasten themselves to the rocks. The pinna marina, 

 particularly, is distinguished by the length and the 

 silky fineness of its beard, from which very durable 

 cloths, gloves, and stockings, are still manufactured 

 in Sicily and Calabria. See Foster De Bysso Anti- 

 quorum, 1776. 



BYZANTINE EMPIRE. The Byzantine or Eastern 

 Roman Empire comprehended, at first, in Asia, the 

 country on this side of the Euphrates, the coasts of 

 the Black sea, and Asia Minor ; in Africa, Egypt ; 

 and in Europe, all the countries from the Hellespont 

 to the Adriatic and the Danube. This survived the 

 Western Empire 1, 000 years, and was even increased 

 by the addition of Italy and the coasts of the Medi- 

 terranean. It commenced in 395, when Theodosius 

 divided the Roman empire between his two sons, 

 Arcadius and Honorius. The Eastern Empire fell to 

 the elder, Arcadius, through whose weakness it suf- 

 fered many misfortunes. During his minority, Rufi- 

 nus was his guardian and minister, between whom 

 and Stilicho, the minister of the Western Empire, a 

 fierce rivalry existed. The Goths laid waste Greece. 

 Eutropius, the successor, and Gainas, the murderer of 

 Rufinus, were ruined by their own crimes (399). The 

 latter lost his life in a civil war excited by him (400). 

 Arcadius and his empire were now ruled by his proud 

 and covetous wife, Eudoxia, till her death (404). 

 The Isanrians and the Huns wasted the provinces of 

 Asia and the country along the Danube. Theodosius 

 tlie younger succeeded his father (408), under the 

 guardianship of his sister Ptilcheria. Naturally of 

 an inferior mind, his education had made him entirely 

 imbecile and unfit for self-command. Pulcheria, who 

 bore the title of Augusta, administered the kingdom 

 ably. Of the Western Empire, which had oeen 

 ceded to Valentinian, Theodosius retained West 

 Illyria (423). The Greeks fought with success 

 against the king of the Persians, Varanes. The 

 kingdom of Armenia, thrown into confusion by in- 



ternal dissensions, and claimed, at the same time, hy 

 the Romans and the Persians, became now an apple 

 of contention between the two nations (440). Attila 

 laid waste the dominions of Theodosius, and obliged 

 him to pay tribute (448). After the death of her 

 brother, Pulcheria was acknowledged empress (450). 

 She was the first female who attained this dignity. 

 She gave her -hand to the senator Marcian, and 

 raised him to the throne. Kis wisdom and valour 

 averted the attacks of the Huns from the frontiers, 

 but he did not support the Western Empire, in its 

 wars against the Huns and the Vandals, with suffi- 

 cient energy. He afforded shelter to a part of the 

 Germans and Sarmatians, who were driven to the 

 Roman frontiers by the incursions of the Huns. Pul- 

 cheria died before him, in 453. Leo I. (457), a prince 

 praised by contemporary authors, was chosen succes- 

 sor of Marcian. His expeditions against the Vandals 

 (467) were unsuccessful. His grandson Leo would 

 have succeeded him, but died a minor shortly after 

 him, having named his father, Zeno, his colleague 

 (474). The government of this weak emperor, who 

 was hated by his subjects, was disturbed by rebellious 

 and internal disorders of the empire. The Goths 

 depopulated the provinces till their king Theodoric 

 turned his arms against Italy (489). Ariadne, widow 

 of Zeno, raised the minister Anastasius, whom she 

 married, to the throne (491). The nation, once ex- 

 cited to discontents and tumults, could not be entirely 

 appeased by the alleviation of their burdens and by 

 wise decrees. The forces of the empire, being thus 

 weakened, could not offer an effectual resistance to 

 the Persians and the barbarians along the Danube. 

 To prevent their incursions into the peninsula of 

 Constantinople, Anastasius built the long wall, as it 

 is called. After the death of Anastasius, the soldiers 

 proclaimed Justin emperor (518). Notwithstanding 

 his low birth, he maintained possession of the throne. 

 Religious persecutions, winch h undertook at the 

 instigation of the clergy, and various crimes, into 

 which he was seduced oy his nephew Justinian, dis- 

 grace his reign. After his early death, in 521, he 

 was succeeded by the same Justinian (q. v.) to whom, 

 though he deserves not the name of the Great, many 

 virtues of a ruler cannot be denied. He was re- 

 nowned as a legislator, and his reign was distinguished 

 by the victories of his general Belisarius ; but how 

 unable he was to revive the strength of his empire, 

 was proved by its rapid decay after his death. Justin 

 II., his successor (565), was an avaricious, cruel, 

 weak prince, governed by his wife. The Lombards 

 tore from him part of Italy (568). His war with 

 Persia, for the possession of Armenia (570), was un- 

 successful ; the Avari plundered the provinces on the 

 Danube, and the violence of his grief at these mis- 

 fortunes deprived him of reason. Tiberius, his mi- 

 nister, a man of merit, was declared Casar, and the 

 general, Justinian, conducted the war against Persia 

 with success. The Greeks now allied themselves, 

 for the first time, with the Turks. Against his suc- 

 cessor, Tiberius II. (578), the empress Sophia, and 

 the general Justinian conspired in vain. From the 

 Avari the emperor purchased peace ; from the Per- 

 sians it was extorted by his general Mauritius or 

 Maurice (582). This commander Tiberius declared 

 Caesar in the same year. Mauritius, under other 

 circumstances, would have made an excellent mon- 

 arch, but, for the times, he wanted prudence and 

 resolution. He was indebted for the tranquillity of 

 the eastern frontiers to the gratitude of king Chosroes 

 II., whom, in 591, he restored to the throne, from 

 which he had been deposed by his subjects. Never- 

 theless, the war against the Avari was unsuccessful, 

 through the errors of Commentiolus. The army was 

 discontented, and was irritated, now by untimely 

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