The Justice of God: The Plagues will be real - Three Looks at the 16th Chapter of the Book of the Revelation

When no one cares for right instead of wrong and people tempt God by worshiping their own gods of mammon and genocide, then God's response is just.

The Justice of God: The Plagues will be real - Three Looks at the 16th Chapter of the Book of the Revelation

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אני לא לא לשנוא אותם כי הו לורד שנאה אותך

אני שונא אותם שנאה מושלמת

אני שונא מושלמת עם שנאה

"Αγίος "Αγίος "Αγίος Κυρίος ὁ ΘΕΟΣ ὁ Παντοκράτωρ

ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος

Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον

Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον

Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον

Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον
Kύριε ελέησον

Baruch Adonai Yahweh Eloheuinu Yahweh echad Elohiko Hashamaim Shamaim Hashamaim Eloueth Ahiyah asher Ahiyah
El Olam Yahweh El Elyown Yahweh Elohim eth Yaoth Elohim Qadosh
Eloah Israel El Shaddai
Moshawah
Adonai Eloah Melek Eloah miqqadash
El Israel Anawim
El Elohim Yahweh El Olam eth Abba Our Father of Lights Holy with
Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning
ben Yahweh bar Elohim
Yahweh Shamah Emmanuel Yeshua ha Maschiach Jesus Christ Our only Lord and Saviour
Ruach Yahweh Chokmah Abiyr Gebuwrah Neshamah Yahweh
Holy Spirit Life Quickening Breath of Life Energy our
Paraclete
Ruach Elohim Olam Yahweh Borea Emeth Huy Eloah Chay Melek Olam Eloah Sabaoth Holy Trinity Adorable Unity
Eloah Anawim with and
by the prayer and company of all Your
Elect Doxas and Anawim for and with us unceasingly kanawn Anawim

Our Only

KANNAW
Our Only
Holy Lord God Who Created and Redeemed us
TSIDKENOU
Our Only Righteousness
YIREH
Our Only Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world
NISSI
Our Only Sacrifice
MELCHISEDECH
Our Only Priest King
MELEK
Our Only Sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords
SHALOM
Our Only Peace from above
KOHANE
Our Only High Priest
ROHI
Our Only Good Shepherd and Overseer of our souls
ROPHE
Our Only Healer and Miracle Worker
MIQQADOSH
Our Only Sanctifier
+



HOLY HOLY HOLY LORD GOD PANTOCRATOR
Who is and was and is to come

Unceasingly
to Whom be all the

LOVE
ADORATION
AUTHORITY
GLORY
HONOR
OBEDIENCE
THANKSGIVING
POWER
DIVINITY
RICHES
WISDOM
STRENGTH
BLESSING
DOMINION
SALVATION
PRAISE
WORSHIP
SERVICE
DEEDS
INNOCENCE
FAITH
PREACHINGS
PROPHECIES
PRAYERS
EXALTATION
THANKSGIVING
WE LOVE YOU FOR YOU FIRST LOVED US
WITH ALL THANKSGIVING

With and by the prayer and company of all Your elect angels and saints, for and with us unceasingly,
especially Your holy

SERAFIM
CHERUBIM
KURIOTETES
ARCHES
especially
St. Michael
St. Gabriel holy Archangelos
EXOUSIAS
DUNAMEIS
ANGELOS

Grant us Your gifts and mercies, especially Your Holy

CHOKMAH WISDOM FIRE OF LOVE OF WISDOM YOURSELF HOLY LIFE

BIYNAH UNDERSTANDING WISDOM OF SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE PROPHECY AND MIRACLES

ETSAH COUNSEL MIGHT OF SANCTIFYING LOVE IN FAITH

GEBUWRAH POWER STRENGTH HEALINGS MIRACLES

DAATH KNOWLEDGE TO KNOW ONLY THE GOOD DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS AUTHORITY AND STRENGTH REPELLING ALL EVIL SPIRITS INVISIBLE AND VISIBLE FROM US UNCEASINGLY

YIRAH GODLINESS ENERGY OF MIRACLES IN THE UNITY OF GOD TONGUES AND TRANSLATION

AHABAH AGAPE PHILADELPHIA LOVE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL THE LOVE OF GOD JESUS CHRIST OUR ONLY LORD AND SAVIOUR

+
Christ Jesus Our Only Lord and Saviour by Your Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood and Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son Jesus Christ Our Only Lord and Saviour covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe the only first born from the dead in the flesh the only one Resurrected Ascended Assumed Bodily in the flesh and sitteth on the right hand of God Our Father in the third heaven in the unity and power and bond of love of the Holy Spirit our Paraclete Holy Holy Holy Lord God Pantocrator


With and by prayer and company of all Your elect angels and saints, for and with us unceasingly, all Your saints from the first Adam to the Last Saint, the Alpha and Omega, the Saint of saints, Jesus Christ Our only Lord and Saviour, Blessed and Only Sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords Most Holy Angel of Almighty counsel Captain of the hosts of the Lord especially saints

Adam Abel Seth Enosh Kainan Mahaliel Jared Enoch in the flesh Mathusalach Lamech Noah Heber who corrupted not his tongue at the tower of Babel Job Terah Abraham Sarah Isaac Rebekah Jacob Rachel Leah Amram Jochabed Moses Joshua Caleb Gideon Barak Samson Miriam Rahab Naomi Ruth Jael Deborah Jepthe's daughter Hanah Samuel David Nathan Ahijah Elijah in the flesh Elisha Hosea Amos Jonah Micah Isaiah Ezechias Judith Nahum Joel Zephaniah Habakkuk Ezekiel Jeremiah Obadiah Daniel Esther Haggai Zechariah Malachi Zachary Simeon John the Baptist Joseph Mary Anna Elizabeth Joseph and Mary's sons James Joseph Jude Simon and their daughters Your half brothers and sisters in the flesh Jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Incarnate Son of God + Mary of Magdalene Mary, Jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Your mother's sister, Mary wife of Cleophas James and Joseph their sons Salome Zebedee and his wife parents of John and James Boanerges Lazarus Mary and Martha Mary mother of John Mark Peter Paul Andrew James John Thomas James Philip Bartholomew Matthew Simon Thaddeus Matthias Barnabas Silas Luke Mark Epaphras Timothy Onesimas Archippus Philemon Ceasar Hermas Aristobulus Apollos Cephas Epaphroditus Sosthenes Agabus Asyncritus Hermes Herodian Phlegon Rufus Aristarchus Pudens Trophimus Jason Mark the Evangelist Simeon son of Cleophas Sosipater Andronicus Agabus Carpus Hermes Barnabas Achaicus Fortunatus Archippus Philemon Aquila Nicanor Parmenas Prochorus Timon Andronicus Crescens Epaenetus Silvanus Thaddeus Titus Euodia Onesiphoras Apelles Clement Lucius Quadratus Aristarchus Mark Zenas Ananias Crispus Phillip the Deacon and Evangelist Artemas Cleophas Justus Mark Amplias Apelles Aristobulus Narcissus Stachys Urbanus Philemon Gaius Hermas Linus Patrobus Philogus Erastas Herodian Olympas Sosipater Quartus Tertius James the Righteous the brother of the Lord in the flesh Apollos Ceasar Cephas Epaphroditus Onesiphoras Sosthenes Tychicus Stephen Timon Lucius Manahen All Your Holy Innocents for all the innocent Stephen Nazarius Celsus Antipas Papias Ignatius Zosimus Rufus Polycarp Justin Pothinus Clement Sanctus Attalus Lawrence Clement Vincent Fabian and Sebastian John and Paul Cosmas and Damian Pantaleon Hermolaus Hermippus Hermocrates Gervase and Protase Ponticus Athenogenes Vettius Apagatus Irenaeus Cyril Hippolytus Cyprian Donatian and Rogatian Processus and Martinian Mark and Marcellianus Crispin and Crispinian Severianus and his companions Nestorius Anastasius Joanna Susanna Mary at Rome Phoebe Julia Agatha Lucy Perpetua Felicitas Agnes Blandina Cecilia Catherine Anastasia Scholastica Monica Bibiana Demetria Ursula Barbara Persis Syntyche Chloe Tryphena and Tryphosa Petronilla Peter's wife seventy thousands of Japan millions under Tamerlane all Your martyrs from Abel on who did not bow the knee to baal neither do we Papias Clement Ignatius Polycarp Pothinus Irenaeus Justin Hegesippus Hippolytus Clement of Alexandria Origen Paul the Hermit Antony of the desert Eusebius Athanasius of Egypt contra-mundum Gregory Nazianzen Marcellinus Epiphanius Jacob of Nisibis Aphrahat of Persia Ephrem of Syria Cyril of Jerusalem Basil Hilary Ambrose Serapion of Thmuis Asterius Synesius Jerome Pelagius Augustin of Hippo Julian of Eclanum Paulinus Prudentius Patrick Remigius Andrew of Ceasarea Brendan Benedict of Nursia Columbkille Columban Pelagius Gregory I Augustine of Canterbury Isadore of Seville John Damascene Venantius Fortunatus Maximus Bede Cosmas of Maiuma Gregory of Narek Anselm Theophylact Francis Richard Francis Xavier Huchede Pius X Adrian Fortescue Thomas David Williams Christian martyrs under 11th century Egypt-Syria 12th century Almohad 13th century Persia 14th century Tamerlane 15th century Turks 16th 17th century Japan 18th 19th century France 20th 21th century Armenia Russia Palestine Poland Germany China Cuba Sudan India Iraq Greece Mt. Athos throughout the earth St. Enoch in the flesh and St. Elijah in the flesh, Your holy prophets yet to return

Save and deliver us bless us grant us long life and good health protect us lead us into the path of sanctification by Your Holy Spirit our Paraclete indwelling us bringing with you God Our Father and the Son Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour Threefold Light of One Undivided Glory in our spirit soul flesh in Your joy to do Your will in all things at all times all the innocent all men at the moment of conception Your faithful apostles prophets shepherds elders teachers evangelists overseers serving faithful whole priesthood of the faithful those having works of miracles gifts of healing services of help for the poor and needy teaching Your true Gospel administrations tongues and translation martyrs and saints all who truly write us in Your most Holy Name all men who have ears to hear Your voice for Your sheep hear Your voice and do Your will unto all salvation eternal and temporal

Holy God of Covenant + have mercy on in spirit soul flesh and have us do the same for the sake of Your most Holy Name, God of Covenant of no bribe or secret gift have I taken from any man, in our word and deed without fee or reward for ourselves - on
All the innocent children elderly infirm orphan widow needy poor hungry thirsty stranger naked sick imprisoned Your persecuted church captive in tribulation and all Your lost sheep unceasingly

Immortal Son of God Most Holy Angel of Almighty Counsel O Lord Christ Jesus our only Saviour in the Unity and Power and Bond of Love of Your Holy Spirit our Paraclete with us a help when we go forward

Christ Jesus uncreated Light before us a comfort by the way our spirits poor of Your kingdom with no strange gods in longsuffering

Christ Jesus Shekinah glory behind us a shadow from the heat mourning comforting whom you will blessing Your Holy Name in faith

Christ Jesus Pillar of cloud Pillar of fire within us guided supernaturally by Your star as the wise men meekly throughout the earth the day holy to the Lord in virtue and strength

Christ Jesus firmness the Rock beneath us grant us goodspeed and quietness in hungering and thirsting for righteousness to fill the empty honoring our fathers and mothers in self control

Christ Jesus the Lion of Juda above us a covering from the rain and cold spreading abroad Your mercy with no killing or hatred except of evil in endurance

Christ Jesus the root and offspring of David to the right of us a chariot in weariness in pure heart seeing God with no adultery with honesty in brotherly love

Christ Jesus the bright and the Morning star to the left of us a refuge in trouble a safe path always Your peacemakers sons of God persecuted for Your sake bearing no false witness with no covetousness in Your joy all true Christian totally pro-life rulers doing Your will aided and guided by You at all times in everything

Christ Jesus in phronimos mild as doves in our lying down shield Almighty always without peer about us

Christ Jesus in goodness in our sitting up with Michael and Gabriel lead in Salvation always
Christ Jesus in Your supernatural knowledge in our rising up a staff in slippery paths a haven in shipwreck

Christ Jesus in kindness in the heart of all who think of us

Christ Jesus in godliness on the tongue of all who think of us and speak of us and to us

Christ Jesus in love on the brow of all who think of us and see us

Christ Jesus in the eye and ear of all who perceive us who see us who hear us who hate us who love us who reject us who welcome us - may all Your sheep welcome us in peace.



+
Christ Jesus Our Only Lord and Saviour by Your Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood and Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son Jesus Christ Our Only Lord and Saviour covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe the only first born from the dead in the flesh the only one Resurrected Ascended Assumed Bodily in the flesh and sitteth on the right hand of God Our Father in the third heaven in the unity and power and bond of love of the Holy Spirit our Paraclete Holy Holy Holy Lord God Pantocrator with and by the prayer and company of the same all Your elect angels and saints for and with us unceasingly


HOLY HOLY HOLY LORD GOD PANTOCRATOR
FATHER SON JESUS CHRIST OUR ONLY LORD AND SAVIOUR HOLY SPIRIT OUR PARACLETE
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR ONLY LORD AND SAVIOUR THE ONLY MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN IN THE FLESH
HOLY SPIRIT HOLY DUNAMIS HOLY ENERGY
Indwelling the
Blessed Virgin Mary, BLESSED SPIKENARD, by which You were conceived and truly born on earth 70 generations from Adam and Your creation of all creation thus subsuming flesh of Adam and all men, HOLY CROCUS, Immortal Son of God Immortal Soul descended from the third heaven from the Father’s right hand for our salvation

JESUS CHRIST INCARNATE WORD OF GOD LIGHT OF THE WORLD EMPOWER US FORESEEING CLOTHED IN WHITE IN LOVE IN THE EVERGREEN LAUREL OF ETERNAL LIFE

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.



JESUS CHRIST EPIPHANY OF RADIANT FIRE IN SPIRITUAL WONDROUS KNOWLEDGE SHIELD US INSTANTANEOUSLY CLEANSING SUPERNATURAL RED VINE

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

JESUS CHRIST TRANSFIGURED SHEKINAH GLORY IN IMMACULATE PURITY SPIRIT OF THE SON FILL US WITH THE AURA OF YOUR MIGHT DESCENDING THROUGH DEEP BLUE OF YOUR DAWN

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED FOR US YOUR BLOOD AND WATER ENLIGHTENED QUICKENING FORCE NOURISH US IN YOUR ALMIGHTY GLORY BY THE HOLY GOLDEN BROWN WOOD OF YOUR CROSS

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

JESUS CHRIST RESURRECTED FIRST BORN BY YOUR EXOUSIAS BREATH OF GOD IN REPULSE OF ALL EVIL INCREASE IN US THE REFULGENCE OF YOUR ETERNAL LIGHT HOLY IMMORTAL IMMACULATE GOLDEN ARK OF THE COVENANT

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

JESUS CHRIST ASCENDED TO THE FATHER'S RIGHT HAND IN YOUR MIRACULOUS POWER YOUR TAATSUMAH WATER OF LIFE STRENGHTEN US SPOTLESS MIRROR OF GOD CLEAR SILVER SEVEN TIMES PURE

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

JESUS CHRIST PENTECOST COME HAVING POURED FORTH THE PROMISE OF GOD OUR FATHER THE HOLY SPIRIT CHOKMAH YOU THE LAST ADAM YOUR REAL PRESENCE TRULY MADE MANIFEST AGAIN IN YOUR EUCHARIST WHOM ALONE YOU GIVE TO US HOLY LORD GOD ENLIVEN PROTECT US IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF YOUR GOODNESS ROSEATE BEAUTY IMMACULATE WHITE LIFE

Come Holy Spirit Wisdom Energy + by the Most Holy Cross and Holy Blood of
Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ covering the whole world and cleansing the whole universe throughout the entire earth for the salvation of all Your lost sheep and the deliverance of all the innocent and all Your faithful and our total deliverance and we be totally protected and delivered in everything in every way unceasingly and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.

MOST HOLY LORD GOD ALMIGHTY Abba Our Father through You alone, Immortal Son - Soul in the Form of God in the Bosom of the Father Only-begotten Incarnate Word Wisdom Power of the Father, Jesus Christ Our Only Lord and Saviour, send forth Your Holy Spirit, Life Quickening Breath of Life Energy, our Paraclete, with and by the prayer and company of all the elect angels and saints, enkindle in our hearts the fire of Your love and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Through our only Lord God Saviour King in the flesh the Divine Warrior, Jesus Christ, alone, with and by the prayer and company of all the elect angels and saints, Glory be to God Our Father in the third heaven and to the Son Jesus Christ Who shall return therefrom with all Your elect angels and to the Holy Spirit our Paraclete as it was before all time and creation, Creator and Ruler over all and now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.




BLESSED AND ONLY HOLY GOD GRANT US TO DO YOUR WILL IN ALL THINGS THAT WE WILL BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY OF THE EIGHTH DAY WITH YOU

THE DAWN WILL COME ON THE EIGHTH DAY, AT CHRIST’S PAROUSIA IN THE SAME FLESH IN WHICH HE SUFFERED AND IS RISEN AND GLORIFIED, WHEN HE WILL RECREATE HIS CREATION, ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST- SHOWN FORTH IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AND THE GOSPEL OF MARK AND THE GOSPEL OF LUKE AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN; THE LORD GOD YAHWEH YESHUA RUACH YAHWEH INDWELLING FULLY ALL IN THE ETERNAL LIFE REALM, SENTIENT LIFE REALM, SIMPLE LIFE REALM, INANIMATE LIFE REALM, WITH HIS ATTENDANT MINISTERING SPIRITS OF FIRE, HIS ELECT ANGELS, IN COMMUNION WITH ALL MEN WHO ARE SAVED, RESURRECTED BY HIM THEN HERE ON EARTH, THRICE HOLY LORD GOD YAHWEH INDWELLING ALL OF YOUR SAINTS IN THE KINGDOM IN OUR SPIRITS SOULS BODIES FOREVERMORE UNTO THE ENDLESS AGES OF AGES TO COME. AMEN.

Enduring Palestine

Since

Palestine has belonged to the Palestinians.

One of their sons, a faithful witness to God amongst many others.

Procopius, First of the Palestinian Martyrs during Diocletian's persecution of Christians


Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume VII: July.
The Lives of the Saints. 1866.

July 8
St. Procopius, Martyr

HE was a native of Jerusalem, but lived at Bethsan, otherwise called Scythopolis, where he was reader in the church, and also performed the function of exorcist, in dispossessing demoniacs, and that of interpreter of the Greek tongue into the Syro-Chaldaic. 1 He was a divine man, say his acts, and had always lived in the practice of great austerity, and patience, and in perpetual chastity. He took no other sustenance than bread and water, and usually abstained from all food two or three days together. He was well skilled in the sciences of the Greeks, but much more in that of the holy scriptures; the assiduous meditation on which nourished his soul, and seemed also to give vigour and strength to his emaciated body. He was admirable in all virtues, particularly in a heavenly meekness and humility. Diocletian’s bloody edicts against the Christians reached Palestine in April, 303, and Procopius was the first person who received the crown of martyrdom in that country, in the aforesaid persecution. He was apprehended at Bethsan, and led, with several others, bound to Cæsarea, our city, say the acts, and was hurried straight before Paulinus, prefect of the province. 2 The judge commanded the martyr to sacrifice to the gods. The servant of Christ answered he never could do it; and this he declared with a firmness and resolution that seemed to wound the heart of the prefect as if it had been pierced with a dagger. The martyr added, there is no God but one, who is the author and preserver of the world. The prefect then bade him sacrifice to the four emperors, namely Diocletian, Herculius, Galerius, and Constantius. This the saint again refused to do, and had scarcely returned his answer than the judge passed sentence upon him, and he was immediately led to execution and beheaded. He is honoured by the Greeks with the title of The Great Martyr. See his original Chaldaic Acts, published by Steph. Assemani, t. 2, p. 166, and a less accurate old Latin translation, given by Ruinart, and by Henry Valois, Not. in Euseb. l. 8. The author of these acts was Eusebius of Cæsarea, an eye-witness. 1

Note 1. Grotius and others demonstrate the Greek language to have been, in the first ages of Christianity, common in Palestine; but this cannot be extended to all the country people, as this passage and other proofs clearly show. Hence Eusebius wrote his Acts of the Martyrs of Palestine in Syro-Chaldaic; but abridged the same in Greek, in the eighth book of his Church History.

Note 2. The old Latin Acts write his name Flavian, and some Fabian, by mistaking the Syriac name, which is written without vowels.

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Early Palestine

A WORK IN PROGRESS

(extracts from the book “Encyclopaedia of the Palestine Problem” by Issa Nakhleh, (1915-2003), Senior Adviser UN Palestinian Delegation and represented the Higher Arab Committee for Palestine for some 40 years)

Palestine was known in ancient history as the Land of Canaan. When Abraham migrated to the Land of Canaan it was a well-developed country. [A recent theory holds that] The Philistines entered the Land of Canaan from Crete about 1250 B.C. and settled in the coastal areas. [but in fact the Canaanites had been there since shortly after the flood of Noah and are still there.] They established five kingdoms, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. They were the people who gave Palestine its name, and the Land of Canaan since Roman times has been known as Palestine.

[Moses brought the Israelites to the edge of Canaan and Joshua brought them in 3,500 years ago, while a recent theory mistakenly holds that the first incursion was] About 1100 B.C. [when] Israelite tribes entered the Land of Canaan at Jericho. They conquered a part of the Land of Canaan and established a kingdom in Judea about 1000 B.C. About 935 B.C. the kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. About 725 B.C. the Kingdom of Israel was conquered and many Israelites were taken to Babylonia. About 600 B.C. the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. The Israelite tribes were either exiled to Babylonia or were absorbed by the Canaanites. This means that Israelite rule over a part of Palestine lasted only about 400 years, during which time the majority of the population were Canaanite and mixed Canaanite-Israelite. Many of the Israelite kings of the two kingdoms followed Canaanite religions.

The Greeks conquered and ruled the Land of Canaan from 330 B.C. until 70 B.C. The Romans conquered and ruled the country from 63 B.C. until 614 A.D. Jesus Christ was born and Christianity spread in the country. Many Jews in Palestine became Christians. Many of the apostles were Jews.

{As a result of strife between Jews and Christians many Jews left Palestine for neighboring countries. [Ed. note - the Jews rebelled against God and His Christ and the Roman authorities for which God used His rod of vengeance, the Roman general Titus and his legions to destroy and disperse the Jews expelling them forevermore as a nation from the Holy Land.]} The Arabs conquered Palestine in 638 A.D. and exercised a profound influence on the country. The indigenous population of Palestine at that time adopted the Arabic language and many became Muslims. Arab rule over Palestine lasted from 638 to 1517 A.D., except for a brief period of Crusader rule. The Ottoman Turks ruled Palestine from 1517 until 1918, during which time the indigenous population of Palestine remained Arabic in language and culture.

Jerusalem under the Ottomans 1516-1917

The Palestinians of today, who call themselves Palestinian Arabs, are Muslims and Christians. They are the descendants of all the races and nations which have lived in and conquered Palestine from the times of the Canaanites to the British occupation of Palestine in 1918. They are the cohesion of all of those races. The Christians among them are descendants of the first Christians, who adopted Christianity at the time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The Muslims are those who were either Christians or pagans and who adopted Islam after the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century A.D.

Modem scholars have proved that it was in Babylonia that Judaism became that which it was and still is, maintaining that not only the Jewish religion, but all the traditions of Judaism, were developed in Babylonia during the exile. Professor H. Graetz states that “the Babylonian rather than the Jerusalem Talmud became the fundamental possession of the Jewish race, its life’s breath, its very soul.”

In recent centuries, the center of Talmudic studies, and thus of Judaism, was in Eastern Europe among the descendants of the Khazars. The Khazars are a people of Turkish origin who lived in the kingdom of Khazaristan in the south of Russia. They were converted to Judaism in the 9th century A.D. Approximately [40 to] 90% of the Jews of today are of Khazar origin and have no ethnic or historical relationship with Palestine.

Therefore the Zionist historical claim to Palestine is unfounded and cannot be justified on historical, ethnic, legal or religious grounds. Chapter 39 of Nakhleh’s book contains thorough documentation of these facts based on historical, archaeological, ethnographic and scriptural sources which prove the falsity of the Zionist claims to Palestine and that Palestine has never been “the land of Israel.”

THE PALESTINIAN ARABS WERE A WELL-DEVELOPED NATION POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY, AND CULTURALLY

Introduction

Bethlehem in the 1930s

In order to create an alleged justification for the crime of genocide they have committed against the Palestinian Arabs, the Zionists have tried to convince the world that Palestine was practically uninhabited, “A Land Without People for a People without a Land.” They created and propagated the myths that the Palestinian Arabs were nomads or seminomads without a culture and civilization, that the Palestinians had neither a national identity nor existence, that the Palestinians lacked an economic structure and roots in the land.

The continuity of the Palestinian roots in the land in fact goes back to antiquity. Absorbing or outlasting various conquerors, Palestinians tenaciously tended their ancestral farmlands, whether as freeholders or as tenants and mortgagees, and by the end of World War 11, mostly as unfettered freeholders again. In his study of the history of landholdings in Palestine, Abraham Granott, formerly Managing Director of the Jewish National Fund, admits:

When the kingdom of Byzantium was subjugated by the Arabs, practically the whole of the land belonged to the big proprietors, the Emperor, the municipal authorities, and religious bodies, as churches and so on, while the soil was cultivated by the former owners who had remained on their plots as tenants after the land had passed into the hands of large owners.(1)

Thus the Palestinian farmers expelled by the Zionists in 1948 were the lineal descendants of the most ancient owners of the land. The Palestinian Arabs are the indigenous population of Palestine, the descendants of the Philistines and of all the Semitic peoples who have lived in Palestine since the time of the Canaanites. Successive waves of newcomers, such as Philistines from Crete, Semites from Iraq, Romans, Greeks and Arabs came and intermarried with the native stock.

The historical record disproves the Zionist lie that Palestine was undeveloped before the establishment of Jewish settlements in Palestine, Muqqadisi, a native of Jerusalem who died in 986 A.D., enumerated the principal products of Palestine in the tenth century:

..among which agricultural produce was particularly copious and prized: fruit of every kind (olives, figs, grapes, quinces, plums, apples, dates, walnuts, almonds, jujubes and bananas), some of which were exported, and crops for processing (sugarcane, indigo and sumac). But the mineral resources were equally important: chalk earth, marble from Bayt Djibrin, and sulphur mined in the Jordan Valley, not to mention the salt and bitumen of the Dead Sea. Stone, which was common in the country, was the most generally used building material for towns of any importance.(2)

The following description also provides evidence from the late tenth century: “Palestine is watered by the rains and the dew. Its trees and its ploughed lands do not need artificial irrigation. Palestine is the most fertile of the Syrian province.”(3)

In 1615 the English traveler George Sandys described Palestine as “a land that flows with milk and honey; in the midst as it were of the habitable world, and under a temperate clime; adorned with beautiful mountains and luxurious valleys; the rocks producing excellent waters; and no part empty of delight or profit.”(4)

A British missionary who lived in Beirut and visited Palestine in 1859 described the southern coastal area as “a very ocean of wheat,” and the British Consul in Jerusalem, James Finn, reported that “the fields would do credit to British farming.”(5)

The German geographer Alexander Scholch concluded that between 1856 and 1882 “Palestine produced a relatively large agricultural surplus which was marketed in neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Lebanon, and increasingly exported to Europe. These exports included wheat, barley, dura, maise, sesame, olive oil, soap, oranges, vegetables and cotton. Among the European importers of Palestinian produce were France, England, Turkey, Greece, Italy and Malta.”(6)

Lawrence Oliphant, who visited Palestine in 1887, wrote that Palestine’s Valley of Esdraelon was “a huge green lake of waving wheat, with its village-crowned mounds rising from it like islands; and it presents one of the most striking pictures of luxuriant fertility which it is possible to conceive.”(7) This Palestinian wheat had historically played an important part in international commerce. According to Paul Masson, a French economic historian, “wheat shipments from the Palestinian port of Acre had helped to save southern France from famine on numerous occasions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.”(8)

Agricultural techniques in Palestine, especially in citriculture, were among the most advanced in the world long before the first Zionist settlers came to its shores. In 1856, the American consul in Jerusalem, Henry Gillman, “outlined reasons why orange growers in Florida would find it advantageous to adopt Palestinian techniques of grafting directly onto lemon trees.”^ In 1893, the British Consul advised his government of the value of importing “young trees procured from Jaffa” to improve production in Australia and South Africa.(10)

All of this historical evidence from unimpeachable eyewitnesses destroys Israel’s contention that it developed Palestine through its colonization. The legend that the Zionists have created, that they made “the desert bloom with roses,” is totally without foundation. It is a ploy to gain donations from naive Jews throughout the world and to help extort economic aid from the American Congress. The economic achievements of Israel today are built totally on the capital base of lands, property and possessions usurped from the Palestinian Arabs.

Palestinian family home in Jerusalem

The Zionists tell tourists, mainly Americans, that they “liberated this land when it was but a desolate desert.” They point to the Arab orchards and citrus groves which they usurped and claim that Israeli “pioneers” planted them. They point to the twelve cities which were either entirely Arab or of mixed Jewish and Arab population, in which the Palestinian Arabs owned more than 75% of the houses and apartment buildings, as well as commercial and industrial buildings, and claim that they were built by Zionist enterprise. They changed the names of Arab towns and villages, settling Jews in Arab homes and on usurped Arab lands, and deny that Palestinian Arabs ever lived in these places.

Zionist myth-makers may persuade the innocent of their alleged achievements, but they themselves know the truth. In the words of Moshe Dayan:

We came to this country which was already populated by Arabs, and we are establishing a Hebrew, that is, a Jewish State here. Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you, because these geography books no longer exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahalal arose in the place of Mahalul; Gevat in the place of Jibta; Sarid in the place of Haneifa and Kefar Yehoshua in the place of Tell Shaman. There is not one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.(11)

General (Reserve) Rehav’am Zeevi, who as a member of the Palmach and Haganah in 1948 took part in expelling the Palestinians, and who was Chief of Staff, southern command and central command, from 1955 to 1964, when he took part in theexpulsion of more Palestinians, addressed a symposium on the 2nd of March, 1988, of 150 Zionist leaders in the Zionist organization (Jewish Agency) House in Jerusalem. He was propagating the idea of the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Joshua Brilliant, correspondent of theJerusalem Post, who attended the meeting, stated the following:

Zeevi argued that “transfer” would be humane because the Palestinians would no longer be in the battle zone between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Arab armies. Seeking legitimacy for his views in Israeli history, he said that more than 400 Arab localities which were still in existence in the late ’40′s had been replaced by Jewish settlements, including some affiliated with Mapam’s Hashomer Hatzair. Moreover, Levi Eshkol, the prime minister during the Six Day War, had set up an intelligence unit to deal with the question of expulsions. However, he was vague as to how the expulsions should take place. When pressed by a former intelligence chief, Aluf (res.) Shlomo Gazit, he advocated making Israel unattractive for Arabs. If they face unemployment, and a shortage of land and water, then “in a legitimate way, and in accordance with the Geneva Convention, we can create the necessary conditions for separation.”(12)

These Arab towns and villages were not merely place names on a map. They were developed communities containing farms, factories, stores and schools, with an infrastructure of doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, merchants, mechanics, industrialists, workers and farmers which would be the envy of any developing country today. Yet the Zionists not only deny the developed state of the Palestine which they usurped or destroyed, but even deny the identity and existence of the Palestinians. They claim that the “British created the Palestinian identity .” This is easily belied by such evidence as the existence of a modem Arabic-language newspaper named Filastin, which addressed its readers as Palestinians in 1911, six years before the Balfour Declaration and well before the commencement of the British Mandate.(13)

But truth has never been important to the Zionists. What they destroyed or usurped has to be presented as nonexistent. Thus in 1969 Golda Myerson (alias Meir), a Russian-born U.S. citizen and Israeli Prime Minister, had the audacity to ask at a press conference in the United States, “Who are the Palestinians?”

The Palestinian Arabs are Christians and Muslims of great Arab cultural tradition and civilization, who had a well developed and prosperous economy before its destruction in 1948. Before 1948 they resided in twelve cities or major towns and 830 small towns and villages. Arab homes in the cities were either luxurious stone villas with beautiful gardens, or apartments with two to five bedrooms. These residences were well-furnished with modem furniture and household goods. No Arab home of the middle and upper classes contained less than eight valuable Persian carpets. All of these homes and their furnishing were usurped by Israel.

Even today, reduced to a refugee nation, the Palestinian Arabs have a high level of educational achievement. Palestinians hold many professional positions as doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers, and operate successful commercial enterprises not only in the Arab world, but in the United States, Latin America, Western Europe and the British Commonwealth as well.

The growth rate of the Jewish economy in Palestine was artificial. In Mandate days, as in Israel today, it was totally dependent on outside subsidies to cover perpetual operating losses.

Contrary to the Zionist-created mythology, statistically and historically:

1. A prosperous, dynamically growing Palestinian Arab economy was destroyed by the Zionists, reducing the Palestinians to the status of a refugee nation.

2. Most of the Palestinian Arabs’ lands, homes and possessions were usurped by the Zionists, and their owners were expelled.

3. These lands, homes and possessions rightfully and legally belong to the Palestinian Arabs and provide the underlying capital base of everything of value in Israel today.

The political advancement of the Palestinian Arabs

The Zionists’ claim that the Palestinian Arabs were without preparation for self-government is belied by the historical record.

The indigenous Palestine Arab population was recognized by Paragraph 4 of Article XXII of the League of Nations Covenant as “a provisionally independent nation.” Palestine was placed under a Class A mandate, the very status of which indicated that the indigenous population was well advanced toward self-determination. It was solely the Zionist desire to bring about a Jewish majority in Palestine through immigration, opposed by the Palestinian Arabs almost unanimously, that obstructed imminent Palestinian independence.

The Palestinian Arabs were recognized by the mandatory power as the majority of the inhabitants of Palestine to be fit for independence by the White Paper of May, 1939. It stated that the object of his Majesty’s Government is the “establishment of an independent Palestine state which should be one in which Arabs and Jews share in government in such a way as to ensure that the essential interests of each community are safeguarded.”

Comparison between Arab and Jewish economies in Palestine
Economically, the Palestinian Arabs had been developing at an extraordinary rate made possible by the high profitability accompanying their productivity. The Jewish settlements in Palestine were unable to compete in profitability with the Palestinian Arabs. The Jewish social and economic stmcture was dependent upon outside subsidies both for capital expenditures and for operating expenses.

Contrary to the myths created by the Zionists, the Jewish settlements in Palestine were never self-supporting. The only profitable sector was comprised of those private Jewish citrus growers who engaged Arab labor, and British Colonial Office records show that these farmers were often the victims of murder, arson and extortion perpetrated by Zionist terrorists because of their employment of Arab labor.

The Jewish National Fund (Keren Hayesod Ltd.) is illustrative of the unprofitability of the Jewish settlements in Palestine. At least 63% of the donations received by the Keren Hayesod Ltd. between its founding in 1921 and 1945 was utilized to subsidize annual operating expenses. “The bulk of these donations derived from the United States of America, which provided 60-65% of the total.”(54)

In contrast, the Palestinian Arab economy received no outside assistance, yet had extraordinary real growth based upon high profitability and reinvestment.

This is amply illustrated by the Palestinian Arab development of the Negev. By 1935 Palestinians were farming 2, 109,234 dunums in the Negev, while Jewish landholdings in the Negev in 1946 did not exceed 21,000 dunums.(55)

The desert did not bloom because of financial contributions to the Zionists by naive American Jews, but because of the industriousness and profitability of the Palestinian Arab economy.

Of all the Mandates of the League of Nations, the Palestinian Arabs were the most developed on a per capita basis. An advanced nation was destroyed by the Zionists, replacing a socially developed nation which was economically viable with an artificial colonial entity which is an economic disaster dependent upon outside assistance to survive.

The Palestine Arab Labor movement and trade unions

The Palestinian Arab labor movement was very advanced compared with other countries in the Middle East. It differed fundamentally from the Jewish labor movement in Palestine as follows:

1. The Palestinian Arab labor movement was primarily concerned with wages, working conditions and the health and well-being of its members, whereas the Jewish labor movement was largely motivated by political Zionist and Socialist ideology;

2. The Palestinian Arab labor movement endeavoured to reach equitable agreements with Arab employers, whereas the Jewish labor movement in Palestine endeavoured to replace private employers with businesses owned by the labor movement itself;

3. The Palestinian Arab labor movement was modeled on the American trade union concept of recognizing that the health and growth of the businesses where they were employed was important, whereas the Zionist labor movement was organized on the Marxist principle of eliminating employers in due course;

4. The Palestinian Arab labor movement was nationalist, but not racist, whereas the Jewish labor movement was, through the Zionist ideology, racist and colonialist in purpose and activity.

The Palestine Arab labor movement was a growing pool of skilled labor, whereas the Jewish labor movement stifled the growth of the economy by reducing even their labor owned enterprises to near bankruptcy, requiring subsidies from abroad to cover enormous annual deficits.

The Zionists destroyed the independent Palestinian Arab trade union movement.

VIDEO: PALESTINE/ISRAEL HISTORY SINCE 1878

THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE WILL BE CONTINUED AND ADDED TO OVER TIME. THERE IS MUCH TO SORT THROUGH AND UPLOAD, SO WE ASK FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

This information was written by Editor on August 17, 2009

• Sibling Pages:
• Early Palestine
• Massacres
• Partition
• Plan Dalet
• NAKBA
• Destroyed villages
• Important Dates
• Palestine Primer

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Sassanid Persia and Byzantine Palestine - the Limes of Rome and the enduring conflict. East and West constantly try to divide God's Holy Land throughout history, even going so far as to try to give it to the claimants calling themselves Jews in spite of the fact that God expelled the Jews 2,000 years ago forever from Palestine.

Palestine Cry: God voided the covenant of the "Jews"

Constantine V - All Empires

Roman Emperors - DIR Constantine V Copronymus

Julian the Apostate - Christianity and Paganism in the 4th Century - all Empires

Sassanids vs Byzantines - All Empires

Cyrus the Great - All Empires

The Achaemenid Empire: Government and Institutions

Constantine V - All Empires

Constantine V

By Constantine XI, 25 May 2007; Revised

Category: Byzantium

Contents » Early Reign The Revolt of Artabasdus Iconoclasm Military Activities Imperial Renewal and Later Reign Constantine V and History Bibliography Web Resources Early Reign Constantine V (b. 718 – d. 14 September, 775) was the first son of Emperor Leo III. Constantine V is often allotted the nickname Kopronymos, a derogatory term employed by later historians whose theological leanings on the issue of Iconoclasm have resulted in its use. Constantine was born shortly after his father, Leo, had made himself Emperor of Byzantium and had decisively beaten the invading Arabs in the crucial Siege of Constantinople 717-718. Leo was the first of a new dynasty, known as the Isaurians, who restored the Empire to viability and stability after a century of decline, territorial contraction and chaos. Leo’s reign saw the consolidation of Byzantium’s provinces (known as themes) into units better suited to increasing agricultural yield and supporting an effective defence system. Leo’s reign also saw the introduction of Iconoclasm, a theological movement, which sought to denounce the awe in which holy relics, ikons, religious art and religious symbols were held. A return to abstract worship was sought by the Isaurian dynasty, which had substantial backing from the military in Anatolia. After being elevated to the throne as co-Emperor in 720 at age 2, Constantine was married in adolescence in 732 to the Khazar princes Tzitzak, who was rechristened Irene. Constantine’s exposure and taste for military activity became evident early in life. He was present at the decisive battle of Akroinon in 740, where Leo III decisively ensured the security of Western Anatolia against Arab attacks. When Leo died, Constantine soon after organised an attack against the Arab Umayyad Caliphate to capitalize on the recent success of the Byzantine armies – with himself in command. The Revolt of Artabasdus Constantine’s plans were soon to be interrupted by the revolt of his brother-in-law, Artabasdus. Artabasdus was a seasoned and experienced strategos (general), whose grip on the Armeniac theme in the east of Anatolia served as a formidable powerbase. Married to Constantine’s elder sister, with the support of the Patriarch and in command of considerable military forces, the experienced general may have been expected to prevail over the young Emperor. Constantine was initially attacked by the forces of Artabasdus in Anatolia as he marched east against the Caliphate. Forced to flee, Constantine found refuge in the central and western Anatolian themes of Anatolikon and Thracesion. The young Emperor soon proved his capacity for military genius which would be repeated over the course of his lifetime. On three separate occasions, Constantine defeated the forces of Artabasdus, retook Constantinople, and, ultimately, quashed the revolt in little more than a year. The revolt produced a number of results which would affect the remainder of Constantine’s reign. Constantine’s success brought about the strengthening of his own personal autocracy. His victories, personally won, brought him the respect and continued support of his soldiers. Constantine pursued Iconoclastic policy with far greater zeal than his father, possibly a response to the Iconodule (icon loving) policy of Artabasdus. Constantine also humiliated Patriarch Anastasios publicly (subjecting him to jeers and insults of the populace in the hippodrome as he rode backwards on a donkey) for switching sides, an act, no doubt, designed to strengthen his own autocracy and leave the church in no doubt of where real mastery in the Byzantine world lay. Iconoclasm Iconoclasm means literally “smashing of icons”, a description of Constantine V’s reign cannot proceed without explaining it. The Iconoclastic movement was introduced by Leo III in 726 and sought to destroy idolatrous behaviour in the Empire. The awe in which many held holy pictures, mosaics, statues and symbols became a concern to the Isaurian dynasty as a deviation from the worship of God as something whose form could not be represented. Leo III had contented himself with symbolic displays of icon banishment and removal. Constantine’s policy was far more intolerant. The most vocal proponents of icon worship were persecuted, some were even killed. Constantine convened an ecumenical council in 754, not attended by any of the five Christian Patriarchs, to confirm imperial policy regarding the worship of icons. There can be little doubt that the Emperors Leo and Constantine, both, had devout personal beliefs in the theological righteousness of their Iconoclastic beliefs. Yet, more pragmatic reasons may explain the execution of this imperial policy. The monastic class of the Empire had grown to be one of the most extensive in history, some sources putting the monastic population at 100,000. Such persons took up land, required food, were not required to serve in the military, were not liable for taxation and, typically, did not reproduce. To a Byzantine Empire stricken with military emergency, underpopulated due to raids and bubonic plague and in a difficult financial state due to piracy and lack of cultivators, such a vast liability was a luxury which could be ill afforded. Constantine’s policy of Iconoclasm persecuted those who defended icon worship, which included the monastic order. Some authors have argued that attacks on the monastic order had in mind the pragmatic aim of returning to productive citizenship thousands of much needed soldiers, workers and farmers. Quite telling is the incident in which the governor of Thracesion theme paired up monks and nuns, ordering them to marry and return to secular life or face deportation. This move was much lauded by Constantine, indicating the Emperor approved of such pragmatic actions as would restore to health the precarious position of the Byzantine state. Military Activities The issue of Iconoclasm plays a dominating role in the historiography of Constantine V to the extent that the Emperor’s notable military competencies received less than due credit. Constantine inherited an Italy which had been slipping away with the advance of the Lombards, this trend accelerated by the implementation of Iconoclasm, which was unpopular in the Empire’s European provinces. In the Balkans, the Slavs had already overrun virtually the whole of modern Greece, while the Bulgars on the lower Danube consolidated and grew. In the east, the Arabs continued to be formidable and powerful, raiding Anatolia at times and causing massive disruption to shipping through piracy. To complicate matters further, the bubonic plague hit in 745-747 and destroyed perhaps a third of the Empire’s population. Even after having overcome the revolt of Artabasdus, the position of the young emperor was hardly envious. Constantine’s aborted advance against the Umayyad Caliphate is proof of the man’s natural tendencies to decisive military action. Having, once again, secured his throne, Constantine, again, set out east to capitalise on the progress made during his father’s reign. For the first time since the Arab invasions, the Byzantine Empire made permanent expansions to the east. Constantine captured a number of key fortresses in upper Mesopotamia and consolidated the Byzantine position in general. Greatly aiding this was the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and its replacement by the Abbasid Caliphate. In the far West the Exarchate of Ravenna fell to the Lombards, as did Rome. Constantine prioritised the Byzantine possessions in Anatolia and the Balkans over that of Italy, a key step in transforming Byzantine into a more oriental power and cutting it off from developments in the West. Constantine turned his attention against the Bulgars in 756, fighting nearly a dozen campaigns in which he, personally, directed all except one. Constantine’s frightful effectiveness as a general can be seen in the catastrophic defeats inflicted on the Bulgars at such a battle as Anchialus, where Constantine V’s pincer movement destroyed the Bulgar army. Leadership of the Bulgars changed hands six times during Constantine’s offensives as the Bulgars deposed one unsuccessful answer to Byzantine might after another. Although Constantine made a tactical error in mistakenly revealing to the Bulgars the identities of Byzantine subversive agents in Bulgarian territory, his campaigns gave the Byzantines a decisive opportunity to further expand their power in the Balkans. That this did not occur owes more to the incapabilities of Constantine’s successors than any flaw in his conduct of military affairs. Imperial Renewal and Later Reign Constantine’s military record left the Empire with solid security in the parts of it which were most crucial for its economic and military revival: the Balkans and Anatolia. The stability and careful management of Constantine’s reign allowed a renewal in areas which mattered most to Byzantium’s survival: administration and agriculture. After the revolt of Artabasdus, Constantine broke the Opsikion theme into smaller units. This was the first subdivision of themes. It allowed the governors (strategoi) of the themes to be better controlled, because each strategos controlled a smaller area and their chances of rebelling were smaller. Subdivision of themes may also have enabled greater micro management of provincial affairs, though this is speculation. The amount of arable land brought into cultivation also considerably increased. Constantine settled hundreds of thousands of Slavs in Anatolia, as well as many Syrians and Aramaeans in Thrace, on small land holdings which would increase agricultural yield and allow a greater number of soldiers to be equipped. Constantine was also responsible for a little noticed but very important accomplishment in the field of military organisation: the creation of the tagmata. Ordinary Byzantine troops, known as themata, were farmers in the themes called up to military service during emergencies. Although economically very easily supported and very useful in defensive operations against raiders and invaders, these troops lacked the professional panache needed for a high performing field army. The tagmata were professional imperial troops who, at this point, held land in the old Opsikion theme, received extensive drill, were equipped in a manner superior to the themata, and a sizable portion were composed of heavy shock cavalry. The creation of the tagmata in Byzantium would serve in a role very similar to that of the medieval knight in Western Europe, a core of professional soldiers whose presence would keep discipline among semi-professional troops and who could act as a decisive shock force to be employed at crucial parts of battle to bring about victory. As a result of Constantine’s domestic policy, the military was placed on a still firmer footing. The Empire was able to begin recovery after the bubonic plague of 745-747, and agricultural yield was geared to undergo enormous increases. Some estimates put Byzantine agricultural production at double or triple what it was at the end of the eighth century, compared to the beginning. Constantine V and History It is to Constantine’s eternal misfortune that, in the dispute over Iconoclasm, the icon supporting faction in Byzantium ultimately won in the middle of the ninth century. For his harsh treatment of the Iconodule faction, the somewhat scarce sources on Constantine V are unforgiving. Yet, in examining Constantine as a human being and an Emperor, it is worth noting his reign resulted in a great consolidation of the power of the Empire. Militarily and economically, the Byzantine state had never been so viable. His military accomplishments rank amongst the finest in the Empire’s history, and there is little reason to think that Byzantium would have been propelled to magnificent heights had the Empire not been passed down to Constantine in such a feeble and embattled state. Constantine’s reign set the stage for a revival of the Byzantine Empire as a military and economic superpower. That this revival was delayed half a century and had to wait until the middle of the ninth century should be ascribed to the failures and inertia of the reigns of the last three Isaurian rulers. As an individual, Constantine V was a patron of non-religious art and was personally an accomplished harpist. The Iconodules also note his love of sexual favourites of both genders, though the Emperor did marry three times and produced six sons and a daughter. Attempts to portray this Iconoclast as a culturally deficient puritan would be incorrect. Instead, at a period where war and plague had reduced Constantinople to a population as low as perhaps 30,000, the scant literary and cultural activity of the times was symptomatic of scarce resources and an overwhelmingly agrarian way of life. A summary of Constantine must conclude the man to be an outstanding military leader, a thorough autocrat, a prudent economist and single minded in theological matters. Constantine provided the Empire with a healthy string of potential successors, a critical responsibility in Byzantine monarchy. Constantine V died on 14th September, 775, on his way to launch yet another campaign against the Bulgars. Succession passed smoothly to his son, Leo IV. Constantine, making the best of a situation in which resources were scarce, was a key leader in the rebirth of Byzantium as a viable state. Bibliography: Jenkins, R (1966), Byzantium the Imperial Centuries, AD 610-1071, The Garden City Press, Hertfordshire Norwich, J.J. (1998), A short history of Byzantium, Penguin Books, London Ostrogorsky G., History of the Byzantine State. trans. from the German by Joan Hussey. New Brusnwick: Rutgers University Press, 1969. Vasiliev, A.A., (1964), History of the Byzantine Empire 324-1453, Vol. 1, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Web Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_V http://www.roman-emperors.org/constanv.htm