He realized the Roman civic identity was dead and rotten so he pulled this nifty trick where he moved all the state propaganda onto Christianity and made it clear that this is an apocalyptic Biblical holy war which actually managed to mobilize the population for total war against the Persians, something they would never have accepted before.The impact of this was all encompassing, past this point romaness and Christianity were no longer separable. To be a Roman was to be a Christian.
>>18482819>He realized the Roman civic identity was dead and rotten so he pulled this nifty trick where he moved all the state propaganda onto ChristianityHe didn't do this. There are lines of propaganda that follow a sort of mild holy war rhetoric, but his reign still largely focused on the Imperial office, as it had for centuries. Appealing to civic institutions hadn't been done since the end of the Republic.>actually managed to mobilize the population for total war against the Persians, something they would never have accepted before.He didn't do this either. There is no indication that military participation was particularly higher in his reign than earlier ones. What he did do was move other armies to the Orient and Anatolia to fight, leaving both Italy, Africa and the Balkans without their traditional armies.
>>18482889"In this year [621/622]... it was determined that the silver and gold vessels of the holy churches, both of the capital and of the suburbs, should be taken for the minting of hexagrams [silver coins] to pay the soldiers... because the public funds were completely exhausted."— Chronicon Paschale"You took up, Sovereign, as a breastplate of salvation, that image not painted by human hands, which Christ, who holds all things in his hand, left behind... Relying on this divinely painted form, you gave a terrifying look to the enemy."— George of Pisidia, Expeditio Persica (II.14–22)"He took the image of the Man-God—the one not made by hands—into his arms, shed tears, and said to the army: 'My brothers and children, you see how the enemies of God have trampled upon our cities, burned our altars, and filled the holy places with blood... Let us, then, arm ourselves with faith in God, and let us march against the enemy, knowing that death in battle brings crown and martyrdom.'"— Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle (AM 6113)"The Emperor committed the city and his young son to God and to the Virgin, the Mother of God, and left the capital... The people wept aloud, crying out to God to protect the Emperor and the city from the impious Persians."— Theophanes, Chronicle (AM 6113)
>>18482889"There ran to your standard men from all walks of life, leaving behind their plows and their trades... They were not drawn by the promise of wealth or the regular wages of the state, but were kindled by a divine fire, eager to avenge the insults thrown at the Cross of Christ."— George of Pisidia, Expeditio Persica (II.110–115)"The entire populace of the city, showing a wondrous zeal, volunteered for the guard. Shopkeepers, artisans, and those of the blue and green factions [the chariot racing factions, who usually rioted against each other] united as one body. They took up whatever arms they could find—swords, clubs, and pikes—and kept watch upon the walls night and day without taking rest."— Chronicon Paschale"Not only did the holy monasteries give up their treasures for the salvation of the state, but many of the monks themselves, laying aside their habits for the tunic of the soldier, volunteered to march with the Emperor, preferring a glorious death in battle against the infidels to a life of servitude."— Theophanes, Chronicle (AM 6113)"The Patriarch Sergius carried the icons of the Virgin Mary around the walls of the city, inspiring the people with hope... Even the women and young children put on armor and took up stones to hurl from the battlements, crying out that the Mother of God would fight for them."— Chronicon Paschale
