About the Author Emperor Leo III, the Isaurian (c. 675 – 741). When Leo was a young man, his parents had brought him from his native Syria to Constantinople, the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire. The emperor had given young Leo a job, but grown worried about his ambition. He had sent Leo off on an impossible military mission, but to everyone’s amazement, Leo had prevailed and returned alive. Leo soon maneuvered his way to the throne himself. His reign combined good and bad. It was in his time that a vast Muslim fleet attacked Constantinople, and Leo repelled it using a new tool for naval warfare: an unquenchable burning chemical we call Greek Fire. But in other ways, Leo was inspired by Islam, for example in his support for iconoclasm, the fear that there is something wrong with holy images of Christ and the saints. In between winning wars and stirring religious controversies, Leo III also reformed the law. Here is a passage from his new code, the Ecloga, that describes the correct way to set up a marriage contract.
What to Expect in your 8th Century Marriage
What to Expect in your 8th Century Marriage
What to Expect in your 8th Century Marriage
About the Author Emperor Leo III, the Isaurian (c. 675 – 741). When Leo was a young man, his parents had brought him from his native Syria to Constantinople, the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire. The emperor had given young Leo a job, but grown worried about his ambition. He had sent Leo off on an impossible military mission, but to everyone’s amazement, Leo had prevailed and returned alive. Leo soon maneuvered his way to the throne himself. His reign combined good and bad. It was in his time that a vast Muslim fleet attacked Constantinople, and Leo repelled it using a new tool for naval warfare: an unquenchable burning chemical we call Greek Fire. But in other ways, Leo was inspired by Islam, for example in his support for iconoclasm, the fear that there is something wrong with holy images of Christ and the saints. In between winning wars and stirring religious controversies, Leo III also reformed the law. Here is a passage from his new code, the Ecloga, that describes the correct way to set up a marriage contract.