ABSTRACT
Dante once dreamed of a unity in Christendom under the Roman Empire, but his dream was an impossible one; for apart from the civil wars of empire and papacy in Western Europe one half of the Roman Empire had never come under the control of the barbarians but had remained aloof, despising the greatness of Charles and Otto. The barbarian Roman emperors in Germany and the legitimate Roman emperors at Constantinople were polite to each other at a distance, and even sometimes connected themselves by marriage. The trading intercourse with the east had a very strong effect on Byzantine government. The emperor became more despotic and his government more highly centralized. The Byzantine Empire could be saved at the time only by a man of enthusiasm, great military ability and endurance. Religion gave enthusiasm to Heraclius and nature had made him a great general.
