The Siege of Byzantium - In 717–18, Western civilization was hanging by a thread By Raymond Ibrahim

Today, August 15, marks the anniversary of Constantinople’s victory over Muslim invaders in what

historians commonly call the “Second Siege of Byzantium,” 717–18. Prior to this massive onslaught, the Muslims had been hacking away at the domains of the Byzantine empire for nearly a century.

The Muslims’ ultimate goal was the conquest of Constantinople — for both political and religious reasons. Politically, Islam had no rival but the “hated Christians” of Byzantium, known by various appellations — including (the Romans),al-Nassara(the Nazarenes), and, most notoriously, (the “dogs”).

The eastern Sasanian Empire had already been vanquished, and Persia subsumed into the caliphate. Only the “worshippers of the cross” — as they were, and still are, disparagingly known — were left as contenders over the eastern Mediterranean basin.

Read the whole piece here at The National Review.........