Unappreciated Armenian Soldiers

In “Cosmopolitan Cultures” Bonnie Menes Kahn wrote that in Constantinople [Byzantine] Armenians systematically studied Byzantine learning, vied for office, and rose to positions of prominence. Constantinople’s weakness was its attempts to keep the Armenians powerless out of fear. Instead of rewarding Armenian officers, Byzantine officials suspiciously passed them over: a recipe for disaffection in the army.

In “Cosmopolitan Cultures” Bonnie Menes Kahn wrote that in Constantinople [Byzantine] Armenians systematically studied Byzantine learning, vied for office, and rose to positions of prominence. Constantinople’s weakness was its attempts to keep the Armenians powerless out of fear. Instead of rewarding Armenian officers, Byzantine officials suspiciously passed them over: a recipe for disaffection in the army.