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fire. Having thus preserved the empire from extinction, Leo proceeded to consolidate its adminis-tration, which in the previous years of anarchy had become completely disorganized. He secured its frontiers by inviting See also:

SLAVONIC, OLD

Slavonic settlers into the depopulated districts and by restoring the army to efficiency; when the See also:

ARABS

Arabs renewed their invasions in 726 and 739 they were decisively beaten. His civil reforms include the abolition of the See also:

SYSTEM

system of prepaying taxes which had weighed heavily upon the wealthier proprietors, the See also:

ELEVATION

elevation of the See also:

SERFS, SERROS

serfs into a class of See also:

FREE

free tenants, the remodelling of See also:

FAMILY

family and of maritime See also:

law. These See also:

MEASURES

measures, which were embodied in a new See also:

CODE (Lat. codex)

code published in 740, met with some opposition on the See also:

PART

part of the nobles and higher See also:

clergy.

But Leo's most striking legislative reforms dealt with religious matters. After an apparently successful See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to enforce the See also:

BAPTISM

baptism of all See also:

Jews and Montanists in his See also:

REALM

realm (722), he issued a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of edicts against the See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship of images (726-729). This See also:

PROHIBITION (Lat. prohibere, to prevent)

prohibition of a See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom which had undoubtedly given rise to See also:

GRAVE

grave abuses seems to have been inspired by a genuine See also:

DESIRE

desire to improve public morality, and received the support of the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official See also:

ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, government)

aristocracy and a See also:

section of the clergy. But a See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of the theologians and all the monks opposed these measures with uncompromising hostility, and in the western parts of the empire the See also:

PEOPLE

people refused to obey the See also:

EDICT (Lat. edictum, from e, out, and dicere, to say, speak)

edict. A revolt which See also:

broke out in See also:

GREECE

Greece, mainly on religious grounds, was crushed by the imperial See also:

FLEET

fleet (727), and two years later, by deposing the See also:

PATRIARCH (M.E. and O. Fr. patriarche, Lat. patriarcha, Gr. aarpuipxtis, from srarptu., clan, and apxil, rule)

patriarch of Constantinople, Leo suppressed the overt opposition of the capital. In See also:

Italy the defiant attitude of Popes See also:

Gregory II. and III. on behalf of See also:

IMAGE (Lat. imago, perhaps from the same root as imitari, copy, imitate)

image-worship led to a fierce See also:

QUARREL

quarrel with the emperor. The former summoned See also:

COUNCILS

councils in See also:

Rome to anathematize and excommunicate the image-breakers (730, 732); Leo retaliated by transferring See also:

SOUTHERN

southern Italy and Greece from the papal See also:

DIOCESE (formed on Fr. diocese, in place of the Eng. form diocess—current until the 19th century—from Lat. dioecesis, med. Lat. variant diocesis, from Gr. Swucio•tc, " house-keeping," " administration," &miceas, " to keep house," " to govern ")

diocese to that of the patriarch. The struggle was accompanied by an armed outbreak in the exarchate of See also:

Ravenna (727), which Leo finally endeavoured to subdue by means of a large fleet. But the destruction of the armament by a See also:

storm decided the issue against him; his See also:

south See also:

ITALIAN

Italian subjects successfully defied his religious edicts, and the province of Ravenna became detached from the empire. In spite of this partial failure Leo must be reckoned as one of the greatest of the later Roman emperors. By his re-solute stand against the Saracens he delivered all eastern See also:

EUROPE

Europe from a See also:

GREAT

great danger, and by his thorough-going reforms he not only saved the empire from collapse, but invested it with a stability which enabled it to survive all further shocks for a space of five centuries. See E.

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