Year 700 (DCC) was a leap year in the Julian calendar, occurring during the 8th century AD amid the Early Middle Ages in Europe and parallel expansions in Islamic and Asian civilizations.[1] The Umayyad Caliphate dominated much of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula's approaches, having consolidated conquests from the preceding decades and preparing further advances into Europe.[2] In East Asia, the Tang Dynasty under the influence of Empress Wu Zetian maintained a period of cultural and economic flourishing, while in Southeast Asia, the Srivijaya Empire established dominance over key maritime trade routes in the Indonesian archipelago.[3] Europe featured fragmented polities, including the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, the Visigothic realm in Hispania, and the Byzantine Empire's defensive struggles against Arab pressures in the eastern Mediterranean.[4] This era reflected broader transitions from late antiquity, with no singular cataclysmic event defining 700 precisely but ongoing shifts in power, trade, and religious influence shaping global contours.[5]
Events by Place
Byzantine Empire
In 700, the Byzantine Empire was ruled by Emperor Tiberius III, who had usurped the throne in 698 following a naval revolt triggered by the disastrous loss of Carthage to Umayyad Arab forces in the preceding year.[6] This event marked the effective end of Byzantine control over North Africa, with the empire now confined primarily to Anatolia, the Balkans, and parts of southern Italy. Tiberius, originally a droungarios of the fleet named Apsimar, focused on stabilizing the core territories amid ongoing existential threats from Arab incursions.[6]The year occurred during the Twenty Years' Anarchy (695–717), a phase of profound internal instability characterized by successive coups and short-lived emperors, which eroded administrative cohesion and military effectiveness.[7] Externally, Umayyad armies continued raiding Anatolia, pressuring the eastern frontiers, while Tiberius organized defensive campaigns led by his brother Heraclius as monostrategos of Asia Minor; these yielded initial successes but ultimately failed to prevent the loss of Armenia to Arab control.[6] To fortify the capital, Tiberius repaired Constantinople's sea walls, recognizing the vulnerability to naval assaults in light of recent defeats.[6]Administrative reforms emphasized the evolving theme system, whereby provinces were reorganized into military districts (themata) combining civil and martial authority to sustain soldier-farmers capable of defending against invasions without reliance on distant tagmata units. This adaptation, accelerated by territorial losses since the mid-7th century, aimed to distribute land grants (stratiotika ktemata) in exchange for hereditary military service, fostering resilience in Anatolia.[8] Deposed Emperor Justinian II, exiled to Cherson after mutilation in 695, remained at large, his alliances with local forces foreshadowing further upheaval.[6] Overall, 700 exemplified the empire's contraction and militarization, as it grappled with caliphal expansion without major pitched battles recorded that year.