The Arab Siege of Constantinople

The Umayyad caliphate comes at the capital by land and sea: the army seals the approaches, the fleet is to lock the straits. The siege lasts a year, through an unusually bitter winter; the Byzantines burn ships with Greek fire, the Bulgars strike the besiegers from the rear, famine and disease set in among the camp. In the summer of 718 the siege is raised; only a fraction of the fleet comes home. The caliphate's advance to the north is halted, the frontier of the two worlds settles for centuries along the Taurus range — and Constantinople gains five more centuries, in which it will preserve and pass on a great deal.