# Byzantine–Arab treaties and truces
Byzantine–Arab treaties and truces were the recurring, time-limited peace agreements and tribute pacts by which the [Byzantine Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/byzantine-empire) regulated its relations with the Umayyad and Fatimid caliphates from the 7th to the 11th century[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) • [2](https://www.academia.edu/32170225/Muslim_Rulers_Visiting_the_Imperial_City_Building_Alliances_and_Personal_Networks_between_Constantinople_and_the_Eastern_Borderlands_Fourth_Tenth_Fifth_Eleventh_Century_). The treaty of 678, for example, was signed for a fixed term of thirty years, sworn under oath, and ratified in duplicate[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First major treaty | Peace of 678 between Constantine IV and Caliph Mu'awiya, signed for thirty years[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) |
| Negotiating venue | The caliph's court in Damascus; Byzantine envoy the patrikios John Pitzigaudes[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) |
| Tribute under the 678 treaty | 3,000 gold coins annually, plus fifty slaves and fifty thoroughbred horses, paid by the Arabs to Byzantium[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) • [3](http://constantinople.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=12407) |
| Byzantine counter-concession | Suspension of Mardaite military activity in Syria and Lebanon[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) |
| Form | Two copies attested under oath and exchanged between the two sides[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) |
| Renewals | By Yazid in 680 or 681, then new terms between Abd al-Malik and Justinian II[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347) |
| Later diplomacy | Byzantine–Fatimid relations around 1000 centered on Aleppo, not Jerusalem[2](https://www.academia.edu/32170225/Muslim_Rulers_Visiting_the_Imperial_City_Building_Alliances_and_Personal_Networks_between_Constantinople_and_the_Eastern_Borderlands_Fourth_Tenth_Fifth_Eleventh_Century_) |
## Forms and machinery of agreement
The best-documented instrument, the treaty of 678, shows the working parts of a Byzantine–Arab truce. Negotiations were held at the caliph's court in Damascus, and the resulting peace was signed for a period of thirty years[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347). Its terms ran in both directions: the Arabs paid an annual tax of three thousand gold coins, and delivered fifty slaves and fifty thoroughbred horses; in return the Byzantines undertook to suspend the military activity of the Mardaites in Syria and Lebanon, and both sides swore to avoid armed conflict[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).[3](http://constantinople.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=12407)
Ratification was formal and bilateral: the treaty was prepared in two copies attested under oath and exchanged between the two sides[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
## Chronological survey, 661–1009
The 678 treaty followed the failed Arab siege of Constantinople and reversed the strategic situation in Byzantium's favor; it offered peaceful years to Asia Minor and allowed the empire to consolidate positions in the Balkans and Italy[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347). The truce required renewal: Mu'awiya's successor Yazid (680–685) renewed it in 680 or 681, and the next renewal, between Caliph Abd al-Malik and [Justinian II](https://www.edgepedia.org/justinian-ii), added new terms[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
The renewal texts carry a telling detail. The Mardaite clauses were repeated in the Abd al-Malik–Justinian II agreement, indicating that Byzantine-sponsored coastal raiding in the Levant had continued despite the earlier sworn peace[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
In the 10th century [Byzantium](https://www.edgepedia.org/byzantium) also treated with the Fatimids, the rival caliphate of Cairo. Under [Constantine VII](https://www.edgepedia.org/constantine-vii), the Byzantine reaction to the renewed strength of Sicily under the new Fatimid regime of al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Kalbi was initially to sue for peace, showing truce-making used alongside alliance-building with rival caliphal regimes. Around 1000, the main point of contention between Cairo and Constantinople was the city of Aleppo, not Jerusalem, and Caliph al-Hakim's destruction of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 did not overturn Byzantine–Fatimid diplomatic relations[2](https://www.academia.edu/32170225/Muslim_Rulers_Visiting_the_Imperial_City_Building_Alliances_and_Personal_Networks_between_Constantinople_and_the_Eastern_Borderlands_Fourth_Tenth_Fifth_Eleventh_Century_). Diplomatic practice, in other words, survived acts that later centuries would treat as casus belli.
## By the numbers
The Arab side paid 3,000 gold coins annually under the 678 treaty[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).[3](http://constantinople.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=12407) To this were added fifty slaves and fifty thoroughbred horses, payments in kind that complemented the bullion[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
The direction of payment matters. In 678 the Arabs, not the Byzantines, paid, and the Byzantine counter-concession was the suspension of Mardaite military activity in Syria and Lebanon[1](http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347).
## References
1. Peace Treaty of 678 with the Arabs, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=10347
2. Muslim Rulers Visiting the Imperial City: Building Alliances and Personal Networks between Constantinople and the Eastern Borderlands (Fourth/Tenth–Fifth/Eleventh Century). https://www.academia.edu/32170225/Muslim_Rulers_Visiting_the_Imperial_City_Building_Alliances_and_Personal_Networks_between_Constantinople_and_the_Eastern_Borderlands_Fourth_Tenth_Fifth_Eleventh_Century_
3. FLemmaBodyExtended (constantinople.ehw.gr). http://constantinople.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=12407
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › International law › Historical treaties by era and place › Treaties by era › Medieval treaties › Byzantine treaty traditions › Byzantine–Arab treaties and truces*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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