Byzantium

The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire

Judith Herrin

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9780691143699
  9780691131511
• eBook ISBN:
  9781400832736
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Geschichte der griechischen Antike

A captivating account of the legendary empire that made Western civilization possible

Byzantium. The name evokes grandeur and exoticism—gold, cunning, and complexity. In this unique book, Judith Herrin unveils the riches of a quite different civilization. Avoiding a standard chronological account of the Byzantine Empire's millennium—long history, she identifies the fundamental questions about Byzantium—what it was, and what special significance it holds for us today.

Bringing the latest scholarship to a general audience in accessible prose, Herrin focuses each short chapter around a representative theme, event, monument, or historical figure, and examines it within the full sweep of Byzantine history—from the foundation of Constantinople, the magnificent capital city built by Constantine the Great, to its capture by the Ottoman Turks.

She argues that Byzantium's crucial role as the eastern defender of Christendom against Muslim expansion during the early Middle Ages made Europe—and the modern Western world—possible. Herrin captivates us with her discussions of all facets of Byzantine culture and society. She walks us through the complex ceremonies of the imperial court. She describes the transcendent beauty and power of the church of Hagia Sophia, as well as chariot races, monastic spirituality, diplomacy, and literature. She reveals the fascinating worlds of military usurpers and ascetics, eunuchs and courtesans, and artisans who fashioned the silks, icons, ivories, and mosaics so readily associated with Byzantine art.

An innovative history written by one of our foremost scholars, Byzantium reveals this great civilization's rise to military and cultural supremacy, its spectacular destruction by the Fourth Crusade, and its revival and final conquest in 1453.

Index

Aachen 67, 69, 208

Abbasid dynasty 125, 324

‘Abd al-Malik, Caliph 89, 92

Abdullah (a Muslim merchant) 250

Abydos 149, map 6

Achaia 292, map 6

Adam of Usk 313

administration

imperial 174–84

medieval 90–91

Roman 30–32

theme government 106–7, 132

See also legal system

Adrianople 5, 247, 284, 285, map 2

battle of 12

See also Edirne

Agnellus, Andreas 61, 69

Akroinon, battle of 109, map 3

Akropolites, George 302

Alamanopoulos, Gerard 248

Alaric 24

Albert of Aachen 257

Alexander, Emperor 104

Alexandria 25, 84, 204, 250, 262–3

Christianity in 38–9

legal centre 74

Alexios I Komnenos, Emperor 32, 183, 206, 246, 300

Alexias 232–41

coinage 224, 235–6

dynasty of 230

First Crusade 47, 255–6, 258

Alexios II Komnenos, Emperor 173, 191, 269

Alexios III Angelos, Emperor 262, 263, 267, 270, 282

Alexios IV Angelos, Emperor 20, 262–3, 271

alum mines 284

Amalfi 199, 207, 209, 216, 231, map 3

Amalasuntha 65

Amazons 52, plate 7

Ammianus Marcellinus 23

Amphilochios 128–30

Anastasios II, Emperor 15, 107, plate 8

Anastasius, Emperor 14, 54, 58, 63

Ancona 318, map 3

Andravida 272, map 6

Andron...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• About the Cover
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium
• I: Foundations of Byzantium
• II: The Transition from Ancient to Medieval
• III: Byzantium Becomes a Medieval State
• IV: Varieties of Byzantium
• Conclusion: The Greatness and Legacy of Byzantium
• Further Reading
• List of Emperors Named in the Text
• Chronology
• Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Index