Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire » (New Edition)

Judith Herrin is professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London. She is the author of "Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium" and "The Formation of Christendom" (both Princeton).

"This book provides an introduction to Byzantium in a nonconventional fashion. It explores, in chronological order, basic questions about Byzantine history and society. I know of no other book that attempts this approach to the millennium-long history of Byzantium. Judith Herrin is a scholar at the top of her form."--Michael Maas, author of Exegesis and Empire in the Early Byzantine Mediterranean

"A very readable and enjoyable introduction to Byzantium. Judith Herrin is a major scholar of Byzantium with much to teach us."--Robert Ousterhout, author of Master Builders of Byzantium

Publishers Weekly

Offering a brilliant study of the history of the Byzantine empire, Herrin-whose groundbreaking The Formation of Christendomchallenged traditional views on the development of Christianity-draws a similarly original portrait of a tradition-based yet dynamic empire that protected Christianity by checking the westward expansion of Islam. Herrin progresses in lively fashion, chronicling the 1,000-year history of Byzantium from its rise in A.D. 306 to its demise at the hands of the Ottomans. Along the way, Herrin, a professor at King's College, London, introduces an astonishing cast of characters, such as the empire's first leader, Constantine I; religious leaders such as Patriarch Photios; and Anna Komnene, the great 12th-century historian whose Odyssey-like epic, the Alexiad, celebrated the 37-year reign of her father, Alexios I. Drawing on letters, journals and other primary documents from both political figures and ordinary citizens, Herrin splendidly recreates an empire whose religious art, educational curriculum, tax and legal systems, and coronation rituals preserved the best of the empire's pre-Christian Greek past while at the same time passing along advances to the rest of the world. Herrin's history is hands-down the finest introduction to Byzantium and its continuing significance for world history. 8 color illus.; 16 b&w illus.; maps. (Feb.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

List of Illustrations     ix
List of Maps     xii
Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium     xiii
Foundations of Byzantium
The City of Constantine     3
Constantinople, the Largest City in Christendom     12
The East Roman Empire     22
Greek Orthodoxy     33
The Church of Hagia Sophia     50
The Ravenna Mosaics     61
Roman Law     70
The Transition from Ancient to Medieval
The Bulwark Against Islam     83
Icons, a New Christian Art Form     98
Iconoclasm and Icon Veneration     105
A Literate and Articulate Society     119
Saints Cyril and Methodios, 'Apostles to the Slavs'     131
Byzantium Becomes a Medieval State
Greek Fire     141
The Byzantine Economy     148
Eunuchs     160
The Imperial Court     170
Imperial Children, 'Born in the Purple'     185
Mount Athos     192
Venice and the Fork     203
Basil II, 'The Bulgar-Slayer'     212
Eleventh-Century Crisis     220
Anna Komnene     232
A Cosmopolitan Society     242
Varieties of Byzantium
TheFulcrum of the Crusades     255
The Towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessalonike     266
Rebels and Patrons     281
'Better the Turkish Turban than the Papal Tiara'     299
The Siege of 1453     310
Conclusion: The Greatness and Legacy of Byzantium     321
Further Reading     339
List of Emperors Named in the Text     354
Chronology     357
Maps     363
Acknowledgements     375
Index     377