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Byzantium

Church, Society, and Civilization Seen through Contemporary Eyes

Deno John Geanakoplos here offers a prodigious collection of source materials on the Byzantine church, society, and civilization (many translated for the first time into English), arranged chronologically and topically, and knit together with an analytical historical commentary. His selections from Byzantine writers as well as from more obscure documents and chronicles in Latin, Arabic, Slavic, Italian, Armenian, and French reflect all the diversity of Byzantine life—the military tactics of the long-invincible cataphract cavalry and the warships armed with Greek fire, the mysticism of Hesychast monks, the duties of imperial officers, the activities of daily life from the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia to the marketplaces, baths, and brothels. Geanakoplos not only covers the traditional areas of political, ecclesiastical, socioeconomic, administrative, and military life, but also provides a vivid picture of Byzantine culture—education, philosophy, literature, theology, medicine, and science. Of particular interest are the insights into the empire’s relations with the Latin West, the Slavs, the Arabs, the Turks, and other neighboring peoples.

Byzantium is much more than a sourcebook. The running commentary reflects the most recent scholarly research in Byzantine studies and places each translated source in its precise historical context. Through the use of both primary sources and commentary, Geanakoplos has represented in all its richness and complexity one of the world’s great civilizations. There is no comparable book on Byzantine history and civilization in any language.

526 pages | 6.625 x 9.5 | © 1984

History: European History

Middle Eastern Studies

Table of Contents

Prologue
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Byzantium's History in Outline

PART I-THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRE

A. The Imperial Image

B. Succession to the Throne
 
C. The Court and Its Offices: The Civil Bureaucracy in Constantinople
 
D. Taxation
 
E. The Provincial Administration: Protlinces, Themes, and Pronoia
 
F. Civil Law

G. The Senate

PART II-THE DEFENSE OF THE EMPIRE

A. The Army

B. The Navy

C. Diplomacy

PART III-THE CHURCH

A. The Triumph of Christianity

B. Relationship of Church and State

C. The Ecumenical Councils and Dogma

D. Administration of the Church: The Secular Clergy

E. Monasticism as an Institution

F. Monastic Spirituality

G. Churches, Worship, and Hymnody

H. Relics in Byzantium

I. Tension between East and West: The Ecclesiastical Schism between Rome and Constantinople

PART IV -SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE

A. Rural Life: Peasants and Magnates

B. The Town Dweller

C. Resettlements and Forced Migrations

D. Commerce and Industry in Byzantium

E. Home and Family

F. Philanthropy and Public Welfare

G. Byzantine Amusements

PART V -BYZANTIUM AND THE WORLD

A. The Germans and the Huns

B. Byzantium and the Persians, Arabs, and Armenians

C. Byzantium and the Slavs

D. Byzantium and the West

E. The Turks

PART VI-BYZANTINE CULTURE

A. Influence of the Classics

B. Byzantine Education

C. Byzantine Literary Types

D. Byzantine Science

Epilogue

Appendix A Table of Byzantine Emperors

Appendix B Chronological Table of Contents

Appendix C Maps
Constantinople
The Byzantine Empire in 565 A.D. under Emperor Justinian
The Organization of the Themes in Asia Minor in the Seventh
to Ninth Centuries
The Byzantine Empire in the Middle of the Eleventh Century A.D.
The Aegean World, c. 1214-54
The Byzantine Empire in 1265 Shortly after Michael VIII's Recovery of Constantinople from the Latins
The Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Turks in 1355

Index

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