Yun Lee Too
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199577804
- eISBN:
- 9780191722912
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577804.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World takes the reader not just to Alexandria, the home of the famed library of Greco‐Roman antiquity, but far beyond it. Reading across antiquity ...
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The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World takes the reader not just to Alexandria, the home of the famed library of Greco‐Roman antiquity, but far beyond it. Reading across antiquity from the fifth century BCE to the ninth century CE with Photius, the Byzantine scholar, this study recognizes that ‘library’ in antiquity comes in various forms and shapes. It can be a building with books, but it can also be individual people and individual books themselves. Its functions in antiquity are also numerous. The library is an instrument of power, of memory, of which it has various modes; it is an articulation of a political ideal, an art gallery, a place for social intercourse. The book indirectly raises issues about the contemporary library as a collection and in this way it demonstrates that antiquity offers insight into the topics that the library now raises.Less
The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World takes the reader not just to Alexandria, the home of the famed library of Greco‐Roman antiquity, but far beyond it. Reading across antiquity from the fifth century BCE to the ninth century CE with Photius, the Byzantine scholar, this study recognizes that ‘library’ in antiquity comes in various forms and shapes. It can be a building with books, but it can also be individual people and individual books themselves. Its functions in antiquity are also numerous. The library is an instrument of power, of memory, of which it has various modes; it is an articulation of a political ideal, an art gallery, a place for social intercourse. The book indirectly raises issues about the contemporary library as a collection and in this way it demonstrates that antiquity offers insight into the topics that the library now raises.
Averil Cameron (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262924
- eISBN:
- 9780191734434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262924.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This book presents an interdisciplinary discussion of the important methodological tool known as prosopography — the collection of all known information about individuals within a given period. With ...
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This book presents an interdisciplinary discussion of the important methodological tool known as prosopography — the collection of all known information about individuals within a given period. With the advent of computer technology it is now possible to gather and store such information in increasingly sophisticated and searchable databases, which can bring a new dimension to traditional historical research. The book surveys the transition in prosopographical research from more traditional methods to the new technology, and discusses the central role of the British Academy, as well as that of French, German and Austrian academic institutions, in developing prosopographical research on the Later Roman Empire, Byzantium and now Anglo-Saxon and other periods. The chapters discuss both national histories of the discipline and its potential for future research. The book demonstrates mutual benefits and complementarity in such studies between the use of new technology and the highest standards of traditional scholarship, and in doing so it sets forth new perspectives and methodologies for future work.Less
This book presents an interdisciplinary discussion of the important methodological tool known as prosopography — the collection of all known information about individuals within a given period. With the advent of computer technology it is now possible to gather and store such information in increasingly sophisticated and searchable databases, which can bring a new dimension to traditional historical research. The book surveys the transition in prosopographical research from more traditional methods to the new technology, and discusses the central role of the British Academy, as well as that of French, German and Austrian academic institutions, in developing prosopographical research on the Later Roman Empire, Byzantium and now Anglo-Saxon and other periods. The chapters discuss both national histories of the discipline and its potential for future research. The book demonstrates mutual benefits and complementarity in such studies between the use of new technology and the highest standards of traditional scholarship, and in doing so it sets forth new perspectives and methodologies for future work.
Judith Herrin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153216
- eISBN:
- 9781400845217
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153216.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This book explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. This book evokes the complex and exotic world of Byzantium's women, from ...
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This book explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. This book evokes the complex and exotic world of Byzantium's women, from empresses and saints to uneducated rural widows. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, the book sheds light on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters. It looks at women's interactions with eunuchs, the in-between gender in Byzantine society, and shows how women defended their rights to hold land. The book describes how women controlled their inheritances, participated in urban crowds demanding the dismissal of corrupt officials, followed the processions of holy icons and relics, and marked religious feasts with liturgical celebrations, market activity, and holiday pleasures. The vivid portraits that emerge here reveal how women exerted an unrivalled influence on the patriarchal society of Byzantium, and remained active participants in the many changes that occurred throughout the empire's millennial history. The book brings together the author's finest essays on women and gender written throughout the long span of her career. This volume includes three new essays published here for the very first time and a new general introduction. It also provides a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader views about women and Byzantium.Less
This book explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. This book evokes the complex and exotic world of Byzantium's women, from empresses and saints to uneducated rural widows. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, the book sheds light on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters. It looks at women's interactions with eunuchs, the in-between gender in Byzantine society, and shows how women defended their rights to hold land. The book describes how women controlled their inheritances, participated in urban crowds demanding the dismissal of corrupt officials, followed the processions of holy icons and relics, and marked religious feasts with liturgical celebrations, market activity, and holiday pleasures. The vivid portraits that emerge here reveal how women exerted an unrivalled influence on the patriarchal society of Byzantium, and remained active participants in the many changes that occurred throughout the empire's millennial history. The book brings together the author's finest essays on women and gender written throughout the long span of her career. This volume includes three new essays published here for the very first time and a new general introduction. It also provides a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into her broader views about women and Byzantium.
John Saward
- Published in print:
- 1980
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780192132307
- eISBN:
- 9780191670046
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192132307.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book tells the story of those who have taken Jesus and his apostles at their word and have received from God the rare and terrible charism of holy folly. The book encounters a wide variety of ...
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This book tells the story of those who have taken Jesus and his apostles at their word and have received from God the rare and terrible charism of holy folly. The book encounters a wide variety of fools for Christ's sake: the wild men of Byzantium, Russia, and Ireland, whose apparently outrageous and provocative behaviour masks a deeper sanctity; the ‘merry men’ of the Middle Ages, God's jongleurs, who proclaim the ‘Gospel of Good Humour’; and finally, those who have gone the darker and more perilous way of being written off by the world as mad and contemptible but who ‘rejoice and are glad’. It is not argued that all the saints of God conform to one or other of these categories, nor is it claimed that folly for Christ's sake is itself a homogeneous phenomenon. The book is concerned with the fools for Christ's sake in the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions only.Less
This book tells the story of those who have taken Jesus and his apostles at their word and have received from God the rare and terrible charism of holy folly. The book encounters a wide variety of fools for Christ's sake: the wild men of Byzantium, Russia, and Ireland, whose apparently outrageous and provocative behaviour masks a deeper sanctity; the ‘merry men’ of the Middle Ages, God's jongleurs, who proclaim the ‘Gospel of Good Humour’; and finally, those who have gone the darker and more perilous way of being written off by the world as mad and contemptible but who ‘rejoice and are glad’. It is not argued that all the saints of God conform to one or other of these categories, nor is it claimed that folly for Christ's sake is itself a homogeneous phenomenon. The book is concerned with the fools for Christ's sake in the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions only.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533206
- eISBN:
- 9780191714498
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533206.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is ...
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This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is also compared. In all three civilizations, political and religious ideas were intertwined and issues of ‘church and state’ were crucial. This book considers how various ancient and medieval thought-patterns did or did not lead to modern developments; and how sacred monarchy, justice — revealed or natural — the legitimacy of the state, and the role of the people were looked upon in each culture. The book examines in particular the period from the rise of Islam to the end of the European Middle Ages, but account is taken of all genres of political thought up to the present. Up to the mid-11th century, Europe, Islam, and the Byzantine world had more in common than is commonly thought. What made the West different was the papal revolution of the late 11th century, Europe's 12th-century ‘renaissance’ and the gradual secularization of political thought which followed; while Islam, after an early blossoming, interpreted its revelation more and more narrowly. With a few major exceptions (Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun), Islamic political philosophy declined after c.1100. European or Western political thought developed more slowly, but it developed continuously. It underwent major transformations and encompasses a wide variety of opinions. These influenced both the Islamic world (except for fundamentalists) and the post-Byzantine world of Russia.Less
This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is also compared. In all three civilizations, political and religious ideas were intertwined and issues of ‘church and state’ were crucial. This book considers how various ancient and medieval thought-patterns did or did not lead to modern developments; and how sacred monarchy, justice — revealed or natural — the legitimacy of the state, and the role of the people were looked upon in each culture. The book examines in particular the period from the rise of Islam to the end of the European Middle Ages, but account is taken of all genres of political thought up to the present. Up to the mid-11th century, Europe, Islam, and the Byzantine world had more in common than is commonly thought. What made the West different was the papal revolution of the late 11th century, Europe's 12th-century ‘renaissance’ and the gradual secularization of political thought which followed; while Islam, after an early blossoming, interpreted its revelation more and more narrowly. With a few major exceptions (Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun), Islamic political philosophy declined after c.1100. European or Western political thought developed more slowly, but it developed continuously. It underwent major transformations and encompasses a wide variety of opinions. These influenced both the Islamic world (except for fundamentalists) and the post-Byzantine world of Russia.
Judith Herrin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153018
- eISBN:
- 9781400845224
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153018.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This volume explores the political, cultural, and ecclesiastical forces that linked the metropolis of Byzantium to the margins of its far-flung empire. Focusing on the provincial region of Hellas and ...
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This volume explores the political, cultural, and ecclesiastical forces that linked the metropolis of Byzantium to the margins of its far-flung empire. Focusing on the provincial region of Hellas and Peloponnesos in central and southern Greece, the book shows how the prestige of Constantinople was reflected in the military, civilian, and ecclesiastical officials sent out to govern the provinces. It evokes the ideology and culture of the center by examining different aspects of the imperial court, including diplomacy, ceremony, intellectual life, and relations with the church. Particular topics treat the transmission of mathematical manuscripts, the burning of offensive material, and the church's role in distributing philanthropy. The book contrasts life in the capital with provincial life, tracing the adaptation of a largely rural population to rule by Constantinople from the early medieval period onward. The letters of Michael Choniates, archbishop of Athens from 1182 to 1205, offer a detailed account of how this highly educated cleric coped with life in an imperial backwater, and demonstrate a synthesis of ancient Greek culture and medieval Christianity that was characteristic of the Byzantine elite. The chapters draw together a significant body of scholarship on problems of empire. The book features a general introduction, two previously unpublished essays, and a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into the book's broader analysis of the unusual brilliance and longevity of Byzantium.Less
This volume explores the political, cultural, and ecclesiastical forces that linked the metropolis of Byzantium to the margins of its far-flung empire. Focusing on the provincial region of Hellas and Peloponnesos in central and southern Greece, the book shows how the prestige of Constantinople was reflected in the military, civilian, and ecclesiastical officials sent out to govern the provinces. It evokes the ideology and culture of the center by examining different aspects of the imperial court, including diplomacy, ceremony, intellectual life, and relations with the church. Particular topics treat the transmission of mathematical manuscripts, the burning of offensive material, and the church's role in distributing philanthropy. The book contrasts life in the capital with provincial life, tracing the adaptation of a largely rural population to rule by Constantinople from the early medieval period onward. The letters of Michael Choniates, archbishop of Athens from 1182 to 1205, offer a detailed account of how this highly educated cleric coped with life in an imperial backwater, and demonstrate a synthesis of ancient Greek culture and medieval Christianity that was characteristic of the Byzantine elite. The chapters draw together a significant body of scholarship on problems of empire. The book features a general introduction, two previously unpublished essays, and a concise introduction to each essay that describes how it came to be written and how it fits into the book's broader analysis of the unusual brilliance and longevity of Byzantium.
LEON LITVACK
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263517
- eISBN:
- 9780191682582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263517.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book has treated Neale’s career as it relates to his activities as an interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. He found in Orthodoxy a powerful weapon ...
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This book has treated Neale’s career as it relates to his activities as an interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. He found in Orthodoxy a powerful weapon against Rome and for the High Church tradition in the Church of England. He significantly strengthened that tradition in realms of both scholarship and devotion, by showing the international existence and the extraordinary achievement of another form of non-Roman Catholic Christianity and by enriching the England Church’s worship and imaginative life though incorporation of the poetry, history, and hagiography of the neglected third of the Christian world. In producing his orientalist works, the wider aim of sobornost was constantly in Neale’s mind.Less
This book has treated Neale’s career as it relates to his activities as an interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. He found in Orthodoxy a powerful weapon against Rome and for the High Church tradition in the Church of England. He significantly strengthened that tradition in realms of both scholarship and devotion, by showing the international existence and the extraordinary achievement of another form of non-Roman Catholic Christianity and by enriching the England Church’s worship and imaginative life though incorporation of the poetry, history, and hagiography of the neglected third of the Christian world. In producing his orientalist works, the wider aim of sobornost was constantly in Neale’s mind.
Dominic J. O’Meara
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199285532
- eISBN:
- 9780191717819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199285532.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This conclusion summarizes the argument of the book, gives some indications of the later history of Neoplatonic political philosophy in Byzantium and in the Italian Renaissance, and discusses the ...
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This conclusion summarizes the argument of the book, gives some indications of the later history of Neoplatonic political philosophy in Byzantium and in the Italian Renaissance, and discusses the differences separating this philosophy from modern views concerning the nature of political philosophy.Less
This conclusion summarizes the argument of the book, gives some indications of the later history of Neoplatonic political philosophy in Byzantium and in the Italian Renaissance, and discusses the differences separating this philosophy from modern views concerning the nature of political philosophy.
Alden A. Mosshammer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199543120
- eISBN:
- 9780191720062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199543120.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Early Christian Studies
Andreas of Byzantium drafted a 200‐year list that began with a Paschal full moon on 4 April in 353 and ended with 25 March in 552. Andreas adopted the form of the cycle that Athanasius had ...
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Andreas of Byzantium drafted a 200‐year list that began with a Paschal full moon on 4 April in 353 and ended with 25 March in 552. Andreas adopted the form of the cycle that Athanasius had promulgated at Sardica. Armenian sources say that when the list of Andreas ended, a council was held at Alexandria under the leadership of Aeas. Aeas proposed a new cycle beginning with 25 March and generated a 532‐year period beginning in the second year of a cycle with 13 April. The emperor Justinian nullified that work and made the classical form of the Alexandrian cycle official. The cycle of Aeas nevertheless remained in effect in peripheral eras such as Armenia and Georgia. The Armenian scholar Anania of Shirak generated his own 532‐year period, beginning with the Paschal full moon of 4 April in AD 562Less
Andreas of Byzantium drafted a 200‐year list that began with a Paschal full moon on 4 April in 353 and ended with 25 March in 552. Andreas adopted the form of the cycle that Athanasius had promulgated at Sardica. Armenian sources say that when the list of Andreas ended, a council was held at Alexandria under the leadership of Aeas. Aeas proposed a new cycle beginning with 25 March and generated a 532‐year period beginning in the second year of a cycle with 13 April. The emperor Justinian nullified that work and made the classical form of the Alexandrian cycle official. The cycle of Aeas nevertheless remained in effect in peripheral eras such as Armenia and Georgia. The Armenian scholar Anania of Shirak generated his own 532‐year period, beginning with the Paschal full moon of 4 April in AD 562
Alden A. Mosshammer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199543120
- eISBN:
- 9780191720062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199543120.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Early Christian Studies
Anatolius recalibrated the system of Africanus to make its first year begin on 1 Thoth = 29 August, 5501 BC. In his preface, Anatolius told the reader how to calibrate his list with the years of the ...
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Anatolius recalibrated the system of Africanus to make its first year begin on 1 Thoth = 29 August, 5501 BC. In his preface, Anatolius told the reader how to calibrate his list with the years of the Roman emperors and several other systems. It is likely that he also stated the interval from the birth of Christ, adopting the Christian era of Africanus. The Armenian church received a version of the cycle of Anatolius, which they said ended in the year 552 from Christ, at a date corresponding to AD 552. The extant Latin version of a 95‐year table was a continuation of one that began in the 50th year of Diocletian,AD 333/4, synchronized with the year 334 from Christ., The Christian era of Dionysius Exiguus is that of Africanus, transmitted to him as to the Armenians and the author of the Latin text through the Pasehal tables of Alexandria.Less
Anatolius recalibrated the system of Africanus to make its first year begin on 1 Thoth = 29 August, 5501 BC. In his preface, Anatolius told the reader how to calibrate his list with the years of the Roman emperors and several other systems. It is likely that he also stated the interval from the birth of Christ, adopting the Christian era of Africanus. The Armenian church received a version of the cycle of Anatolius, which they said ended in the year 552 from Christ, at a date corresponding to AD 552. The extant Latin version of a 95‐year table was a continuation of one that began in the 50th year of Diocletian,AD 333/4, synchronized with the year 334 from Christ., The Christian era of Dionysius Exiguus is that of Africanus, transmitted to him as to the Armenians and the author of the Latin text through the Pasehal tables of Alexandria.
P. M. Fraser
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264287
- eISBN:
- 9780191753978
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This volume is a contribution to the study of the ancient Greek vocabulary used to describe the local origins of individuals. It sheds light on ancient grammarians, and other ancient writers (many of ...
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This volume is a contribution to the study of the ancient Greek vocabulary used to describe the local origins of individuals. It sheds light on ancient grammarians, and other ancient writers (many of them ‘lost’ in the sense that they survive only in quotations in later sources). At the heart of the volume is a study of the sources that lie behind an enigmatic treatise, which survives only in epitome: the Ethnika of the grammarian Stephanus of Byzantium. This supplement to the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names is the final work of its founding editor (d. 2007).Less
This volume is a contribution to the study of the ancient Greek vocabulary used to describe the local origins of individuals. It sheds light on ancient grammarians, and other ancient writers (many of them ‘lost’ in the sense that they survive only in quotations in later sources). At the heart of the volume is a study of the sources that lie behind an enigmatic treatise, which survives only in epitome: the Ethnika of the grammarian Stephanus of Byzantium. This supplement to the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names is the final work of its founding editor (d. 2007).
P. M. Fraser
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264287
- eISBN:
- 9780191753978
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264287.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
An analysis of the civic and regional terminology of Greek communal life, and especially the use of the term τὸ ἐθνικόν, is an essential preliminary to understanding how the Greeks considered ...
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An analysis of the civic and regional terminology of Greek communal life, and especially the use of the term τὸ ἐθνικόν, is an essential preliminary to understanding how the Greeks considered national and civic identity once the regular framework of polis-life was established. With the development of grammatical and linguistic analysis, words denoting membership of a community were called ἐθνικά, the nominal adjectival form which we find regularly in Stephanus of Byzantium and in lexica: τὸ ἐθνικόν (ὁ) δεῖνα. The history of the term formed a distinct branch of the traditional studies of the grammarians and lexicographers. This chapter is concerned with the ethnic significance of the adjective as a term used to denote nationality or origin (in the Greek sense), but inevitably it takes account of other meanings of the term when necessary.Less
An analysis of the civic and regional terminology of Greek communal life, and especially the use of the term τὸ ἐθνικόν, is an essential preliminary to understanding how the Greeks considered national and civic identity once the regular framework of polis-life was established. With the development of grammatical and linguistic analysis, words denoting membership of a community were called ἐθνικά, the nominal adjectival form which we find regularly in Stephanus of Byzantium and in lexica: τὸ ἐθνικόν (ὁ) δεῖνα. The history of the term formed a distinct branch of the traditional studies of the grammarians and lexicographers. This chapter is concerned with the ethnic significance of the adjective as a term used to denote nationality or origin (in the Greek sense), but inevitably it takes account of other meanings of the term when necessary.
Catherine Holmes
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279685
- eISBN:
- 9780191707353
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279685.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The reign of Emperor Basil II is usually considered the high-water mark of medieval Byzantium. During Basil's reign, Byzantine political authority extended from southern Italy to the Euphrates. With ...
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The reign of Emperor Basil II is usually considered the high-water mark of medieval Byzantium. During Basil's reign, Byzantine political authority extended from southern Italy to the Euphrates. With the conversion of the Rus to Orthodoxy in 988, the empire's cultural influence stretched still further. Basil portrayed himself as a soldier emperor who was as implacable towards his domestic opponents as against his foreign neighbours. His brutal conquests later earned him the sobriquet ‘Bulgar-slayer’. This book considers the problems inherent in governing such a large, multi-ethnic empire; it examines the solutions that Basil adopted particularly on the Byzantine frontiers. It explains how the extant sources make unmasking the political realities of this period so difficult, and demonstrates that a convincing picture of Basil's reign only emerges once these sources are understood in their original contexts. Particular attention is paid to the impact that the Synopsis Historion (also known as the Synopsis Historiarum) of John Skylitzes, a little-studied text from the reign of Emperor Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118), has on our understanding of Basil. As the late 11th-century context in which Skylitzes operated is exposed, so the political, military, and administrative history of Basil's reign is reconstructed. Basil's Byzantium is revealed as a state where the rhetoric of imperial authority became reality through the astute manipulation of force and persuasion.Less
The reign of Emperor Basil II is usually considered the high-water mark of medieval Byzantium. During Basil's reign, Byzantine political authority extended from southern Italy to the Euphrates. With the conversion of the Rus to Orthodoxy in 988, the empire's cultural influence stretched still further. Basil portrayed himself as a soldier emperor who was as implacable towards his domestic opponents as against his foreign neighbours. His brutal conquests later earned him the sobriquet ‘Bulgar-slayer’. This book considers the problems inherent in governing such a large, multi-ethnic empire; it examines the solutions that Basil adopted particularly on the Byzantine frontiers. It explains how the extant sources make unmasking the political realities of this period so difficult, and demonstrates that a convincing picture of Basil's reign only emerges once these sources are understood in their original contexts. Particular attention is paid to the impact that the Synopsis Historion (also known as the Synopsis Historiarum) of John Skylitzes, a little-studied text from the reign of Emperor Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118), has on our understanding of Basil. As the late 11th-century context in which Skylitzes operated is exposed, so the political, military, and administrative history of Basil's reign is reconstructed. Basil's Byzantium is revealed as a state where the rhetoric of imperial authority became reality through the astute manipulation of force and persuasion.
J. BINTLIFF
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264027
- eISBN:
- 9780191734908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264027.003.0025
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The fall of the Roman Empire remains a mystery. Archaeological and historical concerns today are less metaphysical and more intellectually challenging at the level of reconstructing the processes at ...
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The fall of the Roman Empire remains a mystery. Archaeological and historical concerns today are less metaphysical and more intellectually challenging at the level of reconstructing the processes at work before, during and long after the official sack of Rome, and are as much focused on the succeeding transition to the medieval world as on the build-up to imperial decay and collapse. This chapter presents a grassroots case-study examination of the transformation of society in town and country in central Greece, founded on a regional survey project that has been running for 25 years. From the arrival of Roman control, through Late Antiquity and into the resurgence of strong state control emanating out of Byzantium in the eighth-nineth centuries AD, this chapter tries to set the patterns, provisional interpretations and questions which have arisen from the sequence in this region into wider debates around the Mediterranean concerning the contribution of regional archaeological surveys to the late antique-early medieval transition.Less
The fall of the Roman Empire remains a mystery. Archaeological and historical concerns today are less metaphysical and more intellectually challenging at the level of reconstructing the processes at work before, during and long after the official sack of Rome, and are as much focused on the succeeding transition to the medieval world as on the build-up to imperial decay and collapse. This chapter presents a grassroots case-study examination of the transformation of society in town and country in central Greece, founded on a regional survey project that has been running for 25 years. From the arrival of Roman control, through Late Antiquity and into the resurgence of strong state control emanating out of Byzantium in the eighth-nineth centuries AD, this chapter tries to set the patterns, provisional interpretations and questions which have arisen from the sequence in this region into wider debates around the Mediterranean concerning the contribution of regional archaeological surveys to the late antique-early medieval transition.
Judith Herrin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153216
- eISBN:
- 9781400845217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153216.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
From classical times onward, one of the basic tasks of women was to take care of the household lares, representatives of the ancient gods, whose presence was felt to protect and assist the family. In ...
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From classical times onward, one of the basic tasks of women was to take care of the household lares, representatives of the ancient gods, whose presence was felt to protect and assist the family. In every dwelling with a hearth female members attended these deities with appropriate rituals. In the form of statuettes, often gilded, as well as framed wooden panel paintings, local deities occupied a prominent domestic space long into the Christian era. When the family converted to Christianity the ancient household gods were replaced by Christian icons, which took over the same role and protected the same space. It seems likely that women's responsibility for, and devotion to, the household protectors was transferred from the old deities to the new Christian God. Although there is no direct evidence for a removal of the older representations in order to institute new ones, when icons are later found in a domestic setting, they are in precisely that part of the home that is the particular preserve of women. It is this association between domestic cult and the veneration of icons in Byzantium that this chapter explores.Less
From classical times onward, one of the basic tasks of women was to take care of the household lares, representatives of the ancient gods, whose presence was felt to protect and assist the family. In every dwelling with a hearth female members attended these deities with appropriate rituals. In the form of statuettes, often gilded, as well as framed wooden panel paintings, local deities occupied a prominent domestic space long into the Christian era. When the family converted to Christianity the ancient household gods were replaced by Christian icons, which took over the same role and protected the same space. It seems likely that women's responsibility for, and devotion to, the household protectors was transferred from the old deities to the new Christian God. Although there is no direct evidence for a removal of the older representations in order to institute new ones, when icons are later found in a domestic setting, they are in precisely that part of the home that is the particular preserve of women. It is this association between domestic cult and the veneration of icons in Byzantium that this chapter explores.
Malcolm Heath
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263235
- eISBN:
- 9780191734328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263235.003.0017
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The book's concluding study presents the rhetorical education of the fourth century ad, not as the end but as only midway in the literary culture of Hellas, between Homer and the Byzantine emperor ...
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The book's concluding study presents the rhetorical education of the fourth century ad, not as the end but as only midway in the literary culture of Hellas, between Homer and the Byzantine emperor Manuel Palaeologus. The first section of this chapter examines the rhetoric from Homer to Byzantium, from the Iliad to Emperor Manuel II. The second section considers mid-antiquity's pivotal significance, when the Roman empire of Manuel — Greek, Christian and detached from Rome — began to take root. The third section examines a lengthy passage from the scholia to Demosthenes' speech On the False Embassy. The lecturer deploys, in what may seem obsessive detail, the formidably elaborate apparatus of contemporary rhetorical theory. The fourth section notes that his contemporaries and successors saw Menander primarily as a specialist in the kind of minute analysis of forensic and deliberative oratory.Less
The book's concluding study presents the rhetorical education of the fourth century ad, not as the end but as only midway in the literary culture of Hellas, between Homer and the Byzantine emperor Manuel Palaeologus. The first section of this chapter examines the rhetoric from Homer to Byzantium, from the Iliad to Emperor Manuel II. The second section considers mid-antiquity's pivotal significance, when the Roman empire of Manuel — Greek, Christian and detached from Rome — began to take root. The third section examines a lengthy passage from the scholia to Demosthenes' speech On the False Embassy. The lecturer deploys, in what may seem obsessive detail, the formidably elaborate apparatus of contemporary rhetorical theory. The fourth section notes that his contemporaries and successors saw Menander primarily as a specialist in the kind of minute analysis of forensic and deliberative oratory.
J. M. Hussey
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198264569
- eISBN:
- 9780191601170
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198264569.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Written both for the non‐specialist and for the specialist seeking a survey of the subject and wishing to know something of a Church that was one of the main vitalizing forces in the East Roman ...
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Written both for the non‐specialist and for the specialist seeking a survey of the subject and wishing to know something of a Church that was one of the main vitalizing forces in the East Roman Empire. It attempts: to trace the mediaeval history of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (c.600–1453)—a formative period for the Church—in terms of challenge and response; to outline the organization of the Byzantine Church, indicating its essential role in the imperial polity and in Christendom; and finally to suggest the way in which its members tried to achieve what was, and still is, the heart of Orthodoxy, i.e. the gradual theosis or deification of each individual Christian. The short introduction to the book is preceded by a list of rulers (Byzantine Emperors), popes, and patriarchs of Constantinople. Part I is the main part of the book, and discusses the landmarks in ecclesiastical affairs within the Empire as well as the creative influence exercised on the Slavs and the increasing contacts with westerners, particularly after 1204. It is arranged in eight chapters that address successive periods of development of the Church. Part II gives a brief account of the structure of the mediaeval Orthodox Church, its officials and organization, its monasticism, the development of the eucharist and the liturgical year, and the spirituality of laity, monks, and clergy.Less
Written both for the non‐specialist and for the specialist seeking a survey of the subject and wishing to know something of a Church that was one of the main vitalizing forces in the East Roman Empire. It attempts: to trace the mediaeval history of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (c.600–1453)—a formative period for the Church—in terms of challenge and response; to outline the organization of the Byzantine Church, indicating its essential role in the imperial polity and in Christendom; and finally to suggest the way in which its members tried to achieve what was, and still is, the heart of Orthodoxy, i.e. the gradual theosis or deification of each individual Christian. The short introduction to the book is preceded by a list of rulers (Byzantine Emperors), popes, and patriarchs of Constantinople. Part I is the main part of the book, and discusses the landmarks in ecclesiastical affairs within the Empire as well as the creative influence exercised on the Slavs and the increasing contacts with westerners, particularly after 1204. It is arranged in eight chapters that address successive periods of development of the Church. Part II gives a brief account of the structure of the mediaeval Orthodox Church, its officials and organization, its monasticism, the development of the eucharist and the liturgical year, and the spirituality of laity, monks, and clergy.
A. P. David
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199292400
- eISBN:
- 9780191711855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199292400.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, ...
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A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, cognate with the Vedic svarita, in addition to the rise whose vowel mora is marked by the received written system of signs devised by Aristophanes of Byzantium. The diachronic analysis is confirmed by Allen’s separate discovery of a pattern of stress in Greek, whose rules predict the same places of accentual prominence as the new theory; by modern synchronic descriptions of the Greek tonal phenomena; and by the fact that the contextual dominance of the svarita proposed for Greek also helps formulate a law that corresponds to the received rules for Latin prosody. Various loci antiqui, including disputed passages from Plato’s Timaeus, are seen in some cases to be inconsistent with received interpretations, but always consistent with the new theory.Less
A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, cognate with the Vedic svarita, in addition to the rise whose vowel mora is marked by the received written system of signs devised by Aristophanes of Byzantium. The diachronic analysis is confirmed by Allen’s separate discovery of a pattern of stress in Greek, whose rules predict the same places of accentual prominence as the new theory; by modern synchronic descriptions of the Greek tonal phenomena; and by the fact that the contextual dominance of the svarita proposed for Greek also helps formulate a law that corresponds to the received rules for Latin prosody. Various loci antiqui, including disputed passages from Plato’s Timaeus, are seen in some cases to be inconsistent with received interpretations, but always consistent with the new theory.
James Howard-Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199208593
- eISBN:
- 9780191594182
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208593.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
The principal witnesses to the rise of Islam are examined, first contemporary and near‐contemporary non‐Muslims, then later writers with access to good sources of information, and finally the ...
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The principal witnesses to the rise of Islam are examined, first contemporary and near‐contemporary non‐Muslims, then later writers with access to good sources of information, and finally the canonical Islamic accounts. As information is extracted from each successive witness, the extraordinary history of the seventh century in the Middle East—the human equivalent of the Big Bang—is gradually pieced together. Key events are securely dated for the first time—the surrender of Jerusalem (late in 634 or early 635), the decisive defeat of Persian forces at Qadisiyya (6 January 638), the assassination of ‘Ali (658), and the death of Husayn at Karbala (661). Others are observed clearly for the first time—three years of widespread fighting and bloodshed after the death of ‘Ali (658–61), the plot hatched at Damascus in 668 to assassinate the Byzantine Emperor Constans II (carried out in Syracuse on 15 July 669), Byzantium's Trafalgar fought off the coast of Lycia in 674, and the subsequent dangerous Christian insurgency in the Middle East. The final three chapters gather together all the testimonies into a continuous narrative, and seek out explanations for Muslim success. Muhammad's controversial decision to replace the Holy City, Jerusalem, with the pagan cult centre of Mecca as the focus of Muslim worship, and to incorporate the annual pagan pilgrimage into the new religion, is identified as a key moment in world history, in that it married the dynamism of the new faith with the organizational capability of a powerful city‐state.Less
The principal witnesses to the rise of Islam are examined, first contemporary and near‐contemporary non‐Muslims, then later writers with access to good sources of information, and finally the canonical Islamic accounts. As information is extracted from each successive witness, the extraordinary history of the seventh century in the Middle East—the human equivalent of the Big Bang—is gradually pieced together. Key events are securely dated for the first time—the surrender of Jerusalem (late in 634 or early 635), the decisive defeat of Persian forces at Qadisiyya (6 January 638), the assassination of ‘Ali (658), and the death of Husayn at Karbala (661). Others are observed clearly for the first time—three years of widespread fighting and bloodshed after the death of ‘Ali (658–61), the plot hatched at Damascus in 668 to assassinate the Byzantine Emperor Constans II (carried out in Syracuse on 15 July 669), Byzantium's Trafalgar fought off the coast of Lycia in 674, and the subsequent dangerous Christian insurgency in the Middle East. The final three chapters gather together all the testimonies into a continuous narrative, and seek out explanations for Muslim success. Muhammad's controversial decision to replace the Holy City, Jerusalem, with the pagan cult centre of Mecca as the focus of Muslim worship, and to incorporate the annual pagan pilgrimage into the new religion, is identified as a key moment in world history, in that it married the dynamism of the new faith with the organizational capability of a powerful city‐state.
Andrew Louth
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199252381
- eISBN:
- 9780191600654
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199252386.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Discussion of the late Life of St John and what it tells us about John's reputation around the turn of the millennium, when it was written. Survey of John's works, including the spurious Balaam and ...
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Discussion of the late Life of St John and what it tells us about John's reputation around the turn of the millennium, when it was written. Survey of John's works, including the spurious Balaam and Josaphat, which again reveals something of John's later reputation in Byzantium. How John was both shaped by tradition and he himself came to shape it.Less
Discussion of the late Life of St John and what it tells us about John's reputation around the turn of the millennium, when it was written. Survey of John's works, including the spurious Balaam and Josaphat, which again reveals something of John's later reputation in Byzantium. How John was both shaped by tradition and he himself came to shape it.
