The Lost World of Byzantium

293 Pages·2015·5.82 MB·English

by  Jonathan Harris

THE LOST WORLD OF
BYZANTIUM
JONATHAN HARRIS
THE LOST WORLD OF BYZANTIUM
i
ii
THE LOST WORLD OF
B Y Z A N T I U M
JONATHAN HARRIS
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
iii
Copyright © 2015 Jonathan Harris
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.
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Typeset in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Jonathan.
The lost world of Byzantium / Jonathan Harris.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-17857-9 (hardback)
1. Byzantine Empire—Civilization. 2. Byzantine Empire—Relations. I. Title.
DF521.H275 2015
949.5'02—dc23
2015016348
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
iv
In memory of Mabel (1896–1966), Ethel (1892–1974)
and Grag (1900–1992)
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vi
Contents
Illustrations and Maps viii
Preface and Acknowledgements x
Prologue 1
1 Twilight of the Gods 6
2 Outpost of Empire 34
3 The Deluge 60
4 A World Transformed 82
5 The Conquest of the North 105
6 Paths of Glory 127
7 The Long Shadow 151
8 The Enemy Within 177
9 The New Constantine 198
10 An Old Man Remembers 219
Epilogue 240
Chronology 243
Glossary 248
Further Reading 249
Index 254
vii
Illustrations and Maps
1 Statue of Constantine, Capitoline Hill, Rome (Javarman/Shutterstock.com)
2 Copper alloy coin with laureate head of Constantine on obverse and Chi-Rho-
topped standard with shaft piercing serpent, Constantinople, 327 (© The
Trustees of the British Museum)
3 Silver dish depicting Theodosius, c. 388 (FXEGS Javier Espuny/Shutterstock.
com)
4 Theodosius at the Hippodrome, column base (KN/Shutterstock.com)
5 Remains of the Serapeum, Alexandria (Tandemich/Shutterstock.com)
6 Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome (Feliks/Shutterstock.com)
7 Church of St Symeon Stylites, Qalaat Semaan, Syria (Rafal Cichawa/Shutterstock.
com)
8 Church of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna (Samot/Shutterstock.com)
9 Justinian I, mosaic from the church of San Vitale, Ravenna (Mountainpix/
Shutterstock.com)
10 Hagia Sophia (Artur Bogacki/Shutterstock.com)
11 Church of St Sergius and St Bacchus, Constantinople (Borisb17/Shutterstock.
com)
12 Nomisma of Heraclius (Author)
13 Land Walls of Constantinople (Dinosmichail/Shutterstock.com)
14 Hodegetria icon (Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com)
15 ‘Dark Church’, Cappadocia, Asia Minor (Adisa/Shutterstock.com)
16 Virgin and Child, mosaic from Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Antony
McAulay/Shutterstock.com)
17 Church of Myrelaion monastery, Constantinople (Pavle Marjanovic/Shutterstock.
com)
18 Byzantine church, Ochrid (Ollirg/Shutterstock.com)
19 Cathedral of St Sophia, Kiev (Kiev.Victor/Shutterstock.com)
20 Statue of Vladimir of Kiev, London (Author)
21 Great Lavra, Mount Athos (Dmitri Ometsinsky/Shutterstock.com)
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS ix
22 Remains of Preslav, Bulgaria (Little_Desire/Shutterstock.com)
23 Interior of Hosios Loukas monastery, Greece (Anastasios71/Shutterstock.com)
24 Zoe, mosaic from Hagia Sophia (Antony McAulay/Shutterstock.com)
25 Constantine IX Monomachos, mosaic from Hagia Sophia (Pavle Marjanovic/
Shutterstock.com)
26 Alexios I Komnenos, billon trachy coin (Author)
27 John II Komnenos, mosaic from Hagia Sophia (Antony McAulay/Shutterstock.
com)
28 Pantokrator monastery, Constantinople (Pavle Marjanovic/Shutterstock.com)
29 Deesis mosaic from Hagia Sophia (Senai Aksoy/Shutterstock.com)
30 Church of Hagia Sophia, Monemvasia (Javarman/Shutterstock.com)
31 Church of St Saviour in Chora, Constantinople (Mario Savoia/Shutterstock.
com)
32 Mistra, Greece (Anastasios71/Shutterstock.com)
33 St Sophia, Bayswater, London (Author)
Maps
1 The Byzantine empire c. 500 p. 7
2 The Byzantine empire c. 565 p. 35
3 The Byzantine empire c. 741 p. 83
4 The Byzantine empire c. 900 p. 128
5 The Byzantine empire c. 1050 p. 152