Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire

Savage Book Period

This a nice book about the Byzantine Empire. It is less a straight forward history book than a series of essays on various aspects of Byzantine life. I found it interesting and easy to read.

I bought this book, Byzantium, by Judith Herrin as I had been advised to read it before visiting the excellent exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. Judith gives a great deal to readers: like the builders mentioned at the start, I had little idea of Byzantium or what byzantine art was about. She writes a clear historical and often witty account of Constantinople through its Christian era from the 4th to the 15th centuary. This beautiful city is described in detail and one follows with excitement the lives of the emperors, their religious beliefs, belief in the power of icons,their disagreements with Rome, the expanding and contracting empire, the disaster of the Fourth Crusade and the final sacking by the Turks. Her scholarship is indisputable but her easy use of the English language and prose makes the book a delight to read.

On page xiii, the author notes that a couple workers in hard hats, after having seen from her office door that she taught Byzantine history, wondered what Byzantine history was. She tried in a few minutes to explain, and they followed up by asking "why she didn't. . .write about it for them?" And, indeed, she decided to write this volume for a broader audience. Her goal in this book (Page xiv): ". . .I want you to understand how the modern western world, which developed from Europe, could not have existed had it not been shielded and inspired what happened further to the east in Byzantium." Byzantium originated as the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, while Rome still stood as the center of the Western Empire. Over time, the Western Empire declined and fell (pace Gibbon). The book considers the evolution and development of Byzantium and the Eastern Empire from its start as a Roman bastion in the fourth century (under the Emperor Constantine, after whom the city Constantinople was named) to its final fall in 1453. There is much material covered in this volume. It is not organized along a strictly chronological template, although there is some temporal ordering--from its foundations to the medieval era to its final demise. However, in each of these sections, there is coverage of a variety of aspects of the Eastern realm. The Foundations portion considers Greek Orthodoxy, the great churches, such as Hagia Sophia, continuing links with Rome and, after its fall, Italy, and Roman Law. As we move toward the Medieval era, the author, Judith Herrin, points out the key role of Byzantium in protecting Europe from Islam, by standing as a bastion between Islam and Europe. Also considered is the art and religious artifacts (such as icons) of the Empire. Greek fire, a key part of Byzantium's defenses, is discussed, as are other factors such as the economy, politics, sometime internal instability as intrigues sometimes led to the replacement of one emperor by another. Finally, the inevitable fall, as Byzantium became more and more compressed, surrounded by a new force--Turks. Finally, in 1453, the Turks with their heavy cannon, breached the walls of Byzantium and its existence as an independent state ended. Some nice features: a list of many of the emperors and the dates of their rule (pages 354-356), a chronology of major events (pages 357-361), and fairly well drawn maps (pages 363-373). There is, of course, so much more detail. The book is solidly written by Herrin (the words don't flow magically, but the language is accessible to most people). Her appraisal of the major role of Byzantium in western history goes into much greater depth than what I am able to mention. Each reader will have to determine how convincing her arguments are, as she strove the answer the two workers.

I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge. I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject. The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think. Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the modern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner. I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.