- with bookmarks & some cleaningA well written, beautifully illustrated introduction to the 1000 years of Byzantium, written by a world expert on the subject. This book still maintains a cult following of appreciators.with 21 colour plates, 3 maps and 108 black-and-white platesFor a 1000 years after the collapse of the western Roman empire, Byzantium preserved the heritage of classical antiquity and stood as the bastion of Christendom against Persians, barbarian tribes and the rising forces of Islam. Professor Vryonis gives a lucid account of this changing social organism and relates it to the awakening of civilization in Christian Europe. The enduring vitality of the empire had various causes: the strategical and commercial advantages of its virtually impregnable capital, Constantinople; the wealth of the east; the reservoir of manpower in Anatolia. Riven by internal religious controversies, threats from without by envious and hostile neighbours, Byzantium seemed endlessly resilient.Again and again, as the author shows, great leaders appeared, readapted the imperial structure to current needs, and rescued Byzantium from what appeared to be irreparable disaster. The factors which brought about its final collapse were inherent in the shifting world-picture. The greatest and longest-lasting achievements of the Byzantines, however, were cultural and artistic. The illustrations in this book testify to the extraordinary creative energy concentrated in the empire and to the widespread influence Byzantium had on the rest of Europe.

Speros Vryonis

Thames & Hudson Ltd

Hansjorg Mayer

Library of European civilization, London, 1970

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

2024-07-18