The Homilies of the Emperor Leo VI

This highly original study provides an extensive and careful analysis of the Homilies of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI (A.D. 886-912) in order to place them in their historical and cultural contexts. This neglected corpus of forty-two texts comprises both panegyrics on ecclesiastical feasts and discourses on special occasions.
The first part deals with the Homilies in the framework of Leo VI's career by examining topics such as the circumstances of the delivery of the Homilies and their political significance. The second part places the Homilies within the Byzantine homiletic tradition of the fourth to tenth centuries.
The book, the first monograph on this collection, establishes Leo VI as a prominent literary figure of his time, and sheds new light on both the emperor's fascinating personality and the development of Byzantine homiletics. It will be of great benefit to all those who are interested both in Byzantine literature and the Eastern Church.

Theodora Antonopoulou, D.Phil. (1995), University of Oxford, is Lecturer in Byzantine Literature at the University of Cyprus. She has held Research Fellowships at Dumbarton Oaks and Linacre College, Oxford, and has published various articles on Byzantine Literature.

'Dr. Antonopoulou's book opens a new way for the investigation of the history and literature of an important period in the life of the Byzantine empire.'
Alexander Kazhdan, Dumbarton Oaks.
'...written by a thoroughly prepared and most conscientious author attentive to every detail of her topic...succeeded in presenting Emperor Leo VI in a constructive manner within the framework of Byzantine literary culture...'
Z.J. Kosztolnyik, Church History, 1999.
'The book provides a valuable study not only of Leo's homilies but also of the Greek homiletic tradition.'
Pauline Allen, JTS, 1999.