Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. List of Illustrations ix
4. List of Maps xii
5. Introduction: A Different History of Byzantium xiii
6. I. Foundations of Byzantium
7. 1 The City of Constantine 3
8. 2 Constantinople, the Largest City in Christendom 12
9. 3 The East Roman Empire 22
10. 4 Greek Orthodoxy 33
11. 5 The Church of Hagia Sophia 50
12. 6 The Ravenna Mosaics 61
13. 7 Roman Law 70
14. II. The Transition from Ancient to Medieval
15. 8 The Bulwark Against Islam 83
16. 9 Icons, a New Christian Art Form 98
17. 10 Iconoclasm and Icon Veneration 105
18. 11 A Literate and Articulate Society 119
19. 12 Saints Cyril and Methodios, ‘Apostles to the Slavs’ 131
20. III. Byzantium Becomes a Medieval State
21. 13 Greek Fire 141
22. 14 The Byzantine Economy 148
23. 15 Eunuchs 160
24. 16 The Imperial Court 170
25. 17 Imperial Children, ‘Born in the Purple’ 185
26. 18 Mount Athos 192
27. 19 Venice and the Fork 203
28. 20 Basil II, ‘The Bulgar-Slayer’ 212
29. 21 Eleventh-Century Crisis 220
30. 22 Anna Komnene 232
31. 23 A Cosmopolitan Society 242
32. IV Varieties of Byzantium
33. 24 The Fulcrum of the Crusades 255
34. 25 The Towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessalonike 266
35. 26 Rebels and Patrons 281
36. 27 ‘Better the Turkish Turban than the Papal Tiara’ 299
37. 28 The Siege of 1453 310
38. Conclusion: The Greatness and Legacy of Byzantium 321
39. Further Reading 339
40. List of Emperors Named in the Text 354
41. Chronology 357
42. Maps 363
43. Acknowledgements 375
44. Index 377