A Classic of Byzantine History, Culture, and Society

British publisher, Routledge has launched a new series, “Routledge Revivals”, consisting of reissues of “books by some of the most influential academic scholars of the last 120 years.” This little volume was an odd choice. First published in 1957, and revised through several later editions, it reflects the outdated scholarship and parochial values of a lost world. The tiny field of Byzantine Studies is currently enjoying a mini-boom of interest, fueled by the work of a generation of brilliant young researchers, many of Greek or Balkan heritage.

The book consists of eleven brief chapters:

1. The Byzantine Empire Takes Shape, 324–717

2. The Medieval Roman Empire, 717–1056

3. Fundamental Changes, 1025–1204

4. The Impact of East and West,1204–1453

5. Church and State: The Imperial Government

6. The Orthodox Church: The Christian Life and The Laity

7. The Monastic World: The Religious Vocation

8. Everyday Life

9. Learning and Literature: The Different Traditions

10. Byzantine Art

11. Byzantium and Its Neighbours

There are two clearly drawn maps and a convenient list of late Roman and Byzantine rulers.

The text is sprinkled with Latin and Greek terms that are not translated or explained. This would have been no obstacle to elite British undergrads in the 1950s, but it would be very challenging for most students today. The vocabulary is sometimes problematic, for example the term “Mohammedan” is found in several places – a usage Muslims find offensive. The only mention of eunuchs – who played an important and sometimes decisive role in the court politics and ceremony of Constantinople – is a brief sentence: “Eunuchs could rise to high office in imperial service and certain positions were reserved for them” (p. 123). The often bloody, brutal, and fratricidal struggles for power that punctuate Byzantine history are soft-pedaled, perhaps out of squeamishness. For example: “The diversion of the Fourth Crusade to capture a Christian Empire has met with well-deserved condemnation. But in some way it brought East and West together in a happier sense” (p. 160). The brief chapter on Byzantine art is well-informed, thoughtful, and eloquent.

The very high list price of this book ensures that only the most lavishly funded university libraries will ever acquire a copy. There are so many up-to-date book-length short histories of Byzantium that it is hard to imagine what purpose this book might serve, except as a curiosity, providing insight into the limitations of an earlier generation of Byzantine studies.

Joan Mervyn Hussey (1907-2006) earned her Ph.D. from the University of London in 1935, in an era when women faced far more formidable barriers in academia than they do today. It is striking that the title page of the book gives the author’s name as simply “J.M. Hussey” – with no indication of her gender. She eventually became a Professor of History at that University. A specialist in Byzantine Church history, she edited the revision of volume 4 of The Cambridge Medieval History (1966 and 1967) and translated George Ostorgorsky’s History of the Byzantine State (1956) from the original German.

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Our Reviewer: Mike Markowitz is an historian and wargame designer. He writes a monthly column for CoinWeek.Com and is a member of the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors). His previous reviews include The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada, Ancient Rome: Infographics, Byzantium and the Crusades, A Short History of the Byzantine Empire, Theoderic the Great, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium, Battle for the Island Kingdom, Vandal Heaven, The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome, Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman World, Caesar Rules: The Emperor in the Changing Roman World, Ancient Rome on the Silver Screen, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings, Polis: A New History of the Ancient Greek City-State, At the Gates of Rome: The Battle for a Dying Empire, Roman Emperors in Context, After 1177 B.C., Cyrus the Great, Barbarians and Romans: The Birth Struggle of Europe, A.D. 400–700, Crescent Dawn: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Making of the Modern Age, The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through the Women Who Shaped It, The Roman Provinces, 300 BCE–300 CE: Using Coins as Sources, The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Archaic Greece, and Amazons: The History Behind the Legend.

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Note: The Byzantine World is also available in paperback & e-editions.

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