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The New Roman Empire is the first full, single-author history of Byzantium (the eastern Roman empire) to appear in a generation. It begins with the foundation of Constantinople in 324 AD and ends with the fall of the empire to the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century, presenting those twelve centuries in an accessible narrative of events, free of jargon. The book focuses on political and military history as well as all the major changes in religion, society, administration, demography, and economy.
Sommario
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- List of Maps
- List of Images
- Part One: A New Empire
- New Rome and the New Romans
- The scaffold of society and personality of government
- From Christian nation to Roman religion
- Part Two: Dynastic Insecurities and Religious Passions
- The first Christian emperors of the east (324-361)
- Competing religions of empire (337-364)
- Toward an independent east (364-395)
- The city and the desert: Cultures old and new
- Part Three: The Return of Civilian Government
- The ascendancy of the political class (395-441)
- Barbarian terrors and military mobilization (441-491)
- Political consolidation and religious polarization (491-518)
- Part Four: The Strain of Grand Ambitions
- Chalcedonian repression and the eastern axis (518-531)
- The Sleepless Emperor (527-540)
- War everywhere and plague (540-565)
- The price of overextension (565-602)
- Part Five: To the Brink of Despair
- The great war with Persia (602-630)
- Commanders of the Faithful (632-644)
- A contest of wills (641-685)
- Part Six: Resilience and Recovery
- Life and taxes among the ruins
- An empire of outposts (685-717)
- The lion and the dragon (717-775)
- Reform and consolidation (775-815)
- A new confidence (815-867)
- Part Seven: The Path towards Empire
- A new David and Solomon (867-912)
- A game of crowns (912-950)
- The apogee of Roman arms (950-1025)
- A brief hegemony (1025-1048)
- Part Eight: A New Paradigm
- The walls close in: Losing Italy and the east (1048-1081)
- Crisis management, the Komnenian way (1081-1118)
- Good John and the Sun King: A second apogee (1118-1180)
- Disintegration and betrayal (1180-1204)
- Part Nine: Exile and Return
- "A new France": Colonial occupation
- Romans west and Romans east (1204-1261)
- Union with Rome and Roman Disunity (1261-1282)
- Territorial retrenchment and cultural innovation (1282-1328)
- Part Ten: The Struggle for Dignity at The End
- Military failure and mystical solace (1328-1354)
- The walls close in (1354-1402)
- The cusp of a new world (1402-1461)
- Glossary
- State Revenues and Payments to Foreign Groups, Fifth-Seventh Centuries
- Bibliography
Info autore
Anthony Kaldellis is Professor of Classics at the University of Chicago. His previous books include A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities; Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood; Romanland, and, as translator and editor, Prokopios' The Secret History. In 2019, he began hosting the podcast "Byzantium & Friends."
Riassunto
A major new history of the eastern Roman Empire, from Constantine to 1453.
In recent decades, the study of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium, has been revolutionized by new approaches and more sophisticated models for how its society and state operated. No longer looked upon as a pale facsimile of classical Rome, Byzantium is now considered a vigorous state of its own, inheritor of many of Rome's features, and a vital node in the first truly globalized world.
The New Roman Empire is the first full, single-author history of the eastern Roman empire to appear in over a generation. Covering political and military history as well as all the major changes in religion, society, demography, and economy, Anthony Kaldellis's volume is divided into ten chronological sections which begin with the foundation of Constantinople in 324 AD and end with the fall of the empire to the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century. The book incorporates new findings, explains recent interpretive models, and presents well-known historical characters and events in a new light.
Testo aggiuntivo
This is a watershed volume in the study of east Roman history. The power of presenting east Roman history as such, rather than as 'Byzantine' history, cannot be overemphasized. Names matter. The tightness between claims and sources will make New Rome an excellent first stop in any research project while the systematic argumentation will make it well worth reading straight through. New Rome succeeds in providing an introduction to east Roman history that will enable research and provoke discussion for many years to come.
