A Concise History of Byzantium - Softcover

Treadgold, Warren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333718305 ISBN 13: 9780333718308

Publisher: Red Globe Press, 2002

Synopsis

Between 285 AD, when Byzantium first separated from the Western Roman Empire, and 1461, when the last Byzantine splinter state disappeared, the Byzantine state and society underwent many crises, triumphs, declines, and recoveries. Spanning twelve centurie

About this title

About the Author:

Warren Treadgold is Professor of Late Ancient and Byzantine History at Saint Louis University.

From Booklist:

Edward Gibbon regarded the Byzantine (or East Roman or Later Roman) Empire with disdain. It was both a pale imitation of classical Hellenic culture and a degenerate inheritor of Roman Latin political institutions. Although subsequent historians have modified that view, the general perception of a static empire in a state of "perpetual decline" remains. This compact survey of an empire that outlasted the Roman Empire in the West by a millennium may not dispel that notion, but it does pay tribute to the vibrancy, cultural richness, and historical legacy of the first great "Christian" empire. Treadgold necessarily moves quickly, but he convincingly illustrates how the Byzantine (1) transmitted elements of classical culture to disparate groups, including Slavs and Arabs, (2) were instrumental in bringing Christianity to eastern "barbarians," and (3) maintained a degree of stability in the eastern Mediterranean despite constant external threats. This is an excellent general history of a still underappreciated people and of their contributions to the modern world. Jay Freeman
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About this edition

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0333718305
• ISBN 13: 9780333718308
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 287