Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture - Softcover

Haldon, J. F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052131917X ISBN 13: 9780521319171

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

This book presents the first analytical account in English of major developments within Byzantine culture, society and the state in the crucial formative period from c.610-717. The seventh century saw the final collapse of ancient urban civilization and municipal culture, the rise of Islam, the evolution of patterns of thought and social structure that made imperial iconoclasm possible, and the development of state apparatuses--military, civil and fiscal--typical of the middle Byzantine state. Also, during this period, orthodox Christianity finally became the unquestioned dominant culture and a religious framework of belief (to the exclusion of alternative systems, which were henceforth marginalized or proscribed).

About this title

Book Description:

This book presents the first analytical account in English of the major developments within Byzantine culture, society and the state in the crucial formative period from c. 610 to 717.

Review:

"This is an excellent resource, superbly organized, and very well written, for students of ancient and medieval history at all stages." History

"...a good, well-informed synthesis with strong personal opinions...." N. Oikonomides, Canadian Journal of History

"A detailed survey of the following subjects, fully and impressively documented, serves to provide the reader with the first serious, comprehensive survey of all the major changes of this period: politics, economics, social relations, urban and rural societies, state fiscal and military administration, state and law, the imperial church and politics of authority, religion and belief, infrastructures and hierarchies, language, literature, and the icon....an absolute must for every student of Byzantium because it provides a substantial foundation for understanding how the Later Roman Empire became transformed into a distinctly Byzantine Empire. This is an excellent resource, superbly organized, and very well written, for students of ancient and medieval history at all stages." John E. Rexine, History

"...Haldon has made an important contribution which tackles problems not considered by other studies through well informed theorizing and places them together for the first time with the results of recent scholarship. It presents an ...attractive view of this culture in transition and provides a fine introduction to the history of the seventh century. Haldon is successful in depicting not only the seventh-century Byzantine world, but also its worldview." Paul M. Cobb, Journal of Near Eastern Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 052131917X
• ISBN 13: 9780521319171
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 524