Centre and Periphery in the Age of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos

Traditionally, the age of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913/45–59), fourth emperor of the so-called Macedonian dynasty, is perceived as the apogee of Byzantium’s ‘imperial centuries’ (Jenkyns). (In the context of this class, ‘age’ will be defined in inclusive terms as roughly extending from AD 900 well into the second half of the tenth century.) For a variety of reasons, Constantine’s rule coincided with a period of Byzantine history attractive to the modern mind; after centuries of fighting for the empire’s mere and meek survival, Byzantine power was once again expanding. In spite of the proverbial splendour of Constantine’s court – Liudprand of Cremona’s report above all encoded its ceremonial into western cultural memory – the mid-tenth century appears to be one of the few periods of Byzantine history commonly perceived as free of ‘decay’ and ‘decadence’. The ‘soft factors’ Byzantine culture became so famous for – its art and architecture, its, latissimo sensu, set of cultural and religious beliefs and ideologies, in short, its savoir vivre – were exported to, and coveted around, the Mediterranean and beyond to an unprecedented degree. All these factors, plus the emperor’s literary interests resulting in a number of source texts of unique value, helped turn the age of Constantine Porphyrogennetos into an ideal stock-topic of undergraduate and graduate teaching. Without the famous ‘Book of Ceremonies’ (de cerimoniis = de cer.) – the only surviving copy of which was once kept in King Mathias Corvinus’ library in medieval Hungary –; the treatise ‘On the Administration of the Empire’ (de administrando imperio = DAI); or the tract ‘On the Themes’ (de thematibus = de them.), all produced by a circle of learned men at Constantine’s court and presumably partly supervised and organized by the emperor himself, our knowlegde of tenth-century Byzantine history and culture would be infinitely poorer.

Much research on Constantine VII and his age was conducted during the first decades of the second half of the twentieth century, culminating in a conference held at Delphi in 1987, with the proceedings published in 1988. However, with the rôle of ‘great individuals’ in history increasingly fading into the background of historical research the focus subsequently shifted away from Constantine either to the so-called Macedonian dynasty in general or to other, hitherto less well-researched members of the family. The currently leading international centre of research on Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos is Paris, where a new edition of Constantine’s ‘Book of Ceremonies’ (de cer.) is being prepared by a team of scholars at the Collège de France, a project iniated by Prof. Gilbert Dagron and supervised by Prof. Bernard Flusin. In the same context, the ideological/cultural phenomenon labelled the so-called ‘Macedonian Renaissance’ and, perhaps even more so, the concept of ‘encyclopaedim’ introduced by Lemerle continue to challenge coherent attempts of scholarly explanation. Legal and administrative studies have made considerable progress over the past twenty years; the same holds true for the exploration of archaeological remains from the ninth and tenth centuries; not least the increasingly sophisticated exploitation of seals as material source deserves to be mentioned. However, the material sources of the wealth and luxury of the tenth-century Byzantine court, and their often peripheral origin and/or destination, invite yet deeper scrutiny.

Methodology: a ‘theory of circulation’

Building on the research tradition(s) outlined above, the seminar here proposed advances a new methodological approach. So far, the ‘glory’ of Constantine’s period has been predominantly discussed with a focus on Constantinople, the ‘Queen of Cities’, and the imperial court, and along the lines of traditionally established academic disciplines. A wide variety of seemingly ‘peripheral’ problems was thus left unsolved. Indeed it cannot be denied that Byzantium was – on medieval terms – an unusually centralized polity (a ‘strong state’ in Wickham’s terminology). Indeed, as is obvious from written (e.g., hagiographical and historiographical texts) and material sources of all kinds (e.g., seals, coins – indeed by their mere existence –, manuscripts), many members of the Byzantine élites – at court (including eunuchs), in the church, in monasteries, as holy men – circulated through Constantinople at a formative period of their respective lives, ‘soaking in’ Constantantinopolitan culture as it were and disseminating it when moving on or back to the provinces. It is this very notion of circulation (from centre to periphery and back) that is proposed as the methological guideline of the seminar.

Goals

To provide a multifaceted survey of tenth-century Byzantine history, ideology and culture in their (Eastern) Mediterranean context; to explore the concept of ‘circulation’ between centre and periphery in a ‘strong’ medieval polity; to offer an introduction to the sources (written as well material) available to research the above questions, and to provide criteria of how to interpret and analyze them critically; to provide brief introductions to the following ancillary disciplines/research methodologies pertaining to the course topic and period: prosopography, numismatics, sigillography; manuscript studies, diplomatics.

Additionally, the class strives to provide students with the background necessary to attend and follow the papers presented at the upcoming international symposium co-organized by CEU’s Center for Hellenic Traditions and the Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on ‘Centre and Periphery in the Age of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos: from de cerimoniis to de administrando imperio. An international symposium in memory of Professor Gyula Moravcsik’. Participants will find that many of the mandatory and recommended readings are written by scholars who will present papers at the symposium – e.g., Michael Grünbart, Paul Magdalino, Athanasios Markopoulos, Volker Menze (our incoming professor of Late Antique Studies!), Günter Prinzing, Peter Schreiner, Paul Stephenson –, which offers the great chance of experiencing a number of leading Byzantine researchers first-hand.

(0) Introduction to the class (14/9)

Lecture session
Purpose and outline of this class; the international symposium on 12–14 November 2009. Short introduction to tenth-century Byzantine history and culture; the figure of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos as a historical looking-glass. A ‘theory of circulation’ and its implications.

Lecture to be followed by a brief presentation of CEU’s Center for Hellenic Traditions.

No tutorial session this week!
No mandatory reading!

Recommended secondary literature for the introductory lecture and the class in general

• A. Toynbee, Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his world (Oxford, 1973).
• A. Markopoulos (ed.), Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus and his age: second international Byzantine conference, Delphi, 22–26 July 1987 (Athens, 1989).
• M. Whittow, The making of Orthodox Byzantium (Houndsmill & London, 1996).
• R. H. R. Jenkins, Byzantium: the imperial centuries, ad 610–1070 (London, 1966).
• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al. (New York & Oxford, 1991), s. vv. ‘De Cerimoniis’, ‘Dignities and titles’, ‘Theme’, etc.
• G. Dagron, Empereur et prêtre. Étude sur le « césaropapisme » byzantin (Paris, 1996), pt. I; Engl. tr., Emperor and priest: the imperial office in Byzantium (Cambridge, 2003).
• M. McCormick, ‘L’imperatore’, in G. Cavallo (ed.), L’uomo bizantino (Rome–Bari, 1992), pp. 339–79; Engl. tr., ‘Emperors’ in G. Cavallo (ed.), The Byzantines (Chicago–London, 1997), pp. 230–54.
• H. Hunger, ‘Das byzantinische Kaisertum als Nachahmung Gottes’, in Id., Das Reich der Neuen Mitte (Graz–Vienna–Cologne, 1965), pp. 37–107 = Id., ‘Konstantinopel und Kaisertum als “Neue Mitte” des Oströmischen Reiches’, in Epidosis. Gesammelte Schriften zur byzantinischen Geistes- und Kulturgeschichte (Munich, 1989), no. XX [82 pp.].
• M. Hendy, Studies in the Byzantine monetary economy, c.300–1450 (Cambridge, 1985), pp. 173–201.

Recommended source text for the lecture

• Liudprandi Cremonensis opera omnia (Antapodosis, Homelia Paschalis, Historia Ottonis, Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana), CCCM 156, ed. P. Chiesa (Turnhout, 1998), superseding Die Werke Liutprands von Cremona, MGH SS. rer. Germ., ed. J. Becker, 3rd edn (Hannover & Leipzig, 1915); Engl. tr., P. Squatriti, The complete works of Liudprand of Cremona (Washington, DC, 2007), superseding A. Wright, The works of Liudprand of Cremona London and New York 1930 [re-ed. by J. J. Norwich, Liutprand of Cremona, the embassy to Constantinople and other writings (1993)]; B. Scott, Liudprand of Cremona, Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana (Bristol, 1993); Germ. tr., A. Bauer and R. Rau (eds), Quellen zur Geschichte der sächsischen Kaiserzeit, Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe A. 8, 5th edn (Darmstadt, 2002), pp. 233–589.

UNIT I: CENTRE—De cerimoniis (wks. 1–4)

(1) Constantine as a historical figure; the emperor-scholar: his collections and excerpts (23/9 & 25/9)

Lecture session
Brief history of the Macedonian dynasty before Constantine: Basil I (r. 867–886), Leo VI (r. 886–912), Alexander (r. 912/3). Previous constructions of imperial ideology and the ‘challenge’ inherited by Constantine VII. Brief survey of Constantine VII’s early life. Scholarly activity: the circle of scholars around Constantine VII; his court school; the Excerpts in fifty-three categories; his own collections (De cer.; De them.; DAI); official historiography (Joseph Genesios, the Scriptores post Theophanem, the Chronicle of the Logothete; Symeon the Metaphrast).

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: What sources do we have about Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos? How reliable does this make our assessment of his rule and period? To which degree is our perception of ninth and tenth century Byzantine history controlled by Constantine VII’s circle of scholars? What is in the name Constantine? What is in the epithet ‘Porphyrogennetos’? Why did it get applied to Constantine VII? Which – new? – form of imperial ideology did the excerpts produced at Constantine’s court herald? Do you see a shift to recent attempts of imperial ideology? Which challenges to imperial authority can you identify?
Methodological issues to ponder: How realistic/valid an approach, do you think, is the writing of historical biographies? Do you agree with Bourdieu’s objections? How to define ‘ideology’?

Required readings for the lecture session

• A. Toynbee, Constantine Porphyrogenitus and his world (Oxford, 1973), pp. 1–25.
• J. Shepard, ‘Equilibrium to expansion (886–­1025)’, in Id., The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, pp. 493–518 – continue to the end of the chapter on p. 536 if you feel you can cope.

Required readings for tutorial session

• P. Bourdieu, ‘The biographical illusion’, in P. du Gay, J. Evans and P. Redman, Identity: a reader (London, 2000), pp. 297–303.

Further recommended secondary readings

• S. F. Tougher, The reign of Leo VI (886–912) (Leiden, 1997).
• C. Holmes, Basil II and the governance of empire, 976–1025 (Oxford, 2005).
• P. Magdalino (ed.), New Constantines: the ryhthm of imperial renewal in Byzantium, 4th–13th centuries: papers from the twenty-sixth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, St Andrew, March 1992 (Aldershot, 1994).
• A. Kazhdan, ‘“Constantine imaginaire”. Byzantine legends of the ninth century about Constantine the Great’, Byzantion, 57 (1987): 196–250.
• G. Dagron, Emperor and priest: the imperial office in Byzantium (Cambridge, 2003); Fr. orig., Empereur et prêtre. Étude sur le « césaropapisme » byzantin (Paris, 1996).
• O. Treitinger, Die oströmische Kaiser- und Reichsidee nach ihrer Gestaltung im höfischen Zeremoniell (Jena, 1938) [reprint: Darmstadt, 1956].
• D. Simon, ‘Princeps legibus solutus. Die Stellung des byzantinischen Kaisers zum Gesetz’, in D. Nörr and D. Simon (eds), Gedächtnisschrift für Wolfgang Kunkel (Frankfurt/Main, 1984), pp. 449–92.
• P. Lemerle, Le premier humanisme byzantin (Paris, 1971), pp. 267–300.
• P. Odorico, ‘La cultura della συλλογή. 1) Il considetto enciclopedismo bizantino. 2) Tavole del Sapere di Giovanni Damasceno’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 83 (1990): 1–21. – For a very recent symposium organized at the Catholic University of Leuven, ‘Encyclopaedic trends in Byzantium’, cf. http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/byzantium/Byzantium/Engels/Activities/Colloquium.htm [25/05/2009]. The symposium reached agreement that ‘encyclopaedism’ was an invalid concept to describe the tenth-century Byzantine scholarly and intellectual activities, but failed to propose a convincing alternative.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• Regrettably, the relevant historiographical writings have not yet been translated into English, with the exception of A. Kaldellis, Genesios on the reigns of the emperors (Canberra, 1998) – Genesios’ Reigns of emperors does not include Constantine’s rule but it is a good example of the historiographical production conducted at Constantine’s court. If you wish, you can further consult A. Markopoulos’ brand-new ‘Genesios: a study’ in your reading, published in S. Kotzabassi and G. Mavromatis (eds.), Realia byzantina (Berlin & New York, 2009), pp. 137–150.
  Editions: Iosephi Genesii Regum libri quattuor, ed. A. Lesmueller-Werner and I. Thurn (Berlin & New York, 1978). — Scriptores post Theophanem, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838). — S. Wahlgren, Symeonis magistri et logothetae Chronicon (Berlin & New York, 2006). On Symeon the Metaphrast, see C. Høgel, Symeon Metaphrastes: rewriting and canonization (Copenhagen, 2002).

First class journal due
(2,500 words)

(2) Court society (30/9 & 2/10)

Lecture session
Philotheos’s Klētorologion. Structure of dignities and offices. Eunuchs as a feature of the Byzantine court: the court as image of the heavenly court. Brief introduction to Byzantine sigillography as a material source.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How could an emperor fine-tune the system of dignities and offices? Was it a suitable tool of maintaining power in unstable political conditions (divide et impera)? Why eunuchs?
Methodological issues to ponder: How reliable is the assessment of De cerimoniis if compared to the contemporary sigillographical evidence?

Required readings for the lecture session

• P. Magdalino, ‘Court society and aristocracy’, in J. Haldon (ed.), A social history of Byzantium (Chichester, 2009), pp. 212–232.
• P. Stephenson, http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/decer.html [31/08/2009]
• L. Neville, P. Stephenson, http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/promotion­cere­mo­nies.html [31/08/2009]
• N. Elias, The court society (Oxford, 1983), pp. 78–116; Germ. orig., Die höfische Gesellschaft. Untersuchungen zur Soziologie des Königtums und der höfischen Aristokratie, 9th edn (Frankfurt/Main, 1999).

Required readings for the tutorial session

• K. J. Leyser, ‘Ottonian government’, English Historical Review, 96 (1981): 721–53 – available on JSTOR. Just browse through this, as it provides a convenient contemporary point of comparison.

Further recommended secondary readings

• A. P. Kazhdan and M. McCormick, ‘The social world of the Byzantine court’, in H. Maguire (ed.), Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204 (Washington, DC, 1997), pp. 167–97.
• P. Magdalino, ‘In search of the Byzantine courtier’, in H. Maguire (ed.), Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204 (Washington, DC, 1997), pp. 141–65.
• P. Magdalino, ‘Paphlagonians in Byzantine High Society’, in S. Lampsakis (ed.), Byzantine Asia Minor (6th–12th cent.) (Athens, 1998), pp. 141–50.
• N. Oikonomides, ‘Title and income at the Byzantine court’, in H. Maguire (ed.), Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204 (Washington, DC, 1997), pp. 199–215.
• P. Magdalino, ‘Honour among Romaioi: the framework of social values in the world of Digenis Akrites and Kekaumenos’, BMGS 13 (1989): 183–218.
• F. Winkelmann, Byzantinische Rang- und Ämterstruktur im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1985).
• S. F. Tougher, The reign of Leo VI (886–912): politics & people (Leiden & New York, 1997), pp. 194–218 [‘The emperor’s men: eunuchs and strategoi’].
• R. Guilland, ‘Les eunuques dans l’empire byzantin’, Revue des Études Byzantines, 1 (1943): 197–238 (reprinted in Recherches sur les institutions byzantines, I, Berlin, Amsterdam 1967, 165–97).
• S. F. Tougher, Eunuchs in antiquity and beyond (London, 2002).
• K. M. Ringrose, The perfect servant: eunuchs and the social construction of gender in Byzantium (Chicago–London, 2003).
• Ead., ‘Living in the shadows: eunuchs and gender in Byzantium’, in G. Herdt (ed.), Third sex, third gender: beyond sexual dimorphism in culture and history (New York, 1994).
• C. S. Jaeger, The origins of courtliness: civilizing trends and the formation of courtly ideals, 939–1210 (Philadelphia, 1985), for a comparative view.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• Liudprand of Cremona in Engl. tr., P. Squatriti, The complete works of Liudprand of Cremona (Washington, DC, 2007).
• For those who read French, Philotheos’s Klētorologion (a klētotologion is an imperial banquet order): Les listes de préséance byzantines, ed. and tr. N. Oikonomidès (Paris, 1972). — Try for an introduction, before turning to Oikonomides’s commentary, J. B. Bury, The imperial administrative system in the ninth century, with a revised text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos (New York, 1911, reprinted 1958) – a full pdf is available at http://www.archive.org/details/imperialadminist00buryrich [1/9/2009].

(3) Court ceremonial (7/10 & 9/10)

Lecture session
Liudprand of Cremona, again. Arab views. Constantine VII’s Book of Ceremonies. The logistics of court ceremonial. Terminology: ceremony, ritual, performance. The Great Palace of Constantinople and Hagia Sophia as ceremonial spaces.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How reliable is De cerimoniis as a source: did ceremonial life at the Byzantine court ever evolve as Constantine’s collection described it? Why did Constantine deem it suitable to include descriptions from sources as remote as Peter the Patrician into his collection? Do you think it appropriate to characterize imperial ceremonial as a ‘movement from the profane, the palace, to the sacred, the church’ (El Cheick, Byzantium viewed by the Arabs, p. 156)?
Methodological issues to ponder: How can codicology help us define the date and purpose of De cerimoniis? With the scant knowledge of the exact layout of the Great Palace that we have, how much sense does it make to reconstruct it as a ‘ceremonial space’ trying to pin down the locations from De cerimoniis? 

Required readings for the lecture session

• M. McCormick, ‘Analyzing imperial ceremonies’, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik, 35 (1985): 1–20.
• J. M. Featherstone, ‘The Great Palace as reflected in the De cerimoniis’, in Bauer, Visualisierungen von Herrschaft, pp. 47–61.
• G. P. Majeska, ‘The emperor in his church: imperial ritual in the church of St. Sophia’, in H. Maguire (ed.), Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204 (Washington, DC, 1997), pp. 1–11.
• N. M. El Cheick, Byzantium viewed by the Arabs (Cambridge, MA, 2004), pp. 152–62.

Required readings for the tutorial session

• J. M. Featherstone, ‘Preliminary remarks on the Leipzig manuscript of de cerimoniis’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 95 (2002): 457–79 together with Id., ‘Further remarks on the De Cerimoniis’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 97 (2004), 113–21.

Further recommended secondary readings

• F. A. Bauer (ed.), Visualisierungen von Herrschaft. Frühmittelalterliche Residenzen: Gestalt und Zeremoniell. Internationales Kolloquium, 3./4. Juni 2004 in Istanbul (Istanbul, 2006) – check the CEU Library Catalog for the index. 
• M. McCormick, Eternal victory: Triumphal rulership in late antiquity, Byzantium and the early medieval west, 2nd edn (Cambridge, 1990).
• Av. Cameron, ‘The construction of court ritual: the Byzantine Book of Ceremonies’, in D. Cannadine and S. Price (eds), Rituals of royalty: power and ceremonial in traditional societies (Cambridge, 1987), 106–136.
• O. Kresten, M. Featherstone, J. Grusková, ‘Studien zu den Palimpsestfragmenten des sogenannten “Zeremonienbuches”: I. Prolegomena’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 98 (2005): 423–30.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• Constantine VII’s Book of Ceremonies, see above, ‘Abbreviations’ – regrettably and somewhat ununderstandably, there is no complete translation of this seminal collection into any modern language.

Second class journal due
(2,500 words)

(4) Tenth-century Constantinople (14/10 & 16/10)

Lecture session
Constantinople as medieval metropolis. Topography. Ceremonial in space: urban liturgy. Trade; Leo VI’s Book of the Eparch.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How, do you think, would medieval western travellers have felt upon entering Constantinople? How medieval eastern travellers? How reliable a picture of Byzantine economy does the Book of the Eparch paint?
Methodological issues to ponder: How can we learn about medieval Constantinople? Which ancillary disciplines need to be drawn on?

Required readings for the lecture session

• P. Magdalino, ‘Medieval Constantinople’, in Id., Studies on the history and topography of Byzantine Constantinople (Aldershot, 2007), no. I, pp. 1–55.

Required readings for the tutorial session

• El Cheick, Byzantium viewed by the Arabs, pp. 139–52.
• C. Mango, ‘Constantine’s porphyry column and the chapel of St Constantine’, in Id., Studies on Constantinople (Aldershot, 1993), no. IV.

Further recommended secondary readings

• K. Ciggaar, Western travellers to Constantinople: the west & Byzantium, 962–1204 (Leiden & New York, 1996).
• A. Laiou and C. Morrisson, The Byzantine economy (Cambridge, 2007), pp. 43–89.
• Dagron, G., Naissance d’une capitale. Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451 (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1974).
• Beck H.-G., ‘Konstantinopel. Zur Sozialgeschichte einer frühmittelalterlichen Hauptstadt’, in Ideen und Realitäten (London: Ashgate/Variorum Reprints, 1972), no. X.
• Mango, C., Le developpement urbain de Constantinople (IV^e-VII^e siècles) (Paris: Boccard, 1985).
• Dagron, G., Constantinople imaginaire. Études sur le recueil des « Patria » (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1984).
• Cameron, Av., and J. Herrin, Constantinople in the early eighth century: the Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai. Introduction, translation, and commentary (Leiden: Brill, 1984).

Recommended key source texts to sample

• The book of the eparch – To eparchikon biblion – Le livre du préfet, ed. I. Dujčev (London, 1970), or for those who read German, Das Eparchenbuch Leons des Weisen, ed. J. Koder (Vienna, 1991).
• K. N. Ciggaar, ‘Une description de Constantinople traduite par un pèlerin anglais’, Revue des Études Byzantines, 34 (1976): 211–68; Ead., ‘Une description de Constantinople dans le Tarragonensis 55’, Revue des Études Byzantines, 53 (1995): 117–40. – These texts are in Latin.

UNIT II: CIRCULATION, CENTRE–PERIPHERY—De thematibus (wks. 5–8)

(5) The themata. Provincial towns (kastra): bishops & merchants (21/10 & 23/10)

Lecture session
Date, purpose and composition of Constantine VII’s De thematibus. The thematic administration. The evolution of the late antique city (polis) into the medieval Byzantine town (kastron). Archaeological evidence for life in the middle Byzantine town. Civic administration; the novels of Leo VI (r. 886–912). Economic activity: merchants. Spiritual leaders: bishops. The figure of Leo bishop of Synada.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: Is it justified to speak of urban life in tenth-century Byzantium? How much of Leo of Synada’s correspondence is concerned with affairs in his bishopric? Judging from the letters you have read, what can be inferred about the paideia (education; intellectual formation) of Byzantine bishops?
Methodological issues to ponder: How can one overcome the lack of sources concerning middle Byzantine urban history?

Required readings for lecture session

• E. Ivison, ‘Urban renewal and imperial revival (730–1025)’, Byzantinische Forschungen, 26 (2000), 1–46.

Required readings for tutorial session

• N. Oikonomides, ‘Entrepreneurs’, in G. Cavallo, The Byzantines (Chicago, 1997), pp. 144–171.
• The correspondence of Leo, metropolitan of Synada, ed. M. P. Vinson (Washington, DC, 1985), pp. 49–53 (letter no. 31); pp. 61–3 (letters no. 36–8); pp. 69–71 (letter no. 43), pp. 79–91 (letters no. 51–4) – read English translation on odd pages only.

Further recommended secondary readings

• R. Ousterhout, A Byzantine settlement in Cappadocia (Washington, DC, 2006).
• A. Harvey, Economic expansion in the Byzantine Empire, 900–1200 (Cambridge, 1989)
• R.-J. Lilie, ‘Die zweihundertjährige Reform’, Byzantinoslavica, 45 (1984): 27–39, 190–201.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• Constantine VII’s Book of the Themata – see above, ‘Abbreviations’.

Third class journal due
(2,500 words)

(6) Monks, monasteries, holy men, relics

Lecture session
Constantinople as the New Jerusalem: relic collections in the capital. Relics and empire. These collections seen though the eyes of western travellers. Holy men. Constantine VII beings styled as descendent of Theophanes Confessor. Family saints of the Macedonian dynasty. Monasteries in the capital and the periphery: spiritual and economic centres.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How would linking Constantine VII to Theophanes have been useful? What to make of Constantine VII’s journey to Mt Olympos in Bithynia shortly before his death?
Methodological issues to ponder: What does the abbreviation ‘BHG’ stand for? How well do ‘monks’ and ‘holy men’ go together

Required readings for the lecture session

• D. F. Sullivan, The Life of Saint Nikon (Brookline, MA, 1987), exact passages to be specified.
• H. A. Klein, ‘Sacred relics and imperial ceremonies at the Great Palace of Constantinople’, in Bauer, Visualisierungen von Herrschaft, pp. 79–99.
• I. Kalavrezou, ‘Helping hands for the empire: imperial ceremonies and the cult of relics at the Byzantine court’, in Maguire, Byzantine court culture from 829 to 1204, pp. 53–79.

Required readings for the tutorial session

• G. Dagron, Emperor and priest: the imperial office in Byzantium (Cambridge, 2003), 192–219.

Further recommended secondary readings

• R. Morris, Monks and laymen in Byzantium, 843–1118 (Cambridge, 1995). 
• B. Flusin, ‘Constantin Porphyrogénète. Discours sur la translation des réliques de saint Grégoire de Nazianze (BHG 728)’, Revue des Études Byzantines, 57 (1999), 5–97.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• D. F. Sullivan, The Life of Saint Nikon (Brookline, MA, 1987).

(8) On campaign

Lecture session
Overview of the Byzantine ninth- and tenth-century military campaigns. Byzantine expansion; imperial expeditions. Organization of the Byzantine army: tagmata vs. themata. Status of soldiers. Case study: the reconquest of Crete – tbc. Homeric historiography: Leo the Deacon.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How did Byzantium survive the early Muslim conquests, and why do you think it took some two-hundred years until Byzantine forces found themselves capable of efficient retaliation? How did the defence structure of the empire change over the course of the tenth century (it may be easier to answer this question in connection drawing also on the readings of session 9, but do start to think about it). What ideology is broadcasted from Constantine’s treatises on imperial expeditions, i.e., which aspects of imperial ideology are being highlighted?
Methodological issues to ponder: Was there a notion of Holy War in Byzantium and if so, how does it relate to the Muslim concept?

Required readings for the lecture session

• J. Haldon, Constantine Porphyrogenitus: three treatises on imperial military expeditions (Vienna, 1990), pp. 94–151 (English translation on odd pages = 29 pp.) – skip pp. 141–51 if the reading load is too much. The notes on pp. 176–293 will help you understand the text.
• T. Kolbaba, ‘Fighting for Christianity: Holy War in the Byzantine Empire’, Byzantion, 68 (1998): 194–221; reprinted in J. Haldon (ed.), Byzantine Warfare (Aldershot, 2006).

Required readings for the tutorial session

• J. Haldon, ‘Military service, military lands, and the status of soldiers’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 47 (1993): 1–67 – available on JSTOR.

Further recommended secondary readings

• P. Schreiner, ‘Soldiers, in G. Cavallo (ed.), The Byzantines (Chicago, 1997), pp. 74–94.
• J. Haldon (ed.), Byzantine Warfare (Aldershot, 2006).
• J. Haldon, Byzantine praetorians: an administrative, institutional and social survey of the Opsikion and tagmata, c.580–900 (Bonn, 1984).
• Id., The Byzantine wars: battles and campaigns of the Byzantine era (Stroud, 2001).
• Id., Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world, 565–1204 (London, 1997).
• W. Treadgold, Byzantium and its army, 284–1081 (Stanford, CA, 1981).
• Recommended key source texts to sample
• J. Haldon, ‘Theory and practice in tenth-century military administration: chapters II, 44 and 45 of the Book of Ceremonies’, Travaux et mémoires, 13 (2000), 201–352.
• E. McGeer (ed.), Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine warfare in the tenth century (Washington, DC, 1995) – the extensive ‘Historical Commentary’ and the ‘Glossary of Terms’ on pp. 369–70 will help you understand the text.
• G. T. Dennis (ed.), Three Byzantine military treatises (Washington, DC, 1985).
• Leonis imperatoris Tactica, ed. R. Vári (Budapest, 1917–22).
• D. F. Sullivan, Siegecraft : two tenth-century instructional manuals by ‘Heron of Byzantium’ (Washington, DC, 2000).
• A.-M. Talbot and D. F. Sullivan, The history of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine military expansion in the tenth century (Washington, DC, 2005).

Fourth class journal due
(2,500 words)

(7) Provincial administration and imperial land legislation: officials, landed aristocracy (11/11 & tbd)

Lecture session
The emergence of a landed aristocracy. Court society vs. aristocracy? The landed aristocracy as a threat to imperial authority and power; imperial land legislation.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: To which degree, if at all, is the phenomenon of Romanos Lakapenos’ seizing of power comparable to that of Basil (I) in the previous century? To which degree, on the other hand, does it foreshadow the emperors’ lating conflicts with the so-called landed aristocracy? Compare the different worlds depicted by the land legislation of the Macedonian emperors and the ‘Farmer’s Law’.
Methodological issues to ponder: How should one treat legislative texts as source material? How reliable is it? Does the term ‘feudalization’, borrowed from western medieval studies, correctly describe the tenth-century social processes in Byzantium? Figure out how the Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des oströmishcen Reiches work (CEU Main Library)!

Required readings for lecture session

• E. McGeer, The land legislation of the Macedonian emperors (Toronto, 2000), pp. 37–76. 81–5.
• L. Neville, Authority in Byzantine provincial society, 950–1100 (Cambridge, 2004), pp. 99–118.

Required readings for tutorial session

• W. Ashburner, ‘The Farmer’s Law’, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 30 (1910): 85–108. 32 (1912): 68–95 – read the English translation in vol. 32, pp. 87–95 only.

Further recommended secondary readings

• J. Haldon, ‘Social élites, wealth, and power’, in Id. (ed.), A social history of Byzantium (Chichester, 2009), pp. 168–211.
• M. Angold (ed.), The Byzantine aristocracy, IX–XIII century (Oxford, 1984).
• J.-C. Cheynet, Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance, 963–1204 (Paris, ²1996).
• G. Ostrogorsky, ‘Observations on the aristocracy in Byzantium’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 25 (1971): 1–32.
• M. Kaplan, Les hommes et la terre a Byzance du vi^e au xi^e siècle (Paris, 1992).
• V. Vlysidou and E. Kountoura-Galakē (eds), Hē Mikra Asia tōn thematōn (Athens, 1998).

UNIT III: PERIPHERY—De administrando imperio (wks. 9–11)

(9) Diplomacy and diplomatic gift-giving (18/11 & 20/11)

Lecture session
Date, purpose and structure of Constantine VII’s De administrando imperio. Tenth-century Byzantine diplomacy: means and ends. The ‘Byzantine Commonwealth’. ‘Two circles’ vs. ‘three circles’. Diplomatic gift-giving.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: How realistic is DAI as a diplomatic handbook? Why do you think did Constantine VII compile it? What do you think promised to be more efficient, Byzantine warfare or Byzantine diplomacy?
Methodological issues to ponder: What are the socio-historical implications of gift-giving?

Required readings for lecture session

• J. Shepard, ‘Byzantium’s overlapping circles’, in E. Jeffreys (ed.), Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August, 2006, I: plenary papers (Aldershot, 2006), pp. 15–55.
• P. Stephenson, http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/decer1.html [31/08/2009]
• P. Stephenson, http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/decer2.html [31/08/2009]

Required readings for tutorial session

• A. Cutler, ‘Significant gifts: patterns of exchange in late antique, Byzantine, and early Islamic diplomacy’, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 38 (2008): 79–101.
• P. J. Geary, ‘Gift exchange and social science modelling: the limitations of a construct’, in G. Algazi, V. Groebner and B. Jussen (eds), Negotiating the Gift: pre-modern configurations of exchange (Göttingen, 2003), pp. 129–40.

Further recommended secondary readings

• J. Shepard, ‘Byzantine diplomacy, A.D. 800–1204: means and ends’, in Id. and S. Franklin (eds), Byzantine Diplomacy: papers from the twenty-fourth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Cambridge, March 1990 (Aldershot, 1992), 41–71.
• P. Schreiner, ‘Diplomatische Geschenke zwischen Byzanz und dem Westen ca. 800–1200: eine Analyse der Texte mit Quellenanhang’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 58 (2004): 252–82.
• G. Prinzing, ‘Zum Austausch diplomatischer Geschenke zwischen Byzanz und seinen Nachbarn in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa’, in J. G. Deckers, M. Restle and A. Shalem (eds), Mitteilungen zur Spätantiken Archäologie und Byzantinischen Kunstgeschichte, 4 (2005): 141–73
• J. Lowden, ‘The luxury book as diplomatic gift’, in Shepard, Byzantine Diplomacy, pp. 249–60.
• F. Curta, ‘Merovingian and Carolingian gift giving’, Speculum, 81 (2006): 671–99.
• A.-J. A. Bijsterveld, ‘The medieval gift as agent of social bonding and political power: a comparative approach’, in E. Cohen and M. de Jong (eds), Medieval Transformations: texts, power and gifts in context (Leiden & New York, 2001), pp. 123–56.

Recommended key source texts to sample

• Constantine VII’s DAI in the English translation of Jenkins.

Fifth class journal due
(2,500 words)

(10) The western and northern interface (25/11 & 27/11)

Lecture session
Byzantium’s relations with its northern neighbours during the tenth century, with special emphasis on Bulgars, Croats, Serbs and Magyars.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: What do you think is the purpose of DAI? How accurately does DAI represent the tenth-century Byzantine geo-political horizon? Why are the Bulgarians so suspiciously absent from it?
Methodological issues to ponder: Do you consider Moravcsik’s thesis re the genesis of DAI convincing (cf. ‘General introduction’, pp. 12–13, for a brief summary)?

Required readings for lecture session

• P. Stephenson, Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier:a political study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204 (Cambridge, 2000), pp. 1–46.

Required readings for tutorial session

• P. Squatriti, The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona (Washington, DC, 2007), pp. 271–2 (§ 54).
• DAI, pp. v–ix (study the ‘Table of contents’ very carefully!); pp. 44–53 (prooemium and chapters 1–5); pp. 80–83 (chapter 17); pp. 139–161 (chapters 30–32); pp. 246–257 (chapter 51) – read English translation on odd pages only.

Further recommended secondary readings

• F. Curta, Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 (Cambridge, 2006).
• H. Mayr-Harting, ‘Liudprand of Cremona’s account of his legation to Constantinople (968) and Ottonian imperial strategy’, English Historical Review, 116 (2001): 539–56.

(11) The eastern interface (2/12 & tbd)

Lecture session
Byzantium and the Caucasus. The Muslim world in the tenth century; the ʿAbbāsid court. Gift-giving and embassies between Byzantium and Muslim rulers.

Tutorial session
Questions for discussion: What information about Islam is given by DAI? Why is Theophanes Confessor’s Chronicle quoted in DAI? Does DAI reflect the close ties between the Byzantine and Caucasian élites at the time of compilation?
Methodological issues to ponder: Can you detect any differences in gift giving to Muslim rulers if compared to western rulers?

Required readings for the lecture session

• al-Qaddūmī, Ghāda al Ḥijjāwī (tr.), Book of Gifts and Rareties (Kitāb al-Hadāyā wa al-Tuḥaf) (Cambridge, MA, 1996), §§ 9, 31, 73–4, 86, 91, 97–9, 105, 161–4, 173.
• El Cheikh, Byzantium viewed by the Arabs, pp. 162–78.
• DAI, pp. 76–99 (chapters 14–22); .pp. 188–223 (chapters 43–46) – read English translation on odd pages only.

Required readings for tutorial session

• T. Greenwood, ‘Armenian neighbours (600–1045)’, in Shepard, Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, pp. 349–64.
• A. Kazhdan, ‘The Armenians in the Byzantine ruling class predominantly in the ninth through twelfth centuries’, in Medieval Armenian Culture (Chico, CA, 1983), pp. 439–51.

Sixth class journal due
(2,500 words)