Emperors and Imperial Dynasties of Byzantium Translated Texts on Byzantine Civilization

Emperors and Imperial Dynasties of Byzantium offers the first ever comprehensive, easily accessible, and uniquely assorted anthology of primary texts in translation on the entire history of the Byzantine Empire arranged chronologically—in prose and verse, from Byzantium and other civilizations—representing different genres, including epigrams, inscriptions, literary and historical works, and legal statutes, as well as religious, administrative, and diplomatic documents. While this book has a common thread to tie its lengthy chronological expanse together—the history of Byzantine emperors and imperial dynasties—it illustrates all major aspects of Byzantine civilization, such as politics, military affairs, culture, education, religion, legal regulations and economic activities in the city and the countryside, family and social relations, along with Byzantium's varying interactions with its numerous and diverse neighbors over the course of its long history. Many of the entries provide insights into Byzantine courtly culture and, specifically, the lives of emperors and members of their families, including references to their physical looks, character traits, personal details, famous and humorous sayings, emotions and accomplishments. Unparalleled in its chronological stretch, diversity, scope, and thoroughness, this collection also includes dynastic charts, concise introductions to each of its six Parts, numerous illustrations, a glossary, and indices, offering an accessible and comprehensive view of the entirety of Byzantine civilization.

Sviatoslav Dmitriev (Ph.D. Harvard) is an Associate Professor of History at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. He has published articles on ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine history and authored books on city administration in ancient Asia Minor, the Roman appropriation of Greek political vocabulary, kinship relations in archaic and classical Athens, and the ways in which ancient and Byzantine rhetorical education has distorted our vision of classical Greece. His current book project, provisionally titled The World of John Lydus: Constructing Identity in Early Byzantium, delineates how John Lydus and his fellow-intellectuals reinterpreted the past to accommodate sixth-century Byzantium's conflicting identities.