Dr. Christopher Haas

Byzantine Civilization:
Texts and Resources

The course syllabus may be found here

     This course examines the Eastern Roman Empire from the founding of Constantinople in 324 to its capture in 1453.  Topics will focus on Byzantium's Roman inheritance and its distinct contributions to the Medieval world.  Political structure, economic and social life, art, literature, and religion will be discussed as well as Byzantium's relations with other neighboring cultures

Textbooks:

John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium (Random House) = Text
Judith Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (Princeton) = Herrin
D. Geanakoplos, Byzantium: Church, Society, and Civilization (U of Chicago Pr.)

Emperor Justinian and attendants, 6th century, Ravenna

Maps:

Maps from various periods of Byzantine history may be found by clicking here or here
*  A magnificent interactive map of Constantinople
*  And don't miss the new "Byzantium 1200" -- a project aimed at creating computer reconstructions of Constantinople's Byzantine Monuments as of year 1200 AD

Empress Theodora and attendants, 6th century, Ravenna

Timelines and Chronologies:

For a timeline of Byzantine history, click here
Many Byzantine coins, especially in the early period, display portraits of the
reigning emperors, for a full collection, click here

                 the emperor Basil II

Web Texts:

Lactantius On the Deaths of the Persecutors

selections from Eusebius' Life of Constantine

selected Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
          
             praying ascetic -- from Egypt

A useful discussion on asceticism: The Way of the Ascetics

For the asceticism of Simeon the Stylite, click here

On the finding of the True Cross,
from the Historia Ecclesiastica of Socrates Scholasticus

For selected kontakia of St. Romanos the Melodist, click here

St. Romanos the Melodist, 6th century

The complete Life of St. John the Almsgiver

On the conversion of Prince Vladimir and the Rus in the Russian Primary Chronicle

Web Resources:

Byzantine texts from the Medieval Sourcebook at Fordham University

Prof. Paul Stephenson's collection of Translated Excerpts from Byzantine Sources:

A site dedicated to the excavations of Byzantine Amorium

                                   the siege of Amorium

A fabulous site on Byzantine art in its various periods

For a site on St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai, click here
 

A portal webpage for Mt. Athos and its Monasteries
The best single site on Mt. Athos is here:
        Be sure to click through the sections:
            Introduction
            History
            Art
            Architecture
            Environment
            Map
            The Monasteries (including Simonos Petras & the Great Lavra)
Many other links for Mt. Athos are collected here:

Monastery of Simonos Petras, Mt. Athos


On the Byzantine cultural heritage in Serbia, click here
Follow the links on the left side of the page for churches, monasteries, icons, etc.
Also follow the link concerning the destruction of Medieval Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo

A great site for listening to Byzantine liturgical music may be found here
 

The Heritage of Byzantium

The early Italian Renaissance painter, Cimabue, learned much from the Byzantine style:
(enlarge these two images by right clicking, then view image)

   
          crucifix                     St. Francis

Examine the art of Domenikos Theotokopoulos - "El Greco" (the Greek)

Resources for Byzantine Studies:


Paul Halsall has constructed the single best guide to internet resources in Byzantine Studies
Follow this link to a useful bibliographical guide to Byzantine studies
An exhaustive compilation of Byzantine saints' lives in modern translations
For the links page of the Byzantine Studies Conference, linking to multiple Byzantine organizations,
        click here
A web-based annotated version of the Codex Justinianus and the Novellae
Electronic texts from the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
And yet another thoroughgoing Research Guide for Byzantine Art and Archaeology
For the period of Late Antiquity, consult my own page of texts and resources as well as Falvey Library's Research Guide to Late Antiquity