Byzantium

Taft R. F. The Great Entrance. A History of the Transfer of Gifts and other Preanaphoral Rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. [A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, vol. II]. Roma, 1975. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta; 200).

In The Proceedings of the 2nd Scientific Symposium on Neo-Hellenic Ecclesiastic Art, 26-28 November 2010, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dept. of Theology, School of Theological Studies/ Byzantine and Christian Museum of Greece, Athens, 2012, pp. 315-342.

Trachoma is an ancient disease that has survived until the present day and represents the most common cause of infectious blindness globally. This study reviews the main Greek medical sources of the period from the 1st to 7th century AD and presents the medical knowledge relating to trachoma, including its definition, clinical features, diagnosis, complications, and treatment. It was widely accepted that trachoma was a disease of the palpebral conjunctiva, and the different stages of trachoma were described in detail. However, it is unclear whether the stages of trichiasis and pannus were identified as trachoma complications. The extensive references to the treatment of trachoma during the Byzantine period provide a strong argument for the case that trachoma was one of the most serious and common eye diseases. Both surgical and pharmaceutical treatments were often applied at the same time. Occasionally, surgical treatment could be rather dramatic, involving the use of stiff fig leav...

In late 1180, after the death of Emperor Manuel Komnenos, Prince Bohemond III of Antioch put aside his imperial bride, Theodora Komnena, to marry an Antiochene woman named Sybil. What followed was an internal uprising against the ruler encompassing the entire breadth of the principality’s church and most of its aristocracy, led by Aimery of Limoges, patriarch of Antioch, and Renaud II Masoir, lord of Margat. This fracture likely endured until early 1182 and had far reaching implications, but has received only piecemeal historical attention. Nevertheless, the rebellion of 1180–1182 reveals a great deal about the political climate of the Latin frontier in twelfth-century Northern Syria, demonstrating the dynamic realities of power in the principality of Antioch.

Wstęp Mirosław J. Leszka, Kirił Marinow................................................... 1

I
Konstantynopolitańskie porty IV–XII w. [Constantinopolitan harbours in the 4th–12th centuries] Mirosław J. Leszka......... 5

II
Wszystkie okręty cesarza. Rozważania nad stanem rzymskiej marynarki wojennej za panowania cesarza Maurycjusza (582–602) [All ships of the emperor: Roman Navy during the reign of emperor Maurice (582–602)] Łukasz Różycki........................................................................................... 17

III
Konstantynopolitańska eskadra cesarska w dobie panowania Komnenów (1081–1185) [Constantinopolitan squadron in the era of imperial reign of Comnenian dynasty (1081–1185)]
Marcin Böhm....................................................................................... 47

IV
Wygnani biskupi Konstantynopola w późnej starożytności i ich kontakty ze stolicą nad Bosforem [The Exiled Bishops of Constantinople from the Fourth to the Late Sixth Century] Rafał Kosiński................63

V
Chazarowie w Konstantynopolu (VII–XI w.) [The Khazars in Constantinople] Jarosław Dudek …........ 79

VI
Miejsce portu w fabule dwunastowiecznego romansu bizantyńskiego [The port in the plot of the twelfth-century Byzantine romance] Anna Kotłowska . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

VII
Winieta Konstantynopola na mapie z Ebstorf [Vignette of Constantinople on the Ebstorf Map] Piotr Kochanek……………………. . . 113

VIII
Hodegon – z rozważań nad pierwotną lokalizacją konstantynopolitańskiego sanktuarium [The Hodegon. Considerations on the location of the Hodegetria sanctuary in Constantinople]
Piotr Łukasz Grotowski . ……………………………. . . . . 137

IX
Pogańskie prywatne uroczystości kommemoratywne w okresie wczesnobizantyńskim [Pagan Private Commemorative Rites in the Early Byzantine Period] Ireneusz Milewski . . . .  . ……………... . . . . . . . . . 215

Aneks [Annex]
Itinerarium Stefana z Nowogrodu z opisem konstantynopolitańskiego portu Kontoskalion (1348/1349). Przekład i opracowanie [The Itinerary of Stephen of Novgorod: Containing a Description of Kontoskalion Harbour in Constantinople (1348/1349).] Zofia Brzozowska .. . . . . . 227

Summary. . . . . . . ………………………………………. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Wykaz skrótów [List of Abbreviations]. …. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Bibliografia [Bibliography]……… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Źródła [Sources]. . … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Opracowania [Secondary Literature]..  . ……. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Indeks osobowy [Index]. ……………. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Indeks nazw geograficznych i etnicznych [Index of geographical and ethnical names]. . …. . . . . . . . . 328

Indeks nazw konstantynopolitańskich [Index of Constantinopolitan names]….. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

The main function of religious art is to embody the abstract idea of God in a form that allows its easiest perception. A central problem of any religious system is God’s presence and its adequate description. Theophanic events are never single-layered and this is a challenge for both the spiritual writer and the spiritual artist.
One of the most enduring trends in religious beliefs in all ages and cultures is the designation of the diversity of manifestations of the divine power, presence and action with unifying notions. Probably the most sustainable and universal in this respect is the concept of the “glory” of gods, through which their divinity is expressed most emphatically, most sensually, and at the same time most unattainably for mankind. This concept is expressed through the term “the glory of God”, which is used in the theological language of all organized religious systems to denote the manifestations of the sacred.
The radiance, which symbolizes the divine grace, power and superiority over all the senses is a common and invariable part of the outward expression of the supernatural character of the events connected with the manifestations and actions of God’s glory. Therefore, one of the key problems facing the visual language of any religion is to find a concise, clear, easily doable and easily understandable form in which to express the theophanic radiance. Thus, two of the most ancient sacred symbols in human history – the nimbus and the aureole (mandorla) were born.
In Christian art, the mandorla has been used to depict the manifestations of God’s presence and actions. The human consciousness perceives the verbal descriptions of theophanic events differently and is not able to create a general convention for their uniform understanding, so the iconographic canon uses certain symbols capable of presenting the necessary universal ideas. The mandorla is an oval, oval-pointed or round outline, which in certain iconographic subjects encompasses the figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity and the Theotokos or in rare cases those of some saints. It serves as a visual epitome of the phenomenon of God’s glory.

Conflict, Bargaining, and Kinship Networks in Medieval Eastern Europe takes the familiar view of Eastern Europe, families, and conflicts and stands it on its head. Instead of a world rife with civil war and killing, this book presents a relatively structured environment where conflict is engaged in for the purposes of advancing one’s position, and where death among the royal families is relatively rare. At the heart of this analysis is the use of situational kinship networks—relationships created by elites for the purposes of engaging in conflict with their own kin, but only for the duration of a particular conflict. A new image of medieval Eastern Europe, less consumed by civil war and mass death, will change the perception of medieval Eastern Europe in the minds of readers. This new perception is essential to not only present the past more accurately, but also to allow for medieval Eastern Europe’s integration into the larger medieval world as something other than an aberrant other.

CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION "THE LIFE AFTER DEATH" IN THE FRAME OF THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE PAFOS2017 AND AARHUS2017. A CULTURAL APPROACH TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD'S MEMORY THROUGH ART AND BURIAL CUSTOMS IN CYPRUS AND DENMARK FROM ANTIQUITY TILL NOWADAYS/ ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΘΕΣΗΣ "Η ΖΩΗ ΜΕΤΑ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΝ" ΣΤΑ ΠΛΑΙΣΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΤΙΚΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΕΥΟΥΣΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΗΣ ΠΑΦΟΣ2017 ΚΑΙ ΩΡΧΟΥΣ2017. ΜΙΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΙΚΗ ΠΡΟΣΕΓΓΙΣΗ ΣΤΗ ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΜΝΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΤΕΘΝΕΩΤΩΝ ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΤΕΧΝΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΙΣ ΤΑΦΙΚΕΣ ΠΑΡΑΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΥΠΡΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΗ ΔΑΝΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΤΗΤΑ ΕΩΣ ΤΙΣ ΗΜΕΡΕΣ ΜΑΣ

In: Проблемы истории и археологии Украины: Тезисы докладов ХІІ Международной научной конференции, посвященной 215-летию Харьковского национального университета имени В. Н. Каразина (Харьков, ноябрь 2020). Харьков: ООО «НТМТ», 2020. С. 56-57.

The paper presents an experience of the analytical mapping of the route of the Kiev mission of “Roman I Lakapin’s basilikos” — the hypothetical author-compiler of Constantin Porphyrogenitus’ De administrando imperio’s chapter 9th. DAI’s geodata is critically compared with evidence from medieval (Old Scandinavian, Old Russian, Byzantine) texts and modern descriptions of the Dnieper in order to identify the toponyms contained in the sources, as well as clarifying an additional issues, such as the direction and ways of travel, the ethnic cultural identity of local informants and guides. On the basis of narrative data, the map scheme of DAI’s Dnieper itinerary, including methodological comments, graphic materials and modern maps of the Dnieper region is being built.

INDICE:

La Sapienza bizantina. Il contributo della Storia dell’arte (1896-1970) - Antonio Iacobini

Le missioni di studio in Oriente e il Centro di Documentazione di Storia dell’Arte Bizantina (1966-2006) - Andrea Paribeni

Il progetto di ricerca sui marmi della Santa Sofia, Alessandra Guiglia - Claudia Barsanti

Hagia Sophia: nuovi studi e ricerche per il restauro, Mario Docci - Storici dell’arte, esploratori, antropologi, archeologi: le missioni
lungo il limes orientale (1982-1992) - Enrico Zanini

Alcune considerazioni sull’architettura bizantina a Creta - Spiridione Alessandro Curuni

Il «Corpus della pittura monumentale bizantina in Italia»: il caso di Umbria, Marche e Abruzzo - Mauro della Valle

Il mosaico parietale aniconico da Tessalonica a Costantinopoli - Alessandro Taddei

Basilio ‘parakoimomenos’, l’aristocrazia e la passione per le arti sotto i Macedoni - Livia Bevilacqua

Il colore scolpito. Raffinatezze cromatiche nella scultura ad incrostazione del Medioevo mediterraneo - Silvia Pedone

Viaggio di un trittico eburneo da Costantinopoli a Roma. Note in margine al «Corpus degli oggetti bizantini in Italia» - Simona Moretti

L’insegnamento della Filologia e della Storia bizantina a Roma dalla
fondazione agli anni Settanta del ’900 - Augusta Acconcia Longo

La Filologia e la Storia bizantina alla Sapienza nell’ultimo trentennio del ’900 - Andrea Luzzi

La Paleografia greca e bizantina alla Sapienza, dagli anni Venti del
’900 a Enrica Follieri e alla sua scuola - Francesco D’Aiuto

Ricerche e iniziative promosse dalla Sapienza per lo studio delle scritture greche antiche e bizantine nell’ultimo trentennio - Guglielmo Cavallo

Immagini eloquenti. Nuove osservazioni sul codice Atheniensis gr. 211 con le Omelie di Giovanni Crisostomo - Giovanni Gasbarri

An in-depth study of MSS Vat. gr. 704, Oxon. Bodl. Barocci 48 and some other later manuscripts, such as MS Vat. gr. 1444, provides a new reconstruction for both the authorial composition of the Solutiones quaestionum and the De numero septenario by Nikephoros Gregoras, and the manuscript tradition of the two treatises.

ORDER HERE: https://www.gorgiaspress.com/the-last-empire-of-iran

The Last Empire of Iran is an exhaustive political and military history of the Sasanian state (AD 220s – 651). I wrote this book for several reasons. There are very few narrative histories of late-antique Iran. Excluding Rawlinson’s Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, published in 1870, we have had to rely on only two works: Christensen’s L’Iran sous les Sassanides (1936) and Daryaee’s Sasanian Persia (2008). So it seemed to me that there was more than enough room for a new attempt to tell the story, at least for the sake of variety. The study of Late Antiquity is also unfairly dominated by the history of the Mediterranean world and the late Roman Empire. Those topics are obviously interesting on their own merits; but they are only a part of the whole scene of Late Antiquity, and if that period is to be properly and fully understood, we cannot neglect the history of the empire that repeatedly humiliated and eventually subjugated most of the Mediterranean world, and which cast such a long shadow over the Islamic world. The dominance of the Roman Empire in late-antique history is answered by a near total neglect of the peoples of the Inner Asia, and I wanted to remedy this neglect. Those peoples (Kushans, the Kidarite and Hephthalite Huns, Tuoba, Rouran, Turks…) had political, military, and commercial goals which made deep impressions on the Iranian and Romans states alike. Their history deserves to be told, and they ought to be portrayed as something other than demons, forces of nature, or an inexplicable succession of barbarians. Something similar may be said for China, which also had important relations with Iran, and so I was eager to situate the Sasanian state within the whole history of late-antique Eurasia. Finally, the history of Sasanian Iran poses a singular historiographical problem which I could not resist attempting to resolve. The problem is that hardly any contemporary Iranian sources have survived; and so historians have usually relied on contemporary Roman historians and posthumous universal histories written in Arabic from the Islamic era which purport to recycle Sasanian material. Neither group of sources is entirely trustworthy. But instead of trying to reconcile antithetical traditions, I set out to emphasise contemporary Armenian and Syriac sources, and to approach hostile and triumphalist Roman and Arabic accounts with scepticism. But I have not simply rehearsed in my own words what I found in my sources. Rigorous analysis still leaves dark patches and mysterious lacunae, and I enjoyed trying to fill them in with all the modern scholarship available to me and my own inferences. I hope that others may learn something new, and continue telling and retelling the story.

This multivolume work will present a political and military history of the Sasanian Empire in Late Antiquity (220s to 651 AD). The handbook will take the form of a narrative and situate Sasanian Iran within its proper context as a continental power between Rome and the world of the steppe nomad. The author will emphasise key elements of Sasanian foreign policy that forced the Roman Empire to recognise its equality and explain Sasanian policy vis-à-vis of the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula also. The book will show that the Sasanian Empire was far more diplomatically astute and militarily capable than is usually assumed, and that it had remarkable regenerative power when faced with both internal turmoil and external threats. Although literary histories are essential to the task, this book will bring together a great deal of archaeological and sigillographic data which have only recently come to light.

Campaigns of Germanicus, AD 13-16 describes briefly the campaigns, joint and combined ops., tactics, strategy, foreign policy, espionage, intelligence gathering, and strategy between ca. 60 BC and AD 150 with particular focus on Germanicus' campaigns.

Русский текст ниже

The article is dedicated to inappropriate borrowings and flawed methodology in publications of Prof. Nikolay Bolgov from Belgorod University. The article presents evidence that a large number of articles and books published by Bolgov under his name are in fact translations of works of English-language scholars such as Avril Cameron, Elizabeth Jeffreys and Michael Jeffreys, and others. Other text published under Bolgov’s name consist of the text of dissertations of his PhD and Master's students. In these cases, the publications are characterized by essentializing gender conceptions, factual mistakes and overall inconsistencies.

Статья рассматривает деятельность профессора Белгородского университета Николая Николаевича Болгова. Первая часть статьи посвящена недавней монографии Н. Н. Болгова «Женщина в Ранней Византии».
Показывается, что ввиду слабой и устаревшей методологии книга не соответствует стандартам современной науки. Кроме того, раскрывается тот факт, что большая часть книги совпадает с текстами аспирантских диссертаций, написанных под руководством Н. Н. Болгова в БелГУ.
Вторая часть статьи рассматривает выходящую под редакцией Н. Н. Болгова серию «Мир поздней античности». Показывается, что издающиеся в ней публикации источников являются переводами текста и критического аппарата английских изданий этих памятников. При этом, переводы выполнены на крайне низком уровне и часто сильно искажают смысл оригинала. Указывается, что как минимум в двух случаях Н. Н. Болгов публиковал переводы англоязычных исследований под собственным именем, не указывая истинного автора публикации.

Deze paper behandelt de parafrase van Manuel Moschopoulos op het eerste boek van de Ilias, meer bepaald zijn parafrase op de eerste 317 verzen ervan. Eerst wordt een historische context geboden om het werk te kaderen in de periode waarin het geschreven is, namelijk de Paleologische Renaissance. Binnen dit kader bevindt zich een uitweiding over het onderwijs, aangezien deze parafrase voor het onderwijs werd geschreven, en over het intellectuele milieu waarin Moschopoulos zich bevond.
Homeros kende en kent nog steeds zijn belang voor de literatuur. In een tweede hoofdstuk wordt besproken wat Homeros betekende voor de mensen in Byzantium, vooral in de periode van de 12e tot de 14e eeuw. Hieruit blijkt dat Homeros' werken vooral in het onderwijs gebruikt werden. De teksten inspireerden de mensen wel om na te denken over het verhaal achter zijn werken, maar men deed geen uitgebreide studies meer naar Homeros zoals bij de Alexandrijnen.
Het genre van de parafrase wordt uitgelegd met een opdeling in twee categorieën, die beiden hun aandeel kenden in het onderwijs, enerzijds als oefening, anderzijds als hulpmiddel bij het lezen van antieke teksten. De verschillende parafrases op de Ilias worden hier besproken.
Een hoofdstuk over het leven en werk van Moschopoulos moet duiding geven over de auteur in kwestie.
In een volgend hoofdstuk biedt ik de eerste vertaling ooit van de parafrase op de eerste 317 verzen van het eerste boek van de Ilias en een uitgebreide commentaar. Deze gaat dieper in op het taalgebruik van Moschopoulos, op de verhouding van zijn parafrase tot het origineel en op de mogelijke bronnen die hij heeft gebruikt bij het schrijven van zijn parafrase.

Der Artikel stellt einen Auszug aus folgender Veröffentlichung dar:

Stefan Heribert Huppertz-Wild: Otto III., Adalbert von Prag und das Herrscherbild im Aachener Liuthar-Evangeliar, Europäischer Dialog der Adalbert-Stiftung, Düsseldorf 2018, S. 101-112 (Die gesamte Arbeit steht zum kostenlosen Download auf dieser Seite zur Verfügung)

Es geht um die Frage inwiefern Kaiser Otto III. (996-1002) sich in seiner Herrschaftsrepräsentation an byzantinischen Formen orientiert hat. Dabei werden folgende Aspekte der Herrschaftsrepräsentation untersucht:

Besiegelungspraxis und Titulaturen, die Bedeutung der Heiligen Lanze (Vervielfältigung für Herrschaftsträger wie Boleslaw Chrobry und Stephan von Ungarn und die Bedeutung als Siegeszeichen), die Ehrung Boleslaw Chrobrys im Rahmen des Aktes von Gnesen, das Tafeln des Kaisers am erhöhten Tisch, die Vergabe byzantinischer Hofämter an Erzbischof Heribert und Leo von Vercelli, das Taufpatronat für Könige und Fürsten (jüngster Sohn Boleslaw Chrobrys, Stephan von Ungarn, Kinder des Dogen Petrus Orseolo) und die Körperverletzung des Papstes Johannes Philagathos.

Außerdem wird noch vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Forschung geklärt, ob die Augustuskamee auf dem Lothar-Kreuz in Aachen als eine Verkörperung Ottos III. gelten kann und ob man evtl. die ottonischen Herrscherbilder in Aachen, München und Bamberg als Bildpublikation nach spätantikem Vorbild auffassen kann.

Written in 1851 – 1869, Skarlatos Byzantios' three-volume masterpiece constitutes a feat of 19th c. scholarship, presented here for the first time in an annotated English translation. Drawing on Classical, Byzantine, Western European and Ottoman sources, Constantinople covers a vast period of over two and a half millennia, from the mythical foundation of Byzantium to Skarlatos' own time. A true polyglot and a keen observer, Skarlatos guides the reader through the neighbourhoods, monuments and social practices of his native city, assisted by detailed references to major historical events, personalities and long-forgotten anecdotes. His scholarly interests span across an impressive array of disciplines: political and social history, literature, architecture, epigraphy, urban planning, demography, ethnography, art and folklore. Above all, Skarlatos is a self-avowed devotee of the City of cities.

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

Η Ἔκθεσις Κεφαλαίων Παραινετικῶν είναι το μοναδικό κείμενο που μας κληροδότησε η γραφίδα του Αγαπητού Διακόνου. Το έργο αυτό, αποδέκτης του οποίου ήταν ο αυτοκράτωρ Ιουστινιανός Α΄ (527-565), γνώρισε πολύ μεγάλη διάδοση ήδη κατά τους βυζαντινούς χρόνους, αξιοποιήθηκε από την εποχή της Αναγέννησης ως εγχειρίδιο για τη διδασκαλία της ελληνικής γλώσσας στη Δύση και στις παραδουνάβιες ηγεμονίες, μεταφράστηκε σε πλήθος γλωσσών (βουλγαρική, λατινική, εκκλησιαστική σλαβονική, αγγλική, γαλλική, γερμανική κ.ά.) και επηρέασε περισσότερο από κάθε άλλο βυζαντινό κείμενο τον πολιτικό στοχασμό των λαών, οι οποίοι ήρθαν σε επαφή με τη Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία. Το ευσύνοπτο αυτό πόνημα αποκαλύπτει με ενάργεια τις θεμελιώδεις αρχές της πολιτικής σκέψης των Βυζαντινών κατά τον 6ο αιώνα αναφορικά με τις αρετές του ιδανικού ηγεμόνος και με τον ιδεατό τρόπο άσκησης της βασιλικής εξουσίας.
Ο παρών τόμος περιλαμβάνει το πρωτότυπο κείμενο της Ἐκθέσεως Κεφαλαίων Παραινετικῶν και την πρώτη απόδοση του έργου στη Νεοελληνική γλώσσα. Με την εισαγωγή και τα εκτενή ερμηνευτικά σχόλια που συνοδεύουν το κείμενο, το πόνημα του Αγαπητού Διακόνου εντάσσεται πλήρως στο ιστορικό και πολιτικό πλαίσιο της εποχής του, το ζήτημα της χρονολόγησης του έργου εξετάζεται υπό νέο πρίσμα και η διαχρονική αξία του κειμένου καθίσταται προφανής.
http://www.grigorisbooks.gr/product/1885/%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B7%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%8D-%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BA%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%85.-%CE%AD%CE%BA%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B9%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B5%CF%86%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%AF%CF%89%CE%BD-%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD

Dans l’Antiquité, christianisme et philosophie se font face comme deux voies d’accès à la vérité : l’une, par le moyen de la foi, l’autre, par la recherche rationnelle. Les rapports du christianisme et de la philosophie sont cependant plus complexes. Les néoplatoniciens accordent une place grandissante aux éléments extra-rationnels et en viennent à ne plus considérer la raison comme la seule voie d’accès au savoir. Inversement, les chrétiens reconnaissent une certaine vérité dans la philosophie et lui accordent un rôle préliminaire dans l’acquisition de la sagesse. Souvent convaincus que la révélation biblique est la source du savoir grec, les chrétiens présentent leur religion comme la seule « vraie philosophie ». Ce livre retrace les grandes lignes d’une confrontation qui joua un rôle capital dans la formation de la doctrine chrétienne comme dans la transmission de la culture gréco-romaine. Il amène à réviser certaines idées reçues sur le christianisme et son rapport à la raison.

This paper aims to discuss the importance of diplomacy as a major factor in the survival of the Byzantine Empire for 1123 years – from the inauguration of the empire’s capital, Constantinople on May 11, 330 CE, until the fall of Constantinople and, consequently, the Byzantine Empire to the hands of the Ottomans on May 29, 1453.  It was one of the longest lasting social organisations in history. Byzantium survived through adaptation and diplomacy.  The backbone of Byzantium’s longevity was its administration, which managed to adapt to frequent changes of rulers, and ongoing crises on its borders.  With a very limited military force and ongoing crises on its borders, diplomacy was the key for the empire’s survival.

Οι περισσότεροι παλαιοί δυτικοί ιστορικοί αντιμετώπιζαν κάποτε το Βυζάντιο ως μια τρόπον τινά παρηκμασμένη "ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή αυτοκρατορία". Σήμερα ωστόσο είναι κοινώς αποδεκτό ότι η συμπάθεια ή αντιπάθεια για τους Βυζαντινούς, τους χριστιανούς ή τις αυτοκρατορίες γενικά δεν θα πρέπει να επηρεάσει την κρίση ενός ιστορικού για μία αυτοκρατορία με ιστορικό βίο 1200 ετών, στη διάρκεια των οποίων το Βυζαντινό κράτος ("Ρωμανία" ή "Ρωμαίων πολιτεία") και η βυζαντινή κοινωνία γνώρισαν εποχές παρακμής όσο και άνθισης και προόδου.

Η πρωτοτυπία του έργου του Warren Treadgold, καθηγητή Βυζαντινών Σπουδών στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Saint Louis, έγκειται στο ότι συνδυάζει την αφήγηση των  γεγονότων από τις απαρχές της αυτοκρατορίας μέχρι την άλωση της Κωνσταντινούπολης από τους Οθωμανούς (1453), με παράλληλες αναλύσεις που αφορούν στην κοινωνία, τους θεσμούς και τον πολιτισμό της, στη διάρκεια των πολλαπλών χρονικών φάσεων της Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας (όπως ο ίδιος πρωτότυπα και επιγραμματικά τις οριοθετεί και προσδιορίζει).

Ο W. Treadgold εξετάζει καταρχάς τα αίτια των πολλαπλών επιτυχιών και αποτυχιών αλλά και της εντυπωσιακής μακροβιότητας του Βυζαντίου. Ερμηνεύει επίσης τα παράδοξα της πολυκύμαντης ιστορίας του, καταδεικνύοντας με ποιους τρόπους η πολιτική ιδεολογία και η εσωτερική διοίκηση, η διπλωματία, η στρατιωτική οργάνωση και η ευρύτερη στρατηγική, οι πολιτισμικοί άξονες και οι κοινωνικές και θεσμικές αλλαγές του Βυζαντίου αλληλεπιδρούσαν με τα συνήθως εντελώς διαφορετικά ή κάποτε ακόμη και παρόμοια χαρακτηριστικά (αδυναμίες και πλεονεκτήματα) των εχθρών της αυτοκρατορίας.

Η μετάφραση του έργου από τον Γεώργιο Λεβενιώτη για τις εκδόσεις Θύραθεν επιχειρεί να παραμείνει όσο γίνεται περισσότερο πιστή στο πρωτότυπο κείμενο, αλλά παράλληλα λαμβάνει αναγκαστικά υπόψη τις σημαντικές διαφορές μεταξύ της ελληνικής και της αγγλικής γλώσσας σε όλους τους τομείς (φωνολογικό, συντακτικό και μορφολογικό). Ιδιαίτερη προσοχή δόθηκε στην ορθή απόδοση των πολυάριθμων κυρίων ονομάτων και των τεχνικών όρων και στη μετάφραση και παράδοση ενός σαφούς και ρέοντος τελικού κειμένου, το οποίο θα διαβάζεται ευχάριστα, δεν θα κουράζει και θα είναι απολύτως κατανοητό από το ελληνικό αναγνωστικό κοινό.

В истории «даров волхвов» из монастыря святого Павла на Афоне можно проследить по историческим источникам следующие периоды: 1) «дароносивые златые сосуды, иже принесоша Христу с дары волсви» в XI-XII вв. хранились в ризнице св. Софии; 2) в 1470 г. Мара Бранкович, дочь сербского деспота Георгия Бранковича и Ирины Кантакузины, жена османского султана Мурата II, принесла «дароносивые златые сосуды, иже принесоша Христу с дары волсви» в дар сербскому монастырю св. Павла на Афоне, о чем гласил турецкий фирман, утраченный во время пожара 1902 г.; 3) в XVI-XVII вв. «дароносивые златые сосуды, иже принесоша Христу с дары волсви» были переделаны в золотой пояс, насчитывающий 9 золотых пластин и 69 бусин из смеси ладана и смирны; 4) после 1744 г., когда монастырь св. Павла вновь заселили греки, число пластин увеличилось до 28, а бусин убавилось на 7.

This paper follows the footsteps of scholars such as Averil Cameron who argue that Orientalism might be a useful approach to studying the reception of Byzantium. Therefore, it discusses the »Oriental« nature of the imagery of Byzantium

– especially in the 19 th century – and to what extent it might be beneficial to study the reception of Byzantium as a form of what Edward Said called Orientalism. It is argued that, contrary to what some scholars have claimed, Byzantinism can sometimes be construed as a rather complex issue with a clear political agenda. Byzantinism is thus understood here as a polyphonic term, which can simultaneously include various – often contradictory – meanings. The paper shows that Byzantinism was used in certain cases to express the same ideas and prejudices as evoked by the term Orientalism.

Slavery may no longer exist as a legal institution, but we still find many forms of enslavement in contemporary societies. It is a troubling paradox, and one this book addresses by considering a period in which the definition of slavery and freedom proved considerably flexible. Between more familiar forms of slavery, those of antiquity and of the Americas, the institution as it was practiced and theorized in the Byzantine Mediterranean was of a different nature.

Looking at the Byzantine concept of slavery within the context of law, the labor market, medieval politics, and religion, Youval Rotman illustrates how these contexts both reshaped and sustained the slave market. By focusing on a period of great change, his historical analysis brings a new perspective to concepts of slavery and freedom. In this period, when Byzantium had to come to terms with the rising power of the Islamic state, and to fight numerous wars over territory and economic interests, Rotman traces a shift in the cultural perception of slaves as individuals: they began to be seen as human beings instead of private property. His book analyzes slavery as a historical process against the background of the political, social, and religious transformation of the Mediterranean world, and demonstrates the flexible and adaptable character of this institution.

Arguing against the use of the term slavery for any extreme form of social dependency, Rotman shows instead that slavery and freedom are unrelated concepts. His work offers a radical new understanding of the geopolitical and religious dynamics that have defined and redefined slavery and freedom, in the past and in our own time.

The Florence Manuscript, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Laur. Plut. 75.3, has preserved a collection of medical remedies traditionally attributed to an otherwise unknown female author called Metrodora. In this article, I reinforce the argument that probably only the first part of this text was an original compo- sition, whereas parts two and three are excerpts from other medical authors. Moreover, I propose that Metrodora’s text must be read according to three different perspectives: the production of Byzantine medical collections (syllogai), the Byzantine hospitals, and the role of women in the medical field in the late antique and Byzantine periods.

The Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886–912), was not a general or even a soldier, like his predecessors, but a scholar, and it was the religious education he gained under the tutelage of the patriarch Photios that was to distinguish him as an unusual ruler. This book analyses Leo's literary output, focusing on his deployment of ideological principles and religious obligations to distinguish the characteristics of the Christian oikoumene from the Islamic caliphate, primarily in his military manual known as the Taktika. It also examines in depth his 113 legislative Novels, with particular attention to their theological prolegomena, showing how the emperor's religious sensibilities find expression in his reshaping of the legal code to bring it into closer accord with Byzantine canon law. Meredith L. D. Riedel argues that the impact of his religious faith transformed Byzantine cultural identity and influenced his successors, establishing the Macedonian dynasty as a 'golden age' in Byzantium.

This paper collects and evaluates all available data from the Byzantine and Eastern (Armenian, Arabic, Syrian, Turkish) sources that demonstrate that the Battle of Mantzikert (August 26, 1071 AD) was not, at least in diplomatic terms, a great disaster for the Byzantine state, as is usually supported. During the negotiations and in the official peace treaty that followed at the Turkish military camp near the area of the battlefield (late August - early September), the concessions of the defeated and captured Byzantine emperor Romanos ΙV Diogenes to the victor Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan were rather limited. Consequently, Byzantium did not officially concede or lost lands of considerable size to its eastern border in 1071 AD.

The Patria is a fascinating four-book collection of short historical notes, stories, and legends about the buildings and monuments of Constantinople, compiled in the late tenth century by an anonymous author who made ample use of older sources. It also describes the foundation and early (pre-Byzantine) history of the city, and includes the Narrative on the Construction of Hagia Sophia, a semi-legendary account of Emperor Justinian I’s patronage of this extraordinary church (built between 532 and 537). The Patria constitutes a unique record of popular traditions about the city, especially its pagan statues, held by its medieval inhabitants. At the same time it is the only Medieval Greek text to present a panorama of the city as it existed in the middle Byzantine period. Despite its problems of historical reliability, the Patria is still one of our main guides for the urban history of medieval Constantinople. This translation makes the entire text of the Patria accessible in English for the first time.

Доклад «’’Звенигородский чин” прп. Андрея Рублева: современные проблемы изучения» на III Чтениях памяти В.А. Плугина на историческом факультете МГУ 14 ноября 2017 г.  В докладе полностью доказана по данным всего комплекса источников неоспоримая принадлежность знаменитого «Звенигородского чина» кисти великого иконописца прп. Андрея Рублева († 17.10.1428). Тем самым начисто развенчаны легковесные мнения молодых сотрудников ГТГ Л.В. Нерсесяна и С.В. Свердловой (поддержанных только А.М. Лидовым), прозвучавшие на круглом столе в Третьяковской галерее 21 июня 2017 г., что «Звенигородский чин» 1396 г. якобы не был написан прп. Андреем Рублевым и отличается от его общепризнанных икон, таких, как чудотворная икона «Живоначальная Троица». Такие незрелые суждения не соответствуют уровню современного научного знания об этих шедеврах и обусловлены недостаточной осведомленностью авторов «сенсации» о творческой биографии всемирно известного иконописца Древней Руси, которая взята ими для корреляции: «получается, что Рублев, будучи еще совсем молодым мастером, создал одно из самых совершенных и сложных по технике произведений древнерусской живописи, но через четверть века по какой-то неизвестной причине радикальным образом изменил свою манеру» (Софья Свердлова).
Доклад проф. О.Г. Ульянова, заведующего Сектором церковной археологии ФГБУК «Центральный музей древнерусской культуры и искусства имени прп. Андрея Рублева», подготовлен на базе научно-исследовательского проекта «Преподобный Андрей Рублев в Спасо-Андрониковом монастыре».