"Byzantine Narrative: Papers in Honour of Roger Scott"--"Copyright"--"Dedication" -- "Contents" -- "Introduction" -- "Roger Scott" -- "List of Illustrations" -- "KEYNOTE PAPERS" -- "Novelisation in Byzantium: Narrative after the Revival of Fiction" -- "Narrating Justinian: From Malalas to Manasses" -- "NARRATIVE IN HISTORIANS, CHRONICLES & FICTION" -- "To Narrate the Events of the Past: On Byzantine Historians, and Historians on Byzantium" -- "Tradition and Originality in Photius' Historical Reading" -- "Narrating the Trials and Death in Exile of Pope Martin I and Maximus the Confessor" -- "The Use of Metaphor in Michael Psellos' Chronographia" -- "War and Peace in the Alexiad" -- "Moralising History: the Synopsis Historiarum of John Skylitzes" -- "The Representation of Augustae in John Skylitzes' Synopsis Historiarum" -- "The Madrid Skylitzes as an Audio-Visual Experiment" -- "The Goths and the Bees in Jordanes: A Narrative of No Return" -- "From 'Fallen Woman' to Theotokos: Music, Women's Voices and Byzantine Narratives of Gender Identity" -- "How the Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds became a Tale: Grafting Narrative" -- "Lamenting the Fall or Disguising a Manifesto? The Poem Conquest of Constantinople" -- "A Probable Solution to the Problem of the Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans" -- "NARRATIVE IN BYZANTINE ART" -- "The Narration of Christ' s Passion in Early Christian Art" -- "Observations on the Paintings of the Exodus Chapel, Bagawat Necropolis, Kharga Oasis, Egypt" -- "The Column of Arcadius: Retlections of a Roman Narrative Tradition" -- "Biblical Narrative in the Mosaics of Bishop Theodore's Cathedral, Aquileia" -- "Plato, Plutarch and the Sibyl in the Fresco Decoration of the Episcopal Church of the Virgin Ljeviška in Prizren" -- "Narrativity in Armenian Manuscript Illustration

Winner of the Bakeless Prize for Fiction, an imaginative debut that ranges from Havana to Berlin * A Kansas City Star Best Book of the Year * One of Publishers Weekly's "Best Summer Books"* Ancient cities and fallen empires come to life in this masterful collection. In the Byzantine court, a noble with a crippled hand is called upon to ensure that a holy man poses no threat to the throne. On an island in Lake Michigan, a religious community crumbles after an ardent convert digs a little too deep. And the black detective Jackson Hieronymus Burke rises to fame and falls from favor in two stories that recount his origins in Havana and the height of his success in Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany. Ben Stroud's historical reimaginings twist together with contemporary stories to reveal startling truths about human nature across the centuries. In his able hands, Byzantium makes us believe that these are accounts we haven't heard yet. As the chronicler of Burke's exploits muses, "After all, where does history exist, except in our imagination? Does that make it any less true?"

Byzantine chronicles have traditionally been regarded as a somewhat inferior form of Byzantine history writing, especially in comparison with 'classicizing' historians. The aim of many of these papers is both to rescue the reputation of the Byzantine chroniclers, especially Malalas and Theophanes, and also to provide some examples of how these two chroniclers in particular can be exploited usefully both to reveal aspects of the past itself, notably of the period of Justinian, and also of how the Byzantines interpreted their own past, which included on occasions rewriting that past to suit altered contemporary needs. For the period of Justinian in particular, proper attention to aspects of the humble Byzantine chronicle can also help achieve a better understanding of the period than that provided by the classicizing Procopius with his emphasis on war and conquest. By considering more general aspects of the place of history-writing in Byzantine culture, the papers also help explain why history remained such an important aspect of Byzantine culture.

The first comparative, cross-cultural study of medieval illustrated histories that engages in a direct, confrontational dialogue with Byzantine historical memory.

Using new methodological and theoretical approaches, A Companionto Byzantium presents an overview of the Byzantine world fromits inception in 330 A.D. to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Provides an accessible overview of eleven centuries ofByzantine society Introduces the most recent scholarship that is transforming thefield of Byzantine studies Emphasizes Byzantium's social and cultural history, as well asits material culture Explores traditional topics and themes through freshperspectives

Offering a comprehensive introduction to the history of books, readers and reading in the Byzantine Empire and its sphere of influence, this volume addresses a paradox. Advanced literacy was rare among imperial citizens, being restricted by gender and class. Yet the state's economic, religious and political institutions insisted on the fundamental importance of the written record. Starting from the materiality of codices, documents and inscriptions, the volume's contributors draw attention to the evidence for a range of interactions with texts. They examine the role of authors, compilers and scribes. They look at practices such as the close perusal of texts in order to produce excerpts, notes, commentaries and editions. But they also analyse the social implications of the constant intersection of writing with both image and speech. Showcasing current methodological approaches, this collection of essays aims to place a discussion of Byzantium within the mainstream of medieval textual studies.

For an entire millennium, Byzantine hagiography, inspired by the veneration of many saints, exhibited literary dynamism and a capacity to vary its basic forms. The subgenres into which it branched out after its remarkable start in the fourth century underwent alternating phases of development and decline that were intertwined with changes in the political, social and literary spheres. The selection of saintly heroes, an interest in depicting social landscapes, and the modulation of linguistic and stylistic registers captured the voice of homo byzantinus down to the end of the empire in the fifteenth century. The seventeen chapters in this companion form the sequel to those in volume I which dealt with the periods and regions of Byzantine hagiography, and complete the first comprehensive survey ever produced in this field. The book is the work of an international group of experts in the field and is addressed to both a broader public and the scholarly community of Byzantinists, medievalists, historians of religion and theorists of narrative. It highlights the literary dimension and the research potential of a representative number of texts, not only those appreciated by the Byzantines themselves but those which modern readers rank high due to their literary quality or historical relevance.