A Short History of Byzantium

by John Julius Norwich

Paperback, 1998

Status

Available

Call number

949.502

Publication

Vintage (1998), Edition: Reprint, 496 pages

Description

"At a moment when the splendors of Byzantine art are being rediscovered and celebrated in America, John Julius Norwich has brought together in this remarkable edition the most important and fascinating events of his dazzling trilogy of the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire." "With wit, intelligence and an unerring eye for riveting detail, Lord Norwich tells the dramatic history of Byzantium from its beginnings in AD 330 when Constantine the Great moved the imperial capital from Rome to the site of an old Greek port in Asia Minor called Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople, to its rise as the first and most long-lasting Christian empire, to its final heroic days and eventual defeat by the Turks in 1453." "It was a history marked by tremendous change and drama: the adoption of Christianity by the Greco-Roman world; the fall of Rome and its empire; the defeat by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071; the reigns of Constantine, Theodosius the Great, Justinian and Basil II. There were centuries of bloodshed in which the empire struggled for its life; centuries of controversy in which men argued about the nature of Christ and the Church; centuries of scholarship in which ancient culture was kept alive and preserved by scribes; and, most of all, centuries of creativity in which the Byzantine genius brought forth art and architecture inspired by a depth of spirituality unparalleled in any other age. After more than fourteen centuries, the ever-dazzling brilliance of the mosaics of Ravenna and the ethereal splendor of the great church of St. Sophia in Istanbul still have the power to take one's breath away."--Jacket.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jcbrunner

This abridgement of his three volume work naturally has to compress the enormous amount of information of an empire that lasted more than a thousand years into a few pages. It is a gripping read of palace politics and infighting that neglects the underlying structural and economic aspects and is

sometimes lacking in analysis. Overall, a good introduction to a murderously sparkling cast on the world's stage.

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LibraryThing member Widsith

This is history the way you always wished it could be but never is. It is a scarcely-believable catalogue of violent deaths (try being pierced at close range by hundreds of arrows until you bleed slowly to death), sexual intrigues (one Empress had specially-trained geese to peck corn from her

nether regions), and religious oddities (men who live their whole lives on top of a column, for instance).

With barbarian hordes, crusading knights, treasures and quests, the whole thing is like Tolkien got together with David Lynch to invent something that you could never get away with if it were fiction.

There are times, especially near the beginning and end, where you can tell that this has been abridged from the three-volume edition (which doesn't seem to be easily available any more). But on the whole it's a very enjoyable and fascinating canter through a period of history which is still not well known, and which is the link from the classical world to the mediaeval world. Great fun.

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LibraryThing member pechmerle

Survey's the 1100 year history of the Byzantine Empire (330 - 1453) in 350 pages. Has some wonderful anecdotes that illustrate the overall story. But this is also a work with serious significance for today. Most of us forget that the conflict between Christian and Moslem forces in the Middle East

was first a collision between this Orthodox Christian empire and Moslem power. What the author relates about the role of Western, Catholic crusaders in this conflict, and their ultimate impact on the outcome is both saddening and very relevant for present events.

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LibraryThing member john257hopper

This is an absolutely marvellous work of narrative history, which I was inspired to read after watching the first episode of Simon Sebag Montefiore's recent TV documentary on the history of the three cities of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul. The book is an abridged version of the author's own

three volume history of the 1,123 years and 18 days that the Byzantine Empire lasted, from its consecration by Constantine the Great, the first Roman Emperor to adopt Christianity, to the final collapse of the moribund empire, reduced to the size of the city of Constantinople itself, at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II in the early hours of Tuesday 29 May 1453, the last Emperor Constantine XI Paleologus being presumed killed in the melee of the final defence. The story covers a rich galaxy of colourful, fascinating, heroic, horrifying and tragic Emperors, Empresses, princes, Patriarchs, generals and others. The Empire was the guardian of the gems of Latin and Greek civilisation during the time of the so called Dark Ages in Western Europe, after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and the creator of fabulous art and architecture, much of which was destroyed not only by foreign conquerors, but also by the Byzantines themselves during the period when the iconoclasts held sway. Byzantium was often ruled by people whose actions can seem shockingly cruel to us now (the same goes for any other past civilisation, of course), while at the same time, many of those rulers were great scholars and lovers of philosophy and culture, and generally tolerant of other races. These features combine to shed a fascinating and absorbing light on an Empire which is relatively little known to most readers in Western Europe today, obscured by the preeminence of the western Roman cultural heritage. Finally, the book comes replete with many maps, genealogical tables and lists of Emperors, Popes, Sultans and Despots. A great read, and I am tempted to seek out the full three volume version.

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LibraryThing member pbjwelch

Surprisingly, a history book one can read from beginning to finish that reads like a novel, while retaining enough factual information to be an evergreen reference book. Not that the one function doesn't intrude upon the other once in a while--there are pages where you will hunger for more details

(and isn't this how we determine the next books we want to read?) and other pages where one's eyes begin to glaze over (all those Leo's, Matthew's, Constantine's and Nicholas' ... ARGH!). But a book in which I was sorely sorry to turn the last page.

I confess I am a JJ Norwich fan and have read (or am currently reading) several of his other books. (You know the question about whom you would like to be seated next to at a dinner party? He is my number one choice.) Although not trained as an academician (which appears to have been of concern to some readers), he is one of the best historians I have read. His sheer love of the subject is totally engaging, and is clearly based upon decades of research, and reading, and walking the very lanes, and visiting many of the locales that played a role in this rich history. Moreover, despite being the condensation of three large volumes, Norwich still managed to include many of those fascinating little tales and facts that add just the right punch to the text and stick in your memory. (The maps and dynastic charts are also especially helpful and I copied several to tuck into other reference books.)

If you have any reason to read about the history of Byzantium and its 1123 years and 18 days (330-1453) of wars and arguments, not only with its neighbours but also within its ruling families, wait no more. A treat awaits you.

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LibraryThing member melmyer

This is probably one of my favorite books. Intrigue, romance, mystery, murder.. the Byzantines had it all!

LibraryThing member tuckerresearch

A wonderful book that forces you to realize that the Byzantine Empire contributed more to the modern world than you think. Those Muslim Arabs that gave us the Renaissance? They got all the stuff from the Byzantines. So congratulate the Greeks too, damnit.

LibraryThing member woollymammoth

Half way throguh this and already wanting to go to Istanbul.

LibraryThing member zakvreeland

Totally cool. There's a loner version, but this is so entertaining. Emperors captured, barbarian kings making their skulls into silver encrusted goblets.

LibraryThing member niklin

As the title suggests, this is a short version of the history of the Byzantium Empire, based on the trilogy on 1200 pages by the same author. In the preface the author excuses himself that he had to omit so many anecdotes and jokes in this short story. But after reading this book, I actually

can’t stop wondering how the original three volumes are, considering this one proved to be extremely entertaining 380 pages that made me laugh out loudly more than ones.
According to Norwich, the eastern empire with Constantinople as the capital of the empire wasn’t an offshoot of the Roman Empire. It was the natural successor, since the eastern Mediterranean had become both the economical and the intellectual hub of the empire. At the same time it was the part under most eminent external threat, and needed the constant attention of a present emperor. Therefore the fall of West Rome can be seen as the natural shrinking of the whole Roman Empire, losing the less important parts during a severely chaotic era. The Byzantine Empire was actually the guardian of most of the European culture, history, and science, during dark times when the Western Europe, couldn’t give it any shelter. The Empire wasn’t just a corrupt, internal striving, military weak, cruel and bizarre freak (but the author provides us with ample examples of that too) that was constantly shrinking. It fought back several times under successful emperors, beating many fearful opponents, growing in size, and having occasional Golden ages. Today Byzantium is mostly seen as an example of how Christian world was fighting, several Muslim invasions during The Middle Ages. That is partly true, but an important factor in the destruction of Byzantium, was the constant state of war the Empire found itself in with more or less Christian neighbor states in the Balkans, city-states of Italy, and western catholic kingdoms with the backing of the Pope. The ever-lasting fuel for many of these disputes was the internal strive in the Christian church, between the Latin pope and the Orthodox Greeks. All the crusades were also utterly catastrophic for the Christian Byzantine Empire, the worst being the morally deplorable forth crusade that never even reached Palestine, but instead ended up in Constantinople sacking the city and installing a Latin king there. After this treatment of fellow Christians, the orthodox Byzantines in the last 100 years of the existence of the Empire didn’t have much stamina left to fight of the Ottomans, who actually at the time proved to be far more lenient masters. The small, corrupt, plundered and bankrupt remnants of the Empire at last succumbed to the Ottoman tide, without much help from the West. In the end only the city of Constantinople held out in the epic, heroic but sad siege against the Turks, that ended with the fall of the city and the total destruction of the Empire 1453 (also described by Roger Crowley in his book 1453).

The book can best be described as a rather orthodox form of history literature, focusing on emperors, their wars and opponents, and less so on economics, social issues etc. But Norwich has done this with amazing distinction, spiced with some anecdotes and a amazing language. At times it’s hard to keep the names of all Emperors, generals, Empresses apart, but with about 100 emperors in a book of 380 pages, it is certainly a normal phenomenon that the author can’t be blamed for. The story telling of the book is somewhat anecdotal, but the author is clear enough pointing out when that is the case. One of the most entertaining history books I have ever read. A five out of five, and maybe I will go for the trilogy….

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LibraryThing member davidpwithun

Excellent introduction to the history Byzantium. This is the first truly fair and balanced (and quite detailed) account of the Byzantine Empire that I've yet come across.

LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind

All-encompassing history of an all too obscure subject.

LibraryThing member BrianFannin

This one was a bit of a slog. Don't get me wrong, Norwich's writing style is very light and not remotely academic, but there's a sameness to both subject and treatment that lulls one into an occasional sense of confusion. The real trouble is that there's little emphasis on which events or people

may be more relevant than others. Norwich skips from one battle or imperial intrigue to the next without ever drawing a breath. Further, there's the lack of much context about other contemporary empires. The Arabs rise up, threaten Byzantium, are beaten back and then seem to disappear. Where's any further information about the rise of the Baghdad Caliphate and its connection to the Turks? OK, the length of the narrative doesn't leave much room for detail and Norwich warns us in the introduction that it'll be a fast ride. Norwich is a fantastic storyteller and any book with the sentence "There was the usual frenzy of murder and pillage" can't be all bad.

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LibraryThing member mattries37315

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 ended what the population always identified as the Roman Empire, but has become known as the Byzantine Empire that John Julius Norwich thought had been given a bad reputation in “the West”. In “A Short History of Byzantium” Norwich condensed his

three-volume history of the Greek-flavored Roman Empire into a general history for those interested in history but do not have time for lengthy studies.

In covering almost 1200 years of history in about 400 pages, Norwich had to trim to the barebones of Byzantine history with only tidbits of detail that whet the appetite to want to know more for those interested. While frustration as it might be for those who want more than a “general history”, for those looking for just a straight-forward informative history this book is concise and lively written to keep you from falling asleep.

For those wondering if they should read Norwich’s three-volume history of Byzantium then this book will let you know the author’s writing style as well as make you want to purchase the multi-volume series. For those looking only for a concise history of a nearly 1200 year old empire this is a book for you.

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LibraryThing member ritaer

A bit of a heavy slog, partially due to the ancient habit of repeating names in ruling families--with some irony Constantinople was founded by Constantine I, also known as "the Great" and its final emperor was Constantine XI Paleologus. It would be unfair to say that the latter ruler lost

Constantine to the Turks. By all accounts he did everything possible to save the remains of the empire and died courageously in its final day as a Christian city. But, as is the nature of monarchies the rulers between these Constantines included brave men and cowards, thrifty and wastrels, wise and foolish, abstemious and self-indulgent, honest and corrupt. One advantage that the Empire had in choosing rulers was that it was not entirely a hereditary monarchy. Ruling emperors could pass over an older son for a younger or bring in a favored nephew or son-in-law as a co-ruler and assumed heir. OTH this had the disadvantage that civil wars could break out if there were rival claimants who refused to step down gracefully. It also allowed for claimants proclaimed by the army to be seen as valid.
The history of Byzantium is also inevitability the history of Christian theology as the East and the West grew apart in interpretation of fine points of doctrine and wars were fought over the differing beliefs about the nature of Jesus. Later came the battles between the iconoclasts who wanted no physical representations of God or saints and the icon supporters, who eventually triumphed.
Good emperors tended to support the small landowners against the nobility, knowing that a healthy peasant class the the backbone of the army, But this was not always possible for an emperor who had natural affinity with a powerful noble family or needed support in a civil war or other conflict.
The Empire faced many problems through the centuries. Once the threat from the Persian Empire ended the religion of Islam united the southern peoples as a threat. From the west the city suffered from the mercantile rivalry of Venice and Genoa and from the depredations of Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land. In short, a long, complex and interesting history. However, like many histories this focuses exclusively on the power struggles at the top and with foreign powers. There is little about the everyday life of the people: how did they farm, what did they manufacture and trade; what was the justice system like, how did men and women of the different classes actually spend their lives? The work would also have benefited from several small maps within the text to help keep track of invasions and expansions. Cities and territories mentioned in the text were difficult to locate on the maps in the front of the book. I suspect the author or editors of thinking "who doesn't know where Thessalonika is.?' "Me sure."

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