Averil
Cameron, Byzantine Matters, Princeton University Press 2014
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| Introduction |
For
many of us, Byzantium remains "byzantine"--obscure, marginal,
difficult. Despite the efforts of some recent historians, prejudices still
deform popular and scholarly understanding of the Byzantine civilization, often
reducing it to a poor relation of Rome and the rest of the classical world. In
this book, renowned historian Averil Cameron presents an original and personal
view of the challenges and questions facing historians of Byzantium today.
The
book explores five major themes, all subjects of controversy.
"Absence" asks why Byzantium is routinely passed over, ignored, or
relegated to a sphere of its own. "Empire" reinserts Byzantium into
modern debates about empire, and discusses the nature of its system and its
remarkable longevity. "Hellenism" confronts the question of the
"Greekness" of Byzantium, and of the place of Byzantium in modern
Greek consciousness. "The Realms of Gold" asks what lessons can be
drawn from Byzantine visual art, and "The Very Model of Orthodoxy"
challenges existing views of Byzantine Christianity.
Throughout,
the book addresses misconceptions about Byzantium, suggests why it is so
important to integrate the civilization into wider histories, and lays out why
Byzantium should be central to ongoing debates about the relationships between
West and East, Christianity and Islam, Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, and
the ancient and medieval periods. The result is a forthright and compelling
call to reconsider the place of Byzantium in Western history and imagination.
