Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Dumbarton Oaks Texts) [Hardcover]

Constantine Porphyrogenitus (Author), Gyula Moravcsik (Editor), R. J. H. Jenkins (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0884020215 | ISBN-13: 978-0884020219 | Publication Date: January 1, 1967 | Edition: Revised

This is a reprint of the second revised edition of the text and translation of the De Administrando Imperio written and compiled by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in the tenth century. It contains a wide variety of information on both foreign relations and internal administration and is one of the most important historical documents surviving from the Middle Byzantine period. Its confidential character and generally honest appraisal of the empire’s political situation enhance its value for students of Byzantium and Europe during this period. The edition includes general and critical introductions, an index of proper names, and an extensive glossary, as well as grammatical notes and an index of sources and parallel passages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With the republication of this notable tenth-century treatise on the statecraft by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogentius, Dumbarton Oaks has inaugurated a most welcome and auspicious project of issuing revised and updated editions of major Byzantine texts...The revised edition of the De Administrando Imperio has been admirably accomplished. (Catholic Historical Review )

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection; Revised edition (January 1, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884020215
• ISBN-13: 978-0884020219
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > History > Europe > Greece

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byzantine Precursor to Machiavelli's The Prince, April 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Dumbarton Oaks Texts) (Hardcover)

Excellent translation, and notes, of this treatise on realpolitik written in the 10th century AD. The author, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, ruled the most powerful European polity of the period and intended the treatise to be a guidebook for his son in dealing with the empire's neighbours.

It is a manual on statecraft and diplomacy, as well as providing crucial historical and ethnographic information of the period it deals with. Byzantine foreign policy is clearly borne out and the ruthlessness of some of it's 'byzantine' recommendations put this treatise on a par with Machiavelli's The Prince in it's realpolitical nature. For instance, Constantine's recommendations on how to deal with different types of enemies extends to allies and friendly neighbours, should they be deemed enemies or dangerous at some point in the future. It is a definite 'eye-opener' and first hand account of the complicated world of a superpower's diplomatic and international relations in the medieval world five centuries before Machiavelli.

The translation itself, with extensive and very helpful notes, is excellent and flows well - not clumsy, as some translated documents can be/seem. The preface is also useful, charting the history of the document and begs the very tantalising question of whether this treatise could have found it's way to early Renaissance Italy and Machiavelli.

It is not as entertaining as Machiavelli's The Prince but it was written and intended solely as a manual on statecraft. It may also cause some difficulty for the general reader (from a Western perspective) in getting to grips with the historical, geographical and ethnographic details, as it deals with these issues extensively but Byzantine history is not that well known, on a general level, in the US and Western Europe outside of academic circles. Those familiar with Byzantine history and early East European history will find this an informative document. From an academic point of view it is an invaluable source for Byzantine history and the early history of international relations.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Words of an Emperor, June 27, 2005

By 

Mark D. Merlino (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Dumbarton Oaks Texts) (Hardcover)

"De Administrando Imperio" is a fascinating look into the mind of a well read Byzantine Emperor, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who lived from 905-959 AD. This book is in fact a secret imperial foreign policy manual, written for his son Romanus. As such, the point of view demonstrated in this book is very unlike anything you will find in the writings of other famous Byzantine authors. In this text you gain a deeper understanding of the apprehension the Byzantines had about the various northern tribes and the respect that they had for the Roman heritage of the Latins and for the strength of the Arabs.

This book is a well-organized collection of various bits of foreign policy advice. In this edition, the text is bilingual, with the original Greek and an English translation on opposite pages. This arrangement is very handy for checking the English translation or helping to read the original.

The book is divided into an introduction and 53 different chapters, each on a different theme. The introduction is fascinating in itself as it tells much of how someone born and raised to be a Byzantine emperor understood government. The chapters are divided by geography and nations in the following order; Pechenegs, Russians, Hungarians (called Turks), Bulgarians, Arabs, Spain, Lombardy, Venice, Dalmatia, Croats, Serbs, Armenians, Georgians, Cyprus, Peloponnese, and Cherson in the Crimea.

A must read for anyone interested in Byzantine governance or the history of the 10th century.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cheap with substance, October 31, 2007

By 

Paul N. Mcculloch "Biblioholic" (Burnaby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (Dumbarton Oaks Texts) (Hardcover)

15 bones gets you a solid chunk of primary source. buy it!
comes in the Greek AND the English.