This study, centred around the reign of the usurping Emperor Romanus Lecapenus, was originally published in 1929, reissued in 1963, and has been out of print for several years. It contributed to the revival of interest in Byzantine studies at that time, and has since remained one of the most authoritative and readable accounts of the period.
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Editorial Reviews
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'A remarkably able book ... A fine piece of work - in every respect a most valuable contribution to the history of a difficult period.' New Statesman
'Deep learning and taste and skill in its presentation have combined to produce a work which is a credit to Cambridge scholarship and history.' The Times
'A very readable book, extraordinarily full of detail yet never dull. It seems to me to be a model of what such books should be.' Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature
'The author has certainly provided for this hitherto neglected emperor his 'proper mansion in history'.' English Historical Review
'Deep learning and taste and skill in its presentation have combined to produce a work which is a credit to Cambridge scholarship and history.' The Times
'A very readable book, extraordinarily full of detail yet never dull. It seems to me to be a model of what such books should be.' Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature
'The author has certainly provided for this hitherto neglected emperor his 'proper mansion in history'.' English Historical Review
Book Description
Originally published in 1929, with a hardcover reissue in 1963, this study of the usurping Byzantium emperor is released again in response to the current revival of interest in Byzantium studies.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romanus Lecapenus' Rise to Power,
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This review is from: The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium (Cambridge Paperback Library) (Paperback)
This book is a wonderful introduction not only to Emperor Romanus and the various challenges he faced in his reign but also to the state of the east Mediterrianian world in the first half of the Tenth Century. Runciman manages once again to apply energetic prose to sound scholarship. He also navigates the reader through the complicated intrigues at the Imperial Court in Constantinople which can be hard to understand for the beginning Byzantine Scholar. Runciman makes the reader conscious of the fact that the soldier-emperors Nicephorus Phocas, John Tsmiszes and Basil II of the second half of Tenth century benefitted from the leadership of Romanus and the well- oiled Byzantine administrative and military machine he guided for twenty-five years. I warmly recommend this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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A rare and excellent read,
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This review is from: The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium (Cambridge Paperback Library) (Paperback)
What more can be said (looking at the other reviews)about a brilliant author giving us superb insight into a man and time where a lack of original source material is glaring. Lecapenus, much maligned by his son in law and Gibbons, now comes to light as a wise and sensible ruler exactly when he was needed....
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterpiece of Runciman,
This review is from: The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium (Cambridge Paperback Library) (Paperback)
I don't know, maybe i am not objective with Runciman's work, i considered himself the most extraordinary historian,although he is not the "modern type of novelist historian" he still is the person that most successfully brings me in the period that he describes. It is unbelievable that he was so young when he wrote this book. Never before Lecapenu's period was analyzed so well by the historians like Gibbon or Finlay and their judgment was so negative, after this all historians wrote for the Lecapenu's period the same exactly opinion that he gave more than 75 years ago.This has to mean something. It is so beautiful to think that Lecapenus, the ninth century of byzantium is living trough the book so well written by the biggest historian ever.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE original sources for a history of the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his reign divide themselves naturally into four categories, according to language : (i) the Greek and Slavonic, the latter being either translated or almost wholly derived from the former, (ii) the Latin, (iii) the Armenian and Caucasian, and (iv) the Arabic. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
imperial prestige Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Cath, John Curcuas, King of Kings, Romanus Lecapenus, Leo Phocas, Constantine Porphyrogennetus, Empress Zoe, Asia Minor, Black Sea, Southern Italy, Patriarch Nicholas, Byzantine Italy, Vivien de Saint-Martin, Imperial Court, John Eladas, King of Abasgia, Symeon of Bulgaria, Vita Euthymii, Alan Gates, Bulgarian Church, Byzantine Court, Gulf of Burgas, Leo the Wise, Nicephorus Phocas, Domestic of the Schools New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE original sources for a history of the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and his reign divide themselves naturally into four categories, according to language : (i) the Greek and Slavonic, the latter being either translated or almost wholly derived from the former, (ii) the Latin, (iii) the Armenian and Caucasian, and (iv) the Arabic. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
imperial prestige Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Cath, John Curcuas, King of Kings, Romanus Lecapenus, Leo Phocas, Constantine Porphyrogennetus, Empress Zoe, Asia Minor, Black Sea, Southern Italy, Patriarch Nicholas, Byzantine Italy, Vivien de Saint-Martin, Imperial Court, John Eladas, King of Abasgia, Symeon of Bulgaria, Vita Euthymii, Alan Gates, Bulgarian Church, Byzantine Court, Gulf of Burgas, Leo the Wise, Nicephorus Phocas, Domestic of the Schools New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 12
books:
See all 12 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- History of Greece by George Finlay on page 11, and Back Matter
- History of Greece by J. B. Bury on page 11, and Back Matter
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-3 of 6 (Everyman's Library) by Edward Gibbon in Back Matter
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3 by Edward Gibbon in Back Matter
- Byzantine Empire by Norman Baynes in Back Matter
See all 12 books this book cites
- The Empress Theophano: Byzantium and the West at the Turn of the First Millennium by Adelbert Davids on page 103, and page 183
- The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c.1295-1383 by Donald M. Nicol in Back Matter
- Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204 by Paul Stephenson in Back Matter
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