Customer Reviews

A Short History of Byzantium

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

An excellent introduction to the Byzantium Empire. Unlike most works written by British historians, this is very readable and not stuffy. Although this book races across 1,000 years of history in about 400 pages, it does an excellent job of synopsis. The record is full of succession struggles, with the losers usually castrated or beheaded. It is amazing how much energy the Byzantines wasted on theological disputes that continually undermined the morale of the empire. Norwich clearly explains these important but complicated theological issues which ultimately shaped Byzantium's destiny. On the military side, Norwich minimizes the impact of the defeat at Manzikert in 1071 and instead stresses that the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders, the depredations of the Catalonian mercenaries and the plague all did more real harm. Norwich could have had more detail on the Byzantine military and finances, both of which were crucial to the rise and decline of this great empire. The political drama of the continuous succession struggles is extremely well-told. Once readers complete this excellent introduction, they will be eager to read the original full-length three volume set.

I began reading the Short History of Byzantium but soon became both frustrated and tantalized by the skipping-along-in-history that was necessary in order to condense a three-voume work into one. I have just purchased Volume I and am really enjoying it. I compared some passages between the two versions and found that, as I suspected, a lot of the material that made this history interesting and coherent had been left out in the condensation. It shouldn't take too much longer to read the whole thing, and you'll understand and remember a lot more.

A Short History of Byzantium is John Julius Norwich's abridgement of his 3 volume work. He begins his book with an apology for skimming so quickly over the surface and vows that he has left out nothing important (adding that if you want more detail, the three-volume version awaits you). I knew virtually nothing about this fascinating period of history. I found the book extremely informative, as well as quite lively and entertaining, with a fabulous cast of characters. My favorite was the wily Theodora, who rises from sex show performer to Empress of Byzantium. (I also liked it when characters I knew from other contexts made an appearance, such as Charlemagne and Eleanor of Aquitaine.) This book also gave me a much better understanding of such things as the crusades, the complex relationship between the Catholic Church, the Byzantine Church and the Byzantine state; and the rivalry between Venice and Genoa. Just as importantly the book has also made me curious about some other things. I'd really like to know more about the Ottoman Empire after reading A Short History of Byzantium.

If the textbooks used in our school were written in the way A Short History of Byzantium was, history classes would have been more fun for each and everyone of us. Of course, this book is not without its flaws. The fast-paced narration would probably lose your attention for a second or two, but, when you think about the fact that it was a condensed version of a originally large three-volume work, you still have to give credits to the author for his successful attempts in keeping the essence of the whole subject. This book would have no problem serving as a good reference for history classes dealing with western civilization and alike. It also gives a pretty good insight into the theological conflicts during the time of late Roman empire and throughout the Byzantine era. The violent scenes of the early warfare were also well described.

It is not a large book and it does not provide every details you want to know about Byzantium. However, after reading the very last page, you can be sure that you will know a lot more about this christendom, unless you already are a specialist in the study of Byzantine.

I've noticed a number of reviewers complaining that this book, A Short History of Byzantium, contains absolutely no analysis. They seem surprised at what the book is: a brief summary of Byzantium. It doesn't claim to be anything else. In the introduction, John Julius Norwich clearly states that it is not an academic work for the purpose of historical analysis. It is a summary of a relatively unknown and overlooked empire in history, written for the purpose of spurring interest in the Byzantine world.

Having defended the purpose of Norwich's work, I still can't give it an wonderful review because of some pronounced internal problems. Such a short summary of over 1100 years naturally feels like the reader is racing through events, and soon the names and controversies blur into one another. For this reason the reader can expect to have an unusually low rate of retention for the information presented in the book. On a better note, the maps and family trees in the front of the book are helpful to keep things straight.

Norwich likes to put in exact dates of events, but often leaves out the year so that you have to stop and do simple math for context. For instance, here is an excerpt of page 134:
"They had captured Alexandria in 818; seven years later, forcibly expelled by the Caliph Mamun, they headed for Crete...Within only two years of the capture of Crete another company of Arabs invaded Sicily..." Of course the math is easy, but it interrupts the reader's flow of thoughts on the content itself.

Furthermore, because Norwich has created a non-academic work, some of his choices for the flow of the story are controversial. The reader must therefore approach the events cautiously. For instance, Norwich narrates the life of Constantine the Great as if the emperor truly believed Christianity was the true religion. And yet in a class on Constantine and the Council of Nicea I took in college, an excellent case was made that Constantine used Christianity almost solely for political gain.

I have not read the longer, three volume version of this work, but since the biggest issue is the neck breaking pace, I would imagine the longer works would do much to overcome the major problem of this specific edition.

_A Short History of Byzantium_ by John Julius Norwich was a well-written and comprehensive overview of largely the political history of the Byzantine Empire. At times the book felt a bit hurried as Emperor after Emperor rushed by, but then that is understandable given several facts. First, Norwich was covering the entire history of Byzantium, its 1,123 year lifespan from its founding as the Roman Empire of the East by Constantine the Great in 330 to its end when Constantine XI died fighting with his men the forces of the Turkish sultan Mehmet II in 1453. During that time 88 men and women occupied the imperial throne, some for very short periods of time. Second, this work is a condensed version of an earlier trilogy Norwich had written on the history of Byzantium, the three volumes titled _The Early Centuries_, _The Apogee_, and _The Decline and Fall_. At times one could feel that there was more to a particular story than the author was relating or that he could have gone into more detail but space in the 383 page book would not allow it. Still, it was a very useful and interesting introduction to an often popularly neglected period of world history.

The stars of the book are the rulers of the Byzantine Empire, the eighty-eight men and women as well as the seven rulers who usurped the throne during the Latin occupation as a result of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. They ranged across the spectrum of political rulers, from highly skilled diplomats to great generals to thugs and self-absorbed pleasure seekers and hedonists, from those dominated by bureaucrats to darlings of the military. Notable ones included Justinian I, who had restored much of the lost Roman Empire in the sixth century and was the "last truly Roman Emperor;" Heraclius (565-641), who defeated the Persian Empire forever and saved Byzantium, even besting one of its leaders in personal combat, and who made Greek, long the language of the people and the Church, the official language of the Empire, and John Palaeologus, who in 1366 was the first Emperor to leave his capital as a petitioner for much needed aid from the Christian West.

Also major players in the book were the succession of enemies that challenged Byzantium through the centuries, ranging from the final days of the Western Roman Empire to Byzantium's end in the 15th century. At various times the Goths, Huns, Vandals, Lombards, Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, Turks, Russians, Normans, Venetians, French, and Serbs threatened the Empire, each dealt with in their turn until the Turks proved in the end victorious. Norwich profiled some of the great adversaries of the Empire, including the great Gothic leader Alaric in the fourth century, fifth century Attila, the Great Bulgar Khan known as Krum from the ninth century, twelfth century Roger II King of Sicily, and the Doge Enrico Dandolo, the blind Venetian leader who in his eighties was instrumental in conquering Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.

Norwich impressed upon the reader how deeply concerned with religion the rulers and common people of Byzantium were, commenting that it may be difficult for modern day readers to comprehend the involvement, indeed passion, of all classes of society in what would appear today to be "impossibly abstruse doctrinal niceties." Strangely, from the first Constantine the Great was tolerant of pagan faiths (and even one emperor, Julian the Apostate - 337-363 - sought to turn back the clock to paganism) but not of heretical Christian ones. Much of Byzantine history was concerned with struggles against various sects and schisms in Christendom, the Emperor and the religious leaders of Constantinople conflicting with the Donatists of North Africa and the Meletians of Egypt in the 4th century, the 5th century Arian heresy (its devotees, the Nestorians, preaching that Christ had two distinct persons, one human, one divine) and the monophysites (who believed in a single divine nature of Christ), the monophysites again in the 6th century, and on many occasions the Pope in Rome. The biggest and most culturally and political wrenching of the religious conflicts was arguably the iconoclasm conflict; starting in the 720s a group known as the iconoclasts felt that there was too much veneration of sacred objects and in particular sacred paintings, mosaics, and sculptures, with iconodules openly worshipping and praying to particular icons and statues.

The Byzantines had a big monastic movement, so large that some Emperors, such as Constantine Copronymus, sought to close monasteries and force monks and nuns to marry and worried about a dangerous depopulation trend and plummeting manpower for farming and military use.

Emperors personally were deeply involved in religion. Some Emperors sought an end to upstart sects or to heal the breach with Rome for political reasons; others due to intense theological interest, and some for both reasons. Many an Emperor or Empress abdicated and retired from public life to a monastery or a convent. Also quite a few were sent there against their will, sometimes several times, as the result of various courtly intrigues and power struggles.

Speaking of power struggles, for all their religion the Byzantines could be a cruel people. Though there were many benevolent Emperors, quite a few were not and even some of the good ones rose to power through murder, torture, and mutilation (though also several of them sincerely regretted that later in life). A number of Emperors dispatched the children, even young children, of past rulers as well as their adult supporters, the more benign ones exiling them to monasteries or convents, others imprisoning them, or sometimes personally strangling them with bowstrings, beheading them, or even slowly torturing them to death. Blinding was a very common fate for rivals, particularly rival claimants to the throne, sometimes done publicly. For a time something called rhinokopia, the removal of the nose, was performed, the idea being no Emperor could rule that had obvious physical defects, though Justinian II "Rhinotmetus" proved he could rule without a nose, pretty much ending the practice.

Lord Norwich has done a fantastic job with this book. Though it may not be the most indepth, it does give the reader a wonderful introduction to what the often forgotten empire of Byzantium. The reader is introduced to a cast of characters unriveled in any historical work, men like Justinian and Constantine the Great. This book is unforgettable from the moment you begin reading. Lord Norwich removes much of the unfair criticisim laid on the Later Roman Empire, by its chief detractor Edward Gibbon. He exposes the emperors for what most of them were decent upright people trying to stay alive in a rough world. His moving epilogue to the fall of Constantinople is also one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of reading. For anyone interested in the true history of the Roman empire this book is a must read.

For a History student who will probably never see a course titled "Byzantium" in his career, this book was a blessing in more ways than one. Not only has Norwich ventured into the unknown mystique that is Byzantium but does a great job writing a historical narrative at the same time. Indeed it was sad, watching as the longest existing Christian empire of all time slowly dwindled to the city of Constantinople and nothing more, but it makes you stand in awe at the pride and honor of these people as, even in that state, they regarded themselves as the most perfect empire on Earth, its emperor as God's Vice-Gerent on Earth, equal of the apostles. Where the last many students hear of Byzantium is usually Justinian in the 6th century, one's realizes that this empire withstood the rise Western Civilization as it grew from the ashes of the Western Roman Empire. Amazing it is to contemplate that the emperor of the Romans at one point held sway over territory as far West as Ravenna and Sicily and even the Holy Land. Luckily, left to posterity is the art of this wonderful empire: beautiful artifacts and icons, mosaic churches and old imperial buildings that still stand in Greece and Turkey. From Norwich, we better realize the context in which these things existed. We realize the consciousness of these deeply spiritual people, who sought not only a political unity, but a religious one as well, one whose authority was derived from Christ Himself.

This is a very fast-paced and enjoyable history from Norwich, cramming a gigantic amount of history into a rather short book. Here Norwich has condensed his masterwork, a 1200-page trilogy on the Byzantine Empire, into a single volume for maximum impact. The intricate details, references, and notes are left to the trilogy - so this book, while short on evidence and details, is full of action and intrigue. For various reasons the Byzantine Empire has been unappreciated by Western scholars, being condemned to obscurity in favor of the less cultured and shorter-lived Roman Empire. In fact the Byzantine Empire survived for another thousand years after the Romans fell to a bunch of scraggly barbarians, keeping the classic culture of Rome and Greece alive while Europe languished uselessly in the dark ages. In addition to his competent research and sharply enjoyable writing, Norwich performs a real service in bringing to light the religious and cultural accomplishments of the Byzantines. He also has a real eye for the empire's never-ending political intrigues and skullduggery (an example is their love of gouging out their opponents' eyes). Due to this book's focus on the action, it can get confusing at times. Short-lived emperors, and a few empresses, often zoom on by without making much of an impression, while intricate political shenanigans with Europe (especially in the later days of the Empire) are hard to follow. Another problem is the Byzantines' habit of giving everyone the same names, as about a gazillion Constantines, Johns, Michaels, and even Andronicuses blur together in confusion. The lack of detail and clarification in some parts of this book may be frustrating, or may make you yearn to read the much larger trilogy. In either case this breakneck tour of Byzantium is a fascinating read.

Norwich's shorter, colleted version of his three larger works bears many similarities to the many condensed version of Gibbon's classic "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Norwich's piece, having been written more recently moves at a much quicker pace and is not restrained by more antiquated language. Chapter by chapter the author fires blazing tales of corruption, intrigue, scandal, war and devastation. I particularly enjoyed the pieces pertaining to the reigns of Constantine (particularly the background around his conversion), Theodosius the Great, Justinian, and Basil II.

These are fascinating stories, and the author makes sure to put them in the proper historical frame, to let the reader understand what else was happening in the world as Byzantium continued to shine as the lone beacon from the collapsed Roman Empire. As other historical characters fade in and out of Byzantium's historical spotlight, Mr. Norwich is careful to provide them with a proper introduction, allowing the reader to understand their motives and ambitions.

One of the reasons I found this history so interesting is because it is so new. We learn so little about this culture through traditional American history classes that all of this information is enlightening. Mr. Norwich does lament this fact towards the end of the book, and he has certainly done a good job of helping correct this oversight.