British historian, John Julius Norwich’s three part series on Byzantium is probably the most comprehensive work on the subject that I have ever read. It is easily readable, while being scholarly. This particular review is on the second one, following Byzantium: The Early Centuries and preceding the third which is Byzantium,:The Decline and Fall. This one is called Byzantium: The Apogee and covers the period from 800 CE to 1059 CE. His works are thoroughly researched and are given the very necessary addendum of maps and genealogies, in this case, the line of the Armorian Dynasty, Macedonian Dynasty as well as the Rus and Bulgarian rulers as pertains to his timeline.For fans of George R. R. Martin’s fictional fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, there is much recognizable in the fabric and scope of the middle period of Byzantine history. It is not hard to see King’s Landing in Constantinople in Martin’s fictional world, not to mention the parallels with the various people and cultures surrounding the Byzantine Empire and the then known world.
I found it refreshing that he did not treat the Byzantine Empire in isolation, but recognized, very rightly, that her history must be considered in tandem with her neighbors, namely the Bulgarians to the west, the Rus to the North and the Muslims to the east and south.
Norwich dos not shy from recounting stories that are told by various contemporary historians, even the more gruesome ones. He is neither an apologist for the Byzantine emperors, not a detractor, giving all aspects the the history its due. He begins, interestingly, in Bulgaria, the source of so much dissension for the Macedonian Emperors. Khan Krum was likely just as much a thorn in the side of the Eastern Roman Empire as the Khan Samuil centuries later, if not more so. It was said he made a silver-lined drinking cup from the skull of the Nikephoros I, just as a later Pencheneg king did centuries later of the Rus prince Sviatoslav.
Norwich then delves into iconoclasm and the eventual restoration of the images. Perhaps with the same relish he recounted the gruesome death of Nikephoros I, he also goes into the strikingly dysfunctional family of the Macedonian Dynasty, peppered with the doubt of pahternity and betrayal. Michael I rose to the throne, the son-in-law of the ill-fated donor of the cranial drinking cup. Michael’s successor was neither of imperial blood (indeed the Byzantines seemed fond of having the line taken over by common soldiers, gutsy enough to take the reins of state) nor was he even Greek. Indeed, he was not even Macedonian, but was an illiterate, uneducated an Armenian peasant. This man would be come Basil I, by dint of his association with Michael who unwisely elevated the common peasant ( who may have been only a stable groom) to a position of power. To be honest, as Norwich points out, there is far too much speculation, both on Basil’s ethnic origins and his station in life. These stories may have been crafted by his detractors to cast aspersion on the name of what was to become the Macedonian Dynasty. And let’s not even get started on the unusual marriage arrangements or the menage a quatre they engaged in. There was speculation of who was the father of the baby given birth to by Michael’s mistress, the Norse Eudocia Ingerina. Basil was forced to divorce his own wife and marry Eudocia. However, the lad was intended to remain “imperial property” which begs the question, who was the father of her son Leo? However the marriage arrangements were to work themselves out, Basil was promoted to junior emperor. When Michael began to favor another courtier, Basil arranged his murder. Basil I was now sole emperor.
Norwich weaves us pictures of murder, corruption and betrayal in the manner of a gifted storyteller, giving us every reason to see the origins of the term “Byzantine politics.” He excels at the story of perhaps this era’s greatest and perhaps most surprising emperor, Basil II, the descendant of Basil I or Michael II, we know not which and perhaps it matters very little. He was sadly underestimated by his generals who fomented a rebellion against him, thinking of him no more than a young, untried pup. He was soon to prove them all wrong. Breaking free of first his step father who served as regent to himself and his brother and co-Emperor, Constantine and then of his great-uncle, he eunuch and Imperial Chamberlain, Basil Lakepenos. deciding to prove himself by marching into Bulgaria. It was ill-advised, his general were inexperienced or perhaps even downright treasonous. His siege of Serdica (now Sofia, Bulgaria) was a disaster. Concerned about the possibility of a coup back home, he made his way back across the mountains, only to stumble into a disastrous ambush, now known as the Battle of Trajan’s Gate. It was a turning point in the reign of the young Emperor. His rule brought the Eastern Roman Empire into a golden age, vast powerful and wealthy. It was not to last. Basil left no heirs and his throne passed to his younger brother who had not the ruling capability of Basil. Constantine VIII left only daughters who in turn had no children. The great Empire which for five decades Basil II had forged, began to crumble, a long slow descent that culminated in 1453 with the conquest of the Ottoman Turks. That is a story that Norwich continues in his third book, Byzantium: The Decline and Fall.
Readable, broad in scope, yet infinite in detail and information, John Julius Norwich’s work is a must for any serious researcher as well the the armchair historian.
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