Byzantium (I): The Early Centuries
Several works dealing with Byzantine history have recently appeared (see Nicolas Cheetham's Medieval Greece, LJ 3/15/81 and Antony Bridge's Theodora, LJ 6/15/84), but this is probably the most comprehensive survey for the general reader and tourist. The first of a projected three-volume study, this elegantly written tribute to the Western debt to Byzantium traces the history of the city from the birth of Constantine c.274 to the coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800. While slight attention is given to ordinary people, and the approach is very Eurocentric, all the great figures of early Byzantine history are here; the architectural monuments, theological controversies, the notorious sexual tastes of many emperors, and the proverbially "Byzantine" court intrigues are lucidly described. For general collections.- Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.