Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025)
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:24th Nov '05
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This is the first book-length study in English of the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Basil II, later known as 'Bulgar-slayer', is famous for his military conquests and his brutal intimidation of domestic foes. Catherine Holmes considers the problems Basil faced in governing a large, multi-ethnic empire, which stretched from southern Italy to Mesopotamia. Her close focus on the surviving historical narratives, above all the Synopsis Historion of John Skylitzes, reveals a Byzantium governed as much by persuasion as coercion. This book will appeal to those interested in Byzantium before the Crusades, the governance of pre-modern empires, and the methodology of writing early medieval political history.
Holmes has made major contributions both to the study of medieval historiography and to the reassessment of the nature of Byzantine provincial government in the tenth and early eleventh centuries * Rosemary Morris, Early Medieval Europe *
substantial monograph... This is compelling stuff
This is an important book. The work of a young Byzantinist, and published in a new Oxford series, it is attractively produced and, for all its length, highly readable ... an admirable demonstration of how to deal with a historical period for which the evidence is both uneven and in need of very careful analysis ... The eleventh century in Byzantium is a well-known problem area for historians, but with this elegant and well-argued book Holmes has done the field of Byzantine history a major service. * Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Catherine Holmes has provided an indispensible resource for all scholars and students of the period. * Michael Kaplan, The Anglo-Hellenic Review, Vol. 35 *
- Winner of Shortlisted for the Criticos Book Prize 2006 Shortlisted for the Runciman Book Prize 2006.
ISBN: 9780199279685
Dimensions: 224mm x 146mm x 40mm
Weight: 888g
640 pages