Byzantium in the Seventh Century
The Transformation of a Culture

An analytical account of developments within Byzantine culture, society and the state from c. 610 to 717.

J. F. Haldon (Author)

9780521319171, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 October 1997

524 pages, 23 b/w illus. 7 maps
22.9 x 15.3 x 3.4 cm, 0.825 kg

'This is clearly an important book ... in tackling large problems he displays close acquaintance with the sources - alas too few - and a sharp and original mind. It will be obligatory reading for those concerned with the passage from late antiquity to the Middle Ages - and not only in Byzantium.' Robert Browning, English Historical Review

This book presents the first analytical account in English of the major developments within Byzantine culture, society and the state in the crucial formative period from c. 610 to 717. Since its original publication in 1990, the text has been revised throughout to take account of the latest research. The seventh century saw the final collapse of ancient urban civilisation and municipal culture, the rise of Islam, the evolution of patterns of thought and social structure which made imperial iconoclasm possible, and the development of state apparatuses - military, civil and fiscal - typical of the middle Byzantine state. Conflicting ideas of how these changes and developments are to be understood have proliferated in the last fifty years. This book is the first serious attempt to provide a comprehensive, detailed survey of all the major changes in this period.

List of plates
List of maps
Preface and acknowledgements
Preface to the revised edition
List of abbreviations
The sources
Introduction
1. The background: state and society before Heraclius
2. The East Roman world c. 610–717: the politics of survival
3. Some relations and the economy: the cities and the land
4. Social relations and the economy: rural society
5. The state and its apparatus: fiscal administration
6. The state and its apparatus: military administration
7. Society, state and law
8. The imperial church and the politics of authority
9. Religion and belief
10. Forms of social and cultural organisation: infrastructures and hierarchies
11. Forms of representation: language, literature and the icon
Conclusions: the transformation of a culture
Addendum: further observations on the question of the late ancient city
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]