Description
Book SynopsisThis first book-length study of Nikephoros Bryennios' history of the Byzantine Empire examines his use of classical Roman constructions of masculinity and honor. It will be important for the study of medieval gender, nobility, memory, historiography, rhetoric of warfare and political and military history of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Trade Review'… elegantly written and persuasively argued … it rekindles the conversation about twelfth-century culture, politics, and historiography, aligning it with recent scholarship in the fields of Roman and Byzantine studies.' Dimitris Krallis, English Historical Review
'… dazzling and insightful …' Mike Markowitz, The NYMAS Review
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Contexts: 1. Twelfth-century politics and the House of Komnenos; 2. Writing history in twelfth-century Constantinople; 3. Nikephoros' reading; 4. Sources for the Material for History; Part II. Reading in the Material for History: 5. Problems of the Empire: civil war and mercenaries; 6. The rise of Alexios; 7. Romans and their enemies; 8. Military virtue; 9. Roman family politics; 10. Religion and providence; 11. Roman heroes; 12. A Roman mother; 13. A bold young man; Part III. The Material for History in Twelfth-Century Politics and Culture: 14. The Material for History and imperial politics of the twelfth century; 15. Nikephoros and Anna; 16. Roman ideals and twelfth-century Constantinopolitan culture; Conclusions; Appendix 1; Appendix 2. Vocabulary of virtue.
