Byzantium Bibliography

Some terms to keep in mind when listening to audio sources about Byzantium

Orthodox vs orthodox

• Orthodox - of, relating to, or constituting any various conservative religious or political groups such as Eastern Orthodox or Orthodox Judaism.

• orthodox - conforming to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right or true, established and approved, normal, ordinary, usual; “This is orthodox medical treatment.”

Catholic vs catholic

• Catholic - of the Roman Catholic faith.

• catholic - including a wide variety of things, all-embracing, universal; “In the time of Justinian, catholic meant mainstream, legitimate, imperially-backed church. This meaning is used when referring to people who were orthodox, which can be confusing when in modern day we have the Roman Catholicism and the Greek Orthodox, but we are a long ways away from that in the 530s. Catholic is used to describe all Christians who weren’t Aryans, or Nestorians, or some definitive sect. Catholic is used to differentiate those who subscribed to the belief system as laid out at the council of Chalcedon with the Monophysites who questioned it. At this stage, a Monophysite is a catholic, because despite all the arguing, they have not been condemned as heretical,” from The History of Byzantium podcast.

Byzantine vs byzantine

• Byzantine - relating to Byzantium (now Istanbul), the Byzantine Empire, or the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• byzantine - something that is very tangled and hard to figure out; “The power struggle in the capital is so byzantine that it might take years or decades to truly understand.”

QUICK & Accessible Online Sources & Articles on Byzantium (use reader mode to  bypass any paywall)

• Blues and Greens; Blue Vs Green

• Christian Imagery on Silk Textiles: The Annunciation Silk; Garments Pleasing to God: The Significance of Domestic Textile Designs in the Early Byzantine Period

• Contemporary Arab Views on Byzantine Women (blog)

• Corpus Juris Civilis and Frankish Law on the status of women; Women in the Byzantine Empire

• Describing the Other to Get at the Self: Byzantine Women in Arabic Sources (8th-11th Centuries) 

• East-West Schism; Jul 16, 1054 CE: Great Schism

• Fall of Constantinople

• Greek Fire

• Justinianic Plague

• Porphyrius; Porphyrios

• Review of Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs

• Romaioi and more

• Romans prized these jewels more than diamonds (use reader mode to bypass paywall)

• Silkworm Farming; Stealing Silkworms; Byzantine Silk Industry

• Scholae of the Master of the Offices as the Palace Praetorium

• Terminology Associated with Silk in the Middle Byzantine Period (AD 843-1204)

• Theodora article from 2023; Empress Theodora: Origins of Women’s Rights; Theodora (sixth century)

• Empress Theodora - from Whore to Empress of the Byzantine Empire (not 100% accurate but helps get people interested)

• The Sex Crazed Wife Who Saved Husband's Empire (not 100% accurate but helps get people interested)

REALLY Quick Reading on Byzantium (Wikipedia)

• Byzantine Dress

• Byzantine Silk

• Corpus Juris Civilis

• East-West Schism/The Great Schism of 1054

• Fall of Constantinople

• Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire

• Justinian I

• Late Roman Military Units - Limitanei - Scholae Palatinae - Excubitors

• Names of Istanbul

• Plague of Justinian

• Porphyrios

• Silkworm Egg Smuggling

• Slavery in the Byzantine Empire

• Theodora

• Tyrian Purple

• Varangian Guard

NOT-SO-QUICK Sources on Byzantium (Books, Research Articles, Blogs, Podcasts, and Other Publications)

(Remember, digital copies are usually cheapest. If Amazon is too expensive, try Ebay. Ebay and AbeBooks helps me find books that aren't easy found.)

Art, Jewelry, Garb & Textiles:

• Africa and Byzantium (Exhibition Catalogue from the MET) (large print exhibition text)

• Ancient Gold Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art (Book)

• Ancient Greek, Roman & Byzantine Costume (Dover Fashion and Costumes) (Book)

• By the Emperor’s Hand: Military Dress and Court Regalia in the Later Romano-Byzantine Empire (Book)

• Byzantine Dress: Representations of Secular Dress in Eighth- To Twelfth-Century Painting (Book)

• Byzantine Fashion History Timeline (project by FIT State University of New York's History of Art Department)

• Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads (Book)

• Byzantine Silk Weaving AD 400 to AD 1200 (Book)

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art, An Exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art April 25-June 22 1947 (Book) 

• Intelligible Beauty: Recent Research on Byzantine Jewellery (I had purchased a physical book for cheap, but you may be able to download a PDF from The British Museum)

• Meraviglie di Venezia

  • Three-dimensional view of objects and spaces for anyone interested in making replicas at home. St. Mark's Basilica's virtual objects was of particular interest to me. 

• The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261 (Book, free PDF for download from the MET included in the link).

• Studies in Byzantine, Islamic and Near Eastern Silk Weaving (Book)

• Studies in Silk in Byzantium (Book)

Cooking:

• De Observatione Ciborum: Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks (Historical Italian Cooking) (Book)

• Flavours of Byzantium (Book)

• Tastes of Byzantium (Book)

EVERYTHING:

• Anna's New Rome (I think this would be considered a blog? I actually don't see any information about what to call her page on it, she goes back and forth between different writing styles like Chicago and MLA).

  • If you look at the About section, Magistrissa Anna Dokeianina Syrakousina writes about all things Greek/Roman/Byzantine. She clearly knows way more about the subject than I do, and it's practically all SCA-related. I highly recommend checking out the link. 

• Dumbarton Oaks Papers (an annual journal covering all aspects of Byzantine studies)

History:

• The Complete Procopius Anthology (Book)

• The History of Byzantium (Podcast, I listen on Spotify)

LGBT+ Culture:

• Between Byzantine Men (Book on Byzantine Homosexuality in 900 CE)

• Byzantine Intersectionality: Sexuality, Gender, and Race in the Middle Ages (Book)

• Women, Men and Eunuchs: Gender in Byzantium (Book)

Soldiers & Armies:

• Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th–9th Centuries (Men-at-Arms) (Book)

• The Varangians of Byzantium - The Varangians: In God’s Holy Fire (Books)

Women:

• Abortions in Byzantine Times/Medieval Images from Article in Colour

• Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs (Book)

• Holy Women of Byzantium (Book)

• Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium (Book)

• Women in Byzantium (Book)

• Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium (Book)

Videos on Byzantium

• Another Perspective:

  • Chinese Historian Describes the Byzantine Empire// 7-10th century "Book of Tang" // Primary Source (YouTube)

• Cooking

  • Byzantine Honey Fritters on Tasting History with Max Miller (YouTube)

    • Check out his book too. 

  • Historical Italian Cooking (YouTube Channel))

• History

  • Overly Saractic Productions (YouTube)

    • History Summarised: Byzantine Empire - Beginnings 

    • History Summarised: Byzantine Empire - The Golden Age

    • History RE-Summarised: The Byzantine Empire

    • The Fall of the Byzantine Empire

    • History-Makers: Anna Komnena

  • Puppet History (YouTube)

    • The Fiery Sports Riot that Nearly Destroyed Constantinople (Nika Riots)

    • The Bloody Revenge of Saint Olga of Kiev

      • The first Russian Christian, with details from her visit to Constantinople in 948 CE then being ruled by Constantine VII. 

  • A Day in History (YouTube)

    • Punishments of the Byzantium Empire

  • TED-Ed (YouTube)

    • The rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire - Leonara Neville

• Textiles (YouTube)

  • How the Romans Stole Silk Production Secrets from China (YouTube)

  • Why Tyrian Purple Dye is So Expensive? (YouTube)

• Women

  • Byzantine Female Slavery | Unspeakable Things Byzantines Did To Women Slaves (YouTube)