Byzantium: Greatness and Decline

By Charles Diehl

Book Overview

The Byzantine Empire was one of the great human achievements that endured for a thousand years. Its influence on the modern world has been greater than commonly supposed. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813503280
• ISBN13: 9780813503288
• Release Date: January 1960
• Publisher: Rutgers Univ Pr
• Length: 366 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

The paradox that was Byzantium is thoroughly examined.

In a series of essays, the late French historian Charles Diehl analyzed the contradictions inherent in Byzantine civilization throughout its 1000-year existence. The imperial government, the military, foreign/domestic policy, religion, art, and literature (to name a few topics) are discussed, along with a very brief, cursory history of the Byzantine Empire as a backdrop to this great analysis. Diehl candidly assessed political corruption and intrigue, serious foreign/domestic policy blunders, and overall rebelliousness which plagued the Byzantine state even in its glory days, yet he reminds us at the same time of the priceless legacy the Romans of the Byzantine era left not only within the former boundaries of their empire, but also throughout Western Europe and Russia. Professor Peter Charanis of Rutgers University (whose publishing arm released this fine English-language edition) contributed an introduction which presents a background of Diehl's work and rectifies some of the author's original views on Byzantine history. Professor Charanis also compiled a massive bibliography of English and non-English language books published up to the mid 1950s, when the English translation of "Byzantium" was published. After reading this book, it becomes evident to us that the contributions of the Byzantines to the present cultures of both East and West are nothing short of impressive.