byzantium

Books about Byzantium cover a broad range of subjects, including Byzantine law and legal sources, political and military changes from Rome to Byzantium, cultural and social history (art, court life, religion), everyday life in cities and the countryside, and biographies of imperial figures.

Law-focused Byzantium volumes usually present original Greek (and sometimes Latin) texts alongside English translations. They often provide the source text with a facing or parallel translation and may include tables or editorial features to clarify terminology and context.

Longer histories of Byzantium commonly include illustrations, maps, and tables. Examples in the selection list anywhere from dozens to a couple of hundred illustrations, plus multiple maps and tabular summaries to complement the narrative.

Both approaches are used. Some works avoid strict chronology and use short, thematic chapters; others offer a broad chronological narrative that begins with earlier imperial reforms and proceeds through later centuries.

Page counts in this selection range from about 226 to 1,044 pages. Representative counts listed include 226, 332, 360, 380, 416, and 1,044 pages.

The selection includes works by Daphne Penna and Roos Meijering, A. D. Lee, Judith Herrin, Warren Treadgold, and Marcus Rautman.

The selection covers specialized topics such as Byzantine legal sources (including English translations of primary texts), the late-antique transformation into early Byzantium (political, military, and religious developments), comprehensive histories of Byzantine state and society, studies of daily life and social customs, and examinations of imperial women and court power.