Byzantium. The Amazing Life of the Medieval Empire

The unique book by Professor Judith Herrin of King's College London is dedicated to the thousand-year history of the Eastern Roman Empire – from the founding of Constantinople to its capture by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The authoritative researcher offers a new perspective on the confrontation between the Byzantine Empire and the Western world, the schism of the Christian church, and the reasons for the empire's fall. The author vividly portrays the emperors and empresses, military usurpers and spiritual leaders, talented scholars and famous courtesans. A separate chapter is devoted to the eunuchs – a particularly influential caste that wielded great political power. A keen connoisseur of the era, Judith Herrin reconstructs scenes of everyday life at the imperial court: the brilliance of gold, the luxury of clothing, complex rituals, exquisite entertainments of the "born in purple." With particular attention, the author highlights the spiritual side of life in the empire, explains the reasons for returning from iconoclasm to icon veneration, and once again proves that it is Byzantium – the first Christian empire, which based itself on spiritual achievement – that was able to withstand Islamic expansion and prevent the conquest of Europe.