Help me learn something about Byzantine culture

[Winner]

I am looking for links to pages, where I can learn about Byzantine culture - their way of life, traditions, customs, this kind of things.

Do you know about something I might find useful?

 

[TheLastOne36]

Well basically they were greeks living in a Roman lifestyle with some changes.

 

[Dachs]

I am looking for links to pages, where I can learn about Byzantine culture - their way of life, traditions, customs, this kind of things.

Do you know about something I might find useful?

Sadly, most of what I know comes from books (Norwich, Treadgold, Oman), but hopefully this and this can help; poor aid indeed, I know, but other than pointing you in the direction of books, I haven't much in the way of unbiased links.

Well basically they were greeks living in a Roman lifestyle with some changes.

Thanks dude you transformed my life.

 

[Plotinus]

John Julius Norwich's books on Byzantine history are fantastically well written and entertaining, and give a very good sense of what it was all about.

 

[Winner]

John Julius Norwich's books on Byzantine history are fantastically well written and entertaining, and give a very good sense of what it was all about.

I'll try to look them up in the library, thanks.

Sadly, most of what I know comes from books (Norwich, Treadgold, Oman), but hopefully this and this can help; poor aid indeed, I know, but other than pointing you in the direction of books, I haven't much in the way of unbiased links.

I found it's very hard to find something about Byzantine Emp. on the internet. It's either some Greek nationalist drivel, or some very brief summary of the history, which is not what I am looking for. I realized that I have absolutely no idea what the life in Byzantine Empire (say about A.D. 1000) was like - I know how big the empire was, who ruled it, whom it fought etc. but nothing about the everyday life in it, which is quite sad.

 

[Sharwood]

You think finding info online about Byzantium is bad, try finding stuff about the Incas. It's weird, there are countless books about both, yet very little online material.

 

[Annex]

I cant point you to any links either, but if you want to learn cultural aspects of Byzantium, you would do well to study their religious icons. They were an integral part of life, and the tradition lasted well after its collapse since it was adopted by the Russians.

 

[Plotinus]

Material on what it was like to live at certain times is obviously going to be harder to find than material on who was winning battles etc, because contemporary historians tend to focus on the latter rather than the former. However, I did just spot one title in a list - Sarris, P. Economy and society in the age of Justinian Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2006 - that may have some of the information that you're after.

 

[luiz]

Read a book called "History of Private Life: from the Roman Empire to the Year 1000", by Georges Duby and Phillippe Ariès. Naturally, given the period they cover, Byzantium gets plenty of attention. It's also an excellent read.

 

[Winner]

Thanks for the other suggestions. Now I'll see if I can get any of these where I live...

 

[Ajidica]

I would reccomend the books by John Norwhich on Byzantium, well written and goes into a nice amount of detail on the characters and personalities of the Emperors and such. For understanding their culture, Religion was a huge part of it, but for the most part the average Byzantine lived like normal medival lives, farming and some merchants.

 

[Sharwood]

Thanks for the other suggestions. Now I'll see if I can get any of these where I live...

That's always the problem. If you're willing to give credit card informaton over the internet, unlike me, Amazon would be a good choice.

 

[JonathanStrange]

I've read a few books recently on Byzantine history; I thought Warren Treadgold's A Concise History of Byzantium helpful, as was Judith Herrin's Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire focused on different aspects of Byzantine culture, history and govt, and of course, Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium attempts 1100+ years in about 400 highly readable pages. Each book had a distinctly different emphasis: military, culture, comprehensiveness. Plus there were/are a number of Osprey Illustrated books that I enjoyed, they're more military oriented - to put it mildly.

As for links, the sites online I've found are mostly disappointingly political or thin with info.

 

[Necropolis]

you can play as the Bzantines in the Call to power Apolyton pack. The capital city is Constantinople the byzantines became independent in 395 AD when the roman empire split but the Byzantine empire did not end till constantinople fell to the Ottoman empire in 1453. You can also play as the Turks in call to power theres 44 civilizations in the apolytonpack version.

the Byzantines were probably at there peak during justinian when he was done conquering they called him Justinian the great and it was Justinians empire.

the Turks had been exspanding for centuries so if you learn about the byzantines naturally you want to learn about the successor which was the Turks.

the Turks lasted till World war one was over after that became the nation of Turkey. but the concept of Kurdistan is still to this day is a conflit because if Kurdistan were to get independence then it would have a peice of Turkey and Iraq in its borders. but Kurdistan being independent may not be seen in my lifetime. also Kurdistan is not on the Aployton pack version.

The Byzantines went from 395 to 1453 ad Thats 1,058 years of Independence covering parts of two ages the Clasical Age from 600 BC to 500 AD and the Middle ages from 500 to 1500 the byzantines nearly made it into the modern ageS starting in 1500

 

[Dachs]

the Byzantines were probably at there peak during justinian when he was done conquering they called him Justinian the great and it was Justinians empire.

Territorially, demographically, militarily, and economically, they were at their peak in 540. Before the reconquests were finished, but during Ioustinianos' reign.

 

[Sharwood]

That's all very interesting Necro - well, not really, I already knew it - but what exactly does much of it have to do with anything in this thread? Particularly that Apolyton stuff?

And it's more than possible to be interested in Byzantium and not care about the Turks, so I don't know how it's natural he'd be interested. he might be, but he also might not.

 

[Plotinus]

the Byzantines were probably at there peak during justinian when he was done conquering they called him Justinian the great and it was Justinians empire.

They didn't call him that at the time. Justinian was a very unpopular emperor.

 

[Dachs]

And it's more than possible to be interested in Byzantium and not care about the Turks, so I don't know how it's natural he'd be interested.

That's not entirely true, I don't not care about them, but they're not nearly so interesting. Also calling them the successor to the Byzantine Empire is a laugh.

 

[Sharwood]

That's not entirely true, I don't not care about them, but they're not nearly so interesting. Also calling them the successor to the Byzantine Empire is a laugh.

You're just upset because they whacked the Greeks.

 

[Dachs]

You're just upset because they whacked the Greeks.

Yeah pretty much. Got a problem with that sonny?