Overview

Byzantine Studies has reached a tipping point: a growing number of historians have realized that the terms “Byzantium” and “the Byzantines” distort the reality and identity of the society that we study, and encode a series of prejudices that were embedded in western perceptions. The aim of these terms was to exclude the eastern empire from important discussions and historical developments. It is time to end this exercise in orientalist fiction, but what are the alternatives? In this book, Anthony Kaldellis surveys the pros and cons of a range of possible options and examines the implications of a field name-change also for art history, philology, and the study of Eastern Orthodoxy. The new name he proposes will carry the field into the next phase of its history, renegotiate its relationships with its peers and respect the testimony of our sources.

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9781802701821

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Reviews

Anthony Kaldellis argues for the abolition of the field of Byzantine Studies and its replacement by a new field of East Roman Studies. The latter will not only bear the epithet ‘Roman’ instead of ‘Byzantine’, but will cover a much longer period, from the time of Augustus until at least the fall of the last East Roman outposts in the 15th century. [...] [T]he prospect of a unified Roman imperial history is exciting, and in this regard Kaldellis’ proposition can be seen as an important first step towards a new narrative of Roman history. Perhaps an approach similar to the one of John Bury [1899] that focuses on the continuous history of the Roman empire (neither of the Romans, nor of its Eastern half), would better serve this new narrative. [...] Whether or not one is convinced by it, the book under review puts forward a bold proposition which questions the very foundation of our scholarly discipline. Kaldellis invites his readers to reflect on a range of key aspects of East Roman history, terminology, methodology, and periodization. Such reflections can only have a positive impact on research. I highly recommend reading The Case for East Roman Studies. -- Panagiotis Theodoropoulos * The Byzantine Review 6 (2024): 513-25 *

Author Information

Anthony Kaldellis is a Professor of Classics at the University of Chicago, and one of the foremost experts on the east Roman empire (formerly known as Byzantium).

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