Far from being merely the eastern stump of the old Roman Empire, Byzantium was without a doubt the greatest state in Christendom through much of the Middle Ages. But this fact isn't as well-known as it deserves to be. These 24 lectures are a small attempt to redress the historical balance. The civilization of East Rome, or Byzantium, is seldom studied on its own merits because this seemingly remote world is a curious, even unsettling, mix of the classical and medieval. Professor Harl's tellingly detailed lectures show how the Greek-speaking empire of Byzantium, or East Rome, occupied a crucial place in both time and space that began with Constantine the Great and endured for more than a millennium. To tell this pivotal story, these lectures are divided into three phases. The first explains how the Roman world slowly gave way to distinct new blended cultures in the Latin, Celtic, and Germanic north and west, the Greek-speaking east (Byzantium), and later the Islamic south and east from Morocco to India. The second deals with the achievements of medieval Byzantium, including the ups and downs of the Byzantine state and the dawn of the Crusades. The third takes you from the horrifying sack of Constantinople in 1204 to the Ottoman triumph of 1453, telling a tale of political decline but enduring cultural and spiritual achievement. Prepare to open new vistas of historical insight on everything from the decline of imperial Rome to the rise of the Renaissance.
