Description: According to Byzantium's leaders, their imperial order anchored in Constantinople was the centre of excellence, spiritual, moral, material and aesthetic. They rewarded individuals willing to join, and favoured those prepared to cooperate militarily or politically. Interactions with outsiders varied over place and time, complicated by the sometimes differing priorities of Byzantine churchmen and monks on or beyond Byzantium's borders. Jonathan Shepard here considers the dynamics of such interactions, notably the interrelationships of Bulgarians, Hungarians and Rus with Byzantium.
Review Quotes: 'Having read this book, the researcher will have a fresh understanding of the way in which the Emperor spread the Word of Christianity: with the zeal of a real Apostle (at least apparently), but doing it only upon the request of the potentate.' Byzantinoslavica