A History of the Byzantine State and Society.
Reese, Alan W.
A History of the Byzantine State and Society, by Warren Treadgold.
Stanford California, Stanford University Press, 1997. xxiii, 1019 pp.
$79.50 U.S. (cloth), $34.95 U.S. (paper).
George Ostrogorsky's A History of the Byzantine State and
Society, first published in German in 1952, has long been the standard
single volume introduction to Byzantine history. Despite its three
German editions and retranslation into English, it has finally been
superceded. Warren Treadgold, whose scholarship is known to all in the
field, has produced the new standard Byzantine history. A History of the
Byzantine State and Society brings together the insights and discoveries
of the many disciplines that make up contemporary scholarship in
Byzantine studies. Treadgold aptly fulfils his intention of
producing" an updated, detailed, and complete history" in a
single volume intended for "both the scholar and the general
educated public." The scope of this work is the Byzantine
Empire's political, military and social history from its
foundations under Diocletian in the late third century to 1461 when the
Ottoman Turks completed their Byzantine conquests.
Treadgold's previous scholarship includes publications in
Byzantinische Forshungen and two major monographs: The Byzantine
Revival, 780-842 (Stanford, 1988); and Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081
(Stanford, 1995). On the basis of his extensive studies in this field,
this scholar deliberately departs from certain emphases found in most of
the previous standard treatments of Byzantine history. For example, less
emphasis is placed on the catastrophe of the seventh century, and the
eighth and ninth centuries are viewed with greater optimism. Indeed,
Treadgold holds that too much emphasis has been placed on iconoclasm,
"the last and least of the empire's major theological
controversies" (p. xvii).
While Treadgold attaches "no great importance to holy men,
court oratory, or official ceremonies," his discussion of
theological matters is refreshingly lucid and accurate. Attention is
placed on the activities of the emperors as individuals whose actions
and decisions could affect every aspect of the lives of ordinary
Byzantines. Conversely, he does not believe that modern ideologies such
as Marxism, post-structuralism, and nationalism are useful tools for the
historian of Byzantium.
Rather than provide exhaustive notes, the author describes his
primary and secondary sources in a thorough annotated bibliographical
survey for each chapter. Endnotes are also provided but are limited to
those sources not easily found in the survey. A feature which is
particularly welcome to those wishing to use this book as textbook is
its "Note on Transliteration." Beyond providing the four
methods by which Greek is transliterated into English, the author also
mentions his approach to the transliteration of the Cyrillic and Arabic
alphabets. A wide variety of black and white photos amply illustrate the
architecture, coinage, manuscripts, and statuary of Byzantium. Rather
boldly, the author provides some interesting, if highly speculative,
tables of statistics and estimates for state budgets, army field units,
and all the imperial dynasties. Twenty-one detailed maps illustrate the
changing frontiers and principal cities of the empire. In addition, an
ample reference section at the end of the book contains lists rulers
including emperors (Byzantine, Western Roman, Latin, Bulgarian, and
those at Trebizond), ecclesiastics, caliphs, khans, and kings of Serbia.
Treadgold's text is best suited to senior undergraduates. It
is nicely supplemented by Deno John Geanakoplos's Byzantium Church,
Society, and Civilization Seen through Contemporary Eyes (Chicago, 1984)
which works nicely as a sourcebook. What Treadgold's book lacks in
anecdotes and witty asides can easily be supplied by the three volumes
of John Julius Norwich's Byzantium (Penguin, 1988, 1991, 1995).
Alan W. Reese University of Saskatchewan
