NICAEA: A Byzantine Capital and Its Praises

by Clive Foss

Nicaea - the site of the First Ecumenical Council (325) and the capital of the Byzantine Empire in exile during the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-1261) following the Fourth Crusade - has an important, albeit neglected, role in ecclesiastical and political history. With this book, Professor Clive Foss - a meticulous historian - takes a significant step in rectifying that neglect. As he tells us, his intial objective was to provide a comprehensible English translation of the two thirteenth century encomia delivered by Theodore Laskaris and Theodore Metochites. The intent was to make these important sources accessible to the contemporary reader; and in this he has succeeded notably. But, in addition, there is a major bonus. The initial objective blossomed into a history of Nicaea from the third to the fourteenth centuries, which will interest general readers of history and the specialist as well.

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 1996

Reviews

[Diarmuid Angland · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great short book, two halves of the book are quite different with the first half touching on the history of the city with an emphasis on the period of the Nicean empire and then the second half being two speeches of praise for the city.

Whilst the speeches themselves are somewhat ludicrous over the top statements they are a fascinating insight into that style of speech and what the two authors saw as important to say.

[Preston Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldn't quite make up my mind between 3 and 4 stars. Writing is okay-ish but it is on a topic that I am interested in and there is almost nothing on Nicaea so if you like the topic of historical Nicaea I would say read it.

The author states his original intent was to provide an English translation of two speeches praising the city from the 13th century (so it is sort of a primary source). They are in there but in addition he provides a good summary history of the city up to AD 1331 with citations, a good bibliography and some maps and pictures which I found more informative than the speeches.