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Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World
A gripping intellectual adventure story, Sailing from Byzantium sweeps you from the deserts of Arabia to the dark forests of northern Russia, from the colorful towns of Renaissance Italy to the final moments of a millennial city under siege….
the successor of Greece and Rome, this magnificent empire bridged the ancient and modern worlds for more than a thousand years. Without Byzantium, the works of Homer and Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Aeschylus, would never have survived. Yet very few of us have any idea of the enormous debt we owe them.
The story of Byzantium is a real-life adventure of electrifying ideas, high drama, colorful characters, and inspiring feats of daring. In Sailing from Byzantium, Colin Wells tells of the missionaries, mystics, philosophers, and artists who against great odds and often at peril of their own lives spread Greek ideas to the Italians, the Arabs, and the Slavs.
Their heroic efforts inspired the Renaissance, the golden age of Islamic learning, and Russian Orthodox Christianity, which came complete with a new alphabet, architecture, and one of the world’s greatest artistic traditions.
The story’s central reference point is an arcane squabble called the Hesychast controversy that pitted humanist scholars led by the brilliant, acerbic intellectual Barlaam against the powerful monks of Mount Athos led by the stern Gregory Palamas, who denounced “pagan” rationalism in favor of Christian mysticism.
Within a few decades, the light of Byzantium would be extinguished forever by the invading Turks, but not before the humanists found a safe haven for Greek literature. The controversy of rationalism versus faith would continue to be argued by some of history’s greatest minds.
Fast-paced, compulsively readable, and filled with fascinating insights, Sailing from Byzantium is one of the great historical dramas–the gripping story of how the flame of civilization was saved and passed on.
the successor of Greece and Rome, this magnificent empire bridged the ancient and modern worlds for more than a thousand years. Without Byzantium, the works of Homer and Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Aeschylus, would never have survived. Yet very few of us have any idea of the enormous debt we owe them.
The story of Byzantium is a real-life adventure of electrifying ideas, high drama, colorful characters, and inspiring feats of daring. In Sailing from Byzantium, Colin Wells tells of the missionaries, mystics, philosophers, and artists who against great odds and often at peril of their own lives spread Greek ideas to the Italians, the Arabs, and the Slavs.
Their heroic efforts inspired the Renaissance, the golden age of Islamic learning, and Russian Orthodox Christianity, which came complete with a new alphabet, architecture, and one of the world’s greatest artistic traditions.
The story’s central reference point is an arcane squabble called the Hesychast controversy that pitted humanist scholars led by the brilliant, acerbic intellectual Barlaam against the powerful monks of Mount Athos led by the stern Gregory Palamas, who denounced “pagan” rationalism in favor of Christian mysticism.
Within a few decades, the light of Byzantium would be extinguished forever by the invading Turks, but not before the humanists found a safe haven for Greek literature. The controversy of rationalism versus faith would continue to be argued by some of history’s greatest minds.
Fast-paced, compulsively readable, and filled with fascinating insights, Sailing from Byzantium is one of the great historical dramas–the gripping story of how the flame of civilization was saved and passed on.
335 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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1733 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
May 30, 2017
Cool book, I realized how little I knew about the Byzantine Empire.
Scholarly yet approachable and at times entertaining, it can also be pedantic and thick. Segmented into Constantinople's influence on Western Europe, Islam and Russia.
A refreshingly erudite work that was also fun to read.
Scholarly yet approachable and at times entertaining, it can also be pedantic and thick. Segmented into Constantinople's influence on Western Europe, Islam and Russia.
A refreshingly erudite work that was also fun to read.
March 5, 2021
The gifts of Greeks
Byzantium disappeared from the maps in 1453 when it was conquered by the Turks. It had been on the skids for some time previously. Constantinople became Istanbul and though all us kids studied Rome in detail, our teachers tended to skip over Byzantium in a few sentences, if they mentioned it at all. But for many centuries the second Rome, the Rome of the East, shone brightly as a beacon of civilization as Europe went through the Dark Ages. As a great civilization of its time, Byzantium would have had influences on surrounding areas, as all great civilizations do. But what exactly would these have been ? To tell the truth, before I read Colin Wells' book, I had very little idea.
Byzantium's influence spread in three different directions, in three different ways. First, the victorious Arabs arrived in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt, taking over from the erstwhile Byzantine rulers. The style they adopted, once they realized that they were no longer a nomadic, desert people without cities, owed a lot to the Byzantines, both in architecture and in political regime. But the larger Byzantine influence was to provide the rising Muslim power with knowledge---in science, medicine, and philosophy---the knowledge that fueled the flowering of Islamic civilization in the 8th and 9th centuries in Damascus and Baghdad. Though Islam eventually turned away from such knowledge to its own detriment, the mass of Arabic translations from Greek, aided by Byzantine scholars, helped in turn to re-seed knowledge gleaned by the ancient Greeks in western Europe at a later time.
Second, in the 150 years before Byzantium's end, intellectual activity had begun to stir in Italy. Almost all classical literature in Greek had been lost, thanks to nearly 1000 years of invasions and wars. Even if Italian scholars could get their hands on Greek manuscripts, they couldn't read them. A few Byzantine scholars began to travel to Italy to teach Greek and to spread Byzantine philosophical trends of different kinds. Moves even were made to reunite the Orthodox and Catholic churches, though none were successful. After Byzantium fell, many Greek scholars took refuge in Venice or other parts of Italy. The whole European humanist school of philosophy, with its reliance on Plato and its subsequent influence on Catholic thinkers, can be traced to the debates in Byzantium between those who favored "Athens" (humanist tradition) and those who backed "Jerusalem" (stricter interpretation of religion).
Third, Byzantium engaged in a long struggle with the Slavic peoples who invaded the Balkan peninsula as early as the 400s. Among these numbered the Bulgars and the Serbs. Over time, these peoples adopted Orthodox Christianity and in turn became a conduit to spread the religion further, to the outer Slav peoples in Ukraine and Russia. Wells relates a long, extremely complex tale of how Russia came to adopt the faith of Byzantium and become, at last, the "Third Rome". The type of Orthodoxy that they accepted meant that mysticism would dominate, rather than humanism as in the case of the West.
The overall topic, then, is "what contributions did Byzantium make to world history". Even if you are not fascinated by schools of philosophy and positions on the nature of Christianity, you will be able to follow and appreciate Wells's work because this is one of the clearest history books I've ever read. It has a number of excellent maps also (always a plus). The section about Russia gets bogged down in a sea of names for a while, but you will be able to navigate through. Humor marks the pages, and a rather informal, rather than `heavy academic' style predominates. I suspect SAILING FROM BYZANTIUM will influence more people than most previous books on the subject.
Byzantium disappeared from the maps in 1453 when it was conquered by the Turks. It had been on the skids for some time previously. Constantinople became Istanbul and though all us kids studied Rome in detail, our teachers tended to skip over Byzantium in a few sentences, if they mentioned it at all. But for many centuries the second Rome, the Rome of the East, shone brightly as a beacon of civilization as Europe went through the Dark Ages. As a great civilization of its time, Byzantium would have had influences on surrounding areas, as all great civilizations do. But what exactly would these have been ? To tell the truth, before I read Colin Wells' book, I had very little idea.
Byzantium's influence spread in three different directions, in three different ways. First, the victorious Arabs arrived in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt, taking over from the erstwhile Byzantine rulers. The style they adopted, once they realized that they were no longer a nomadic, desert people without cities, owed a lot to the Byzantines, both in architecture and in political regime. But the larger Byzantine influence was to provide the rising Muslim power with knowledge---in science, medicine, and philosophy---the knowledge that fueled the flowering of Islamic civilization in the 8th and 9th centuries in Damascus and Baghdad. Though Islam eventually turned away from such knowledge to its own detriment, the mass of Arabic translations from Greek, aided by Byzantine scholars, helped in turn to re-seed knowledge gleaned by the ancient Greeks in western Europe at a later time.
Second, in the 150 years before Byzantium's end, intellectual activity had begun to stir in Italy. Almost all classical literature in Greek had been lost, thanks to nearly 1000 years of invasions and wars. Even if Italian scholars could get their hands on Greek manuscripts, they couldn't read them. A few Byzantine scholars began to travel to Italy to teach Greek and to spread Byzantine philosophical trends of different kinds. Moves even were made to reunite the Orthodox and Catholic churches, though none were successful. After Byzantium fell, many Greek scholars took refuge in Venice or other parts of Italy. The whole European humanist school of philosophy, with its reliance on Plato and its subsequent influence on Catholic thinkers, can be traced to the debates in Byzantium between those who favored "Athens" (humanist tradition) and those who backed "Jerusalem" (stricter interpretation of religion).
Third, Byzantium engaged in a long struggle with the Slavic peoples who invaded the Balkan peninsula as early as the 400s. Among these numbered the Bulgars and the Serbs. Over time, these peoples adopted Orthodox Christianity and in turn became a conduit to spread the religion further, to the outer Slav peoples in Ukraine and Russia. Wells relates a long, extremely complex tale of how Russia came to adopt the faith of Byzantium and become, at last, the "Third Rome". The type of Orthodoxy that they accepted meant that mysticism would dominate, rather than humanism as in the case of the West.
The overall topic, then, is "what contributions did Byzantium make to world history". Even if you are not fascinated by schools of philosophy and positions on the nature of Christianity, you will be able to follow and appreciate Wells's work because this is one of the clearest history books I've ever read. It has a number of excellent maps also (always a plus). The section about Russia gets bogged down in a sea of names for a while, but you will be able to navigate through. Humor marks the pages, and a rather informal, rather than `heavy academic' style predominates. I suspect SAILING FROM BYZANTIUM will influence more people than most previous books on the subject.
May 2, 2016
This book was fantastic!! The subtitle says it all. No, it's not a political history of the Byzantine Empire, but one narrowly focused on the valuable culture and Greek classical learning Byzantium has passed on to three major civilizations:
Western Europe, beginning with Italy and eventually spreading to the rest of Europe;
Arabs and their successor, the Ottoman Empire;
Slavic nations, from Bulgaria to Russia.
There are few of the "famous" people you would expect. For that you would need a more general Byzantine history. In this book, there are only a few words on the Fall of Constantinople, although the Sack of Constantinople [the 4th Crusade] is covered fairly extensively. Most of the historical figures discussed were esoteric scholars, religious figures, and some statesmen.
Each of the three sections into which the book was divided, was of interest. Yes, there were boring sections and at times I felt too many names and details were thrown at me all at once. There were some nuggets of information I did learn.
I learned the first time the word translation used in the sense of expressing the sense of a word in one language and rendering it into another, was coined by the Byzantines. Many Latin works they rendered into Greek. They passed on their knowledge of Greek to all three civilizations. Many religious concepts, such as the Great Schism, the filioque controversy, differences between Arians/Nestorians, Hesychasm were made clear for the layperson. As a result of Ptolemy's The Geography translated into Latin by a Byzantine scholar, a young Genoese sailor tried to find the riches of Cathay by sailing west. A "scriptorium" was first used in a Byzantine monastery and in the homes of rich, educated Byzantines; the idea of such a room spread quickly into Western monasteries. With the invention of the printing press and Aldus Manutius' Press, Greek texts were widely distributed in Europe.
First for the Arabs, then under the Ottomans, the Byzantines translated Greek medical texts into Arabic. The Ottomans went on to write their own original texts, when they felt they had learned everything the Byzantines had to offer. In architecture, the Dome of the Rock, which is a shrine , not a mosque , was built in Jerusalem, copying the nearby Byzantine Church of the Anastasis [Resurrection]. Then the Ottomans developed their own style.
The last part delineated the origin and spread of Slavs. Bulgaria transmitted Byzantine learning. Then followed much on the early history and on the conversion to Orthodoxy of the Slavs. For much of the early history, we rely on the Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. The "Cyrillic" alphabet was developed for the Russians, we do not know by whom, but not by Cyril and Methodius. The Russian story of their conversion is well-known. The Byzantine version is more mundane, but probably more accurate. Russian art [icons] reached a peak under the Byzantine, Theophanes the Greek and his pupil, Andrei Rublev.
I appreciated the "Major Characters" list in the front, to keep track of who was who. Sources for quotes in the text and footnotes were given in 'Notes' There was also an extensive bibliography; the index was adequate, but not terribly extensive. I could not find several things I wanted to check on. The book was perfect for a non-scholar.
Enthusiastically recommended!
Western Europe, beginning with Italy and eventually spreading to the rest of Europe;
Arabs and their successor, the Ottoman Empire;
Slavic nations, from Bulgaria to Russia.
There are few of the "famous" people you would expect. For that you would need a more general Byzantine history. In this book, there are only a few words on the Fall of Constantinople, although the Sack of Constantinople [the 4th Crusade] is covered fairly extensively. Most of the historical figures discussed were esoteric scholars, religious figures, and some statesmen.
Each of the three sections into which the book was divided, was of interest. Yes, there were boring sections and at times I felt too many names and details were thrown at me all at once. There were some nuggets of information I did learn.
I learned the first time the word translation used in the sense of expressing the sense of a word in one language and rendering it into another, was coined by the Byzantines. Many Latin works they rendered into Greek. They passed on their knowledge of Greek to all three civilizations. Many religious concepts, such as the Great Schism, the filioque controversy, differences between Arians/Nestorians, Hesychasm were made clear for the layperson. As a result of Ptolemy's The Geography translated into Latin by a Byzantine scholar, a young Genoese sailor tried to find the riches of Cathay by sailing west. A "scriptorium" was first used in a Byzantine monastery and in the homes of rich, educated Byzantines; the idea of such a room spread quickly into Western monasteries. With the invention of the printing press and Aldus Manutius' Press, Greek texts were widely distributed in Europe.
First for the Arabs, then under the Ottomans, the Byzantines translated Greek medical texts into Arabic. The Ottomans went on to write their own original texts, when they felt they had learned everything the Byzantines had to offer. In architecture, the Dome of the Rock, which is a shrine , not a mosque , was built in Jerusalem, copying the nearby Byzantine Church of the Anastasis [Resurrection]. Then the Ottomans developed their own style.
The last part delineated the origin and spread of Slavs. Bulgaria transmitted Byzantine learning. Then followed much on the early history and on the conversion to Orthodoxy of the Slavs. For much of the early history, we rely on the Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. The "Cyrillic" alphabet was developed for the Russians, we do not know by whom, but not by Cyril and Methodius. The Russian story of their conversion is well-known. The Byzantine version is more mundane, but probably more accurate. Russian art [icons] reached a peak under the Byzantine, Theophanes the Greek and his pupil, Andrei Rublev.
I appreciated the "Major Characters" list in the front, to keep track of who was who. Sources for quotes in the text and footnotes were given in 'Notes' There was also an extensive bibliography; the index was adequate, but not terribly extensive. I could not find several things I wanted to check on. The book was perfect for a non-scholar.
Enthusiastically recommended!
April 18, 2023
In the 2002 romantic comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the father of the protagonist is a Greek emigrant, living in the US, who spares no opportunity to list the accomplishments of Greek civilization for anyone willing to listen to him. His list includes democracy, philosophy, science, and many other benefits to mankind, initiated or developed by his ancestors. One achievement that he does not mention is the Byzantine Empire. This is not surprising because the Byzantines have had a consistently bad press for the last 500 years, ranging from its name becoming an adjective in English meaning unnecessarily complicated to the disrespect shown its capital in the 1953 American pop song Istanbul (not Constantinople).
In this book, Colin Wells attempts to present the legacy of the Byzantines in a more positive light. There are three sections, covering the West, the Islamic world, and the Slavic world. In each the author describes how, during the sixth through the 15th centuries, the Byzantines more or less taught each of these societies how to be civilized, although some were more enthusiastic pupils than others.
This is a very readable book and the author provides lists of the major personages discussed to make it easier for the reader to keep score. One of the more interesting features is the collection of maps showing the political divisions at various dates so that the reader can keep track of the evolving international relationships.
In this book, Colin Wells attempts to present the legacy of the Byzantines in a more positive light. There are three sections, covering the West, the Islamic world, and the Slavic world. In each the author describes how, during the sixth through the 15th centuries, the Byzantines more or less taught each of these societies how to be civilized, although some were more enthusiastic pupils than others.
This is a very readable book and the author provides lists of the major personages discussed to make it easier for the reader to keep score. One of the more interesting features is the collection of maps showing the political divisions at various dates so that the reader can keep track of the evolving international relationships.
May 13, 2015
A great primer dealing with the role of the Eastern Roman Empire, otherwise known as Byzantium. This is one area and period of History that I knew so little about (never covered it at Uni, or at least only briefly touching the edges), basically just knowing about the schism between the East and Western Churches - the Orthodox and Catholic. However, the book is not really a history of Byzantium per se, but rather details the influence it held over the religious and educational development in Europe and the Middle East, covering the West, the effect on the rise of the Islamic Middle East and, for what I think is the most long standing legacy, the rise of the Slavic Rus, helping and actively encouraging the development of Russia as a unified nation (carrying on the legacy and being known in time as the 'Third Rome'). Without the Eastern Roman Empire surviving when Rome was sacked (and it survived for almost a millennia longer, till 1453), then we would not have many early books and texts surviving from Ancient Greece and much important learning would have been lost forever.
The book is more or less a cultural and religious study, explaining the divide between Western and Eastern religious thought (explaining the Hesychast debate for instance) and the most important historical figures involved throughout Byzantine's history. It held and incorporated the legacy of the Greeks, and its teachers became widely recognised and sought after for their translations, both amongst the Latin Christians and the Islamic Scholars. Islam became such a progressive movement in its early stage of growth with developments in science, expanding and developing what the early Greek Scholars started, and without the Byzantine translators then this could not have happened. Likewise amongst the Catholics in Florence and Rome, Byzantine Scholars were often invited to teach, to impart their knowledge such was the respect they held. However, Colin Wells' book is short and contains no great depth into certain periods and events - hardly mentioning the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and what happened afterwards, but does discuss the Fourth Crusade and the sacking in 1204 (the beginning of the end of such a powerful, grandiose and dare I say, beautiful city); it must be seen as a primer and I suppose it succeeds in this task. There is a considerable bibliography however which is always useful and much needed here. The book has whetted my inquisitve appetite to read more regarding this almost 'mystical' and exotic Empire.
The book is more or less a cultural and religious study, explaining the divide between Western and Eastern religious thought (explaining the Hesychast debate for instance) and the most important historical figures involved throughout Byzantine's history. It held and incorporated the legacy of the Greeks, and its teachers became widely recognised and sought after for their translations, both amongst the Latin Christians and the Islamic Scholars. Islam became such a progressive movement in its early stage of growth with developments in science, expanding and developing what the early Greek Scholars started, and without the Byzantine translators then this could not have happened. Likewise amongst the Catholics in Florence and Rome, Byzantine Scholars were often invited to teach, to impart their knowledge such was the respect they held. However, Colin Wells' book is short and contains no great depth into certain periods and events - hardly mentioning the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and what happened afterwards, but does discuss the Fourth Crusade and the sacking in 1204 (the beginning of the end of such a powerful, grandiose and dare I say, beautiful city); it must be seen as a primer and I suppose it succeeds in this task. There is a considerable bibliography however which is always useful and much needed here. The book has whetted my inquisitve appetite to read more regarding this almost 'mystical' and exotic Empire.
August 17, 2023
Subtitle: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World
Audible Plus 9 hours 9 min. Narrated by Lloyd James (A+)
There is no way I can do this book justice without a physical copy, without which to refer. It is everything that book summary says it is and so much more. Colin Wells has written an excellently researched but also very readable book. In an audio format, this book could easily have fallen into the domain of "interminable boredom," but Lloyd James made this book come alive for me. A definite 4.5 stars for me!
The book is written in three understandable sections. The first is how the church of Constantinople was able to recognize the necessity of consurving the ancient Greek and Latin books, their grammars, and their ability to read them for posterity. The monks in monesteries maintained vast libraries of originals. importantly, reproductions. When Venice and Florence and in Italy began to grow and flourish and trade with Constantinople began to flourish, these texts were taken back to Italy. A first Renaissance began there with the growth of the Roman Catholic church.
The second section relates the beginnings of the Arab culture first in Syria and then in Baghdad. Here, the process was repeated. Thus, even Arabic culture was influenced by the writings of the Greeks and Romans.
The third section had me taking notes that are too convoluted to try to reproduce. It began with the sacking of Constantinople in 860 AD by the Bulgars, an obscure Slavic tribe to the north. After Constantinople recovered, this opened a conduit of Greek orthodox religion and its accompanied art and books into Bulgaria, then into Serbia, Kiev, and finally into Russia. As part of the Western world, we owe a huge debt to one major civilization for conserving the languages of Greek and Latin through the monks and monasteries wherever Byzantium took it.
I came across this gem of a book through a Goodreads review. History is so important to our understanding of how God chose to spread His Word.
Audible Plus 9 hours 9 min. Narrated by Lloyd James (A+)
There is no way I can do this book justice without a physical copy, without which to refer. It is everything that book summary says it is and so much more. Colin Wells has written an excellently researched but also very readable book. In an audio format, this book could easily have fallen into the domain of "interminable boredom," but Lloyd James made this book come alive for me. A definite 4.5 stars for me!
The book is written in three understandable sections. The first is how the church of Constantinople was able to recognize the necessity of consurving the ancient Greek and Latin books, their grammars, and their ability to read them for posterity. The monks in monesteries maintained vast libraries of originals. importantly, reproductions. When Venice and Florence and in Italy began to grow and flourish and trade with Constantinople began to flourish, these texts were taken back to Italy. A first Renaissance began there with the growth of the Roman Catholic church.
The second section relates the beginnings of the Arab culture first in Syria and then in Baghdad. Here, the process was repeated. Thus, even Arabic culture was influenced by the writings of the Greeks and Romans.
The third section had me taking notes that are too convoluted to try to reproduce. It began with the sacking of Constantinople in 860 AD by the Bulgars, an obscure Slavic tribe to the north. After Constantinople recovered, this opened a conduit of Greek orthodox religion and its accompanied art and books into Bulgaria, then into Serbia, Kiev, and finally into Russia. As part of the Western world, we owe a huge debt to one major civilization for conserving the languages of Greek and Latin through the monks and monasteries wherever Byzantium took it.
I came across this gem of a book through a Goodreads review. History is so important to our understanding of how God chose to spread His Word.
June 30, 2023
Texto sobre la influencia de la cultura bizantina en sus vecinos y sucesores (y, a través de ellos en el mundo actual) Contado con un estilo ágil, es una lectura agradable e incluye información muy interesante desde un punto de vista original. (Eso si, no es una historia del imperio como tal y salta de una época a otra según el tema del que le interese hablar)
December 24, 2021
Disappointing. Surely the emphasis should be on ideas at least as much as politics and people?
December 12, 2024
A little uneven? Sometimes I was really hooked, and other times it was a slog. There's a lot of information here.
August 11, 2011
I hadn't known Byzantium was so important. Wells's book relates how, in the centuries following the end of the Roman Empire, Byzantium, the surviving portion in the east, continued to influence the Mediterranean world and the Middle East, as well as Russia and the Balkans. By preserving Greek culture and transporting it to those areas, Byzantium made possible the philosophic, religious, and artistic movements behind the Renaissance, the era of Arabic science and learning, and the rise of Russian Orthodoxy. Despite pressures from neighboring peoples, Byzantium was able to remain intact during the dark years following Rome's demise and was able to preserve the twin values of Greek culture and Christianity which were responsible for its own flowering and to pass them along, thereby exporting science and learning to the Arabic world and Christianity to the north. It's not so much a history of Byzantium as it is the story of how it was the fertile seed ground for the ideas and values of the ancient Aegean and how it used its influence to sow them in the surrounding regions, to finally come to us.
The book isn't a big one. I suspect the story's huge and much more complex than Wells's account, but his clear demarcations of the benchmarks of the region's cultural history and influence make for comprehension while laying the foundation for broader reading.
The book isn't a big one. I suspect the story's huge and much more complex than Wells's account, but his clear demarcations of the benchmarks of the region's cultural history and influence make for comprehension while laying the foundation for broader reading.
July 4, 2011
I enjoyed this book but would have liked it much more if it did not claim to do something it doesn't.
It was fascinating to learn how Plato's dialogues wound their way to Florence through immigrant and exiled Byzantine scholars. And it was equally fascinating to learn how the Umayyad scholars preserved Greek philosophy even after the Byzantines banned or suppressed it. This is a tale of scholars, and a good one, but it is not really a chronicle of the Byzantine Empire's historical influence. It never does more than touch on politics or social matters.
The last section, on the Russia, is perhaps the most true to the promise of the title. Legend has it that a trip to the Hagia Sophia turned Russia's princes to Orthodox Christianity. Undoubtedly, Byzantium gave Russia and Eastern Europe its alphabet and church traditions. I left feeling that Byzantium's most important direct historical influence was in Eastern Europe and Russia.
It was fascinating to learn how Plato's dialogues wound their way to Florence through immigrant and exiled Byzantine scholars. And it was equally fascinating to learn how the Umayyad scholars preserved Greek philosophy even after the Byzantines banned or suppressed it. This is a tale of scholars, and a good one, but it is not really a chronicle of the Byzantine Empire's historical influence. It never does more than touch on politics or social matters.
The last section, on the Russia, is perhaps the most true to the promise of the title. Legend has it that a trip to the Hagia Sophia turned Russia's princes to Orthodox Christianity. Undoubtedly, Byzantium gave Russia and Eastern Europe its alphabet and church traditions. I left feeling that Byzantium's most important direct historical influence was in Eastern Europe and Russia.
July 25, 2011
Rating: 6/10. The author's intended purpose was to write a book which was accessible to the general reader. The problem is that the history of the Byzantine Empire is full of obscure religious and philosophical issues which, did, in fact, have an important role to play in its history. You wonder how an Empire, which seemed so incapable if defending itself and constantly refused to make important security decisions actually lasted for a thousand years. The three main issues in the book are Byzantium's relationships with the West, the Islamic world, and the Slavic speaking countries. I did learn a lot from reading Wells' book and it does make we want to read and learn more about Byzantium. I don't really think I would recommend this book for the 'general' reader though. P.S: for those of you who are map readers there are some excellent maps in this book.
June 3, 2008
An interesting little book about the influence of the Byzantine empire on Western Europe, Islam, and the Slavs. Each is addressed chronologically in its own section. I found the sections of the book about Islam and the Slavs very compelling. Each section, however, suffers from an annoying characterstic: devolution into a flood of names of obscure historical personalities by its conclusion. But other than that, a great book.
(And on a personal note, this book did a great job of depicting the beginnings of Eastern Slavic states, dispelling a number of "facts" that I've heard numerous times about the Kyiv Rus.)
(And on a personal note, this book did a great job of depicting the beginnings of Eastern Slavic states, dispelling a number of "facts" that I've heard numerous times about the Kyiv Rus.)
December 30, 2024
Wells has written a really accessible and worthwhile book about the cultural influences of Byzantium on its three large 'civilizational' neighbours: the Latin West, the Islamic East and the Slavic North. Anyone not familiar with Byzantium or still holds on to the notion that the Byzantine Empire was just one long decline, should strive to read it. Though not really an academic work or one coming forth from original research, Wells readily acknowledges this fact and states that wasn't his intent, an attitude which I can appreciate.
If I were to levy one criticism, it is that his exploration of the influence of Byzantium on Islamic cultures doesn't go far enough. The Ottoman Turks are for example only present in the book as the bringers of Byzantium's doom, but the influence of Byzantium on them goes basically ignored.
Still, this is one of the better popular historical works I have encountered and an excellent jumping off point for anyone interested in Byzantine history.
If I were to levy one criticism, it is that his exploration of the influence of Byzantium on Islamic cultures doesn't go far enough. The Ottoman Turks are for example only present in the book as the bringers of Byzantium's doom, but the influence of Byzantium on them goes basically ignored.
Still, this is one of the better popular historical works I have encountered and an excellent jumping off point for anyone interested in Byzantine history.
May 30, 2010
I think it’s an interesting book that should have been titled “Sailing from Byzantium, How a Lost Empire Shaped the 19th and 20th centuries Briths fancy for Greece.” This book is a difficult read and the fact that (for some unknown the reader reason) the historical timeline is scrambled (if not confused) makes it even more difficult.
November 5, 2018
Three linked essays about the links between Byzantine culture and the influence on its neighbours: Renaissance Europe, Umayyad and Abbasid Kalifate and the Bulgarian, Serb and Russian Orthodox churches.
Well written and accessible, but laden with information and names, great way into the topic.
Well written and accessible, but laden with information and names, great way into the topic.
October 20, 2018
This book brought many different pieces that have been bouncing around in my head for the last decade or two into the same historical narrative, and it is a book I will return to again in the future I am sure. Sure, it covers a vast swath of history, and therefore could be probably fairly criticized for generalizing too often, but I would say in return that it should rather be praised for being so bold as to weave the different strains of time and place together the way that it did.
The book is broken down into three parts, each focusing on the influence of the Byzantine Empire and its Greek (Athens, metaphorically) and Orthodox (Jerusalem, metaphorically) cultures. The first part is about the influence of Byzantium on the Renaissance in Italy, and this section is the closest thing I have found so far to answer my question about how exactly ancient greek texts like the Odyssey were preserved up to modern times. The second part, about which I knew the most from my own scholarship in grad school, is about the influence of Byzantium on the Arab and Muslim worlds. The argument here was nothing new to me, but I had much more to possibly criticize here based on my own experience and reading, but didn't find much to criticize. And then the third part was about the influence of especially the Orthodox element of Byzantium on the Slavic world. I know a good bit about this from a ecclesiastical and theological perspective, but not from a historical perspective, so this was probably the most interesting part of the book to me. I enjoyed learning about the context for Rublev's iconography (he is the favorite iconographer in our household, and I spent time looking at his icons every day). This third section was also particularly timely because of the recent news that the head of the Orthodox Church in Moscow has severed ties with the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. For a few days there, it almost seemed like what I was reading in the news and what I was reading in the book about the history of the Orthodox world in the late 1300s could have easily been swapped.
I often found myself thinking, "will he leave this or that out?" Every time I thought about something like this, he did discuss what I thought was missing. A few examples of this include the influence of Alexandria on spreading Hellenism (not just Constantinople), the role of Mt. Athos, or the importance of non-Chalcedonian Christianity (Arianism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism in particular).
Because I had a pretty decent background for each section (even Hesychasm-Orthodox mysticism which is an important theme through the whole book-is something I have read about in some detail), this book meant a lot to me. If you don't have that background already, you would likely find this book frustrating for how it touched on subjects but then didn't explain them in much detail. But to be fair, if it had, the book would have been like 2,000 pages long.
In a lot of ways this book for me is sort of like how you bookmark websites or favorite tweets that you want to come back and read later. I know I can return to this book to remind me of topics that I still don't know much about but want to delve into later, like the Council of Florence for example, which sort of weakly rejoined Eastern and Western Christianity in the context of the last couple of decades leading up to the fall of Constantinople. You sure would think that after the Latins destroyed Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in the early 13th century that the Byzantines would have abandoned ever looking west for political and military support, but such were the intrigues of Byzantine dynastic succession conflicts and such were the threats from various Slavic and Muslim invaders, that the Byzantines never really seemed to learn that lesson.
The book is broken down into three parts, each focusing on the influence of the Byzantine Empire and its Greek (Athens, metaphorically) and Orthodox (Jerusalem, metaphorically) cultures. The first part is about the influence of Byzantium on the Renaissance in Italy, and this section is the closest thing I have found so far to answer my question about how exactly ancient greek texts like the Odyssey were preserved up to modern times. The second part, about which I knew the most from my own scholarship in grad school, is about the influence of Byzantium on the Arab and Muslim worlds. The argument here was nothing new to me, but I had much more to possibly criticize here based on my own experience and reading, but didn't find much to criticize. And then the third part was about the influence of especially the Orthodox element of Byzantium on the Slavic world. I know a good bit about this from a ecclesiastical and theological perspective, but not from a historical perspective, so this was probably the most interesting part of the book to me. I enjoyed learning about the context for Rublev's iconography (he is the favorite iconographer in our household, and I spent time looking at his icons every day). This third section was also particularly timely because of the recent news that the head of the Orthodox Church in Moscow has severed ties with the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. For a few days there, it almost seemed like what I was reading in the news and what I was reading in the book about the history of the Orthodox world in the late 1300s could have easily been swapped.
I often found myself thinking, "will he leave this or that out?" Every time I thought about something like this, he did discuss what I thought was missing. A few examples of this include the influence of Alexandria on spreading Hellenism (not just Constantinople), the role of Mt. Athos, or the importance of non-Chalcedonian Christianity (Arianism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism in particular).
Because I had a pretty decent background for each section (even Hesychasm-Orthodox mysticism which is an important theme through the whole book-is something I have read about in some detail), this book meant a lot to me. If you don't have that background already, you would likely find this book frustrating for how it touched on subjects but then didn't explain them in much detail. But to be fair, if it had, the book would have been like 2,000 pages long.
In a lot of ways this book for me is sort of like how you bookmark websites or favorite tweets that you want to come back and read later. I know I can return to this book to remind me of topics that I still don't know much about but want to delve into later, like the Council of Florence for example, which sort of weakly rejoined Eastern and Western Christianity in the context of the last couple of decades leading up to the fall of Constantinople. You sure would think that after the Latins destroyed Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in the early 13th century that the Byzantines would have abandoned ever looking west for political and military support, but such were the intrigues of Byzantine dynastic succession conflicts and such were the threats from various Slavic and Muslim invaders, that the Byzantines never really seemed to learn that lesson.
May 17, 2025
Este livro tem como objetivo relacionar, sobretudo no âmbito cultural, a história bizantina e seu impacto em diferentes locais do mundo (principalmente a história russa, citando brevemente a Lituânia e a Polônia de passagem). Focando no renascimento greco-romano, com ênfase na literatura filosófica da Grécia Antiga, o autor, por meio de personagens históricos, destaca o papel bizantino neste resgate antigo, salientando sua relevância sobre humanistas italianos como Petrarca, a quem se costuma dar o crédito por tal fato.
A ideia é ambiciosa, uma vez que trata-se de um escopo grande de tempo e espaço, e como consequência acaba se perdendo no seu objetivo.
Sinceramente, por vender em seu título que tratava-se de Bizâncio, achei que me depararia com a História deste Império do Oriente, nem que fosse para destacar aspectos culturais de Constantinopla.
Fiquei decepcionada ao ver que, principalmente no fim do livro, em seus últimos capítulos, Bizâncio foi ofuscado pelo debate linguístico de um ortodoxo greco que se envolveu em políticas na Rússia pré Ivan IV. Sequer é mencionado a queda de Constantinopla em 1453, nem se fala mesmo do impacto que antiga capital vista como “Nova Roma” se tornou para os turcos, que a renomeou Istambul.
Acredito que se o propósito era debater o renascimento greco-romano que fosse feito sem vender a história de Bizâncio desta forma tão gratuita, relegando-a ao terceiro plano. Além disto, o autor parece crer que seu público já detém conhecimento sobre o pano de fundo de seu estudo, o que somente empobrece a obra.
A despeito do grave desapontamento provocado pela leitura, destaco os poucos pontos positivos que encontrei nele: a questão já mencionada do papel bizantino de resgatar os autores da Grécia Antiga como Platão e Aristoteles, contribuindo para inserir sua leitura em um meio católico e ortodoxo; sua relação com o leste europeu, cuja história sempre fica jogada a segundo plano.
Não é uma leitura fácil nem instigadora, mas fica a recomendação para os que gostam de estudar principalmente as línguas latinas e gregas, que ganham destaque na obra em razão da formação do autor ser desta área.
A ideia é ambiciosa, uma vez que trata-se de um escopo grande de tempo e espaço, e como consequência acaba se perdendo no seu objetivo.
Sinceramente, por vender em seu título que tratava-se de Bizâncio, achei que me depararia com a História deste Império do Oriente, nem que fosse para destacar aspectos culturais de Constantinopla.
Fiquei decepcionada ao ver que, principalmente no fim do livro, em seus últimos capítulos, Bizâncio foi ofuscado pelo debate linguístico de um ortodoxo greco que se envolveu em políticas na Rússia pré Ivan IV. Sequer é mencionado a queda de Constantinopla em 1453, nem se fala mesmo do impacto que antiga capital vista como “Nova Roma” se tornou para os turcos, que a renomeou Istambul.
Acredito que se o propósito era debater o renascimento greco-romano que fosse feito sem vender a história de Bizâncio desta forma tão gratuita, relegando-a ao terceiro plano. Além disto, o autor parece crer que seu público já detém conhecimento sobre o pano de fundo de seu estudo, o que somente empobrece a obra.
A despeito do grave desapontamento provocado pela leitura, destaco os poucos pontos positivos que encontrei nele: a questão já mencionada do papel bizantino de resgatar os autores da Grécia Antiga como Platão e Aristoteles, contribuindo para inserir sua leitura em um meio católico e ortodoxo; sua relação com o leste europeu, cuja história sempre fica jogada a segundo plano.
Não é uma leitura fácil nem instigadora, mas fica a recomendação para os que gostam de estudar principalmente as línguas latinas e gregas, que ganham destaque na obra em razão da formação do autor ser desta área.
January 20, 2018
A short book summarizing Byzantium’s influence on Western Europe, Islam, and Slavic countries. Fairly easy to read, it works reasonably as a summary and reference book.
May 8, 2025
What is most disappointing about this book is that it is at times a convincing masquerade of a well researched book. The author is almost unbelievably sloppy in regards to the details of the events that he references - I don’t know the history covered in the first two sections as well as I do the history in the third, but there were enough errors in the third to discredit the first two.
The book was written simply enough for anyone to read, as the author suggests was his intent. Unfortunately, he presents a view of history so oversimplified so as to be completely useless.
The book was written simply enough for anyone to read, as the author suggests was his intent. Unfortunately, he presents a view of history so oversimplified so as to be completely useless.
July 15, 2016
Isaac Asimov referred to Byzantium as a forgotten empire, lost and dismissed to the western mind as a decayed remnant of a once-great power. But Byzantium had a greatness of its own that inspired civilizations around it, even its enemies. Sailing from Byzantium examines the literary, political, scientific, and other influences the Eastern empire had on the western Renaissance, Eastern Europe, and even the nascent Islamic civilization. Though somewhat impaired by being name-dense and not giving sketch of the Byzantines in brief, Sailing does deliver a sense of the eastern empire as an inspirational fount during the long millennium that followed its western antecedent's demise. The three civilizations drinking from its waters took different elements of the Empire home with them, with some sharing; to the Italians, Byzantium was the temple of Greek civilization, its scholars the teachers of the first medieval humanists, including by extension Erasmus. Islam cut its imperial teeth when it seized some of the East's richest provinces, and Byzantine notions about politics, law, and the aesthetics of royalty became incorporated into the Islamic civilization as it came of age. This lessened somewhat after the conquest of Persia, pursued after Constantinople proved too tough to crack. The Russians, too, were initially rivals of their southern neighbors, making their introduction with a good old-fashioned Black Sea raid; having common enemies and rivals, however, pushed the two together, and as the tribe of Russians matured into a state of their own, their religion was that of Byzantium's. Later, once Constantinople had fallen to the Turks, Russia would even claim to be the inheritors of the Empire; just as it moved from Rome to Constantinople, so it now had moved to the third Rome, Moscow. The marriage of a Russian potentate to a Byzantine princess even attempted to give such a claim practical validation. In examining the Byzantine influence on these three powers in turn, Wells not only demonstrates the richness of its culture, but pries open worlds probably mysterious to western readers, connecting exotic history with some slightly more familiar. It's quite fascinating, though readers would be better served reading an overview of Byzantine history before launching in.
July 2, 2016
I've temporarily book this book on hold in favor of better reading and may never pick it up again. The general historical outline it has laid out so far is interesting, but the author relies too much on bad historical stereotypes in his narrative. Example: The Crusaders are out to steal whatever they can. The Venetians will sell anyone down the river for a buck.
A good example is his discussion of the First Crusade. He notes that the Crusaders betrayed their agreements to the Byzantine Emperor and refused to return conquered lands to Constantinople. He neglects to this was spurred by their perceived abandonment by the Emperor, who turned back his promised armies when retreating Crusaders warned him that the rest of the Crusade army was going to be destroyed. The author chooses to rely on the stereotypical (and quite wrong-headed) modern view of Crusaders to explain events instead of diving into the story and exploring its complexities.
I understand that in a short book the author can't hope to tell us the whole story. His job is to give us enough detail to set us on a path to understanding what happened. He fails in this, instead deciding to rely on convenient stereotypes to drive his narrative, which leads his readers to unfounded conclusions about the actual historical events
A good example is his discussion of the First Crusade. He notes that the Crusaders betrayed their agreements to the Byzantine Emperor and refused to return conquered lands to Constantinople. He neglects to this was spurred by their perceived abandonment by the Emperor, who turned back his promised armies when retreating Crusaders warned him that the rest of the Crusade army was going to be destroyed. The author chooses to rely on the stereotypical (and quite wrong-headed) modern view of Crusaders to explain events instead of diving into the story and exploring its complexities.
I understand that in a short book the author can't hope to tell us the whole story. His job is to give us enough detail to set us on a path to understanding what happened. He fails in this, instead deciding to rely on convenient stereotypes to drive his narrative, which leads his readers to unfounded conclusions about the actual historical events
Read
August 4, 2011This was an attempt to shed light on a forgotten aspect of history. Most westerners, when they think of Rome, think of the Western empire. In terms of religion, the debate is between Protestants and catholics. Wells (and others) open a new page of history for us.
Wells divides his work into three sections. He shows how Byzantium influenced and was influenced by the Romans, The Muslims, and the Slavs. And at the end of each epoch of Byzantine history, Wells shows how causes that led to Byzantium's fall opened another dimension of its survival.
The pros of the book is the sectionon the Slavs. He made Slavo-Russian history dazzling
Wells divides his work into three sections. He shows how Byzantium influenced and was influenced by the Romans, The Muslims, and the Slavs. And at the end of each epoch of Byzantine history, Wells shows how causes that led to Byzantium's fall opened another dimension of its survival.
The pros of the book is the sectionon the Slavs. He made Slavo-Russian history dazzling
August 18, 2015
This is a fascinating, but at times difficult (or downright boring) book. While it does a great work presenting the influence and its routes from Byzantium to its neighbors, there are several parts where the book is just names after names, travels after travels where I found my mind wondering off.
Still, a unique subject and a unique book.
Still, a unique subject and a unique book.
July 27, 2015
"Sailing for Byzantium" is an explicit account of the history of the eastern Roman empire as well as its leaders and the culture that developed there. A very dense book with some tough sledding in parts, yet I highlighted more lines within it's pages than I have in a long time. I will use this book for future reference.
September 13, 2011
Simply written, not too complex, excellent history for the person who has no previous knowledge of the subject.
April 28, 2012
Disappointing. Will I ever find a book about the Byzantine Empire that is readable, scholarly, and thesis driven? This certainly isn't it.
August 6, 2019
I don't know where I became someone who reads a lot of books on Byzantium, but there are a lot of books on that medieval society [1], and I somehow find myself reading a few of them also. In general, these books seek to demonstrate the importance of the Byzantine Empire to the contemporary Western world in one way or another, and this book certainly fits within that trend. After all, why would one read about an empire that ended lamentably and definitively in 1453, decades before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, unless the empire had some importance on the way we currently live. This particular book is a relatively short one and certainly a very well-written one, and it certainly justifies the intents of its author to let the reader know about the importance of the Byzantine influence on surrounding peoples, even if that influence was not always straightforward. And that lack of straightforwardness is not necessarily a disadvantage, as it allows the author to tell a fascinating story that has some surprising relevance when one examines the question of pietism within different religious traditions.
This book is about 300 pages long and is focused on looking at the influence of the Byzantine empire and its scholarship and knowledge of Greek philosophical thinking on the West, Arabs, and the Slavic world. The book begins with an introduction to major characters, a concurrent timeline of the four worlds the author is discussing, maps, an introduction, and a prologue that sets up a controversy between philosophical and pietist Byzantines that led to a fatal division of the empire in the 14th century. After that the author spends five chapters discussing the relationship between Byzantium and the West (I), discussing the parting of the ways (1) between the West and Byzantium in the early Middle Ages, the struggle within the Byzantine Empire between Athens and Jerusalem (2), the early instruction of Greek to the humanist elite of Renaissance Italy (3), how these efforts increased (4), and the importance of Byzantine emigres to the development of the Italian humanist culture of the 15th century (5). After that the author discusses the relationship between Byzantine culture and the Arab world (II), with three chapters that deal with the efforts of the Arabs to establish a new Byzantium (6), the house of wisdom through translation (7), and the Arabic enlightenment (8). Finally, the author discusses in eight chapters the relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Slavic World (III), with chapters on the threat of invasion (9), the mission of Cyril and Methodius (10), wars of emulation between the Bulgars and the Byzantines (11), the Serbs and others (12), the rise of Kiev (13), the golden age of Kievan Rus (14), the rise of Moscow (15), and Moscow's role as the third Rome (16), after which the epilogue discusses the last Byzantine and there is an author's note, acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, and index.
There are several different layers of this author's particular discussion. One of them, the surface layer, is to discuss that Byzantine expertise in holding on to the Greek philosophical tradition and its texts allowed these texts to dramatically influence the development of the Italian and Arab Renaissance periods. Additionally, Byzantine attitudes towards encouraging national churches in the local vernacular languages allowed its influence to spread throughout the Eastern European slavic peoples, dividing them from the influence of Rome with its more imperial use of the Latin language in liturgy. Beyond this, though, the author is making a subtle but definitely pointed attack on pietism as an approach, viewing it as a weakening force in the loyalty that people felt to beleaguered states like the late Byzantine Empire that were fighting for their survival by privileging a sense of religious purity over engaging in the actions that would be necessary for survival in the face of the hostility of the Turks. Pietism privileges personal morality over the compromises of the political or geopolitical world, and hence those who hold to a pietistic belief tend to ultimately be hostile to political savvy and the sacrifices that are necessary to get along with others in the sake of building coalitions, which the author views as a major negative, along with the pietistic hostility to philosophy that tends to exist as well.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
This book is about 300 pages long and is focused on looking at the influence of the Byzantine empire and its scholarship and knowledge of Greek philosophical thinking on the West, Arabs, and the Slavic world. The book begins with an introduction to major characters, a concurrent timeline of the four worlds the author is discussing, maps, an introduction, and a prologue that sets up a controversy between philosophical and pietist Byzantines that led to a fatal division of the empire in the 14th century. After that the author spends five chapters discussing the relationship between Byzantium and the West (I), discussing the parting of the ways (1) between the West and Byzantium in the early Middle Ages, the struggle within the Byzantine Empire between Athens and Jerusalem (2), the early instruction of Greek to the humanist elite of Renaissance Italy (3), how these efforts increased (4), and the importance of Byzantine emigres to the development of the Italian humanist culture of the 15th century (5). After that the author discusses the relationship between Byzantine culture and the Arab world (II), with three chapters that deal with the efforts of the Arabs to establish a new Byzantium (6), the house of wisdom through translation (7), and the Arabic enlightenment (8). Finally, the author discusses in eight chapters the relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Slavic World (III), with chapters on the threat of invasion (9), the mission of Cyril and Methodius (10), wars of emulation between the Bulgars and the Byzantines (11), the Serbs and others (12), the rise of Kiev (13), the golden age of Kievan Rus (14), the rise of Moscow (15), and Moscow's role as the third Rome (16), after which the epilogue discusses the last Byzantine and there is an author's note, acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, and index.
There are several different layers of this author's particular discussion. One of them, the surface layer, is to discuss that Byzantine expertise in holding on to the Greek philosophical tradition and its texts allowed these texts to dramatically influence the development of the Italian and Arab Renaissance periods. Additionally, Byzantine attitudes towards encouraging national churches in the local vernacular languages allowed its influence to spread throughout the Eastern European slavic peoples, dividing them from the influence of Rome with its more imperial use of the Latin language in liturgy. Beyond this, though, the author is making a subtle but definitely pointed attack on pietism as an approach, viewing it as a weakening force in the loyalty that people felt to beleaguered states like the late Byzantine Empire that were fighting for their survival by privileging a sense of religious purity over engaging in the actions that would be necessary for survival in the face of the hostility of the Turks. Pietism privileges personal morality over the compromises of the political or geopolitical world, and hence those who hold to a pietistic belief tend to ultimately be hostile to political savvy and the sacrifices that are necessary to get along with others in the sake of building coalitions, which the author views as a major negative, along with the pietistic hostility to philosophy that tends to exist as well.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
May 4, 2017
I learned a fair deal from this and found cerain parts, especially in the first two parts, to be fairly interesting. I read enough before starting to not expect a conventional history of Byzantium, so the focus was no issue.
With that said, the endless torrent of names Wells throws at you through much of the book can be a bit overwhelming, far too numerous for readers to be expected to remember all but the most interesting/important of them. The latter parts of Part III, on Byzantium's influence on the development of the Slavic world, represent this at its most tedious (from around the time Moscow is emerging as the leading city in the region).
Still, the large opening part on Byzantium and the West is pretty fascinating in its pursuit of the book's main goal - sharing the story of Byzantine Humanists' salvation of Hellenistic learning and the inter-European political/spiritual infighting that accompanied it. It's this section that provides many of the most memorable figures, drawn largely from the Humanists, such as Barlaam of Calabria, John Bessarion, and the towering Manuel Chrysoloras, with a vibrant background cast of historical titans including Byzantine emperors and the Medicis. You get a well-developed feel for the connections between East and West and the ebbing and flowing of both political power and philosophical trends, which are frequently intertwined. I'd say its the most engaging narrative here, which Wells must agree with since it's easily the largest section.
The Arab/Byzantine section has similar potential, but is oddly stunted/condensed. I came in expecting to be really interested by the Slavic section, which I knew least about, and it does serve as an effective contrast to the Western section, making the Hesychasts who I saw as the antagonists of the Western section read like the protagonists in Greater Russia. The early parts of the section give useful insight into the formation of the Slavic world, but by the end I felt burned out, bored, and eager to be done...maybe because I had a hard time caring about or rooting for anybody or maybe because it had all just become too dry.
Overall this is an informative and ambitious book (trying to make such dense, sprawling material work as a casually readable edition), which score a mixed bag of success and failure. The timelines, maps, and "who's who" at the book's front are nearly essential tools, suggesting that the author or his editors realized what a tangle of names and stories they created.
With that said, the endless torrent of names Wells throws at you through much of the book can be a bit overwhelming, far too numerous for readers to be expected to remember all but the most interesting/important of them. The latter parts of Part III, on Byzantium's influence on the development of the Slavic world, represent this at its most tedious (from around the time Moscow is emerging as the leading city in the region).
Still, the large opening part on Byzantium and the West is pretty fascinating in its pursuit of the book's main goal - sharing the story of Byzantine Humanists' salvation of Hellenistic learning and the inter-European political/spiritual infighting that accompanied it. It's this section that provides many of the most memorable figures, drawn largely from the Humanists, such as Barlaam of Calabria, John Bessarion, and the towering Manuel Chrysoloras, with a vibrant background cast of historical titans including Byzantine emperors and the Medicis. You get a well-developed feel for the connections between East and West and the ebbing and flowing of both political power and philosophical trends, which are frequently intertwined. I'd say its the most engaging narrative here, which Wells must agree with since it's easily the largest section.
The Arab/Byzantine section has similar potential, but is oddly stunted/condensed. I came in expecting to be really interested by the Slavic section, which I knew least about, and it does serve as an effective contrast to the Western section, making the Hesychasts who I saw as the antagonists of the Western section read like the protagonists in Greater Russia. The early parts of the section give useful insight into the formation of the Slavic world, but by the end I felt burned out, bored, and eager to be done...maybe because I had a hard time caring about or rooting for anybody or maybe because it had all just become too dry.
Overall this is an informative and ambitious book (trying to make such dense, sprawling material work as a casually readable edition), which score a mixed bag of success and failure. The timelines, maps, and "who's who" at the book's front are nearly essential tools, suggesting that the author or his editors realized what a tangle of names and stories they created.
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