From its foundation, the city of Constantinople dominated the Byzantine world. It was the seat of the emperor, the centre of government and church, the focus of commerce and culture, by far the greatest urban centre; its needs in terms of supplies and defense imposed their own logic on the development of the empire. Byzantine Constantinople has traditionally been treated in terms of the walled city and its immediate suburbs. In this volume, containing 25 papers delivered at the 27th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies held at Oxford in 1993, the perspective has been enlarged to encompass a wider geographical setting, that of the city's European and Asiatic hinterland. Within this framework a variety of interconnected topics have been addressed, ranging from the bare necessities of life and defence to manufacture and export, communications between the capital and its hinterland, culture and artistic manifestations and the role of the sacred.

This volume is devoted to the history, monuments and topography of Byzantine Constantinople, and includes two specially written pieces, as well as up-dates to the studies reprinted. Many of the articles deal with the imperial constructions of the first centuries of the City's existence - for instance, the columns of Constantine and Justinian, the Mausoleum of the Holy Apostles and the churches of St Sophia, St John of Studius, and Sts Sergius and Bacchus - structures which provided the basic monumental framework around which Constantinople developed and its life was lived. In his reconstruction of these monuments and their history, Cyril Mango demonstrates how much can be achieved by combining the information gained from meticulous examination of the written sources, whether contemporary or from post-medieval travellers, with that provided by the surviving buildings themselves and the remains that have been excavated. Ce volume, voue A l'histoire, aux monuments et A la topographie de Constantinople la Byzantine, comprend deux etudes redigees pour l'occasion, ainsi qu'une mise A jour des travaux qui y sont re-publies. Bon nombre des etudes traitent plus particulierement des constructions imperiales datant des premiers siecles d'existence de la cite - tels, les colonnes de Constantin et de Justinien, la Mausole des Saints ApAtres et les eglises de Ste Sophie, St Jean de Studius, ou de Sts Serge et Bacchus; un ensemble de structures qui apporterent la base monumentale autour de laquelle Constantinople s'est developpee et a vecu. Au travers de cette reconstruction des monuments et de leur histoire, Cyril Mango demontre combien peut Atre atteint en combinant l'information acquise A partir d'un examen meticuleux des sources ecrites - que celles-ci soient contemporaines ou proviennent des voyageurs post-medievaux - A celle que l'on peut tirer des bActiments-mAmes qui ont survecu, ainsi que des restes qui ete re

Byzantium linked the ancient and modern worlds, shaping traditions and handing down to both Eastern and Western civilization a vibrant legacy. The Oxford History of Byzantium is the only history to provide in concise form detailed historical coverage from the Roman beginnings to the fall of Constantinople and assimilation into the Turkish Empire. Against a backdrop of stories of emperors, intrigues, battles, and bishops the contributors to this beautifully illustrated volume explore everyday life in cities and villages, manufacture and trade, machinery of government, the church as an instrument of state, minorities, education, literary activity, beliefs and superstitions, monasticism, iconoclasm, the rise of Islam, and the fusion with Western, or Latin, culture.

Theophanes the Confessor (d.818) was a Byzantine abbot who fell victim to the Iconoclastic persecution. The Chronicle that goes under his name, written in Greek, is here translated in full for the first time, together with an introduction and commentary. It provides a unique source for the history of the Byzantine Empire down to AD 813 - the history of the Persians, Arabs, Bulgarians and other peoples.

This anthology of translated histories, chronicles, saint's lives, theological treatises, and accounts presents an in-depth analysis of Byzantine art. Focusing on Constantinople, Mango chronicles the arts, and places them in historical, political, and theological perspective. First published in 1972.