Hellenism in Byzantium

This is the first systematic study of what it meant to be Greek in late antiquity and Byzantium, an identity that could alternatively become national, religious, philosophical, or cultural. Through close readings of the sources, Professor Kaldellis surveys the space that Hellenism occupied in each period; the broader debates in which it was caught up; and the historical causes of its successive transformations. The first section (100–400) shows how Romanization and Christianization led to the abandonment of Hellenism as a national label and its restriction to a negative religious sense and a positive, albeit rarefied, cultural one. The second (1000–1300) shows how Hellenism was revived in Byzantium and contributed to the evolution of its culture. The discussion looks closely at the reception of the classical tradition, which was the reason why Hellenism was always desirable and dangerous in Christian society, and presents a new model for understanding Byzantine civilization.

• Ground-breaking discussion of the changes in Greek identity from antiquity to 1300 informed by the latest theoretical literature • Fills a large gap in our knowledge of the reception of the classical tradition • Based on dozens of hitherto untranslated Byzantine sources

Introduction; Part I. Greeks, Romans, and Christians in Late Antiquity: 1. ‘We too are Greeks!’: the legacies of Hellenism; 2. ‘The world a city’: Romans of the east; 3. ‘Nibbling on Greek learning’: the Christian predicament; Interlude. Hellenism in limbo: the middle years (400–1040); Part II. Hellenic Revivals in Byzantium: 4. Michael Psellos and the instauration of philosophy; 5. The third sophistic: the performance of Hellenism under the Komnenoi; 6. Imperial failure and the emergence of national Hellenism; General conclusions.