There are not many books on the Eastern Roman Empire. This is unfortunate because I love studying about the history of the empire. The narrative of how this empire managed to thrive and survive in a much more precarious geopolitical situation compared to its classical Roman equivalent is a fascinating story to behold. There are some books that do manage to tell this narrative and do it in way that is appealing to students of history, history buffs and casual readers who are interested in exploring this topic. One of those books is Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium by Johnathan Harris.
Johnathan Harris is a professor of Byzantine history, so he is well-qualified to speak about the topic of Byzantium. The topic of the book is just the capital of the empire; that eye of the world and jewel of Europe known as Constantinople. The city of Constantinople is a world-renowned city that deserves several books devoted to it. I have always been fascinated by the city and how it was center of trade and culture in the empire. There is something intriguing about it being at the European start of the Silk Road, where the city is the confluence of East and West. People from all over the world were coming there in order to pursue their fortunes. This is a topic that is hardly well-treaded and Johnathan Harris brings the city to life.
His book goes into detail about the city through many layers. His book has clever usage of primary and secondary sources in order to flesh out the narrative of the capital city. Johnathan Harris first talks about the myth of Constantinople and how it meshes with the reality. The book is divided up into several sections, each of which deals with a particular aspect of the city’s life and character. For example, he has a chapter called ”democracy” which deals with the lower classes in Constantinople. I find this division to be very useful as Johnathan Harris tends to stay on topic for each of the chapters, making this book very readable. The book is written in a relatively narrative style, focusing on keeping the reader interested in the story of Constantinople. Unlike other books on Byzantine history, the book is easy to read and does not require additional education to be able to understand it.
There are so many books on Eastern Roman history that are intimidating to read. I generally enjoy reading them as I already have an interest in Eastern Roman history. However, would I recommend it to my colleagues? Probably not, unless they were already interested in Eastern Roman history.
This book on the other hand reads like a story, making it accessible to history buffs and casual lovers of history alike. Overall, I recommend this book as a great starting point for anyone interested in Eastern Roman history.
Byzantine-Empire.com 