104-231/331 Byzantium in the Sixth Century

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Subject Description:

The core of this subject is the continuity (or otherwise) of the classical tradition and the conflict between (and the fusion of) Christianity and Classicism. We see if, in the successes and failures of the period, there is any explanation for the end of Antiquity and the beginnings of Medievalism and the Dark Ages of the Seventh Century. The period was both one of confidence and achievement (the codification of Roman law, the invention of A.D. dating, the building of Hagia Sophia and other churches, the mosaics at Ravenna and elsewhere, the re-conquest of Vandal Africa and Gothic Italy) and also of fear and pessimism (Procopius Secret History, predictions of the end of the world, the plague of 542 and the Nika riots). Other topics include the survival of the amenities of the classical city (e.g. bathing and chariot-racing); the closing of Plato's Academy in 529, the increasing importance of icons; the Life of Saint Daniel, who lived for many years on top of a pillar and who was nevertheless consulted by the emperor on foreign policy, and the hymns of Romanos, arguably the greatest hymn-writer of the orthodox church).

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Prescribed Texts:

• Procopius, Secret History, Penguin.
• Scott R D and Jeffreys E M, The Chronicle of John Malalas, AABS.
• Dawes E and Baynes N, Three Byzantine Saints, Mowbrays.
• Bury J B, History of the Later Roman Empire, (Vol 2) Dover.
• Moorhead J, Justinian, Longmans.
• Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity 395-600, (Routledge).