February 12 - Justinian (Procopius, Secret History)
- Why does Procopius claim to write the Secret History? Does the work bear this out? What other motives can you infer from the text?
- Why do you think Procopius opens the work with an account of Antonina and Belisarius, rather than Theodora and Justinian?
- Pick out some of the crimes assigned by Procopius to Justinian or Theodora. What motives does Procopius give? Can you infer other reasons that might better explain the Emperor’s actions?
- What does Procopius feel is the proper role of women in society? Would he make a good gender studies teacher?
- Procopius goes on at length about Justinian’s efforts to enrich the state. Why, according to Procopius, does Justinian need all this money? How might Justinian justify his spending?
- What can we infer about Procopius’s own background and social standing?
- What can we infer about Procopius’s religious views?
- Can we reconcile Procopius’s presentation of Justinian and Theodora with the undoubted accomplishments of their reign?
- Can you think of any modern works in the same vein as the Secret History?
February 21 - Holy War in Byzantium and Islam (Selections from Theophanes, Selections from the Koran, Tactica of Leo: Constitution 18, Islamic Jihad texts)
- According to the Koran and the Hadith, when is it permissible to make war, and upon whom is it permitted? What is the purpose of this war?
- How much do the passages in the Koran and the Hadith appear to address contemporary events, and how much do they offer universal guidance?
- What are the purposes of Jihad? Who can order it, and how central is it to Muslim warfare according to the legal writings of Averroes?
- How is Jihad distinct from normal conquest?
- What role does Christianity seem to play in Heraclius’ war with Persia? How is this distinct from the wars described in the Koran?
- What religious motivations does Theophanes see in the Muslim conquests?
- How big a role does religious motivation play in Leo’s description of the Saracens (Arabs) and the methods of fighting them? How does this compare to the other peoples he describes?
March 1 - Iconoclasm (Life of Nikephoros, Mango excerpts)
- What role do icons have to play in Byzantine religious life, and why are they so important? Why are people so willing to die for them?
- What do the main religious objections to icons seem to be? Why else do people appear to object to icons?
- How does Nikephoros respond to these objections? Do you find his arguments convincing?
- What motivates the emperors to try and regulate popular piety, at least according to the Life of Nikephoros? Can you justify their actions on non-religious grounds?
- What does the Life of Nikephoros reveal about the role of the Patriarch in the life of Constantinople? About the role of the Emperor? About the relationship between the two?
- What marks out a particularly religious or holy individual in Byzantium? What makes Nikephoros a saint?
- Why does iconoclasm ultimately fail to take root in Byzantium?
March 8 - Missions & Conversions (Excerpts from the Russian Primary Chronicle, Life of Cyril-Constantine, Life of Methodius)
- The Life of Cyril/Constantine and the primary chronicle both contain religious “face-offs” among various faiths. What is the purpose of these, and what do they show about the appeal of Christianity?
- What political motives can you discern behind some of these conversions on the part of the various Slavic peoples?
- All of these works were written by non-Byzantines - what is their view of the Empire and how does it square with what we see in class?
- What does the policy of Byzantium seem to be with regard to conversions? How does it fit the larger aims of the Empire? How does it compare with the policies of the Muslims that we saw in the Holy War readings?
- What role does wisdom and education have to play in society? Why is there so much emphasis on making scripture available in Slavonic?
- How are the western Christians (Latins/Germans/Franks) portrayed in these works? What does this show about the harmony within the Church as a whole?
- How do these lives compare in form with the Life of Nikephoros? What do they show about the role of the Holy Man in Byzantine society?
March 29 - The Digenis Akritas
- What does this poem show about Christianity as a weapon of conquest? How does this compare to what we saw in the Missions & Conversions discussion?
- What does this poem reveal about Christianity as a unifying force in the empire?
- What is the relation of the subject to emperor? Of emperor to subject?
- What does the poem show about the role of women in Byzantium, and their relation to men?
- In book 7 the poet describes the mosaic in the home of Basil - what themes and events are featured, and how do they relate to the poem itself?
- How is this poem useful as a source for 11th century Byzatnium?
- What does the poem tell us about the nature of life along the border between Byzantium and the caliphate?
- What motifs and stories in the Digenis Akritas remind you of other epics or folk-tales?
April 10 - Byzantium and the First Crusade (Anna Comnena, Gesta Francorum, Raymond of Aguilers)
- What are Anna’s purposes in writing history according to the prologue, and how well does she fulfill them in her account of the 1st Crusade?
- What do the Frankish texts show about how the soldiers view their lords?
- How does Alexius attempt to manage and control the crusaders? How do the crusaders feel about this?
- What does the overall view of Byzantium and the Byzantines seem to be in the Frankish texts? How much does this view seem to be justified?
- What does the motivation of the crusaders appear to be from the Frankish texts? What motivates the Crusaders according to Anna? Which do you trust more, and why?
- How does Anna view the Franks/Kelts, and how does this contrast to the Byzantines? How does she contrast their leaders to Alexius?
- What do these texts show about the level of trust and understanding between the Byzantines and the western Christians? Why are the two sides so far apart?
- How do the accounts of the capture of Nicaea differ between Anna and the Frankish sources? What does this show?
- What is the Crusaders' concept of Holy War? What is Anna's?
- What does Anna’s text show about the role of classical learning in Byzantium?
April 19 - The Fourth Crusade (Niketas Choniates, Geoffrey of Villhardouin, Hugh of St. Pol)
- What motivates the Crusaders and the Venetians to undertake the fourth crusade? How does this differ from what we saw with the first?
- How do the crusaders wind up going to Constantinople? Did they have any justification?
- What is Enrico Dandolo’s role in all of this? What motivates the Doge?
- How apologetic are Geoffrey and Hugh for the sack and conquest of Constantinople? Do they see any justification for what they did?
- How does Niketas Choniates fill in the gaps in the crusader accounts? Where does he contradict them?
- Who is to blame for the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade? Should we see this as a tragic accident, a conspiracy, or something else?
- Is there a religious motivation to the Crusaders’ attack on Constantinople?
- Had Byzantium already collapsed by the time of the Fourth Crusade, or was it merely a moment of extreme weakness in the empire?