Davidius,
Here are some topics to think about.
The Early Byzantine Empire
- How were villages organized and run in late antique Egypt?
- What role did the wife of any given emperor play in politics or religion?
- What evidence is there for climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of Antiquity?
- How did Byzantine theologians understand the role of the Pope in the 6th century?
- Why did all attempts at compromise between Monophysites and Chalcedonians fail?
- Why did pilgrimage develop as an important spiritual practice in Late Antiquity?
- What social and/or military role did the Arabs play on the frontier in the years before 636?
- In reality how devastating was the invasion of Alaric (or Attila or any other barbarian group)?
- To what degree were German allies settled in Roman territory in the East?
- What was the nature of the political and social development of the Slavs before A.D. 800?
- How was commerce between the Aegean and the Black Sea regulated by the state?
- What were Byzantine theological attitudes toward war and military service?
- What are current theories about the composition of "Greek Fire"?
- To what degree did Byzantine armies have a technological superiority over their enemies?
- How were weapons supplied to the Byzantine armies?
- What was the importance of healing cults in the early Byzantine period?
- How did Byzantine authors react to the fall of Rome (or the fall of Alexandria)?
- On a practical level, how did Byzantine diplomacy operate?
- What were the characteristics and operation of Byzantine "spies"?
- How much did Arab culture influence Byzantium before 843?
From Ohio State University Department of History.