Hello all,

This semester I am taking a course called Byzantine Civilization in which I will be required to write a 12-15 page research paper. Our professor will be discussing possible topics with us on an individual basis in February, and I would like to have some good ideas when she and I sit down to talk. Now, I know very little about the Byzantine Empire/Eastern Orthodox Church. Can anyone suggest important topics in literary or intellectual history? Thanks for your help!

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Davidius
Member: First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (RPCNA) - Durham, NC
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German Literature and Classics

And though the really inspired artist may complain that, with the majority, piano-playing is mere strumming, and painting little more than daubing, yet, the exuberant feeling of having a share in the privileges of art is so overwhelming, that the scorn of the artist is preferred to the abandonment of art training in education. To have laid a production of your own, however poor, upon the altar of art becomes more and more the characteristic of an accomplished civilization. - Abraham Kuyper

Davidius,

Here are some topics to think about.

The Early Byzantine Empire

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

From Ohio State University Department of History.

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John J.
Member Christ Prebyterian Church (OPC) Preparing For Eldership
Salt Lake City, Utah
www.christpres.net
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...
Currently reading Patristic Roots of Reformed Worship

Explore the efforts, or lack of efforts, of Byzantine Christians to evangelize their Muslim neighbors and the factors why or why not.

Stephen Neill and Kenneth Scott Latourette might be helpful.

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Pergamum

Maybe something on the Byzantine Manuscripts?

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-JD
[URL="http://www.greeknewtestament.com/B52C005.htm#V21"]1Thess5:21[/URL]
Ordained Deacon, PCA
Serving on Ministry Staff, SBC
MS

[url=http://www.christianskepticism.org]Team blog: ChristianSkepticism.org[/url] | [URL="http://mbbchurch.com"]Martin Bluff Church [/URL] | Personal:[URL="http://jdlblog.blogspot.com"]...a Longmire rambles[/URL]

How about why they made the Greek language more difficult to grasp than it had been prior to them fiddling with it, jerks.

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Travis Speegle
Redeemer Presbyterian, PCA (Waco, Tx)
Pacific Cross Roads, PCA (Los Angeles, CA)


"When it comes to trustworthy theologians one can usually honor the rule of thumb that the deader the better."-Dr. John Hannah, DTS (of all places)

Would you elaborate on that? I don't know what the Byzantine Manuscripts are.

They are Greek copies of the New Testament Scriptures (or, at least, parts of the NT Scriptures). They are a family of manuscripts - others include the Alexandrian and Western families.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)
http://reformedcovenanter.wordpress.com/
The Regulative Principle of Worship: Explained and Applied (Xulon Press)
A Conquered Kingdom: Biblical Civil Government (Reformed Worldview Books)

A few ideas:

* The Great Schism of 1054
* The promulgation and influence of the Codex Justinianus
* The Byzantine Iconoclastic controversy
* The legacy of Constantine the Great and/or Theodosius the Great and their legacies wrt church-state relationships
* Leo VI the Wise or the Philosopher and his legacy
* The Fall of Constantinople and the subsequent contribution of Byzantine scholars to the Renaissance and Reformation

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"On land, at sea, at home, abroad, / I smoke my pipe and worship God." -- J.S. Bach

I've been rather fascinated with Julian the Apostate since I found out the line in Swinburne, "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean" is attributed to him in death:

from this site.

I could be mistaken, but I don't believe paganism was outlawed until Theodosius took over after him, largely as a response to the measures he had taken to suppress Christianity and promote paganism. I've wondered if the pagan influence was more prominent or -unified or something in the EOC with some elements of mystery religion feel/appeal; and if he had anything to do with that.

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Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

I am no longer anything; yet only one thing am I: a clinging to the mercy of God.

I second Viriginia Huguenot's list, especially the first item on that list. The Great Schism came about for several reasons, but the most interesting of them is the filioque controversy concerning the Nicene Creed. On this topic, you can go to Robert Letham's great book on the Trinity and get loads of help in understanding the differences between East and West on Trinitarian theology. This cannot be explored too much.

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Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com

You could aks why most of the Crusaders were from Western Europe rather than those lands most in contact with the Muslim world (logically that would stirup the most zeal to fight the enemy). What was it in Byzantiumthat was different than in Western Catholicism that did not promote a Crusading Zeal.

Crusaders were by definition from the West. They originally came in response to a call from the Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantines were already fighting, and did not need a call.

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Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

You could look at:

• the Goths and their influence on both the politics and theology (esp. Arianism) of the Empire
• the role of the bureaucracy
• how the political struggles between the Empire and the West affected ecclesiastical struggles/conflicts (esp. important in Illyricum)
• Justinian's attempts to recapture the West
• The Codex Iustianus and its influence (or lack thereof) on modern/classical Western jurisprudence
• Basil II as the height of the Empire

Do yourself a favor and get Ostrogorsky'sHistory of teh Byzantine Empire. It is fabulous. Also very good is J.B. Bury's History of the Late Roman Empire

This is exactly right. If I recall correctly, Julian was actually pontifex maximus. Constantine made Christianity a relgio licta (a tolerated religion), Theodosius made it the religion of the Empire.

One other point: both Constantine and Julian are not technically Byzantine emperors, but rather Roman Emperors.

Fred,
Have you read Norman Cantor?

No. What book(s)?

Thanks Rev. Greco for the further information on both points.

I'd read that Julian was Byzantine when I initially read up on him but wondered about that before I posted today so rechecked on Wikipedia: it says many people date the Byzantine Empire from Constantine, others from Theodosius, and others from the last Roman emporer. I wasn't sure what view was involved in the course, but evidently the Constantine view is not the standard position, then. What would be more correct?

I tend to view it as Theodosius, since there were more "dual" Emperors at that time. When there was one Emperor, like Constantine and Julian, it does not seem right to speak of a Byzantine Emperor (i.e. there would be no "Western" Emperor).

Here is a really good web resource on this:
Roman Emperors - DIR--De Imperatoribus Romanis Roman History Roman Roman Empire Imperator Basileus De Imperatoribus Romanis Encyclopedia Byzantine

Thanks again; the link is added to my favorites.

(edit: the other view then, would be based solely on an Eastern capital?)

Yes. That would be my guess. Constantine was the first to "officially" make Constantinople a capital. Not the, but a capital.

Civilization of the Middle Ages. He had a good section on the late Roman Empire which dovetailed with what you were saying.