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Streams of gold, rivers of blood : the rise and fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade / Anthony Kaldellis.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Onassis series in Hellenic cultureDescription: xxxi, 399 p. : ill., geneal. tables, maps ; 25 cmISBN:
  • 9780190253226 (hbk.) :
  • 0190253223 (hbk.)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 949.5/02 23
LOC classification:
  • DF591 .K36 2017
Contents:
Introduction: The Byzantine Empire in the tenth century -- Part I: Conquest and consolidation -- "Avengers of Rome": The first phase of conquest in the East (995-963) -- "The White death of the Saracens": Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) -- "A mind full of cares, brave in danger": Ionnas I Tzimiskes (969-976) -- "From spectator to contestant": Basil II (976-1025), Part I -- "Guarding the children of New Rome": Basil II (976-1025), Part II -- "No one ever saw my spear at rest": Basil II (976-1025), Part III -- Part II: New enemies and the return of politics -- "Intrigues of the women's quarters": From Macedonians to Paphlagonians -- "No less laws than arms": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part I -- "Squaring the circle": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part II -- "With sword drawn": It all comes to a head, 1055-1059 -- General considerations: the return of multipolarity -- Part III: Collapse -- "The agony of a virulent poison": The road to Mantzikert, 1059-1071) -- "Squeezed by the pangs of death": The empire on the verge, 1071-1081 -- General considerations: Imperial collapse -- Epilogue: A Byzantine history of the first crusade.
Summary: In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests, first in the southeast against the Arabs, then in Bulgaria, and finally in the Georgian and Armenian lands. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. It was also expanding economically, demographically, and, in time, intellectually as well. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks in the east and the Normans in the west not only spelled the end of Byzantium's historical dominance of southern Italy, the Balkans, Caucasus, and northern Mesopotamia, but also threatened its very survival. Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood offers new interpretations of key topics relevant to Medieval history. The narrative is in 3 parts: the first covers the years 955-1025, a period of imperial conquest and consolidation of authority under the emperor Basil. The second (1025-1059) examines the dispersal of centralized authority in Constantinople as well as the emergence of new foreign enemies (Pechenegs, Seljuks, Normans). The last section chronicles the spectacular collapse of the empire during the second half of the eleventh century, concluding with a look at the First Crusade and its consequences for Byzantine relations with the powers of Western Europe.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 351-376) and index.

Introduction: The Byzantine Empire in the tenth century -- Part I: Conquest and consolidation -- "Avengers of Rome": The first phase of conquest in the East (995-963) -- "The White death of the Saracens": Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) -- "A mind full of cares, brave in danger": Ionnas I Tzimiskes (969-976) -- "From spectator to contestant": Basil II (976-1025), Part I -- "Guarding the children of New Rome": Basil II (976-1025), Part II -- "No one ever saw my spear at rest": Basil II (976-1025), Part III -- Part II: New enemies and the return of politics -- "Intrigues of the women's quarters": From Macedonians to Paphlagonians -- "No less laws than arms": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part I -- "Squaring the circle": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part II -- "With sword drawn": It all comes to a head, 1055-1059 -- General considerations: the return of multipolarity -- Part III: Collapse -- "The agony of a virulent poison": The road to Mantzikert, 1059-1071) -- "Squeezed by the pangs of death": The empire on the verge, 1071-1081 -- General considerations: Imperial collapse -- Epilogue: A Byzantine history of the first crusade.

In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests, first in the southeast against the Arabs, then in Bulgaria, and finally in the Georgian and Armenian lands. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. It was also expanding economically, demographically, and, in time, intellectually as well. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks in the east and the Normans in the west not only spelled the end of Byzantium's historical dominance of southern Italy, the Balkans, Caucasus, and northern Mesopotamia, but also threatened its very survival. Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood offers new interpretations of key topics relevant to Medieval history. The narrative is in 3 parts: the first covers the years 955-1025, a period of imperial conquest and consolidation of authority under the emperor Basil. The second (1025-1059) examines the dispersal of centralized authority in Constantinople as well as the emergence of new foreign enemies (Pechenegs, Seljuks, Normans). The last section chronicles the spectacular collapse of the empire during the second half of the eleventh century, concluding with a look at the First Crusade and its consequences for Byzantine relations with the powers of Western Europe.

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