Emperor or manager : power and political ideology in Byzantium before 1453

Byzantium in the 15th century is too easily dismissed as the anachronistic tail end of an ancient ecumenical empire, whose only achievements, apart from the heroic last stand of Constantinople in 1453, were the contribution of literary Hellenism to Renaissance humanism, and the preservation of Orthodoxy from the encroachment of Catholicism. This book argues that in struggling to survive as a small fortified enclave at the heart of Ottoman territory, Byzantium adopted the social structure and political ideology of a secular, territorial city-state on the Italian model. It thus presents the empire of the last Palaiologoi in an entirely new light. Prefaces ix Abbreviations xvii Introduction 1 PART 1: The Space and the People 1. Constantinople: the Organisation of the Space and its Functions 13 2. Social Forces in Constantinople 27 A. Merchants and businessmen 27 B. The officials of the Patriarchate 38 PART 2: Political Power in the Fifteenth Century 1. Political Personnel 55 A. The persons 55 B. The social profile of the archontes 68 2. State and Administration 75 A. Dignities and titles 75 B. The management of public finances 96 PART 3: Political Practice and Ideology 1. The Political System 111 A. The people (demos) 111 B. Encomiastic and funerary orations 114 C. The emperor 127 D. The ruler's virtues 133 2. Old and New Collectivities 141 A. The notion of patris (homeland or country) 143 B. Race of the Hellenes - race of the Orthodox 152 C. The political identities of the Byzantines in the 15th century 158 In Place of an Epilogue: Why the City Fell 167 Appendix 175 Bibliography 182 Index 201