Ethnography After Antiquity: Foreign Lands and Peoples in Byzantine Literature (Empire and After)

Although Greek and Roman authors wrote ethnographic texts describing foreign cultures, ethnography seems to disappear from Byzantine literature after the seventh century C.E.—a perplexing exception for a culture so strongly self-identified with the Roman empire. Yet the Byzantines, geographically located at the heart of the upheavals that led from the ancient to the modern world, had abundant and sophisticated knowledge of the cultures with which they struggled and bargained. __Ethnography After Antiquity__ examines both the instances and omissions of Byzantine ethnography, exploring the political and religious motivations for writing (or not writing) about other peoples. Through the ethnographies embedded in classical histories, military manuals, Constantine VII's __De administrando imperio__, and religious literature, Anthony Kaldellis shows Byzantine authors using accounts of foreign cultures as vehicles to critique their own state or to demonstrate Romano-Christian superiority over Islam. He comes to the startling conclusion that the Byzantines did not view cultural differences through a purely theological prism: their Roman identity, rather than their orthodoxy, was the vital distinction from cultures they considered heretic and barbarian. Filling in the previously unexplained gap between antiquity and the resurgence of ethnography in the late Byzantine period, __Ethnography After Antiquity__ offers new perspective on how Byzantium positioned itself with and against the dramatically shifting world.

Although Greek and Roman authors wrote ethnographic texts describing foreign cultures, ethnography seems to disappear from Byzantine literature after the seventh century C.E.—a perplexing exception for a culture so strongly self-identified with the Roman empire. Yet the Byzantines, geographically located at the heart of the upheavals that led from the ancient to the modern world, had abundant and sophisticated knowledge of the cultures with which they struggled and bargained. Ethnography After Antiquity examines both the instances and omissions of Byzantine ethnography, exploring the political and religious motivations for writing (or not writing) about other peoples.

Through the ethnographies embedded in classical histories, military manuals, Constantine VII's De administrando imperio, and religious literature, Anthony Kaldellis shows Byzantine authors using accounts of foreign cultures as vehicles to critique their own state or to demonstrate Romano-Christian superiority over Islam. He comes to the startling conclusion that the Byzantines did not view cultural differences through a purely theological prism: their Roman identity, rather than their orthodoxy, was the vital distinction from cultures they considered heretic and barbarian. Filling in the previously unexplained gap between antiquity and the resurgence of ethnography in the late Byzantine period, Ethnography After Antiquity offers new perspective on how Byzantium positioned itself with and against the dramatically shifting world.

Contents 5 Preface 7 Chapter 1. Ethnography in Late Antique Historiography 11 Chapter 2. Byzantine Information- Gathering Behind the Veil of Silence 36 Chapter 3. Explaining the Relative Decline of Ethnography in the Middle Period 54 Chapter 4. The Genres and Politics of Middle Byzantine Ethnography 92 Chapter 5. Ethnography in Palaiologan Literature 150 Epilogue: Looking to a New World 194 Abbreviations 197 Notes 199 Bibliography 239 Index 279 Acknowledgments 287 Ethnography In Late Antique Historiography -- Byzantine Information-gathering Behind The Veil Of Silence -- Explaining The Relative Decline Of Ethnography In The Middle Period -- The Genres And Politics Of Middle Byzantine Ethnography -- Ethnography In Palaiologan Literature -- Epilogue: Looking To A New World. Anthony Kaldellis. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [229]-268) And Index. Ethnography After Antiquity explores the modes and motivations of Byzantine ethnographic writing, shedding new light on how Byzantines distinguished themselves from foreign cultures. Ethnography After Antiquity explores the modes and motivations of Byzantine ethnographic writing, shedding new light on how Byzantines distinguished themselves from foreign cultures.