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Lädt ... A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from History's Most Orthodox Empirevon Anthony Kaldellis
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Anthony Kaldellis’s A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities follows in the footsteps of the books by Herrin and Cameron, but takes a completely different approach. Kaldellis is well known as a prolific and intrepid author on Byzantine history, whose published studies and translations range from Procopius to Laonikos Chalkokondyles. His new book is not a history per se, but a collection of pithy anecdotes, both direct translations and paraphrases, drawn primarily from Byzantine authors writing during the millennium between late antiquity and the fall of Constantinople. It is divided into eighteen thematic chapters on the following topics: marriage and the family; unorthodox sex; animals; food and dining; eunuchs; medical practice; science and technology; war; saints; heresy and scandal; “a gallery of rogues”; inventive insults; punishments; foreign lands and people, A.D. 330-641; foreigners and stereotypes, A.D. 641-1453; Latins, Franks, and Germans; disasters; and emperors. As a tribute to the Byzantine compilers he so clearly admires, Kaldellis has produced an entertaining florilegium filled with intriguing and sometimes downright strange information drawn from a thousand years of Byzantine history. His primary purpose is to entertain the reader, but he also hopes to provide scholars lecturing on Byzantium with “a handy reservoir of tales and anecdotes that amusingly illustrate a range of contexts and situations.” (p. xi). The book is successful on both counts.
Weird, decadent, degenerate, racially mixed, superstitious, theocratic, effeminate, and even hyper-literate, Byzantium has long been regarded by many as one big curiosity. According to Voltaire, it represented "a worthless collection of miracles, a disgrace for the human mind" for Hegel it was"a disgusting picture of imbecility."A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities will reinforce these old prejudices, while also stimulating a deeper interest among readers in one of history's most interesting civilizations. Many of the zanier tales and trivia that are collected here revolve around the political and religious life of Byzantium.Thus, stories of saints, relics, and their miracles - from the hilarious to the revolting - abound. Byzantine bureaucracy (whence the adjective "Byzantine"), court scandals, and elaborate penal code are world famous. And what would Byzantium be without its eunuchs, whose ambiguous gender producedodd and risible outcomes in different contexts? The book also contains sections on daily life that are equally eye-opening, including food (from aphrodisiacs to fermented fish sauce), games such as polo and acrobatics, and obnoxious views of foreigners and others (e.g., Germans, Catholics, Arabs,dwarves). But lest we overlook Byzantium's more honorable contributions to civilization, also included are some of the marvels of Byzantine science and technology, from the military (flamethrowers and hand grenades) to the theatrical "elevator" thrones, roaring mechanical lions) and medical(catheters and cures, some bizarre). This vast assortment of historical anomaly and absurdity sheds vital light on one of history's most obscure and orthodox empires. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)949.5History and Geography Europe Other parts Greece and the Byzantine EmpireKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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