Category: Kingdom History

What I’m Reading For Byzantium Trip

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In a few weeks I leave for a trip to Byzantium.  Of course it’s not called that anymore.  It’s current handle is Istanbul, and as was discussed in a recent blog post, it was heart of Christendom for 1,123 years.

We will begin with 3 days in Istanbul, along with one day in Cappadocia, before starting a Black Sea cruise that includes a stop in Ephesus before ending in Athens.

I’ve wanted to do this trip for years, and in preparation for it (and the blogging I plan on doing during the trip) I’ve been reading about the Byzantine Empire.  Here’s what I’ve recently read and/or am current reading in preparation for the trip:

  1. A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich
  2. The Secret History, Procopius
  3. Justinian’s Flea, William Rosen
  4. Istanbul: The Imperial City, John Freely
  5. The Later Roman Empire, Ammianus Marcellinus
  6. Theodosius: The Empire At Bay, Stephen Williams & Gerard Friell
  7. Constantine and Eusebius, Timothy D. Barnes
  8. The Alexiad, Anna Komnene

For those looking for a good introduction to the Byzantine Empire, I strongly recommend Norwich’s book.  It’s well-written and tells the fascinating story of Christianity’s first experiment in empire in a way both engaging and interesting.  This book is actually an abridged version of Norwich’s three volume treatise on Byzantium.

As the kingdom of God expands and Christians are elevated to positions of authority they will be foolish not to learn from the curriculum provided us by the past.  The Byzantine Empire provides a rich course.  GS

The First Christian Empire

It began on Monday May 11, 330, when it was officially founded by Constantine the Great, and it ended on Tuesday May 29, 1453, when Sultan Mehmed II breached its walls and conquered its capital.  Its one thousand one hundred twenty three years are a study in Christian government and empire.  I am referring to the Byzantine Empire.

Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 A.D. marks the victory of Christianity over Roman paganism.  Constantine then faced a question unique in history up to that point, “What does it mean to be a Christian ruler and a Christian empire?” The eighty-seven Byzantine rulers who would occupy the Byzantine throne after him over the next millennium would grapple with the same question.  If we were to judge them solely by the longevity of the empire they stewarded, we would have to conclude they did well.  But there is more to commend the Byzantines than mere longevity.

John Julius Norwich writes, “The Byzantines were…a deeply religious society in which illiteracy–at least among the middle and upper classes–was virtually unknown, and in which one Emperor after another was renowned for his scholarship; a society which alone preserved much of the heritage of the Greek and Latin antiquity, during these dark centuries in the West when the lights of learning were almost extinguished; a society, finally, which produced the astonishing phenomenon of Byzantine art.”

Notwithstanding the glories of the Byzantine Empire, ultimately the kingdom of God is not defined or delimited by earthly empire, and, therefore, Constantinople’s sacking in 1453, while a historical tragedy did not impede the advance of the kingdom of God.  In fact, as I have suggested in another post, Kingdom History: 1453-1455, the fall of Constantinople may have been necessary in God’s larger plan for the advance of the kingdom of God.  GS