Judith Herrin, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, Penguin Press, 2008, 416 pages
As Protestant Christians, we naturally identify strongly with the church that originated in the Western Roman Empire, as it was from this part of the Christian church that the Reformation eventually emerged. However, we would do well to occasionally remind ourselves that the Roman Empire survived for centuries after it came to an end in the West. This expression of the Empire, centred on Constantinople, is often referred to as the Byzantine Empire (although citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire did not call themselves that, they simply thought of themselves as Romans). For more than a millennium, until its final demise in 1453, the Byzantine Empire served as a bulwark of the Christian faith, Roman law, and classical culture against determined Persian, Arab, and Turkish opposition. Citizens of the empire also played a hugely important role in shaping Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
With her book Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, Judith Herrin provides us with a well-written and comprehensive introduction to the history of Byzantium. In the process, she makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Christian history, especially in the way she examines the links between faith and empire.
Byzantine history can be famously complex and confusing, but Herrin excels in presenting her subject matter in an accessible way, rather than opting for dry, blow-by-blow narratives. She achieves this accessibility through a thematic approach, shining the spotlight on different aspects of Byzantine life, including culture, politics, and faith. This helps us to view Byzantium as more than a political entity but also as the focus of a vibrant cultural and religious life. Along the way, she introduces us to topics as diverse as the majesty of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) and the complex relationships the Byzantines maintained with other entities, including the Western church.
As expected, Herrin profiles the lives and contributions of major political figures in Byzantine history like Justinian the Great (482–565), the Empress Theodora (500–548), Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1056–1118), his daughter Anna Komnenos (1083–1153), as well as the final Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos (1405–1453). However, this is not merely a ‘great people’ treatment of history. Of particular interest is the light Herrin shines on the lives of ordinary Byzantines, including how they experienced their faith and their place in an increasingly hostile world as the Muslim conquests gained traction.
Many of the most important theological debates that would go on to shape the development of Christian theology took place on Byzantine soil. Herrin does very well to explain the issues involved with these debates and their aftermaths. In the process, she delves into the 4th-century Christological debates, the Iconoclastic Controversy, and the increasing tensions between the Western and Eastern Churches leading to the Great Schism of 1054. She also shows the enduring influence of Byzantine Christian thought through her analyses of the lives and legacies of figures like John Chrysostom and the Cappadocian Fathers.
What I particularly appreciated was the way Herrin consistently adopts a Byzantine vantage point, while we are often used to looking at Christian history in this part of the world from a distinctly Latin/Western perspective. This sheds new light on how and why Byzantine art, liturgy, and theology often went in different directions from the Latin West, in the process forging a unique worldview and culture that still informs Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
In summary, Herrin’s book is valuable in shining light on an underappreciated and understudied part of history. However, more than that, it provides us with a deeper understanding of specifically Christian history as it places some of the most important doctrinal and ecclesiological developments of the early centuries of the faith in their proper historical context. As Reformed Christians, we are obviously somewhat removed from what is being related, both in terms of time and theological convictions. However, much of what she focuses on forms part of our common Christian heritage. Even in cases where there is great divergence between our own convictions and the directions Byzantine Christianity took, we are still left with a deepened understanding of a very different tradition that is still being followed by millions of people around the world.