u/bigpapi2626

What are you reading right now?

I'm curious—what are you guys reading right now, and what do you think of it so far?

I'm currently reading The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829–842: Court and Frontier in Byzantium during the Last Phase of Iconoclasm by Juan Signes Codoñer, and so far I'm really enjoying it. It's clearly a very well-researched study, and I've learned a lot from it.

My main criticism so far is the author's tendency to identify an extraordinary number of individuals as Armenian, often on what seems to be fairly limited evidence—sometimes simply because they have an Armenian-sounding name.

That reminded me of a chapter by Kaldellis in Romaland, so I went back to reread it. I hadn't realized at the time that he was specifically discussing this book. It was interesting to discover that many of the concerns I was having while reading are the same ones he raises.

But despite that criticism, I think it's an excellent piece of scholarship, and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

So, what are you all reading these days?

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u/bigpapi2626 — 3 days ago
▲ 306 r/byzantium

Military Recruitment in the Recovered Balkans

I don't recall whether this has ever been discussed before, but after the Romans reconquered the Balkans in the 11th century, did the region once again become a major recruiting ground for the army, as it had been from the 3rd to the 5th–6th centuries? Or had the demographics changed so much by then that it was no longer able to play that role?

u/bigpapi2626 — 29 days ago