Heroes and Romans in Twelfth-Century Byzantium : The Material for History of Nikephoros Bryennios (Paperback)

Introduction; Part I. Contexts: 1. Twelfth-century politics and the House of Komnenos; 2. Writing history in twelfth-century Constantinople; 3. Nikephoros' reading; 4. Sources for the Material for History; Part II. Reading in the Material for History: 5. Problems of the Empire: civil war and mercenaries; 6. The rise of Alexios; 7. Romans and their enemies; 8. Military virtue; 9. Roman family politics; 10. Religion and providence; 11. Roman heroes; 12. A Roman mother; 13. A bold young man; Part III. The Material for History in Twelfth-Century Politics and Culture: 14. The Material for History and imperial politics of the twelfth century; 15. Nikephoros and Anna; 16. Roman ideals and twelfth-century Constantinopolitan culture; Conclusions; Appendix 1; Appendix 2. Vocabulary of virtue.