Free Ebook Fourteen Byzantine Rulers: The Chronographia of Michael Psellus (Penguin Classics), by Michael Psellus
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Fourteen Byzantine Rulers: The Chronographia of Michael Psellus (Penguin Classics), by Michael Psellus
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About the Author
Michael Psellus, Byzantine philosopher, historian, and man of letters, was born in Constantinople in 1018. An infant prodigy, he attracted the notice of important patrons and eventually entered the government service, and, as one short-lived emperor succeeded another, became extremely influential. Falling into disfavor on Constantine IX’s death, Psellus for a time became a monk, but finding he had no vocation returned to court to resume a leading role in government, becoming chief minister of the empire under Michael VII Ducas. His literary output was immense, and not all of it has been identified, let alone published, but he is regarded today as one of the greatest courtiers and men of letters of his age.E. R. A. Sewter was a well-known Byzantine scholar and the editor of Greece and Rome. His translation of The Alexiad of Anna Komnene is still published in Penguin Classics. He died in 1976.
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Product details
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (December 20, 1979)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140441697
ISBN-13: 978-0140441697
Product Dimensions:
5.1 x 0.9 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.0 out of 5 stars
17 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#264,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
It is very difficult not to like the freshness of approach adopted by the author in his dealings with the good, the bad and the indifferent rules he writes about, and mostly from close observations or first hand knowledge.In a few instances it has been suggested that he has fashioned his view of some of the rulers to suit his political purposes.He writes of his own contacts with the various emperors, challengers to the throne, good and bad generals, and the theological dramas of the day between the western inheritor of the former part of the Roman Empire, the Roman Pope and the military position in which Byzantium found itself after the two serious military losses it sustained in 1071`: the defeat of Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes at the battle of Manzikert in the far east, and the capture by the Normans of the city of Bari in the west, actually in southern Italy. Thus war on two fronts threatened the empire.Psellus was born in Constantinople in 1018 and was taught by a celebrated teacher. Psellus was distinguished from his fellow students by his mastery of both science and humanistic studies. He is said to have been a polymath and his work shows him to have been a brilliant, if slightly self important, writer.His observations of the intrigue's at court after 1071 captures the intrigue's of the Byzantine court struggles between rival groups for influence, political and military, over the empires responses to the setbacks of 1071.His description of the manner in which the great schism between the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch in Constantinople (both were equal, according to longstanding Byzantine authority) when both sides excommunicated the other!His capacity to be only slightly judgmental on some subjects allows hi to be quite humorous on others.Overall this is an exciting work by an author who wrote of his own time in a fresh and fairly unrestrained style.
Excellent book. Psellus presents an intriguing and riveting history of the emperors of this time period, as well as delving into the politics around their rule and struggles such as rebellions and political machinations. His chronicle is mostly concerned with the lives, politics, and traits of the emperors themselves, and less with the total scope of the empire itself under their reign, which gives it an interesting and unique perspective.
The author (Psellus) writes of a time and people he knew. He was an intimate of the Byzantine Court, so he is able to describe events and people who played a part in that era. There is some personal opinions and prejudices expressed, but generally he has written a factual and honest account of life in the Byzantine Court from 1025 to 1071. I found very interesting the ways emperors spent much of the state's funds on themselves and personal projects while allowing the civil service, the army, and the common people to suffer neglect.
Beautiful but sad. really brings home why the Roman Empire in the East fell. The capital was isolated and indolent in luxury while all the conquests of Basil II were being lost, yet Michael, a major player was in large part responsible. Gives you an insider view of a bureaucrat who thinks he's smarter than the people on the line.
Great read to fill your historical ignorance of the Byzantine period between Basil II and Alexios . Interesting to read contemporary writings of Psellus and witness the biases and his first hand accounts - with the most powerful people in the world. His narrative strongly focuses on the character of the rulers rather than there policies . A rare form in this period. -1 star as some parts get boring when the writer starts to self gloat or goes on tangents not necessary to the arc.
Michael Psellus' Chronographia, written in the 11th Century, gives the modern reader a glimpse into the court and personal lives of fourteen Byzantine rulers. Psellus served as a court advisor and resident intellectual to several of these rulers and had direct contact with most of his subjects, which makes this book a valuable first-person account from an obscure period of Medieval history. However, Psellus' account is oftentimes less a historical narrative than a piece of deliberate disinformation, as the editor often points out in footnotes. The Byzantine Empire was beginning to decline in the period of the author's narrative and his account often seems designed to conceal or distort his own role in this phase. While the author appears as a fairly sympathetic and intellectual character early in his narrative, by the time he rose to the rank of senior advisor he was clearly corrupted and he admits in the final chapters that he was rewarded financially for his overly flattering portrayals of Emperor Michael VII. At one point, the author admits that "I have passed over in this work many facts worthy of mention" in order to satisfy his benefactors. Thus, read Psellus to gain insight into certain aspects of the Byzantine mindset, but be aware that this is a "tainted history" in which the author's primary loyalty is to his own self-promotion and avarice, not the truth. Psellus' narrative begins with the 49 year-reign of the Emperor Basil II, whose hard work brought the Byzantine Empire to the pinnacle of its strength, with secure borders and a full treasury. Although Psellus was only a child when Basil's reign came to an end, he bases this part of the narrative on contemporary secondary sources and it seems fairly objective. The six rulers that followed Basil in the next 17 years, when Psellus was a youth, are covered fairly rapidly although the author did have some contact with these individuals. It is with Emperor Constantine IX (1042-1055) that Psellus' narrative begins in earnest and this chapter is fully 25% of the book. Psellus entered the life of the court under this emperor and he admits that he benefited from his reign, but he also admits his overt bias when he says that, "I knew that in many things I should clash with the Emperor Constantine and I should be ashamed of myself if I did not seize every opportunity of commending him." Although the previous rulers had been a string of ineffective mediocrities, even Psellus' account admits that Constantine IX "chose a life of pleasure and luxury" and that he "wasted the imperial treasury" on satisfying the whims of his nit-wit mistress. In short order, the sound military and financial structure built by Basil II was depleted by Constantine II, although Psellus seems to shrug his shoulders at this. Indeed, the author was clearly a sycophantic courtier, who frequently describes the "beauty" of this emperor and compares his head to "the sun in its glory." Psellus admits that "it was not my desire to write a history, nor to acquire a reputation for veracity in that sphere; what I wanted to do was to compose a panegyric in honor of this ruler." Thus, Psellus' shabby gift to the modern reader is a propaganda piece, not objective truth. This is not to say that Psellus conceals his benefactors faults - at one point he admit that Constantine IX protected a nobleman who had embezzled a huge sum from the military budget - but despite this unethical behavior he still describes him as "this very great emperor." Readers will probably find Psellus a vain and smug intellectual, who claims superior knowledge in all spheres, including warfare and medicine. At one point, Psellus wrote that, "I know that perfumes give off a vapor which drives away evil spirits..." and he seems to confuse reading about warfare with expertise in warfare. One theme that does appear throughout Psellus' narrative is that a very poor state of civil-military relations contributed to the decline of the Byzantine Empire, by causing rebellions and a low state of military preparedness. Weak emperors viewed their mobile field armies as a potential source of rebellion and consequently deprived them of resources, despite near-constant threats on the borders. Promising military leaders were denied promotion or even cashiered, lest them become rivals to mediocre emperors. Instead, weak emperors preferred to rely upon fixed fortifications, particularly the redoubtable walls of Constantinople, rather than mobile forces. However, this neglect of the mobile armies weakened the ability of the empire to ward off external threats and began the reliance on foreign mercenaries. It is also apparent that Psellus was part of an anti-military cabal and that some of his advice contributed to the declining fortunes of the empire. Psellus' description of the reign of Romanus IV (1068-1071) and the disastrous Manzikert campaign against the Turks appears deliberately unfair to the one emperor who tried to revive the empire's military fortunes. After Manzikert, Psellus was apparently part of the conspiracy that removed Romanus and at that point his narrative becomes rather sickening in its blatant bias. Psellus became particularly attached to the young emperor Michael VII, another nitwit who is described as "a prodigy," "a divinity" and a "God-like emperor." Psellus admits, "favors were heaped upon me, gifts were sent to me... augmenting the wealth that I already possessed." In fact, Psellus even admits that Michael submitted his own version of his biography for Psellus to include in his work. Thus, while the Turks were massacring Byzantine civilians in Anatolia and depopulating the eastern empire, this author was getting rich writing a whitewashed history of a conniving thug. Although the editor writes that what happened to Psellus after 1078 is not known, one might hope after reading this shameless piece of disinformation that the author's head ended up on a Turkish spearpoint.
Great read!
Interesting.
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