Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire
There is a good reason that the name of the former Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine, is synonymous with complicated. Its long history, 330-1453, left it not only with the standard long series of emperors and dynasties, but also with numerous religious divisions, subdivisions, coups, and a changing gallery of enemies. Combined with the fact that the capital, Constantinople, sat at a strategic military and commercial location, in many ways, the Byzantine Empire was truly the center of the world, influencing regions beyond its borders, even after it had passed its peak. For the non-Byzantine specialist, the empire truly qualifies as "Byzantine".
Thus many will find Jennifer Lawler's Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empireas a useful guide to this important state. It is clearly written for the non-specialist and arranged in a sensible manner. Personalities, things, and events mentioned in the various articles are printed in a bold face font if they also appear in the encyclopedia. The guide to transliteration and pronunciation is useful, indicating that as some Greek spellings are transliterated in multiple fashions, they typically appear as entries under each form. The cross-listing works quite well.
Additionally, the author has provided two basic maps. One may wish they were more detailed, as they only indicate roughly the extent of the empire's borders during reign of Basil II and John VI Cantacuzene. However, Lawler does not provide the dates for these two emperors on the map (976-1024, 1347-1355 respectively). The lack of dates is also a problem with the genealogical charts; however one suspects that this was due to the format of the charts. There are eight charts for the Byzantine Empire. Lawler has also provided charts for the Latin Principality of Antioch which had close ties with Byzantium, the Latin empire of Constantinople, as well as a chart for the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and Russia. The common tie is that marriage between the Byzantine Empire and the other states (even the Latin Empire of Constantinople) often occurred. Rather than listing the dates of reigns with the genealogical information, Lawler instead provides Chronology of Emperors broken down by dynasty which proves to be immensely useful. In addition, chronologies are provided by the Latin Emperors of Constantinople, Trebizond, and the Patriarchs of Constantinople.
Finally, Lawler provides a glossary which may seem a bit out of place in an encyclopedia. While these are common terms used throughout much of the history of the Byzantine Empire, it is somewhat doubtful that someone will notice that there is a glossary. Instead, someone trying to understand who the Epitaktoi (monastic spies) were, will look in the encyclopedia section and not find it among the entries. This, however, may have been a formatting decision set by the publisher.
Of course the meat of the book is in the encyclopedia entries. Over 1500 entries supplemented by roughly fifty illustrations, maps, and the aforementioned charts make the Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire a very useful tool. It is concise (only 366 pages) but with a broad coverage.
The encyclopedia portion opens with summaries of various regions and
empires were contemporaries of the Byzantine Empire. Yet, it
is not apparent if all are
necessary. For instance, India is included, but Scandinavia is not even though
the latter had commercial and military ties with Constantinople. Also in the
section of India, there is a curious formatting issue in which it suddenly switches
to a discussion on the Abbasid Caliphate. The India essay is also poorly edited
as Iconoclasm was introduced twice. In the section on the Abbasid Caliphate,
Lawler makes a curious statement that the Abbasids were "less interested
in conquering Western Europe than their predecessors had been" (p. 17).
While this is certainly true, it is also irrelevant considering that their predecessors,
the Umayyads, also ruled North Africa and Spain whereas the Abbasid Caliphate
stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to Central Asia. One might also wonder what
exactly the Abbasid's intents towards Western Europe had to do with the
Byzantine Empire.
The connection with the Byzantine Empire is an important aspect of this book
simply because it is not always clear. Also in the introductory essays is one
for Nigeria. While this reviewer will certainly not dispute that several important
kingdoms emerged in Nigeria, but from reading the entry, one does not come away
with a clear picture of its connection, if any with the Byzantine Empire. The
other entries make more sense as they often take over Byzantine territory or
had diplomatic or military contact with Constantinople, but in the case of Nigeria,
if there was such contact, Lawler does not mention it. This is an issue with
many of the encyclopedia articles as well. While informative, some of the entries
do not deal directly with the Byzantine Empire and the articles do not always
shed light on why they appear in the volume.
In general the entries of the encyclopedia are well written and very informative. Readers of this publication may also find it quite useful for the number of military officers and information on the enemies of the Byzantines. However, the sections on armor and weapons are very general. Also the information on the wars of the Byzantines is simply a summary with few details. Of course, a separate volume could be written for the various wars of the Byzantine Empire. These entries simply whet one's appetite. It is strange however, that one of the most important military treatises of the Byzantine Empire, the Strategikon, is neither afforded an entry nor mentioned in that of its supposed author, Emperor Maurice I (639-602).
The strengths of Lawler's Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire are the entries on the Byzantine Empire. Of course, this is as it should be. Lawler does an exceedingly good job on delineating the various Christian sects and heresies, defining them and also their role in the Byzantine Empire. The weaknesses of the encyclopedia become apparent as Lawler deals with some of the regions outside of the Empire. The farther she moves from Constantinople, particularly eastward, the more inaccurate some of the articles become. For instance, in writing on Genghis Khan, she uses two different spellings of that title in the article. Then comments that the empire was divided among 3 sons (lands were given to his four sons, but the empire remained united) and "lost its greatest" (P. 133). Lawler overlooks that the fact that the Mongols continued to expand well after 1227, the death of Chinggis Khan) and reached its zenith in the 1250s.
There are other inaccuracies scattered throughout articles that do not deal directly with the Byzantine Empire. For instance, in the article on Edessa (p. 117), Edessa was not sacked by the Ottoman Turks in 1147, particularly as they did not exist at that time. Nor did the Mongols invade the Middle East in the twelfth century as indicated in the article on Farming and Agriculture (pp. 124-125).
Nonetheless, presumably the reader will use the volume specifically
for the entries on the Byzantine Empire as there are much better sources
dealing with the Mongols
or Indian Civilizations contemporaneous to the Byzantine Empire. In this
light, the Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire is a useful and informative
tool for
any scholar of the medieval period.