Byzantine Empire

A Vanished World: The Byzantine Empire

In drawing parallels with international events of the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Antonucci’s article from 1993 neglected the ideology that underpinned Byzantine diplomacy.

A Short History of Byzantium

Liz James celebrates the Eastern Empire’s artistic heritage and its pivotal role in shaping Europe and the Islamic world of the Middle Ages.

Greek Fire in the West

Towards the end of the twelfth century, writes Jim Bradbury, Greek Fire, which the Byzantines had long used, was first employed in Western Europe.

The Franks in the Peloponnese

Nicolas Cheetham describes how the Fourth Crusaders captured Byzantium in 1204 and French noblemen created feudal principalities in Southern Greece.

An Adriatic Hastings, 1081

Michael E. Martin recounts how Normans from Italy invaded the Byzantine Empire and Robert Guiscard sought to inherit the Imperial Crown.

The Hellenistic World

Michael Grant describes how, after the death of Alexander the Great, the classical world was divided into a system of contending super-states of which our twentieth century world is the heir.