Eustathios Of Thessaloniki The Capture Of Thessaloniki

During the ninth century the Saracen Arabs, who had been expelled from the caliphate of Spain, became an increasing threat to the Byzantine empire, particularly after they established themselves on the island of Crete. In 904 a Saracen force led by Leo of Tripoli sailed to the northern Aegean, captured Abydos and prepared to assault Constantinople, but then in a sudden change of plan sailed westward and captured Thessaloniki after a brief siege. The defences of the city had been neglected and the last-minute attempts which were made to improve them had little effect. The victors sacked the city for ten days, then departed taking as many prisoners as they could hold on board their ships. One of these prisoners was Kaminiates, who was later set free in an exchange of prisoners. He subsequently wrote a detailed account of the siege. This book presents the Greek text (as established by Gertrud Böhlig, reprinted by permission of the publisher, W. De Gruyter), together with the first English translation, made by David Frendo, and an introduction and notes by David Frendo and Thanos Fotiou.

Despite the relevance of Eustathios to both Classical and Byzantine studies, no monograph and no collective volume in English has yet been devoted to his figure. This book attempts to fill in this gap by addressing the various facets of his output - above all his commentaries on Homer, Dionysius the Periegete, Pindar, and the Iambic Canon on the Pentecost; but also his historiographical work, his speeches and his theological production receive due attention. The book also tackles several aspects of Eustathios‘ style (proverbs, allusions, etc.), and the meaning of his work in the context of his historical moment. Addressed at specialists but also at graduate students with an interest in the reception of Classical antiquity and in Byzantine civilisation, the volume gathers papers by leading scholars from various countries, and it opens up new paths of research in several areas of philology and history, above all by interweaving and juxtaposing Eustathios‘ dimension as an Homerist and an immensely learned classical scholar with his capacities as an orator, a highly praised teacher, a rhetorically refined writer of Greek prose, an historian of his own turbulent times, and an archbishop who had to fulfil his everyday duties.

Analyses of different aspects of the history of warfare in the Mediterranean in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

The 'long' fourteenth century perhaps can be seen as Thessalonica's heyday. Alongside its growing commercial prowess, the city was developing into an important centre of government, where members of the Byzantine imperial family of the Palaiologoi ruled independently under full imperial titles, striking coinage and following an increasingly autonomous external policy. It was also developing into a formidable centre for letters, education, and artistic expression, due in part to Palaiologan patronage. This volume sets out the political and commercial landscape of Thessalonica between 1303 and 1430, when the city fell to the Ottoman Turks, before focusing on the literary and hymnographical aspects of the city's cultural history and its legacy. The cosmopolitan nature of urban life in Thessalonica, the polyphony of opinions it experienced and expressed, its multiple links with centres such as Constantinople, Adrianople, Athos, Lemnos and Lesvos, and the diversity and strength of its authorial voices make the study of the city's cultural life a vital part of our understanding of the Byzantine Eastern Mediterranean.