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A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from History's Most Orthodox Empire 1st Edition

by Anthony Kaldellis (Author)

4.5 148 ratings

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Weird, decadent, degenerate, racially mixed, superstitious, theocratic, effeminate, and even hyper-literate, Byzantium has long been regarded by many as one big curiosity. According to Voltaire, it represented "a worthless collection of miracles, a disgrace for the human mind"; for Hegel, it was "a disgusting picture of imbecility."

A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities will churn up these old prejudices, while also stimulating a deeper interest among readers in one of history's most interesting civilizations. Many of the zanier tales and trivia that are collected here revolve around the political and religious life of Byzantium. Thus, stories of saints, relics, and their miracles-from the hilarious to the revolting-abound. Byzantine bureaucracy (whence the adjective "Byzantine"), court scandals, and elaborate penal code are world famous. And what would Byzantium be without its eunuchs, whose ambiguous gender produced odd and risible outcomes in different contexts? The book also contains sections on daily life that are equally eye-opening, including food (from aphrodisiacs to fermented fish sauce), games such as polo and acrobatics, and obnoxious views of foreigners and others (e.g., Germans, Catholics, Arabs, dwarves). But lest we overlook Byzantium's more honorable contributions to civilization, also included are some of the marvels of Byzantine science and technology, from the military (flamethrowers and hand grenades) to the theatrical ("elevator" thrones, roaring mechanical lions) and medical (catheters and cures, some bizarre). This vast assortment of historical anomaly and absurdity sheds vital light on one of history's most obscure and orthodox empires.

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From the Publisher


Icon of St. Christophoros the Dog-Head (Kynokephalos) (Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, originally from Asia Minor, 1685). Source: Wikimedia.	Image of Basil II (976-1025) in military attire and posture, subjecting subjects and foreign enemies alike; from his Psalter (Marcianus gr. 17, Venice). Source: Public Domain.	Icon of the Heavenly Ladder, a treatise of moral improvement and spiritual ascent written in the seventh century by Ioannes Klimax, or Klimakos ('of the Ladder'). John is shown at the top leading the faithful to Christ, while demons try to pull them off through temptations and angels (top left) encourage them (Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai, twelfth century). Source: Wikimedia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If the Holy Spirit was not ashamed to tell this story, how much less should we place it under a shadow." --John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew

"I rarely ever finish, or even read, books, but I finished this one!" --Anonymous

"Pray for the author, pray for him, for he is wretched and unworthy." (ms. colophon)

"If I had to burn all other books, I would keep Plato's Timaeus and this one." --Proklos, from Marinos' Life of Proklos

"Not even the most philosophic, the most piercing, the most curious intellect has, or can ever have, a more exalted object." --Gregory of Nazianzos, patriarch of Constantinople and saint, Oration on Saint Athanasios of Alexandria

"All the wasteful expenses of mortals and their luxurious fare are poured out here without any of their previous charm. Too late a man realizes that he has spent gold on what was nothing but dust." --Agathias, Epigram on the public latrines

"This book is crammed full of childish and implausible things, it is badly written, false, and idiotic. He tells absurd and infantile stories about the resurrection of dead men and cows. His tales are, moreover, contradictory to each other, impious, and irreligious. If you were to call it the source and mother of all heresy, you would not be far from the truth." --Photios, Ten Thousand Books

Book Description

Byzantium: weird, decadent, degenerate, racially mixed, superstitious, theocratic, effeminate, and even hyper-literate

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (October 2, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0190625945
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0190625948
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.3 x 1 x 5.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #450,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #215 in Anthropology (Books)
- #657 in Ancient Roman History (Books)
- #1,532 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 148 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

148 global ratings

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Jennifer

Gift

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023

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I gave this as a gift. Seems well received. Arrived on time and in good shape.

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M.R

Funny and Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2017

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I'm not an academic by any sense of the word, I took higher level classes in it as an undergrad, but I have no real professional training in the subject. I have a harder time digging my teeth into thick scholarly texts or esoteric treatise on Byzantium. I prefer narrative histories, and trying to immerse myself in the these foreign historical worlds. This is why my favorite Byzantine history book is still the one by John Julius Norwhich even though its not academic and fairly out of date. So, when I heard about this book on Robin Pierson's “The History of Byzantium” podcast and started looking into the it I knew I'd probably enjoy it. To make a long story short...I did, go buy the book.

Professor Kaldellis says he hopes the book would be good for bathroom reading. While the short factoid format of the book does seem ideally suited for that purpose I read the whole thing in one afternoon. It's got all the little tidbits and anecdotes that you'd want from a book like this on Byzantium with stories as infamous as the ones listed in Procopius' Secret Histories to tales dug up from the obscure recesses of an Ecclesiastical history. The book has too many great stories to list (my favorites come from the Byzantines stereotypes of other cultures), but some of these stories are worth the price of the book alone.

I feel like anything else I could add would just be overkill. Amazon allows you to take a peek at the first chapter and if you have any lingering doubts I'm sure the first chapter itself could convince you to buy this book. This book is funny, scandalous, informative and interesting. I highly recommend it.

18 people found this helpful

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Tricia L Engel

I'm awesome.

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2019

Son likes it.

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

A really fun read for anybody with an interest in Byzantine history. Not necessarily a serious and in-depth take on anything in particular, as the title would suggest, but definitely engaging. Doubles as a great bibliography of sorts thanks to the diversity of sources used by the author.

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Austenparker

Light weight, light hearted anecdotes of an intriguing empire

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2017

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

The author states in his introduction that this is a bathroom book, and that is precisely what it is. You can pick it up and put it down without feeling that you'll lose the flow of the narrative because there isn't any flow. It is not an introduction to Byzantine culture, but rather a quick hits compilation of trivia and anecdotes. For anyone unfamiliar with the Byzantine empire, this will not provide much illumination on the achievements or flow of history, but that's not the point of this work anyway. The anecdotes are arranged by category and consist of short paragraphs which are summaries or quotations about a specific subject matter. I think someone who has a broader knowledge of the time period would probably enjoy the insights into the culture. For someone who is a casual reader, they will probably be entertained as well, but not really informed.

Due to the arrangement of subject matter, it is evident that the author subscribes to the popular concept that sex sells. The first two chapters are devoted to relating quirky facts about sex and the perception of sex in the empire as culled from various written sources. The author provides his own translations which give the quotes a modern feel, making the subject matter approachable for younger readers (think high school and college age).

The impression I received from this work is that the author would like to pique the interest of readers which will motivate them to delve more deeply into the subject matter. As such, I applaud this effort. It's not written in a narrative form like "Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters," so don't expect that. Although I found the work to contain much which was interesting, I would have chosen a more in-depth work, but this is a fun little read to while away the time.

5 people found this helpful

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lookingatwalls

Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is bits and pieces of observations through the 1000 year part of the Easter Roman empire, Sometimes I wish the snippets they used carried more of an explanation, I will sayI enjoyed the last part of the book the most. After the fall to the Latin's.

2 people found this helpful

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ShadowsOfConstantinople

A great little book

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

Definitely good for getting lots of little tidbits in a more casual Byzantine read, and from a great historian

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lighten_up_already

Get some Byzantium in your bathroom and you'll be smarter with every flush.

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

I love history, and this book lets me learn some history in organized, brain-bite sized chunks. This is the kind of book one can read at the end of the day before going to sleep, or take to the restaurant if one is tired of one's own cooking and wants to sit alone somewhere else and absorb information in small, amusing, pieces.

Then, tell your friends something kooky about history that will make them laugh and make you look smart. Some of these accounts and quotes might make good sermon fodder for preachers and bible teachers.

Western civilization traces directly back to the Byzantines. We Westerners are here because they were there. It's amazing to see how culture has changed, and how people really haven't in some ways. I've read Philip Schaff's History of the Christian Church, at least through the main Byzantine part, so it was super interesting to me to overlay this knowledge on church history knowledge.

My main criticism is that given the ornate cover, and that the title gets me thinking of three dimensional objects (like a cabinet would), I assumed that there would be a lot of illustrations, but there are not. There are illustrations spattered here and there, but they are all black and white, fuzzy, low quality, under-exposed, and not fun to look at. I would suggest upping the price a few dollars, making the book slightly larger, and getting a nice collection of hi-rez b&w and color images, and then Byzantium would really come to life.

But then, if you want a book "ideal for bathroom reading" (Preface XI) then I don't suppose it gets much better than this. And, maybe all that bathroom Byzantium will motivate the reader to read some actual history books.

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Claudio

Pettegolezzi e curiosità bizantine

Reviewed in Italy on October 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

Raccolta di aforismi e curiosità (diviso per temi: matrimonio, sesso eterodosso, eunuchi, scienza, pratica medica, eresia, scandalo, insulti, guerra, imperatori, l'altro e lo straniero) che in sede storica compongono un puzzle o più d'uno, e per il comune lettore possono essere fonte di arricchimento lettarario e storico insieme, oppure puro gossip dell'antichità.

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Redsith

A fun dip and and out read

Reviewed in Germany on November 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

A great little book with some fascinating stories relating to topics one would not usually associate with Byzantium.

Sex, eating habits, daily life and more. A nice change from the elite focused histories that result from scant sources about ordinary people during the Eastern Roman Empire's millennium-long history.

All topics are supported by primary sources - this book would suit the casual reader or even teachers and academics of Roman history who are looking to add a bit of colour to classes and galvanise the interest of students. A fun read indeed.

Kaldellis, keep it coming. You are a great Byzantinist - I love your podcast 'Friends of Byzantium' (available on the usual channels, Spotify etc). I recommend it to those reading this review. Lastly, I look forward to receiving Kaldellis's book on 9th/10th century Byzantine resurgence which I will soon order.

Amateur Reader

Quirky and interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

Anthony Kaldellis has compiled a book full of interesting, funny, surprising but also alarming facts of the Byzantine empire. These tidbits of information are presented in small separate paragraphs under themed chapters. The book pulls the curtain back on the Byzantine civilization in a way no other history book does to my knowledge. I quite enjoyed this book and learned much more than I expected. I would recommend this to anyone who has a deep interest in the Byzantine empire.

2 people found this helpful

Walter B.

tutto perfetto

Reviewed in Italy on August 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

ottimo testo.
ottimo venditore. contenuto integro arrivato nei tempi previsti.

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Martin James Hill

Love it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great book

One person found this helpful

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