A. P. Kazhdan, the distinguished Russian Byzantinist, is Senior Research Associate at Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. Ann Wharton Epstein, past President of the Byzantine Studies Conference, is Associate Professor of Art History at Duke University.

• List of Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction I. BACKGROUND: FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES Restructuring the Empire: The Seventh Century Reconsolidation: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries II. DECENTRALIZATION AND "FEUDALIZATION" OF THE BYZANTINE STATE Decentralization Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Archaeological and Literary Evidence Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Arts and Crafts Urban Economy and Institutions "Feudalization" of the Byzantine Social Structure The Nature of the Byzantine Estate The Nature of the Byzantine Nobility Changes in the Social Character of the Byzantine Aristocracy Changes in the Bureaucracy III. POPULAR AND ARISTOCRATIC CULTURAL TRENDS Popular Tendencies in Byzantine Society Changes in the Daily Regime: Dress, Diet, and Diversion Popular Elements in Literature Popular Features in Religious Life The "Aristocratization" of Culture The Byzantine Family Search for Legitimacy: The Importance of Lineage The Creation of an Aristocratic Ideal Image of the Ideal Ruler Epitome of Aristocracy: Digenis Akritas IV. THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE The Educational System Academic Institutions Academic Politics Intellectuals in Society The Assimilation of the Classical Tradition Byzantium and the Authors of Antiquity The Byzantine Reading of Classical Literature Art and Antiquity Law Byzantine Science Intimations of Rationalism: Theology and Ideology Rationalism and the Imperial Ideal v. BYZANTIUM AND ALIEN CULTURES Traditional Attitudes Toward "Barbarians" Contact with Alien Cultures: The Frontier Zone Contact with Alien Cultures: The Center Breakdown of Some of the Traditional Barriers Effects of Foreign Influence Unbreachable Barriers VI. MAN IN LITERATURE AND ART Artist, Audience, and Object From the Ideal to the Ordinary Abstraction to Naturalism Impersonal to Personal Conclusion Appendix: Texts Index

A. P. Kazhdan, the distinguished Russian Byzantinist, is Senior Research Associate at Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. Ann Wharton Epstein, past President of the Byzantine Studies Conference, is Associate Professor of Art History at Duke University.

• List of Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction I. BACKGROUND: FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES Restructuring the Empire: The Seventh Century Reconsolidation: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries II. DECENTRALIZATION AND "FEUDALIZATION" OF THE BYZANTINE STATE Decentralization Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Archaeological and Literary Evidence Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Arts and Crafts Urban Economy and Institutions "Feudalization" of the Byzantine Social Structure The Nature of the Byzantine Estate The Nature of the Byzantine Nobility Changes in the Social Character of the Byzantine Aristocracy Changes in the Bureaucracy III. POPULAR AND ARISTOCRATIC CULTURAL TRENDS Popular Tendencies in Byzantine Society Changes in the Daily Regime: Dress, Diet, and Diversion Popular Elements in Literature Popular Features in Religious Life The "Aristocratization" of Culture The Byzantine Family Search for Legitimacy: The Importance of Lineage The Creation of an Aristocratic Ideal Image of the Ideal Ruler Epitome of Aristocracy: Digenis Akritas IV. THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE The Educational System Academic Institutions Academic Politics Intellectuals in Society The Assimilation of the Classical Tradition Byzantium and the Authors of Antiquity The Byzantine Reading of Classical Literature Art and Antiquity Law Byzantine Science Intimations of Rationalism: Theology and Ideology Rationalism and the Imperial Ideal v. BYZANTIUM AND ALIEN CULTURES Traditional Attitudes Toward "Barbarians" Contact with Alien Cultures: The Frontier Zone Contact with Alien Cultures: The Center Breakdown of Some of the Traditional Barriers Effects of Foreign Influence Unbreachable Barriers VI. MAN IN LITERATURE AND ART Artist, Audience, and Object From the Ideal to the Ordinary Abstraction to Naturalism Impersonal to Personal Conclusion Appendix: Texts Index

A. P. Kazhdan, the distinguished Russian Byzantinist, is Senior Research Associate at Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. Ann Wharton Epstein, past President of the Byzantine Studies Conference, is Associate Professor of Art History at Duke University.

• List of Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction I. BACKGROUND: FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES Restructuring the Empire: The Seventh Century Reconsolidation: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries II. DECENTRALIZATION AND "FEUDALIZATION" OF THE BYZANTINE STATE Decentralization Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Archaeological and Literary Evidence Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Arts and Crafts Urban Economy and Institutions "Feudalization" of the Byzantine Social Structure The Nature of the Byzantine Estate The Nature of the Byzantine Nobility Changes in the Social Character of the Byzantine Aristocracy Changes in the Bureaucracy III. POPULAR AND ARISTOCRATIC CULTURAL TRENDS Popular Tendencies in Byzantine Society Changes in the Daily Regime: Dress, Diet, and Diversion Popular Elements in Literature Popular Features in Religious Life The "Aristocratization" of Culture The Byzantine Family Search for Legitimacy: The Importance of Lineage The Creation of an Aristocratic Ideal Image of the Ideal Ruler Epitome of Aristocracy: Digenis Akritas IV. THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE The Educational System Academic Institutions Academic Politics Intellectuals in Society The Assimilation of the Classical Tradition Byzantium and the Authors of Antiquity The Byzantine Reading of Classical Literature Art and Antiquity Law Byzantine Science Intimations of Rationalism: Theology and Ideology Rationalism and the Imperial Ideal v. BYZANTIUM AND ALIEN CULTURES Traditional Attitudes Toward "Barbarians" Contact with Alien Cultures: The Frontier Zone Contact with Alien Cultures: The Center Breakdown of Some of the Traditional Barriers Effects of Foreign Influence Unbreachable Barriers VI. MAN IN LITERATURE AND ART Artist, Audience, and Object From the Ideal to the Ordinary Abstraction to Naturalism Impersonal to Personal Conclusion Appendix: Texts Index