Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330

Review of the hardback: 'Angelov offers a subtle study of the interplay between official pronouncements about right political order and those ideas about imperial rule that developed in semi-official or independent contexts. To this end, he deploys an astonishing spectrum of sources from a century-and-a-half of Byzantine history, including preambles (prooimia) to imperial charters, orations composed for public performance at the imperial court, mirrors of princes, philosophical treatises and rhetorical exercises.' The Anglo-Hellenic Review

• Introduction; Part I. Official Ideology: 1. Analyzing imperial propaganda; 2. The imperial idea: continuity and change in the imperial image; 3. Rhetorical theories of succession; 4. The ideology of imperial government; 5. The panegyrists as lobbyists; Part II. The Independent Theorists: 6. Tradition and innovation in theoretical texts; 7. Theodore II Laskaris as a political thinker; 8. The critics of the Palaiologoi: fiscal responsibility and elective kingship; 9. The controversy on imperial taxation; 10. Manuel Moschopoulos, Plato, and government as social covenant; Part III. The Ecclesiastics: 11. The emperor - subject to the church: late Byzantine hierocratic theories; Conclusions.