De Administrando Imperio

by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Romilly James Heald Jenkins (translator)

This is a reprint of the second revised edition of the text and translation of the De Administrando Imperio written and compiled by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in the tenth century. It contains a wide variety of information on both foreign relations and internal administration and is one of the most important historical documents surviving from the Middle Byzantine period. Its confidential character and generally honest appraisal of the empire’s political situation enhance its value for students of Byzantium and Europe during this period. The edition includes general and critical introductions, an index of proper names, and an extensive glossary, as well as grammatical notes and an index of sources and parallel passages.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Medieval

354 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 950

About the author

Constantine VII, Emperor of the East Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" (that is, born in the imperial bed chambers) (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος), was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. He is best known for his four books, De Administrando Imperio (bearing in Greek the heading Προς τον ίδιον υιόν Ρωμανόν), De Ceremoniis (Περί τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως), De Thematibus (Περί θεμάτων Άνατολῆς καί Δύσεως), and Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου).

Reviews

[Gordon Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could now confidently handle the seating at a Byzantine dinner party.

[Mohamad Ballan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent edition and translation. Very well-annotated and indexed.

[Mehmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

De Administrando Imperio is a fascinating, unique work, that is hard to clasify within any conventional genre. What it is is a set of foreign policy rules, approaches, tricks and case-studies for the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus's son Romanos (II) packaged together with ethnography, history, and geography. One thing that grounds that lofty ambition is the constant feeling that this really is a dad trying his best to get his son to listen to him on some very important issues. It is especially a fascinating read in that it allows one to take a look at the source of so many Balkan nationalist myths and insanities, because a lot of them can actually be sourced back to this works treatment of Balkan origins (surprisingly not the Bulgarians though, and somewhat less surprisingly there is little mention of Albanians). It is also immensely charming in its incidental advice on how best to lie about why you can't gift certain things (claiming Constantine the Great cursed them with a long backstory is the prefered way), its explanation of a long running Istanbul property dispute (we have all been there) in the midst of a diplomatic roll call of the princes of Taron, and its opinions on the Emperor's personal galley. The extended discussions of pedigree and geography can get tedentious (yet is immensely helpful to a specialist) so feel free to skip these on a casual read. Also important to note is that the critical apparatus for the texts is in a seperate volume, so keep that handy during a read to not get lost! In order to get a fuller view, also look into the De Thematibus, also by the Porphyrogenitus, which takes the historical and geographical scope here into the internal lands of the Empire (especially interesting if you are Turkish, as that work covers most of Anatolia in detail).

[Jarod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent translation that is perfect for academia, but it could use footnotes. I don't see it being as useful as the Book of Ceremonies could be or even Vita Basili is, except in a more consumer-oriented format. After all, you could just stick with the maps they make these days.