BYZANTINE HISTORY: CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
| Title | ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ: ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΑΡΧΙΑΚΗ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΗ / BYZANTINE HISTORY: CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION |
| Code | ΙΒΥ501 |
| Faculty | Philosophy |
| School | History and Archaeology |
| Cycle / Level | 1st / Undergraduate |
| Teaching Period | Winter/Spring |
| Common | No |
| Status | Active |
| Course ID | 600019278 |
Programme of Study: PPS Tmīmatos Istorías kai Archaiologías 2020-2021
Registered students: 0
| Orientation | Attendance Type | Semester | Year | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISTORIAS | Specialization Core Courses | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| Academic Year | 2025 – 2026 |
| Class Period | Spring |
| Faculty Instructors | |
| Weekly Hours | 3 |
| Total Hours | 39 |
| Class ID | 600292000
|
Course Type 2016-2020
- Scientific Area
- Skills Development
Course Type 2011-2015
Specific Foundation / Core
Mode of Delivery
- Face to face
- Distance learning
Digital Course Content
- e-Study Guide https://qa.auth.gr/en/class/1/600292000
- At the Website of the School: http://eclass.auth.gr/modules/document/document.php?course=ITL198
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
- Greek (Instruction, Examination)
Prerequisites
Required Courses
- ΙΒΥ151 INTRODUCTION TO BYZANTINE HISTORY
- ΙΒΥ651 BYZANTINE HISTORY I
- ΙΒΥ652 BYZANTINE HISTORY II
General Prerequisites
None
Learning Outcomes
Students are expected to
• become familiar with Early, Middle, and Late Byzantine Administrative History
• become familiar with the evolution of the basic terminology
• become familiar with the evolution of the important civil departments (e. g. logothesia) and military units and commands
• acquire in-depth knowledge of the basic sources and literature (Notitia Dignitatum, Taktika, Pseudo-Kodinos)
• become familiar with the sigillographic and diplomatic material essential for administrative history
• develop further their critical and synthetic abilities to produce written work with the use of sources and bibliography
• improve their ability to assess and evaluate historical questions through the construction of appropriate arguments
• become familiar with interdisciplinary approaches to the thematic unit
General Competences
- Apply knowledge in practice
- Make decisions
- Work autonomously
- Work in teams
- Work in an interdisciplinary team
- Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
- Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
- Be critical and self-critical
- Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The thematic unit covers the evolution of the Byzantine Administrative History from the Early Byzantine time (starting with the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine). Particular attention will be paid to the evolution during the Middle-Byzantine Centuries, for which period the taktika from the 9th and 10th C. offer special support. The problems of the “thematic system” and the evolution of the rank titles need special attention. For the Late Byzantine period Pseudo-Kodinos is a good source. The importance of sigillographic and diplomatic material in addition to the theoretical sources, where new material poses new problems, will be accentuated. The weekly seminars will focus on a special topic to be announced annually.
1. The reforms of the tetrarchs and Constantine the Great
2. The Νotitia dignitatum. Date, problems, importance as source
3. The hierarchic system of the Notitia dignitatum (offices, ranking epithets)
4. The evolution in the 6th century (esp. under Justinian I)
5. Military changes in the 7th century
6. The consequences of the weakness of the praefecti praetorio in the later seventh and eight centuries
7. The „thematic system“ from the eighth till the eleventh centuries
8. The evolution of the rank titles in respect to the hierarchic structures
9. The summit of the civil administration in the eleventh century and the importance of the sigillographic material in this respect
10. Problems and issues of the integration of new peoples in the Empire and foreign persons as Byzantine dignitaries
11. The administraton of the possessions of the church (patriarchate, bishops, monasteries)
12. The fiscal polocy (incl. charistikarioi, pronoia-system, administration of domains
13. The Comnenian period
14. The late Byzantine period (esp. according to Ps.-Kodinos)
Keywords
Byzantium, Administrative History, Civil and Provincial Administration, Military Organisation, Logothesia, Themata, Sigillography, Diplomatics
Educational Material Types
- Notes
- Slide presentations
- Audio
- Multimedia
- Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
- Use of ICT in Course Teaching
- Use of ICT in Laboratory Teaching
- Use of ICT in Communication with Students
- Use of ICT in Student Assessment
Course Organization
| Activities | Workload | ECTS | Individual | Teamwork | Erasmus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Assigment | 95 | 3.2 | ✓ | ||
| Written assigments | 45 | 1.5 | ✓ | ||
| Exams | 5 | 0.2 | |||
| Total | 145 | 4.8 |
Student Assessment
Student Assessment methods
- Written Assignment (Formative, Summative)
- Performance / Staging (Formative, Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
α. Βιβλιογραφία μαθήματος (Εύδοξος)
Αικ. Χριστοφιλοπούλου, Το πολίτευμα και οι θεσμοί της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας 324-1204. Διοίκηση, Οικονομία, Κοινωνία. Αθήνα 2004
Additional bibliography for study
β. Επιπρόσθετη βιβλιογραφία για μελέτη
Β. Βλυσίδου κ. ά., Η Μικρά Ασία των θεμάτων. Έρευνες πάνω στην γεωγραφική φυσιογνωμία και προσωπογραφία των βυζαντινών θεμάτων της Μικράς Ασίας (7ος-11ος αι.). Αθήνα 1998
Μ. Γρηγορίου-Ιωαννίδου, Παρακμή και πτώση του θεματικού θεσμού. Συμβολή στην εξέλιξη της διοικητικής και της στρατιωτικής οργάνωσης του Βυζαντίου από τον 10ο αι. κ. ε. 2Θεσσαλονίκη 2007
Α. Ε. Γκουτζιουκώστας, Το αξίωμα του Μυστικού. Θεσμικά και προσωπογραφικά προβλήματα. Θεσσαλονίκη 2011
Α. Ε. Γκουτζιουκώστας, Η απονομή δικαιοσύνης στο Βυζάντιο (9ος-12ος αι.). Τα κοσμικά δικαιοδοτικά όργανα και δικαστήρια της πρωτεύουσας. Θεσσαλονίκη 2004
Α. Ε. Γκουτζιουκώστας – Α. Ξ. Μονιάρος, Η περιφερειακή διοικητική οργάνωση της Βυζαντινής αυτοκρατορίας από τον Ιουστινιανό Α΄(527/565). Η περίπτωση της Questura Iustiniana Exercitus. Θεσσαλονίκη 2009
Δ. Δρακούλης, Η περιφερειακή οργάνωση των οικισμών της Ανατολικής Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας κατά την πρώιμη βυζαντινή περίοδο. Θεσσαλονίκη 2010
W. Brandes, Finanzverwaltung in Krisenzeiten. Untersuchungen zur byzantinischen Administration im 6.-9. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt am Main 2002
J. B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century. With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. London 1911
G. Dagron, Naissance d´une capitale. Constantinople et ses institutions de 330 à 451. Paris 1974
V. Laurent, Le Corpus des sceaux de l´empire byzantin. L´administration centrale. Paris 1981
N. Oikonomidès, Les listes de préséance Byzantines des IΧe et Xe siècles. Paris 1972
N. Oikonomidès, L´évolution de l´organisation administrative de l´empire byzantin au XΙème siècle (1025-1118). Travaux et Mémoires 6 (1976) 125-171
N. Oikonomidès, Fiscalité et exemption fiscale à Byzance (IXe-XIe s.). Athènes 1996.
W. Seibt, Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich. 1. Teil. Kaiserhof. Wien 1978
Α.-K. Wassiliou-Seibt, From magister militum to strategos: The evolution of the highest military commands in early Byzantium (5th-7th C.). TM 21/1 (2017) 789-802
Α.-K. Wassiliou-Seibt, Reconstructing the Byzantine Frontier on the Balkans (late 7th-10th C.). REB 73 (2015) 229-239
Α.-K. Wassiliou-Seibt, Das byzantinische Verteidigungssystem an der Balkangrenze (Ende 10.-Ende 11. Jh.). Neue Erkenntnisse aus der systematischen Νachlese der narrativen Quellen und dem Siegelbefund. BSl 75 (2017) 164-190
A.-K. Wassiliou ˗ W. Seibt, Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich. 2. Teil. Zentral- und Provinzialverwaltung. Wien 2004
Last Update
07-05-2020
