Università Roma Tre

This first part of the Byzantine Civilization teaching, addressed to Classics, History and Art undergraduates, aims to answer to the following questions: what is Byzantium? What are the benefits of studying it and why do we need to study it? Why is the study of Byzantium important not only to those interested in the Byzantine studies themselves but also to those who are involved with classical philology, Christian studies, archeology, art history and history, in their classical, medieval and modern nature, as well as history of religions and philosophy?
During this teaching we shall give essential and precise diachronic and geographic coordinates, along with clear introductory elements of evenemential history; we will also, but not only, dwell on the long, coherent and manifold civil and cultural life of Byzantium, aiming to reach two primary goals: (1) to let emerge its role in preserving literature, art and a way of studying and thinking, which are essentially what we would nowadays call western civilization and which are the foundation of every sort of humanism, and thus of the study of humanities itself. (2) To cast some light on the millenial Byzantine experiment, not only on the political and religious history of the eleven years in which it developed, but also on the idea of ‘State’ and on the geopolitics’ parable, focusing on the places, in which civilizations met and cultures exchanged, the Byzantine Roman empire had directly or indirectly ruled on.
As customary, introductory lectures on Byzantine civilization will be supplemented by others of a monographic nature, focusing on research themes developed more recently by the Byzantine Chair at Roma Tre. In particular, some of the sessions shall be devoted to framing the role of Platonism within Byzantine paideia - as it was transmitted in secular and ecclesiastical cultural circles, schools, academies -, with particular attention to the characters of Hypatia of Alexandria and Synesius of Cyrene, as well as to their Nachleben in later ages, traceable in very heterogeneous and diversified sources, starting from hagiographic works conceived in the first centuries (VI-VII cent. ) to exegesis and scholarly miscellany dating back to the Paleologic Age (14th cent.). Rather, other lectures will focus on the culminating event in the history of the millennial empire, namely the Turkish conquest of Constantinople (1453). In these cases, classes will mainly emphasise the historical impact of the fall of the ancient basileia, as well as its reception and legacy in the coeval, early-modern and contemporary Western world.

S. Ronchey, Lo Stato Bizantino, Torino, Einaudi Tascabili, 2002

S. Ronchey, Bisanzio fino alla quarta crociata, in A. Barbero e S. Carocci (a cura di), Storia d'Europa e del Mediterraneo, vol. VIII, Roma, Salerno, 2006, pp. 215-255