The Lost World of Byzantium by Jonathan Harris

Byzantium is the name we give to the Eastern Roman Empire, but they called themselves Romans.  They carried on the traditions of the Roman Empire until they were defeated after 1000 years (the book spans from 330 to 1453).  The Byzantine Empire was the Christian Roman Empire.  The author offers not a comprehensive history, but:

a personal journey through the long history of Byzantium

He tries to explain how it managed to last as long as it did during very tumultuous times, and why it seemingly disappeared so completely.  The book reads like a one-sided conversation with someone who loves the Byzantine era and know pretty much all there is to know about it.  The author presents some questions and possible answers, some personalities, and some events that stand out.

To appreciate this book, it is best to have a basic grounding in the Byzantine Empire's history.  Think of this book as a text to accompany an advanced seminar at university, after you've taken all the introductory courses.  The writer adds greater detail to the framework of what you already know, fleshing it out, and sharing his enthusiasm for all things Byzantine.  History is storytelling, and this book is full of stories, and characters.

The starting date set for this Byzantium is the inauguration of Constantinople in the year 330, a city ordered constructed by the Roman Emperor Constantine so he could have a monumental base in the east of the empire, to match Rome in the west.  The ending date used is the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.  

So why did the empire last so long?  The author offers lots of examples of how the Christian faith was a unifying and inspiring force in an empire made up of disparate people spread out over many lands.  The Emperor was the chief defender of the faith.  The Emperors also provided for smooth succession from one emperor to the next, something Western Rome rarely managed.

Other things helped, like having many talented leaders and soldiers, the great wealth which helped when bribing bad guys to behave, a magnificent and intimidating capital city that was amazingly defensible, practical plans for organized integration and resettlement of the inevitable migrants to the safe and wealthy empire, and skillful foreign relations which forged friendships and alliances.  

Interestingly, the author points out that the powerful church and the popular holy men and women played the role of a check & balance institution on the Emperor's powerful military and civic administration.  The church leaders checked excesses, provided social services, and even took on various positions in the State when necessary during times of crisis.

The perceptive reader of history will always find in the past, parallels to the present, which is part of the fun of reading histories, and this book is full of those parallels.  The author doesn't bang you over the head with them, but the very fact that he includes certain stories in the book suggests that he understands the parallels very well.  

The beautiful, literate English style of writing makes the long book a reading pleasure, but the sheer volume of stories and eras and events means it is best to take the book slowly.  Battles, betrayals, theological disputes, invasions, truces, and treaties can become monotonous without a break now and then.  I found the middle section of the book less interesting just for that reason:  I should have taken a break from reading but I didn't!   

A rough summary of the book's contents would be to say that it touches on the most active and known leaders:  Constantine, Justinian, Heraclius, Leo III, Constantine V...  And in the book, you'll get good explanations of:

• why the feudal system developed,
• how the trading city-states of the late middle ages and the early Renaissance shaped the Mediterranean,
• how the texts saved over time by the Byzantines fueled the High Renaissance,
• why the Catholic Church split between Orthodox and Church of Rome,
• the continual threat from military leaders to secular leaders,
• why there is always strain between the cities and the heartland, and
• what the heck icons were really about.

One strong message in the book, as in any book about the past, is that we are all bastard peoples created from massive mixing of genes and cultures.  The era of the nation-state has fueled the false nationalistic belief that we form unique peoples and cultures.  This book show that to be utter nonsense.

Another message that comes across is that much of the present world still behaves and reasons as if the early middle ages never ended.  Western policy makers of today would benefit from reading this book so they could better understand the savage so-called reasoning the crazies of today use to justify their massacres, hatreds and utter barbarism.

The third message, that is very timely, is that the Byzantine Empire survived over 1000 years because they were able to integrate outsiders, to reward them for their efforts, and to harness their skills for the society's good.  That is a not-so subtle message to rich countries today that resist migrants, and marginalize them when they do let them enter the countries.

From the book's description:

For more than a millennium, the Byzantine Empire presided over the juncture between East and West, as well as the transition from the classical to the modern world. Jonathan Harris, a leading scholar of Byzantium, eschews the usual run-through of emperors and battles and instead recounts the empire’s extraordinary history by focusing each chronological chapter on an archetypal figure, family, place, or event.

Harris’s action-packed introduction presents a civilization rich in contrasts, combining orthodox Christianity with paganism, and classical Greek learning with Roman power. Frequently assailed by numerous armies—including those of Islam—Byzantium nonetheless survived and even flourished by dint of its somewhat unorthodox foreign policy and its sumptuous art and architecture, which helped to embed a deep sense of Byzantine identity in its people.

Enormously engaging and utilizing a wealth of sources to cover all major aspects of the empire’s social, political, military, religious, cultural, and artistic history, Harris’s study illuminates the very heart of Byzantine civilization and explores its remarkable and lasting influence on its neighbors and on the modern world.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

If you are really interested in the Byzantine Empire, but don't wish to spend the 20+ hours needed to read this book, or you wish to have a basic grounding before reading this book, here is a 3 hour video documentary about the Byzantine Empire that you can watch at your leisure.

 

Murder in Megara (John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery) by Eric Mayer, Mary Reed

I love the originality of this murder mystery series, in a genre that often feels rehashed.  It is set during the Byzantine Era, when the Eastern Roman Empire was expanding after centuries of contracting.  The Emperor Justinian used brute force to reclaim all the bits and pieces that had once made up the Roman Empire, and brought them together again.

John, the protagonist of the series, of which this is book eleven, is a man who was enslaved, then made into a eunuch to work at the Byzantine court, the sexual mutilation a requirement of high civil servants at the time, a practice imported from the courts of Asia and Persia.

He worked his way up the bureaucratic ladder using his intelligence and clever skill, to reach the pinnacle, the Lord Chamberlain's position, Emperor Justinian's Chief of Staff, so to speak.  The top is always a dangerous place to be, especially in a political monarchy held together by military force.

The books in the John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery Series:

1. One for the Sorrow (reviewed on this site)
   
2. Two for the Joy
3. Three for a Letter
4. Four for a Boy
5. Five for Silver
6. Six for Gold
7. Seven for a Secret
8. Eight for Eternity
9. Nine for the Devil
10. Ten for Dying
11. Murder in Megara
    

The authors provide John with a richly imagined past and present.  In Murder in Megara, John is an exile from Constantinople, deemed a political enemy.  He is banished to his newly purchased property in Megara. Southern Greece.  That's where the story unfolds, rather than the busy capital which is the setting for the other books in the series.

I loved delving once again into John's life.  It felt like I was catching up with an old acquaintance, a fascinating and clever acquaintance.  The writers, as always, make the setting both exotic and familiar.  This series is a treat for fans of both historical novels and murder mysteries. 

Murder in Megara shows that John's life after his exile, and after the confiscation of most of his wealth and property, is still precarious.  He is under surveillance, since the usual fate of men like him was death.  John should count himself lucky, which he does, since he is still surrounded his friends, employees, and the love of his life, a cast of characters readers of the series will know well.

John suffers from the paranoid gossip and xenophobia of the locals.  He faces much local hostility:

We don't need a new landowner, especially one who'll actually live on his estate, meddling and upsetting things.

What did a farm estate produce in those days?  Honey, olive oil, wool, crops, live stock were common commodities, just as they were from Ancient Roman times up to the industrial revolution, when specialization pushed many small farmers out of business.  That existence is well portrayed in the book.

The authors skillfully present their story and characters.  As is the case with this genre, the setting and characters are introduced well before the titular murder occurs.  All the backstory a reader needs to know from the previous books in the series is skillfully presented, making it possible to read Murder in Megara as a standalone book.

Something that has always endeared me to John is that he refuses to employ slaves, since he was once one, and he cannot bear the indignity that it inflicts on the soul of the enslaved.  Since he chose to live modestly in Constantinople, he could indulge his principles regarding slavery, but when he becomes an active estate owner, there are economic pressures that come to bear on him, but his principles stand firm.  I'm glad, because I would hate to start disliking John now.

My advice is to avoid the book descriptions of the series books and this book, since they always contain spoilers, especially in the mystery genre.  Just go for it.  Read and enjoy the story as it develops.  Enjoy the rich cast of characters, too, who the capable writers portray distinctly and imaginatively. 

To be honest, I don't understand book reviewers who think novels have "too many characters".  A novel is supposed to have lots of characters.  Short stories and perhaps novellas can exist with a small cast of characters, but a novel is supposed to be rich with a multitude of characters.  Without them, the fiction of a real world remains just that, a fiction, and an unconvincing fiction at that!

From the book's description:

John, former Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, has been exiled from Constantinople to a rustic estate John has long-owned in Greece, not far from where he grew up.  But exile proves no escape from mystery and mayhem.

The residents of nearby Megara make it plain John and his family are unwelcome intruders.  His overseer proves corrupt.  What of the other staff—and his neighbors?  Before long, John finds himself accused of blasphemy and murder.  

Now a powerless outsider, he’s on his own, investigating and annoyingly hampered by the ruthless and antagonistic City Defender who serves Megara as both law enforcer and judge.  Plus there’s that corrupt estate overseer, a shady pig farmer, a servant’s unwelcome suitor, a wealthy merchant who spends part of his time as a cave-dwelling hermit, and the criminals and cutthroats populating such a seedy port as Megara.

Complicating matters further are two childhood friends whose lives have taken very different paths, plus the stepfather John hated.  

John realizes that in Megara, the solution to murder does not lie in the dark alleys where previous investigations have taken him, but in a far more dangerous place—his own past.  Can he find his way out of the labyrinth of lies and danger into which he has been thrust before disaster strikes and exile turns into execution?

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, the author of the crime-romance novel THE HAGUE, the romance novel ROSE AND SINGING BAGELS, a traditional murder mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

One for Sorrow (John, Lord Chamberlain Mystery) by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer

This adult historical mystery series is set during a time that usually gets overlooked by historical novelists:  the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire that spanned 1000 years.  After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Roman traditions, law, architecture, sports, literature, etc. carried on under the Greek-speaking Eastern Empire.  And under Emperor Justinian, the Empire grew back to be the major Mediterranean power.

The protagonist is the all-powerful and unpredictable Emperor Justinian's Lord Chamberlain, John, the chief-of-staff, so to speak.  John's character, life and history make up more than half of this 300+ page novel, which feels right, since this is the first book in the series and we want to know who this man is. 

John's history is tragic, and his present is dangerous and precarious, but John has made the most of his situation, rising to a position of great power.  It is his religion, Mithraism, that gives John the self-control to overcome his past and to perform his present duties.  The Christian Empire allowed other religions as long as they were not too ostentatious.

The reader learns a lot about life in the sixth-century in the Empire's capital Constantinople.  That is the fun of historical novels, and what the reader of historical novels enjoys.  The amateur historian will not be disappointed!  We get a real feel for what it was like to live in the walled city.  For those less familiar with the times and people, be sure to read the Glossary before reading the novel.  It provides most of the terms and historical people you need to know to appreciate the book.

Refreshing for me was John's attitude about slavery, since he "would not have employed a slave".  But John is a man of his times, although not partaking of prostitution and pedophilia, he accepts it, along with the practice of men selling their daughters into sexual slavery in exchange for an ox.  (You will see many similarities with some eastern nations today!).  John was also a soldier, so he knows about the bloodlust that can overtake a man, and even relishes it at times.

There are some editing errors, some missing punctuation or punctuation errors, some fragmentary sentences, some missing words, but perhaps these have been edited out by now in the later editions and in the e-books. 

The narration of the book is third-person limited.  But we are not always limited to John's perspective.  We get to inhabit the minds of men, women, and children, all convincingly done.  This allows us to see how the other characters view John.

Who is John?  What kind of man is he?  Well, he is contemplative, mature, principled, modest, well-traveled, an ex-soldier, religious, tall, austere, handsome, from Crete.  He is also a eunuch.  The reader learns through the plot of the One for Sorrow why Eastern rulers employed eunuchs to run their administrations, and how eunuchs were made.  We even get one suggested love scene for John.

The English is graceful and clear, the narration expert, the plotting solid, and the characters are believable.  We get to meet the empress and emperor briefly.  There is a very exciting finish to the story, and a nice summing-up for those not as clever as John, when he explains the events of the book to his "Watson".  This book, and the series, is for lovers of historical fiction, for amateur historians, and for lovers of traditional mysteries.

These are the books in the John, Lord Chamberlain Mystery Series:

1. One for the Sorrow
2. Two for the Joy
3. Three for a Letter
4. Four for a Boy
5. Five for Silver
6. Six for Gold
7. Seven for a Secret
8. Eight for Eternity
9. Nine for the Devil
10. Ten for Dying
11. Murder in Megara (reviewed on this site)
    

The climax of the story takes place in one of Istanbul's (Constantinople's) underground cisterns, the reservoirs for the city's water supply.

From the book's description:

In Byzantium, the capital of the 6th century Roman Empire, annual games are held to celebrate the founding of the city.  Several courtiers, obliged by office to attend, idly watch the chariot races and the bear baiting from the imperial box.  Suddenly they--and the crowd-are electrified as a magnificent bull surges into the arena.  Those who worship Mithra make quiet reverance to the sacred animal while a trio of bull leapers enters in his wake.

John, Lord Chamberlain to the Christian Emperor, is among those surprised into breathing tribute.  He soon receives a further shock:  surely the lovely young girl vaulting the beast had once been his lover.  Later, making his way home through the thronged streets, John stumbles over the body of his friend Leukos, Keeper of the Plate.  There are plenty of witnesses:  an Egyptian brothel keeper, a young mason working on the Church of the Holy Wisdom, a mad stylite, a henpecked innkeeper, and the bull leapers from Crete.  Now duty and guilt demand that John discover the murderer...

 

Here are direct links to the book at Amazon.com.

Here are links to all the books in the John, Lord Chamberlain Mystery Series:

Please visit the authors' website which links to the Facebook page and Blog.

A wonderful precursor to reading this series is this episode of the history series Engineering an Empire on the Byzantine Empire:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.