Publisher's Synopsis
The papers in this volume are united by a common questioning of the historical record on which we depend for our knowledge of "what happened" in Byzantium: the "making of history" in terms of how it was narrated, recorded and interpreted. The first sections analyze how Byzantine views of the future, as revealed in prophecy or prescription for the good life, and of the present, shaped contemporaries' perceptions of their current situation and affected future action. The third group of studies examines the interpretation of the past and the factors which influenced this, both within the Byzantine world and in modern historiography.;These studies are dedicated to Professor Donald M. Nicol, who held the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature from 1970 until his retirement in 1988.;The present volume is the first in a series planned to be published by Variorum for the Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London, which was established in 1989 in order to promote research in Greek history and culture in all periods from classical antiquity to modern times.
