Table of Contents

1: Basil's reign in modern and medieval historical literature
2: Basil II and John Skylitzes: the historian's career and working methods
3: Basil II and the testimony of John Skylitzes: textual analysis
4: Basil II and the testimony of John Skylitzes: contexts
5: The revolts of Skleros and Phokas: historiography and the Skleros manifesto
6: Administration and imperial authority on the eastern frontier
7: Administration and imperial authority on Byzantium's western frontiers
8: The reign of Basil II: a reconstruction

About the Author

Catherine Holmes is Tutor and Fellow in Medieval History, University College, University of Oxford.

Reviews

This is an important book. The work of a young Byzantinist, and published in a new Oxford series, it is attractively produced and, for all its length, highly readable ... an admirable demonstration of how to deal with a historical period for which the evidence is both uneven and in need of very careful analysis ... The eleventh century in Byzantium is a well-known problem area for historians, but with this elegant and well-argued book Holmes has done the field of Byzantine history a major service. Journal of Ecclesiastical History Catherine Holmes has provided an indispensible resource for all scholars and students of the period. Michael Kaplan, The Anglo-Hellenic Review, Vol. 35