Concepts of Byzantine Identity as Expressed in the Chronographia of Theophanes the Confessor

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2014-09-26
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Shimoda, Kyle
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Jolly, Karen
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History
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Modern historians are faced with a considerably difficult problem in determining the periodization of the historical entity known as the "Roman Empire". This is particularly true during the period of Late Antiquity, wherein the Roman Empire underwent numerous cultural, religious, and politcal changes. Although the city of Rome and the empire's western lands fell to Germanic invaders in the year 476 C.E., the Roman Empire continued to survive in its eastern provinces, and modern historians refer to this continuation of the Roman Empire into the midieval era as the "Byzantine" Empire. Because their empire was politically descended from the Roman state of Classical Antiquity, the Byzantines regarded themselves as the only true "Romans". The notion of "Romanness" and the Roman Empire, however, was a powerful one which continued to impress itself onto the minds of Europeans during the Middle Ages, and other peoples therefore tried to appropriate the title of "Romans" for themselves. The Byzantines, naturally, opposed and protested any attempt by outsiders to claim the Roman name for themselves. Initially, even peoples living outside of the empire acknowledged the Byzantines as the "Romans". However, the first challenge to Byzantium's acknowledged status as the "Roman Empire" came in the year 800 C.E., when Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was crowned "emperor of the Romans" by Pope Leo III in the city of Rome. Charlemagne's coronation stood as a direct challenge to the rulers of Byzantium, and from then on, throughout their empire's entire life, the Byznatines would struggle to defend their right to refer to their state as the "Roman Empire".
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ii, 86 pages
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