Six Novels Set In Byzantium

by Jonathan Harris

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6 books

Byzantium, also known as the Byzantine empire, was a Greek-speaking Christian society that flourished around its capital city of Constantinople between around 330 and 1453 CE. It emerged as a continuation of the Roman empire after the western provinces were lost to Germanic invaders in the fifth century CE. Unlike ancient Rome, though, Byzantium provides the setting for relatively few novels which is a great shame as it had a dramatic and colourful history. I have made it my business to locate and read as many of those that do exist as possible. Eventually, I ended up writing one of my own as well. Here are just a few of them. The list is arranged in chronological order of the period covered.

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Count Belisarius

Robert Graves, 1982

Belisarius is a commander of the Byzantine army in the time of Emperor Justinian (527-565 CE). He defeats the Persians, conquers North Africa and retakes Rome, but his only reward is suspicion and disgrace. Most novels written about Byzantium focus on this period known as Late Antiquity (300-600 CE) and especially on Emperor Justinian and his formidable consort, Theodora. I chose this particular one because it was the first book I read about Byzantium when I was a teenager. Even then though, I was a bit sceptical. The saintly Belisarius is just too good to be true. Moreover, to appreciate this book you have to really like the dry details of military history.

Memoirs of a Byzantine Eunuch

Christopher Harris, 2003

Moving on, we are now in the ninth century and Byzantium is ruled by emperor Michael III (842-867 CE). The fictional Zeno recounts the twists and turns of Byzantine court politics which lead ultimately to the murder of Michael III and his replacement by one of his former grooms who becomes Basil I and founds the Macedonian dynasty. But Zeno is not just a narrator. As part of the large cohort of eunuchs who ran the palace administration, he plays a devious role behind the scenes as the historical figures battle for power. N.B. Christopher Harris and I are not related!

Theosis

Jonathan Harris, 2023

This is my own novel. Basil II (976-1025 CE) was the great, great grandson of Basil I. During his long reign, he reconquered a great deal of lost territory and brought an end to internal faction fighting. But he is a mysterious figure. Although he reigned for nearly fifty years, he never married or produced an heir, a very unusual thing in the Middle Ages. Theosis focuses on Basil’s formative years, when he is a grave danger of losing his throne to a series of usurpers, and reconstructs the process by which he morphs from a shy child into a ruthless tyrant.

The Lady for Ransom

Alfred Leo Duggan, Stephen Thorne, 2007

After the victories of Basil II’s reign, Byzantium entered a period of weakness. Following the defeat by the Seljuk Turks at the battle of Manzikert in 1071, much of Asia Minor, the area that is now Turkey, was lost to invaders from the east. Duggan’s book follows the fortunes of Roussel of Bailleul, a Norman warrior who has signed up to serve in the Byzantine army. Witnessing the chaos following the battle of Manzikert, he decides to seize some land in Asia Minor for himself and to set up his own private fiefdom. But neither the Byzantines nor the Turks are going to let him get away with it.

The Empress

Meg Clothier, 2013

Agnes, the daughter of King Louis VII of France, is sent to Constantinople in 1179 to marry the son of Emperor Manuel I. It is not long before the court intrigue begins. Manuel I dies in 1180 and is succeeded by Agnes’ husband Alexios but he is quickly toppled by an older cousin called Andronikos. Agnes is then forced to marry the usurper. Clothier, though, presents Agnes as a player, not as a victim, and as a political survivor who is still standing when so many others have met premature deaths. She even gets in the end to marry the love of her life, Theodore Branas.

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Anthony Doerr, 2021

Only a third of Doerr’s novel concerns Byzantium. The rest of the action takes place either in 21st-century Idaho or on a spacecraft at some point in the future. The Byzantium section is set during the Ottoman siege of Constantinople 1453 which was to bring its long Christian history to a close. Two young people escape from the city even as Turkish cannon demolish its defences, taking with them a precious ancient Greek book. It is thus saved for posterity and comes to be enjoyed and pondered on by future generations in Idaho and outer space.