The Stream of Time Irresistible

Though a progenitor of the modern Western World, the cynosure of medieval Europe and the guardian of the knowledge of antiquity, Byzantine civilization has traditionally been viewed in a negative light or is altogether unknown in the modern popular imagination. To a certain extent a victim of its success: Fabulous wealth, ancient culture, and sophistication incurred the envy of less prosperous peoples. Byzantine cultural practices scandalized outsiders while conflict with the West and Islam culminated in the eventual demise of Byzantium as a regional political and military power. Reviewing generations of historical works surveying Byzantine civilization, scholar Anthony Aftonomos demonstrates that certain cultural traditions inherent to Byzantine society regarding gender roles—in particular pertaining to women and eunuchs—were perceived negatively by later commentators, and helped to relegate the legacy of one of the world’s seminal civilizations to obsolescence.