Theodore of Stoudios (759–826) was one of the most significant figures in Byzantine history, eclipsing the influence of many of the emperors he sparred with in life. In an age hardly abounding in surviving material, his extant corpus is vast. That so much survives is due not just to Theodore’s undoubted erudition. It was also thanks to his works being carefully curated and his reputation as a champion of Orthodoxy repeatedly burnished, especially by his brethren at the great monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople.
The three texts edited and translated into English here for the first time are testament to that process. Edited and translated by Robert Jordan, with an introduction and copious notes by Rosemary Morris, this is an excellent addition to the superb Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series. Overall, this is a very welcome work providing evidence for a crucial but murky period in Byzantine history.
Mike Humphreys
Speculum
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