Middle Ages
I've read books and watched movies on Rome, Augustine, and many of the early Christian fathers. At the moment I'm trying to understand the Byzantine Empire and their conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and would like to know some of the important authors that shaped that era.
just started to read Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, any other suggestions?
What are you looking for?
What are you looking for? I'm a bit confused. You start your post mentioning Rome and Augustine (the Western Roman Empire), and the early Church fathers (the Eastern and Western Roman Empire of the Late Antique Period), but then you switch subjects to talk about the Byzantine Period, and the late Byzantine period of the 12th-15th centuries at that!
Are you looking for authors OF the Byzantine period ("authors that shaped that era") or are you looking for authors that write ABOUT the Byzantine period (e.g., Gibbon's book)?
Here's some authors OF the Byzantine period that are critical:
St. Ireneaus (pre-Byzantine)
Origen (pre-Byzantine)
St. Athanasius
St. Cyril of Alexandria
St. Gregory Nazianzus
St. Gregory Nyssa
St. Basil the Great
St. John Chrysostom
St. Maximus the Confessor
St. John Damascus
St. Gregory Palamas
There are many more, but those are the "biggies" as far as shaping Byzantine thought (theologically).
As far as modern scholarly work ON the period, Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" is probably NOT a good place to start. Firstly, its emphasis is on, what scholars call, the Western Roman Empire and it's fall, but the Eastern Roman Empire (what you're calling the Byzantine Empire) didn't fall until 1453 and is severely neglected in that work. Even the Wikipedia article has a section in the article "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" about the neglect of the Byzantine Empire in that work. Secondly, it's academically out of date and not that accurate. It is, however, a good book to see the development of scholarly interest in the period in which it was written (ie., a source book for the development of academia in the 18th century).
Instead, I would point you in the direction of these modern authors:
Warren Treadgold
John Meyendorff
Marcus Rautman
J.M. Hussey
Cyril Mango
I also encourage you to check out the bibliographic information and references in the "Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium."
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Dustin
"Blessed art You O Christ Our God
You have revealed the fishermen as most wise
By sending down upon them the Holy Spirit
Through them You drew the world into Your net
O Lover of Man, Glory to You!" -Pentecost Troparion
---
Dustin
"Blessed art You O Christ Our God
You have revealed the fishermen as most wise
By sending down upon them the Holy Spirit
Through them You drew the world into Your net
O Lover of Man, Glory to You!" -Pentecost Troparion