This volume reflects the different methods and new approaches to the study of Byzantine history that have characterized the work of Paul Speck, to whom it is dedicated, and above all, his insistence on a close reading and careful interpretation of the sources. These aims are encapsulated in the introduction by John Haldon, which gives a sense of where future studies should lead new generations of scholars. The following studies, by many of the leading authorities in their fields, look at a whole range of aspects of the history of Byzantium - its culture, theology, linguistics, literature, historiography, sigillography and art - and at the place of the Byzantine empire within the late antique and medieval worlds.

Contents: Bibliography; Preface; General introduction, John Haldon; Alexander der GroÃYe am Bosporus, Albrecht Berger; Philippos ho stratelates tou basilikou Opsikiou: Anmerkungen zur Frà hgeschichte des Thema Opsikion, Wolfram Brandes; Melania, William Brashear; Oracles and earthquakes, Alan Cameron; Les ducs d'Antioche sous Michel IV et Constantin IX, Jean-Claude Cheynet; Der Kaiser, sein Bild und dessen Interpret, Carolina Cupane; Perils of the deep, George T. Dennis; Bitter brine and sweet fresh water, John Duffy; Das Theodosius-Missorium von 388, Arne Effenberger; La pomme de Théodose II et sa Réplique Arménienne, Michel van Esbroeck; Theodora and Evita, Clive Foss; Three authors in search of a reader, Joseph D. Frendo; Philippikos and the Greens, Judith Herrin; Es war die Nachtigall, Wolfram Hörandner; The Venetian quarter of Constantinople from 1082 to 1261, David Jacoby; Icon veneration, Patricia Karlin-Hayter; Parerga zur Ikonographie des Josua-Rotulus und der Illuminierten Byzantinischen Oktateuche, Otto Kresten; "Falsata Graecorum more"?, Erich Lamberz; John III Ducas Vatatzes and the Venetians, John S. Langdon; Bonifatios von Tarsos - ein Verwandter der bekehrten Mimen, Claudia Ludwig; Du consul à l'empereur, Cécile Morrisson, CNRS; Le monastère de la Sainte Trinité à Boradion sur le Bosphore, Nicolas Oikonomides; Nebenterminologie, Topoi, Loci Similes und Quellen in einigen Stellen der Chronike diegesis von Niketas Choniates, Anna Pontani; Palladius, Lausus and the Historia Lausiaca, Claudia Rapp; Political dimensions of Manuel II Palaiologos' 1392 marriage and coronation, Stephen W. Reinert; Zu den diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen Byzanz und dem Kalifat in der Zeit der syrischen Dynastie (717-802), Ilse Rochow; Those "whose writings were exchanged", Silvia Ronchey; Robert de Clari und Konstantinopel, Peter Schreiner; 'Dog-knights' and 'elulargency', Serge Serikoff; Sigillography in the service of history, Irfan Shahîd; Diplomatie und Propa