Ethnography After Antiquity

In our quest to read all of the books of Anthony Kaldellis, we tackled Ethnography After Antiquity: Foreign Lands and Peoples in Byzantine Literature. A detailed analysis of how ethnography disappeared or changed after Late Antiquity and then experienced a return of sorts in the 14th and 15th centuries, Kaldellis raises a number of questions and critiques of problematic notions like the "Byzantine Commonwealth" or attempts by some scholars to accuse Byzantine authors of not facing geopolitical reality due to their classicizing language or ethnonyms. For our purposes, it helps to understand why Byzantine sources are silent about Christian Nubia and Ethiopia, since not only was there a vast distance between them but a decline of ethnographic digressions in Byzantine literate precluded more explicit ethnographic accounts. Even fellow Christians among Slavic peoples or Christians in former Roman territory in the Near East were not usually written about ethnographically after Late Antiquity, making it unlikely that we will find anything like digressions by Procopius on Nubia or Aksum in authors like Psellos or Skylitzes. Instead, what happened was changes in the nature of historical writing and references to the barbarian/non-Christian Other for imperial panegyric writings, imperial biographies, or, in the cases of military manuals, occasional references to others like the "Persians." The Other was often used by Byzantine authors to help define what Roman identity meant, which was primarily Roman rather than a religious one. This meant that Christian solidarity with Latins, Slavs who converted to Christian, or even the Bulgarians after their conversion was always outweighed by political concerns by the Byzantines. The loss of much of the empire's territory due to the Arab conquests led to another problem, since now Byzantine author truly wrote an ethnographic account of Islam until the 15th century. Coming to terms with Islam and the subsequent loss of territory raised a number of critical issues and although Byzantine intellectuals certainly knew much more about the Arabs and Muslim territories, coming to analyze it objectively remained difficult. By the last century and a half of its existence, ethnographic writings return and Byzantine authors have reconsidered the status of the Western "barbarians" due to their rising political, economic and intellectual status. This fascinating period, where some authors revive a Herodotean and even Hellenic identity, is the most fascinating one. 

Muslim Spain Reconsidered

Hitchcock's Muslim Spain Reconsidered is a short survey of the history of Al-Andalus from 711 to 1502. It would be difficult to do justice to several centuries of complex history, particularly in a region whose legacy has been used for various, occasionally contradictory purposes. For Hitchcock, Al-Andalus is not so much a paragon of interfaith harmony or unity, but rather part of a long history in which political concerns and interests (expediency) trumped religious or nationalist identities. For instance, the chapter in which El Cid is covered emphasizes the non-religious character of the historical El Cid. The cultural importance of Al-Andalus for scholarship, poetry, medicine, and translation of Classical knowledge is further emphasized for its long-term impact in Western Europe, too. Reasonable speculation about Al-Andalus's possible influence on Dante or the significance of Toledo as a center of translation of Islamic knowledge for the West serve to illustrate how Andalusian scholarship, book culture, and poetry made a huge impact on west. One of Hitchcock's particular strengths is his care to include aesthetic developments in poetry, architecture, and literature that illustrate distinctive Andalusian styles and identity, not just its emulation of the Islamic East. We certainly will be attempting to read Ibn Hazm, for example.

"Berber" Ancestry

A feature Ancestry and 23andme must (re)introduce is a chromosome browser that shows the user where exactly their DNA matches another user's. MyHeritage, which is less accurate, already offers this feature for free. However, since their DNA estimates are less accurate, we are forced to use DNA Painter's features to copy the chromosome breakdowns from 23andme or Ancestry to see the assigned "ethnicity" for sections of each chromosome. This convoluted process creates more work, and should be something available for free on Ancestry and 23andme. Doing so would illuminate how exactly one shares DNA with other users. This feature on My Heritage shows us, for instance, where we share DNA with North Africans. In the above example, with someone of Algerian heritage, we share 9.3 cM of DNA on a section of my third chromosome assigned to "North African" by Ancestry. This suggests that we likely harbor small amounts of "Amazigh" ancestry that can still be matched with random people from Morocco and Algeria. In our case, since we do not know of any recent admixture, we assume this is from one (or two) of 2 scenarios: ancient "Guanche" admixture from ancestors who came to the Caribbean via the Canary Islands or via ancient "Berber" admixture in parts of the Iberian Peninsula which contributed to the early peopling of the Spanish Caribbean. Either way, the fact that we have found multiple matches who share segments of DNA on parts of our chromosomes assigned to "North Africa" suggests "Berber" admixture. We need this feature to facilitate understanding of our West and Central African matches from places like Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and other countries. It would also be very useful when looking at matches who are a mix of different African nationalities.

Basil II's Empire

Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025) by Catherine Holmes is an interesting but difficult study on the Byzantine Empire of one of the greatest emperors of Roman/Byzantine history. To really understand it, one would have to have read all or most of the chronicle of John Skylitzes (plus that of other Byzantine chroniclers and historians of the period from the late 900s into the 1200s). Holmes has a number of interesting ideas about the writing of Skylitzes's chronicle and the political/social conditions of late 11th century Byzantium that shaped his work. Supposedly, part of the reason he overstated the importance of Bardas Skleros is because one of his sources was a pro-Skleros source. He also overestimates the importance of various ancestors of prominent/aristocratic families who were not important until the reign of Alexios Komnenos or John Komnenos. 

Holmes tries to use non-Byzantine sources that do cover Basil II's reign (Yahya Ibn Said, Stephen of Taron, some others) but it is rather remarkable how little has survived that covers, in detail, the reign of Basil II. The guy who completed the conquest of Bulgaria and extended the Empire the furthest east/northeast it had been in centuries...and we have so few detailed, internal sources on him. Skylitzes is partly unreliable as a source due to his reliance on pro-Skleros materials, his telescoped passages which often lack dates, and his willingness to modify some details to further the political agenda of his own time in the court of Alexios Komnenos.

Ultimately, a lot of what Holmes is saying seems very conjectural, but she wisely limits her analysis to what can be corroborated by narrative sources, sigillographical evidence, and non-Byzantine sources. It does seem quite likely that Skylitzes highlighted and exaggerated the role of ancestors of contemporary elites (late 11th century) of Byzantium's political system in the wars in the Balkans just to highlight the role of aristocratic cooperation with the imperial court for the success of Byzantium. Similarly, Skylitzes's method for composing his chronicle does suggest one must use it extremely carefully to truly make sense of what transpired in the Balkans or anywhere else during the reign of Basil II. 

Holmes is also worth reading for her insightful commentary on Byzantine historiography and various themes in the study of medieval Byzantium. For example, questing one's facile agreement with past scholarship on a strict genre separation of chronicles and histories. Not all Byzantine chroniclers were monks who emphasized divine providence and avoided classicizing rhetoric or style. Just as not all Byzantine "historians" wrote in fine Attic Greek and modeled themselves on Thucydides or ancient historians. Furthermore, Holmes presents a mostly persuasive case for understanding imperial administration on the eastern and western frontiers as one in which Constantinople relied more on tributary relations (in the east for sure) while devolving local matters on indigenous notables or political actors, only later in Basil's reign sending more officials from Constantinople. Likewise, one finds her reading of the legislation against the Powerful and Basil's interests in presenting the image of omnipotence while allowing much local autonomy a convincing analysis of his administration. For the conditions of Byzantium and its neighbors in the 10th and early 11th centuries, Basil II represented the apogee of that system of imperial rhetoric, control of the army and institutions, and acceptance of the reality of distant frontier governance that was sadly almost destroyed in less than a century after his reign.

Chronicle of Theophanes

Harry Turtledove's partial translation of The Chronicle of Theophanes covers the important years 602-813. A pivotal two centuries which saw the rise of Islam and the loss of Byzantine or Roman rule in various important provinces like Egypt and parts of the Middle East, Theophanes's chronicle is one of our major sources. Beginning with the fall of Emperor Maurice and Byzantine wars with Sassanian Persia, the sources utilized for this chronicle partly elucidate why Byzantium struggled with the expansion of Islam. Meanwhile, in addition to wars in the Middle East and Mediterranean, Byzantium faced a threat in the Balkans from the Avars and later the Bulgars. This war on two fronts exposed the Empire to several threats that most of the emperors either lacked the ability or resources to address fully. The problem of iconoclasm in the 8th century added more problems since it created divisions in the Empire among the Christian population and the factions which supported iconoclasm or opposed it. Some emperors, if Theophanes is indeed reliable for the reigns of Leo and Constantine Copronymus, appear to have even taken advantage of iconoclasm to seize wealth and goods from monasteries and laypeople. 

Of course, one must use Theophanes carefully as a source. His repeated references to iconoclastic emperors as impious, evil, and a threat to the world illustrate how the chronicler's own biases may have led him to exaggerate. Nonetheless, given the intense internal divisions within the Empire and the ongoing threat from the Bulgars and Arabs, it is sometimes surprising that it survived. It probably helped that the caliphates appeared to lack the ability to conquer Anatolia and their sieges of Constantinople were thwarted. One's impression from reading Theophanes is that frequent border raids and violations of treaties or agreements were common, but neither side was truly able to achieve a substantial victory against the other. In addition, population movements and relocations must have helped sustain Byzantine rule in areas of conflict, such as the movement of Armenian and Syrian Christians into regions near the Bulgars and the movement of Slavs into Anatolia. Alliances with Western powers like the Franks and even the Khazars could also be of use for protecting Byzantine interests in Europe and the east. 

What stood out to us, however, is the possible reference to someone from East Africa or India who married the wife of a spatharios named Helias. Punished by Emperor Justinian Rhinotmetus, this woman was wed to an "Indian"  cook who, due to the occasional conflation of India and Ethiopia in Greek writings, may have been someone from Africa. Moreover, people from Africa, particularly Nubia and Ethiopia, would have been known to Late Antique Byzantium. Indeed, there were even pagans still living in Harran well into Islamic times, demonstrating the religious diversity of the Middle East long after the establishment of the early caliphates. But what, if any, were the possible links between Byzantium and Nubia or Ethiopia during this centuries? 

Isis

Although it has been a few years since we have read Apuleius, we found Religion for Breakfast's video on the spread of the cult of Isis in the Roman Empire to be fascinating. And though not mentioned here, the cult of Isis was also important in Kush. To what extent was the cult of Isis and the glimpses of it available in Apuleius's novel representative for Isis worship in Kush or Meroe?

Nubia, Ethiopia and the Latin West

Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World, 1095-1402 by Adam Simmons is one of the more interesting new books on medieval Nubia. Focusing on Latin Christian engagement and knowledge of medieval Nubia (Ethiopia of Antiquity) during the Crusades, Simmons argues rather persuasively that it was first Dotawo (Nubia) instead of Ethiopia that occupied Latin Europe's interest. Indeed, it is probable that medieval Nubia was the first African Prester John and Nubian interactions with Latin Europe, imagined or real, appear to have been the basis of Muslim Egypt's fears of a Christian military alliance. 

The king of Organa in between Mali and Nubia in this Catalan World Map.

Moreover, Simmons draws on a vast corpus of texts, including those of Latin Europe, the Islamic world, and Eastern Christianity, to support his contention of growing Latin European knowledge and interest in Nubia. It was only later, after the Solomonic dynasty appropriated the name Ethiopia and news of Amda Seyon's exploits reached Europe, that the Abyssinian Solomonic state began to attract significant European interest. In fact, according to Simmons, Solomonic Ethiopia even appropriated the Candaces of ancient Nubia into the story of their Biblical origins. Apocalyptic traditions from Eastern Christianity predicting the meeting of a Nubian (Ethiopian) king and a Roman king also fueled interest in Nubia that was later transferred to Solomonic Ethiopia. 

The main problem with the text is the paucity of Nubian and Ethiopian sources to tell their side of the story. Without a comparable rich corpus of texts in Old Nubian (or, perhaps, Syriac, Coptic and Greek) and Ge'ez, this study remains quite speculative on how Nubians, and later Solomonic Ethiopia, shaped the discourse on Christian Africa in Europe or the course of the Crusades. Suggestive encounters like Nubian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela or interactions between the Europeans and Nubians in the Holy Land hint at possible deeper connections, but we are lacking so much information from the African side. Moreover, if we accept the quite plausible analysis of the author on a Nubian diplomatic mission to the papal court in the early 1300s, perhaps in the context of conflict for the throne of Dotawo among pro-Mamluk and anti-Mamluk contenders, we still have the interesting question of how Nubian envoys reached the Latin West. Were people in Medieval Nubia also traveling to the Mediterranean via ancient Saharan routes to the Northwest? Could Nubians have, via their interactions with western Sudanic states and the Maghreb, have endeavored to establish links to the Latin West? 

Organa and Nubia in the Dulcert Map

Furthermore, what was the response of powerful states like Kanem to these developments? Kanem in the late 1200s and for much of the 1300s faced a number of internal problems and succession crises, but could Kanem's alleged expansion to the far east, as far as the Nile, have occurred during the turbulent era of Mamluk-Dotawo relations in the late 1200s and early 1300s? Or was Ahmad b. Furtu exaggerating the past might and influence of the Sayfawa dynasty when he claimed their power was felt as far away as Nubia? One must recall al-Idrisi's mention of Nubian and Kanem spheres of influence in at least part of the vast region between the two kingdoms. Were there any tensions between them that may have also shaped the growing Latin European knowledge of Nubia and interest in alliances? 

Fra Mauro's 15th century world map included parts of Kanem and neighboring societies.

Was there any impact of the Eastern Christian apocalyptic prophecies and Islamic hadiths on Ethiopia's threat to Islam that would have shaped the Sayfawa dynasty's presentation of itself as a defender of Islam? Were people from Kanem who had traveled to Egypt or Hafsid Tunis cognizant of burgeoning Frankish interest in Nubia and Abyssinia? The improvement of European cartography in the 1300s and 1400s suggests that European cartographers had informants from Kanem or who had at least traveled there. The possible appearance of Kanem, or "Zaghawa" as Azagouc in a medieval romance might indicate this growing awareness of Kanem to Europeans. One must also remember the lodge for pilgrims and students in Cairo, funded by the kings of Kanem and established in the 1200s. Perhaps Kanem travelers and students were able to learn of Nubian-Latin Christian relations and Egyptian fears of the a Nubian-Franksh alliance. Despite our inability to answer any of these questions, Kanem's relations with Nubia is a fascinating one that would possibly connect events in the Chad basin with Dotawo for a more Sudanic-centered perspective on Nubian history. It could also lead to new questions about the Kanem-Tunis connections during the Crusading era and possible interactions with Latin Europe that overlapped with Nubian-Latin Christian relations.

Libyan History

John Wright's revised and updated A History of Libya is a worthy and problematic introduction to Libyan history. Any attempt to encompass over 2000 years of history in a short book is doomed, so it mostly covers the 20th century and the Gadafi (Gaddafi) regime. Wright, though revising and updating this general history to include the fall of Gaddafi during the Arab Spring, retained a number of perhaps outdated or incorrect assertions. For example, Wright must have written the initial form of this book in an era when proponents of large-scale trans-Saharan trade in Antiquity were more influential. Wright also misidentifies Dunama of the Sayfawa dynasty as a Borno king even though Kanem was still the core province. Sometimes Wright's characterization of Libya's dependence on oil seems a little unfair, particularly for repeatedly referring to its oil wealth as unearned even though Libya was just exploiting a valuable resource. Of course, historians or scholars today in 2022 would also have more sources to piece together the tumultuous final days of Gaddafi and the continual unrest in Libya today. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, we know the consequences of NATO intervention in the Libyan civil war eventually contributed to the multifaceted crises in that country and the plight of migrants in the Mediterranean. 

Despite our quibbles with Wright's general history, it perfectly demonstrates a number of interesting points pertinent to our interests in Kanem-Borno and trans-Saharan contacts between Tripoli and the Chad Basin. Wright begins with the prehistoric Sahara, Phoenician settlements, Greeks in Cyrenaica, the Garamantes, and the expanding Roman Empire. While this is not directly relevant to Kanem-Borno, the early appearance of the Garamantes and Tripolitania's position between the Sahara and the Mediterranean illustrates the significance of Libya: a bridge between the Mediterranean and the vast African interior. Obviously the scale and value of trans-Saharan trade and contacts between the Mediterranean coast of Libya and sub-Saharan Africa increased after the Arab conquests. And Tripolitania under Roman rule appears to have been far more self-sufficient agriculturally, exporting to Rome a surplus. So, Tripoli after the Arab conquest, especially after the Banu Hilal migrations, became less successful in terms of its agrarian economy and increasingly reliant on its corsair activity in the Mediterranean as well as trans-Saharan slave trading. Even if this activity was parasitic, as suggested by Wright, it supports an assertion by Dewiere that Tripoli relied more on the trans-Saharan trade than Borno. Consequently, the trans-Saharan factor in Libyan history is a huge one that developed over time since the Garamantes of the Fezzan, a merging of Mediterranean and African networks that benefitted Libya.

However, most of Wright's book is actually on 20th century Libya. The decades-long Italian conquest, not truly accomplished until Fascist Italy completed the process in the 1930s, represents an interesting convergence of fascism and colonialism. Drawing on the past of the Roman Empire in Tripolitania, Mussolini's Italy actually invested far more in Libya than they took out it. Their vision of the "Fourth Shore" as a settler colony for peasant farmers of Italy was disrupted by World War II. Libya in the postwar years became a Sanussi kingdom which, through oil, became less dependent on aid or leasing military bases to Britain and the US. With the arrival of Gaddafi, an extremely long dictatorship would usher in various failed political, social and economic reforms with the use of oil revenue. Sanctions, tensions with the West, and failed pan-Arabism eventually led Gaddafi to a rapprochement with the Western powers before his ignominious fall. Throughout its rocky years as an independent state, Libya remained a nation in spite of the strong regional cleavages and other differences within its population. The Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripolitania might as well have been separate nations. 

Intriguingly, Gaddafi's attempts to turn himself into a pan-Africanist hero and expand Libyan influence in sub-Saharan Africa represented a modern version of Libya's historic role as the crossroads of Africa and Europe. While undoubtedly opportunistic and a failure in the despot's war with Chad, it is remarkable that Gaddafi's African "turn" developed in a context where Libya was far less connected to sub-Saharan Africa than it once was. Over the course of the several millennia of known Libyan history, the link to Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa has always been a factor whose magnitude has varied across time. One region of modern Libya, the Fezzan, may been seen as "Sudanic" during some phases in its history. In that regard, the history of this North African nation is indicative of how closely entwined the worlds of Africa and Europe have been since the Roman Empire, even if its legacy has not always been for the best, as the tragedy of Libya today indicates.

John Skylitzes

John Skylitzes was a Byzantine Greek historian. A member of the aristocracy, Skylitzes had the titles of kouropalates and droungarios tes viglas under Alexios Komnenos. Writing his Synopsis Historiarum as a continuation of Theophano’s Chronicle during the reign of Alexios Komnenos, Skylitzes includes Basil II’s campaign in Bulgaria and ends in the year 1057. Indeed, Skylitzes’ account of Basil’s victory at the 1014 Battle of Kleidion reworks the battle, claiming Basil blinded 15,000 Bulgarian, which had even been questioned by contemporary historians of the time. The aforementioned work was later recopied in 12th  century Sicily and accompanied by illustrations of various episodes from Byzantium’s history, thereafter called the Madrid Skylitzes. A sequel, called Skylitzes Continuatus, perhaps written by John Skylitzes, includes the years 1057-79 and is a revision of the Historia of Michael Attaleiates. Skylitzes’ intention was to write an objective history that would include more details left out by other historians, such as Psellos. In addition, Skylitzes also had training as a jurist and completed three surviving legal writings and known for drafting one treatise on marriage. Skylitzes was also known as John the Thrakesian and served as a Komnenian official in Alexios’ administration.

Bibliography

Holmes, Catherine. Basil II and the Governance of the Empire (976-1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Alexander Kazhdan, Anthony Cutler, "Skylitzes, John" in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. © 1991, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.

Stephanson, Peter. "The legend of Basil the Bulgar-slayer." Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 24 (2000): 102-132.

Tripoli and the Two Seas

Jean-Claude Zelter's  Tripoli, carrefour de l'Europe et des pays du Tchad, 1500-1795 is one of those studies of Tripoli that we believed was necessary to understand the North African side of Kanem-Borno's trans-Saharan trade. Due to Zeltner's specialization in the Chadian past and research in Kanem and among the Awlad Sulayman Arabs, we hoped his history of Tripoli would integrate the histories of Tripolitania and the Central Sudan. Unfortunately, a deeper integration of the two remains to be written but this is an interesting start. Indeed, Zeltner fits the history of Tripoli in both a Mediterranean and trans-Saharan context. Indeed, without Europe, the Chad Basin and the bridges of the Mediterranean and Sahara, Tripoli was economically marginal. This indicates how a major North African port relied so heavily on the African interior and Europe and the economic integration of Africa and Europe (and the Levant). 

Outside of corsair activity targeting European ships and enslaving the victims, the trade in slaves and other "goods" acquired the trans-Saharan trade was the main source of revenue for the rulers (beys and pashas) of Tripoli from c.1500-1795. Moreover, as Zeltner takes great pains to indicate, most of the goods traded further south to Borno or sub-Saharan Africa via Tripoli came from Europe, especially Italy and even France. Thus, the trans-Saharan trade of the Central Sudan was directly linked to Mediterranean and European economies. Zeltner seems to have believed that had the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V or another European power had permanently established control of Tripoli and the Barbary coast, European trade with the African interior through the Sahara could have developed fully without the constant attacks of pirates or, in the case of Tripoli, frequent revolutions and unseating of pashas. But that's neither here nor there. Perhaps it is best to see Zeltner's overview of Tripoli's history in an attempt to show how the North African port served a vital role in connecting various regional or really global economies. Future studies could probably, assuming more data is accumulated or discovered, link developments in Tripoli and Fezzan with specific economic and political affairs in the Central Sudan or Borno. 

Unfortunately, there are some problems with Zeltner's approach and the structure of the book. The first 100 pages delve into the larger conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. It is definitely important for understanding how Tripoli fell under the control of Turgut, but it may be excessive to spend so many pages on the period leading up to 1551. Perhaps it would have been good to cover Wadai in the 17th and 18th centuries, too, for an additional kingdom trading with Tripoli and the Libyan coast. Fuller coverage of what was going on in the Central Sudan during the period, in addition to the reign of Idris b. Ali of Borno, could have been juxtaposed with Tripoli's various conflicts with the English, French and other Europeans in the Mediterranean. That could have better emphasized how events or political, social, and religious changes in the Central Sudan had an impact on Tripoli and the Mediterranean, not just Tripoli's political or social changes influencing the Fezzan and "Sudan" to the south. It was also confusing to see Zeltner equate Kwararafa with the Mandara kingdom, despite evidence linking it to the Jukun peoples.

Nevertheless, Zeltner's book is a good introduction to Tripoli that helps us better understand the Tripoli chronicle previously read for this site. Some of the particularities of Barbary piracy, Ottoman interests in the Mediterranean and even the role of the French in shipping African captives in Tripoli to the Levant were especially interesting. The frequent coups and revolutions and the way in which Tripoli, for a time, benefitted from French and English rivalry in the Mediterranean was likewise intriguing and perhaps brings to mind the ways in which banditry in the Sahara and Sahel had its counterpart on sea with the corsairs and rivalry between Sudanic states or kingdoms. Banditry and business go hand in hand, despite the former occasionally hurting the latter. 

Kingdoms of Faith

Since we have been trying to read more histories of North Africa, the Mediterranean and Islam, we recently read Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain by Brian Catlos. While one would think such a topic is not one of our immediate interests, Islamic Spain did have a connection to Kanem in the medieval era. Indeed, one of the earliest known West African poets of the Arabic language, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi, lived in Almohad Spain after establishing himself as a grammarian and respected poet in the Maghrib. Moreover, al-Andalus was definitely linked to our Sahelian area of interest through trans-Saharan trade networks. So, Islamic Spain enjoyed global connections through Europe, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and Africa, although the ties to sub-Saharan Africa are often ignored or little known. 

A general overview of al-Andalus, like Kingdoms of Faith, does not delve into the trans-Saharan side of Islamic Spain, but it is a great overview of a complex history. Often reduced to obfuscating stereotypes or romanticized narratives of conflict or tolerance, al-Andalus was a profoundly dynamic and shifting region where alliances and conflicts occurred between people of the same or different religious traditions. While Catlos at times seems too eager to emphasize this, one cannot deny that religious identity alone never defined or solely motivated the actions of historical actors, especially in an arena where Muslims, Christians, Jews and almost certainly "pagans" from other lands like the pre-Christian Norse crossed paths and learned how to, out of convenience, come together for their own interests. Catlos is most persuasive on that point, the pragmatism of various Muslim or Christians rulers in their attempts to rule or establish stable states across the peninsula. 

So, in order to demonstrate how pragmatism and convenience motivated the political history of the Iberian peninsula from 711 to the early 17th century, Catlos outlines the development in chronological order of the peninsula from the first Muslim conquest to the emirate (and later caliphate) of Cordoba, and then the Taifa kingdoms, Almoravid and Almohad presence, and gradual expansion of the Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. The reader gains some appreciation for the intellectual, cultural, technological, and economic sophistication of al-Andalus, especially under the Caliphate and the Taifa kingdoms, whose patronage for the arts and sciences definitely contributed to European philosophy and scientific knowledge. One also begins to understand how religion, ethnicity, clan, and slavery shaped this history as those of Arab lineage often occupied the best positions in government while discriminating against those of Berber origin or descendants of native converts who formed the majority of the population. This helps elucidate some of the internal dissension, civil wars, assassinations, and foreign invasions that pitted Muslim against Muslim or Christian against Christian in the broader sphere of Mediterranean history. 

Overall, Kingdoms of Faith is a good introduction to the history of al-Andalus. One might have to consider ignoring the jarring references to Andalusi elite male culture as "gangsta" or attempts to bring contemporary American politics or social commentary into the text, but those are fortunately few. All the Afrocentric extremists who love the racially-loaded term "Moor" should consider reading this, as it will establish very quickly how absurd it is to assume the "Moors" were "Black." It would also be a good read for those interested in the Sahel and how Islamic Spain was an important part of the bridge that connected the Sahelian zone with the Mediterranean and Europe in the Middle Ages. Perhaps future scholarship can shed additional light on this, particularly the West African presence in the Iberian peninsula as slaves, soldiers, students, and, in at least one case, authors whose impact might be important for shaping conceptions of difference and "race" in the early modern period. 

A History of North Africa

Charles-Andre Julien's History of North Africa: From the Arab Conquest to 1830 is one of those good introductory overviews for the history of the Maghrib. Unfortunately leaving out Libya, which is our primary area of interest for North Africa, Julien covers the rest of the region from the Arab conquests to the 19th century. Beginning with the Byzantine period and the lengthy Arab conquests and spread of Islam, the book then shifts to the major Islamic dynasties and states which dominated parts of North Africa, like the Aghlabids, Imams of Tahert, Fatimids, Hafsids, Alawi dynasty, Almohads, Almoravids, and Regencies of Algiers and Tunis. 

We can't lie, sometimes one gets lost in the various names and dynasties over 1000 years. But Julien mostly retains the reader's interest and occasionally delves into other topics, like the spread of Islam, Sufism, the Barbary corsairs, the political economy of Tunis and Algiers, and how the Sharifian dynasties held Morocco together. Since the text was originally published several decades ago, we're sure that archaeologists and historians have shed more light on the Arab conquest and perhaps today's scholars would avoid phrases like "Berber inertia" to characterize what Julien describes as societies trapped in a civilization that hadn't changed much since the 7th or 8th centuries. 

Moreover, it would be interesting to read a history of North Africa that attempts to integrate a Saharan and Mediterranean perspective on the region. Julien, of course, mentioned the Moroccan invasion of Songhay and Hafsid relations with Kanem, but he seems to have bought into the idea that the Islamic civilization of the Sahel was an implanted Maghribi one while also minimizing the importance of the trans-Saharan trade. We have a lot more books to complete on North Africa before we can explore this, but we know Braudel will be on our reading list to help us understand the Mediterranean and, perhaps, how the Saharan "sea" was connected to it.

An Abridged History of Tripoli

Because Anne-Charles Froment de Champlagarde's loose translation of a Libyan chronicle was in French rather than the German summary of Krause, we were able to read the full text more easily and gleam certain details on the history of Tripoli and Tripoli-Fezzan relations. However, Alain Blondy's introduction is actually more useful for an introduction or overview of the history of Tripolitania and the Fezzan from the period of c.1500-1800. Blondy's lengthy introduction, for instance, helped situate the conflicts over Tripoli in the 1500s between European Christians and, eventually, the Ottomans while providing a Tripoli-based perspective on the Fezzan and trans-Saharan trade. Much of the actual chronicle tracks the often difficult state of relations between Tripoli and Murzuq while the later sections cover the rise of the Qaramanli and the brutal conditions under which Yusuf seized power after slaying his brother. 

Unfortunately, we still don't learn much about the local "negro sovereigns" of the Fezzan except for their various revolts and refusals to pay tribute to Tripoli. But some interesting details emerge in Blondy's introduction and the original text on the Fezzan's relations with Katsina and Borno. For instance, the idea of the Awlad Muhammad dynasty as vassals or quasi-vassals of the Sayfawa dynasty as demonstrated by mai Umar b. Idris executing al-Tahir. Or the importance of "black" merchants in Murzuq, the capital of the Awlad Muhammad rulers. Given that Kanuri was once widely spoken in the region, it might be safe to assume most of these "black" merchants were from Borno, although Hausa traders from Katsina were likely present. Thus, the Fezzan was intimately linked to the larger economy of the Borno and Hausaland, and may have derived much of its textiles, leather goods, and grain from the "Central Sudan" neighbors to the south. 

Indeed, according to Claude Lemaire, about 500-600 slaves passed through the Fezzan from Borno annually, suggestive of the scale of the slave trade in the late 17th century between Tripoli and Borno. That number, though seemingly small, doesn't take into account high mortality rates or the role of Tripoli as a distribution center for African captives to other locations in the Mediterranean. As argued by other historians, Tripoli seems to have relied more heavily on this African slave trade through their tributary Fezzani neighbor than Borno, which raises questions on the role of the slave trade in Borno's economy. Yet influence or control of the Fezzan obviously mattered to the Sayfawa dynasty, since it allowed them to secure the trade routes to the Mediterranean and perhaps protect their own merchants active in the central Sahara or beyond. We would like to learn more about Idris Alooma's interests in the Fezzan during the 1570s and 1580s, as well as the mystery of an anonymous Spanish source from the 16th century mentioning direct military conflict between Borno and the Ottoman Empire in the Fezzan region.

Byzantium: The Early Centuries

Norwich's rich narrative history of the Byzantine Empire is known for its questionable accuracy. It is definitely outdated, too, in its rather politically incorrect and denigrating remarks on some of the so-called barbarian peoples, particularly the Huns, Turkic peoples, and nomadic Central Asians. He may, at times, be too willing to support Gibbon's contentions. Yet, in spite of its flaws, Norwich wrote an endlessly entertaining history of the pivotal first 5 centuries of the Empire, showing how the Empire derived many of its institutions and practices from the Roman foundation but developed into something new, distinct, and historically significant. While some of the ground covered in the text, especially the reign of Justinian, which has occupied the attention of this blog, was quite familiar to us, it was very enlightening to learn more about the specific reigns of the various predecessors and successors to Justinian. It is easier to see and why Arab Muslims were able to so quickly takeover large chunks of the Empire in light of the numerous internal conflicts and religious divisions. It is hard not to cheer for Byzantium, as Norwich does, as the reader finds oneself overly invested in the future of the Empire. The tragedy of Heraclius, for instance, or the frustrated ambitions of Justinian or Justinian II make for great history.

The Wars of Justinian

While the lengthy and sometimes tedious Wars of Justinian by Procopius can be occasionally daunting and scattershot, it raises so many questions when considered in relationship with Secret History. In the latter work, Procopius openly criticizes Belisarius and Justinian quite often, while Wars mostly praises Belisarius as a brilliant general and virtuous man. The truth was likely somewhere in the middle. However, before one can even begin to ponder that, this vast history, directly inspired by Thucydides and classical historians, contains a huge wealth of ethnographic data, anecdotal stories, legends, and accounts of military encounters across the known world. 

The sheer scale of the world as known by Procopius takes the reader on a journey across the oikumene, including rich details on the cultures and peoples of Thule (Scandinavia), the Black Sea, Persia, Mesopotamia, Nubia, Himyar and Aksumite Ethiopia, North Africa, Gothic Italy, and Germanic Europe. For us here at the blog, Procopius is a priceless source for understanding Christianization in Nubia during the 6th century in relation to the foreign policy interests of Justinian. He also provides a direct source on the proposed alliance between the Roman Empire and the Aksumites against the Sassanid Persians, which hints at the thwarted attempts on the part of the Aksumites to directly access silk goods through direct trade with India (blocked by Persia). Whether or not some of the other ethnographic, political and geographic observations and anecdotes by Justinian are true, they make up the most entertaining aspects of his long work.

As for the text's uneasy relationship with the other writings of Procopius, there is definitely a shared current of criticism of imperial policy. Justinian, for instance, comes across as distracted and unwise in his appointment of military commanders and policy during the lengthy Gothic War in Italy. For example, while the Roman forces in Italy were falling apart, and Slavic hordes raiding Illyria and Thrace, Justinian, said to never sleep, was involving himself in theological and religious disputes among Christians. And after various wars and broken truces with the Persians, Procopius sums up the result being essentially Rome paying tribute to the Sassanians. According to Procopius, Justinian did not punish or properly chastise military commanders for their mistakes in the various campaigns in the East or West. The Roman emperor, and his wife, Theodora, allegedly expressed unwise political decisions, with Theodora always siding with women in distress. Of course, according to Procopius, it was Theodora whose will and determination to remain Empress which forced Justinian to fight the rebels in Byzantion during the Nika riots. Antonina, unlike Belisarius, Theodora and Justinian, does not receive as much criticism as in Secret History.

Nevertheless, there is an underlying current of criticism of Justinian and his various wars, pointing out their questionable benefits in places like Libya, where the Romans eventually defeated Moorish forces but were left with a depopulated province. Indeed, waging wars on two fronts with powerful foes while using disloyal barbarian mercenaries or allies probably did not help, either. Moreover, as the empire's boundaries expanded, disputes over Christian doctrine, social unrest among the fan club factions, an assassination plot that endeavored to include Justinian's nephew, and a deadly plague in 542 point to several internal problems that threatened the foundation of the growing empire. In conjunction with Anecdota, one seems to see in all this war and folly of Justinian a critique of tyranny and misrule of an empire which was supposed to be favored by God. Critiques of tyrannical and murderous Persian rulers or barbarian kings must be veiled criticisms of the emperor, whose lack of proper governance and virtue threatened to unravel all the gains of the Empire. Belisarius, on the other hand, in Wars, may have been virtuous and only impeded by Justinian, but the truth was likely somewhere in the middle.

The World of Late Antiquity

Finally read Peter Brown's The World of Late Anqituity, a far more accessible essay on the period than the lectures The Making of Late Antiquity. Here, Brown's classic essay provides a great overview of the period, challenging the Gibbonesque paradigm of decline and fall. Instead, changes in the social, economic, religious, and spiritual conditions in the Roman Empire and its environs beginning in the 3rd century gradually brought about the features now known as "Late Antique," which created a different type of Roman Empire and new orientation to spirituality that favored Christianity's expansion. While there was undoubtedly a collapse of the western empire's political administration, when looking at the entirety of the region during the period, it is not really a tale of decline and fall brought about by Christianity. The book's definite strength lies in its analysis of religious and spiritual changes in the eastern Mediterranean and the western empire. The chapters on Sassanian Persia and early Islam may have been necessary to provide a complete overview of the "Near East" that led to the "end" of a united Mediterranean world centered on a single empire, but they are clearly not the author's area of specialization. The figure of the holy man, the growing importance of bishops and monastic communities in the eastern Mediterranean and the increasing importance of the Roman Catholic Church in the west as the inheritor of the aristocratic senatorial classes are all fascinating processes.

Secret History

Now for a writer who brings to mind the polemics of Baron de Vastey on Petion. Procopius's Secret History is an entertaining list of the various flaws, shortcomings, gossip, and demonic traits of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora. Of course, General Belisarius and his wife Antonina come into the narrative for the first section, with Belisarius coming off as one of the biggest dupes of the Byzantine Empire for allowing his wife to cheat on him with various men. Justinian and Theodora, however, were even worse. According the invectives of Procopius, Justinian may or may not have really been a demon and his wife was an infamous whore. Together, they were hell-bent on destroying the Roman Empire and ruining their subjects, overthrowing the rule of law, and corrupting every institution. Of course, the reality of the Byzantine Empire during the Age of Justinian was likely quite different, yet the various issues of constant wars, imperial overexpansion, the plague, factional conflict between the Greens and Blues and conflicts over religious doctrine support some of Procopius's concerns with the direction of the Empire. While one must be careful with taking the character portraits of Procopius too literally, one gains insights into the nature of the Byzantine Empire during the crucial 6th century. 

The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God & the Beginnings of Christianity

After finally reading The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God & the Beginnings of Christianity, one can gain some insights into how Philip K. Dick combined his philosophic interests in idealism and metaphysics with Gnostic and Christian themes that predominate in his later works. While I am not entirely certain of this, one cannot help but feel Dick read the work of Jonas on Gnosticism. The timing works, mid-1960s and all. And Jonas wrote a nice overview of Gnosticism but I think more contemporary scholarship has benefited from more complete access to the Nag Hammadi finds and other sources. 

One also thinks some are ready to jettison the concept of a singular "Gnosticism' since it consisted of so many different groups and sects which did not necessarily share much. The church fathers who dismissed them as heretics or Plotinus the neoplatonist may have grouped followers of Valentinus and others together as heretics, but that does not necessarily unite the followers of Valentinus and Mani with the Mandeans or followers of the Corpus Hermeticum. Hans Jonas himself admits this several times in various chapters on Valentinians, Macrosians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, etc.

However, they all shared some similar core concepts that can ultimately be traced to what he sees as three important influences: Iranian dualism, Babylonian astrology, and Jewish monotheism, within a Hellenistic framework. One cannot discount the context of the Roman Empire and the shift from the polis to imperial governance. Despite this Hellenistic framework, there was nonetheless very different cosmogonies and biblical exegesis in the various schools of 'Gnosticism.' Manichaeanism and Mandaeans seem very distinct from each other, with various sects being more overtly anti-Jewish, equating the demiurge with the Old Testament God. The Babylonian astrology sources enter through Hellenistic astrology in Egypt and the rest of the Mediterranean world, with the various planets/celestial spheres and stars becoming associated with various names of the Old Testament God or aeons. 

It's a sometimes bewildering hodgepodge of various schools of thought in religion, mysticism, and  but as Jonas says, some Gnostics would have been horrifying to Christians for their vastly different interpretations of Scriptures (sometimes equating the Edenic serpent as a positive force, for instance) as well as rejecting works or or the moral "laws" of the false material world. Furthermore, by rejecting the celestial spheres and the cosmos as the imprisoning world of a lesser being, Gnostics would have been heretical or rebellious to the earlier Greek notion of the cosmos and Neoplatonists like Plotinus or the Stoics. Either the "Gnostics' became libertines or ascetics, rejecting the physical world as a creation of the Darkness/Demiurge/lesser god. 

In the epilogue, Jonas tries to connect Gnosticism and existentialism, but I don't see much of any connection besides what he calls a shared "anthropological anticosmism." But the comparison is revealing nonetheless, since some of the parallels in the world ancient world he draws may have influenced science fiction writers like Dick. For example, the rise of the Roman Empire and the the post-WWII US hegemony (or US and USSR "Empires" as Eastern and Western halves of the same imperial power) may have appealed to Dick's sense of the post-WWII global "empire" of the US/USSR, and the need to escape the totalitarian/all-encompassing "fake" world of the 20th century with its false reality that binds us to this realm. I cannot say for certain that Dick read Jonas, but it is certainly possible his own theophany and interests in Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism were informed by him. The influence of astrology and ancient astronomy on Gnostic thought could have also appealed to writers of science fiction, which may contribute to the omnipresence of Gnostic themes in various forms of SF from Dick's novels to anime series like Ergo Proxy.

The Greek Alexander Romance

Although it has questionable historical value, The Greek Alexander Romance, of which the earliest translation from the Greek dates to the fourth century, is an entertaining fictionalized version of Alexander the Great's conquests. Since it appears to have been written in Egypt and draws from a variety of sources across its many translations and adaptations, Alexander the Great's father is now Nectanebo and his conquests take him to the edge of the world. He encounters wild beasts and men, engages with exotic rulers in India, Asia, and Meroe, and appears to be Christian or a monotheist in some of the recensions of the text. The translator, Richard Stoneman, includes variants from different versions of the tale so one can get an idea of the full breadth and diversity of Alexander's adventures. Thus, like The Story of Apollonius, King of Tyre, some convergence of Christian and pagan themes appear in the text, although much of the Jewish and Christian themes were added by later translations of Christian authors. For instance, the Queen of Meroe's letter to Alexander mirrors Christian symbolism of dark skin and white (pure) souls, and in another episode from a later version, Alexander pledges submission to the one God of the Jews.

Overall, the story is very loosely based on the historical conquests of Alexander across Egypt, Persia, the Levant, and India, and it relies on some of the same conventions of the earlier Greek romances (ruses, deception, oracles, deux ex machina, fantastic creatures or wildlife, exotic lands beyond the eastern Mediterranean, Greek versus barbarian dichotomies). In some respects, this romance brings to mind Callirhoe and Heliodorus's famous work in that it revolves around fictionalized tales of historical figures fighting against the Persians. Unfortunately, without two protagonists who fall in love at first sight, there is not much drama or reason to invest in Alexander as a character. There is not much dramatic tension in the tale since the reader is to know immediately of Alexander's intelligence, noble character, and military prowess. Even when he defeats Darius of Persia, the battles described do not match those of the Greek romances. Nonetheless, as an account of unbelievable adventures of the known and unknown world, it suffices as entertainment. It also provides an interesting account of the origins of Alexandria and its future as a cosmopolitan metropolis. 

Satyricon

Since this blog has developed an interest in covering a variety of early prose fiction and "novels" across time and space, the Satyricon of Petronius was destined to receive a post. Unlike The Golden Ass or The Story of Apollonius King of Tyre, what remains of the Satyricon is incomplete, mutilated, and disjointed. Believed to have been possibly 5 times as long as the remaining fragments, the original text must have been a lengthy and episodic series of adventures for Encolpius, Ascyltus, and Giton across the Italian peninsula and the Mediterranean region. From what remains of the text, and J.P. Sullivan's lively translation of its prose and poems, it is a mostly first-person narrative told from the perspective of Encolpius, a former gladiator. His series of adventures include brothels, orgies, a fantastic dinner at the home of a wealthy freedman (which supposedly satirizes Nero, the nouveau riche, and many other aspects of Roman society), shipwreck, and sexual encounters with men and women. Like the later work of Apuleius, this tale features many outcasts, disreputable characters, amorous escapades, allusions to magic, and stories within a story (including a memorable account of a werewolf encounter). Unfortunately, due to the fragmentary nature of it, one cannot help but feel somewhat disappointed with the Satyricon. But due to its endless humor and satirical elements that bring to life Roman civilization of the early empire, it is an unforgettable romp of a civilization already imperiled.