Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I: 641-867

Ashgate
edited by John Robert Martindale
ISBN: 0754604837
price: $89.95   cd-rom

The Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire, 641-867 covers a period when the administrative structure and governing elite of Byzantium were undergoing crucial changes, and when the Mediterranean world of Late Antiquity was assuming the forms of the Middle Ages. It is the first publication of a major project which will ultimately include details about all known individuals in or connected with Byzantium from AD 641 to 1261. Funded by the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Board, this is the continuation into the Byzantine period of PLRE, the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, also edited by John Robert Martindale.
Combining and making accessible information sifted from hundreds of sources, in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Syriac and other languages, with original research, this CD will help revolutionise the study of Byzantium. For the first time it will be possible to search for individuals by their offices, activities, and many other attributes, including gender and ethnicity, and to ask questions hitherto only answerable by hours of laborious library work. In addition, the thousands of records shed completely new light on what has been a dark period of history. This is a vital new resource for scholars, and not only for Byzantinists, but for all working on the history of the early Middle Ages, from Spain and Italy across to the Islamic Middle East.
This new database:
* contains the equivalent of over 1100 pages of text - for each person there is a text article with full source information
* ensures that each of about 8500 individuals can be found by name, date or through a variety of different indexes
* offers search and browse facilities not available with traditional publications
* is easily browsable and searchable even by beginners, and can be used on all standard PCs and Macs