Imagining pre-modern imperialism: the letters of Byzantine imperial agents outside the metropole

This dissertation examines the letter collections of Byzantine agents in order to consider how Byzantine epistolary literature was used to project Byzantine imperial power in non-Byzantine or disputed zones. It is comparative and focuses on two loci of Byzantine imperial interests outside of Byzantium proper: the Eastern frontier and Bulgaria. Letters and other literary texts in both Greek and Classical Armenian are used to investigate Byzantine/non-Byzantine relations. The dissertation describes acculturation and normative images of Byzantines and non-Byzantines, as well as the maintenance of those images via epistolary constructions, placing this form of literary production in the context of both political history and the use of literature as a communicative act of cultural maintenance. Three case studies are presented in geographic and cultural comparison. The first case study examines the letter collection of an early-10th century envoy, the magistros Leo Choirosphaktes and the Bulgarian tsar Symeon the Great, and discusses the use of epistolary as an attempt to maintain cultural superiority. The second case study examines the correspondence network of an eleventh-century Byzantine general on the Eastern frontier, Nikephoros Ouranos, and discusses epistolary as a method of bringing Constantinopolitan values and culture outside of Constantinople. The final case study the correspondence in Classical Armenian of Grigor Magistros Pahvaluni, whose letter collection can be used to consider the mentality of a non-Byzantine person embedded in local, non-Byzantine power structures who acquired a place within Byzantine imperial authority when it became politically impossible to not interact with such authority.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby AnnaLinden Welle