The value of empire: tenth-century Bulgaria between Magyars,Pechenegs and Byzantium

The article seeks to explain the connection between the migration of the Magyars and Pechenegs in central and south-east Europe, in the late ninth and early tenth century, and the conflict between Byzantium and Bulgaria during the same period. Through reference to anthropologists discussing the relations between nomadic and sedentary societies (Khazanov, Barfield), and historians studying medieval rituals (Buc, Althoff, Koziol), the article interprets the aggressive policy of the Bulgarian tsar Symeon as a consistent effort to displace Byzantium as major partner of the nomadic polities in the area. By subverting the principles of Byzantine diplomacy and political culture, Symeon turned his own kingdom into a society-structuring factor in the nomadic world. The article evaluates the very meaning of imperial claims not so much in legal terms, as an effort to guarantee Bulgaria’s sovereignty in a Byzantium-centred world, but in the real-time capacity of a ruler to make use of imperial symbols and act upon the dynamically changing conjuncture.     

The value of empire: tenth-century Bulgaria between Magyars,Pechenegs and Byzantium

The article seeks to explain the connection between the migration of the Magyars and Pechenegs in central and south-east Europe, in the late ninth and early tenth century, and the conflict between Byzantium and Bulgaria during the same period. Through reference to anthropologists discussing the relations between nomadic and sedentary societies (Khazanov, Barfield), and historians studying medieval rituals (Buc, Althoff, Koziol), the article interprets the aggressive policy of the Bulgarian tsar Symeon as a consistent effort to displace Byzantium as major partner of the nomadic polities in the area. By subverting the principles of Byzantine diplomacy and political culture, Symeon turned his own kingdom into a society-structuring factor in the nomadic world. The article evaluates the very meaning of imperial claims not so much in legal terms, as an effort to guarantee Bulgaria’s sovereignty in a Byzantium-centred world, but in the real-time capacity of a ruler to make use of imperial symbols and act upon the dynamically changing conjuncture.     

论罗曼努斯与934年新律

马其顿王朝时期是拜占庭历史上的又一个黄金时代。这一时期的主要矛盾是社会差别的扩大和土地大量集中于权贵手中。因此,调适权贵与贫弱者之间的关系成为历代皇帝,特别是罗曼努斯所关注的核心问题。针对土地问题,罗曼努斯先后于922年和934年颁布了“新律”。其中,后者不仅是对前者的简单补充,而是像前者一样基于公共税收,在沿袭古法,调整古法之矛盾的基础上,针对紧迫而尖锐的现实问题,纳入了对权贵群体的界定等诸多重大内容,把宗教语言与道德说教、抽象的理念与法令的可操作性及严密性结合在一起。这些内容与特征反映了罗曼努斯的人生历程与当时帝国所面临的内外形势,反映了制度变迁的基本逻辑。