Renowned Scholar of the Byzantine Empire Anthony Kaldellis to Speak at Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center, September 16 on Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus: “Why the West Invented ‘Byzantium’”

Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,

The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University is presenting a lecture on the topic “Why the West Invented ‘Byzantium’” by the acclaimed historian and scholar of the Byzantine Empire, Dr. Anthony Kaldellis. The Orthodox Christian Studies Center is co-chaired by Archons Aristotle Papanikolaou, PhD and George E. Demacopoulos, PhD.

Dr. Kaldellis will be speaking on Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the Lowenstein 12th Floor Lounge on the Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus. He will explain how, starting in the early Middle Ages, Western observers constructed a hostile caricature of the east Roman empire. Many of these stereotypes were subsequently encoded into the field of Byzantine Studies, and scholars are still struggling to correct them. But why did such an image come about at all, and how does it affect even to this day our understanding of the uniqueness, importance, and achievements of the Byzantine Empire?

Last April, the Archons distributed copies to Church leaders of Dr. Kaldellis’ latest book, Phantom Byzantium: Europe, Empire, and Identity from Late Antiquity to World War II, which discusses in depth many of the themes he will highlight in his lecture. Once again, I highly recommend that you read and study this book carefully.

To register for this important and illuminating lecture, visit publicorthodoxy.org/events or scan the QR code.

Yours in the service of our Holy Mother Church,