The UWr Historical Institute would like to invite you to another online meeting in the “Szewskie Czwartki” series, which will take place on November 21st at 6PM. The lecture, which will be delivered in Polish, is titled „Gykia i inni. Krym w „De administrando imperio” Konstantyna VII Porfirogenety” (“Gykia et al. Crimea in Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’s ‘De administrando imperio’”) and will focus on the plethora of information about Crimea in the Byzantine “diplomacy manual.”
Our guest host will be prof. Aleksander Paroń, professor of IAE PAN (The Institute for History of Material Culture PAN). Professor Paroń is an outstanding historian and classical philologist; he authored multiple papers about the relationship between the nomadic and agricultural communities of Eurasia in ancient and medieval times.
Professor Paroń’s works include the monograph “Pieczyngowie. Koczownicy w krajobrazie politycznym i kulturowym średniowiecznej Europy” (“Pechenegs. Nomads in the political and cultural landscape of medieval Europe”) and the newest translation of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’s “De administrando imperio” (“On Administering the Empire”): the first full Polish translation of this Greek work.
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (died 959) is one of the most intriguing characters in the history of the Byzantine Empire. He was acclaimed mostly for his intellectual work, as he started ruling independently only at the age of 40. His treatise “On Administering the Empire” was written in consideration for his son. It remains not only a manual on diplomacy, but a valuable source of knowledge about politics, administration, and fascinating aspects of management.
Link to the meeting on MS Teams: https://tiny.pl/qhdpw16g
Translated by Monika Klimiuk (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
