Half a century ago, the Greek academic Era Vranoussi presented Balkan and Byzantine studies with a new theory. She argued that the people named Albanoi in Michael Attaleiates’ History were not Balkan Albanians, but rather Normans in southern Italy. A debate ensued with French Byzantinist Alain Ducellier that was never resolved. More recently, some notable scholars have begun to incorporate Vranoussi's hypothesis into their work. This article re-examines Vranoussi's arguments and concludes that the evidence favours the traditional reading of Albanoi as Balkan Albanians over the interpretation of this ethnonym as an obscure reference to Norman mercenaries in territories south of Rome.

This article presents twelve lead seals from the Museum of Bergama (ancient Pergamon), dating from the late sixth to the early eighth century. We offer a descriptive catalogue of these early Byzantine seals preserved in a western Turkish museum. In the introduction, seals excavated in Pergamon as well as seals referring to Pergamon are briefly discussed. The owners of the twelve seals in the museum were primarily ecclesiastical or legal dignitaries who were probably active in Pergamon, in southwestern Mysia, in Aeolis or in Lydia.

After the recapture of Constantinople (1261) artistic production in Byzantium experienced a recovery. In the capital of Byzantium itself this period is marked by the mosaic panel of the Deesis in the Hagia Sophia. This work constitutes a ‘one-off’ in Byzantine art. This fact poses a series of questions concerning the dating, the creator and the patron of the mosaic, as well as the reasons for its creation, given that no source makes any reference to these matters. The present study attempts to re-examine these issues.

This article argues that coherence in medieval narratives was perceived differently than it is in modern literature, offering an analysis of coherence principles in Digenes Akrites which seem to have been more relevant for its original audiences. Drawing on contemporary narratology and recent research on comparable western works, the author does not search for one sole superordinate principle, but rather for so-called structures of mid-range coherence. The article contains some examples of such ‘centres of gravity’ – the schema, the scene and the meaning – in the G version.

This article examines the term ‘Byzantine’ as it appears in the 678 Sacra of Constantine IV to Pope Donus. Unlike most other late antique and medieval usages of the term, that is, to describe individuals from Constantinople, the Emperor used the term in relation to Palestinian, Cilician and Armenian monastic communities in Rome. The article considers a number of possible readings of the term and suggests that, in the context of distinction between Eastern and Western Romans, the term functioned as a designation for Eastern Romans.

In this article, the socio-economic and cultural identity of Chalcis is traced through, and combined with, the story of its material culture and, in particular, of its impressive pottery production and consumption. Through this lens, the historical conditions and daily life over more than ten centuries (from the ninth to the early twentieth century) of this relatively unknown provincial town are closely examined. This makes it possible to detect one field in which local communities reacted to, adjusted to, took advantage of, survived or sometimes succumbed to the wider turmoil of the Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek eras.

John Tzetzes’ Letter 75 does not simply provide useful information on the scholar's professional status, but is crucial for a deeper understanding of his self-fashioning. By connecting this epistle to the related passages of the Chiliads, I show that not only the references to Plato, Simonides and Pythagoras, but also the comic and iambic overtones of this missive contribute to the construction of a multifaceted – and deliberately self-ironizing – authorial persona. Thus, this study engages with recent discussions on the polyphonic nature of Byzantine authorial voices, while also contributing to the renewed interest in the reception of Aristophanes in the Komnenian era.

The most direct and definite expression of Philhellenism during the Greek War of Independence (1821–9) was military action by European volunteers, generally officers, on the side of the revolutionaries. This article discusses the Philhellenes’ military action at the Battle of Peta in 1822, as recorded in the diary of one of the few survivors, the physician Johann-Daniel Elster. Elster's information is compared with other Greek and European sources about the battle and the conditions of the campaign in Epirus and the circumstances that led to the Philhellenes’ defeat re-evaluated.

Over time, the monasteries of Mount Athos became owners of great estates in the Balkan Peninsula. These metochia contributed significantly to the monasteries’ resilience. Vatopedi acquired the Souflar çiftlik in 1907 in order to pursue its goals of self-sufficiency and sustainability. The article reveals important details about the operation of Souflar Metochi and its impact on the local and the monastic economy. The detailed procedures followed by the monks appointed to manage it are a valuable source of information concerning the agricultural methods employed, the weights and measures used and the forms of labour relations of the local population.

Local community participation in the revival of ancient theatres as venues in Greece shaped the dynamics of the cultural reception of inter-war performances at Delphi and Epidaurus. Here I analyse local involvement within and beyond the theatrical context of the Delphic Festivals, as well as the long-standing identification of the village of Ligourio with the theatre of Epidaurus. These relationships reflect distinctive dimensions of the clash between community-led and institutional archaeology, which dominated national discourse on authenticity and identity. At the same time, the prospects of economic development through tourism in such remote areas encouraged local receptiveness to the revival of ancient theatres.

Since Roman times the representation of monarchy as an antidote to anarchy was a strong form of legitimization for the monarchical institution. In modern Greece, this formula dates back to 1821. The Greek Revolution and its republican constitutions were identified by European statesmen with anarchy and demagogy. Thus, a foreign monarch, alien to Greece's internal factions, was deemed the ideal remedy for internecine strife, and the best guarantor of internal unity as well as stability in the Near East. This image of monarchy proved its usefulness again during the First World War, when a controversy between the premier Eleftherios Venizelos and King Constantine over foreign policy and constitutional issues led to the National Schism (1915–17).

In 1959–62, relations between Greece and the USSR entered a new phase. The tactics of the Soviet Union regarding Cyprus in 1955–9 did not pay off, as the rift between Greece, Turkey, and NATO was largely bridged in the aftermath of the 1959 Cyprus agreements. However, the search for a Cold War détente engendered pervasive insecurity in a frontline state like Greece, always afraid that its larger allies might abandon it. Nuclear intimidation, Greek anti-communism on the one hand; on the other, the impressive development of trade relations, created a complex environment. This article, based on the archives of the Greek Foreign Ministry, and the personal archive of the Greek prime minister, Constantine Karamanlis, discusses Athens’ response to the new Soviet policy.

This article examines the German reaction to the abduction by the SOE (Special Operations Executive) of General Kreipe in Crete in May 1944 and questions whether the operation should have been launched. Observance of the Laws and Customs of War as defined at the time had been compromised by SOE's charter from the outset, and the reaction of the occupying powers – Germany and Italy – to partisan warfare evolved accordingly. The article concludes by highlighting the legal findings of the American Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trial of the ‘Balkan Generals’ and contrasts them with the Athens trial of Generals Müller and Bräuer.

The departure of the greater part of the Greek community from Egypt is one of the many sad stories of the post-war Mediterranean. This article focuses upon the reports of the Greek Consul-General in Alexandria, Byron Theodoropoulos, regarding the Egyptian ‘Socialist Laws’ of summer 1961, which gave the coup de grâce to the Greek community. It argues that the expulsion of the Greeks was part of a wider redistribution of power in the region. This episode, together with similar experiences in other parts of the Mediterranean, evidently cemented the determination of a younger generation of political leaders and diplomats to seek Greece's future in the cosmopolitan, post-nationalist West, rather than in a ‘Near East’ rife with nationalism and economic failure.