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9781108438216

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'During a period of external threats and internal disunity, Constantine VII (913-59), the dilettante emperor of the Byzantine empire, supervised the compilation of the multivolume Excerpta. The volumes were chiefly unaltered texts from pre-Christian era authors. The emperor and his staff organized the material in a set of 53 topics. ... Nemeth argues that instructive examples, many of which were biographical, were aimed at stimulating creative and critical thinking, improving the morality of Constantine's circle, and providing pragmatic answers to contemporary problems. But there is no concrete proof that the Excerpta produced any military successes or enlightened legislation, or led to fruitful diplomatic maneuverings. The Excerpta may have had more aesthetic than practical value. This immense work of scholarship is strictly for the pinpoint specialist. Recommended.' A. J. Papalas, Choice

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András Németh is one of the two curators of Greek manuscripts at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Previously, he was a research scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and a research librarian at the National Széchényi Library, Budapest. He coordinates various activities concerning palimpsests at the Vatican Library and is preparing the catalogue of a select group of Greek manuscripts of this library. He studies the cultural history of the Middle Byzantine period and the reception of Greek manuscripts in Renaissance libraries in Europe and is preparing a monograph on the Greek manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Corviniana.

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