Insular urbanism in Byzantium

Abstract

Traditionally, islands have not attracted a good deal of attention on the part of Byzantine historiography. In truth, if one leaves aside the pulverized constellation of islets dotting the Aegean basin, which was regarded as part and parcel of the Byzantine heartland in the seventh to ninth century and the real economic pillar of the empire from the tenth century till 1204, the islands of Byzantine Mediterranean have been regarded as mere distant outposts and peripheral worlds. Although an all-encompassing alternative to the only existing systematic account on the history of the Byzantine insular world has yet to be produced, scholars like Salvatore Cosentino, Enrico Zanini, and Myrto Veikou have recently tried to re-assess the role of islands in the Byzantine Medieval Mediterranean. Indeed, it is important to stress the location of insular urban sites along the so-called maritime continuation of the “frontiers” of the Byzantine Empire.