NOV. 8:  BYZANTIUM IN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES

The Mediterranean world in AD 800

Barely hanging on:  an empire defended by military saints

Hagia Sophia, the center of Byzantine Christendom:

Numismatic warfare:  Coin of Justinian II

...and of Abd al-Malik

Foreign relations:  embassies between emperor and caliph (from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes)

Emperor Theophilus executes some conspirators:

Leisure Pursuits of a Militarized Aristocracy:  Hunting

The Power of the Cross:

Iconoclasts whitewash an image of Christ:

Liturgical Chalice:

The Emperor Crowned by Christ:

Christianizing the Slavs:  Sts. Cyril and Methodius (modern representation)