Book Description

The monograph aims to offer a global perspective on the history and culture of the Antes, a people of Slavic origin with a relatively brief historical presence in the turbulent era of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Simultaneously, intends to promote various aspects of the Antic history and culture and to highlight further a number of issues which are crucial for understanding the historical context and the relations that the Antes developed with their surroundings. Such issues are the connection of the Antes (widely the early Slavs) with the ancient people of Venethi, the extent of the Antic settlement and the peculiarities of their internal organization, taking into account the data of other disciplines as the Archaeology and the Ethnology. Further, the relations of the Antes with Byzantium are examined too in relation to the protection and reorganization of the Lower Danube frontier in the era of Justinian and, on the other hand, is critically interpreted the meaning of the title Anticus to the Byzantine emperors from 533 to 612. The presence of the Antes in the Byzantine army is also put in scrutiny, while a new approach on the extent of the early Slavic settlements, taking into account the instructions of Maurice’s Strategikon for the tactical movements against the early Slavs, is attempted. Finally, regarding the cultural aspect, apart from the overall treatment of the Penkovka culture and the possible external influences on it, the cultural contacts of the Antes with Byzantium are highlighted.