"This book explodes the common view that pro- and anti-German factions dominated Byzantine politics at the turn of the century, and in so doing it rewrites the history of a brief but crucial period in early Byzantium."--Robert Kaster, author of Guardians of the Language "This is one of the most delightfully revisionist works I have read in many years. Unlike most putative revisions, this one is based on a thorough command of detail."--Harold Drake, author of In Praise of Constantine