Hurbanič Martin, The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626. History and Legend,
Martin Hurbanič is an associated professor in the Department of General History at Comenius University in Bratislava, where he teaches the history of Byzantium and South-Eastern Europe, as well as classical philology and Slavic studies. The scholar is particularly interested in the history of the Avar siege of Constantinople in 626, which he has already covered in a number of publications. Martin Hurbanič fruitfully applies this expertise to his book The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626. History and Legend. (New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. According to the scholar, the publication represents the first complex and interdisciplinary synthesis of the history and the legend of the Avar attack on Constantinople in 626 (p. 4).
Indeed, ‘complex’ and ‘interdisciplinary’ are the adjectives that best describe this book. Not only does Martin Hurbanič seek to reconstruct the history of the siege, but he also aims to understand the transformation of this historical event into a legend. The historian argues that, beyond the far-reaching military implications, the siege had a deeper ideological impact on the mentality of Byzantines, aptly testified by textual and visual testimonies. According to Hurbanič, after the Avar attack, the then emerging Byzantine identity definitively became inextricably linked with its capital, which from then on was seen by Byzantines as Theotokoupolis, the city protected by the foremost of the holiest intercessors and protectors, the Mother of God.
The book has a well-structured and easy-to-follow narrative. Martin Hurbanič organizes it in 15 chapters: The first and the last chapters are dedicated to the introduction and the conclusion respectively, while the rest of the book could be broadly divided into three segments. The first part comprises a thorough examination of primary and secondary written sources (chapters 2 and 3). It is followed by a systematic historical analysis of the siege (chapters from 4 to 10). The last part of the book addresses the historical memory and ideological repercussions of the attack (chapters from 11 to 14). Each chapter is accompanied by footnotes, bibliography, and illustrations where they are needed.
The main focus of this publication is on the historical narrative. On the basis of written sources, Martin Hurbanič discusses in detail the military aspects, such as the events that led to the siege (chapters 4 and 5), the structure of the Avar army (chapter 6), the defence of Constantinople during the attack (chapter 7), the development and the final stages of the conflict (chapters 8, 9 and 10). The overall impression is that Martin Hurbanič feels at ease working with written sources, which undoubtedly are his field of expertise.
The third part of the book, which deals with the historical memory of the siege through its manifestations in Byzantine liturgy, texts, and visual art, is a somewhat extraordinary scholarly approach. Here Martin Hurbanič bases his inquiry on four main themes, namely, the Marian cult and Maria’s role as the holiest protectress of Constantinople (chapter 11), the feast of the Akathistos as celebration of the victory (chapter 12), the scared iconography of the siege (chapter 13), and the militant function of icons and other sacred objects (chapter 14). Methodologically, one could appreciate the unique set of sources and cross-disciplinary approach that Martin Hurbanič applies for this part of his research. However, when he strays from the path of written sources in order to examine material evidence, he sometimes fails to hide the fact that his analysis can remain superficial.
Overall, in my view, this book – both in its historical narrative and its methodological approach – makes a major contribution to mainstream discourse of military history. In his publication, Martin Hurbanič takes into account current trajectories of scholarship which ultimately are changing the history and perception of cultures of war through discoveries of new sources and interdisciplinary inquiries.