Byzantine Linguistic Pluralism Revisited: An Introductory Essay

Abstract

This introductory essay discusses the historiographical background of Byzantine multilingualism against which the contributions that follow can be read. It focuses at more length on Gilbert Dagron’s ‘Le pluralisme linguistique à Byzance’, which remained until recently the only proper exploration of the subject, and argues that it reflects a concept of the Byzantine empire that differs in significant ways from that proposed by other scholars, including the contributors to this issue.