Fourteen Byzantine Rulers

by Michael Psellus

This book by Michael Psellus is just so fascinating that if you only read one book about Byzantium, by a Byzantine, this would be the one I’d choose. He’s a product of the 11th century when things were changing very drastically and, in a way, frighteningly. His reaction to these changes is very specific, but at the same time he expresses them in a very delightful fashion, which I find eminently readable.