The Medieval Church · c. 948–952
On the Administration of the Empire
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus · 905–959
What it is
A private handbook from an emperor to his son on the peoples surrounding the empire — Rus, Pechenegs, Serbs, Croats — and how to manage each of them.
Why it lasted
The single most important source for the early history of the Slavic peoples and the Rus, written by a ruler who thought diplomacy cheaper than war.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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