A Short Conclusion

Abstract

With Attaleiates’ life coming to its end in the early 1080s and the discussion of his politics and faith that brings the book to a close this short coda to our story reminds us that but a few years after our protagonist’s death the world he lived and worked in, this realm of nuance, erudition, and service will encounter the rather starker forces driving the First Crusade. With the rise of Alexios Komnenos to the throne and Attaleiates’ death, the curtain falls on an era of Byzantine history. In the era that follows, men of Attaleiates’ class, while still active in Roman affairs, occupy a significantly diminished place in the polity’s social and political scene.