Videssos

Videssos is a fantasy novel series by Harry Turtledove.

Background

"Videssos" can mean either the Empire of Videssos, or its capital city. The Videssian Empire is very similar to the Byzantine Empire, and much of its history and geography is analogous to Byzantine history. The main differences are the religion, the existence of magic as a usable force, and some details of the history of surrounding states. These states strongly resemble neighbours of Byzantine Empire - for instance Makuran is Sassanid Persia and Vaspurakan is Armenia.

Like Byzantium, Videssos is an absolute monarchy, ruled by an Emperor. The Emperor is assisted by a numerous, influential bureaucracy, which is powerful enough to have been able to enforce its choice for the throne, even in the face of military opposition; the bureaucracy and military are traditionally rivals for power and influence. Even videssian offices and titles are the same as Byzantines ("autokrator", "sebastokrator", "vestiarios", "drungarios").

The Videssian emperors and their history strongly resemble the Byzantine emperors.
*Genesios is the usurper Phocas
*Maniakes, the main protagonist of the "Time of Troubles" series is emperor Heraclius
*Anthimos III is Michael III the Drunkard
*Krispos of the "Tale of Krispos" series is Basil I and Basil II
*Mavrikios Gavras of the original "Videssos Cycle" resembles Romanus IV Diogenes, but the two rivalling imperial families, the Gavras and the Sphrantzes, are analogous to the Komnenos and the Ducas dynasties.

Videssian religion is dualist, with a good god, Phos (Greek for light) and his evil counterpart, Skotos (Greek for darkness). In some ways, this religion is very similar to Orthodox Christianity, with nearly-identical organization, veneration of icons and saints. In other ways, it resembles Zoroastrianism, in particular with its belief in a narrow bridge walked by all souls upon death; the wicked tumble off, unbalanced by their sins, to Skotos' icy hell, while the souls of the virtuous make it across.

Videssian Empire is rather feudal, with powerful landowners wielding great influence. The class of yeoman farmers, who provided much of the best recruits for the military, is dwindling, analogously to what happened at several stages of Byzantine history.

The "Videssos" Novels

*The "Videssos Cycle"
**"The Misplaced Legion" (1987)
**"An Emperor for the Legion" (1987)
**"The Legion of Videssos" (1987)
**"The Swords of the Legion" (1987)
*The "Tale of Krispos" Series
**"Krispos Rising" (1991)
**"Krispos of Videssos" (1991)
**"Krispos the Emperor" (1994)
*The "Time of Troubles" Series
**"The Stolen Throne" (1995)
**"Hammer and Anvil" (1996)
**"The Thousand Cities" (1997)
**"Videssos Besieged" (1998)
*"The Bridge of the Separator" (2005)