The book for reading is harmonious, moderately detailed, fascinatingly covers the history of the origin, development, heyday and fall of the Roman Empire - the Byzantine Empire, the history of the Byzantine Church, culture and art, the economy, everyday life and mentality of the Byzantines. Sections of the book are accompanied by tasks for independent work, self-study, and a selection of written sources that allow readers to study facts and develop independent critical research skills. The publication is supplemented with reference appendices necessary for a beginning Byzantine scholar, in particular, the most complete list of editions of those Byzantine sources that were published in translation into Russian or Ukrainian, as well as a comprehensive explanatory dictionary and bibliography. For teachers and students of higher educational institutions in the humanities, teachers social and humanitarian disciplines, students of Theological academies and seminaries, as well as everyone who is interested in the history of Byzantium and is ready to continue to study this independently with the help of recommended specialized literature and Internet resources.