ABSTRACT
The prosopographical research conducted over the last 15 years provides a deeper insight into how people were connected in the Middle Byzantine period, and the authors are now in a much better position to verify the assumption of social mobility in Byzantium. Prosopography means to bring together every piece of information available in the sources about every member of a larger or smaller group of individuals. The acceptance of prosopography as an auxiliary discipline has continued to increase not only in Byzantine Studies but also in other areas of history as well. The Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period (PmbZ) is a project at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The aim is to collect information on persons who are mentioned in Byzantine sources, regardless of their geographical origin. In addition to collecting and presenting biographical data, the information gathered in the PmbZ may serve as a solid basis for a thorough analysis of the underlying structures of Byzantine society.
