Although the Byzantine Empire is historically known as the Eastern Roman Empire, scholars argue that this Greek Christian theocracy bore little resemblance to Rome. Here, in a groundbreaking model of Byzantine politics and society, Anthony Kaldellis reconnects the Byzantine Empire with its Roman roots, arguing that from the 5th to the 12th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire was essentially a republic, with power being exercised on behalf of the people and sometimes by them. The Byzantine Republic restores a less autocratic, more popular Byzantine Empire to the historical record, of Greek-speaking citizens who considered themselves as Roman as their Latin-speaking 'ancestors'. Kaldellis shows that the idea of the Byzantine Empire as a strict imperial theocracy is a misleading construct of Western historians from the Age of Enlightenment. With proclamations often dressed in Christian rhetoric, the notion of divine kingship emerged as a way to hide the inherent vulnerability of every regime. The legitimacy of emperors did not rest on an absolute right to the throne but on the popularity of individual emperors, which was precarious despite the stability of the imperial institution. Kaldellis examines the overlooked Byzantine concept of polity, as well as the complex relationship of emperors with the law and the ways in which they bolstered their popularity and avoided challenges. The uprisings that periodically shook the empire were not anomalies but a necessary part of the operation of the democratic monarchy.