Four Byzantine Novels: Agapetus - Theodore Prodromos; Rhodanthe and Dosikles - Eumathios Makrembolites; Hysmine and Hysminias - Constantine M - Paperbackby Theodore Prodromos (Author), Eumathios Makrembolites (Author), Constantine Manasses (Author) Constantinople in the mid twelfth century saw the composition of the first sustained fictional narratives in the European world novels since late antiquity. Four members of the Byzantine intelligentsia produced for the entertainment of their colleagues, their aristocratic patrons, and not least themselves, pastiches in verse and prose of the romantic tales