Max Ritter studied Byzantine studies and Classical archaeology at Freie Universität Berlin and National Kapodistrian University Athens, before moving on to JGU Mainz. After working on the economics of Byzantine pilgrimage in his PhD (defended in 2017, published as a monograph in 2019), his research revolved around Constantinople’s building culture and Procopius’ writings in the sixth century. This has yielded one monograph, one edited volume and several articles, and he continues to work on the topic. To that end, he has spent fellowships at Boğaziçi University (2022) and ANAMED (2023–2024) in Istanbul.

Most recently his research shifted towards Byzantine concepts of nature, notably focusing on marine environments, to contribute a comprehensive understanding of Byzantium as a seafaring culture. As his interest lies also in material culture and public outreach, he is participates in archaeological work in Komana (Türkiye) and is involved in the curation of a museum exhibition in Ayia Napa (Cyprus).

Understanding the cultural complexity of Byzantium is Ritter’s aspiration, which encompasses its economy, culture, and material aspects. Accordingly, he strives to contribute to various domains within the cultural history of Late Antiquity to the Middle Byzantine period (fifth–twelfth century).

since September 2024Assistant Prof. at the University of Silesia in Katowice.
September 2023-June 2024Postdoc-Fellowship at the ANAMED Research Institute of Koç University Istanbul.​Project description
November 2022-August 2023Again Employee in the research unit Byzantine Studies at the JGU Mainz. Implementation of a student field trip to Albania and North Macedonia.
since 2022 Member of the excavation team for the exploration of the city of Komana Pontike; his own research areas are the pre-Islamic coins (4th century BC-12th century), the Byzantine small finds and the region of Tokat in middle Byzantine times (8th-12th centuries). Some publications are still pending.
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May-October 2022Postdoctoral fellowship of the DAAD at Boğazici University Istanbul.
2018-2022Employee in the research unit Ancient History within the DFG project “Prokop and the language of buildings”. Some publications are still pending.
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2016-2018Employee in the research unit Byzantine Studies. In this context, collaboration in the proposal of the DFG-GRK 2304 “Byzantium and the Euromediterranean Cultures of War: Exchange, Demarcation and Reception” and further external funding proposals.
November 2017Disputatio – doctorate in Byzantine Studies at the JGU Mainz.
December 2016Scholarship student at the DHI Rome with a project on the Latin Church of Cyprus in the Schism period (1378-1417) based on documents of the apostolica camera in the Vatican Archives.
2016Employee in the research unit Byzantine Studies within the DFG-SPP 1630 “Ports from the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages. On the archeology and history of regional and supraregional transport systems” with the project “Functional connectivity of Byzantine seaports (7th-11th centuries)”.
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2013-2016Doctorate scholarship student of the Leibniz Association within the research project “For the Salvation of Souls and Happiness in Life: Byzantine Pilgrimage and its Roots” at the RGZM Mainz. The doctorate project dealt with the economics of Byzantine pilgrimage centers. Key questions were the economic structures of pilgrimage; their genesis in diachronic course and the economic importance of pilgrimage for the Byzantine Empire.
Project description
2011-2017Employee in the project “Pompeiopolis – a Paphlagonian Metropolis” (Turkey) under the direction of the LMU Munich. His own research areas were the late antique phase of the (upper) city, the Byzantine coins and small finds (6th-8th centuries) and the Amnias Valley in middle Byzantine times (8th-12th centuries). Some publications are still pending.
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Since 2010Employee in the museum and research project for the creation of a diocesan museum for the Metropolis Konstantia-Ammochostos in Agía Nápa (Cyprus); his own focus is on the (building) historical exploration of the monastery of Agia Napa, which provides the exhibition rooms, as well as on the Cypriot icons to be exhibited (15th-19th centuries). Opening winter 2025/26.
​Project description
2008-2010 several times graduate assistant at the BBAW in the department of the PmbZ and at the HU Berlin (Ev. Ecclesiastical History).
2004-2011Program of study of Byzantine Studies as well as Classical Archaeology and Political Science at the FU Berlin; 2007 at the University of Athens (Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio). 2011 Master’s degree in Byzantine Studies with the thesis “The Failure of Imperial Claims – The Balkan Policy of Emperor Isaac II (1185-1195)”.
1985born in Dresden
  • Between Faith and Money: On the Economy of Byzantine Pilgrimage (4th-12th Centuries). Byzantium between Orient and Occident 14 (Mainz 2019). [= dissertation thesis].
  • Together with E. Turquois and M. Whiting, Fashioning Sixth-Century Constantinople: Text, Translation and Commentary of Book I of the Buildings by Prokopios of Kaisareia (London 2025, in print).
  • Together with E. Turquois (ed.), Imagery and Aesthetics of Late Antique Cities. Bibliothèque de l’Antiquité Tardive 44 (Turnhout 2025, in print).
  • The Date of Procopius’ Buildings and the Collapse of the First Dome of Hagia Sophia: A Reassessment. Byzantion 94 (2024) in print.
  • The Byzantine Cave Monastery in the Ilgarini mağarası (Paphlagonia) – The Chryse Petra of Nikon Metanoite? Anatolian Studies 74 (2024) 195–221. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0066154624000024
  • The Michaelion of Anaplous, Torn asunder: In an attempt to reassemble. Antiquité Tardive 31 (2023) 305–323.
  • Justinianus Eponymus: Überlegungen zur letzten Glanzzeit kaiserlicher Namensverleihungen an Städte. Byzantinische Zeitschrift 115 (2022) 287–340. https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-2022-0011
  • The Byzantine Afterlife of Procopius’s Buildings. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 75 (2021) 143–169. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27107154
  • Naval Bases, Arsenals, Aplekta: Logistics and Commands of the Byzantine Navy (7th–12th c.), in: J. Preiser-Kapeller, T. Kolias, F. Daim (ed.), Seasides of Byzantium: Harbours and Anchorages of a Mediterranean Empire. Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 21. Mainz 2022, 197–218. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.910.c12057
  • Inspired by the Same Desire? Divergent Objectives, Routes and Destinations of Byzantine Monks and Latin Pilgrims from the 8th to the 11th Centuries, in: O. Delouis, M. Mossakowska-Gaubert, A. Peters-Custot (ed.), Les mobilités monastiques en Orient et en Occident de l’Antiquité tardive au Moyen Âge (IVe–XVe siècle). Rom 2019, 275–309. https://doi.org/10.1400/274492
  • Do ut des: The Function of Eulogiai in the Byzantine Pilgrimage Economy, in: A. Collar, T. Myrup Kristensen (ed.), Pilgrimage and Economy in the Ancient Mediterranean. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 192. Leiden 2020, 254–284. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004428690_012
  • Famagusta and its Environs in the Venetian Period: The Foundation of the Monastery of Ayia Napa and the Origin of its Fountain, in: M. Parani, M. Olympios (ed.), The Art and Archaeology of Lusignan and Venetian Cyprus (1192–1571): Recent Research and New Discoveries. Turnhout 2019, 125–144.
  • Together with E. Laflı and C. Lightfoot: Byzantine Coins from Hadrianoupolis in Paphlagonia. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 40 (2016) 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1017/byz.2016.3
  • Die vlacho-bulgarische Rebellion und die Versuche ihrer Niederschlagung durch Kaiser Isaakios II. (1185–1195). Byzantinoslavica 71 (2013) 162–210.
  • Together with D. B. Erciyas and A. Çivilidağ, The 3rd Century-Crisis and Beyond at Comana, in: S. Branting et al. (ed.), Archaeology of Anatolia 5: Recent Discoveries (2021–2022). Cambridge 2025, in print.
  • Pilgrimage Writings in the Byzantine and Orthodox Tradition (300–1550 CE), in: P. Booth, M. Boyle, R. Aist (ed.), (Holy Land) Pilgrimage Texts, c.300–1550. Cambridge 2025, in print.
  • The City Foundations of Justinian between Imagery and Reality through the Lens of Justiniana Prima and Caput Vada, in: M. Ritter, E. Turquois (ed.), Imagery and Aesthetics of Late Antique Cities. Bibliothèque de l’Antiquité Tardive 44.Turnhout 2025, in print.
  • Byzanz und die islamische Welt, 7.–13. Jahrhundert, in: M. Häberlein, M.A. Denzel (Hg.), Handbuch globale Handelsräume und Handelsrouten von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Berlin 2024, 195–227. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110428032
  • Vier byzantinische Bleisiegel aus der Grabung Pompeiopolis (Paphlagonien), in: A. Bosselmann-Ruickbie et al. (Hg.), Byzanz am Rhein: Festschrift für Günter Prinzing anlässlich seines 80. Geburtstags. Mainzer Veröffentlichungen zur Byzantinistik 18. Wiesbaden 2023, 175–188.
  • Procopius’ Buildings and the Collapse of the First Dome of Hagia Sophia: A Reassessment, in: Z. Kurşun, A. İ. Aydın (Hg.), 2nd Intern. Hagia Sophia Symposium , 27–29 May 2022. Istanbul 2023, 385–406.
  • Zusammen mit C. Sode, Echte und falsche Demensiegel. Mit einem Parergon zum Numeron der Ambianenses, in: I. Grimm-Stadelmann, A. Riehle, R. Tocci, M. M. Vučetić (Hg.), Anekdota Byzantina: Studien zur byzantinischen Geschichte und Kultur. Festschrift für Albrecht Berger anlässlich seines 65. Geburtstags . München 2023, 617–639. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111070315-039
  • Wohltätige Fremdenherbergen in byzantinischer Zeit: Xenodocheia und ihre Vorsteher (5.–12. Jh.), in: E. Kislinger, D. Ariantzi (Hg.), Marginalisation and Subculture Groups: Prostitutes, Actors, and Tavern-Keepers in Byzantium (6th–12th c.). Wien 2025, im Druck.
  • The Byzantine Coins Found at Pompeiopolis (Paphlagonia) during the Excavation Campaigns of 2010–16 and their Significance in the Anatolian Context, in: L. Summerer, J. Koch, P. Johnson (Hg.), Contextualizing Pompeiopolis: Urban Development in Roman Anatolia from a Comparative Perspective. Stuttgart 2025, im Druck.
  • A Desire against all Odds and Difficulties? The Presence of Chalcedonian Pilgrims in Early Muslim Jerusalem, Seventh to Tenth Century, in: F. Daim et al. (Hg.), Pilgrimage to Jerusalem: Journeys, Destinations, Experiences across Times and Cultures. Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 19. Mainz 2020, 87–107. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.711
  • Together with L. Körntgen, Introduction, in: L. Körntgen et al. (Hg.), Byzanz und seine europäischen Nachbarn: Politische Interdependenzen und kulturelle Missverständnisse. Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 17. Mainz 2020, 7–10. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.659
  • Cyprus and the Great Western Schism: A Re-Evaluation of the Obedience(s) of the Latin Church of Cyprus at the Time of the Great Western Schism (1378–1417) on the Basis of Documents in the camera apostolica in the Vatican Archives (ASV), Επετηρίς Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών Κύπρου 39 (2016-18) 217–255.
  • Panegyric Markets in the Byzantine Empire and their Role in the Byzantine Pilgrimage Economy (5th–12thc.), in: D. Ariantzi, I. Eichner (Hg.), Für Seelenheil und Lebensglück: das byzantinische Pilgerwesen und seine Wurzeln. Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 10 (Mainz 2018) 367–382. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.495
  • The End of Late Antiquity in Paphlagonia: Desurbanization from a Comparative Perspective, in: K. Winther-Jacobsen, L. Summerer (Hg.), Landscape Dynamics and Settlement Patterns in Northern Anatolia during the Roman and Byzantine Period (Stuttgart 2015) 119–133.
  • Together with F. Çevik: Pompeiopolis Nekropolü Yüzey Araştırması (Paflagonya). Araştırma Sonuçları Toplantısı 30 (2012) 169–182.
  • Together with N. Asutay-Effenberger, S. Kolditz and J. Pahlitzsch: Das byzantinische Verständnis der Welt, in: F. Daim (Hg.), Byzanz: historisch-kulturwissenschaftliches Handbuch. Der Neue Pauly, Supplemente 11. Stuttgart 2016, 1085–1096. Nun auch ins Englische übersetzt: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-3418_bnps10_COM_211157
  • #Theodore the Younger und #Nicetas the Younger, in: D. Thomas, A. Mallett (Hg.), Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History 5 (1350–1500). Leiden 2012, 145–146 und 709–711.
  • Review of: G. Kardaras, Byzantium and the Avars, 6th-9th Century AD: Political, Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 70 (2022) 213–215.
  • Rezension zu: C. Papavarnavas, Gefängnis als Schwellenraum in der byzantinischen Hagiographie: Eine Untersuchung früh- und mittelbyzantinischer Märtyrerakten. Südost-Forschungen 80 (2021) 398–402.
  • Rezension zu: A. Dahlmann, Zwischen Bischof und Gemeinde: Die Entwicklung von der Märtyrerverehrung zum Reliquienkult im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert. The Byzantine Review 02/2020.15.
  • Rezension zu: A. Madgearu, The Asanids: The Political and Military History of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1280). Südost-Forschungen 76 (2017) 64–69.
  • Together with R. Hippchen: Conference report on the Historikertag 2012: Resources – Conflicts – Rules: The distribution of office, dignity and influence in the sign of the monetary economy in the western Middle Ages and in the Byzantine Empire. Mainz, in: H-Soz-u-Kult. http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=4427
  • Byzantine pilgrimage
  • Economic history of Byzantium
  • Byzantine building culture
  • Late antique and Byzantine historiography
  • Byzantine Paphlagonia and Pontos
  • History of Venetian Cyprus