Panos Sophoulis is ¿ssistant Professor of History at the University of Athens, Greece. His research focuses on the history of southeastern Europe during the Middle Ages. He is author of Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831 (winner of the 2013 John Bell Book Prize).

1. Introduction.- 2. The Reasons for the Rise of Balkan Banditry between the Ninth and the Fourteenth Centuries.- 3. The 'Sociology' of Balkan Banditry.- 4. The Bandit and his Community: 'Parasitical' Societies in the Medieval Balkans?.- 5. The State's Response to Banditry.- 6. Appendix: Inventory of References to Balkan Banditry in the Sources.