A short history of Byzantium: No. 26 The Road to Adrianople
From the mid 370’s a frightening new nomadic force arrive out of Asia and into eastern Europe. These warrior peopleContinue Reading
Category: A short history of Byzantium
The Aqueduct of Valens.
In modern Istanbul, standing impressively over the traffic on the busy Atatürk Bulvarı is the Aqueduct of Valens. (Today itContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 25 Emperor Valens: A reign under siege!
Valens was beset by serious problems from the moment he was first appointed by his older brother Valentinian, to ruleContinue Reading
Valentinian I: The last of the triumphant Roman emperors in the west.
Valentinian is sometimes described as a brooding and violent man. Ammianus Marcellinus, in particular, does not mince his words describingContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 24 Brothers in power, migration and pending disaster!
The events of the second half of the fourth century are some of the most dramatic in the annals ofContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 23 Do not forsake us Emperor Jovian: The shameful peace of the year 363 AD.
We first fleetingly hear of Jovian, in Ammianus Marcellinus narrative in the year 361AD just after Constantius’ death. He wasContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 22 The Last Pagan Emperor
Julian is such an interesting character that it is impossible to ignore him, even though some tend to treat himContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 21 They raised him on their shields in a moment of great happiness and triumph!
The astounding success of Julian’s rise in five short years, from a bookworm to Caesar, was genuinely celebrated by hisContinue Reading
My Five Favourite Byzantine Emperors
Imagine yourself sitting in a lecture hall with a small body of students studying Roman history and as a wholeContinue Reading
Robin Pierson’s Grand Strategy: The history of Byzantium podcast.
About three years ago, when Mike Duncan stopped producing his ‘History of Rome’ podcast, thousands of podcast listeners mourned inContinue Reading
Rearview Mirror 