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
Tag: Byzantine History
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 rare Byzantine Egyptian streetscape on show in Kiryat Gat, Israel.
A very rare Egyptian streetscape mosaic in the Kiryat Gat Industrial Park, in Israel, will be open to theContinue Reading
The Maccabees, a long-lost tomb and that curious Byzantine mosaic cross that adorns it.
Over the past few days I have been reading reports about what could quite possibly be the rediscovery of theContinue 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
The Peacock, in all its splendour and glory.
The peacock has a long history of being worshipped as a pagan deity or used as a symbol by royaltyContinue Reading
Byzantium and Europe: Croatia, between a rock and a hard place.
For centuries Byzantium’s influence over the Croats waxed and waned, first beginning in the early seventh century. Heraclius was theContinue 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
Rearview Mirror 