The Coming of the Huns!
By special guest writer Joseph Kaminski Ah, the Huns! In history, we often recall the civilized empires that brought upon theContinue Reading
Tag: Late Antiquity
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
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
A short history of Byzantium: No. 18 Constantius II, the Byzantine autocrat (Part 2)
The real danger to the Roman empire often came, not from its citizens, nor the Christians, as some would likeContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 17 Constantius II, the Byzantine autocrat (Part 1).
Constantius is arguably the most interesting of the three sons of Constantine I. He lived long enough, unlikely his brothersContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 16 Constans: champion of the Trinity or enemy of Gaul?
Last time we left Constans, he had emerged triumphant against his older brother Constantine II in 340 AD. It mayContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 15 “Instant Karma”!
The solidus of Constans, as pictured above, was probably struck on the occasion of the celebrations of the Quinquennalia ofContinue Reading
A short history of Byzantium: No. 14 Like Father, Like Son.
“And close kinsmen as we were, how this most humane Emperor (Constantius) treated us ! Six of my cousins andContinue Reading
Rearview Mirror 