Why is there an Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of Constantinople?, with Cecily Hilsdale
A conversation with Cecily Hilsdale about the history and ritual functions of Egyptian obelisks, from ancient Egypt down to Rome, Constantinople, and beyond.
What did Byzantine music sound like? (The answer is more political than you’d expect), with Alexander Lingas
A conversation with Alexander Lingas on the debates surrounding the reconstruction of Byzantine music. We discuss the common origins of western and eastern Christian traditions, when they parted ways, and how both traditions passed through phases of reinvention. Why does the modern performance of Gregorian Chant sound so different from Byzantine chant?
Byzantine Orthodoxy and homosexuality, with Stephen Morris
A conversation with Stephen Morris about the attitudes toward male homosexuality in different sites of Byzantine culture and the prospects for an orthodox recognition…
The materiality of Byzantine objects, with Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
A conversation with Elizabeth Dospěl Williams on how people in Byzantium experienced the materiality of the objects they used, especially jewelry and textiles. We look at some of those objects together, discuss their qualities, and situate our engagement with material culture in broader discussions of historical theory.
The case for Shenute the Great and the Coptic tradition, with Sofia Torallas Tovar and David Brakke
A conversation with Sofia Torallas Tovar and David Brakke about Coptic Egypt, the life and works of Shenute the Great, and how Coptic and Byzantine Studies can talk more with each other, just as the people they study talked to each other in the fourth-seventh centuries.
Raiders, marauders, ravagers, and pirates: their impact on Byzantine life, with Alexander Sarantis
Who were these raiders? What did they want? How did provincials and the empire as a whole respond to them? A fear of marauders probably doesn’t keep you up at night today, but this was a major anxiety in Byzantine life.
Byzantine Studies in Turkey 2.0, with Siren Çelik
A conversation with Siren Çelik about the new generation of Turkish Byzantine scholars, and the paths by which one might come to study Byzantium in Turkey and beyond.
Neoliberalism in academia and its impact on the humanities, with Tamar Hodos
A conversation with Tamar Hodos on how the application of market logic to humanities research and teaching is driving up tuition costs for…
Byzantine erotic epigrams, with Steven Smith
A conversation with Steven Smith about worldly and sinful epigrams from the sixth century that talk about love, sex, food, and other pleasures.
How can historians use new media to disseminate ideas?, with Merle Eisenberg
A wide-ranging conversation with Merle Eisenberg on the opportunities created for historians by media, old and new, to disseminate our ideas to the public
A Byzantine man of affairs, with Dimitris Krallis
Could one rise from a provincial town to a position of power and wealth in the capital without having a military career?
Is it time to abandon the rubric “Byzantium”?, with Leonora Neville
A conversation with Leonora Neville on whether the scholarly rubric “Byzantium” does more harm than good. How did it come into being? What biases and ideologies, especially in the domain of gender, does it encode? What blind-spots and distortions does it create?
From India to Byzantium, with Paroma Chatterjee
A conversation with Paroma Chatterjee on Indian perspectives and approaches to Byzantium.
Byzantium in video games, with Troy Goodfellow
A conversation with Troy Goodfellow on how Byzantium and other premodern civilizations are represented in video games, and how the mechanics of the games structure those representations, player’s goals, and the dynamics of historical change.
Ravenna, capital of empire between east and west, with Judith Herrin
A conversation with Judith Herrin about the fascinating history of Ravenna between 400 and 800 AD.
Byzantine tales of horror and the macabre
An anthology of Byzantine tales of horror. Learn about foul murders, demonic visitations, the undead, and the criminally insane; also, the Byzantine science of demonology and the spirit world.
The monastic experience, with Alice-Mary Talbot
A conversation with Alice-Mary Talbot on the experience of communal monastic life in Byzantium, ranging from its organization and rules to its religious goals, engagement with society, and differences between monasteries for men and women.
Hagia Sophia rediscovered, with Bissera Pentcheva
A conversation with Bissera Pentcheva about the sensory and spiritual experience of Hagia Sophia, where architecture, sound, and light met theology and prayer, based on her book Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium.
Manuscripts, databases, and the joys of Byzantine literature, with Dave Jenkins
A conversation with Dave Jenkins about how we read (and how to enjoy) Byzantine literature, from digitized manuscripts and online databases to the pleasures of Byzantine prose.
The kingdom of Rus’ and medieval Europe, with Christian Raffensperger
A conversation with Christian Raffensperger about the kingdom of Rus’ and our concept of “medieval Europe,” its potential and current limitations, based on his book The Kingdom of Rus’.
The study of Byzantine skeletons, with Chryssa Bourbou
A conversation with Chryssa Bourbou on what we learn from health and society in Byzantium from the study of skeletal remains.
Slavery in Late Antiquity and Byzantium, with Noel Lenski
A conversation with Noel Lenski on “slave societies” and how the institution of slavery changed in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. Were tasks performed by slaves in antiquity carried out by free people in Late Antiquity? What were the experiences of Byzantines who were themselves captured in raids and taken outside the empire?
Armenian Art, with Christina Maranci
A conversation about Armenian art – ancient and Christian – with Christina Maranci, based on her book The Art of Armenia: An Introduction.
Theophano: A Byzantine Tale, with Spyros Theocharis and Chrysa Sakel
A conversation with Spyros Theocharis and Chrysa Sakel, artists and creators of a graphic novel about a tenth-century Byzantine empress, Theophano: A Byzantine Tale.
An antidote to toxic medievalism, with Amy Kaufman and Paul Sturtevant
A conversation with Amy Kaufman and Paul Sturtevant about their book The Devil’s Historians: How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past.