Astronomers use Byzantine chronicles to learn about the Earth’s rotation
Japanese researchers investigated Byzantine texts from the 4th to 7th centuries to identify five total solar eclipses near the Eastern Mediterranean and improve the model of the Earth’s rotation over time.
Did Basil II the ‘Bulgar-slayer’ blind 15,000 prisoners?
At the end of the Battle of Kleidion, it is reported the Byzantine emperor blinded 15,000 prisoners. Could this story be true?
Harald Hardrada: Overthrowing of an Emperor
Harald Hardrada finds himself in trouble when Byzantine power politics turns deadly.
New issue of After Constantine released
The second issue of After Constantine: Stories from the Late Antique and Early Byzantine Era has been released, giving readers access to three new articles.
Exploring the monuments of Byzantine Constantinople, with Sergey Ivanov
A conversation with Sergey Ivanov on the monuments, buildings, and ruins of the Byzantine phase of the City’s history. We talk about how to explore them, how to access their history, and even get a feel for the lingering presence of the events that took place in them. We ponder what has been lost and what might yet be found.
Was Constantinople besieged in 674-78?
The story of the so-called First Arab Siege of Constantinople.
Laments for the Fall: Constantinople and Tenochtitlan in counterpoint, with Eleni Kefala
A conversation with Eleni Kefala on the fall of two empires, the Byzantine and the Aztec. What role did these momentous events play in the emerging identity of western Europe? And how were they experienced by the Romaioi and the native Mexica, especially through the laments that they wrote and sang about these events?
When did women “bind up” their hair, and why?, with Gabriel Radle
Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics at The Ohio State University. You can follow him on his personal website.
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Harald Hardrada: Against the Bulgarians
In this article, we look at Harald Hardrada’s rewarding service within the Varangian Guard, the Byzantine-Bulgarian conflict, and Harald’s role in defeating a Bulgarian revolt that broke out in 1040.
What do we mean by “Byzantine literature”?, with Stratis Papaioannou
A conversation with Stratis Papaioannou about the mismatch between modern ideas of literature (on the one hand) and the texts, conventions, and goals of Byzantine authors (on the other). In what sense are those texts “literature”? Should they be compared to classical texts, modern literature, neither, or both?
Harald Hardrada: Fighting in Sicily and Italy
Between 1038 and 1041, a Byzantine force attempted to take control of Sicily and southern Italy. Harald Hadrada would take part in this invasion, but were the saga stories of his victories true?
Manuel II Palaiologos (1350-1425) had a lot to say, with Siren Çelik
A conversation with Siren Çelik about the many personas that the emperor Manuel II Palaiologos crafted for himself in his surviving works. In fact, we have more writings from him — in many genres, and many of a personal nature — than from any prior Roman emperor. What was he hoping to accomplish and why is he worth reading?
The experiences of Byzantine children, with Oana-Maria Cojocaru
A conversation with Oana-Maria Cojocaru about the images of Byzantine children in our sources, and the experiences that they would have had once they made it past infancy.
Anna Komnene: The Purple-Born Historian
Anna’s legacy is not her political vivacity but the impressive history she wrote of her father’s reign, fittingly called the Alexiad.
Safe Travels: Taming the Seas through Image, Word, and Sacred Matter in Byzantium
One of the papes given at The Byzantines and the Sea in Texts and Images conference
The perils of childbirth, with Christian Laes
A conversation with Christian Laes about one of the most joyous, dangerous, and often tragic, moments of life in antiquity and the Middle Ages: childbirth.
How did emperors make decisions? with Michael Grünbart
A conversation with Michael Grünbart about the problem of imperial decision-making. Byzantine emperors are often presented to us as perfectly virtuous monarchs favored by God, but can we pull the veil away from this image and understand the difficult conditions under which they had to make decisions that could potentially cost them their throne? Whom did they consult? How and why did they delegate? Did they have experts? Data? When could they avoid making decisions? As someone in academic middle-management, these questions cut close to home!
Harald Hardrada: Mediterranean Voyages
Harald Hardrada finds himself in the Mediterranean world, but did he go to Jerusalem?
Byzantine dress and fashion, with Jennifer Ball and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
A conversation with Jen Ball and Betsy Williams on the study of Byzantine dress and fashion. How do we know what people wore? Was clothing gendered? Why are dress and jewelry studied separately? And can we talk about fashion in Byzantium, or was fashion, as some believe, a modern development?
The Medieval Pirates’ Nest of Crete
In the ninth century, the island of Crete would become a major base of piracy. Could the Byzantine Empire defeat this threat?
Harald Hardrada: In Service to the Byzantine Empire
In 1034, Harald, still young but freshly blooded in war, was knocking upon the gates of an empire whose foundations were sunk into a wholly different political and conceptual landscape.
Representing the trauma of captivity, enslavement, and degradation, with Adam Goldwyn
Can Byzantine literature speak powerfully to these transhistorical traumas? How can we activate it to do so?
Lasting Impressions: New Byzantine exhibition at Dumbarton Oaks
Lasting Impressions: People, Power, Piety, now on view at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum, explores individual stories and family histories, the concept of status, developments in popular piety, and the inner workings of the state as shown through the intricate impressions on seals.
Harald Hardrada: The Universal Empire
As Harald Hardrada travels to Constantinople, what is this Byzantine Empire he’s coming to?