Greetings all,

 

On this day we reflect on the Emperor Constantius II entering Rome in Triumph on April 28th in 357 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantius_II

This was in celebration of his victory over Magentius in the battle of Mons Seleucus after three years of civil war. It was the first time Constantius II had visited Rome, and this celebration was an attempt to again solidify and unify the Roman Empire after civil war.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

On this day Byzantium Novum commemorates the anniversaries of two Royal Weddings:

 

On April 27 in 395 AD, the Emperor Arcadius married Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadius

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelia_Eudoxia

 

Arcadius was considered a weak ruler, but Aelia Eudoxia became one of the more powerful Empresses of Late Antiquity.

Also on this date, April 27th, 919 AD, the Empress Eleni Lekapena and Emperor Konstantinos VII were married.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_VII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Lekapene

They were married young. Constantine VII was 14 and Helena was a minor at the time of their wedding. They remained married and had children, including the future Emperor Romanos II, the father of Emperor Basil I.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 Greetings all, 

On this day, Byzantium Novum reflects on the fall of the Crusader city of Tripoli to the forces of the Mamluke Sultinate on April 26 in 1289 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Tripoli_(1289)

The siege had lasted 19 days, and the city walls had been battered down by several large catapults, probably trebuchets.

Before this there had been terrible portents in Constantinople. In the Hagia Sophia an painted image of the Virgin Mary began to shed tears, an an icon of St. George began to shed blood.

At first it was thought these meant a disaster for Constantinople but as news reached the capital it was reasoned these events were about the fate of the Christians of Syria in the face of Mamluk Armies.

(From the book "Byzantium and the Crusades" by Johnathan Harris, published 2006)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

On this Day we reflect on the Battle of Bagrevand, which was fought between Armenian forces and the Abbasid Caliphate on  April 25th in 775 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bagrevand   

Armenia has been divided between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Kingdom in 428 AD.

Hostilities began over taxation and the persecution of Christians, which spread rebellion throughout Armenia. The Caliph sent 30,000 troops and the battle resulted in a crushing Abbasid victory, with the death of the main Armenian leaders. The Mamikonian family's power in particular was almost extinguished. The battle signaled the beginning of large-scale Armenian migration from Eastern Armenia, to Western Armenia, which was part of the Byzantine Empire.

Armenians contributed many soldiers to Byzantium, something which has often been given little recognition in history.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

In the News - an interesting article about silver coinage in some of the Byzantine eras:

https://coinweek.com/coinweek-ancient-coin-series-paradox-byzantine-silver/

One would think there would always be more silver coins than gold... but that's true only if you have silver mines. From the reign of Gallenius 253-260 AD and beyond, hostile tribes controlled many of the areas were silver was mined. The result was that some Emperors had almost no silver to work with, so minted coinage in bronze or gold for the most part. An interesting side note in Byzantine era economics, with some rare example coins!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

On this day, Byzantium Novum commemorates the start of the siege of Dorostolon, on April 23rd in 971 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Dorostolon

Russian forces under Svyatoslav I of Kiev had overrun eastern Bulgaria and had occupied the city of Dorostolon. The siege was part of a counteroffensive led by Byzantine forces under Emperor John I Tzimisces. The Russians were able to hold well until the arrival of Byzantine ships, which were able to sweep the city ramparts with Greek Fire. The result was a Byzantine victory.

(The date of the beginning of the Siege is not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, but is found in the book "Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th-12th Centuries" by Alexandru Madgearu, published in 2013.)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

On this day Byzantium Novum commemorates the crowning of Emperor Basil II by his father Emperor Romanos II on April 22nd in 960 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_II

He was a 2 year old at the time, but obviously a tough one! Basil II went on to reign as sole emperor for almost 50 years. In addition to his famous military exploits he was also known as a competent administrator and it was under his reign the Varangian Guard was formed.

There should be cake!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

On this day we commemorate the founding of the City of Rome, said to be on April 21st in 753 BC: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_of_Rome

This was of course remembered in Byzantium as a part of their Roman heritage, as the Empire considered itself to be Roman throughout its history.

There should be cake!  :)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today in history, April 17th in 1277 AD, Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos was born.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_IX_Palaiologos

Michael IX was an active and energetic soldier, willing to make personal sacrifices to encourage and pay his troops. He was called a "Pious lord" and "a true king in word and deed" and was considered one of the bravest knights in the world. Sadly he was generally unsuccessful in his campaigns. Whether this was due to a lack of skill on his part, the weakness of the Byzantine military at the time or simply bad luck has been debated. The fact that he inspired both loyalty and good reputation in spite of things does say a lot...

There should be cake!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

Although a bit out of our realm, there is currently a petition protesting an "Afrocentric" documentary on Netflix about Queen Cleopatra being produced by Jada Smith, the wife of Will Smith, which is promoting the idea that Cleopatra (of the Ptolemaic Dynasty) was in reality a black woman. An article on the documentary is here:

https://greekreporter.com/2023/04/14/netflix-documentary-cleopatra-greek/

The petition, should anyone care to sign it, can be found here:

https://www.change.org/p/cancel-netflix-s-queen-cleopatra-repost

It seems to me this is much more an issue of bad revisionist history rather than an issue of race. Why anyone would attempt to co-opt the Greek/Egyptian history of the Ptolemaic Dynasty rather than explore and promote the amazing histories of say Nubia, Kush and Akxum as important wonders in their own right is beyond me.

The petition has been raised by both Greek and Egyptian supporters, and has apparently been deleted once already on Change.org. Hopefully being on the "right side of history" in this case means standing up for real history....

-Marcus Cassius Julianus