Greetings all,

 

Today we commemorate with sadness the beginning of the final Siege of Constantinople on April 6th in 1453 AD:

 

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

 

At the beginning of the siege, Mehmed sent out some of his best troops to reduce the remaining Byzantine strongholds outside the city of Constantinople. The fortress of Therapia on the Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

On this day, March 28th in 364 AD, Emperor Valentinian I appointed his brother Flavius Valens as Emperor of the East:

 

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

 

This was done at Hebdomon, before the Constantinian Walls. Valens is considered by some to be one of the last true Roman emperors. Sadly he was not a successful military commander and was killed at the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD due to not waiting for support from Valentinian I.

 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

Greetings all,

In the news, an article about the discovery of a Byzantine era shipwreck off the coast of Greece:

https://greekreporter.com/2025/03/22/amphorae-recovered-ancient-byzantine-shipwreck-greece/

Shockingly, amphorae have been found. Who would have thought?   :)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

Today we commemorate the life of the Empress Theodora, the wife of Romanos I Lekapenos who passed on February 20th in 922 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(wife_of_Romanos_I)

She came from humble origins so she was amazing enough to catch the eye of the Emperor. Theodora and Romanos I had five children, three of which became co-Emperors, one a Patriarch, and two Empress Consorts. 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

In the news, a nice article on the collection and translationof ancient Byzantine spiritual texts known as the Philokalia:

https://greekreporter.com/2025/02/17/greek-monk-byzantine-texts-philokalia

These ancient texts were translated by a monk at Mount Athos called Nicodemus, (born 1749 AD) who undertook a lifetime of compiling, and translating so that the spiritual wisdom of the Empire would be preserved. A fascinating story!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

 

Today we commemorate the life of the Emperor Theodosius I who passed on in 395 AD:

 

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

 

 He was in the city of Milan. Theodosius left his son Arcadius (18 at the time)  to rule in the East, and his son Honorius (age 10) to rule in the West.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

Greetings all,

Today we commemorate the passing of the Emperor Heraclius on  February 11th in 641 AD:

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

He is best remembered for his military victories which returned the True Cross to Jerusalem. As Edward Gibbon said of him:

"Of the characters conspicuous in history, that of Heraclius is one of the most extraordinary and inconsistent. In the first and last years of a long reign, the emperor appears to be the slave of sloth, of pleasure, or of superstition, the careless and impotent spectator of the public calamities. But the languid mists of the morning and evening are separated by the brightness of the meridian sun; the Arcadius of the palace arose the Caesar of the camp; and the honor of Rome and Heraclius was gloriously retrieved by the exploits and trophies of six adventurous campaigns. [...] Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the empire."

Even today he is remembered with both pride and tratitude, so let our reflections be happy ones of his victories and amazing story!

Marcus Cassius Julianus