Greetings all, 

Today we reflect with sadness on the Byzantine defeat at the disastrous battle of Adrianople, fought between Byzantine forces and the Goths on August 9th in 378 AD: 

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

The Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and half his army were killed. This battle is thought to have been a major cause of the later downfall of the Western half of the Empire. 

I've only just seen a page from Gordon Doherty about all this, from 2019. I find it fascinating:  

https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/writeblog/thebattleofadrianople

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all, 

In the news - low water levels on the Danube in Bulgaria have exposed parts of the famous bridge of Emperor Constantine I : 

 

https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1311793/low-danube-water-levels-in-bulgaria-expose-roman-era-bridge/

 

It was inaugurated on July 5th in 328 AD, and was the longest bridge in antiquity, spanning a little over 2 km (1.2 miles.)  It is fascinating that part of it still remains!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

Greetings all,

On this day, August 6th 626 AD during a part of overall hostilities with the Sassanid empire, a land attack was made on the walls of Constantinople by the Avars:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(626)

The attack was successfully repulsed. The Byzantines won a ship engagement on the seaward side of the city the next day.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

Greetings all,

 Today we commemorate Maurice being chosen as Emperor on  August 5th in 528 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_(emperor)

 

He was crowned on August 9th. Although Maurice  gained the throne with no military experience, he was a successful general as Emperor. He was the author of the Strategikon, a manual of warfare which gives us the only full list of  ancient Latin military commands used by the Legions, including Roman Drill instruction. 

 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

Greetings all,

 Today we commemorate Gratian being named co-Emperor of the West on  August 4th in 367 AD:

 

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

 

He was the son of Emperor Valentinian I. Gratian had been successful in stabilizing Gaul and the Rhine and had intended to march to help in the East, to assist his uncle the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens in 378 AD. Valens decided not to wait for Gratian's army and marched to his defeat at the Battle of Adrianople, leaving Gratian essentially the sole ruler of the Empire.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today we reflect on the exile of Nestorius, the Ecumenian Patriarch of Constantinople by Emperor Theodosius II on  August 3rd in 435 AD:

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

 

Nesotius, (the founder of Nestorianism) was exiled to a monastery in Egypt over his controversial views. Interestingly, the book Nestorius wrote, the Bazaar of Heracleides, survived and is still in print.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today in History, August 2nd in 461 AD, the Western Emperor Majorian was arrested and deposed by Count Ricimer:

 

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

 

Majorian worked to regain Imperial control in Gaul and Spain, and was the last Western Emperor to resist barbarian incursions with his own troops.

 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus