Greetings all,

 

Today we celebrate the birth of the Emperor Theodosius II on April 10th in 401 AD:

 

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

 

He was the son of the Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. Thodosius II is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian Law Code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls in Constantinople.

Yes, you guessed it... there should be cake! :)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

www.byzantiumnovum.org 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today we reflect on  Crusader and Venetian forces attacked the fortifications at the Golden Horn during the Latin siege of Constantinople on April 9th in 1204 AD:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204)

 

The assault forces were driven back and troops that landed came under heavy archery fire between the shore and the city walls.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

Greetings all, 

 In the news, an article on the Byzantine scholars who helped shape the Renaissance in the West: 

https://greekreporter.com/2026/04/07/greatest-byzantine-greek-scholars-renaissance/

Scholars leaving the East after the fall of Constantinople brought much ancient Greek knowledge with them, helping to re-awaken Civilization in the West. 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today we reflect on the Western Emperor Honorius banning barbarian costume in Rome on April 7th in 397 AD:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorius_(emperor)

 

His edict specifically banned the wearing of pants (braccae) which were considered uncivilized. 

This edict was likely meant to preserve Classical tradition and the image of Rome as a capital city. The Roman army had long adopted braccae for cold weather, this may also have been intended to prevent Rome from beginning to seem like an armed camp. 

This was in fact not the first fashion decree in the Roman world. Sumptuary laws centuries earlier had banned extravagant and expensive dress during difficult times. 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

Today marks our commemoration of 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, 

 

In the news - a story of a baptismal site discovered in the ancient city of Hippos (again, "Hipp-oss", not the animal!) in Israel: 

 

https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-891771

 

It looks like archaeology has been continuing on the site, which is a wonderful thing!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

Greetings all,

Today we reflect of the end of the Avar siege of the Byzantine city of Constanta on March 30th in 598 AD:, the Avars lifted their siege of the Byzantine city of Constanta and retreated north of the Danube after being decimated by plague: 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice's_Balkan_campaigns#Renewed_campaigns,_597–602

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

 

Avar forces became decimated by plague and were forced to retreat north of the Danube. This Byzantine victory preserved the city until it fell into the hands of the Ottomans in 1419. Constanta was the city the Roman poet Ovid was banished to by the Emperor Augustus in 8 AD, and a statue of Ovid remains in the modern city today.

 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus