Greetings all,

On this Day we commemorate with sadness the collapse of the dome of the Hagia Sophia after an earthquake on May 7th in 558 AD:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia#Third_church_.28current_structure.29

The dome had been weakened by prior earthquakes in December of 557, and its fall destroyed the ambon, altar and ciborium. The Emperor Justinian ordered an immediate restoration and the re-dedication of the structure was done on December 23 in 562 AD.

I'm sure Justinian's quick action was intended to restore public confidence after the tragedy and it seems to have worked. The new dome still stands.

May all the Empire find similar restoration!   :)

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 Greetings all,

 

On this day,  we reflect on the Emperor Constantine announcing free food distribution to the Citizens of Constantinople on May 18th in 332 AD:

 

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

 

This was a continuation of the Roman  "Cura Annone" or public distribution of grain in honor of the Goddess Annona. This began sporadically in Republican times and became standard by 122 AD. The practice continued in Rome until the 6th century AD, but lasted longer in Constantinople. After the loss of Egypt it was replaced in Constantinople with a distribution of bread rather than grain, much of the wheat being produced in fields outside of the city.

 

Let's all enjoy a meal today in memory of this Roman civic tradition... extra credit if someone else treats you for free!   :)

 

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

 

On this Day we commemorate the birth of the Emperor Constantine III, on May 3rd in 612 AD:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_III_(Byzantine_emperor)

He was the eldest son of the Emperor Heraclius and his first wife Eudokia. He had been raised as Co-Emperor in 613 AD,  but reigned as sole ruler for only three months in 641 AD before dying of illness. He was the father of Emperor Constans II.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

Greetings all,

On this day we reflect on the reign of the Emperor Arcidius, on the anniversary of his passing on May 1st in 408 AD:

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

He was the son of Emperor Theodosius I, and his brother Honorius was Emperor of the West. Arcadius not a strong ruler and was heavily influenced by advisors, and his consort the Empress Aelia Eudocia for most of his rule. He did however begin the Theodosian Walls around Constantinople.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

 

 

 

 

 

 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