The Powder Keg of Europe in the Early 1790s The 1790s began with Europe’s monarchies watching France’s revolution with growing […]
The Illusion of Divine Right On June 11, 1775, the grand coronation of Louis XVI at Reims Cathedral represented the […]
A Diminished Empire’s Intellectual Resurgence In the twilight years of the Byzantine Empire (1261-1453), as political power waned and territorial […]
The Final Centuries of Byzantium: A Fragile Empire on the Brink The last 250 years of the Byzantine Empire present […]
The Divine Mandate of Byzantine Emperors The Byzantine emperors, as successors to Constantine the Great, were celebrated in court hymns […]
The Dark Age of Byzantine Letters In the early 8th century, Constantinople witnessed a curious paradox in its intellectual life. […]
The Roots of Religious Controversy The Byzantine Iconoclasm, literally meaning the “breaking of icons,” refers to the imperial campaigns against […]
The Perilous 7th Century: A Empire on the Brink The 7th century marked one of the most precarious periods in […]
The Perceived Barbarians: Byzantine Views of Pre-Islamic Arabs To the settled civilizations of Byzantium, the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula […]
The Religious Landscape of the Early Roman Empire In 312 CE when Constantine shifted his policies toward Christianity, followers of […]
Foundations of Imperial Power: The Roman Urban System Cities served as the fundamental building blocks of the Roman Empire, functioning […]
The Fall of Licinius and the Unification of Rome In 324 AD, the fate of the Roman Empire hinged on […]
The Last Great Roman Reconquest In 553 AD, after eighteen brutal years of conflict, Emperor Justinian’s ambitious campaign to reclaim […]
The Long Shadow of the Gothic War When Emperor Justinian appointed the 72-year-old eunuch Narses as supreme commander in 552 […]
An Empire Divided: The Backdrop of Conflict In the twilight of antiquity, the Eastern Roman Empire under Emperor Justinian I […]
The Byzantine Gambit: Belisarius Lands in Italy In the spring of 536 AD, the Byzantine general Belisarius launched one of […]
The Rise and Stagnation of Vandal North Africa The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa presents one of history’s most striking […]
The Rise of a Military Prodigy Born in the Balkans like his emperor Justinian I—though 18 years younger—Belisarius emerged from […]
The Emperor and His Vision Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus, better known as Justinian I, ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from […]
From Humble Origins to Imperial Nepotism Justinian I, later known as Justinian the Great, was born around 482 CE into […]
The Rise of a Roman Statesman in a Gothic Kingdom In the turbulent 6th century AD, as the Western Roman […]
The Religious Landscape of a Divided Empire When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 CE, Italy entered an unprecedented […]
