Byzantium – The Classical Antiquity Sidequest

Sidequest 23 – All Roads Lead to Rome with Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones

As we all know, people spend a lot of time thinking about Rome. If you’ve ever wondered why that is, Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones just published All Roads Lead to Rome, a book that attempts to answer and explain just why it is that so many of us think about Rome and why we’ve done it for so long. In addition to that, we cover a lot of topics including writing styles, an ongoing issue with historical cognitive dissonance when it comes to our understanding of Rome and some troubling and problematic invocations of Rome. We also cover a very interesting want to know more section of her book and how it incorporates new and emerging forms of scholarship.

Your reading assignments include Strike by Dr. Sarah E. Bond (who I would love to have on the pod one day) and Dr. Kaldellis’ The New Roman Empire.

And while you’re reading stuff, why don’t you pick up a copy of Dr. Garth Jones’ book? It’s pretty darned good.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 20 – Madeleine Duperouzel on Empress Theodora

In an effort to help bridge the gap between “Byzantine” and Roman history, I reached out to Madeleine Duperouzel to see if she’d be interested in talking about Empress Theodora. Madeleine was more than happy to, so the result is an outstanding episode regarding a legendary figure in Roman history. After briefly covering finicky weather patterns, we discuss Theodora’s life, her historical significance and how she has been treated by her contemporaries and by later historians. This naturally involves a discussion about the historical inkblot that is The Secret History (I explain the inkblot reference in the episode, but if you search for “Bork 9th Amendment inkblot”, you’ll find what I’m talking about). We also cover the general hostility that a specific group of men felt towards Theodora and the unique control over her life that she possessed.

To get more updates on history from Madeleine, please check subscribe to her Substack, The Empress of Byzantium. It’s really good!

Your reading assignments include The Alexiad, Doppelgänger and The Name of the Rose.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 12 – Anthony Kaldellis on the “Byzantine Empire” and Roman Identity

In the latest episode of the Sidequest, Anthony Kaldellis, author of many books including The New Roman Empire, stops by to discuss his podcast Byzantium & Friends, how the academic community is starting to embrace podcasts as a medium to communicate with a wider audience, the narratives surrounding Antiquity, including when it “ended”, in the Western and Eastern imperial provinces and the importance of the “Byzantines” to Antiquity and the Classics. We also discuss the naming convention behind use of the term “Byzantine” and the important role the Crimean War played in that. Dr. Kaldellis wrote an article about that which I highly recommend and link to here.

One of the more interesting parts of this interview involved me learning about how widespread the Greek language was throughout the Empire. It turns out that the city of Rome had a large population that spoke Greek including one Julius Caesar. We also have a discussion about “Late Antiquity” and whether we should consider that as a transitional period which I discuss more in the intro to the podcast. I think my views on it come from the way I view things as a trial lawyer which may not entirely overlap with the way that historians approach their work. I could be way off about this. It’s just a thought I had as I edited the podcast.

Your reading assignment from this episode is “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning“.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Classical Antiquity Sidequest 2 – Belisarius and the Byzantines

Our second sidequest takes us to the “Byzantine” Empire and the attempt by Justinian to restore the Empire to its lost glory. Dr. David Parnell, professor at Indiana University NW and author of Belisarius & Antonia, stops by to discuss one of Late Antiquity’s greatest generals, Belisarius. During our almost hour-long interview, we discuss how we got saddled with the term “Byzantine Empire”, Belisarius’ career and the times in which he lived. Turns out his wife, Antonina, was a pretty big deal in her own right. I hope my wife doesn’t read this and remind me how important a wife can be.

We also discuss Procopius, the famed historian of the Jusitinian era. He wrote two important texts which serve as major sources in understanding that historical era. The first one is History of the Wars and the second one is The Secret History. We cover those texts and get into theories about how the later came to be. And, hey, we also talk about the Epic History project on Belisarius which Dr. Parnell was involved in.

Having just finished Dr. Parnell’s book, I would strongly recommend that you pick up a copy. If you want to read more of his works, you can find them here:

https://iun.academia.edu/DavidParnell

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Parnell-2

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.