Hello everyone,
I hope you enjoy the final episode of the narrative. I’m here to answer the question that people have been asking me for about 10 years now. So what are you going to do after 1453?
Well as I mentioned a while ago the History of Byzantium will continue.
I will take the narrative on a little further. We’ll re-join the siege and find out what happened to all the characters in that story. And talk about the fate of the citizens of Constantinople and what Mehmet did next. And what happened to the Peloponnese. We’ll follow the Ottomans to see how they managed to get the Eastern Mediterranean back under one Empire. We’ll finally catch up on Trebizond. We’ll talk to Anthony Kaldellis one last time. And then I have a bunch of Byzantine Stories I want to get to.
However all of that will probably have to wait until 2026. I am going to go lie in a heap on the floor for a while. And I probably won’t touch the podcast till after my next tour to Turkey in October. So that gives you a couple of months to get your questions in. You can now ask me anything. It can be about the last century of narrative or about what happens next. It can be about anything really – me, the podcast, something that happened in 867 or in 1467. I will then feed them into the episodes I produce. Send them to thehistoryofbyzantium at gmail.com
If you would like to hear from me sooner then this Sunday the 20th July I will be hosting 3 Zoom calls for Patrons. You can sign up at the $1 level and still get on the calls which will be at 1, 5 and 9pm UK time. I am happy to do more Patreon calls down the road so don’t delete the free podcast from your app if you want to hear updates about things like that.
It looks like I will be doing an AMA on Reddit this weekend too. I’ll post the Reddit address on the website as soon as I have it.
Yeah yeah Robin but what are you going to do after all that? I’m still not sure. Most likely going back to the earlier Roman Empire in one form or another. But I have learned to not look too far ahead.
Shameless plug to end today. If you’d like a History of Byzantium podcast t-shirt to commemorate 13 years of this obscure hobby of yours then go to etsy.com/shop/ImperialWares
I look forward to speaking to some of you on Sunday. Thanks for listening.
Robin
The History of Byzantium 
Hello Robin,
Thank you for the podcast—I’ve been enjoying it for nearly 10 years now. I’m still at episode 300, but I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you on reaching what feels like the dramatic climax of the story. As a Turk, I truly appreciate the thoughtful and balanced way you’ve approached the narrative—though of course, there’s always more that could be said!
This might be a long shot, and perhaps not all of your audience would be equally interested, but since you’ve already laid a strong foundation and are clearly familiar with Istanbul, I think it would be fitting to continue the story with a new narrative/podcast focused on the Ottomans.
As you know, the Ottomans saw themselves as heirs to Rome and made conscious efforts to adopt and adapt Roman traditions. Given that the “Romans” became Ottoman citizens and even played active roles in the administration, I believe the Ottoman Empire is a natural continuation of the Roman story in many ways.
Whatever you choose to do next, I hope you take some time to enjoy a well-deserved rest!
Robin,
Congratulations on reaching this point in the podcast. Even though I know how the story of Byzantium turns out, in the back of my mind I always hope that somehow things will turn around at the last minute and the empire will once again be restored to its former glory. Alas, that is never to be.
I’m looking forward to what you offer next. I’m sure there are still stories to tell. I’ve enjoyed the podcast for many years and want to thank you so much for all of the detailed efforts that went into this remarkable undertaking.
Hi Robin –
Congrats on getting to this point. I agree with the view that the Ottoman state is a sufficiently big break that continuing a narrative history doesn’t make sense. However, assuming the next step is thematic episodes going back, I think some thematic episodes going into the Ottoman period make sense too. I would be curious how people self-conceived, how people chose to be part of one religious group or another, the Phanariotes, how much the Ottomans integrated Romans or not into the administration, whether there was an explicit effort to erase some parts of the Roman administrative legacy (versus allowing the church to stay as is), how the church changed, etc.
Robin, I have been listening to you for over ten years. Thank you for being part of my life. I have thoroughly enjoyed learing about the Eastern Roman Empire. I wish you and your family the best. I am looking forward to your next adventure.
Paula
Hi Robin,
thanks you for hard work over all these years. The History of Byzantium has been the first podcast that I have listened to continuously, it’s become a small part of my life. I will definitely miss it. As I commented before, as an academic, I really liked the way you turned serious and well researched work into something so enjoyable. Congratulations.
One small question: in the narrative of the last century or so, you haven’t really mentioned the Palaiologan Renaissance, and figures like Bessarion, and the scholars at Mistras. I understand this was important culturally in favouring the Renaissance in Western Europe and in the last failed attempts to link up with the West politically. Are these going to be part of your future work for the podcast?
Thank you again for your monumental efforts and all the best
Hi Robin,
Prior to listening to your podcast, the only thing I knew about the ERE was the cataracts from Age of Empire II. Your podcast lit up a completely new interest for this area of the world, and it’s been fascinating seeing this kind of historical dinosaur surviving for another millenium. Many thanks to you.
I loved how you didn’t just stick to the History with a big H but also talked about the society, the religion and how different categories of the population lived their day-to-day lives. I’ll just say there were a bit too many interviews at the end of the run but I can’t be harsh when I see the amount of work you’ve done.
One question for you: you mentioned a few times you’d do a “technology & science” episode, and how Romans in general, on the opposite of what could be thought, weren’t that keen in changing things. If you recorded it I must have missed it; otherwise I feel like that’s be a great topic to address now.
Enjoy the break, I can imagine this is the end of an era for you !
I will get to it. Thanks so much for the kind words
Why not a series on the Empire at Trebizond? It didn’t appear often in the main narrative but it might be interesting to have a look at it.
Yes