Author Archives: thehistoryofbyzantium

Mehmed did not make Constantinople his capital straight away. There were political, practical and psychological arguments against it. We talk about these and how the Sultan overcame them.

Pic: Mehmed II investing Gennadios II as the new Patriarch. Housed in the Patriarchal buildings in Istanbul.

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We follow events after the Ottomans broke through the walls of Constantinople. Taking the story up to the Sultans triumphant return to Edirne.

Pic: The entry of Mehmed II into Constantinople, Benjamin Constant, 1876

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To win the game Seljuk: Byzantium Besieged email me thehistoryofbyzantium at gmail.com before February 28th. See an interview with the creator here.

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Professor Leonora Neville joins us to make the case for getting rid of the term Byzantium for good. She wants to replace it with a different term and a different understanding of Roman history.

Professor Neville is the John W and Jeanne M Rowe Chair of Byzantine History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specialises in the 9-12th centuries of the Empire’s history. And her research has focussed on gender, civic religion, and religious aspects of political culture as well as historical memory and historiography.

She has written several excellent books which have been vital to this podcast. Her guide to Byzantine historians is essential reading for students. Her book on Byzantine gender helped direct my episodes on ‘Women in the Roman world’ and her book on provincial authority was extremely helpful in understanding Kekaumenos. She is also a Senior fellow at Dumbarton Oaks and an editor of several book series. Find out more at the University of Madison-Wisconsin website.

In a bonus episode for Patrons I take you through what the Christmas period looked like in Constantinople.

To listen to this episode join the History of Byzantium Patreon at the highest level of support (‘Ad-Free Bonus Feed’). You can cancel any time.

As we look back at Byzantium I turned once more to Professor Anthony Kaldellis. I asked him to present a list of ten influential East Romans who were not featured heavily in the political narrative.

Anthony Kaldellis is a Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago. He is the author of over a dozen books on Byzantium including the definitive history (The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium). Find out more here.

Pic: Saint Photios

As we look back at Byzantium I turned once more to Professor Anthony Kaldellis. I asked him to present a list of ten influential East Romans who were not featured heavily in the political narrative.

Anthony Kaldellis is a Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago. He is the author of over a dozen books on Byzantium including the definitive history (The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium). Find out more here.

Pic: Gregory of Nazianzus, fresco from the Chora Church

I talk to Eric Halsey about his new book State Builders from the Steppe: A History of the First Bulgarian Empire.

In it he chronicles the rise and fall of the Bulgars as they arrive in the Balkans and forge a state that would be a thorn in the Byzantine side.

I thoroughly recommended the book. It’s well researched, easy to read and it’s nice to hear about a subject so intimately entwined with Byzantine history from a different perspective.

Find the book on Amazon or check out the Bulgarian History podcast where Eric takes the Bulgarian story all the way to the present.

To mark the 1000th anniversary of his death we revisit the bachelorhood of Basil II.

My guest is Mark Masterson — until recently Associate Professor of Classics at Victoria University of Wellington (retired 2025). His work explores masculinity, desire, and male social bonds in the Roman world.

In his book Between Byzantine Men he discusses an oration written in Basil’s day which may shed light on his intimate life.

Picture: Basil II by J Foliveras