Proclamation of Bardas Skleros as Emperor from the Madrid copy of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes
The narrative resumes with Basil Lekapenos elevating his great-nephew Basil II to the throne. However Bardas Sclerus immediately rebels and declares himself Emperor.
Period: 976-77
Download: Basil Lekapenos
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Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood by Anthony Kaldellis
The full interview with Professor Kaldellis about his book “Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood.” The book is a narrative history from the time when Nicephorus Phokas took charge of the military through till the First Crusade. In our conversation we talk about sources, Basil IIs reign, the Magnates and the struggles of the 11th century.
Period: 955-1099
Download: Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood
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We return to our interview with Professor Kaldellis to discuss Basil II’s reign. We talk about our sources, about his decision never to marry and his relationship with the landed magnates.
Period: 913-976
Download: Sources and Magnates
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SPOILER ALERT. Do not read this post if you are not up to date with Game of Thrones…when Romanus Lekapenos was on the throne it occurred to me that there was something Stark-ish about his household.
Romanus had six legitimate children, four boys and two girls. He made Constantine VII part of his household and fathered Basil who was then castrated.
When Constantine took power he kept the eunuch Basil around and worked happily with him. I pondered then whether they had bonded over being the runts of the Lekapenos litter.
The comparison with Theon and Jon is amusing to consider. Theon would of course go on to be castrated. While Constantine was the born-in-the-purple prince who had to wait a long time to inherit his birthright. His parents marriage was also highly controversial 
The Balkans 976 AD
We look at a series of questions about what’s been happening in Bulgaria since the peace was signed in 927. Why were the Rus able to defeat the Bulgarians so quickly? What did the Roman occupation look like? And more.
Period: 913-976
Download: Bulgarian Solidarity
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Did the Romans dream of reconquering their eastern provinces? Or were their border acquisitions enough?
Period: 913-976
Download: The Eastern Conquests
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Anatolia 976AD
We discuss the eastern conquests and how valuable they really were. As well as the deployment and organisation of the military in the borderlands.
Period: 913-976
Download: The Eastern Conquests
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Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood by Anthony Kaldellis
We begin our mini end-of-the-century series by talking about our sources. Huge thanks to Professor Anthony Kaldellis for talking to me about his new book “Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood.” It’s a narrative history covering the period from when Nicephorus Phokas took over the military until the First Crusade. This is only part of our interview focusing on the task of sifting sources to create a more realistic narrative.
Period: 913-976
Download: Setting the Table
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Italian copies of Alexander of Tralles’ treatises (exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu)
In Part 3 we move forward to Byzantium to explore two examples of Byzantine healthcare in action.
Saint Artemios (johnsanidopoulos.com)
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The Incidental Music used is “Birth of a Hero” from bensound.com
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Claudius Galen (fineartamerica.com)
In Part 2 we move to Rome and meet Galen, the greatest doctor the Empire produced. We then push on into the Christian era to see how healthcare developed alongside the new religion.
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The Incidental Music used is “Birth of a Hero” from bensound.com
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