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Byzantium & Friends

Byzantium & Friends

Conversations with experts in the history of Byzantium and surrounding fields, hosted by Anthony Kaldellis.

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All Episodes

57:09

131. To Miklagarðr and back again: Varangians return...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/03/06

A conversation with Sverrir Jakobsson (University of Iceland) about the experiences of Northmen -- especially Varangians -- who traveled to Constantinople and the south and returned home with stories, swords, riches, and prestige. The conversation is based on Sverrir's book The Varangians: In God’s Holy Fire (Palgrave 2020). Instead of my usual intro, Sverrir and I discuss some odd parallels in the histories of Greece and Iceland.

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01:11:53

130. A conversation with Johanna Hanink on Greek...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/02/20

A conversation with Johanna Hanink (Brown University) on Greek literature (ancient, modern, and in-between), on publishing outside one's main area of academic expertise, and on podcasting. Johanna is a classics professor who has also written on modern Greek culture and literature, and is the host of the new academic podcast Lesche: Ancient Greece, New Ideas. She recently translated Andreas Karkavitsas' The Archaeologist and Select Sea Stories (Penguin Books 2021). Her personal website is here, where

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01:06:42

129: Labor organizations and collective action, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/02/06

A conversation with Sarah Bond (University of Iowa) about organized labor groups in the Roman empire. Ancient occupational groups often formed associations (sometimes called collegia) which are often regarded as little more than dining, cult, and burial societies. In her new book, Strike: Labor Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire (Yale University Press 2025), Sarah Bond argues that they sometimes engaged in collective action and bargaining. These continued in existence into late antiquity and

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49:54

128. Constantinople as seen by its inhabitants, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/01/23

A conversation with Paul Magdalino (St. Andrews and Koç University) about the literary traditions and genres that Constantinopolitans developed to talk about the origins, history, cosmic importance, and superlative beauty of their city -- the City. The conversation touches on themes in Paul's recent book, Roman Constantinople in Byzantine Perspective: The Memorial and Aesthetic Rediscovery of Constantine's Beautiful City, from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (Brill 2024). Like the book, our

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01:04:30

127. The genetic history of Rome, with Hannah Moots

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/01/09

A conversation with Hannah Moots (Center for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm) about paleogenetic research, its goals, methods, and conclusions. What does it mean to study ancient DNA, and what does it tell us about human history? The conversation is based on an article co-authored by Hannah and many other collaborators entitled "Ancient Rome: A Genetic Crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean," Science 366 (2019) 708-714.

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01:07:35

126. Can scholars and clerics be manly?, with Maroula...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/12/26

A conversation with Maroula Perisanidi (University of Leeds) about the distinctive kind of masculinity that was fashioned by scholars and priests in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the challenges and deficits that it faced, and the masculine capital that men in those occupations tried to amass and then spend. The conversation is based on Maroula's just published book Masculinity in Byzantium, c. 1000-1200: Scholars, Clerics and Violence (Cambridge University Press 2024).

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01:00:29

125. Souvenirs and city branding in the experience of...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/12/12

A conversation with Maggie Popkin (Case Western Reserve University) about souvenirs in the Roman world, how they tie in with city identities and city branding, and the experience of travel. These portable objects shaped how people thought of places and the Roman world as a whole, from its attractions and experiences to its religious cults. The conversation is based on Maggie's book Souvenirs and the Experience of Empire in Ancient Rome (Cambridge University Press 2022).

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01:14:05

124. Shadow empires, with Thomas Barfield

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/11/28

A conversation with Thomas Barfield (Boston University) about a distinctive category of empires that he has proposed in a new book, Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History (Princeton University Press 2023). These are empire that derive a significant part of their revenues or symbolic capital not from lands that they rule directly but by extorting them from other empires, from control over trade routes, or from the ruins of previous states. During its long history, Romanía dealt with a number

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01:08:48

123. The fall of Constantinople, pope Pius II, and...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/11/14

A conversation with Nancy Bisaha (Vassar College) about the origins of the idea of "Europe" as a place of identity and not just geography. One of its first theorists was the Italian humanist Aeneas Piccolomini (later pope Pius II), who was in part reacting to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. The problem of whom to include and exclude as Europeans was there from the start. We talk about Aeneas himself and the siege of the City. The conversation is based on Nancy's recent book, From

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01:02:44

122. Latin words in ancient and Byzantine Greek, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/10/31

A conversation with Eleanor Dickey (University of Reading) on Latin words in ancient and Byzantine Greek. Eleanor has tracked them down and compiled them in a specialized dictionary, where she also offers new arguments about when, how, and why they were borrowed by Greek-speakers. It reaches down to 600 AD, but many of them survived later too, even into modern spoken Greek. The conversation is based on that publication: Latin Loanwords in Ancient Greek: A Lexicon and Analysis (Cambridge University

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53:48

121. Ali Pasha of Ioannina, antiquities and...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/07/11

A conversation with Emily Neumeier (Temple University) about Ali Pasha of Ioannina (d. 1822), a powerful Ottoman governor of Albanian origin who created a quasi-independent realm at a time when the Ottoman empire was feared to be collapsing. We talk about how he crated his own brand-image, in part by forging closer relations with his Christian Greek subjects and also through archaeological work and use of antiquities. His was an almost post-imperial world, but the nation-state had not yet arrived

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57:44

120. Dioskouros of Alexandria, Or the making of a...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/06/27

A conversation with Volker Menze (Central European University) about the fifth-century patriarch Dioskouros of Alexandria, what we really know about him, and why he was demonized in the western traditions. A close reading of the Council Acts suggests a different picture: a bishop who thought he was doing right by the established creed and following the directives of the emperor suddenly found himself in the hot seat. The conversation is based on Volker's book Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria: The

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59:39

119. Byzantium in science fiction, fantasy, and...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/06/13

A conversation with Przemysław Marciniak (University of Silesia) about books of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and alternative history that are either set in Byzantium or have a Byzantine ambiance. We talk about the features that signal a Byzantine setting and what the latter is good. Basically, we chat about books that we liked (or did not like). The conversation is based on Przemek's chapter 'Fantastic(al) Byzantium: The Image of Byzantium in Speculative Fiction,' in M. Kulhánková and P

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01:18:13

118. Pathogen paleogenetics and late antique disease:...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/05/30

A roundtable discussion of how the study of ancient pathogen DNA intersects with the study of disease in late antiquity. Can laboratory scientists and cultural historians find ways to interface given their different methods, data, concepts, and conclusions? The discussion was organized by Tina Sessa (The Ohio State University) and Tim Newfield (Georgetown University), and moderated by Dionysios Stathakopoulos (University of Cyprus). In addition to Tina and Tim, participants include Kyle Harper

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01:34:45

117. Human paleogenetics and late antique migration:...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/05/16

A roundtable discussion of how the study of ancient human DNA intersects with the study of migration in late antiquity. Can laboratory scientists and primarily textual historians find ways to interface given their different methods, data, concepts, and conclusions? The discussion was organized by Tina Sessa (The Ohio State University) and Tim Newfield (Georgetown University), and moderated by Anthony Kaldellis (University of Chicago). Participants include Patrick Geary (Institute for Advanced Study,

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01:02:41

116. Africa and Byzantium, with Andrea Myers Achi

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/05/02

A conversation with Andrea Myers Achi (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) about the enduring connections between Byzantium and a number of African cultures, beginning in late antiquity (e.g., Aksum) and continuing into medieval and modern times (e.g., Nubia and Ethiopia). Andrea organized a exhibition at the Met to illustrate these connections (including also manuscripts, textiles, icons, and inscriptions), and it has now moved to the Cleveland Museum of Art. If you can't visit it there, definitely

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01:01:28

115. Imaginary Byzantiums in modern Russia, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/04/18

A conversation with Eugene Smelyansky (Washington State University) on the invention of ideologically useful versions of Byzantium in modern Russia. We talk about the much more limited engagement with Byzantium in imperial Russia and the reasons behind some of the current obsessions with it. The conversation is based on Eugene's just-published book on Medievalisms in Russia: The Contest for Imaginary Pasts (Arc Humanities Press 2024), which looks also at the current re-imagining of Russia's own

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01:01:23

114. Byzantium and the early Rus’, with Monica White

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/04/04

A conversation with Monica White (University of Nottingham) about the earliest contacts between Constantinople and the first Rus'-Varangian raiders, traders, and mercenaries to cross the Black Sea. Who were these people, what did they want, and how did contact with east Roman culture change them? The conversation is based on a number of Monica's recent publications, including 'Early Rus: The Nexus of Empires'; 'The Byzantine "Charm Defensive" and the Rus''; and 'Leo VI and the Transformation of

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58:42

113. The emperor’s clothing and public appearances,...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/03/21

A conversation with Maria Parani (University of Cyprus) on the emperor's clothing and the staging of his public appearances. We talk about his most formal garments, what he wore on the battlefield, his military banner, how he changed, and much more. Maria has published many studies of this topic, which you can find on her academia page, including "Clothes maketh the emperor? Embodying and Performing Imperial Ideology in Byzantium through Dress"; "Cultural Identity and Dress: The Case of Late

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01:01:24

112. Crisis and resilience in late antique Rome, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2024/03/07

A conversation with Michele Salzman (University of California, Riverside) about the resilience shown by the city of Rome and its ability to recover from crisis during the fifth-seventh centuries. These recoveries were usually spearheaded by the Senate of Rome, which continued to invest in the city and its institutions even after the emperors ceased to reside there full-time. The conversation is based on Michele's recent book, The Falls of Rome: Crises, Resilience, and Resurgence in Late Antiquity

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151 results

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