Byzantium & Friends

63:12

159. The art of the empire of Nicaea, with Naomi...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/09/24

A conversation with Naomi Pitamber (Clark University) about the art and architecture of the empire of Nicaea (Nikaia), the convention name of the Roman state that emerged in Asia Minor after the disaster of 1204. This art is often overlooked by scholars and overshadowed by the Palaiologan "Renaissance" that supposedly kicked in after the return to Constantinople in 1261. Naomi casts that development as a continuation of the art of Nikaia in her recent book Byzantium and the Landscapes of Loss: The

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69:19

158. The Book of Daniel, the Four Kingdoms, and...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/06/04

A conversation with Christopher Bonura (Mount St. Mary's University) about the apocalyptic tradition of identifying the Four Kingdoms prophesied in the Book of Daniel. Which one was the Roman empire? The fourth, scheduled to fall with the others, or something that came afterward (a tradition sometimes called imperial eschatology)? Among other topics we discuss Eusebios of Caesarea and the reign of Herakleios as possible turning points in this tradition. Christopher has published a monograph on one

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71:49

157. Julian Augustus and the dream of a Platonic...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/05/21

A conversation with Jeremy Swist (Michigan State University) on the emperor Julian (361-363 AD) and how he tried to combine his love of philosophy with ruling the Roman empire. We talk about why Julian continues to excite such passions, how in some ways he may have been more Roman than Greek, and how he read Roman history in light of the theurgical Neoplatonism that he espoused. The conversation is based on Jeremy's recent book, Julian Augustus: Platonism, Myth, and the Refounding of Rome (Oxford

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64:29

156. The Menologion of Basil II, with Charlie Kuper

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/05/07

A conversation with Charlie Kuper (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) about the Menologion of Basil II, a lavishly illustrated manuscript pairing brief notices about the saints with images of them and their ordeals, arranged according to the liturgical calendar. We talk about how this manuscript was made and how it can be read, specifically the texts in relation to the images. Charlie has just reedited those texts and made them available in translation in the DOML series (vol. 89): The Menologion

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65:32

155. The Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, with Nicole...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/04/23

A conversation with Nicole Eddy (Dumbarton Oaks) about the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, one of the most important publishing ventures of recent times when it comes to medieval texts and literature. DOML (as we call it) makes accessible a wide range of medieval texts in different genres and from different periods, translated into English from Greek, Latin, Old English, and the Iberian romance languages. We talk about how the series works, its mission and goals, and the challenges and decisions

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64:04

154. How and why we teach Roman history, with Beth...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/04/09

A conversation with Beth Digeser (University of California, Santa Barbara) about pedagogy, specifically about what we are hoping to accomplish by teaching Roman history. We talk about the limits of "influence" as a justification for it and the various ways that Rome is continually reinvented and made to speak to present concerns, from "Global Rome" to the special challenges posed by the world of late antiquity. Beth's research focuses on the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine and so she looks in

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94:47

153. Three heresiologists of the twelfth century:...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/03/26

A conversation with Alessandra Bucossi (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) and Niccolò Zorzi (University of Padua) on three heresiological texts of the twelfth century, the challenges of publishing and studying them, and how their main concerns can be presented in a museum exhibition. Our discussion is followed by dedicated presentations on each of the three authors by Marco Fanelli (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) on Zigabenos, Alessandra herself on Kamateros, and Ottavia Mazzon (University of

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56:26

152. Heresiology in the twelfth century, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/03/12

A conversation with Alessandra Bucossi (Ca' Foscari University) on the preoccupation with heresy in the twelfth century, which resulted in the production of a number of massive anti-heretical treatises. We discuss the historical context of their production, the empire's increasing engagement with the Latins and Armenians, whose Churches deviated from that of Constantinople in certain points, and the function of these works. The conversation is based on a team project on this topic that Alessandra

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67:04

151. East Roman archaeology: goals and challenges,...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/02/26

A conversation with Marica Cassis (University of Calgary) about the archaeological study of the east Roman world and how it interfaces with traditional, text-based historiography. What can archaeology see and what not? What challenges has it faced to emerge as a field and what are the prospects that it faces today? The conversation was inspired by Marica's introduction to Medieval Archaeology in the East Roman World (Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2024).

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62:28

150. Why were pseudo-Arabic inscriptions placed on...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/02/12

A conversation with Alicia Walker (Bryn Mawr College) on the pseudo-Arabic inscriptions (or pseudo-kufic) that appear on a number of tenth- and eleventh-century churches in Greece, most notably at the monastery of Hosios Loukas. What did the Arabic script signify in Orthodox culture at the time if not tension with Islam? The conversation is based on Alicia's essay 'Letters from the Edge: Mapping Pseudo-Arabic between Byzantium and the Near East,' in E. Bolman et al., eds., Worlds of Byzantium:

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65:07

149. The Classical Near East, with Kevin van Bladel

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/01/29

A conversation with Kevin van Bladel (Yale University) on his proposal regarding "The Classical Near East," a constellation of fields defined by the classical literary traditions of medieval Near Eastern cultures, including Byzantium. We talk about languages, fields, classical traditions, translations, and more. The conversation is based on Kevin's chapter 'The Classical Near East' in E. S. Bolman et al., eds., Worlds of Byzantium: Religion, Culture, and Empire in the Medieval Near East (Cambridge

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78:46

147. The survival of esoteric academic fields, with...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/01/15

A conversation with Jana Matuszak, a Sumerologist, and Petra Goedegebuure, a Hittitologist (both University of Chicago) about the prospects for the survival of smaller academic disciplines that require specialized language skills. What critical mass of experts is needed? How can these fields be combined with others? Byzantine Studies is still larger than Sumerology and Hittitology, but the numbers of our full-time faculty is shrinking. How can our fields navigate an uncertain future?

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59:07

146. How the ninety percent experienced the Roman...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2026/01/01

A conversation with Kim Bowes (University of Pennsylvania) about her recent book, Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent (Princeton University Press 2025), which presents a brilliant new model of the Roman imperial economy, specifically for how the majority of the population experienced it. We talk about the skeletal evidence, monetization, affluence and precariousness, and levels of consumption. This is only a taste of the many exciting new arguments made in the book, which all of

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60:55

146. Ezana of Aksum, the first Christian king in...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/12/18

A conversation with Aaron Butts (University of Hamburg) on the conversion to Christianity of Ezana, the fourth-century king of Aksum (in modern Ethiopia and Eritrea). "Conversion" is a conventional term, but what Ezana's inscriptions and coins reveals is a complicated process of appealing to different groups and the coexistence of religions in his realm and the royal monuments. The conversation is based on Aaron's forthcoming paper 'Ezana of Aksum: The First Christian African King,' Aethiopica 28

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62:41

145. Seeing into the minds of others, with Ellen...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/12/04

A conversation with Ellen Muehlberger (University of Michigan) about how some people in late antiquity tried to model, confirm, or interpret what they thought was going on in the minds of others. We briefly talk about the genre of the lecture book, and then about classroom exercises in impersonation (were they exercises in empathy or not?) and breaking into houses to see what people had in their private quarters. The conversation is based on Ellen's recent book Things Unseen: Essays on Evidence,

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67:37

144. The two millennia of Roman history, with Ed Watts

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/11/20

A conversation with Ed Watts (University of California, San Diego) about his recent book, The Romans: A 2,000 Year History (Basic Books 2025), which covers two millennia of Roman history, down to 1204 AD. We talk about questions of scale in writing history, of continuity and discontinuity in the Roman experience, and what enabled this polity to last for so long. What insights does studying its second millennium (at Constantinople) cast on its first (at Rome), and vice versa?

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57:16

143. Coping with earthquakes in the churches of...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/11/06

A conversation with Mark Roosien (Yale University) about the earthquakes that struck Constantinople in late antiquity and about how emperors and the people of the City reacted to them in the moment. We focus on the church liturgies that commemorated and tried to make sense of them. The conversation is based on Mark's book Ritual and Earthquakes in Constantinople: Liturgy, Ecology, and Empire (Cambridge University Press 2024).

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62:08

142. The decline of animal sacrifice in the late...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/10/24

A conversation with James Rives (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) on the history of ancient animal sacrifice in the Roman world. We focus on its decline and eventual demise in the third and fourth centuries. Animal sacrifice was caught up in the conflicts between the Roman emperors and the Christian Church, which endowed it with an importance it had not had before. The conversation is based on James' recent book Animal Sacrifice in the Roman Empire (31 BCE-395 CE): Power, Communication,

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01:19:08

141. The Renaissance and Byzantium are characters in...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/07/24

A conversation with Ada Palmer (University of Chicago) about the invention of the idea of the Italian Renaissance and the functions that it serves in the western historical imagination. "Byzantium" is a similarly invented category that often works in tandem with "the Renaissance" to mark good and bad moments in the history of culture. The conversation is based on Ada's recent book, Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age (University of Chicago Press, 2025). She is also an award-winning

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54:32

140. A newly identified portrait of Konstantinos XI...

Byzantium & Friends ·

2025/07/10

A conversation with Anastasia Koumousi (Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaea, Greek Ministry of Culture) about the recently identified portrait of the last emperor of the Romans in Constantinople, Konstantinos XI Palaiologos, in a monastery church in the northern Peloponnese. The discussion is based on her article ‘Παλαιά Μονή Ταξιαρχών Αιγιαλείας: η αναχρονολόγηση της ίδρυσης στους μεσοβυζαντινούς χρόνους και η προσωπογραφία του τελευταίου βυζαντινού αυτοκράτορα,’ in M. Xanthopoulou et

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