The

Issue No. 1 The newsletter• of the Spring 2011 ByzantinistOxford Byzantine Society

A Message from the Editor t gives me inestimable pleasure to would be able to gain new insights into the live on through the OBS website and will, present to you the first issue of The subject. In addition to five scholarly articles, in time, be joined by others. This project Byzantinist. This newsletter is the the newsletter also includes a fascinating would not have got off the ground without Ilatest in the Oxford Byzantine Society’s interview with James Howard-Johnston the enthusiastic participation of the con- ongoing endeavour to represent the inter- about his new book and an opportunity to tributors and the encouragement of senior ests of graduate students of Late Antique read about the personal and academic tra- members of the Interfaculty Committee of and Byzantine Studies at Oxford, to provide jectory that has brought one of our new Late Antique and Byzantine Studies. The them with platforms for the sharing of ideas graduate students to us this year. present form of the newsletter could not and information, and to showcase their Finally, as current students consider their have been realised without the design skills exciting and varied academic output. The futures after the degree, one hopes that the of Jesse Simon and the eagle editorial eye of unique and world-renowned reputation of newsletter shall, in times to come, provide Sean Leatherbury. All that remains for me the University of Oxford as a hub of research an indication of the possible career paths in to say is that it is a singular privilege for me into Late Antiquity and Byzantium attracts their chosen field. We have made a start in to present to you the combined efforts of some of the brightest and most motivated this issue, with a profile of a recent graduate your colleagues and students. graduate students from across the globe. and news from four more graduates who have It is entirely fitting that this newsletter is recently completed their doctorates. Every Prerona Prasad President being launched in a year in which a record future issue of the newsletter can build on Oxford Byzantine Society number of students have commenced grad- this, providing current students and students uate studies in Late Antique and Byzantine to come with news from the growing ranks Studies at Oxford. Three of the five articles of alumni. As we grapple with an unprec- The Byzantinist in this inaugural issue have been submitted edented crisis in higher education, building • is published by • by first-year Master of Studies students. networks that link current and former stu- The Oxford Byzantine Society Apart from harnessing new talent, this dents can only have a positive impact on newsletter also attempts to represent the academic and professional outcomes. The Prerona Prasad broad spectrum of disciplines and time Oxford Byzantine Society has always consid- President periods that inform graduate research at the ered the publicising of funding and academic Sean Leatherbury university. The late antique, middle and late opportunities an issue of absolute primacy Secretary periods are all represented, as are the fields and has addressed this through our regular Design and Layout by of art and architecture, archaeology, history emails and website updates. The experiences Jesse Simon and literature. The brief to all contributors of former students are a welcome addition to for Nouvellevague of articles was to discuss a small, contained this corpus of resources. The texts and photographs printed herein are © 2011 by the Authors and may not be aspect of their research in such a way that After its modest print run is distributed, reproduced without permission. the non-expert (though academic) reader an electronic version of the newsletter will Contents Ammianus and the elephants An interview with James Howard-Johnston 12 by Michael Stawpert 2 Book Reviews 14 Echoes of the Fourth-century Apostoleion by John Lansdowne 4 Alumni Profile 16 You cannot deny that you are my son this time, Alexander Graduate Profile 16 by Caterina Franchi 6 Alumni News 17 The Battle of Beroia by Maximilian Lau 8 Recent Publications 18 It was predicted by Annika Asp 10 back cover: Fresco in the Karanlık Kilise, Göreme, Cappadocia Ammianus and the elephants Roman-Persian siege warfare in the fourth century Michael Stawpert St John’s College

mmianus Marcellinus provides investment of strongholds during the fourth- much shattering of heads under the crush- the most enthralling account of century wars between Rome and Persia, and ing weight of stones hurled by our engines.’ military affairs available for the what part was played by that seldom men- (XIX.19.4). Siege towers and rams were by far fourthA century. His narrative covers the tioned weapon of the age, the elephant. the most common methods of approaching crucial battles and campaigns during the fortifications, and against these Ammianus What I have just said suggests I should, as reigns of the emperors from Constantius I to shows many successful defences – the use briefly as my modest ability permits, give a Valens and the disaster of Adrianople in 378. of scorpions and onagers by defenders to concise description of engines of this kind Though Ammianus provides more descrip- bring down towers, hand-thrown projectiles for those who are unacquainted with them. tions of the pitched battles of the period, against rams as well as methods to ignite (XXIII.4.1) sieges are events of major significance; the the siege engines. The relationship between strategic importance of each site, the terror At the time of Ammianus, siege technol- artillery and the regular army, however, of the civilian population, the tactical inge- ogy was not significantly different to that was radically different in Late Antiquity nuity needed to unlock the defences and of the late classical period. Rams, hurling compared to the principate. Traditionally, the heroic deeds of the defenders, heighten machines, mobile towers were still the artillery detachments were assigned to each the drama and tension of a siege in the set dominant weapons available to a besieging legion, providing firepower for the march- piece events of Ammianus’s account. The army. Ammianus’ digression on the siege ing camps or garrisoned positions. By Late truly epic description of the siege of Amida weapons of his day gives an insight into the Antiquity, a specialised artillery corps provides one of the most memorable and approaches taken for reducing fortified posi- existed for the Roman army, which, like detailed description in the account, told by tions on the Roman-Persian border. What is engineers, performed a specific function for a narrator who combines the roles of an eye telling in the account Ammianus provides, the garrisoned troops of the empire. Rather witness and a military expert. In most schol- however, is that these weapons, especially than viewing this as evidence for the dimin- arly works dealing with Ammianus and his the ever present onager, were not used to ished role of artillery, as its presence was no military accounts, the ability of Roman and attack the walls of cities or bring down for- longer ubiquitous, this should perhaps be Persian forces to capture fortified strong- tifications, but to attack the personnel inside seen as a recognition of the crucial and spe- holds receives at least some attention, the defences. Equally, weapons we would cialised role for war machines in late antique concentrating mostly upon technology, lit- identify as siege machines such as the onager warfare, which is attested by the role of the erary features of Ammianus or the narrative were used by defenders to foil the schemes Gallic legions at Amida, who were ‘admira- history of the period. In this paper I wish to of the enemy to take the walls, as well as anti- bly suited to fighting in open country, but briefly examine how much of a part tech- personnel weaponry, which appears to have quite useless, indeed a positive nuisance, nological capabilities really played in the been devastatingly effective – ‘There was in the kind of warfare to which we were

2 | The Byzantinist restricted. They were no help in working the frontier of the Sassanian world. What is conventional methods have been employed. artillery or constructing defensive works.’ most significant about Ammianus’ report However, Amida was clearly an exceptional (XIX.5.4) It is worth mentioning, however, of the use of elephants in war, however, are case, housing three legions and being an that the Romans enjoyed no advantage in the armies of which they are a feature. In the integral part of the Roman frontier. The defensive technology; the Persians appear two instances in which Ammianus reports campaign which brought the Persians to equally armed when defending their for- the use of war elephants – once in siege at Amida was one in which Roman towns by tresses as at Pirisabora during the Persian Amida and once in the field against Julian and large paid off the invaders for security, campaign. (XXIV.2) – they are part of the royal army, under the and in which the Persians were more than personal command of the Shah. Clearly happy to accept payment and move on to The greatest danger for defenders seems these beasts, slow moving and ill tempered maximise the profits of the season. The ease to have been the chance that the enemy as they are known to be, carried significant of the Persian advance and the readiness of might construct a tower higher than the prestige; not only for their exotic image the Roman populace to pay off the invaders walls, from which fire could be directed (one need only imagine the feelings of a may be better understood if the accompany- against the defenders on the walls; this is Gallic legionary when confronted by a full ing elephants were put in their role as ‘the a feature of several of the most dramatic armoured war elephant, Ammianus’s views most frightful objects the human mind can sieges in Ammianus’ narrative, and in one can be seen above) but for the conspicu- conceive’ (XIX.7.3). instance in Julian’s campaign into Persia, it ous expense that they signified. To cover an is merely the threat that the Romans may elephant in a suit of chain mail was no mean This paper has outlined some of the strata- have a tower capable of overlooking the feat. Similarly, mounting archers in towers gems employed by both the Romans and the walls, that prompts the surrender of the atop the elephant would have added to their Persians, as related by Ammianus, in siege town. At Amida, the Persian towers were monstrous size and their intimidating effect warfare. What has become clear is the strate- not only ‘armoured’ but also ‘on the high upon the enemy. gic difficulty sieges posed in Late Antiquity, tops of these were pieces of artillery, which for though minor settlements could be over- threw into confusion those who were active The impact of elephants in the field is well come, the time required to achieve this, and in defence at the lower level.’ (XIX) Frontal understood, but what use could an elephant the sheer density of fortified positions in the assault however appears to be a relatively be in a siege assault, particularly against zone of conflict between the two empires, rare occurrence at this time; that Ammianus sophisticated defences? The very presence made the reduction of these positions devotes attention to the instances of assault, of elephants at a siege, and the evidence of impractical and time-consuming. Equally should indicate the unusual nature of these their use from Ammianus, is revealing about notable, from even the brief discussion of events, as the historian is concerned with the scale of the defences of Eastern cities in Ammianus given here, is the enormity of the remarkable events of the age rather Late Antiquity. Ammianus describes how the the supplies required by an army engaged than the ordinary. Other tactics, such as Persians constructed towers on the backs of in siege warfare at this time. The prestige undermining, form an important part of the the elephants, of sufficient height to allow the campaigns which both empires pursued besiegers arsenal, though on many occa- Persian archers to attack the Roman troops were vastly expensive affairs and would have sions, it appears that the defenders were on the battlements (XIX.7). The average needed huge amounts of material. Although equally adept at subterranean warfare – height of Indian elephants stands at 7m. this could be occasionally pillaged from the perhaps an indication that the engineering With the materials available to the Persians, it enemy (as the Persian artillery at Amida corps of the Roman army was still an effi- is unlikely that a tower could be built to stand had been from Singara), one must assume cient and well organised force. more than the height of the elephant itself; that much of this was carried by an army. To most likely the tower was significantly smaller, commit to a siege would obviously consume These last were accompanied by lines of taking the total height of elephant and tower much of that material and required highly elephants, wrinkled monsters of enormous to under 14m high. That this height was suf- developed corps of engineers, capable of height, which advanced slowly loaded with ficient for Persian archers to fire into the city building an armoured siege tower with armed men, a sight more dreadful than could be seen as evidence for fortification of firing platforms which, in the most impres- any other form of horror, as I have often Eastern towns and cities being much smaller sive instances, could be wheeled up to the declared. (XIX.19.2) than is sometimes assumed. That relatively enemy fortifications, while a ram battered at Though the use of war elephants has small scale defences could create such prob- the enemy walls. To begin the investment of a long and well documented history in lems for the technologically sophisticated a siege was clearly a last resort for an invader. the classical and antique ages, very little Persians, as to make outright storming Rather, by alternating between assurances is made of their use under the Sassanians. impossible, while methods of tower con- of mercy and threats of destruction, it was The supply of elephants for war was struction and undermining were frequently vastly more efficient to compel minor settle- clearly dependent on diplomatic relations undone, is revealing about the capacity of ments, even with garrisons, to surrender. To between the Sassanians and the neighbour- armies to attack defended positions in Late this end, the Persians possessed what must ing peoples who could supply the beasts Antiquity. Clearly the use of elephants was a be considered the greatest terror weapon of for the Shah’s armies. That they feature form of psychological warfare; these beasts their age: elephants. in Ammianus perhaps reveals something play only a supporting role in the Persian about the strategic situation on the Eastern assault on Amida, appearing after more •

The Byzantinist | 3 Echoes of the Fourth- century Apostoleion in Late Antique Italia

Annonaria John Lansdowne St Cross College

he Church of the Holy Apostles or origin—conveyed considerable author- over the crossing. The plan emphasized (Apostoleion) was among Byzan­ ity in Christianity’s first millennium. The and expanded the cruciform shape of tradi- tium’s most celebrated buildings. early Church hierarchy adopted the impe- tional, appended or subterranean martyrs’ FirstT established by Constantine the Great rial administrative model and its synoecistic chapels—including the Constantinian and dedicated under Constantius II, it was framework was formalized at Nicaea in 325. Old St. Peter’s in Rome or original Holy hailed by Procopius as Constantinople’s Bishops were ‘sent out’ to major urban Sepulchre—to fashion for the Apostoleion ‘second church’ upon its re-construction centers to establish metropolitan sees—one a synecdochic core structure with the cross under Justinian in 550 (De Aedificiis I.IV.18). metropolitan (ἐπαρχία) per Roman prov- as its main feature. As Krautheimer noted, The significance of the Apostoleion in medi- ince; one vicarius per dioecesis. A see able to ‘a new type of martyrium ha[d] sprung up, eval cultural politics ensured its emulation. trace its foundation to Christ’s apostles was a self-sufficient structure centered on the Modern and historical observers have long dubbed apostolic. In his Historia Ecclesiae of focus of veneration.’ noted the more prominent Justinianic ca. 324/5, Eusebius of Caesarea traced the Competing traditions concerning the structure’s influence on the sixth-century see of Jerusalem to James of Antioch, of church’s original foundation are subjects Church of St. John in Ephesus and eleventh- Rome to Peter, and of Alexandria to Mark. of scholarly debate. Krautheimer and Cyril century San Marco in Venice. Considerably By the mid-fourth century, Constan­ Mango concluded that the church was built less has been acknowledged concerning the tinople remained the sole major by Constantine but, following earthquake impact of the Apostoleion in its fourth-cen- metropolitan incapable of boasting apostolic damage in 358, renovated by Constantius tury Constantinian manifestation. The first foundation. With what Cyril Mango has and officially consecrated on Easter Sunday, Apostoleion stood out as perhaps the most named a ‘vacuum in holiness’ undermining 370. Confusion stems from ambiguous famous Constantinopolitan church amongst their basileia, Eastern emperors presumed terminology. Constantius’ Apostoleion was Christians in the West and as a premier pil- to counter Roman primacy by import- preceded by Constantine’s mausoleum. grimage destination in the city that became ing apostles’ relics. In 356-7, Constantius This mausoleum was begun, if not fin- New Jerusalem. ordered the corpora sepulta of SS. Andrew ished, during Constantine’s lifetime, yet Replication was a medieval architectural in Patras, Timothy in Ephesus, and Luke incorporated into the Apostoleion’s super- phenomenon, most notably showcased in in Thebes to be disinterred, translated to structure—due east of and on axis with the the scores of structures echoing the Church Constantinople, and relocated at the new central nave—during the renovation spon- of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In his Apostoleion, Constantinople’s first apostles’ sored by Constantius ca. 359. Eusebius’ seminal, 1942 attempt at establishing an church. The church was situated north of description of the mausoleum from De Vita ‘Iconography of Mediaeval Architecture,’ the Mese in the city’s suburban Region XI. Constantini states: Richard Krautheimer observed that the Nichephoras Callistus dubiously alleged it layout of medieval buildings oftentimes was built upon an Altar of the Twelve Gods …[Constantine] built up the whole shrine relied, above all, upon a prestigious and (Hist. eccl. VIII.55). to an unimaginable height, and made it iconic architectural precedent. This article Gregory Nazianzen, Archbishop of glint with various stones of every kind, journeys earlier into late antique/Byzantine Constantinople, portrayed the Apostoleion facing it from the ground up to the roof. history to offer Constantinople’s original as follows: ‘…μεγάλαυχον ἕδος Χριστοῖο He divided the ceiling into delicate coffers Church of the Holy Apostles as the pro- μαθητῶν / πλευραῖς σταυροτύποις τέτραχα and plated the whole with gold. Up above totype for apostles’ church foundations in τεμνόμενον’ [‘…the seat of Christ’s dis- this on the roof itself he provided copper late antique Northern Italy, specifically, the ciples / having been hewn into four parts’ instead of tiling to protect the building Diocese of Italia Annonaria. ] (Carmen de insomnio Anastasiae 59-60). securely against rain. Round this too glit- This and other poetic descriptions have tered much gold, so that by reflecting back Constantinople been interpreted as that of a Greek cross, the rays of the sun it sent dazzling light to Apostolicity—pertaining to or being con- perhaps with elongated entrance arm, and those who looked from afar. Trellised relief- temporaneous with the Apostles in character tambour (δωμάτιον) rising in a conical roof work wrought in bronze and gold went

4 | The Byzantinist right around the building (IV.58-9, trans. A. of the West the fitting distinction of apos- Both churches were focal points for Cameron). tolic protection and even that of apostolic religious processions, situated on major foundation’. arteries—the Apostoleion on the Mese, the Mango interpreted this description as an Consecrated ca. 382, when the Diocese Basilica Sanctorum Apostolorum on the Via octagonal νάος with rotunda of ‘unimagi- of Milan fought Rome’s sedes apostolica to Romana—in suburban regions outside nable height’ complete with relief-work become the spiritual center of the Western their respective city centers. The Basilica (ἀναγλῦφοι) and coffered ceiling with walls Empire, the basilica’s dedication read: Sanctorum Apostolorum included distinctive plastered in colored marble revetment. features of Roman basilicae. Its elongated TheApostoleion , with its imported apos- Ambrose founded the shrine and he dedi- (+4.7 m.) western arm culminated in a tles’ relics, boosted Byzantine prestige, and cated it to the Lord | In the apostolic name, colonnaded atrium and portico. A hemi- explicitly linked the caesaropapist Byzantine by his duty, and with the relics as a gift; | In spherical apse capped its eastern end. Still, regime with Christ’s apostles. In his mid- the form of a cross, the temple is temple of its dominant cruciform configuration, fifth-centuryHistoria Ecclesiastica, Sozomen the Victory of Christ; | With holiness, his amalgamating basilical and martyrium archi- stated: triumphant image marks the place. tectural elements, implies direct allusion to From this period in time, it became custom Since no precedent existed in the West, Constantinople’s Apostoleion. [in the city of Constantine] to deposit the Constantinople’s Apostoleion must have remains of subsequent Christian emper- been the prototype for the name, concept, Basilicae Sanctorum ors in the [Apostoleion]; and here bishops, and design of the Milanese apostles’ church. Apostolorum likewise, were buried; for the hierarchical The Basilica Sanctorum Apostolorum, Ambrose’s foundations succeeded in dignity is not only equal in honor to impe- presently San Nazaro Maggiore, was a con- making Milan the ‘new custodian of the rial power, but, in sacred places, even takes verted cruciform structure dominated by a apostolic mission in the West.’ St. Basil, the ascendancy (Hist. eccl. II.XXXIV.93, longitudinal hall approx. 56 m. long from Bishop of Caesarea, deemed Milan ‘τὴν trans. E. Walford). apse vertex to narthex, and flanked by pro- καθέδραν τῶν ἀποστόλων’ in a late fourth- truding arms, each 18.55 m., altogether 51.3 century letter to Ambrose. The Basilica Constantine became regarded as a saint and m. from north to south. Its central bay was Sanctorum Apostolorum became an impor- was given the epithet ἰσαπόστολος. St. John sectioned off by triple arcades to north and tant prototype—a ‘trendsetter’ —for Chrysostom—whose relics were eventu- south and supported at the corners by 6.1 apostles’ churches in what Neil McLynn has ally enshrined at the Apostoleion—dubbed by 1.22 m. masonry piers. Central to this called Ambrose’s ‘sacred hinterland’ in Italia Constantinople ‘πόλις τῶν ἀποστόλων’ in his space rose the altar, beneath which were Annonaria. Included amongst these early Homilia contra ludos et theatra, delivered 3 deposited relics of John, Andrew, Thomas, foundations were the Apostoleum in Laus July 399. and Luke in a silver casket. TheApostoleion’s Pompeia (Lòdi); St. Andrew in Concordia, Greek cross plan likewise emphasized the founded between 385 and 397; SS. Andrew, Mediolanum central bay as the focus of commemoration, Luke, John, and Thomas in Aquileia, The Apostoleion was barely a decade into its where ‘having set up an altar-table in the founded between 388 and 397; the Basilica official history when the Second Ecumenical middle...[Constantine] erected here twelve Concilium Sanctorum in Brescia, established Council convened at Constantinople in coffinsθῆκαὶ ( )...in honor and remembrance around 400; and Basilicae Apostolorum at 381. At this critical moment for the Church of the apostolic choir’ (Vita Constantini Verona and Como dated to ca. 385 and the in the East, St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan IV.60; translation by Cameron). ‘De munere’ early fifth century, respectively. (Mediolanum) who Francis Dvornik in Ambrose’s dedicatory inscription implies The latter two churches were decidedly deemed ‘initiator of [the] cult of the apos- that the relics were brought to Milan as cruciform in shape, with apse replacing tles in Northern Italy,’ emerged as the most gifts—likely from Constantinople and pos- eastern headpiece. Ruins of Como’s apos- dynamic ecclesiastical figure in the West. sibly from Theodosius. toleum were uncovered during restorations Diocletian had split Italy into two A few meters east of Ambrose’s Basilica at the Church of Sant’Abbondio in 1863. dioceses—Rome and Milan—in 297. was the octagonal satellite martyrium of St. Excavations revealed hybrid-cross elements Thus, Milan, capital city of Dioecesis Italiae Victor. Lewis saw precedent in Constantine’s with a curved apse and an 11.19 by 23.1 m. Annonariae (and, until 402, capital of the detached mausoleum and in other aisle-less nave, significantly wider than its Western Roman Empire), competed with Constantinian mausolea in Rome—e.g. St. projecting arms. Altogether, the transept Rome for ecclesiastical jurisdiction and Helena’s mausoleum adjacent to SS. Peter measured 23.89 m. Como’s forma crucis was authority. In recognition of the successful and Marcellinus and Santa Costanza aside evident only from the interior. Porticoes Constantinopolitan power play, Ambrose Sant’Agnese fuori le mura. Ambrose was blocked its west façade and rectangu- employed a similar formula in dedicat- buried beneath the main altar at the Basilica lar rooms flanked the nave on either side. ing the Basilica Sanctorum Apostolorum in Martyrum, now his eponymous Basilica di Still, the devotional experience would have Milan. Surveying the Apostoleion’s first fili- Sant’Ambrogio, on the city’s western edge. remained true to the formula. Less is known ation, Otto Demus remarked, ‘The model Yet Milanese Bishops Venerius, Marolus, about Verona’s Apostoleum, partly uncov- of Constantinople was copied by Ambrose Glicerius, and Lazarus were buried in suc- ered 2.07 m. beneath the Romanesque of Milan in order to give to the favorite resi- cession at the basilica from late fourth to dence of the emperors and co-emperors mid-fifth centuries. Continued on Page 15

The Byzantinist | 5 You cannot deny that you are my son this time, Alexander; you would not have died if you had been Ammon’s Alexander’s death in Antiquity Caterina Franchi Exeter College

ccording to the royal ephemeri- the fleet, invited Alexander to a drinking soldiers show despair at the tragedy of an des reported by Plutarch and party. Alexander, all the historians report, uncertain succession. In the modern era, Arrian, Alexander died on the accepted the invitation to this drinking many attempts have been made to explain 28thA day of the month of Daisius, namely party and, after few hours, he drank from Alexander’s death. It has been attributed to 10 June, 323 BC. All the greatest tragic the cup of Heracles (an immense amount a degenerative type of scoliosis, or to acute deaths of Antiquity, all the virtuous pass- of wine) after which he suddenly shouted pancreatitis, pyrogenic spondylitis, men- ings of Homeric style, were not replicated as if a spear had pierced him in his liver. ingitis, typhoid fever, hellebore overdose on that day in Babylon and, because of this, Alexander’s last days were spent fighting and even syphilis. One of the most incred- the ancient historians always treated the against a very high fever, trying to con- ible ideas put forward has blamed the West Conqueror’s death as a sort of mystery, an tinue with the plans to invade Arabia, Nile virus for his death. incomprehensible tragedy and an impos- sacrificing to the gods and searching for However, antique thought could not sible end to such a life. a cool place where to rest, until it became accept the death of such a king by illness Before the death, every historian impossible for him to move or even to alone, and all the great theories about reports that there were portents and pre- speak. Understanding that the end was poisoning are wonderfully shown in the monitions. There are four great portents coming, he asked for his bed to be placed so-called Alexander Romance. What is the in particular that are referred to by the in the center of a great hall, and for his sol- Alexander Romance? Surely not a canonical historians: first of all, the missing lobe of diers to pass in line near him. He couldn’t Greek novel; there is no bucolic or mythical a sacrificial victim (Plutarch and Arrian); speak, but, it is said, he made a sign with past, no love at the centre of the story, no the tale of an ordinary soldier, jumping his eyes at each one. On the tenth of June, feminine figure in whom the main character into the water of the Euphrates to retrieve he died without leaving a legitimate male finds his equal, and, most importantly, no the crown of the king that had fallen from son to inherit his realm or any instructions imaginary hero. Indeed the work’s present his head (Arrian and Diodorus); the as to who was to succeed him. and somewhat misleading title is not orig- killing of a lion, symbol of regality, by a For historians, ancient and modern, inal, but derives from a twelfth-century simple donkey and finally, the episode of Alexander’s death is a mystery: it is not poetical French adaptation, the famous a fool possessed by a μανία who, without heroic, it is not exemplary and it is not a Roman d’Alexandre. The story has its origins any reason and not knowing what he was pulchra mors. Arrian and Plutarch provide in Greece, and it is possible to list at least six doing, sat on Alexander’s throne. The last a physiological narration of the develop- versions (or recensions) in Greek, related is the most common portent, for it was ment of an illness. For Diodorus, it is an to one another, but at the same time, very referred to by all the historians except extraordinary event, foretold by portents much distinct, as well as about a dozen Curtius. After the portents, the tragedy and a prophecy of all the wars that were translations into different languages. A text actually occurred. All the historians are in about to break out. For Curtius, it is the such as this could not be satisfied with an agreement when discussing the last feast apocalyptic and dramatic end of a won- underlying illness and a protracted descent Alexander attended. Around the end of derful and memorable life, where the to death and would prefer poisoning as the May, a certain Medius of Larissa, a man of last words of this king as cried out by his cause of Alexander’s death.

6 | The Byzantinist The following is the story in the king, as having distinctly Christ-like char- text, and where the same episode appeared first version α from the third century. acteristics, and it is possible to find a strong in both the versions, the most pathetic or Antipater, in Macedonia, cannot counte- element of censorship in this version’s the most adventurous one was chosen. nance Olympias anymore, for she is always description of both the divine Alexander However, this decision does not always spreading rumours about him, and reports and pagan religion; for instance, he is never lead to a coherent result. For instance, in this to Alexander, who believes his moth- made to insist on his hypothetical descent its final passages, the story of the death of er’s version of events and sends Craterus to from Ammon, and the name of Zeus is Alexander begins with the homicidal con- replace Antipater. The Macedonian regent, mentioned eleven times as opposed to the spiracy of Antipater, his son Cassander afraid of the king, decides to murder him; twenty-eight times in α. and Iollas, the cupbearer of Alexander. he finds a terrible poison and sends his Recension ε is the only version of However, these characters abruptly vanish son Cassander to Babylon to execute Alexander Romance that differs signifi- and the murderous servant of ε emerges, the murder itself. Cassander’s brother is cantly from the others. Commonly dated without ever before having been men- Iollas, the cupbearer of the king, and, at to the seventh-eighth century, it represents tioned, only to be killed by Bucephalus Medius’ party, Iollas pours the poison in the really Byzantine version of the story. In (who, in reality, was already dead at this Alexander’s wine. Alexander cries out as it, Alexander is not a Hellenic king, but the point of the story), who recognizes him as if hit by a spear, and understands he is ideal Byzantine emperor, with the qualities his master’s assassin. We can therefore give doomed. He had already received signs of a basileus kosmokrator, a righteous ruler a terminus post quem for this version, circa from the gods: a child was born, half man of a kingdom where the sun never sets; the seventh-eighth century, and a terminus half beast, with the human part dead at even his clothes, ornaments, and rituals are ante quem, as the oldest of its manuscripts birth, a portent warning of his mortal those of the Emperor. Nor is he presented dates from the fourteenth century. The life coming to an end. Furthermore, all in the image of Christ, but is instead por- great difference consists in the sentiment the beasts around him had begun to fight trayed as the intermediary between Christ of mournful memento mori that fills the one against the other for the kingdom. and men. Here, his murder is not plotted by last words of Alexander’s death. Alexander Knowing he is going to die, Alexander his courtiers, but by a slave possessed by a cries for his fate and does not even smile prays to Zeus to welcome him to Eleusis δαιμονικὴ μανία. Alexander, who now does in his last moments in a realistic death that as the third of the humans, after Dionysus not cry out in pain, is sorry for the future doesn’t share anything with the hagio- and Heracles, to be thus honoured and of his soldiers. ‘You will never more ride graphical death of ε. tries to commit suicide, so as to disappear with me, nor will hear my voice’, he says, Alexander has always been a legend, from earth in a divine way, but is stopped while the soldiers cry out loud and the sky a symbolic figure of history, moral and by his wife. He then writes his will and darkens. He tries to commit suicide, but myth. His death, which was not easily lets all his soldiers come and see him. He not in search of some divine status; he comprehensible due to its lack of grandeur hands over the reign to the κράτιστος, and seems only a desperate man who doesn’t and exemplum, is one of the great dramas dies. The earth trembles, the sky darkens want to die in the way that he finally did. of Antiquity. How does one write about and the statue of Zeus in Babylon moves. Alexander writes a letter to his mother, a such an unedifying passing? Is it due to A big star appears and it, along with a great hymn to the vanitas mundi, a résumé of his a simple illness, a murder or a portent in eagle, plunges into the sea. Both of them life, extolling the importance of his ambi- itself? Should we say, like Lucian makes suddenly reappear, bringing another star tion to create an universal empire and Philip say to his son in the Dialogue of with them: Alexander is a god now. a hope that the project continues. Here the Dead, ‘You cannot deny that you are This is Alexander’s death in the first again, he shows himself as a tender child, my son this time, Alexander; you would version, α. It is not difficult to find the but, most of all, as a man who is afraid of not have died if you had been Ammon’s’? analogies with the evangelical account dying. And again, he speaks to his com- Should we believe the medical hypoth- of Christ’s death, and it was not difficult panions, and especially to his horse and esies, which inevitably have to trust, as for the ancients as well: the prayer a new to Charmis, his best friend. He who con- their sources, the authors who lived cen- Gethsemane, the bitter cup Alexander quered the whole world cannot flee from turies after Alexander? Or should we just accepts, the ascent to Heaven. All the his destiny, and his death is not glori- read all the different tales, all the different other versions offer the same tale, and all of ous, but brought by a κύλιξ πικράv and a versions, and treat them as what they are: them show a clearly Christological model poison. Bucephalus kills his master’s mur- reactions to a terrible and sudden death in Alexander’s cup, but their differences derer, and then dies in Alexander’s arms. that left the world astonished and that are more important than their similarities. Alexander smiles and dies. He does not destroyed the dream of universal suprem- In version β of the fifth century, all hints stop smiling and seems still alive, redolent acy that had guided Alexander in his life? to the assumption of Alexander and of of a hagiographical trope that places him his prayer to Zeus are eliminated; in this in the imagery of the Byzantine emperor • version, in fact, Alexander is the exemplum as the intermediary between God and men of the Greek king, with Greek virtues, and – a saint. even his religiosity is less and less under- Recension γ is the last version and also lined. In a Christian milieu, it was more the most difficult to date. It represents the difficult to present someone, although a union of recensions β and ε in a unique

The Byzantinist | 7 The Battle of Beroia:

A Byzantine ‘Face of Battle’ Maximilian Lau Oriel College

t was by reading John Keegan’s Face of still celebrated almost a century later, making did this ‘partly to make ready for war, but Battle that I discovered that it was pos- Beroia as important to Byzantium as Trafalgar more because he wished to win over some sible to write military history that was was to Britain. Secondly, the battle heralded of their chieftains’. Choniates elucidates this Iboth intellectually rigorous and engaging to the end of the Pechenegs as an independent diplomacy, noting that John sent Pecheneg- read. Though he opens by saying he has no force and forced their disappearance from speaking envoys who set ‘sumptuous feasts idea what a battle is truly like, through his history. Moreover, a number of elucidating before them and charmed them with silk examination of sources and comparisons parallels can be made with previous battles. garments and silver cups and basins’. There with similar battles, he manages to realise as Finally, there are two differing accounts of is some disagreement as Kinnamos says that much of his chosen battles as it is possible to this battle. some ‘came over to’ John, whereas Choniates do. This not only appeals to the armchair- The two principal sources for the reign of seems to suggest that John attacked before general in many historians, but, through John II are chroniclers John Kinnamos and they had decided, as the Pechenegs ‘were this thorough exploration of what he calls Niketas Choniates. Kinnamos was secretary confident that they would be victorious in the ‘face of battle’, we can then delve further to Manuel I, John’s son, and wrote approxi- battle, as they had always been in the past’. into the nature of the protagonists and the mately fifty years after the events. Choniates Thus, the exercise may have been simply to world they lived in, and gain insight into the was an important official in the government divide their councils. operational practices of armies by engaging of the Angeloi, and wrote his History at the Alexios had defeated the Pechenegs with their raison d’être – warfare. In this short court in exile in Nicaea after the capture at the battle of Levounion in 1091 with study, I will conform to Keegan’s methodol- of Constantinople in 1204, approximately the aid of the Cumans, therefore if the ogy by presenting the Campaign, the Battle, eighty years after the events. Kinnamos Pechenegs felt secure enough to believe and the Will to Combat. This outline should states that he only records John’s reign in defeat was impossible, they must have had enable the reader to see the implications that summary as he was not a witness, but it can an advantage at Beroia that they did not the study of any Byzantine battle raises, and be assumed that he gained his information have at Levounion. This must have been appreciate the account of the battle itself. from those who were active in the reign. the ‘covered wagons’ that will be discussed When it comes to battles of the He also accompanied Manuel on campaign later. Due to the subsequent destruction of Byzantine period, we have fewer sources and is therefore likely to have been familiar the Pechenegs as an independent force, we compared to those Keegan had for his anal- with those who were at Beroia. Choniates’s must therefore assume that the bulk of the ysis. This is true both of primary sources, history is temporally removed enough for it remaining Pecheneg nation was gathered where on many occasions we have only a to be considered less partisan. near Beroia, explaining the multiple refer- single source for a battle, and of secondary The other major source is Anna ences to women and children. Whether or sources. Eric McGeer has stated that most Komnena’s Alexiad, in which she describes not John was successful in ‘luring away’ any studies in Byzantine military history seem the battle of Dristra (1087 AD). This battle chieftains, both chroniclers note the ferocity to focus on ‘what the army was rather that and Beroia have many common charac- of the battle and that it was ‘in the balance’ what it did’, that is to say, most studies are of teristics, although Alexios was defeated at for some time. Though John triumphed, his the institutional history of the army rather Dristra. Furthermore, Anna wrote during strategy did not greatly affect the nature of than its operational history, and battles are the reigns of John and Manuel, and some of the battle itself by giving him any particu- often considered as events in a bigger picture the soldiers she consulted, such as George lar advantage in numbers or cohesion. With rather than as a central human experience. Paleologos and Gregory Katakalon, could preliminaries over, we are told John wished Using Keegan’s methodology of investi- have been at both battles. to decide matters by force; to attempt to end gating primary sources, and cross-referencing the Pecheneg threat forever. with what we know from other battles, this The Campaign study will deduce what we can about the The Pechenegs, a steppe people like many The Battle battle of Beroia in 1122 AD. I have chosen who had troubled the empire before, John drew up his forces ‘in the morning twi- Beroia, firstly, because of my research interest crossed the Danube into imperial lands in light’, and yet none of the chroniclers note in the reign of John II Komnenos, for whom force in August of either 1122 or 23. John this as one of his ‘stratagems’. Therefore, it this was a great victory, in commemoration responded by bringing his veteran campaign was probably not a surprise attack. What of which he established a day of thanksgiv- army to meet them, wintering near Beroia, is likely is that the vast Pecheneg encamp- ing. Niketas Choniates attests the feast was the capital of the theme. Kinnamos says he ment would have been woken early by their

8 | The Byzantinist lookouts to the sight of the Byzantine army mentions, Adrian Komnenos charged the multi-national, it was Christian and united arrayed before it. wagons in force and returned with only in faith. Though there is no note of services The Pechenegs immediately attacked seven survivors. Following this, Pecheneg before battle (and only the briefest mention in this first phase of the battle with ‘cavalry reinforcements appeared and Alexios was of ‘thanksgiving’ afterwards), or of the battle charges, discharge of missiles and war cries’. forced to flee the field. cries of Κύριε ἐλέησον that are given in the According to Choniates, John’s army stood John Birkenmeier has noted that this technical manuals, we do hear of John’s per- firm and there appears to have been a pro- account presents historiographical prob- sonal piety. Choniates says, ‘whenever the longed exchange of fire and close combat. lems, as it perfectly mirrors the battle of Roman phalanxes were hard pressed by the Choniates also describes the Byzantines Adrianople in AD 476, where the Goths’ enemy falling furiously around them, he being in a ‘phalanx’. This could be a classi- war wagons defeated the Emperor Valens. would look upon the icon of the Θεοτόκος, cising term, but might also suggest that the Birkenmeier suggests that Anna’s knowl- wailing loudly and gesturing pitifully, and Byzantines actually formed an anti-cavalry edge of the classics caused her to write shed tears hotter than the sweat of battle’. The formation, similar to a Napoleonic infantry her account of Dristra in this way so that, Christian belief in the power of the chosen square. During the battle of Dristra, Anna despite the defeat, Alexios ‘would gain empire would have been reinforced by the notes that Alexios ‘linked the infantry and some amount of reflexive glory from the army’s experience. Not only had John already cavalry squadrons (and) gave instructions allusive comparison of his deeds with those used this army for the successful Sozopolis that no soldier was to advance in front of of Valens, an emperor from a time of greater campaign, but many of his troops had prob- the line’, which successfully resisted the imperial power’. This is very unlikely as no ably fought under Alexios as well. Petcheneg skirmishing. We know from Emperor would want to be equated with the There is, however, one incident during Kinnamos that John’s doryphoroi (lance- loser of Adrianople. Thus I will treat Anna’s the battle that shows a slight wavering of this bearing cavalry) at the siege of Sozopolis account, which blames Alexios’ army’s will to fight and could have meant a repeat also used the bow, and that they performed failure to breach the wagon laager for the of Dristra. When John ordered the assault a feigned retreat before turning and attack- defeat, as being largely truthful. upon the laager, Kinnamos notes that ‘the ing the Turks – a hugely difficult battlefield John, by contrast, acted decisively Romans did not agree to this’ and that there- manoeuvre which showed the calibre of and ordered a direct assault upon the fore John ‘ordered the axe-bearers round him John’s army. Unlike the Pechenegs, the wagon laager, which was performed by the (of)…/the British nation’ and went himself. Byzantines would also have had heavy cavalry Varangian guard who used their ‘long shields Meanwhile, Choniates praises John for not in the form of either Macedonians or Latin and single-edged axes’ to break through the only giving cunning orders, but also being mercenaries. Therefore, there is likely to have wagons. Despite his injury, John is said to the first to carry them out. Historians such as been some cavalry close combat followed by have accompanied them personally on foot, Paul Stephenson have accused Kinnamos of a disciplined withdrawal back behind lines of and ‘like an unbreakable wall’ they demol- showing John in a bad light so as to empha- infantry, which was probably composed of ished the wagons and defeated the remaining sise the glory of Manuel. This might explain peltasts (light missile infantry) in tight forma- Pechenegs in hand-to-hand combat. The why Kinnamos shows John carelessly going tion. Thus, the Byzantines would have had wall may refer to a Saxon shield wall of the into battle when wiser emperors such as the advantage in cavalry vs. cavalry warfare, type used in pre-Norman English armies, Manuel (and indeed Alexios who also wisely as well as in infantry vs. cavalry skirmishing. which would have protected them from withdrew from Dristra) would have acted The fixed formation of the Byzantines is missile fire long enough to start breaking the differently. If Kinnamos is correct, we can also suggested by the fact that John was riding wagons. This agrees with other battles we imagine the scene of the army command- up and down the lines with his bodyguard of know of involving wagon laagers, such as in ers, relieved that they had weathered the Varangians (axe-bearing heavy infantry from the Hussite wars, the American West or the Pecheneg storm, who were then ordered to Britain, who in this and other battles seem Boer war. In these cases, the German, Native attack the invulnerable wagon-fortress by an to have acted like dragoons in that they dis- American and British horsemen could not Emperor being treated for an arrow wound. mounted for combat), providing ‘assistance breach the circle of wagons (known as a They might have, understandably, disobeyed all the while to his beleaguered troops’ like wagenburg, corral or laager respectively), as it his orders. Therefore, John could only pursue Caesar at Alesia. Kinnamos says that, for a required heavy infantry such as Landsknechts the battle personally with his bodyguard if while, the battle hung ‘in the balance’, -par or pioneer units. he wished to truly win the day. Fortunately, ticularly when John himself was shot in the heavy infantry armed with axes was exactly leg, but discipline held and the Pechenegs The Will to Combat what was required to breach the laager were forced to withdraw behind their wagon Though further analysis will be beyond the and, with their fortress gone, the will of the laager, just as they had at Dristra. scope of this study, I wish to note some pecu- Pechenegs broke. The second phase of this battle was liarities with the ‘Will to Combat’ – why the This study hopes to have highlighted different. All three sources describe the men at Beroia fought and did not break and how much can be gained from the study of wagons as being like fortresses or palisades, run. The Pechenegs were fighting for - sur battles, how the Byzantines experienced the and Choniates describes them as having vival, which is why they ran only when the face of battle and how they conveyed it in oblique passageways for the Pechenegs to wagon laager was breached and all hope was their accounts. retreat. This had been the turning point in lost. For the Byzantines the will to fight was Alexios’ battle at Dristra, when, as Anna more complex. Firstly, though this army was •

The Byzantinist | 9 It was predicted Prophecies used as explanations for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 Annika Asp Exeter College

he accounts of the fall of transcended boundaries between pro-and emperor who filled it. This square was meant Constantinople bring us one anti- Unionist affiliations. for Constantine XI, had he been officially step closer to understanding crowned (Leonard, 14). Nestor Iskinder’s fifteenth-centuryT beliefs and attitudes. The early period of Byzantine apocalyp- account, written after the fall, also mentions Regardless of the origins and backgrounds tic traditions has been studied by Paul the traditions of Methodius and Leo the of their authors, they contain numerous Alexander (Alexander 1985) and Cyril Wise. He portrays the Rus as future libera- references to prophecies about the end Mango (Mango 1960). Accounts of the fall tors of Constantinople and mentions one of of the Byzantine capital. Constantinople of Constantinople contain references to the Visions of Daniel about the Great Philip was in fact more than a capital: it played traditions that already appear in Byzantine saving the city (Pertusi, 1:296-298). In these an eschatological role (Alexander, 151– literature in its early and middle periods, accounts, Constantinople retains its escha- 184). However, in 1453, reality contrasted such as the oracles of Leo the Wise, attrib- tological role, but the interpretation of the harshly with Byzantine apocalyptic tradi- uted to the emperor Leo VI, the tradition of legends shifts from the belief that the city will tions and questioned their validity. Was Methodius of Patras or Pseudo-Methodius, never fall into a belief in its future liberation. this the end of the world? Or had the City originating in a Syriac apocalypse, and the Another source for prophecies is the been ‘cast out’ from the divine plan? We Visions of Daniel. Bible, especially the Old Testament. Laments can shed more light on this by reading Leonard of Chios mentions in his letter of Isaiah are used by several authors. Leonard how the authors of the accounts of the fall an ‘oracle of Erythraea’, but he does not elab- explains that the fall took place due to God’s perceived the situation – and what they orate further, as it was only accessible ‘for wrath at the Constantinopolitans, who insin- intended to convey to their readers while those who can read it’ (Leonard, 15). This cerely feigned the church union. He bemoans trying to share the mental shock of the fall suggests that the oracle was not written in this with laments of Isaiah (Leonard, with them. Greek. Dukas presents a popular legend of a 15). Dukas uses laments of Isaiah extensively, This article will examine how proph- poor man who receives a wooden sword from dramatically weaving them into his account ecies and premonitions were used in the an angel descending from the sky and who to create a sense of fatalism. He marks each accounts of the fall of Constantinople to will avenge the people of Constantinople key event in his narrative with an appropriate explain its causes. I will discuss accounts by (Dukas, 97). Donald Nicol explains that this verse from Isaiah. Such an event is the posi- ‘Byzantine’ authors in the widest sense of prophecy was based on the Visions of Daniel tioning of the great cannon near the city wall, the term – including Italian authors who I (Nicol, 101). Dukas depicts popular belief in which fulfilled God’s prophecy to Jeremiah have reason to suggest were sufficiently con- this legend vividly: (Dukas, 86–87). Upon Giustiniani’s wound- nected to a ‘Byzantine’ sphere of thought. I ing, he recalls the prophecy to Zedekiah A number of people, believing that this was will describe prophecies related to tradi- about God turning against his people (Dukas, now about to happen, began running, and tions predating the fall of Constantinople 94). He also refers to Isaiah upon the break- advised the rest to follow them. In so doing, and beliefs unknown in sources which ing of church vessels (Dukas, 99-100). Nestor the Greeks were putting into practice an predate the accounts of the fall. I will uses the same example, although he does idea which had occurred to them long suggest that pre-existing traditions were not expressly refer to the Bible (Pertusi, before. ‘If we put the column of the Cross re-interpreted and new ones sprung up so 1:295). Dukas’ narrative culminates in behind us, we shall escape the wrath which that an established set of beliefs about the an elaborate lament on the fall of the city, is coming.’ This was the reason why in their invincibility of the Byzantine capital would written to imitate the style of Isaiah’s laments flight they went on and entered the Great not be proven wrong by its defeat. Reading (Dukas, 108–109). Isidor of Kiev grieves that Church. (Dukas 1972, 98) between the lines of apparent blame on the the conquest was the greatest in history and Constantinopolitans for the loss of their Leonard presents an elaborate proph- compares it to the conquest of Jerusalem, city, it is possible to find attempts by authors ecy said to hail from Leo the Wise. He writes claiming that the fate of Constantinople was to comfort and reassure the readers of such about a document lost and mysteriously still worse (Pertusi, 1:99). accounts. The prophecies insist that, despite found in the monastery of Mangana. It had However, some authors find a par- the fall of the city to the Ottomans, it was a full list of patriarchs and a square for each allel to the defeat of Constantinople in ultimately invincible and any defeat would crowned Byzantine emperor. Each square mythology in the fall of Troy. Laonikos only be temporary. Based on this reading, was filled, apart from the last one, which sig- Chalkokondyles claims this to be a pun- such a message even appears to have nified that the empire would end with the ishment against the Greeks for the sack

10 | The Byzantinist of Troy (Chalkokondyles, 54). Leonard There were several prophecies related In this paper, I have discussed the use of begins his account by mentioning ‘A storm to SS Constantine and Helen. Constantine prophecies and apocalyptic premoni- of Troy’ that ‘arose and swallowed the city’ does not figure in early prophetic traditions, tions to explain the reasons for the fall of (Leonard, 13). Dukas compares the turning but he becomes important during the final Constantinople. The accounts of the fall point of the final battle, the wounding of years. Nestor mentions the fulfillment of the contain references to prophecies familiar Giustiniani, to Achilleus (Dukas, 94). saying: ‘[Constantinople] was founded by from Byzantine literary tradition, such as Constantine and finished with Constantine’ those of Leo the Wise, Methodius of Patras The next group of prophecies does not (Pertusi, 1:293). Niccolò Barbaro speci- or the Visions of Daniel. Moreover, new clearly relate to any Byzantine apocalyptic fies that there was a prophecy which told prophecies were added – some of these may traditions. These oracles appear to hail from that Constantinople would begin and end have developed during the late Byzantine contemporary Constantinopolitan popular with Constantine son of Helen (Barbaro, period and are not attested elsewhere, and culture as captured by our authors. Leonard 61). Incidentally, Helen was the name of others seem to be added from popular belief. gives a list of signs predicting the doom both Constantine I’s and Constantine XI’s The accounts may at first appear harsh and of Constantinople, which come from the mother. Barbaro also mentions that a statue condemning, especially when they blame Catholic tradition. He mentions a warning of Constantine had pointed out towards the the fall of Constantinople on the sins of given by the Abbot Joachim in his Papalista: direction from which the enemy – i.e. the the citizens. However, I have presented an ‘Woe to you, built on seven hills, with your Turks – came (Barbaro, 61). A third proph- alternative reading and suggested that the hands chopped off, as if destitute of help.’ ecy that Barbaro mentions was that the city intent of the writers was to fit the capture (Leonard, 15). This could refer back to the would never be captured until the day the of Constantinople into existing eschatologi- tradition of oracles of Joachim of Fiori. A moon rose darkened. He writes that God cal beliefs, which would have been shaken fifteenth-century manuscript written after and Jesus were acting in accordance with SS by the occupation of the Byzantine capital, the council of Florence is likely to have been Constantine and Helen, and when all three which was a crucial part of such beliefs. The accessible to Leonard and could be the one he prophecies had been fulfilled, God decided authors of these accounts quoted prophecies is referring to. Unfortunately, this manuscript to end the city (Barbaro, 56). Finally, known to them either from a previous liter- has yet to be studied. Thus, we can note the Isidor recalls an ancient prophecy ‘which ary tradition or from contemporary popular presence of Western apocalyptic tradition had long been consecrated in our stories’ beliefs, thus maintaining their readers’ belief in the Byzantine world. Leonard mentions that said ‘Woe to you, city of seven hills, in a re-conquest of the Queen of Cities. More that Father [i.e. Pope] Nicholas I had in his when you are besieged by a youngster, importantly, they sought to assure their bull ‘Urgentis in senium saeculi corruptela’ pro- because your very strong walls will be torn readers that God had not abandoned his nounced an execration against the Greeks down’(Pertusi, 1:71). people. The accounts of the final moments (Leonard, 14). According to him even It is not easy to tell how long such proph- of Byzantine Constantinople convey that, Thomas Morosini, the first Latin Patriarch of ecies had been circulating in the city nor how despite the victory of Sultan Mehmet II, the Constantinople, had predicted the fall of the widely they were known and believed in. ‘Queen of Cities’ will always prevail – which city to the Turks (Leonard, 14). However, their frequent occurrence reveals it indeed has. Dukas tells about a prophecy known that the authors of these accounts felt a to John Hunyadi, the Hungarian engi- need to refer to such beliefs. The capture of • neer who built the famous cannon used the city either implied the end of the world by the Ottomans. In Dukas’ account, or that God had changed his plans – both List of Primary Sources Hunyadi had been told that the destruc- of which brought about insecurity. The Barbaro, N. Diary of the siege of tion of Constantinople was necessary to reinterpretation of old apocalypses and the Constantinople, 1453. New York, 1969. save the fortunes of the Christians (Dukas, rediscovery and re-invention of new proph- Chalkokondyles, L. ‘Turkish History Book 14). Dukas also relates a personal premo- ecies specifically referring to the end of VIII, 201-214.’ in The siege of Constantinople nition that he had heard as a child, about Constantinople sought to explain this. The 1453: seven contemporary accounts, trans. J. the simultaneous end of Palaiologan and original significance of these apocalypses, R. Melville Jones. Amsterdam, 1972. Ottoman rule (Dukas, 115–116). Thus, with the importance of Constantinople he ends his account on a positive note, at the end of times, still remains, as the Dukas ‘Byzantine History, chapters 33-42.’ giving hope for the approaching fall of the capture by the Ottomans is explained away in The siege of Constantinople 1453: seven Ottomans. Kritoboulos writes that sooth- as another temporary period under foreign contemporary accounts. sayers saw many preoccupying signs relating rule, an experience which Constantinople Kritoboulos The history of Mehmed the to the destruction of the city (Kritoboulos, had experienced during the Latin empire. Conqueror. ed. H. İnalcık and R. Murphey. 13). He says that even the Sultan looked at This tradition of liberation may well have Minneapolis, 1978. signs and omens and used soothsayers to nourished the rich folklore regarding the Leonard of Chios ‘History of the loss and calculate the opportune moment to attack liberation of the city, still extant in Modern captivity of Constantinople.’ in The siege of the city (Kritoboulos, 23). Likewise, Isidor Greek literature, as analysed in Papayianni’s Constantinople 1453: seven contemporary mentions that Mehmet had employed article, which suggests that such beliefs accounts. astrologers (who apparently followed him were indeed circulating in popular lore Pertusi, A. La Caduta di Costantinopoli in 2 on campaign) (Pertusi, 1:75). (Papayianni 2010). vols. Milano, 1999.

The Byzantinist | 11 The Byzantinist Interview James Howard-Johnston interviewed by Jesse Simon or the Oxford byzantinist, James Howard-Johnston should require little in the way of introduction. In his capacity as University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies he taught further and special subjects devoted toF the late antique and middle Byzantine Near East, and as a supervisor he has guided many a graduate student through the vicissitudes of doctoral research. His decidedly un-occidental approach to Late Antiquity has inspired no small number of students to read Procopius, to give serious consideration to the Sassanian empire, to type the word ‘Sogdian’ into Google and, in many cases, pursue graduate-level investigations into the eastern Roman world. Until recently, his approach to the world of Late Antiquity, and its even- tual conclusion, was transmitted largely through lectures and seminar papers, as well as the occasional article. In 2010, however, the Oxford University Press published Witnesses to a World Crisis, a significant work examining sources for the collapse of the two late-antique superpowers and what he describes as ‘the earthly equivalent of the big bang’, the rise of Islam. The Byzantinist recently had the opportunity to catch up with Mr. Howard-Johnston at his office in the Ioannou Centre, where we discussed, among other things, the genesis of his book, the difficulties of seventh-century source material and the appropriate length for a footnote.

The Byzantinist: How did the idea for was already pretty large and the histori- Eastern and Northern neighbours: Eastern the book initially come about? cal section was also rather large. I received for Peter Brown, Northern for Dmitri advice to separate them – to pluck apart Obolensky – but it was the same period: James Howard-Johnston: The abso- these two conjoined creatures, the histori- Justinian through to around 700. lute distant genesis was in the 1980s, fairly ography and the history – and to make the Peter Brown was a giant figure, looming soon after I started teaching the under- historiography a separate work. very large over the further subject, and at graduate further subject ‘The Near East in What I had was a close analysis of the first I started teaching only the non-Islamic the Age of Justinian and Mohammed’. I rea- extant sources covering the last great war. But parts of it. Then – it must have been about lised that there was no modern and usable it would have been completely short-sighted 1980 – I ventured into the Islamic parts and account of the last war between the East not to extend my coverage to the rest of the once I started doing that with bright under- Romans and the Persians, so I produced a seventh century, given that the sources which graduates, my interest in the origins of Islam, date list for circulation at an undergraduate cover the first thirty years then go on to cover the prophet, the conquests, the organisation class. The ultimate origin of the book is in the rise of Islam; and the most contentious of empire and, above all, the historiographi- that little summary of events. area of Islamic studies is the question of cal questions just grew and grew. Then I had a sabbatical in the years the degree of truthfulness, the amount of 1990 to 1991 and that’s when I wrote about authentic material that exists in the Islamic Byz: One doesn’t necessarily think of Peter half of a book entitled ‘The Last Great War sources. The original historiographical work Brown as an Islamicist; did he teach the of Antiquity’. It’s a history of that war, thus developed into a forensic investigation Islamic parts of the further subject as well? beginning in 603 ending in 630, between of the seventh century. JH-J: Yes, he taught the whole subject. But the East Roman empire and the Sassanian Peter Brown’s view of the rise of Islam is very Persian empire. Byz: How invested were you in the history of Islam before starting on this book? much the view of someone preoccupied Byz: How did the focus of the book change with Late Antiquity. For him, Mohammed JH-J: When the great Peter Brown left from the last war to the rise of Islam? is a peculiar Arabian manifestation of the Oxford in the mid 1970s, I was very hesi- monotheist holy man. JH-J: A fair amount of space was devoted tant about teaching the further subject to historiography, so much so that, after [The Near East in the Age of Justinian and Byz: You mentioned the historiographical another five or six years of writing in every Mohammed]. Peter Brown and Dmitri questions. When you were writing, did you spare vacation, the book had become Obolensky set up the subject – it had a dif- conceive of the book as an introduction or a rather large. The historiographical section ferent name then, it was Byzantium and its guide to some of the sources?

12 | The Byzantinist JH-J: I hadn’t thought of it as a guide. I view obviously I will have gone wrong. But in The next long vacation I thought, ‘well, the Islamic episode as the earthly equivalent certain respects and on certain key points, I I’m just going to get through to AD 602 in a of the big bang, so you’ll find that the phrase would be very surprised if I was completely single chapter’. Three chapters and another ‘history of a brief time’ – which is mod- wrong: one being on the importance of forty thousand words later, I’d got to AD 591 elled on Stephen Hawkins’ Brief History of Mecca and its network of connections in and the end of the penultimate war between Time – surfaces in the introduction and the explaining the extraordinary speed of expan- the powers of Late Antiquity. So as far as conclusion. sion of the Muslim community; the other I can see, there is another book – of which What was I trying to do was basically being on the question of the great crisis about half is in existence – which I think is to carry out a forensic investigation of the which developed in the caliphate in the later going to have the title ‘The End of the World: evidence, going from really good evidence 670s which led to a ten year civil war – 682 the breakdown of the ancient world order’. through to still-quite-good evidence, but to 692 – and how a great Byzantine naval But I’m having a nasty feeling that there where you have to demonstrate it by check- victory induced that crisis. Were that to go, are going to have to be two books: one ing it against the really solid evidence. After I’d be very sad. which looks at the great powers in western ten chapters I had a fairly complete history Eurasia in later antiquity, and then an over- Byz: Had you always intended the book to of the seventh century which could be view which brings in India, as well as China. be published by OUP? written from non-Islamic sources. But there Of course, what do I know about India at was one huge void: you really can’t expect JH-J: The projected work on the last great the moment? Very little. No one can know the outside world – Armenian, Syrian, East war of antiquity was offered to them and very much because there are no histories. It Roman, Egyptian, Iranian – to say much many years later, when this had taken has to be pieced together from impressions about the genesis of the new religion within shape, I naturally went to them in the first written down or material evidence or char- Arabia. So we don’t hear much except a few place. They’ve been wonderfully patient. ters. It might be worth writing something brief remarks about the prophet, the Meccan And they’ve produced the book very well short about the world before the expansive background, the prophet’s life before the indeed. phase of Latin Christendom which opened Hijra, and the prophet’s politics and cam- the way to the rise of Europe. Byz: Now that the historiography is out of paigning after the Hijra – that’s where you the way, is the book about the last great war Byz: So, four books then... rely on Islamic sources. going to see the light of day? So what one can do is test the worth of JH-J: This could be characterised as an the Islamic sources where they overlap with JH-J: I have got a complete text covering example of Oblomovism, about which the non-Islamic sources. And if they seem the events and background consideration Goncharov wrote so well: Oblomov lying to be reasonably sound – and I think they for the war, going from AD 603 to 630. It in his bed and the less he did the more gran- are when it comes to the kernels of events needs an introduction and conclusion and diose became the schemes. So one step at and to the arrangement of those episodes in there are one or two pieces to be added to a time. time – then one can fill in that gap. the middle. I think it’s got to be slimmed Byz: Do you have any words of advice for Because Islamicists rely on the Islamic down. A lot of overlong footnotes have young academics embarking on their own sources and don’t bring in all the others I got to be shortened, because the thing I’ve books? saw myself as writing a fundamental history finally understood, as you get older and of the rise of Islam, and trying to put this more mature, the very very long footnote JH-J: The absolutely central piece of advice not-unimportant episode of human history should shorten, until eventually the foot- is that when one is writing, of course one has on a sound evidential base. note simply refers the reader to a source. got to concentrate on getting the data right But I hope to have it finished within the year and presenting the necessary data to argue a Byz: Given the rise of scholarly interest in to give to the press. point; but the real work is done when, after Islam over the past few decades, it’s kind of presenting some data or giving a narrative, surprising that no one has thought to do Byz: It’s pretty good that you managed to one pauses to recapitulate and then consider that before. get two books out of the original project. and reflect upon where one has got to. These JH-J: I’m not the first person to have thought JH-J: It’s actually worse than having one pause paragraphs are when the young his- of it. About thirty years ago Patricia Crone project which turns into two. Because torian – or the older historian – really make in her book Hagarism, started with quota- there’s a third one. In the later 1990s I their own input. Ultimately, I think a really tions from four non-Islamic sources and started writing the historical introduction great book is a book in which the data has she regarded them as superior to anything to the last great war of antiquity. After a been absorbed into the larger argument. So: Islamic. She had a research pupil, Robert first long vacation I’d written four chap- the signpost paragraph. That’s a bit of advice. Hoyland, who did a comprehensive survey ters: one set the scene getting from the rise of the non-Islamic sources for the origins of of the Sassanians in the early third century • Islam. What I’ve done is to slim it down so through to the 470s. Then I had three chap- as to focus on, historically, the most forth- ters comparing the two empires in terms of Witnesses to a World Crisis was pub- coming sources. their institutions, their ideologies and their lished in 2010 by the Oxford University Press. I’m trying to cover the flow of events armed forces. That was about forty thou- It is available at Blackwells, the OUP book- through time from 600 to around 720 and sand words. shop and on Amazon.co.uk.

The Byzantinist | 13 Book Reviews The Grand Strategy of the impression that Luttwak is very much picking the centuries and Byzantine Empire events that fit his idea of a Grand Strategy. by Edward Luttwak These ideas are neatly summarised in the first and last parts of Harvard University Press, 2009 the book. In the first part, he sets out the idea that what happened to the Romans at the hands of the Huns, where they were forced The name of Luttwak has become to rely more on diplomacy and non-traditional warfare (guerrilla synonymous with ‘Grand Strategy’ tactics for example) to succeed, became the ‘operational code’ regarding Roman history since 1976, from that point onwards. In the last section, he outlines this oper- and it was only a matter of time before ational code, and thus presents what should be the original ideas he continued his argument past the in this work. Much of it, however, contains elements familiar to a third century AD. To summarise the Byzantinist; Haldon’s ‘Blood and Ink’ is an obvious influence on debate that arose from his first foray the diplomacy section, and Treadgold and McGeer’s works for that into Roman history, he posited that on warfare. What he presents here is a ‘code’ that would seem to the Romans had a coherent Grand Strategy for the empire which was apply to the empire at various times. He divided the Roman Empire divided into three phases: an early phase establishing zones of control into phases; why is the much longer lasting Byzantine Empire gen- and client states to protect the empire, a middle phase using the army eralised in this way? His work has a very well written section on and static fortifications to create a barrier round the empire, and a Byzantine identity and its influence upon strategy in its blend of late phase using a strategy of defence in depth. These theories have Hellenism and Christianity, and then barely mentions the Crusades since been applied to other, diverse, empires, and have received much and their effect on strategy. Iconoclasm is also not mentioned. criticism from Roman scholars, who seemed particularly riled that an Therefore, while this is a good collection of information, it is not a outsider, a man who advises governments on strategy and has a book cohesive, informative study. For a well read Byzantinist, the conclu- called Coup d’état: A Practical Handbook to his name, should intrude sions will seem apparent, as these are the obvious conclusions to be upon their subject. Nevertheless, the debate on strategy that he fos- made from collating previous works, rather than having the unique tered has been beneficial to the discipline whatever one might think Luttwak twist that was present in his previous work. of his original book. Luttwak’s prose and use of modern terms does make the eso- Even as a ‘grand strategy sympathiser’, one is slightly troubled, teric nature of Byzantine History easier to grasp for the uninitiated, from a methodological standpoint if nothing else, by Luttwak’s which is likely why it has received such good reviews in the press. pronouncement that ‘all states have a Grand Strategy whether they For the committed Byzantinist, this book is useful in parts (the sec- know it or not’. The new book seems to come across as a personal tions on strategic manuals particularly) and it contains many good mission of Luttwak’s, which might explain the somewhat idiosyn- ideas and well-written passages. If nothing else, however, it should cratic structure of his book. Where his first work was beautifully again inspire debate amongst scholars wishing to resolve its short- simple in its chronological structure, this one begins with the comings, and in this respect Luttwak has performed another service Huns and then ends with Herakleios defeating Persia, whilst barely to academic debate. touching on anything post 1204, or indeed after 1000, giving the Maximilian Lau •

Ravenna in Late Antiquity the late antique city up to today, which makes Deborah Mauskopf by Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis Deliyannis’ recent English-language work, Ravenna in Late Cambridge University Press, 2010 Antiquity, a particularly necessary summary of the history of the city from its foundations through its waxings and wanings up to the Since Late Antiquity, the churches, ninth century. chapels and baptisteries of Ravenna Deliyannis is perhaps especially qualified to write the first major have captivated locals, visitors and book about Ravenna in English due to her previous critical edition and scholars. Even today, the city is a commentary (published in 1994) and translation (published in 2004 major tourist attraction due to the as The Book of Pontiffs of the Church of Ravenna) of the main textual numbers of glittering mosaics that source for the city in Late Antiquity, the Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae survive from the fifth and sixth Ravennatis written by the abbot Agnellus in the mid-ninth century as centuries AD. Italian and German an ecclesiastical history of the church of the city. In her recent book, academics, especially F.W. Deichmann and his lengthy catalogues the author uses Agnellus as a source as well as a lens through which to of the monuments of the city, have dominated the scholarship of view the churches of Ravenna, although she is careful to nuance and

14 | The Byzantinist sometimes challenge his views based upon archaeological or textual new points of substance about artworks as she could have. She does evidence or the context of the historical narrative: for example, she mention comparable church mosaic programs outside of Ravenna, argues Agnellus incorrectly attributes the building of the city walls to particularly in Rome, but does not fully engage with external material Valentinian III (425-455), while the early fifth century political situa- to create a meaningful synthesis of late antique art or architecture, a tion of the city as imperial administrative center for the West as well danger of the form, a city-focused monograph. The work leaves the as mentions of the presence of walls by Zosimus and Sozomen which reader with the accurate sense that many fundamental questions about argue for wall construction c. 400. The book is organised by time the city’s monuments remain unanswered, providing fertile ground periods—‘Roman Ravenna’, ‘Ravenna and the Western Emperors, AD for future scholarship, as seen in the recent article by Ellen Swift and 400-489’, etc.—and focuses on the later fourth, fifth and sixth centu- Anne Alwis on the theological significance of stars in the vault mosaic ries, the height of Ravenna’s political and religious prestige. Deliyannis of the ‘Mausoleum’ of Galla Placidia, published in the 2010 volume of begins each chapter with a summary of the historical events of the the Papers of the British School at Rome. period covered, which provide useful information, although the sum- The survival of many of its works of late antique art and archi- maries are difficult to process fully due to their denseness. The book tecture is one of the main reasons the city merits such special, is centered on the Christian monuments of the late antique city, and continued attention. Deliyannis includes useful maps of the city Deliyannis is at her best when gathering together previous work on the in different periods in each chapter, but could have provided more archaeological remains, materials and iconography of early Christian images of comparable art or architectural examples within the text mosaics. The author has interesting points to make about tubi fitilli, in order to contextualize her summaries of arguments about partic- hollow ceramic tubes used to construct the distinctive domes of ular monuments. Ravenna in Late Antiquity is a necessary summary Ravenna’s buildings, and effectively gathers together the evidence of previous work on the history of the city, both textual and archae- for and against interpretations of mosaics erected by the Ostrogothic ological, including Andrea Augenti’s recent excavations in Classe, ruler Theodoric as specifically Arian. However, one emerges from and will be a fundamental text for the specialist interested in late the discussions of particular monuments with the sense that though antique art, architecture and history of Italy and the West, as well as her summaries of previous scholarly interpretations of works are for the general reader. comprehensive, Deliyannis herself is perhaps not advancing as many Sean Leatherbury •

Echoes of the Apostoleion ... continued from page 5 Santa Teuteria in 1912. Reconstructions model was, of course, Constantinople, the which, in fourth- and fifth-century Italy, suggest a Greek cross plan, later including successor of Rome’. was linked explicitly to political clout. Via a curved apse 10 m. in diameter. The inter- At Aquileia, where Bishop Valerianus Ambrose’s Milanese persuasion and adap- nal plan was centralized, with arcade vaults maintained close ties with Ambrose, the tation, ambitious urban centers echoed a emphasizing the altar at its crossing. apostoleum’s dedication was facilitated de Constantinopolitan formula in both the Even Concordia’s miniature Church munere Sanctorum. Bassianus, Bishop of purpose and expanded-martyrium models of of St. Andrew was granted apostoleum Laus Pompeia, invited Ambrose to help ded- their own apostolea. The apostles’ church was status—evident in the sarcophagus inscrip- icate his church, ‘quam condidit Apostolorum of its own class of religious structure, insti- tion for Bishop Maurentius: ‘iacet ante li / nomine’ (Epist. IV.1). Gaudentius, Bishop tuted at critical junctures in civic histories. The mina dominorum / Apostolorum in / propria of Brescia, who founded the Concilium prototype for this power-grabbing scheme sepultura / sanctus Mauren / tius presbiter’ Sanctorum at Ambrose’s suggestion, boasted was the original, fourth-century Apostoleion [‘St. Maurentius the Elder lies before the in his dedicatory homily: in Constantinople—Christendom’s premier threshold of the lord Apostles in a special relic repository at the self-proclaimed succes- We have four blessed relics of them at tomb’ ]. The original, fourth-century build- sor of Imperial Rome. hand…John in Sebastena, a city in the ing was identified as the 8.7x7.3 m. trichora Admittedly, envisioning a veritable province of Palestine, Thomas from India, adjacent to the present church. As at Milan wonder (θαῦμα) of Constantinople through Andrew and Luke from Patras, a city of and Constantinople, a deep, cruciform description, epigraphy, and the ruined foun- Achaia, they were brought back having trench beneath the central altar contained dations of its replicas leaves the researcher been enshrined together. the church’s apostolic relics. discontented. Further archaeological inves- For apostolea with unknown or As elsewhere in the Milanese hinterland, tigation hopefully will allow for a more indefinite floor plans, dedications Brescia acquired relics through Ambrose, concrete understanding of the fourth-cen- and relic donations divulge conscious who, as mentioned above, acquired them tury Apostoleion and the scope of its impact efforts to emulate the Milanese and from Constantinople. in Northern Italy and beyond. Constantinopolitan formulae. Addressing this phenomenon, F. Dvornik remarked, Conclusion • ‘Possession of apostles’ relics was held to The import of apostles’ relics and the The author is indebted to the scholarship of many others be indispensable for the would-be metrop- dedication of apostles’ churches granted who have not been mentioned due to space constraints and olis of a national or state Church. The emergent cities ecclesiastical authority, is happy to provide further citations on request

The Byzantinist | 15 Alumnus Profile Dr Philip Wood I only really used Syrian (rather than Egyptian) evidence. I had to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge write the text in two years because I was on AHRC funding, and I just made it within the deadline. Under the old guidelines, this also I did my graduate studies in St. John’s, Oxford from 2003-7 fol- meant that I could apply for a British Academy Post-doctoral fellow- lowing a BA in History at the other place. I did the old MPhil in ship, which I was lucky enough to get and kept me at Oxford, this Byzantine Studies, specialising in the late antique portions of the time at Corpus for 2007-10. I should mention that this was only after course. It allowed me to do general exam papers covering the a stack of rejections for other JRF posts. periods of my interest – something that, I believe, suited me better During my post-doc, I completed a second project on the than a coursework-heavy Master’s programme. During my Master’s, Chronicle of Seert and Christian historiography in Iraq and published I did some Syriac with David Taylor, as well as Byzantine Greek, my DPhil (which has just come out). I also started learning Arabic, and I was able to do a paper on Syria 450-850, which has continued and spent about six months in Syria in the course of the post-doc, as to be an important focus of my interests and research. well as a couple of months in Egypt, Jordan and Iran. Both the trav- After a summer of ‘casing the joint’ in eastern Turkey, I was elling and the language work have been very important for my new lucky enough to get AHRC funding and I returned to Oxford for the project, and I feel that I have had my best ideas by far, ‘away from the DPhil. This built on an MPhil thesis on attitudes to the barbarian books’. However, I do wish I had started Arabic earlier, and perhaps in Late Antiquity, and two chapters of the Masters were incorpo- taken a year after my undergraduate degree to really do it properly- rated into the doctorate: even though I made substantial changes, it there seems to be less and less time to do such things every year. was very useful to know the issues and the sources already, before I also ran a seminar series at Corpus and a small workshop under I put pen to paper. I was lucky enough to be supervised by Averil the auspices of the BA, whose proceedings are now under review Cameron, and she was always very good at forcing me to substanti- as an edited volume. Oxford and the BA were also kind enough to ate my ideas and pushing me into sub-disciplines that I thought I allow me to take up a part-time lectureship in SOAS, which was could get away without (especially Jewish studies). great fun, and a very different working environment. My thesis was on Civilisation and the Barbarian: Miaphysite I am now a lecturer in Cambridge, teaching many of the courses Political Thought, AD 400-600, but I decided to publish it under a dif- I took as an undergraduate, but I do miss Oxford and its centre of ferent title: We Have No King but Christ. Christian Political Thought in excellence in the world of Late Antiquity, which nowhere else in greater Syria on the eve of the Arab conquest, 400-580, partly because Britain can really rival. Graduate Profile Annika Asp London, studying the medieval history of it, one for sightseeing and strolling around Exeter College various countries, until I discovered myself the beautiful city, one for college life ... oh again in the Bosphorus region. A beautiful wait, that was four calendars. So I spend my I was born in Finland and spent my early place with a good climate and tasty food; I time picking and choosing and somehow twenties moving from one country to decided to stay on to study it, in the hope absorbing large amounts of information in another before deciding to become serious of sometimes getting a pretext to travel unbelievably short periods of time. A few and get a career – as a Byzantinist. My destiny there again. I was still interested in a long years down the line, I see myself conduct- was sealed when I was working as a guide list of topics, which I considered related to ing research into the late Byzantine period, and my boss asked me to guide excursions ‘Byzantium’: Greece, Turkey, the Caucasus, seeking to understand politics, diplomacy, to Byzantine sites – especially to Nessebar the Middle East and even Western Europe; trade and culture in Anatolia, reading and Istanbul. The typical tourist would take all in the context of language, history and unedited manuscripts in fascinating lan- plenty of photos of breathtakingly beautiful material culture. This was too much for most guages such as Armenian, Persian, Ottoman monuments, but not have any understanding institutions, which all told me I needed to – and of course, Greek – and beholding of their history, apart from the funny anec- choose. Only Oxford understood me and monuments that rarely capture the imagi- dotes that my local guides provided me to my needs. nation of historians, such as those in and ‘spice up’ my stories. However, almost every Yet, I had only seen the tip of the around Trebizond. This is what I wanted tourist would know about ‘the Romans’, ‘the iceberg. My experience of Oxford has been to do as a Byzantinist and I cannot think of Greeks’ and, of course, about ‘the Vikings’. I overwhelming – in a positive way. I could anything better, apart, perhaps, from stand- felt this was an injustice to be battled, finished easily make two calendars: one for all the ing one day in front of Hagia Sophia with my guide career and enrolled at university. lectures, seminars, talks and exhibitions a group of tourists, asking them if anyone I spent my undergraduate years at the taking place, one for my study schedule knows about Justinian, and seeing enthusi- School of Oriental and African Studies, with everything I would like to include in astic hands raised.

16 | The Byzantinist Alumni News

Dr Elif Keser-Kayaalp Dr Simon Davies Dr Efthymios Rizos Dr Meredith Riedel

Dr Elif Keser-Kayaalp Dr Efthymios Rizos Exeter College (2009) Keble College (2010) Elif Keser–Kayaalp received her doctorate in 2009 with a thesis enti- Efthymios Rizos has just earned his doctorate with a thesis entitled tled Church Architecture of Northern Mesopotamia, AD 300-800. During Cities, Architecture and Society in the Eastern and Central Balkans the past academic year, she was a Senior Research Fellow at Koc during Late Antiquity (ca AD 250-600). He is now preparing to settle University, Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations, where she in back in his native Greece, joining the archaeological service of conducted research on monastic architecture in late antique Northern the country as a field archaeologist. He will be participating in an Mesopotamia to include in her forthcoming monograph. She is cur- excavation and site management project at the late Byzantine and rently a research fellow at Wolfson College with grants from Turkey. Ottoman site of Siderokausia in east Chalkidike. Friends and col- • leagues most welcome to visit! Dr Simon Davies • Lincoln College (2010) Since defending my DPhil thesis (The Production and Display of Dr Meredith Riedel Exeter College (2010) Monumental Figural Sculpture in Constantinople, AD 829-1204) this time last year, I have been involved in a number of projects, both related and Meredith Riedel received her doctorate in May 2010 with a thesis unrelated to my doctoral work. In view of the recent funding problems entitled Fighting the Good Fight: The Taktika of Leo VI and its facing Higher Education, last July, I was commissioned to produce a influence on Byzantine cultural identity. She currently holds a post- small booklet (working title: An Album of Byzantine Material Culture at doctoral research position at the Oriental Institute as part of a Oxford, 1973-?) aimed at helping to raise funds for the Lectureship(s) British Academy funded project led by Prof Sir Fergus Millar on in Byzantine art and archaeology here at Oxford; this is due to appear narrative Syriac texts of the 4th-6th centuries. She also teaches either online or in hardcopy in the Spring. For much of last year, I ancient history at Royal Holloway University of London as well also worked part-time for the Outreach Programme in the Classics as Byzantine history for the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Faculty; and between September and Christmas, I completed an Studies at Oxford. Dr Riedel is delighted to have the privilege of internship in the Islamic Art Department at Christie’s in London. As pursuing fascinating research with an internationally distinguished for my doctoral work, I am presently preparing a number of articles scholar in tandem with the opportunity to teach. She is co-conve- for publication, one of which will shortly appear in the proceedings nor of a seminar in Byzantine history and theology during Trinity of a conference held at the University of Thessaly, Volos, in June 2009 (‘The Fountain-icon of the Virgin Orans in Berlin and the Peribleptos Term 2011 here at Oxford, and she will be presenting papers related Monastery at Constantinople’, Relief Icons, ed. I. Varalis, M. Vassilaki to her research in April at the 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine and A. Dina., University of Thessaly Press); I also intend to publish my Studies at Newcastle, and in August at the XXII International thesis as a monograph in the not too distant future. Congress of Byzantine Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria. • •

The Byzantinist | 17 Recent Publications in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies

Ian Morris and Walter Scheidel (eds.), The Dynamic of Ancient Recent Titles Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium (OUP, 2010) Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David Hunter (eds.), The Oxford Arietta Papaconstantinou (ed.), The Multilingual Experience Handbook of Early Christian Studies (OUP, 2010) in Egypt, from the Ptolemies to the Abbasids (Ashgate, 2010) Chryssi Bourbou, Health and Disease in Byzantine Crete (7th- Chris Schabel, Greeks, Latins and the Church in Early Frankish 12thcenturies AD) (Ashgate, 2010) Cyprus (Ashgate, 2010) Leslie Brubaker and John Haldon, Byzantium in the Iconoclast Jonathan Shepard, Emergent Elites and Byzantium in the Era, c.680-850 (CUP, 2011) Balkans and East-Central Europe (Ashgate, 2010) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis, Ravenna in Late Antiquity Diane H. Touliatos-Miles, A Descriptive Catalogue of the (CUP, 2010) Musical Manuscript Collection of the National Library of Matthew Gabriele, An Empire of Memory: The Legend of Greece: Byzantine Chant and Other Music Repertory Recovered Charlemagne, the Franks and Jerusalem before the First Crusade (Ashgate, 2010) (OUP, 2011) Maria Vassilaki (ed.), The Hand of Angelos: An Icon Painter in Nina G. Garsoïan, Studies on the Formation of Christian Venetian Crete (Ashgate, 2010) Armenia (Ashgate, 2010) Philip Wood, We have no king but Christ: Christian Political Peter Golden, Central Asia in World History (OUP, 2011) Thought in Greater Syria on the Eve of the Arab Conquest (c.400- Geoffrey Greatrex, Robert R. Phenix and Cornelia B. Horn 585) (OUP, 2010) (eds.), Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: The Church and John Wortley (tr.), John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine War in Late Antiquity (LUP, 2010) History, 811-1057 (CUP, 2010) John Haldon (ed.), Money, Power and Politics in Early Islamic Syria: A Review of Current Debates (Ashgate, 2010) Forthcoming Titles Judith Herrin, Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Alessandro Bausi (ed.), Languages and Cultures of Eastern Mediterranean after 1204 (Ashgate, 2010) Christianity: Ethiopian (Ashgate, 2011) James Howard-Johnston, Witnesses to a World Crisis (OUP, André Binggeli (ed.), Monastic Culture in Eastern Christianity, 2010 – ppbk July 2011) 300-1500 (Ashgate, June 2011) Walter E. Kaegi, Muslim Expansion and Byzantine Collapse in Averil Cameron and Robert Hoyland (eds.), Doctrine and North Africa (CUP, 2010) Debate in the East Christian World, 300-1500 (Ashgate, Sept Benjamin Z. Kedar, Jonathan Phillips, Jonathan Riley-Smith 2011) and William Purkis (eds.), Crusades: Volume 9 (Ashgate, Alexis Catsambis, Ben Ford and Donny L. Hamilton (eds.), The 2010) Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology (OUP, May 2011) J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, Ambrose and John Chrysostom (OUP, Patricia A. Clark, A Cretan Healer’s Handbook in the Byzantine 2011) Tradition (Ashgate, March 2011) Graham A. Loud (tr.), The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: Muriel Debié and David Taylor (eds.), Languages and The History of the Expedition of Emperor Frederick and Related Literatures of Eastern Christianity: Syriac (East) (Ashgate, Texts (Ashgate, 2010) May 2011) Angeliki Lymberopoulou, Images of the Byzantine World: Greg Fisher, Between Empires: Arabs, Romans and Sassanians Visions, Messages and Meanings (Ashgate, 2011) in Late Antiquity (OUP, April 2011) Ruth Macrides (ed.), History as Literature in Byzantium Scott Fitzgerald Johnson (ed.), Languages and Literature of (Ashgate, 2010) Eastern Christianity: Greek, 300-800 (Ashgate, Aug 2011) Thomas F. Madden, James L. Naus and Vincent Ryan (eds.), Tim Greenwood (e.), Languages and Literatures of Eastern Crusades – Medieval Worlds in Conflict (Ashgate, 2010) Christianity: Armenian (Ashgate, Sept 2011) Ralph Mathisen and Danuta Shanzer, Romans, Barbarians John Haldon, Church and State in the Eastern Christian Worlds, and the Transformation of the Roman World: Cultural 300-1500 (Ashgate, April 2011) Interactiopn and the Creation of Identity in Late Antiquity Scott Johnson,The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity(OUP, (Ashgate, 2011) July 2011)

18 | The Byzantinist Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research www.ocbr.ox.ac.uk Grants and Prizes 2011

1. OCBR Undergraduate Prize in are considered at termly meetings of the Management Byzantine Studies Board and should be accompanied by a brief proposal A prize of £100 will be awarded in 2010-11 for the of the intended travel plans. To download an applica- best performance in Final Honour Schools in either tion form, please visit the OCBR website. Special Subject 3 (Byzantium in the Age of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, 919-59) or Further Subject 2 (The 4. OCBR Research Grants Near East in the Age of Justinian and Muhammad, 527- A number of research grants will be available in 2010-11 c.700). to members of OCBR and to post-graduate students studying at Oxford for assistance with their research. 2. OCBR Graduate Prize in Byzantine Funds of up to £500 will be awarded to help cover Studies costs of inviting guest speakers to Oxford or organis- A prize of £100 will be awarded in 2010-11 for the best ing conferences during the course of this academic year. performance in either the Master of Studies or Master The grants will be awarded by the board of OCBR at of Philosophy Examinations. its termly meetings. To download an application form, please visit the OCBR website. 3. OCBR Travel Grants Four travel grants up to a value of £250 each will 5. The Harrison Fellowship be awarded to undergraduates, graduates or senior OCBR assists with the funding of The Harrison researchers who are members of OCBR or are study- Fellowship, awarded each year in memory of the late ing for a higher degree at Oxford University to assist Professor Martin Harrison, one of Oxford’s most distin- with travel relating to work in the field of Late Antique guished archaeologists. The Fellowships are designed to & Byzantine Studies. Preference will be given to gradu- assist Turkish scholars working in any area of the archae- ate students. The grants will not be awarded for travel ology of Anatolia, from Pre-history to the Ottoman to or from conferences, and are intended to relate in period, to visit the United Kingdom and Oxford in the first instance to field work, including visiting collec- connection with their research work. For further infor- tions directly relating to original research. Applications mation, please visit the OCBR website.

Recent Publications ... continued from page previous page Arietta Papaconstantinou (ed.), Languages and Cultures of David Taylor (ed.), Languages and Literatures of Eastern Eastern Christianity: Coptic (Ashgate, Oct 2011) Christianity: Syriac (West) (Ashgate, June 2011) Marios Philippides, The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople David Thomas, Arabicization and Islamization: Eastern in 1453: Historiography, Topography and Military Studies Christianity and the Appeal of Islam (Ashgate, July 2011) (Ashgate, April 2011) Warren T. Woodfin, The Embodied Icon: Liturgical Vestments Richard Price and Mary Whitby (eds.), Chalcedon in Context: and Sacramental Power in Byzantium (OUP, October 2011) Church Councils 400-700 (LUP, March 2011) Stephen H. Rapp, Jr. (ed.), Languages and Cultures of Eastern • Christianity: Georgian (Ashgate, Sept 2011)

The Byzantinist | 19 The Byzantinist The newsletter of the Issue No. 1 – Spring 2011 Oxford Byzantine Society