Showing posts with label late antiquity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late antiquity. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2025

The Origins of All Saints Day and the Consecration of the Pantheon in Rome as a Church in AD 608

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The Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres (aka, the Pantheon) in Rome as it looks today. The Feast of All Saints as we know it today has its o...
Monday, August 18, 2025

"Helena was visited that emperors might be redeemed." ~ The ancient sources on Saint Helena's discovery of the True Cross

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Early 9th century illustration from northern Italy of Saint Helena discovering the True Cross. The feast day of Saint Helena, the mother of...
Friday, May 23, 2025

"They still make human sacrifices..." ~ How Christian were the 6th century Franks, anyway?

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Merovingian Frankish warriors looking especially fierce in this fanciful 19th century engraving. The nation of the Franks are well known tod...
Saturday, March 08, 2025

Was Constantine a Sincere Christian? ~ In his own words: The Oration of Constantine to the Saints

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At 43 feet in height, the replica of the Colossus of Constantine in Rome is truly impressive. Most visitors to Rome over the years have marv...
Friday, August 09, 2024

"Bravery cannot be victorious unless it is arrayed along with justice." ~ Belisarius's speech at Abydos, AD 533

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"Bravery cannot be victorious unless it is arrayed along with justice." ~Belisarius This quote is taken from an exhortation by the...
Wednesday, June 05, 2024

What if Belisarius had accepted the Gothic offer to become Western Roman Emperor in AD 540 ~ And why he didn't

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A fanciful portrait of Belisarius as Augustus of the Western Roman Empire. I left off  the previous post  considering what might have happen...

"They reproached him as a breaker of promises, calling him a slave by his own choice." ~ Belisarius declines the throne of the Western Empire, AD 540

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Belisarius hit the Goths with a major plot-twist in AD 540. Everyone knows that the Western Roman Empire formally ended in AD 476 when Odoac...
Sunday, November 26, 2023

One should never forget about the Persians ~ The Eternal Peace between the Roman Empire and Persia is broken after 8 years

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When Justinian secured the so-called "Eternal Peace" with the Persians in AD 532 after the Battle of Daras , it is likely that he...
Saturday, February 18, 2023

"He weathered their rage like some craggy rock in a howling tempest." ~ Belisarius and the lead-up to the Great Siege of Rome

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Given the month, I am mindful of a February nearly 1,500 years ago when Belisarius, newly arrived in Rome after the withdrawal of the Gothic...