Michael Psellos and Emperor Michael VII Ducas This is the second of three posts on Michael Psellos and his impact on medieval Byzantium. Michael Psellos – Turncoat Michael Psellos, the quintessential Byzantine bureaucrat, began his career in the imperial justice system, working in Anatolia in the 1030’s. Eventually, he became a secretary in the Great …
Above: coins from the Byzantine & Christian Museum in Athens, Greece. Few would argue against calling economics the dismal science. I’m not sure it is a science so much as wishful thinking, especially when it comes to the predictions economists make. However, my day job is in the finance industry, with economics often a topic …
Romanos IV Diogenes – submitting to Alp Aslan after defeat at the Battle of Manzikert Romanos’s Father, Constantine The Diogenes family first came to prominence during the reign of Basil II early in the 11th century. Constantine Diogenes rose through the ranks of the taghmata – the central armies under the control of the emperor- …
The husband and wife historians, Nikephoros Bryennios and Anna Comnena, had very different opinions of the same events.
The Battle of Manzikert, like the Battle of Hastings fought five years earlier, began momentous changes to its country. This book (https://www.amazon.com/Road-Manzikert-Byzantine-Islamic-527-1071/dp/1848842155) covers a wide swathe of Byzantine military history – from Justinian’s wars, to early battles between the Byzantines and Islamic armies, to Manzikert in 1071. The epilogue briefly summarizes the years following Manzikert …
Review: The Road to Manzikert by Brian Todd Carey Read More »
1. You will not receive more than one email from me each month.
2. It may be contentious, but I may discuss Byzantine politics from time to time. Amateurish modern politics will never be discussed.
copyright 2018 Eileen Stephenson | designed by Avalon Graphics…