“Join us on our adventure to explore the forgotten world of BYZANTIUM. The word conjures up images of scheming eunuchs and mad monks but it was so much more – it was the very Roman empire itself! Greek-speaking, with its capital in Constantinople, and an influence that extended from England to Ethiopia – but they still called themselves Romans. Theirs was an empire of fabulous riches and mighty epics, buried by the jealous powers of the Islamic and the Western empires. Now we will go beyond the myths to rediscover how BYZANTIUM changed the world – and why it is still important today.”
You can follow Byzantine Ambassador at @byzantinepower but I just discovered his website today and it drops the quirky tone of his tweets and instead offers a sizeable amount of material on Byzantium and its place in the Mediterranean world and history. Incredible erudition, interesting articles, videos and book suggestions, it’s like doing a major in Byzantine history. And despite his obvious polemic position, his fully inclusive — I guess might be the right word — analyses paints a both broader and more detailed picture of the Eastern Roman Empire’s interaction with neighboring civilizations and its position in the wider world than you usually get. If you’re even slightly interested, please, check it out.
Final comment and one I feel the need to point out whenever I get the chance is an extension of Byz’s front page blurb:
“Greek-speaking, with its capital in Constantinople, and an influence that extended from England to Ethiopia – but they still called themselves Romans”
Yes, they still called themselves Romans. And we, modern Greeks, continued to call ourselves Romans until my grandparents’ generation and well into the 20th c. Which is why I state, on the homepage of the Jadde that …” I’m Greek (Roman really, but like five people today understand what I’m talking about when I say that, so I use “Greek” for shorthand).” I’m going to have to sit and compose some kind of full treatise on the issue at some time.
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Comment: nikobakos@gmail.com
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Jadde: from Bosnia to Bengal 
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