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    The Capitoline Temple of Rome
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 3, 2021
    • 6 min

    The Capitoline Temple of Rome

    “Here is the Capitol where in the old days a human head was found and declared to be an omen, for in that place would be fixed the...
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    The Six Face of Rome
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 27, 2021
    • 7 min

    The Six Face of Rome

    Rome has boasted many titles (from caput mundi to urbs sacra) over the centuries. Some are bombastic, several true, and almost all play...
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    The Greatest Greek Artists of the Ancient World
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 20, 2021
    • 10 min

    The Greatest Greek Artists of the Ancient World

    My book draft contains large passages on the statuary of Constantinople. As I scribbled them up I realised that few – unless they...
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    Sacred Geography: the Rise of the Peregrini
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 29, 2021
    • 4 min

    Sacred Geography: the Rise of the Peregrini

    “Those who came for the spectacle left instructed in the divine.”[1] Theodoret of Cyrrhus The Jews had a handful of holy places worthy of...
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    Desertion: Realpolitik vs Ideology
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 22, 2021
    • 6 min

    Desertion: Realpolitik vs Ideology

    Defectio shared a seat with high treason in Roman law, a crime which usually resulted in ignominious forms of punishment followed by the...
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    Leo III: Double Agent or Saviour of the Romans?
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 5, 2021
    • 4 min

    Leo III: Double Agent or Saviour of the Romans?

    “The Power of God’s words… shall never pass away.” Leo III, Ecloga [1] In 705, the noseless Justinian II returned to Constantinople and...
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    The Road from Heraklios to Islam
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 1, 2021
    • 5 min

    The Road from Heraklios to Islam

    “Since the days of Scipio, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the empire.”...
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    Ex Occidente Lux: The Byzantine Reception of St Aquinas
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 26, 2021
    • 4 min

    Ex Occidente Lux: The Byzantine Reception of St Aquinas

    Aquinas arrived on the Byzantine literary scene on 24th December, 1354, when Kydones completed his translation of Summa contra gentiles....
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    Golinduch: the Iranian Living Martyr
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 25, 2021
    • 4 min

    Golinduch: the Iranian Living Martyr

    Few will have heard of Golinduch.[1] She’s not in the western canon and – despite her extraordinary life and “death” – she is not a...
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    Who Were the Excubitores?
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 18, 2021
    • 6 min

    Who Were the Excubitores?

    The sixth-century bureaucrat John Lydus wrote that Roman military dress had changed over time but that there were still some troops who...
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    What year is it? From Archons to Anno Domini: Early Western Dating Systems
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 11, 2021
    • 4 min

    What year is it? From Archons to Anno Domini: Early Western Dating Systems

    Around 500 BC the Greeks began dating events by reference to the name of an important local office holder e.g. the priestess of Hera at...
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    Sacred Geography: The Development of Relics
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 4, 2021
    • 4 min

    Sacred Geography: The Development of Relics

    Around the late 340s Cyril – the future bishop of Jerusalem – announced that the city’s church was in possession of the “wood of the...
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    Top Roman Sites in Britain
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Feb 25, 2021
    • 3 min

    Top Roman Sites in Britain

    I’ve tried to omit some of the obvious big ticket items like Aquae Sulis (modern Bath, which is Roman only really up to the stylobate)...
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    Germanic Assemblies in the Post-Roman West
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Feb 18, 2021
    • 4 min

    Germanic Assemblies in the Post-Roman West

    A parenthesis about Clovis in a passage I wrote here inspired this article. I outlined how Clovis’ appointment as consul by Anastasius...
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    St. Pantaleon of Cologne: Theophanou’s Final Resting Place
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Feb 11, 2021
    • 5 min

    St. Pantaleon of Cologne: Theophanou’s Final Resting Place

    Bruno of Cologne was appointed to the court of his older brother Otto the Great at the age of fifteen. Thirteen years later he was made...
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    Volk Auf Dem Weg: Ethnogenesis in the West
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Feb 4, 2021
    • 3 min

    Volk Auf Dem Weg: Ethnogenesis in the West

    Having recently written about Russian and English ethnogenesis, it’s time to alight on what ethnicity meant in the medieval period....
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    Nicaea: the Ecumenical Council the West Ignored
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jan 28, 2021
    • 3 min

    Nicaea: the Ecumenical Council the West Ignored

    As with the Arian controversy (318-) Nicaea took place without any considerable Western involvement, a trend that continued until roughly...
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    The Birth of the British Church
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jan 21, 2021
    • 3 min

    The Birth of the British Church

    It’s not certain how Christianity got to Gaul let alone Britain. Perhaps the most prominent theory is that the faith entered Marseilles...
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    The Night Watch: Hadrian's Wall in the Dark Ages
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jan 14, 2021
    • 3 min

    The Night Watch: Hadrian's Wall in the Dark Ages

    There has always been the assumption that Roman Britain became post-Roman (or “sub-Roman”) the moment it was denuded of Roman troops (by...
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    The First Ottoman Patriarch: Scholarios on the Throne
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jan 1, 2021
    • 4 min

    The First Ottoman Patriarch: Scholarios on the Throne

    George Scholarios was about fifty years old when Constantinople fell in 1453. Three years earlier he had taken the name of Gennadios on...
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