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    The Attritional War: Paganism's Slow Demise
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Sep 3, 2020
    • 5 min

    The Attritional War: Paganism's Slow Demise

    “If any unholy and defiled pagan does not make himself manifest… and run to the churches with his household… let him submit to the afores...
    327 views0 comments
    The Roman Contribution to the Doughnut
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Aug 27, 2020
    • 5 min

    The Roman Contribution to the Doughnut

    Venetian fritoler with portable fryer c. 1900. Sweetness has always been prized. Cave paintings near Valencia dated to around 8000 BC dep...
    424 views0 comments
    Heaven's Court Crumbles: the Byzantine Frescos of Luxor
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Aug 20, 2020
    • 6 min

    Heaven's Court Crumbles: the Byzantine Frescos of Luxor

    East wall, detail Once you’ve been immersed in Byzantium for long enough it’s easy to grow weary of the reel of churches, fortifications ...
    209 views0 comments
    1955: the Second Fall of Constantinople
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Aug 7, 2020
    • 4 min

    1955: the Second Fall of Constantinople

    Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque this year was part of a pattern in which the Turkish state views its legitimacy as threatened by ...
    1,584 views0 comments
    The Fall of Verulamium & Ascent of St Alban
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jul 30, 2020
    • 9 min

    The Fall of Verulamium & Ascent of St Alban

    “[Abbot Ulsinus] loved the district and people of St Albans and looked after their interests. He brought the people from the surrounding ...
    347 views0 comments
    Genesis of the Nemesis: Venice Rising
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jul 16, 2020
    • 4 min

    Genesis of the Nemesis: Venice Rising

    According to legend, Venice obtained its relics of St Mark from Alexandria in AD 829. Apparently the pork-barrel-smuggled saint – a stick...
    348 views0 comments
    Beauty Beneath the Feet: Cosmogonic Paving
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jul 9, 2020
    • 5 min

    Beauty Beneath the Feet: Cosmogonic Paving

    While most gawp upwards at mosaics, frescoes or columns in Byzantine churches, the gaze is often better fixed on the cupola’s basso profu...
    874 views1 comment
    Rome in the Eighth Century: A History in Art (Review)
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jul 2, 2020
    • 8 min

    Rome in the Eighth Century: A History in Art (Review)

    This is a guest post by @philocrocodile: An intriguing book that does much to bring a too often ignored period to light, John Osborne’s R...
    310 views0 comments
    Eternity in Byzantine Art
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 18, 2020
    • 7 min

    Eternity in Byzantine Art

    According to the apostle Paul, after the first coming of the Messiah there would be a second: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...
    221 views0 comments
    Sinan Contested: The Legacy of Hagia Sophia
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 11, 2020
    • 4 min

    Sinan Contested: The Legacy of Hagia Sophia

    The Roman ingredients of Ottoman architecture (codified during Sinan’s tenure as the royal architect, 1539-88) have historically been tra...
    335 views0 comments
    Byzantine Rome Part V: Rome’s Byzantine Epilogue
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 5, 2020
    • 9 min

    Byzantine Rome Part V: Rome’s Byzantine Epilogue

    Santa Maria in Domnica When a biographer described Pope Hadrian’s reign (AD 772-795), he didn’t stress the pontiff’s “Romanitas” in the a...
    259 views0 comments
    Byzantine Rome Part IV: The Fall of Byzantine Rome
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 3, 2020
    • 7 min

    Byzantine Rome Part IV: The Fall of Byzantine Rome

    Church of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura Imperial confirmation of papal elections was formally requested until AD 731. At the Emperor’s behest...
    260 views0 comments
    Byzantine Rome Part III: Rome's Byzantine Adolescence
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Jun 1, 2020
    • 6 min

    Byzantine Rome Part III: Rome's Byzantine Adolescence

    View of the Ponte Nomentano by Pierre Nicolas Brisset Gregory the Great was born c. AD 540 into the Anicii family. A great-grandson of Po...
    294 views0 comments
    Byzantine Rome Part II: Rome Under the Labarum
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 30, 2020
    • 6 min

    Byzantine Rome Part II: Rome Under the Labarum

    St. Maria Maggiore In the late fourth and early fifth century, inconspicuous house churches began to morph into large basilicas. Towards ...
    234 views0 comments
    Byzantine Rome Part 1: Rome Under Constantine
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 28, 2020
    • 5 min

    Byzantine Rome Part 1: Rome Under Constantine

    Arch of Constantine A cavalry battle that started at a defile on the Cassian Road at saxa rubra and continued downhill to the Tiber and a...
    349 views0 comments
    Renaissance Rumble: Giorgio Vasari vs Byzantine Art
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 21, 2020
    • 6 min

    Renaissance Rumble: Giorgio Vasari vs Byzantine Art

    Virgin & Child, Chora Monastery Istanbul I daydream about a future civilisation condemning the artistic fruits of its Latin precursor by ...
    383 views1 comment
    You Can’t Just Make Sh** Up: How Venice Lied to The World About its Byzantine Icon
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 14, 2020
    • 4 min

    You Can’t Just Make Sh** Up: How Venice Lied to The World About its Byzantine Icon

    I recently did a Zoom chat in which I was asked which Byzantine item I’d rescue in a nuclear holocaust. I started by answering that it de...
    325 views0 comments
    Keeping It Roman: How Roman Architecture Survived Its Medieval Competitors
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 10, 2020
    • 4 min

    Keeping It Roman: How Roman Architecture Survived Its Medieval Competitors

    The Great Palace of Constantinople is usually advertised as the last great hurrah of late antique architecture. Indeed, its style – which...
    258 views0 comments
    Zoe Porphyrogenita: Theurgical Nightmare or Orthodox Bae
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • May 1, 2020
    • 6 min

    Zoe Porphyrogenita: Theurgical Nightmare or Orthodox Bae

    There’s an oft cited passage of Psellos that describes Zoe’s love of perfumes as well as her devotion to the icon of Christ Antiphonetes....
    321 views0 comments
    Post-Byzantine Constantinople: The Orthodox in an Ottoman Megalopolis
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 23, 2020
    • 6 min

    Post-Byzantine Constantinople: The Orthodox in an Ottoman Megalopolis

    When Mehmed II entered Constantinople in 1453 he was surrounded by ruins and ghosts of the Roman Empire. A sacred landscape, the city was...
    952 views0 comments
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