THE BYZANTINE AMBASSADOR

  • Home

  • Blog

  • Reading List

    • Greek and Latin
    • Beginning
    • Delving deeper
    • Power 9000+
    • Emperor level
  • Films

    • Viking (2016)
    • Sophia (2016)
    • Fetih 1453 (2012)
    • Agora (2009)
    • Prince Vladimir (2006)
    • Tirant lo Blanc (2006)
    • Chivalric Romance (2000)
    • Kampf um Rom (1969)
    • Theodora, Slave Empress (1954)
    • Constantine and the Cross (1961)
  • Documentaries

    • Mount Athos
  • Guides

    • Italy
    • Milan
  • About

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    • instagram
    • twitter
    • youtube
    • Pinterest - White Circle
    • All Posts
    • Art
    • Theology
    • Byzantium
    • Architecture
    • Byzantine Society
    • Military
    • Gaul
    • Rome
    • European Union
    • Food
    • Travel
    Search
    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...
    437 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...
    281 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...
    421 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...
    328 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...
    259 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...
    398 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...
    566 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...
    515 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...
    279 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...
    378 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...
    1,645 views0 comments
    Cover Yo Woman: The Byzantine Stance on Veiling Women
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 16, 2020
    • 7 min

    Cover Yo Woman: The Byzantine Stance on Veiling Women

    Nowhere has the link between dress and identity received more scrutiny than in recent scholarship dealing with veiling trends among women...
    1,969 views1 comment
    Orbis Britanniae: A Dark Age Alphabet
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 9, 2020
    • 7 min

    Orbis Britanniae: A Dark Age Alphabet

    Agilbert (d. 675) was bishop successively of Dorchester-on-Thames and Paris. A Frank who’d studied in Ireland, he left the West Saxon...
    450 views0 comments
    The St Mark Ivories: The Grado Chair That Never Was
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Apr 4, 2020
    • 7 min

    The St Mark Ivories: The Grado Chair That Never Was

    Fig.1 - The Annunciation, Museo del Castello Sforzesco, Milan. In 1899 a group of ivory carvings (figs. 1-5 provide a sample) was...
    487 views0 comments
    Vortigern: The British Scapegoat
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 28, 2020
    • 7 min

    Vortigern: The British Scapegoat

    Vortigern was the most dominant figure in what remained of the Roman administration after the departure of the Roman legions. His...
    635 views0 comments
    The Battle for the Venetian Soul: Byzantium vs. Francia
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 26, 2020
    • 4 min

    The Battle for the Venetian Soul: Byzantium vs. Francia

    From the appearance of the Lombards in Venetia[1] in AD 568/9, Venice had to play a clever game to enforce any sort of autonomy in the...
    315 views0 comments
    Whence St Demetrios?: The Spanish Patron Saint of Thessaloniki
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 21, 2020
    • 4 min

    Whence St Demetrios?: The Spanish Patron Saint of Thessaloniki

    There is a disturbing lack of early evidence for the cult of St Demetrios at Thessalonica. In light of this the majority of modern...
    447 views0 comments
    Balkan Christianity: The Early Years
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 19, 2020
    • 7 min

    Balkan Christianity: The Early Years

    House of Dionysios, Archaeological Museum of Delos Whenever the clash of paganism and Christianity is discussed, minds jump to the easy...
    356 views0 comments
    Did Byzantine Heraldry Exist?
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 12, 2020
    • 5 min

    Did Byzantine Heraldry Exist?

    Was there an equivalent use of distinctive motifs employed as ornament by the Byzantine nobility (to convey the same messages of...
    1,058 views0 comments
    Christian Worship: The Early Years
    Henry Hopwood-Phillips
    • Mar 7, 2020
    • 4 min

    Christian Worship: The Early Years

    At the beginning of the second century, Christian ritual was loosely organised. The congregation would assemble at sunrise on Sunday for...
    1,270 views0 comments
    23
    4
    56