Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #belisariusandantonina
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How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 20: If people are familiar with Belisarius, they know about the triumphant first portion of his career. The ending of his career is rather less known. Today, Belisarius’ last stint as General of the East. 🧵 #History #Book #Byzantine 
During his first stint as General of the East (529-531), Belisarius fought the Persians in Mesopotamia. During his second stint (532?-542), he overran North Africa and Italy. But, surprise, he also had a third stint as General of the East, which began in 549.
In Spring 549, Belisarius returned to Constantinople after his disappointing second campaign in Italy. Procopius records the surprise appointment that came next: Justinian “appointed him commander of the imperial guards in his capacity as General of the East.”
How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 19: The most damaging allegation made against Antonina is that she had a sexual affair with her adopted son. This would make her a practitioner of adultery, incest, and maybe also pedophilia. Is it true?? 🧵 #History #Book #Byzantine
In the Secret History, Procopius alleges that Antonina was “smitten with desire and driven by erotic passion” for her adopted son, Theodosios, who was perhaps a young teenager at the time he was adopted.
According to the story, Antonina first seduced Theodosios in Carthage in late 533 or early 534, and carried on an on-and-off affair with him for years until the young man’s untimely death ca. 542.
How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 18: No surviving source records the date of the wedding of Belisarius and Antonina, but it kind of matters for a book about their marriage! Today I discuss how I calculated their wedding year. 🧵 #History #Book #Byzantine
We start with the one solid date we have: Procopius first attests that Belisarius and Antonina were husband and wife in the context of their departure from Constantinople to North Africa in June 533. This provides a terminus ante quem (limit before which) for their wedding.
However, I believe Belisarius and Antonina married well before 533. For me, the key evidence is the likely ages of their children Photios and Ioannina.
How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 8: In Rome in February 2020, I walked the circuit of the city’s Aurelian walls, as much as was possible, and photographed the gates. In doing so, I was striding in the footsteps of Belisarius. 🧵 #History #Book #AcademicTwitter
Between March 537 and March 538, Belisarius and the Roman army were besieged in the city of Rome by the Ostrogothic king Vittigis and his army. For a year straight, few things were of more importance to the general than the state of the walls and gates of Rome.
Because this siege was of such importance in Belisarius’ first campaign against the Ostrogoths, 535-540 (as a bonus, Rome and its defenses were also of central during his second campaign in Italy, 545-549), I felt it was imperative to get a sense of the physical space.
How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 7: My research travel in Rome began on February 16, 2020. After years of daydreaming about this, I finally had a research sabbatical with an extended stay in Rome to kick off the book project. Excitement! 🧵 #History #Book #AcademicTwitter
My plan was to live in Rome for a month. During that month, I would visit the city’s Aurelian walls and its gates, which were critical during Belisarius’ stays in the city. More on that tomorrow. When not doing that, I planned to do research and writing at the Vatican Library.
Today I would like to take you through my experiences in the Vatican Library. It is an inspiring place to work, but did you know that even a university professor cannot just get in automatically? I had to bring a letter of certification of my credentials from my department chair!
How I wrote #BelisariusAndAntonina Part 6: Funding a book project. As a tenured professor, research is part of my job requirements, and yet there were still aspects of the process of writing my book that required institutional support. 🧵 #History #Book #Publishing
Before talking about my specific situation, I want to acknowledge that academic historians have *wildly* different support for their research programs, something that non-academic followers of mine may not realize.
Tenured professors at elite research universities might teach few classes and have research assistants, allowing them to pump out publications. At the other extreme, many untenured early career researchers are often paid by the class and have essentially zero research support.
Sometime in December 533, Belisarius fought his second major battle against the Vandals of North Africa. Let's take a close look at the Battle of Tricamarum to see how Belisarius won this battle and with it the war. #BelisariusAndAntonina #Byzantine #History
First, for context, I gently remind you that in September I tweeted all about Belisarius' arrival in North Africa and the beginning of his campaign against the Vandals. If you want to review, this is the thread of threads that collects it all together:
Following his triumphant entry into Carthage on September 15, 533, Belisarius remained in the city. It was not until December that he moved out, ready to fight what all must have assumed to be the climactic battle against the Vandals.
December 9: #OTD in 536, Belisarius and the Roman army entered Rome. It was a remarkable moment. As the historian Procopius wrote, "after a space of sixty years Rome again became subject to the Romans." Some thoughts in this 🧵 #BelisariusAndAntonina #Byzantine #History
First, a brief reminder of the context: Belisarius had landed in Sicily in summer 535. The island and all of Italy were part of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The emperor Justinian charged Belisarius with restoring Roman authority to these lands.
After occupying Sicily in 535, Belisarius crossed the Strait of Messina into the toe of Italy in 536. Most of southern Italy submitted immediately to the Roman army, but Naples held out until it was captured, probably in late November 536.
December 5: #OTD in 562, Belisarius suffered his last disgrace at the hands of an aging Justinian. Belisarius, by this point retired for more than a decade, was implicated in a plot to murder the emperor. Was he guilty? A 🧵 #BelisariusAndAntonina #Byzantine #History
In November 562, three men devised a conspiracy to assassinate Justinian: Ablabios, a musician, Marcellos, a banker, and Sergios, the nephew of an important senator named Aitherios. This was not exactly a roster of the elites of the elites of Constantinopolitan society.
The plot, which was to stab Justinian to death in the evening while he sat in the palace triclinium (dining room), was amateurish and quickly detected by palace guards, who arrested all three men before they came close to ambushing the emperor.
Welcome to new followers who found me through my thread on whether the Byzantine Empire was Roman! 👋 I am a historian with a research focus on the sixth-century Roman world, although my interests broadly range from the founding of Rome to the fall of Constantinople.
This is a professional account and most of my tweets are about my research. I tweet a lot about my upcoming book, #BelisariusAndAntonina, which analyzes the relationship and careers of this sixth-century power couple: a famous Roman general and his powerful and capable wife.
If you think my book sounds intriguing, you can get an early preview of some of my thoughts on Belisarius and Antonina by listening to my recent interview with the YouTube channel Eastern Roman History here:
September 13: The Battle of Ad Decimum took place #OTD in 533. Belisarius vs. Gelimer. Romans vs. Vandals. An epic battle which just happens to be my favorite in Belisarius' career. Read on to discover how the battle unfolded. #BelisariusAndAntonina
The first element of the Roman army to reach Ad Decimum (the ten mile marker south of Carthage) was the vanguard, led by a household retainer of Belisarius named John. The vanguard consisted of 300 cavalry from the personal guardsmen (bucellarii) of Belisarius.
Phase 1: The Roman vanguard under John arrives at Ad Decimum and immediately runs into Ammatas and his men. Ammatas, remember, had been instructed by Gelimer to come from Carthage with all the forces available to him and converge on Ad Decimum.
