Imperator Cat Profile picture
Jan 4, 2023 7 tweets 4 min read Read on X
You are a #Roman soldier born in province of Dalmatia (modern-day #Croatia). Most of your life you've spent on the Adriatic coast, in the warm Mediterranean climate. It is a paradise on Earth. And it is the heartland of the mighty #RomanEmpire.

Your life is about to change... /1
Then, your emperor, great #Hadrian, commands you and your unit to move. Not to the East, where you could still enjoy all benefits of civilization. Or to Africa, also a place to be.

No, Hadrian dispatches you to the ends of the known world. To the cold and hostile Brittania /2
Precisely, you and your unit are sent to man the furthermost part of the northern frontier. To the Hadrian wall, which is nearing its completion. In the following decade, you will guard this remote outpost against the barbarian threat. /3
This is more than a story. It is exactly what happened to the detachment of the Cohors IV Delmatarum from the #Dalmatian coast. Their destination was fort Mediobogdum, located on the western side of the Hardknott Pass in the county of Cumbria. /4
Built between 120 and 138 AD, the fort was briefly abandoned during the Antonine advance into Scotland during the mid-2nd century. It was reoccupied around 200 and continued in use until the last years of the 4th century. /5
One of the most remote and dramatically sited Roman forts in #Britain, the small, three-acre fort at Hardknott enjoyed command of the Eskdale Valley and the Roman road to Ravenglass. /6
And how do we know the story? Well, the Dalmatian soldiers left an inscription in the fort, which survived (in fragments) to the present day, a witness of a fascinating journey from ancient #history. /7

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More from @CatImperator

Sep 17
Is there any person in history as influential as Alexander the Great?

In barely a decade, he carved a vast empire from Greece to India.

But his legacy began the moment his empire collapsed, ushering in the Hellenistic Age, the foundation of our world.

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As a commander, Alexander became the model for all future generals.

His campaigns were studied by Caesar, imitated by Napoleon, analyzed by Patton. Speed, daring, and vision, as well as tactical acumen.

Every great general has marched in his footsteps. /1 Image
Alexander was hailed as Kosmokrator: lord of the world.

No wonder, early Christians reimagined him as the model for Christ the Pantokrator, ruler of all.

Initially, Christ was portrayed as young Alexander! Young, long haired and beardless warrior. /2 Image
Read 11 tweets
Sep 6
Constantinople, 717 AD.

Dawn breaks over the City of Constantine. From the sea walls, Romans watch in silence as almost 2,000 Umayyad ships choke the Bosphorus.

The city faces ruin. Yet hidden aboard the imperial fleet lies a terrible secret - the Greek Fire.

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The imperial dromons surge forward. Bronze siphons thunder, unleashing torrents of liquid flame.

Fire leaps across the water, but it does not vanish. Instead, it burns wood and flesh. The Arab fleet erupts in chaos. Constantinople is saved... /1 Image
While the Greek Fire saved the City, and the Empire, at its darkest hour, this was not the first time the terrifying weapon was employed.

Its origins lie half a century earlier, in the reign of emperor Constantine IV (668–685). /2 Image
Read 10 tweets
Jul 31
Rome didn’t fall in 476.
It moved east—to Constantinople.
Fifty years later, it came back.

In the north, it became the Exarchate of Ravenna, and it endured till 751 AD.

In the south, it held on for three more centuries...

This is the story of the exarchs.

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In 568, the Lombards invaded Italy. They took Milan in 569, and then Pavia. The imperial navy could protect coastal cities but do little while the Lombards pushed south

The Gothic War had ended barely a decade earlier.
Italy was shattered. The Empire had no legions to spare.../1 Image
By 584, emperor Maurice created a new frontier structure - the Exarchate of Ravenna.

The exarch was no mere governor - he was a general, judge, and imperial representative

It was a last-ditch fusion of civil and military power. A fire measure to keep imperial rule in Italy. /2 Image
Read 16 tweets
Jul 22
In 394 AD, a Roman rhetor was branded a “barbarian.” Not for his birth—but for backing the wrong emperor.
His name was Eugenius. He spoke Latin, dressed Roman, worshipped like any citizen.
But he lost.

So—what did it mean to be Roman?

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So — Was there a Roman national identity?

Not in the modern ethnic or racial sense. But over 1,000+ years, the Romans forged a powerful and complex identity rooted in law, behavior, and loyalty—not blood. /1 Image
In the Republic and early Empire, “Roman” meant citizen—participating in Roman law, institutions, and military service. Obeying the authorities.

Citizenship was an ultimate prize, most easily obtainable through military service, through a coveted diploma /2 Image
Read 18 tweets
Jul 21
A Slavic rebel. Crowned in Arab-held Antioch. Backed by the navy, the poor, and even the caliph.

In 821, Thomas the Slav rose up to take Constantinople. His siege nearly succeeded.

This wasn’t fiction. It was Game of Thrones—but real. And Byzantium bled.

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Thomas was no outsider. Born in Pontus, trained in the imperial military, he’d served under Leo V. But when Leo was assassinated, Thomas broke ranks.

He claimed to be Leo returned—or his avenger. And in Arab-held Antioch, he was crowned emperor by an iconophile patriarch. /1 Image
The place, the doctrine - it was not a simple revolt. It was a campaign with a message.

Thomas promised to defend icon worship, and punish the usurper, Michael the Amorian. He rallied disillusioned soldiers, clergy and bureucrats.

He offered an alternative empire. Justice. /2 Image
Read 10 tweets
Jun 20
#OTD, in 451 AD, in the vicinity of a town nowadays known as Troyes, the Battle of Catalaunian plains took place. The Roman-led coalition, under Aetius, defeated Attila and his army.

Aetius won the battle, but he could not save the Western Roman Empire; nor himself

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Flavius Aetius was born around 390 AD in the Roman frontier town of Durostorum, now Silistra, on the Bulgarian side of the Danube.

Aetius’ father, Gaudentius, was a high-ranking officer under emperor Honorius. Almost nothing is known of Aetius’ youth... /1 Image
Except that the young man followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an officer in the Roman army.

This was usual for the period, as military service in the Late Roman Empire was hereditary duty, and it was the easiest way for an ambitious man to climb to the very top /2 Image
Read 24 tweets

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