David Parnell Profile picture
May 30 10 tweets 5 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
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 Me standing in front of the...
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! My Vatican Library reader ID.
While in the library, I spent time reading and beginning the writing of Chapter 4 (on Belisarius’ first campaign in Italy) in the reading room, seen pictured in this tweet. It was gorgeous, and all books within the library’s main collection are available to read here. Me in the reading room at t...Another view of the reading...
I also went to the manuscript reading room, seen pictured in this tweet. Here I spent some time with Vat. Gr. 1001, a 14th century manuscript that contains Procopius’ Secret History. When Niccolo Alamanni published it in 1623 it became the first edition of the text. The manuscript reading room...
We were not really supposed to take photos of the manuscripts, but I couldn’t resist, so here is just one picture of Vat. Gr. 1001, to give a taste of the Greek script that Niccolo had to make sense of when creating his edition of the Secret History. A page of Vat. Gr. 1001.
While in the manuscript room, I also ordered the oldest available manuscripts of the Liber Pontificalis, to read what that source had to say about Belisarius and Antonina deposing Pope Silverius. This was to confirm what I had already read in published editions. A page of the Liber Pontifi...
Was any of this *strictly* necessary for me to write #BelisariusAndAntonina? Maybe not. I could have in theory written the book with published editions of these sources available in research libraries in the United States.
However, I think there was considerable (if unquantifiable) value to spending time in Rome, a city in which Belisarius himself spent a lot of time (about 2.5 years of his life). There is also value to reading, thinking, and writing in a place as historic as the Vatican Library.
If one can swing it, some degree of immersion into the world that one is writing about is well worth the investment of time and resources.

Tomorrow: Still in Rome in February 2020, I survey the Aurelian wall and its gates.

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More from @byzantineprof

May 31
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 The walls near the Villa Me...
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.
Read 8 tweets
May 29
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 Saint Jerome Writing by Car...
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.
Read 12 tweets
Apr 18
There is a lot going on in this thread. But I will just focus on two issues here. 1) Belisarius' armies during his conquests were actually NOT all that small. 2) The ravages of the plague and a climate event, not Belisarius' brilliance, damaged long-term prospects.
On the first issue, let's take a look at the size of Belisarius' armies. Against the Vandals in 533, Belisarius had an army of 18,000 soldiers not counting his personal guards, who numbered at least another several hundred.
It is true that Belisarius started the war against the Ostrogoths in 535 with a smaller force (7,500 soldiers not counting his personal guards). But reinforcements over the next few years brought this number up to around 19,000 by the time he was ready to march on Ravenna in 540.
Read 11 tweets
Apr 14
Justinian and Belisarius: how was their relationship? Typically, historians emphasize animosity and conflict between the two elite Romans. I think this approaches their relationship from the wrong angle. Read on if interested. ⬇️ #Roman #Byzantine #History Justinian, detail from the ...Sixth-century man, probably...
For centuries, modern historians have argued that Justinian was jealous of Belisarius' successes and sought to undermine him whenever possible to limit his achievement. We can trace this argument at least back to Gibbon, but it is still present in a book as recent as 2021. Portrait of Edward Gibbon. ...
On what basis might modern historians be making this claim? On multiple occasions, Procopius and Agathias note that other military officers or government officials were jealous of Belisarius' success, and so they slandered him to Justinian. The historian Procopius as ...
Read 13 tweets
Feb 10
Travel in the ancient and medieval Roman world came with a twist: trips of greater distance could be accomplished in less time than trips of shorter distance depending on certain variables. Read this 🧵 for the general rules of Roman travel time. #Roman #Byzantine #History The user interface of the ORBIS tool.
I once described the journey from Constantinople to Dara in Mesopotamia as "particularly cumbersome." The itinerary that best combined comfort and speed was to sail from Constantinople around the coast of Anatolia to Seleukia by the Sea, and then proceed overland to Dara. A map from ORBIS showing the sea/land route from Constantino
This trip covered ~2,150 kilometers and took about 18 days. This trip was about the longest one could take and still be within the Eastern Roman Empire. The map below shows routes from Constantinople to other major sites within the empire which were ALL shorter in duration. A map from ORBIS showing the routes from Constantinople to A
Read 10 tweets
Jan 30
Belisarius and Antonina were extremely well-traveled individuals. Between 528 and 548, for instance, Belisarius was away from Constantinople for part or all of 19 of these years. Antonina was away from Constantinople for part or all of 14 of these years. #Byzantine #History Sixth-century man, probably Belisarius, from San Vitale. PhoSixth-century woman, probably Antonina, from San Vitale. Pho
The destinations of their travels are generally well-known: the Roman East (particularly Roman Mesopotamia and Syria), North Africa, and Italy. Of all these locations, they both spent by far the most time in Italy (about 11 years). Map of the empire of Justinian, showing Belisarius' main tra
Of course none of this travel was for pleasure. It was all in the service of Belisarius' military career. In the majority of these years, Belisarius held the title of General of the East, even while fighting in the West.
Read 7 tweets

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