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Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

Apr 5, 2024 • 11 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

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As a huge #Tolkien fan, I am amazed at how many artists brought his Middle Earth to life.

Alan Lee, Ted Nasmith, Marc Simonetti, and even the Queen of Denmark!

But my favourite is Denis Gordeev, a Russian who made Tolkien's characters and world truly medieval (and real).

Just look at the vibrant world and colourful costumes of the Gordeev medieval #LOTR characters. We should remember the Middle Ages were a far cry from Holywood's drab and grey world.

Filled with colours, like in this scene of Aragorn's coronation. A crown for the king! /1

Or look at the chaos of the Fall of Gondolin (Gordeev illustrated all Tolkien's books), with wrym employed as a sort of siege weapon while Turgon is wearing full battle regalia. Majestic, isn't it? /2

Gordeev is also a master of human emotion. Check this tragic scene of Faramir brought to his father, Denethor! With the silent royal marble statues observing the unfolding drama. /3

Or light (and shadow). Like in this case where Legolas and Gimli are riding to fight the forces of Darkness. Just look at that contrast between forces of good and evil /4

A whole story in one illustration. Eowyn, the maid of Rohan, confronts the Witch King, with Merry helplessly watching and King Theoden stuck under his horse! While the battle rages on... /5

Or probably the best scene I have ever seen depicting the collapse (literally) of the fortress of Barad Dur

You can almost imagine this scene in motion. /6

And ofcourse romance. Faramir and Eowyn enjoyed their sweet victory. Such an innocent but also passionate kiss. /7

Not all illustrations are in colour. But B&W does not change the power of Geordeev's art. Arwen looked as elegant as ever, and Aragorn dressed simply, but every detail pointed to his royalty. /8

Those are just a few of the many beautiful illustrations by which this talented artist brought Tolkien's world to life. He also did some of the best art for #TheWitcher, so when you have time, do a bit of Google search. You'll be rewarded. :) /9

Ok, will break with my custom and share few more fascinating art

Shadowfax - the lord of all horses, looking fabulous and not impressed

Frodo on Glorfindel horse

Sam telling Faramir to go to...

And, ofcourse...They are taking the hobbits to Isengard :)

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More from @CatImperator

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

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.

A thread🧵

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

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

Read 10 tweets

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

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.

A thread 🧵

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

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

Read 16 tweets

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

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?

A thread 🧵

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

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

Read 18 tweets

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

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.

A thread 🧵

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

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

Read 10 tweets

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

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

A thread🧵

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

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

Read 24 tweets

Imperator Cat

@CatImperator

Jun 18

In 48 BC, Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria. Standing before the sarcophagus, deeply moved Caesar paid his respects to the great conqueror.

Here lay a man who had conquered the world by thirty. Caesar wept - and began dreaming.

Of a grand Parthian campaign.

A thread 🧵

The Parthians were no mere kingdom. Only few years before Caesar visit to the Alexander's tomb, the Parthians humbled Rome at Carrhae, annihilated legions, and captured revered eagles.

For Caesar, the wound was political and personal. He wanted justice - and glory eternal. /1

Caesar would have to wait. Ironically, it was at Carrhae the Parthians had killed Crassus - his fellow triumvir and (uneasy) ally

Crassus’ death shattered the fragile balance of power. Leaving a dangerous power vacuum. Caesar and Pompey, once comrades, plunged Rome into war /2

Read 15 tweets

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