Imperator Cat Profile picture
Apr 5, 2024 11 tweets 5 min read Read on X
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). Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
And ofcourse romance. Faramir and Eowyn enjoyed their sweet victory. Such an innocent but also passionate kiss. /7 Image
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 Image
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

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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

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
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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.

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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 Image
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 Image
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May 28
“The City is fallen and I am still alive.”

#OTD, in 1453, Constantinople is about to fall. The empire of Augustus and Constantine, of Justinian and Heraclius, is counting the last hours.

This is how the last Romans made their final stand.

Fall of Constantinople. A thread🧵 Image
By 1453 AD, the “Roman Empire” was just a name.

The emperor ruled only Constantinople and scraps in the Peloponnese. Inside the city lived fewer than 50,000 people - many of them refugees.

But they still called themselves Romans. And they prayed for a miracle. /1 Image
For the help from the West. That will never come.

The Papacy hesitated. Venice and Genoa made deals with both sides. The Balkans were lost. The Ottomans had Europe’s largest army.

Constantinople stood alone behind its ancient walls. /2 Image
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May 11
Let’s talk about the emperor who inherited Rome’s last great reconquest—and watched it all start to fall apart. Meet Justin II, nephew of Justinian the Great.

His reign (565–578 AD) is where the cracks began to show. Big time. 🧵 Image
Justin II took the throne in 565, just as his uncle Justinian died. He inherited an empire that looked glorious on paper—Italy, North Africa, Spain, the East… Rome restored!

But in reality? It was overextended, broke, and bleeding. /1 Image
Justinian’s Reconquest restored control over Africa and Italy.

But it also emptied the treasury. The Italian campaign alone lasted 20 years. Cities were destroyed. Armies drained. A plague swept through the empire in the 540s

Justin II stepped in, trying to steady the ship. /2 Image
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Apr 13
By the mid 9th century, the Byzantine empire was slowly recovering from traumas of the Arab invasion.

Emperor Theophilos, young and ambitious warrior conducted several succesful offensives.

But he had much bolder plan

Nothing less than reuniting East and West

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Theophilos was aware that his forces could not decisively defeat the Abbasid Caliphate, and restore the eastern provinces.

But if the Romans and Carolingian Franks unite their forces, they could prevail. And if they reunite the Empire...

Enters Thekla, emperor's daughter /1 Image
One of his several daughters. But as the oldest, Thekla was one of possible heirs to the throne, along with Theophilos son Michael.

She was also well educated, ambitious, raised to rule.
Theophilos saw Thekla (far left) as the bridge between two halves of the future Empire. /2 Image
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Nov 10, 2024
So you wanna be a Varangian?

The bodyguard of the Byzantine Emperor, ready to die for his master, but also spend hours of boredom carving graffiti during a solemn mass in Hagia Sophia?

It is an arduous and dangerous work, but it also brings wealth and fame.

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Joining the Varangian Guard meant pledging loyalty to the Emperor of the #Romans - a rare honour for a foreigner, especially one from the north.

To be a Varangian, you must be from the North, far beyond the imperial territory. Depending on the time, your ethnicity mattered. /1 Image
From ca. 980 to 1020ish, you would get an entry to the Great Palace, if you happened to be from Kievan Rus

Varangian Guard was established around 980 when Basil II received thousands of Kievan soldiers in exchange for the marriage of a Byzantine princess to the Prince of Kiev /2 Image
Read 20 tweets

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