True Tolkien aficionados and art historians will find much to be annoyed about. But Στέλιος Καρέλλας on FB had AI render scenes from Lord the Rings as Byzantine mosaics, and I think it's glorious.

1. Gandalf VS Balrog 2.

1. What people call 'The Fall of the Roman Empire' - more on that soon - has been part of my core research for an awful long time. So let's take a closer look at a deeply deceiving take on one of our most intriguing sources for this period.

Thread.

https://twitter.com/PhilippusArabus/status/1687620698036973569

2. First: what do we mean with 'The Fall of the Roman Empire'? These days it's shorthand for the end of the Empire in its western provinces during the fifth century. After all, the Roman East continued for another millennium (wrongly and anachronistically called 'Byzantine')

1. Now that even high profile media like The Guardian are jumping on the bandwagon of comparing the Wagner mutiny with Roman History, allow me to weigh in with some expertise on Warlordism. Here's an outline of how the latter contributed to the end of Rome's Empire in the West.

2. Ancient/Modern comparisons almost never work, even though they're fun to play and think with. Especially the 'fall of Rome' (more on that soon) has proven highly popular to explain major problems of our time. I've written about this in Dutch here:

apache.be/gastbijdragen/…

1. On this day tomorrow in 408, the imperial commander Stilicho was executed. He's one of the most fascinating individuals of the Late Roman world, who de facto controlled the western court and government c. 395-408. A pivotal period in the so-called 'Fall of Rome' story. Thread. 2. First things first: plenty of textbooks and studies still refer to him as the 'Vandal', 'Half-Vandal', or - horresco referens - 'German' Stilicho. These labels are incorrect/partially correct/rubbish. Often unmentioned, but most important label of all: he's a Roman. Why?

1. If you're suffering from the heat today, please take a moment to remember Valens' soldiers at Adrianople on this day in 378. The eastern Roman army commanded by the emperor Valens suffered a terrible defeat against Gothic groups who'd 2 years earlier requested asylum. Thread. 2. We don't know exactly what drove tribes of Greutungi and Tervingi to request crossing the Danube in 376. A combination of inter-tribal wars and the first tidings of the Huns in the steppe lands north of the Black Sea, may have motivated their leaders to request reallocation.

Ik sluit me hierbij aan. Wat overigens nog niet is opgemerkt in deze discussie: een prof kan zich misschien de luxe permitteren om live conferenties aan zich te laten passeren. Early career researchers niet. Wie academisch werkzaam wil blijven moet internationaal kijken.

https://twitter.com/HerakleitosMD/status/1439838821810688004

2. De realiteit is dat de tijd quasi voorbij is dat men een traject student-PhD-postdoc-prof aan dezelfde universiteit (of zelfs het zelfde land!) kon afleggen. Je moet jezelf en je werk live kunnen kenbaar maken aan de wereld. Dat betekent uiteraard niet automatisch jobsucces...

1. In this week in 476, the insignificant boy-emperor Romulus ("Augustulus") was deposed by Odoacer, leader of the Italian field army. This event is claimed to be "the fall of the [western] Roman empire". Thread on one of the biggest #BadAncientHistory takes. Feel free to share. 2. First: why can't we call this the end of the Roman Empire? Well, there was still a Roman emperor in Constantinople, who ruled the entire Eastern Mediterranean and Southeastern Balkans. Since the end of the third century, Imperial rule had ceased being centered on Italy.

1. On this yesterday, 24 August 410, Rome was sacked by a group now known as the Visigoths - a name which they didn't have yet. It is an event that has enjoyed widespread notoriety and almost everything known about it in popular imagination is wrong.
Thread (feel free to share!) 2. The man who gave the orders was Alaric, who had had a chequered career as commander in the Imperial army. Looting Rome was the last thing he wanted: he had first arrived with his men near the Urbs in late 408. At any point in the next 18 months he could have taken the city.