How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App
https://twitter.com/AntigoneJournal/status/18404143383618068522. This is absolutely true. The same could be said about other states, empires or polities, all the way from Punic Carthage to the Crusader fiefdoms in the Levant to Nazi Germany. The Roman Empire, on the other hand, makes for a much more daunting case.
https://twitter.com/BretDevereaux/status/18400533101217711612. Bret and I agree that already during the Roman Republic non-citizen soldiers played a crucial role in Rome's military. This is a staple throughout Roman history, from beginnings to end (= Byzantium). Scholarly consensus galore. Musk's original tweet was a racist dog whistle.
https://twitter.com/ThePrez_Dugan/status/18253044227649823712. For general surveys, Gregory's History of Byzantium is the most balanced. He covers all the era's and various domains (politics, economy etc). That said, even in the 2nd edition there are still a series of minor errors. But other surveys also have their virtues and vices.
https://twitter.com/mcgillmd921/status/18241954205931974541. This caused much more of a ruckus than I'd anticipated. So some thoughts and alternatives. Firstly, there's nothing wrong with giving people interested in Roman history suggestions on where to start! The suggested list, however, is at risk of being two-dimensional at best.
https://twitter.com/PhilippusArabus/status/16876206980369735692. 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')
https://twitter.com/HerakleitosMD/status/14398388218106880042. 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...