Byzantine News

The Harbour of Eleutherios (Greek: λιμήν Ἐλευθερίου), later known as the Harbour of Theodosius (Greek: λιμήν Θεοδοσίου, Latin: Portus Theodosiacus) was one of the ports of ancient Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, located beneath the modern Yenikapi neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey. The harbour was located on the south side of the peninsula where the city is built, facing towards the Sea of Marmara. The other harbours of the city were the Harbour of Julian and the small harbour of the Boukoleon Palace, likewise on the southern shore, and the harbours of Neorion and Prosphorion on the northern side. The harbour was built in the late 4th century during the reign of Theodosius I, and was the city's major point of trade in Late Antiquity. The area was later transformed for agricultural use due to the effects of erosion and silting. In Ottoman times, the area was built over. Here is a video about the harbour:

The TLG project has recently added 30 more Byzantine texts: 0545 Claudius AELIANUS Soph. (1 work) 0674 AELIUS PROMOTUS Med. (1 work) 2042 ORIGENES Theol. (1 work) 3013 Andronicus CAMATERUS Scr. Eccl. (1 work) 3085 NEOPHYTUS INCLUSUS Scr. Eccl. (6 works) 3157 THEODORUS Scutariota Hist. (1 work) 3251 PHILOTHEUS COCCINUS Theol. (4 works) 4028 STEPHANUS Byzantius Gramm. (2 works) 4457 THEOGNOSTUS Theol. (1 work) 5026 SCHOLIA IN HOMERUM Schol. (1 work) 5327 ACTA MONASTERII VAZELON Acta et Eccl. (1 work) 5357 TIPUKEITUS Jurisprud. (1 work) 9023 Thomas MAGISTER Philol. (8 works) 9030 Constantinus HARMENOPULUS Legal. (1 work) Click here for more

Dumbarton Oaks has made available I .Shahid's  book on Rome and the Arabs. Click here to download The Arabs played an important role in Roman-controlled Oriens in the four centuries or so that elapsed from the Settlement of Pompey in 64 B.C. to the reign of Diocletian, A.D. 284–305. In Rome and the Arabs Irfan Shahîd explores this extensive but poorly known role and traces the phases of the Arab-Roman relationship, especially in the climactic third century, which witnessed the rise of many powerful Roman Arabs such as the Empresses of the Severan Dynasty, Emperor Philip, and the two rulers of Palmyra, Odenathus and Zenobia. Philip the Arab, the author argues, was the first Christian Roman emperor and Abgar the Great (ca. 200 A.D.) was the first Near Eastern ruler to adopt Christianity. In addition to political and military matters, the author also discusses Arab cultural contributions, pointing out the role of the Hellenized and Romanized Arabs in the urbanization of the regio...

Editors: T. Shawcross & I. Toth From Cambridge University Press: Offering a comprehensive introduction to the history of books, readers and reading in the Byzantine Empire and its sphere of influence, this volume addresses a paradox. Advanced literacy was rare among imperial citizens, being restricted by gender and class. Yet the state's economic, religious and political institutions insisted on the fundamental importance of the written record. Starting from the materiality of codices, documents and inscriptions, the volume's contributors draw attention to the evidence for a range of interactions with texts. They examine the role of authors, compilers and scribes. They look at practices such the close perusal of texts in order to produce excerpts, notes, commentaries and editions. But they also analyse the social implications of the constant intersection of writing with both image and speech. Showcasing current methodological approaches, this collection of essays ai...

Audio lecture by Sharon Gerstel: Witnessing Byzantium: The Greek Perspective

Articles from the latest issue of Dumbarton Oaks Papers , no 71: Maya Maskarinec, “Saints for All Christendom: Naturalizing the Alexandrian Saints Cyrus and John in Seventh- to Thirteenth-Century Rome”;  Joseph Glynias, “Prayerful Iconoclasts: Psalm Seals and Elite Formation in the First Iconoclast Era (726–750)”;  Jordan Pickett, “Water and Empire in the De Aedificiis of Procopius”;  Florin Leonte, “Visions of Empire: Gaze, Space, and Territory in Isidore’s Encomium for John VIII Palaiologos (1429)”;  Anastasia Drandaki, “Piety, Politics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Venetian Crete”; Julian Baker, Filippo Dompieri, and Turan Gökyildirim, “The Reformed Byzantine Silver Based Currencies (ca. 1372–1379) in the Light of the Hoards from the Belgrade Gate”;  Vasileios Marinis, “The Vision of Last Judgment in the Vita of Saint Niphon (BHG 1371z)”;  Daniel Reynolds, “Rethinking Palestinian Iconoclasm”;  Athanasios Vionis, “Understanding Settlemen...