Byzantine News

// // A video about San Vitale

The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library holds almost 2000 microfilm rolls that are reproductions of medieval and early modern manuscripts, the originals of which are held in institutions around the world. This database allows researchers to search for specific manuscripts represented within the collection. Click here to consult the database

The aristocratic oikos on the Vrina Plain, Butrint c. AD 830−1200 pp. 1-19(19) Authors: Greenslade, Simon; Hodges, Richard The illusion of continuity: Nikephoros Phokas, John Tzimiskes and the eastern border pp. 20-34(15) Author: Garrood, William The original source for Tzimiskes' Balkan campaign (971 AD) and the emperor's classicizing propaganda pp. 35-52(18) Author: Kaldellis, Anthony At the origins of ephoreia* pp. 53-62(10) Author: Chitwood, Zachary The fair of Agios Demetrios of 26 October 1449: Byzantine-Venetian relations and land issues in mid-century* pp. 63-80(18) Author: Wright, Diana Gilliland Contemporary perception of Byzantium in Turkish cinema: the cross-examination of Battal Gazi films with the Battalname pp. 81-91(11) Authors: Bayrı, Buket Kitapçı Nicosia and its municipal administration during the very early years of British rule in Cyprus pp. 92-110(19) Author: Markides, Diana `Peasantist nationalism' in inter-war Greece (1927-41) pp. 111-129(...

Just as they have done for 17 centuries, the Greek Orthodox monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai desert and the local Jabaliya Bedouins worked together to protect the monastery when the 2011 revolution thrust Egypt into a period of uncertainty. “There was a period in the early days of the Arab Spring when we had no idea what was going to happen,” says Father Justin, a monk who has lived at St. Catherine’s since 1996. Afraid they could be attacked by Islamic extremists or bandits in the relatively lawless expanse of desert, the 25 monks put the monastery’s most valuable manuscripts in the building’s storage room. Their Bedouin friends, who live at the base of St. Catherine’s in a town of the same name, allegedly took up their weapons and guarded the perimeter. The community’s fears of an attack were not realized, but the monks decided they needed a new way to protect their treasured library from any future threats. Last year, they accelerated a program of digitall...

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"Herrin is acutely aware not only of Byzantium's place in the world, but also of its idiosyncrasies, which she illuminates by bringing into play the ecclesiastical sources in a way that few other Byzantine historians have done. Her essays reveal first and foremost her breadth of vision."--Michael Angold, editor of "The Cambridge History of Christianity: Eastern Christianity" "Tracing her journey across the history of Byzantium, Herrin's elegant essays display her insightful approaches, solid methodology, and vast historical knowledge."--Christine Angelidi, Institute of Historical Research, Athens "Herrin's essays reveal a capacity given to very few historians--the power to present the big picture without ever losing sight of the vital details. Their genesis over the course of her career, and more importantly their bearing on our current intellectual and political situation, illustrate what it means to be a humane and humanistic...

// --> // ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity. The model is based on a simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. It broadly reflects conditions around 200 CE but also covers a few sites and roads created in late antiquity. The model consists of 751 sites, most of them urban settlements but also including important promontories and mountain passes, and covers close to 10 million square kilometers (~4 million square miles) of terrestrial and maritime space. 268 sites serve as sea ports. The road network encompasses 84,631 kilometers (52,587 miles) of road or desert tracks, complemented by 28,272 kilometers (17,567 miles) of navigable rivers and canals. Sea travel moves across a cost surface that simulates monthly wind conditions and takes acco...