I read the book The Church of the East in one day. (I had the abridged version.) This is a scholarly work on the history of Christianity in the East—the lands to the east of the Roman and Byzantine empires historically. This means places like Persia, Central Asia, India, the East Indies, and China. The […]
Tag: Byzantine Empire
The Hippodrome – A Better Sports Stadium Than The Colosseum?
What do you know about the Hippodrome of Constantinople? If you’re like most people, the only ancient sports stadium you’ve heard of is the Colosseum in Rome. I don’t blame you. It’s huge, it’s famous, tourists love it, and it hosted gladiator combats. Unless you’re still angry at the Romans for their barbaric willingness to […]
Byzantine Discoveries – What They Found First, and Who Took the Glory
The process of discovering new knowledge is tricky. But we try to give credit where it’s deserved. Or do we? A few examples of Byzantine discoveries suggest this question is more complex than meets the eye. (Recall that the Byzantine Empire was the successor of the Roman Empire in the east. We could also call […]
Was Greek Fire a New, Genuine Breakthrough Chemical Weapon?
Most of us think of chemical weapons as a twentieth century phenomenon. But did you know that one existed in the medieval world as well? We call that chemical weapon Greek fire. For many, the term chemical weapon has negative connotations. We recall the gas mask as an essential piece of equipment for World War […]
The Columbian Exchange – An Introduction
The Columbian Exchange ranks among my favorite historical topics I used to teach. I regard it as the most important event combining biology and history in the modern world. Only a handful of events in all of history can even compare in importance. Similar candidates include the industrial revolution, the major world religions, perhaps the […]
Byzantine Sports – A Number of Choices
Our last post about the Byzantines (click here to read it) described the importance of chariot racing in the Byzantine Empire. Today, we’ll finish this topic with what the races were like and then examine other Byzantine sports. Byzantine Sports – The Charioteers Men who were skilled at racing held the public esteem just as […]