ShadowsOfConstantinople
@RomeInTheEast
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Memorializing Eastern Roman civilization and the city of Constantinople. Follow & turn on notifications for academically sourced “Byzantine” history! 🇺🇸/🇬🇷
United States
Joined December 2020
In 1453 “apart from the tragic Emperor Constantine…the greatest hero of the siege is probably Giovanni Giustiniani Longo.”. Giustiniani, a Genoese commander, led the defense of the walls. When an Ottoman shot wounded him as he led on the front lines, it changed history!. 🧵🧵
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@FabrizioRomano Statement: “A sufficient bribe came in and we accepted it and offered the penalty”.
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“A street in Constantinople” by RAPHTOR on deviantart. This has to be one of my favorite artistic depictions of Byzantine Constantinople. I love the way which the Hagia Sophia looms over the nearby streets of the City. It’s a fun visual aid to imagine the way New Rome once was!
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@DailyTurkic lol @ using the word liberation, but the good news for you is English lessons are available online.
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Can we stop this ahistorical lie?. Why do people pretend as if Europeans invented conquest & imperialism? That’s the most Eurocentric view I’ve ever heard. Conquering & exploiting people are an unfortunate part of HUMAN history. 28 Examples of non-European empires ⬇️ (1/8)
The West has a problem— an obsession— with genocide. No matter who you look at: the British, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Belgians, Italians, Spanish, Germans— why do they all go off to foreign lands and butcher people?. This needs addressing. Because it's still happening.
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All aboard the Imperial Air Force One, the jet of the Basileus
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Imagine if the Roman Hippodrome of Constantinople was still in modern-day Istanbul? Well this recreation created by Dogukan Palaman is a great attempt! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
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Apparently Albanians built the Hagia Sophia! 😂
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“In the days of Justinian, ships around Constantinople were terrorized on & off for over 50 years by a whale whom locals called Porphyrios, presumably from the dark-wine color of its skin. One day it began to chase and eat some dolphins, but it ran aground in the mud & got stuck”
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The 9th century Byzantines had a LOTR style beacon system to send a warning from the frontier in the Taurus mountains to Constantinople and possibly other places. It could have taken as little as an hour to relay a warning across Anatolia, which is incredible in those times
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It is very interesting that there is a mosaic depiction of Constantinople in Westminster Cathedral in London. Perhaps a form of credit for the neo-Byzantine architectural style of the church.
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The imperial door of the Hagia Sophia, where the Emperor and his retinue would enter the Church. Above the door is the mosaic of Leo VI
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My favorite photo of Thessaloniki is the one which shows the Roman sea walls intact
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I really find the mosaics in the mausoleum of Galla Placididia in Ravenna to be quite mesmerizing. Helps me imagine how amazing the mosaics in Constantinople must have been!
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Christ Pantokrator from the Hagia Sophia. A masterpiece.
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My parents are in Greece and sent me this picture!
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A rare and incredible thing!. An imperial portrait of the last ever Roman Emperor (1449-1453), Constantine XI Palaiologos, has been found at the Monastery of Taxiarches of Aigialeia in Greece! . We now have a glimpse of what the heroic fallen Emperor possibly looked like. 🫡
BREAKING: A portrait of the last (Eastern) Roman Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was discovered in the Monastery of Taxiarches in Aigialeia, Greece!. Dated to the mid-15th century, it is believed to be the only portrait of Constantine XI Palaiologos.
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Anna Komnene, daughter of Alexios Komnenos, wrote a history of her father called the Alexiad in the 12th century. She was the 1st European female historian EVER: “And at dawn on a Sunday a female child was born to them who was exactly like her father, they said; that child was I”
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@visegrad24 Yet no students protest this actual colonialism going on right now - they are focused on the colonialism of prior generations.
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The imperial box (Kathisma) of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, as portrayed by the artist Eric Chauvin
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This is the marriage ring of a 4th-5th century Roman couple, their inscribed names were Aristophanes & Vigilantia. At this time marriage rings with busts of the couple were common. It’s amazing, this timeless portrait once would have been highly sentimental and important to them
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Why did the Greeks never accept Latin as their language? They believed their language was superior: . “Greek is the most pleasant language and the most fitting for humans. If you observe the words used by other peoples in their languages, you will see that some closely resemble
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If you are the Roman Emperor in Constantinople in 1452, what do you do to fix this situation?
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Why do we call the post-476 Romans “Byzantines?”. Politics!. After 800AD, many in the West called them Greeks for about a millennium!. The independence of Greece in the 19th century made the Greek label more politically complicated, and still no one wanted to call them Romans!🧵
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A sarcophagus from Roman Nikomedia was found in Izmit, Turkey. Only 8 references are known to “Emperors’s protectors,” and this is a rare find as the tomb is intact with its skeleton inside. The necropolis it was found in could carry many more finds if it is all similarly intact
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Andronikos II Palaiologos was desperate to save Anatolia, and hired the Catalan Grand Company. “The Catalans performed some remarkable feats of arms against the Turks and showed what could be done in the way of reconquest. ”. But they were violent, greedy, and uncontrollable!🧵
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The Hagia Sophia was formally inaugurated by Justinian and the Patriarch on December 27, 537AD. Happy 1486th birthday to the Hagia Sophia!
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Aerial section of the Hagia Sophia in the 6th century by artist Julia Lillo
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It’s official, I just found the perfect fence design!
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The evolution of the Column of Constantine from its founding to its present condition
The Forum of Constantine, once an important gathering area in Constantinople that is gone today. But the legendary founder’s porphyry column still stands! A testament to Roman engineering!
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The Hagia Sophia was formally inaugurated in Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian and the Patriarch on December 27, 537AD. It was the pinnacle of Greco-Roman engineering. Happy 1487th birthday to the Hagia Sophia!
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@AzzatAlsaalem @sinnaiy That’s monstrous - this girl lost it all and people won’t let her speak because a few insane people might get upset.
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Why is the Hippodrome of Constantinople mostly gone in present-day Istanbul? . It took centuries for this structure to be removed. It was a GIGANTIC building. Think how hard it would be to move all the stones. The process of destruction was began by the vandals of Fourth Crusade
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The Hagia Sophia as depicted in the video game Age of Empires IV
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The Theodosian walls were famously impressive and “they could hold off any conventional attack…But they had not been built to withstand bombardment by heavy artillery…” When the Ottoman bombardment began on April 6, 1453 - they had to face a new test in a new age of warfare
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It is rather intriguing that there is a mosaic depiction of Constantinople in Westminster Cathedral in London. Perhaps a form of credit for the neo-Byzantine architectural style of the church!
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Even after Constantinople fell in 1453, some Christian resistance persisted in the Aegean against Ottoman expansion!. The Greek island of Rhodes was Sultan Mehmed’s next target in 1480. However, the Knights Hospitaller bravely defended their fortress against Ottoman forces!🧵🧵
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“A staggering 200,000 people, it has been calculated, met a violent death in the Colosseum alone, and there were similar, smaller, arenas in every major city of the Empire.” That’s pretty crazy!. Symmachus, an Urban Prefect of Rome in the Fourth Century, wrote to Emperor
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I think I have an idea how it happened!
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@BFriedmanDC He can’t point out the fact there’s then been no attempts on them? He’s not calling for it.
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City we dislike: Venice.City we think is overrated: Rome.City we like: Antioch.City we love: Thessaloniki.City we feel most ourself in: Constantinople.City we still need to visit: Constantinople, if you don’t live there.City we dream of living in: Constantinople
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Today in 1204 a relatively small army of Crusaders and Venetians took control of the Queen of Cities. The Romans gave up the fight, and gave in. In 717-718 Constantinople resisted an Arab army of 120,000 accompanied by 1800 ships!. How did 20,000 men conquer Constantinople?! 🧵
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For 700 years arguably the best way for a Roman Emperor to prove himself was to defeat their eternal rival - the Persians. Before Constantine the Great died, he had “began preparing for a major war against Persia…The alleged causes are unclear, and there is a good chance that
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@visegrad24 That’s how business should work - do work at work and politics outside of work.
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The first king to go on a crusade was King Sigurd of Norway, leading an army that sailed all the way to Jerusalem. On the way back, him and his army stopped at Constantinople in 1110. Many of the Norwegians then joined the famous Varangian Guard just as their ancestors had.
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Very few towns have their medieval character and sea walls well-preserved and intact like this, that’s magnificent. A window into what a medieval Roman coastal town looked like!.
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On May 28, 1453 the Ottomans were resting for a final assault, “there was an ominous silence.”. I wonder what went through the mind of Constantine XI Palaiologos as he processed the fact that “the only hope left,” a “promised fleet from Venice,” wasn’t coming. Allegedly
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It’s incredibly strange that while Ancient Greece and Rome are included as part of the history of Western civilization, the direct continuation of the Greco-Roman world, the eastern half of the Roman Empire, is often excluded and disconnected. It makes really makes no sense!
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My favorite photo of Thessaloniki is this old one which shows the Roman sea walls intact (colorized)
The wonders of Constantinople are often noted, but the splendor of medieval Thessaloniki should be appreciated too!. Here is a vivid 10th century description from John Kaminiates of his city which brought the “beauty-loving eye to gladness.”. “The city is, as has been mentioned,
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Happy birthday to Constantine XI Palaiologos. The last Emperor of the Romans! Born February 8, 1405 and died May 29, 1453.
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As the Romans absorbed the Greek world, there were prejudices between the two sides, but it turned out that the Hellenes would integrate very well into the Roman world:. “By the end of the 1st century BC, under the emperor Augustus, Roman rule had become a comparatively
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Carthage was the most important city in Roman Africa. Though the Romans did originally destroy Carthage it found a new life as a major Roman provincial city in a wealthy province. North Africa was one of the Western Roman Empire’s most crucial provinces. It need relatively
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Pantokrator Monastery was one of the most important Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Today it’s known as Zeyrek Camii and is the 2nd largest Byzantine church standing in Istanbul. It was built by Emperor John II Komnenos and his wife Irene of Hungary between 1118-1136
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When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 the ancient statue of Justinian still stood watching over the City on its lofty column, Pierre Gilles saw the shattered fragments of it a century later:. “For the barbarians despoiled the column of Justinian of all its bronze
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It’s incredibly strange that Ancient Greece and Rome are included as part of of Western civilization but then the medieval Roman Empire is often excluded…people do this without thinking critically about it. It makes no sense!
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On May 11, 330AD the world changed!. Constantine the Great re-founded the city of Byzantion, transforming it into a new imperial capital. Over time Constantinople blossomed into a grand city truly worthy of the title New Rome, eventually becoming the center of the Roman world.
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After the Romans had conquered the Greek world, the Hellenes became very well-integrated:. “By the end of the first century BC, under the emperor Augustus, Roman rule had become a comparatively frictionless process. While prejudices remained stubborn - The Romans ridiculed the
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The Pantheon in Rome once had beautiful bronze tiles on its roof. Phocas had it made into a church in 609. Emperor Constans II “stripped off the roof of the church, which at one time was called the Pantheon…he took away from there the bronze tiles & sent them…to Constantinople”
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The “longest water supply line from the ancient world” was that made for Constantinople - “at least 2.5x the length of the longest recorded Roman aqueducts.” Constantinople was strategically perfectly located, but water was lacking & required engineering solutions. It is an
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The Great Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is the most famous mosque of the Islamic period in the history of the Iberian peninsula. However, it many people are not aware that the Byzantines created the mosaics of the mosque:. A modern study determined that the mosaic tesserae(the
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“For a civilization that did relatively little harm…Byzantium is oddly one of the most maligned and misunderstood civilizations of the past. Its greatness and true nature were buried under so many layers of western prejudice, polemic, and deceit”-Anthony Kaldellis. Still see it!
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Medieval Arab writers stereotyped Byzantine women as promiscuous/immoral - yet also desirable. They are stereotyped in varying ways as “the most shameless,” adulterous, beautiful, uncovered, uncircumcised, & being uncontrolled - but also as attractive and beautiful (a thread)
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One of the greatest features of the Hagia Sophia are the marble revetment panels which gloriously adorn its walls. Here are 7 pictures showcasing their splendor:
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@culturaltutor This is something I strongly agree with. I hate this modern style with no details. It’s not art it’s just an object, more art in even mundane objects is better.
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Augustus, after the suicide of Cleopatra, took time to pay respects to another legendary figure - “he had the sarcophagus and body of Alexander the Great brought forth from its shrine, and after gazing on it, showed his respect by placing upon it a golden crown and strewing it
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The beauty of Chora, where mosaics meet marble to create a very immersive experience - a view into the past and the medieval splendor of Constantinople.
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A Byzantine burial on Barbados. Have you heard of “The Greek Prince from Cornwall”? Ferdinand Palaiologos was possibly one of the last known descendants of the Palaiologos family. Ferdinand was born in England in 1619 and died on the Caribbean island of Barbados in 1670.
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At St. Marks’s Basilica in Venice there is a porphyry statue of the Four Tetrarchs looted from Constantinople in 1204, surrounded by marble spolia. There is a white fragment on the bottom right of the purple statue, a piece of which was found in Istanbul in the 20th century!
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“The Carthaginians had complied in 149BC with Rome's demand to surrender their 200,000 weapons and 2000 catapults. They did not know the Senate had already secretly decided 'to destroy Carthage for good, once the war was ended'” And people say the “Byzantines” were treacherous!!
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The imperial door of the Hagia Sophia, where the Emperor and his retinue would enter the Great Church. Above the door is the mosaic of Leo VI.
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My favorite building in the world
What is your favorite building in the world?. I’ll start:
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After Constantinople fell on May 29 1453 the news spread in June across Europe. The very powers which had either neglected to help or contributed to the downfall of the Empire directly reacted in horror. Nearby states duly sent diplomats to make terms with the new reality🧵
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Examples of disfigured Crosses in the Hagia Sophia, they are still quite obvious though!. Sometime after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans they must have been deemed offensive as it was converted to a mosque. (1/6)
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Imagine if the Eastern Roman Empire survived into modernity and they had built a new arch in Constantinople?
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The Aurelian walls of Rome (top). The Theodosian walls of Constantinople (bottom)
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Ottoman Hagia Sophia mosque illustration on the left, modern Hagia Sophia on the right. Probably that’s my favorite mosaic, for its symbolism. Justinian giving them gift of Hagia Sophia and Constantine the gift of Constantinople
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Constantinople in the 6th century, with the Hagia Sophia and the Column of Justinian visible. The most beautiful late antique Roman city!
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Eastern Roman history is so incredible because it had so many stages of winning, losing, defending, dramatic falls, and big comebacks. A stubborn entity that began as a superpower but died more like a city-state…it’s also such a long history with over a millennia to learn about!
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“From its foundation in the 4th century, to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century, the name ‘Constantinople’ not only identified a geographical location, but also summoned an idea…To pronounce the name Constantinople conjured a vision of wealth and splendor
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My experience at Hagia Sophia - It is a world treasure that’s tragically ensnared by politics. On one hand, tourist money is desired. On the other it is used as a trophy where entry to the bottom half is denied to tourists despite allowing non-Muslims in other mosques. I loved
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In 1306 the Order of the Knights Hospitaller needed a new base in the East. They chose the vulnerable island of Rhodes, Roman territory since antiquity. This is how the Hospitallers conspired with Genoa to seize Rhodes in a multi-year war, receiving papal blessing & support🧵
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A beautiful illustration of the Hagia Sophia to help imagine it during its time as the Great Church of Constantinople
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“It was the Eiffel tower of its epoch.” Perhaps one of the most underrated monuments of Constantinople was the Column of Justinian. It wasn’t just one of the many triumphal columns in the city, it was the most arguably the most important one ever. The tallest Roman triumphal
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An interesting map showing the allocation of Roman military forces during the second century. Diocletian had to significantly raise troop levels in the third century to meet growing defensive demands along Rome’s increasingly challenging frontiers.
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Constantinople was famous for many things, one of which was “its many philanthropic institutions - hospitals, old-age homes, asylums for the poor — facilities that the city zealously supported.” These were “essential elements of the capital’s urban life.”. “By 550 Constantinople
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Constantinople made a huge impression on the Varangians. In the Morkinskinna, an Old Norse saga, there is a description of the Hippodrome. They were impressed by the visual spectacles, sounds of musical instruments, & they interpreted their own pagan Gods in the ancient statues🧵
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Eastern Roman history is so incredible because it had so many stages of winning, losing, defending, dramatic falls, & epic comebacks. A stubborn entity that began as a superpower but died more like a city-state…it’s also such a long history with over a millennia to learn about!
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