Roman Empire News
12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 9 - Justinian - Part 3
With the reconquest of Italy seemingly complete and the Persian threat momentarily neutralized by the plague, Justinian could at last afford to rest. But the empire's enemies were everywhere- the plague abated and a charismatic new Gothic king arose in Italy. The empire could ill afford to keep its greatest general in disgrace, and Justinian would once again turn to the man he could never quite bring himself to trust. The final decade of his life would see the fruition of his epic dreams of reconquest, as well as the restoration of the building that still stands as the greatest testament to his reign. It would be the final act of a cast of characters the likes of whom the empire would never see again. Join Lars Brownworth for the conclusion of the reign of Justinian, the last of the Roman Emperors.
12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 4 - Constantine - Part 2
Constantine has achieved supreme power and made one of the most momentous decisions in history, that of founding a new capital and rescuing a faith seemingly on the brink of schism. However, his megalomania undid most of his work unifying the church and threatened the very stability of the state. Does such a man truly deserve to be called great? Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the apogee of Constantine's career and his impact on history.
The Golden Rule
| Treat your inferior as you would wish your superior to treat you. .... Remember, if you please, that the man yo call slave sprang from the same seed, enjoys the same daylightm breathes like you, lives like you, dies like you, You can as easily conceive him a free man as he can conceive you a slave. - Seneca |
12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 12 - Basil I
Basil I was hardly a promising candidate to usher in a new golden age to the Byzantine Empire. A poor, illiterate Armenian peasant, he was kidnapped by raiding Bulgarians as a boy, and only managed to escape in his mid twenties. Renowned for his great strength and skill with horses, he found work as a stable hand and grew into a violent, ambitious man, whose thirst for power led him to commit two of the foulest murders that even Byzantine history has to offer. And yet, against the odds, his reign was the most successful of the century, and the Macedonian dynasty that he would found, would bring the empire to the height of its power and prestige. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the reign of the emperor Basil the Macedonian.
Roman Thoughts About Old Age
Cicero, one of the greatest men of letters in the Roman Empire had this to say about old age, and death:
Indeed I do not see why I should not venture to tell you what I myself think concerning death, because I fancy I see it so much more clearly, in proportion as I am less distant from it. I am persuaded that your fathers ..., men of the greatest eminence and very dear friends of mine, are living; and that life, too, which alone deserves the name of life. For whilst we are shut up in in this prison of the body we are fulfilling as it were the function and painful task of destiny, for the heaven-born soul has been degraded from its dwelling place abovem and it were buried in the earth, a situation uncongenial to its divine and immortal nature. |
