Antonina: a powerful woman in the sixth-century Roman world

"Antonina was the most powerful uncrowned woman in the sixth-century Roman world. She deposed Pope Silverius, arranged for the sacking of John the Cappadocian, traveled across the Mediterranean with her husband, and even occasionally inserted herself into the running of his army. She knew soldiers, officers, the emperor, popes, bishops, and historians, and at various times commanded them, pleaded with them, and intimidated them. This is a remarkable resume, virtually unparalleled among Roman military wives, and certainly without parallel in the sixth century. She was a formidable woman and, like her friend and patron Theodora, one who was occasionally feared. If the reputation of Belisarius is sometimes inflated in modern evaluations, the reputation of Antonina has been chronically underappreciated. Historians have focused far too much on the Secret History story of Antonina’s affair and her supposed domination of Belisarius, and far too little on her exceptional career. She is evidence that elite women in the sixth century could take on public roles alongside their husbands."

Belisarius & Antonina: Love and war in the age of Justinian, David Alan Parnell

Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ἰουστινιανός

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus

Getting there. Slowly but surely. I love Justinians wicked smile. I don’t know how I managed that but I think it’s neat. Now I just need a scary volcano on the other side for contrast.

happ borth! loving the fun facts btw!

Thanks, it's an old tradition I'm thrilled to bring back! :D

FACT: There is a fandom surrounding the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Like, with fanfiction and insane hobby drama and everything. Yeah.

The great general remained, and then saw a wonderful vision clearly shown him by the very God of the universe himself. In it he seemed to see the divine Meletius, chief of the church of the Antiochenes, investing him with an imperial robe, and covering his head with an imperial crown. The morning after the night in which he had seen the vision he told it to one of his intimate friends, who pointed out that the dream was plain and had nothing obscure or ambiguous about it.

Theodoret Ecclesiastical History 5.6

wahoo! Theodosius! so a repeating phrase in the gospel of Luke is 'do not be afraid,' but specifically: I'm most immediately referencing the annunciation of the shepherds (Luke 2:10) because I used this illustration for the last panel since it. sort of. connects to Valens, Theodosius' predecessor, who went from commoner to king at the will of his older brother. HOWEVER. because of that transformation. I cannot escape the 'do not be afraid' just a chapter before (Luke 1:30) that Gabriel gives to Mary because ascension to the imperial throne is an ugly, violent, and violating transformation. and. well.

Gabriel’s Entrance and Biblical Violence in Luke’s Annunciation Narrative, Michael Pope

also in general. prophetic dreams and visions. horrifying. it never goes well for anyone.

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

TIL from a podcast featuring historian and Byzantine archaeologist Yannis Theoharis:

Athens was one of the most religiously conservative cities of the Byzantine Empire. It adhered to the ancient Greek religion for longer than most other areas. Contrary to popular belief, its eventual conversion to Christianity did not happen violently. Christianity was getting more and more ground amongst the believers progressively. Meanwhile, the ancient temples and shrines were progressively emptying but as long as there were believers they were functioning properly and had guards and went through restoration works and all, as stated by Neoplatonic philosopher Proklos (with the exception of nude sculptures which had been destroyed already by proto-Christians). The historian also claims the conversion of the temples to churches happened later than what was previously believed, around the 7th-9th centuries. As the vast majority of the population had eventually converted to Christianity, the temples were left abandoned. The empire ordered their conversion to churches so that funding their preservation could be justified. Furthermore, there wasn’t as much of violent banning of ancient schools as it was thought. Justinian did not ban the function of the Neoplatonic school in Athens but ceased the state funding unless the school accepted to add Christian theology to its curriculum. The Neoplatonic school refused but it was not banned. It kept functioning using its own private funds until this wasn’t enough and the school had to close. Evidence for this is that it is documented that the school functioned for several decades or more than a century (don’t remember exactly) after Justinian’s imperial command, which was previously viewed as an immediate or violent shutdown. Meanwhile, the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria (in Egypt) agreed to add Christian theology to its curriculum and it kept functioning undisturbed until the 7th century and the Arab conquest.

Also, he has more insight into the similarities observed between Eastern / Greek and even all Orthodoxy and the Ancient Greek religion, such as idol / icon worship, lesser deity / saint worship, virgin female deity / super saint worship, patron gods / saints etc He says there was an interesting cycle of Christianised Hellenism followed by Hellenized Christianity. Some of these elements of Christian Orthodoxy were emphasized more than in the early years of Proto-Christianity or even exaggerated by the Byzantine Greek Christians in order to attract the pagan Greeks and make them understand more easily the philosophy of the new religion and find common ground between them. It worked.

Lastly, he disputed the dated assumptions that the Visigoth king Alaric I was assisted by monks to destroy Athens during his invasion in 396. This was falsely concluded because in documents it was found that Alaric was accompanied by men clad in black. Theoharis says these were actually Thracian soldiers (Alaric indeed fared long in Thrace and the Thracians were by large mercenaries) and supports it is very unlikely based on historical evidence of the time that Athenian or Greek Christians would collaborate with a Visigoth invader to help him destroy historical areas of Athens, even if they were pagan.

These are the most important bits from memory, I am linking the podcast here, it is in Greek.

I’m obsessed with this meme, because, like, Justinian aside, sixth-century Eurasia is possibly the absolute worst place and time to randomly wake up. I mean, the insane weather? The earthquakes? The volcanic eruption? The plague? You would be dead in like eleven seconds

Watching the Puppet History Nika Riot video the first time: "Oh that's cool they used the name of the goddess of victory for their riot chant"

Later, after catching up on One Piece, rewatching the story of a group of civilians rioting to overthrow their literal imperial leader while chanting "NIKA NIKA NIKA": "Just like Goda to foreshadow events from 1800 years before his own birth"

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Fake scene of Justinian and Regulus' first meeting. I love them they are committing evil as I speak.

Written story and dragon versions below the cut!

I use their dragon depictions in lore. Since this is set to have happened a while ago, Regulus (sd) is in his earlier outfit (#2).

At the tavern he stayed in previously, when they heard Regulus was traveling to the Hewn City, they laughed in his face. They said he'd be dead by morning, that within the dense fog lay horrors that no dragon has ever survived. Annoyed at their laughter, Regulus simply dismissed the claims and set off toward the ruins. He had no business being there, but hunting ancient artifacts was the one thing he could do. Even years after the destruction of his family's reign, finding a goal in life when he was previously lacking one still proved hard - once Regulus had seen what dragons were capable of, how could he settle for something as mundane as happiness?

Alas, all of that thinking about the recreation of the world would once again come to rest in an empty, artifactless tomb. However, this day was different. It would appear the tomb was not as empty as Regulus originally thought.

Within the dusty depths, something stirred. A dark shaped moved - it was a dragon. The form of a wildclaw lifted itself from the shadows, it's spotted wings unfurling as it rose to it's full height. Lingering dust in the air filtered out any light from the entrance - the dragon was entirely in shadow except for the glinting gold from his jewelry and the shining light of his yellow eyes. Eyes which were turned directly toward Regulus. The skydancer took a cautious step back.

"And who might you be?" the dark wildclaw asked. His voice was deep, cold. It filled the room. He couldn't have been much larger than Regulus, but the sense of presence this stranger carried with him was so intense that the skydancer couldn't bring himself respond. The wildclaw walked a bit closer and added "You aren't of the sect. Are you perhaps a traveler? There's no need to hold your tongue."

Regulus still couldn't move, but he couldn't tell if his locked muscles were from fear or awe. The wildclaw was closer to the light now, closer to him. In the dust-filtered sunlight, Regulus could barely make out the dragon's appearance. The wildclaw's feathers were dark and he was adorned in jewelry from head to claw. This stranger didn't feel entirely... dragonlike - he was sinister, dangerous. It was as if the one before him wasn't a dragon at all, but some kind of deity whose tomb had been disturbed.

It was exactly what Regulus had been secretly hoping to find. His interest was piqued, and the very idea that he may have found his holy grail gave him the courage to finally speak.

"Regulus Iolanthe is my name. I am a..." he stopped for just a brief second. He hardly knew what he considered himself. "... I hunt for artifacts." The wildclaw raised an eyebrow at this, but Regulus couldn't stop himself from continuing. "May I... ask who you are?"

The wildclaw let out a small chuckle, "You needn't hesitate so much, Regulus. Let's do away with formalities... Simply call me Justinian." He stepped ever closer, and his golden jewelry shimmered in the dim light with every movement. "Your search interests me, Regulus. Just what sort of artifacts are you searching for?"

Hearing his own name uttered by this imposing dragon, by this Justinian, sent a shiver down Regulus' spine. Though he couldn't explain why, he was no longer frightened. In fact, he was emboldened. Although he'd always hid the real reason for his search from others, he felt that this new acquaintance would understand him far better than any other dragon could.

Regulus spoke with confidence. "I wish to bring about the end of the world, but I can't do it myself. There must be some ancient implement that could help me."

After a brief period of thought, Justinian's face twisted into a dark smile that revealed his sharp white teeth. "What an interesting desire," he mused. With one swift movement, Justinian suddenly closed in to where the two dragons' faces weren't even a foot apart. Regulus started to pull away, but he stopped himself when he saw Justinian's expression - there was neither malice nor mockery. Justinian's golden eyes, so close, were alight when he said "Searching in these ruins is a fool's errand. Our stars have aligned - how would you like to usher in my era as a new God?"

With that question, Justinian reached out his hand for Regulus to take it. The hand was darkened with scutes and long claws at the end - it resembled a bird's talons more than the hand of a wildclaw. It truly was Regulus' dream to create a new world, but he'd never considered that he didn't have to do it alone. He slowly, slowly, lifted his hand and put it into Justinian's waiting claws. Together they would achieve what neither could do on his own.

i need more roman period dramas i'm so fucking desperate like it's literally. hbo rome. spartacus. domina. that's it. and yet i'm sure we'll get another show about the tudors within the year

WIP game!

i was tagged by @tortoisesshells ✨

so i have two fics going one rn: 1) in the boat purgatory in at world's end, james comes across gov swann and the two have a final conversation together (not using that for this since i haven't done too much but something to look forward to i guess) and 2) bolt's "what if james had a dragon" fic and subsequent discussions and questions has me now doing a "what if hornblower had a dragon" fic so here is an excerpt from that:

“Who are you?”  The dragonet is speaking French, and internally Hornblower swears. Is French the only language the creature knows? It’s no issue for him, of course, but how can it be expected to be a British dragon if it only knows French? “Captain Horatio Hornblower, most recently of the HMS Sutherland,” he replies, also in French – awkwardly so, because it’s a ridiculously formal introduction to make to a dragon, but in light of never having conversed with one before he’s fallen back on the old habit of saying more than is necessary. “That is not a French name,” the dragon says. In English. “Non – no, it is not. You speak English, then?” “I do.” Pause. “That was a long introduction. I hope you don’t want me to use it whenever I want to call on you?” The idea of a dragon wanting to call on him at all is no less ridiculous than having a conversation with one, but it – he? The voice is deep – has a point. “You can call me 'Hornblower',” he says.

i don't remember who all is writing things that hasn't already been tagged, so if you see this and are a writer, feel free to share!

What is up?

(Totally unrelated to this post, but I hate it when someone says “what’s up?” Or “what is up?” And some smartass answers with “the sky jajajajja” I hate it so much. It makes my whole soul and my whole life cringe so hard. Also when it’s new years and people go up to you and say “see you next year jajajaja” ew or “haven’t seen you since last year ajajajajaj” ewwwwwww).

So after I finished reading The Extraordinaries I was on the fence in regards to what read next? Don’t get me wrong. I have a ridiculous amount of books to choose from, but it is hard sometimes to choose and make the right choice. So for me it was between If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens, Happy Place by Emily Henry (which I already started but put down to read the extraordinaries), All the Hidden Paths by Fox Meadows (the sequel to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance) Kindling by Traci Chee (which I have the ARC for [what???] but I haven’t read it and the book is out but whatever) and Midnight in Everwood by M.A Kuzniar.

I don’t know why but I ended up choosing Midnight in Everwood. It is a book that I have previously started reading but just stopped. I don’t think I know or remember what else I decided to read instead (but that’s not important). As you can probably guess from the cover it is a re-telling of The Nutcracker. Which I love. Granted, I’ve only ever seen the Brarbie and the nutcracker movie. But I’ve seen so many tiktoks of the ballet, from the Royal Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet. It looks so magnificent and magical. It is all snow and sparkles (and some creepy af mice).

One of my dreams is to someday a) watch a small production of the nutcracker in person where I live currently and b) to watch the nutcracker at one of the famous ballet houses (Royal Opera or the Bolshoi).

This book is a work of fiction, for adults. But it is quite the cozy and comforting read. As of where I am right now, I know it is a pretty nice reading. Something you can enjoy during the winter months w a hot cup of anything (cider or hot chocolate) and curl up on a fuzzy blanket while it is snowing (slightly not a full out blizzard).

After I am done reading this book I don’t know what I will read. I am pre-ordering some books and I pre-ordered some books that will be coming at some point. I ordered The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang and there are also the books I listed I wanted to read before I landed on this one. I guess we’ll see.

Also I feel like re-reading Red, White and Royal Blue. Which I only want to because I re-watched the movie and I do remember a lot and know they made quite a lot of changes, but not quite the deal break for me. What is a deal break for me though is the cover for the paperback. The pink one with those goofy looking Henry and Alex. I don’t like it. Alex looks so weird in that drawing and Henry too. All I can think of is that, this cover had to go through approvals. Multiple people had to probably make a vote and landed on that. If someone were to tell me it was Casey who drew them I would be like “okay well” but yeah. I now I sound like a lot. I am weird but I just. It’s not like any of the other books I have. I honestly like the movie tie-in cover they released when the movie came out (I know, blasphemy). I want to buy this collector’s edition hardcover one that is so pretty. It has no Alex or Henry in the cover. Only on the inside and they are so cute. But whatever. This little paragraph has no real purpose just me complaining sorry.

Well hopefully I will finish Midnight in Everwood before The Emperor and the Endless Palace arrived (I write as I literally get a notification that it arrived and I can pick it up, ugh, I feel sick today, I cannot go for it). And hopefully I will remember to write something about the book once I am done.

So it was decided I will read The Emperor and the Endless Palace after this book (by me, just now) I don’t know what I will read after. It is between….all the books that I own.

theodora: slave empress (1954) really has it all. terrible lighting, terrible makeup, public spanking, ill-timed fat jokes, a romantic subplot in which the male lead casually has the female lead condemned to death for a crime he knows she did not commit (but it's okay because he kinda regrets it afterwards), actual lions, casual racism, wicked stepsisters, the worst special effects I've ever seen even considering the time period, and 1000 old people in the comments posting things like "THIS WAS A GOOD MOVIE.... ORDER CORN GOOGLE" in Spanish and Italian in the comments section