It seems then that there was some potential background to the accusation that Gainas and Tribigild were in cahoots. And even if Gainas was not directly involved in aiding and abetting Tribigild as a plot against Eutropius (who they both disliked, with Tribigild supposedly having been rejected in a petition he put to Eutropius – Claudian, In Eutr. II.176ff., 320-321), his actions in the field do appear somewhat suspect or at least counter-productive. Gainas was appointed joint

By 519, the Acacian Schism between the Roman and Eastern churches had raged for 35 years. This was the latest falling out over the nature of Jesus Christ - was he fully human, fully divine, both, neither?, which was as much to do with imperial attempts to reconcile the opposing factions. Specifically in this case, it was the imperial promulgation and backing of the Henotikon , a compromise that inevitably satisfied no one, and met with decisive rejection from the papacy.   An

Episode 58 - Athens is at her height... but is it all downhill from here? https://mncvgk.podbean.com/e/a-soldier-and-a-scholar-58-the-mountaintop/ A (hopefully) fun and accessible portal into Ancient History, with some academic and 'real world' insights. WARNING  While it does not appear throughout, some episodes feature some stronger language than others.

Odysseus: We now set out on our odyssey.   Crewman: [raising hand] what's an ‘odyssey’?   Odysseus: A long journey named after the only survivor.   Crewman: Oh ok… wait… what?!?   An amusing joke for a classicist, which assumes knowledge of the ‘fact’ that Odysseus was the only survivor of his ill-fated attempt to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. However, in the course of the second great journey to a homeland after the Fall of Troy recounted in the Aeneid , we fin

The sieges, capture and Sack of Rome by the forces Alaric the Goths in 410 has been seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. From his writing desk in Bethlehem, St Jerome decried that “My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken” (Jerome, Ep. 127.12). A little melodramatic, but no less encapsulating of the potential symbolism of the event. After all, it had been al

Episode 57 - The Athenians and Spartans square up to each other in battle long before the actual Peloponnesian War... https://mncvgk.podbean.com/e/a-soldier-and-a-scholar-57-the-clash-of-the-champions/ A (hopefully) fun and accessible portal into Ancient History, with some academic and 'real world' insights. WARNING  While it does not appear throughout, some episodes feature some stronger language than others.

You might see people opining that the story of say the Star Wars movie Rogue One is built upon a question that no one really needed answering – why has an exhaust port connected to vital systems of the Death Star been left unshielded? You might also think that latching on to such minutiae, minor characters or embellishing an established story was the preserve of modern Hollywood film studios or fanfiction produced by people who just want more from their favourite stories and

Taking advantage of his numbers and the knowledge of Vasak and his Zoroastrian Armenians, Mushkan invaded Armenia, building a fortified camp in the province of Her and Zarevand and sending out raiding parties across the land. Vardan responded by detaching a force of 2,000 men under Arandzar Amatuni to intercept these Persian raiders. This was successful, winning a victory and forcing the raiders back to Mushkan’s camp in disarray. Vasak continues his attempts to divide the Ar

Episode 56 - As we enter the Athenian Golden Age, an enlarged empire comes with it... https://mncvgk.podbean.com/e/a-soldier-and-a-scholar-56-a-golden-empire/ A (hopefully) fun and accessible portal into Ancient History, with some academic and 'real world' insights. WARNING  While it does not appear throughout, some episodes feature some stronger language than others.

The kingdom of Armenia had been a persistent flashpoint for both the Roman and Persian empires. In the fifth century, it was no different, with the added dimension of religion being thrown in since Armenia officially converted to Christianity in 301. Its position came into the spotlight again in the aftermath of the Romano-Persian War of 421-422. It had been without a king since 420 when its Sassanid Persian ruler Shapur IV had made a play for the Persian throne on the death

Episode 55 - The Persians have been ousted from all shores of the Aegean Sea... so what is the point of the Delian League...? https://mncvgk.podbean.com/e/a-soldier-and-a-scholar-55-i-have-become-my-enemy A (hopefully) fun and accessible portal into Ancient History, with some academic and 'real world' insights. WARNING  While it does not appear throughout, some episodes feature some stronger language than others.

At first glance, this list of people thought to have killed a Roman emperor might seem somewhat short. Indeed, there are plenty of other people who killed or ordered the death of a Roman emperor, but this list is reserved for individuals who supposedly carried out the deed themselves. For example, we know that someone strangled the emperor Alexios IV Angelus to death while he was in prison on the order of Alexios V Doukas, but there is no record of who carried out the deed, s

While hindsight is 20/20, Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus did not appear to be the best candidate for the imperial throne in 218.  He was only 14 years old, reliant on his mother and grandmother for political guidance and with his only dynastic link being that his grandmother was the sister of an empress, i.e. it was not a good one (hence the need to claim that Caracalla was his father - indeed, so weak was Elagabalus’ claim that his mother, Julia Soaemias, had to ‘admit’ to a

Episode 54 - An Athenian general returns from exile for one last hurrah...   https://mncvgk.podbean.com/e/a-soldier-and-a-scholar-54-a-sunset-with-honor A (hopefully) fun and accessible portal into Ancient History, with some academic and 'real world' insights. WARNING  While it does not appear throughout, some episodes feature some stronger language than others.

Look at a map of the Roman Empire in 420 and you might be forgiven for thinking that talk of a decline was a little overblown. In terms of outline, the empire does not look all that different from its fourth century predecessor. Even a generation later at the outset of the 450s, while some regions had fallen out of imperial control - Britain, western Gaul, western Spain and Africa province, the overall integrity of the empire appears to be sound. Such appearances can be decei

Had Severus Alexander not suffered a mutinous death at the hands of the supporters of Maximinus Thrax, perhaps instead dying of an illness whilst on campaign without having annoyed the military, what would the ‘Severan’ remnant have done?   On the surface, a peaceful, earlier death of Alexander would seem to have left Julia Mamaea as the only surviving ‘Severan’ Woman (overlooking the various ex-wives of Elagabalus and Alexander himself), but were there any other ‘Severans’ w

Episode 53 - With the river diverted, the Athenians and their Egyptian allies are no longer in de-Nile... this expedition and rebellion...

After his takeover of the Roman Empire during the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69), Vespasian and his advisors sought any avenue of...

Julia Domna Aside from its eponymous founder, the imperial men of the Severan dynasty all met murderous ends - Geta was butchered in his...