The History of Byzantium
A podcast telling the story of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire from 476 AD to 1453. www.thehistoryofbyzantium.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 333 - The Bachelorhood of Basil II with Mark Masterson
To mark the 1000th anniversary of his death we revisit the bachelorhood of Basil II.
My guest is Mark Masterson — until recently Associate Professor of Classics at Victoria University of Wellington (retired 2025). His work explores masculinity, desire, and male social bonds in the Roman world.
In his book Between Byzantine Men he discusses an oration written in Basil's day which may shed light on his intimate life.
Find out more about Professor Mark Masterson here and check out his two books on male relationships within the Roman world.
Between Byzantine Men: Desire, Homosociality, and Brotherhood in the Medieval Empire
Routledge (2022)
Man to Man: Desire, Homosociality and Authority in Late-Roman Manhood
The Ohio State University Press. (2014)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Episodes
Episode 284 - To The City with Alexander Christie-Miller
Alexander Christie-Miller was the Turkish correspondent for the Times Newspaper between 2010 and 2017. He has written a book called ‘To the City’ about the people who live along the Theodosian Walls in Istanbul today. He…
Episode 283 - The New Roman Empire with Anthony Kaldellis. Part 5 - More Questions
Professor Kaldellis' new history of Byzantium is out now in the USA and on Kindle everywhere.In the final episode in this series he answers more of your questions. Amongst the topics we cover are citizenship, class, coun…
Episode 282 - The New Roman Empire with Anthony Kaldellis. Part 4 - Your Questions
Professor Kaldellis' new history of Byzantium is out now in the USA and on Kindle everywhere.In this episode he answers your questions. Including succession mechanisms, taxation, the Senate, usurpers, Belisarius, Maurice…
Update February 2024
On today’s update I’m going to tell you about when the narrative is coming back, about podcast tours to Turkey in 2024 and about how Anthony Kaldellis is answering more questions than I told him to. Hosted on Acast. See…
Episode 281 - Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint with Peter Sarris
A new book has come out about that most famous of Byzantines. It's called Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint by Peter Sarris and it is excellent. It is not a dramatization of his career but a brilliantly researched accou…
Some Heraclian Fiction and Maps you might enjoy
This beautiful map of the Crusader States has just been put on sale. Adomas, the artist, is offering 15% off any map at his store for podcast listeners. Just use the code Byzantium at his online store. mapklimantas.etsy.…
Episode 280 - The New Roman Empire with Anthony Kaldellis. Part 3 - Narrative
Professor Kaldellis' new history of Byzantium is out now in the USA and on Kindle everywhere.In our third conversation we walk through the narrative picking out interesting things to talk about. The creation of Constanti…
Episode 279 - Catching up with Max Lau
50 episodes ago Dr Maximilian Lau came on the podcast to talk about John II Komnenos. Max kindly shared his book with me before publication to guide the podcast through John's reign.Now he is back on the show to catch up…
Illness Update December 2023
Illness Update December 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 278 - The New Roman Empire with Anthony Kaldellis. Part 2 - Christianity and the Law
Professor Kaldellis' new history of Byzantium is out now in the USA and on Kindle everywhere.In our second conversation we discuss the adoption of Christianity as the Roman religion. How much did Roman society change as…
