On a Saturday evening in 1997 a man rushed into the offices of Alpay Pasinli- the director of Istanbul’s Museum of Archeology- and breathlessly announced that he had made a discovery. He had been charged with excavating an old Ottoman prison that stood between the Hagia Sophia and the gates to the Topkapi Palace, but [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
The Mystery of the Great Palace
Tuesday, Jan 26th, 2010 by lars | 5 Comments
Filed under: Byzantine, Current Events, history, new discovery, Uncategorized
Filed under: Byzantine, Current Events, history, new discovery, Uncategorized
Lars Brownworth’s Smithsonian Lecture
If you missed Lars Brownworth’s lecture given as part of the Smithsonian Resident Associates Program in Washington DC, December 2, 2009, it is now available on YouTube. It is split into 8 segments, each just under 10 minutes long, and is available as a playlist as well.
Wall Street Journal Editorial
Lars just wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition. Find out how a soap dish changed history! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574412984059644024.html
Breaking the Vandals
Nearly 1600 years ago there was a prosperous and powerful Kingdom in North Africa, ruled by Scandinavian adventurers called the Vandals. Today, in the year 533 it came to an abrupt- and completely unexpected- end. Just how the Vandals ended up in Africa is a curious story. Originating somewhere in Norway or Sweden (no one [...]
The Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition Editorial
Lars Brownworth will have an editorial in the upcoming Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition. Look for it this Saturday, September 26th, 2009 and see how a soap dish changed history. Edit: We were pre-empted but the story ran on October 24th. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574412984059644024.html
Lost to the West
Tuesday, Sep 15th, 2009 by lars | 3 Comments
Filed under: book, Byzantine, Current Events, history, lost to the west, Uncategorized
Filed under: book, Byzantine, Current Events, history, lost to the west, Uncategorized
Today my book Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization goes on sale. I like to think of it (with apologies to Procopius) as a ‘secret’ history- the 1200 years of the Roman Empire that you weren’t taught about in school. Sure, we’ve all heard of Julius Caesar crossing the [...]