Five hundred and fifty-six years ago today the Roman Empire came to an end. Its final dénouement was not- as is commonly believed- the abdication of a sad little boy emperor, but an epic struggle beneath the walls of a city that had once ruled the world. On the morning of May 29, 1453, Constantinople, [...]
Archive for May, 2009
Running into Byzantium
For a lost empire, it’s amazing how omnipresent Byzantium is. You are liable to run into it at any moment- with little or no warning. That fork you use so nonchalantly was introduced to the west by a Byzantine noblewoman in the 11th Century. That hospital you hope to avoid and those female doctors who [...]