Decorative Motifs on Capitals
Some capitals found in Constantinople’s cisterns are decorated with simple but meaningful motifs. These include vine leaves, crosses, or medallions placed within framed moldings....
Corinthian Capitals in Constantinople’s Cisterns
Corinthian capitals are an important architectural feature found in nineteen different cisterns in Constantinople. These capitals show many changes over time, evolving from the...
The Lives of Turkish-Mahommedan Women
In Salonika, there are also Turkish-Mahommedan women, who live very differently from the Christian and Jewish women. These women are always dressed in plain...
The Deunmeh A Unique Group of Women
There is another group of women in Salonika who are very different in both appearance and social status. These women belong to a group...
Albanian Men and Their Authority
Here, you’ll see men of distinction—dark-skinned, proud, and strong in their walk. These are Albanians. They wear white quilted skirts, black hats, and silver-decorated...
Anonymus Valesianus
Our chief sources for the story of Boethius’s end are two. The first is the Anonymus Valesianus, a chronicle of Theoderic’s years in power....
Immediately sent a delegation from Ravenna to Constantinople
Theoderic, seeing his regime still at risk, immediately sent a delegation from Ravenna to Constantinople, led by Pope John himself, to confirm that assurances...
The king was at Verona
Boethius then sets a dramatic stage for us to contemplate. “You recall” (he tells the allegorical woman called Philosophy, his personification for wisdom itself...
Stepping down from the dais
“Augusta,” he said, stepping down from the dais, upon which the throne chair stood, and moving toward her.
“The title is no longer mine,” she...
Magnificent imperial baths
A little east of the Forum at the center of the city were the magnificent imperial baths, called the barbarathermen. Consisting of three stories,...














