A wonderful introduction to this silky collaboration! Fascinating and well-written.
@empressofbyzantium have you read Richard Fidler's 'Ghost Empire"? A deep dive in a very readable manner about "Byzantium", and by which he begins by denouncing the term.
"The 'Byzantines' themselves never used such a term - they called themselves Romans -but 'Byzantine' is just a name of convenience, coined (by historians) after the empire ceased to exist," Fidler wrote.
Thank you so much for your kind words Debbie! It was so fun to write all things silk with Lucia :)
And yes, the term Byzantium is contested. Broadly, the academics that I study with are comfortable with its usage, but acknowledge the interchangeable use of Romans. Actually, however, we do have sources where later Byzantines called themselves Byzantine — it isn’t a complete historical anachronism.
My first Byzantium for Beginners piece I ever wrote addresses some of the strangeness of this term & also justifies my continued usage of it!
Ill have to look it up. I have read some of your back catalogue - before the collaboration with Lucia! where did the word come from then? - oh okay, we have google, so Ive just found out :). Still, i recommened Richard Fidler's book - it may not be new to you but its a delightful mix of history, geography, culture and a father and son journey! (besides, he's an aussie!) Looking forward to more of the silk stories!
Such a charming reading! Four of my favorite subj weaved toghether: Byzantium, Central Asian cultures, Ethiopia and its neighborhood, China. Your artcrafs, Lucia and Madeline, are so good :) Thank you for sharing and waiting for the second episode.
Masterpiece of an article really ! Working myself on anthropology-related themes, this is a very interesting article !
Thanks for reading 🫶There’ll be more!!
Thank you so much for reading & your lovely comment!
A wonderful introduction to this silky collaboration! Fascinating and well-written.
@empressofbyzantium have you read Richard Fidler's 'Ghost Empire"? A deep dive in a very readable manner about "Byzantium", and by which he begins by denouncing the term.
"The 'Byzantines' themselves never used such a term - they called themselves Romans -but 'Byzantine' is just a name of convenience, coined (by historians) after the empire ceased to exist," Fidler wrote.
Thank you so much for your kind words Debbie! It was so fun to write all things silk with Lucia :)
And yes, the term Byzantium is contested. Broadly, the academics that I study with are comfortable with its usage, but acknowledge the interchangeable use of Romans. Actually, however, we do have sources where later Byzantines called themselves Byzantine — it isn’t a complete historical anachronism.
My first Byzantium for Beginners piece I ever wrote addresses some of the strangeness of this term & also justifies my continued usage of it!
Ill have to look it up. I have read some of your back catalogue - before the collaboration with Lucia! where did the word come from then? - oh okay, we have google, so Ive just found out :). Still, i recommened Richard Fidler's book - it may not be new to you but its a delightful mix of history, geography, culture and a father and son journey! (besides, he's an aussie!) Looking forward to more of the silk stories!
Such a charming reading! Four of my favorite subj weaved toghether: Byzantium, Central Asian cultures, Ethiopia and its neighborhood, China. Your artcrafs, Lucia and Madeline, are so good :) Thank you for sharing and waiting for the second episode.
Thank you! We're happy to have landed your full palette of favourite subjects haha, glad we're not the only ones !!