Quiet News Day -- Fairly Cool Here -- But No Rain -- Going Biking -- December 6, 2016

Three books today.

Starting with:

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life
John Le Carre
c. 2016
DDS: BIO LEC

I recently read the reviews in The New York Review of Books or some such place. All I remember from the review was that with Le Carre' s background it is difficult to know what is true in his memoir, and in some cases, he may not even know. It will be interesting to see his writing style and his few few chapters.

For a quick read on Byzantium:

Byzantium: The Bridge from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Michael Angold
c. 2001 

For the definitive read on Byzantium:

A Short History of Byzantium
John Julius Norwich
based on the "great" three-volume work
c. 1997

The author: career in the British Foreign Service. Two and a half years in Belgrade and three in Beirut. 

I picked Byzantium up after reading a very short history of Constantine the Great in Cistercian Abbeys, a French coffee-table photograph book with great text. And there it is, Part I: The Early Centuries; Chapter 1. Constantine The Great [to 337].

It appears that the history of Byzantium begins with Constantine.

The three divisions:

Part I: The Early Centuries [ -- to 802]

• from Constantine the Great through Justinian to the Iconoclasm

Part II: The Apogee [802 - 1081]

• from images restored to Manzikert

Part III: The Decline and Fall [1081 - 1453]

• from Alexius Comnenus the the Angevin threat to the fall

Constantine the Great

• the author argues that only three men have a more serious claim to be called "Great": Jesus Christ, the Buddha, and the prophet Muhammed
• Constantine made two decisions within the short space of 15 years
• either decision would have been enough to change the history of the world
• first, he converted to Christianity and adopted that religion as the official religion of the Roman Empire
• second, he moved the capital of that Empire from Rome to the new city which he was building on the site of old Byzantium

***************************************

Chapter 1: Constantine the Great

Geography: triangular promontory

• south side: sea of Marmara; narrow Bosphoros to the east; the Hellespont (Dardanelles) to the west
• northeast: a 5-mile inlet, the Golden Horn

Constantine 1: Emperor of Rome (why he was "great" -- see above -- his two decisions)
born ~~ 274 AD

• his mother, after he accedes to supreme power, at age 70 becomes the most venerated woman in the Empire; in 327 AD, a passionately enthusiastic Christian convert, pilgrimages to the Holy Land, miraculously unearths the True Cross and achieves sainthood!
• his father, Chlorus

293: Roman Emperor Diocletian -- divides the empire into four

• East: himself, Diocletian
• other three regions to
• his comrade-in-arms, Maximian
• a rough, brutal professional soldier from Thrace, Galerius
• Constantius Chlorus, his father

305AD: Diocletian abdicates; Maximian joins him in abdication

• two senior Emperors (Augusti) in charge; two new Caesars (to succeed) were appointed
• Constantius Chlorus' son Constantine flees (fears for his life); ends up in York / England with his dad; his dad dies at York; Constantine stays in England for six years; building his reputation; Galerius refuses to recognize him as an Augustus but he is happy to build his career as a Caesar
• Maximian re-claims Emperor-ship; his son joins him; Constantine marries daughter of Maximian -- families are cemented (p. 5)

Galerius died, 311 AD; now three men hold power:

• Licinius, an old drinking buddy of the late Emperor: Illyria, Thrace, and Danube provinces
• Maximin Daia, emperor's nephew, named Caesar in 305; took over the eastern part of the Empire
• Constantine, himself, the third of the triumvirate
• a fourth, Galerius' son-in-law, Maxentius (son of old Emperor Maximian, thought he was the rightful heir to the throne

Constantine marches on Rome; sees his famous vision -- the trophy of a cross; routs the army of Maxentius; battle of Milvan Bridge, 312 AD

Constantine: absolute master of all Europe

Constantine: protector of Christians from that point on; starts building basilicas, cathedrals, churches

The story of chi (X) and rho (P) the first two Greek letters in the name of Christ, had long been a familiar symbol in Christian inscriptions

313: Constantine and Licinius agree to Constantine's lands; to protect Christianity - the Edict of Milan

321: proclaimed "Sunday, a day of rest"

323: Constantine defeats/kills Licinius and Constantine alone as Emperor -- Constantine is 49 years old -- wow, very, very old for that time and place

325: Nicaea Council convened by Constantine --

• three factions needed to be reigned in
• Donatists in North Africa
• Meletians in Egypt
• but, the greatest fear: Alexandria in Arius
• Nicaea Council: would dictate no more synods of local bishops; instead there would be a universal Council of the Church, to be held at Nicaea
• the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church
• proceedings opened by Constantine himself; most delegates from the East; the west had little interest
• Constantine: little interest in theology; he wanted an end to the disputes
• Alexandria exiled, but later showed up in Nicomedia and stirred up things again

January, 326: Constantine returns to Rome; Romans upset he held this council in Nicaea; will appease them by repeating it in Rome; his entourage:

• mother Helena
• wife Empress Fausta
• half-sister Constantia
• Constantia's stepson and his own first-born: Licinianus, the Caesar Crispus
• relations among the entourage very, very bad

From wiki:

Flavius Julius Crispus (died 326), also known as Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus, was a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He was the first-born son of Constantine I and Minervina.

Crispus' year and place of birth are uncertain. He is considered likely to have been born between 299 and 305, possibly as early as 295, somewhere in the Eastern Roman Empire, probably the early date since he was being tutored already in 309-310 by Lactantius.

His mother Minervina was either a concubine or a first wife to Constantine. Nothing else is known about Minervina.

His father (?) served as a hostage in the court of Eastern Roman Emperor Diocletian in Nicomedia, thus securing the loyalty of Caesar of the Western Roman Empire Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine and grandfather of Crispus.

In 307, Constantine allied to the Italian Augusti, and this alliance was sealed with the marriage of Constantine to Fausta, daughter of Maximian and sister of Maxentius.

The marriage of Constantine to Fausta has caused modern historians to question the status of his relation to Minervina and Crispus. If Minervina was his legitimate wife, Constantine would have needed to secure a divorce before marrying Fausta. This would have required an official written order signed by Constantine himself, but no such order is mentioned by contemporary sources.

This silence in the sources has led many historians to conclude that the relationship between Constantine and Minervina was informal and to assume her to have been an unofficial lover. However, Minervina may have already been dead by 307.

A widowed Constantine would need no divorce. Neither the true nature of the relationship between Constantine and Minervina nor the reason Crispus came under the protection of his father will ever probably be known. The offspring of an illegitimate affair could have caused dynastical problems and would likely be dismissed, but Crispus was raised by his father in Gaul. This can be seen as evidence of a loving and public relationship between Constantine and Minervina which gave him a reason to protect her son.

On way back to Rome, Crispus and Licinianus were arrested; Faustia met her fate in the calidarium of the bathhouse in Serdica.

Romans had heard of this slaughter; did not trust this "eastern" potentate.

Constantine proved still more assiduous in his determination to make Roma a Christian city: endowed another great basilica, now known as S. Paolo fuori le Mura -- dedicated this time to St Paul, at the site of the saint's tomb on the road to Ostia, and another, now S Sebastiano -- in honor of the Holy Apostles on the Appian Way. His most important creation, however: the basilica he commanded to be built above the traditional resting-place of St Peter on the Vatican Hill.

Constantine: saw Rome as only second to Jerusalem in Christian importance; personally he never liked it; his heart was in the east; he had business in Byzantium.

p 11