Imperator Cat
@CatImperator
Followers
9K
Following
86K
Media
5K
Statuses
32K
Historian, Writer, Geek, Felinophile. Questioning everything.
Joined November 2021
βπππ π‘ ππππππ, ππ ππππ‘, π€πππ πππ‘ π‘πππ π‘βπ π‘πππ’πππ ππ πππππππ ππ’π‘ π‘βπ π‘ππ’π‘β, ππ’π‘ πππ ππ’πβ ππππ ππππππππ π‘π ππππππ‘ π‘βπ ππππ π‘ π π‘πππ¦ π‘βππ¦ βπππ.β . ~ Thucydides
12
145
577
After the catastrophe at Yarmouk (636) and the loss of Syria and Egypt, the Byzantines had to fight for very survival. Under soldier-emperors, they developed a defense in depth: fortified frontiers, mobile troops, and ambushes to defeat Arab raiders in Anatolia. And, it worked!
3
33
285
State of internet (esp twitter nowadays). But we can do it, we can resist and continue publishing quality material on the #Roman/Byzantine Empire. With no AI slop involved.
1
0
18
I adore historical reconstructions. This is one is a bit odd, however. It omits some of the most important features that are known to have existed. The Boukoleon Harbour is altogether absent, and just as bizarrely, the artist has left out the so-called House of Justinian.
2
6
99
There were about 3,000 ports in the #RomanEmpire -some with breakwaters and lighthouses, accommodating hundreds of ships (Ostia, Carthage, Leptis Magna, Portus, Alexandria). The extent of Roman trade went well beyond the Atlantic and Mediterranean, reaching as far as Sri Lanka.
3
13
106
βWe say βByzantineβ now donβt we?β. βDo we?β
1
0
7
This scorching hot summer has left me out of ideas. except one.
0
1
24
In 480 BC, the Greeks were crushed at Thermopylae. A year later, in August 479, they stood united at Plataeaβand won. Spartans, Athenians, and their allies broke the Persian army of Greece. Plataea ended Xerxes' dreamβand began the rise of Classical Greece.
2
13
96
The story of ambition, betrayal and (civil) wars. The tragic tale that ultimately brought Alaric to Rome, and led to the infamous plunder and "fall". Although, let's not forget, Rome will survive in the East till 1453.
#OTD in 410, the Goths, under the leadership of Alaric (not a king), began pillaging Rome. This is undoubtedly one of the most infamous events in history. But how did it come to this? And why the 410 Sack of Rome was not Alaric's success but his failure? . A thread π§΅
0
1
12
Yes, emperor Valens was killed, along with most high ranking officers. But it was the eastern field army that was crushed at Adrianople. Western forces remained intact. Far more devastating for the Roman West will be the civil wars of Theodosius. But that is another story.
1
0
16
On a scorching hot day, #OTD, August 9, 378 AD, the Roman army led by emperor Valens met the Goths near Adrianople. The result was a catastrophe - a "second Cannae." Two third of the army was annihilated. but it was not an end, or even the beginning of the end of Roman Empire β¬οΈ
2
8
78
While parts of the walls have been reconstructed (especially the area around the Belgrade Gate). Whole sections have been crumbling. But the Walls are still here, a silent witness of an Empire long gone. Once the center of the world
0
2
18
The Theodosian Walls. For a millennium, those impressive triple ramparts defended the Queen of the Cities, saving Constantinople, and the Empire, on several occasions. At the end, they fell to a weapon their builders could hardly imagine, bringing an end to the Empire and an era
3
13
117
#OTD in 461 β Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria, north Italy, after arrest and deposition by his ex-ally, the magister militum Ricimer. While it is tempting to see Ricimer as an "evil barbarian" he was closely working with the Senate, protecting their interests.
3
7
45
The dead man is Sempronius Densus, a centurion of the Praetorians, the only one who tried to protect Galba. Galba's crime - he refused to give the Praetorians a big raise when they made him the emperor. Praetorians will remain kingmakers, until Septimius Severus elevated the army
1
7
51
The peace didnβt last. The regencyβs promise to recognize Symeon as emperor and marry his daughter to young Constantine VII was quietly undone. Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos was removed. The deal collapsed. Betrayed, Symeon returned to war. But he never breached the mighty Walls.
1
1
21
In 913, Tsar Symeon of Bulgaria marched on Constantinople, aiming to claim the imperial title. The Roman army was in recovery mode. The emperor was a child. But the Theodosian Walls stood firm - as they had(and will) for centuries. The siege ended through negotiation, not battle
2
8
132
From oars to radar. From wood to steel. Two ships. One sea. The reconstructed trireme Olympias and Hydra class Salamis (F-455). 2,500 years of naval history in the same frame. The legacy of Greek seamanship never left the Aegean. π¬π·
2
11
74
Augustus, Mensis Horribilis has started. Probably not a single other month has brought so many defeats and misfortunes to the Romans. We start with the Battle of Cannae, which brought Romans to the brink, but has also shown their resilience, making Rome an ancient superpower.
On August 2, 216 BC, the largest Roman army ever assembled gathered near the ancient town of Cannae. Rome was determined to teach the Punic upstart a lesson. Instead, at Cannae, #Hannibal Barca painted the battlefield red with Roman blood. A threadπ§΅
0
3
7
Sunday is a day to appreciate the real beauty. And few things are so beautiful as the Art Nouveau architecture. A poignant reminder on the optimism and Europe's unity, lost in the chaos of the Great War. The entrance hall to a Spitzer House (1912) in Budapest, VisegrΓ‘di utca 29
0
2
14