The Two Roman Capitals

It is striking to see the differences between the ruins of ancient Rome and ancient Constantinople (now Istanbul). When the Roman Empire fell in the West in 476 CE, it continued in the East until 1453 CE. Western historians use a historiography (how a history is told) that the Roman Empire fell in 476 CE and label the continuing Roman civilization in the eastern Mediterranean as "Byzantine" as if it was a new empire.  It wasn't, but the continuing Roman Empire centered on Constantinople did continue to develop and evolve through the Middle Ages into something different than ancient, classical Roman civilization.  And it was a Christian Roman world affiliated with Eastern Orthodoxy.  

To those living in the former western Roman provinces and even Rome itself, Rome as they knew it had fallen. The Dark Ages had come, and the ruling Church was Roman Catholic. Western European history continues this perspective until this day. It's the historiography America inherited. 

Ironically, it was probably these Christian 'barbarians' from the former Western Roman Empire that mortally wounded the final Roman world in the East. Western Catholic Crusaders led by Venice betrayed and sacked Christian, Eastern Orthodox, Greek-speaking Constantinople in 1204 during the 4th Crusade. Some estimate 2/3s of the world's wealth at that time was then in Constantinople. 

The Crusaders then installed a series of Latin Emperors until ousted by the locals.  The Crusaders did a huge amount of damage and looting to Constantinople.  The four bronze horses that now adorn St. Mark's Basilica in Venice were looted from Constantinople. (The originals are now in a Venetian museum.)  The last Latin emperor of Constantinople even stripped the Imperial Palace of its metal roof tiles and sold them. 

Crusaders also chopped off the head of a metal serpent statue in the Hippodrome. The coiled, headless relic remains in Constantinople to this day. 

The city never recovered, and when the Turks finally conquered the city in 1453, much of the old Imperial Palace and Roman city were in ruins.  Still, Istanbul remained a vibrant city with a large population that rebuilt and maintained important parts of the Roman city.  The Hagia Sophia is the most famous surviving building.

Rome, however, didn't fare as well. By the 1300s much of the city was abandoned. Local families fortified ancient buildings during the Dark Ages. The return of the popes from Avignon in France in the late 1300s set off a building boom with the papal powers basically using the old Roman buildings as a quarry for pillars, marble, statues, mortar, etc.  So the Roman Forum and other once huge structures in Rome are in fairly bad shape. The structures that remain mostly intact like the Pantheon often survived by being converted into churches. 

Jewish Slaves of Rome

The Colosseum was a sad site to us. Knowing that people paid to watch other people tortured and executed there was sobering. 

Some of you may know this already, but the Colosseum was primarily financed by loot from the sacking of the Jewish Temple and Judaea by the Romans around 70 CE.  The Jews revolted, and Emperor Vespasian crushed the revolt. The Temple was burned and looted.  Thousands of Jews were sold into slavery and provided the slave labor that built the Colosseum.  Vespasian's son, Diocletian, built an arch honoring his father and brother Titus that depicts Roman soldiers carrying a gold menorah and loot from the Temple. The Arch of Titus is nearby in the ruins of the Roman Forum. 

After the Colosseum we walked through the Forum. I don't recall the Forum requiring a ticket in 2001 but it does now. 

Dracula's Gay Brother and the Sultan

Here is a fascinating bit of history I learned while in Istanbul:


RADU THE FAIR:  This story is great and actual history.  It turns out that Vlad III, the historic and bloody Prince (king actually but called Prince) of Wallachia better known by his nickname of Dracula, had three brothers. When his Christian father made a pact with the Ottoman Sultan to gain his throne, Dracula's father sent young Vlad and his handsome young brother Radu to the Sultan's court as hostages. The two brothers were raised with the Sultan's son Mehmet. They studied together. Radu grew up to be very handsome and charismatic. He was nicknamed Radu the Fair, and Mehmet pursued him. They are said to have become lovers.  

The two brothers lives diverged. Vlad hated school at the court and rebelled often. So he was often punished severely. Radu converted to Islam and became a leader of the elite Ottoman Jainassary troops. Vlad eventually became Prince of Wallachia -renowned for torturing prisoners while he ate.  He switched sides and opposed the Ottomans.  When the Sultan sent in troops Vlad and his army slaughtered 20,000 Turkish men, women and children by impaling them and leaving a forest of their bodies to scare off the Turks. It worked in scaring off the Ottoman troops. So the Sultan called in Radu to take care of Dracula.  

The brothers battled and became known in Turkish legend as the Blood Brothers.  Radu drove out Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) who fled to Hungary. Radu became Prince allied with the Ottomans and appears to have had a fairly prosperous reign until his untimely death around age 40.  He also assisted Mehmet in conquering Constantinople.  Thus is the story of Dracula's brother and Mehmet the Conqueror. 

World War II Memorial in Manziana

The day before yesterday we were walking to the grocery and noticed this marker at the point where our street connects to Via Roma, one of Manziana's main streets. This spot is maybe 100 feet from Giulio's house. 

It turns out to be a marker commemorating four US soldiers killed during World War II on June 7, 1944.  Next week is the 70th anniversary of their deaths. Of the four men, one is from Georgia and another from Kentucky. Kind of wild coincidence.  I think I will get some flowers and leave them in honor of the men. 

I asked Gianluca if Italians -who under Mussolini were Axis allies with Hitler- viewed the Americans as invaders or liberators. He said it depends on a person's politics. Contemporary Italians who supported Fascism or see/saw it as a good period for Italy view the Americans as invaders. Others -as with this memorial- as liberators.