iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I like to use a variety of games, from strategy to role playing, when I teach. The good folks at IU wrote up a little article about this teaching method. I share here for all who might be interested: connectedprof.iu.edu/articles/202...

connectedprof.iu.edu

Playing to Learn

Bringing history to life through games: Game-based learning as a purposeful way to connect learners with a course's historical content.

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The Ozymandias Project @theozymandiasp1.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Today on Ancient Office Hours, Dr. @byzantineprof.bsky.social , a professor of history at Indiana University Northwest, discusses the challenges in academic offerings in late antiquity, his work on Belisarius & Antonia, and the impact of digital records on future historical studies.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

I am at beautiful High Point University, to give 3 talks in 3 days: 1. The Destruction of Italy in Late Antiquity: How, Why, and Who? 2. The Practice and Challenge of Researching Ancient and Medieval History. 3. Byzantium and the First Crusade: Opportunities Realized and Lost.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I think the songs on the album would be great introductory material for students, either assigned to be listened to in advance or played in class at the beginning of a lecture. You can stream the album on Spotify or Apple Music. I recommend it.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

My personal favorites are "The Hall of the 19 Couches," about a reception room in the Great Palace, and "Wulfila Put the Arian in Barbarian," which is a great pun but also a major ear worm.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

If you ever wondered whether a song might mention the great sixth-century charioteer Porphyrius ("Blues and Whites, Greens and Reds") or architectural terms for a basilica church like nave, colonnade, transept, apse ("The Devil's in the Details"), the answer is yes.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

This song is just one of many on Christine's new album, "T&J: A Roman Empire Love Story (Original Soundtrack)" which contains 12 original and creative tracks about the sixth-century world of Justinian and Theodora. The song styles range from metal to doo-wop.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

This creative interpretation by talented podcaster and musician Christine Laskowski brilliantly contrasts Theodora's imperial garments with her memories of ill treatment in her previous life as an actress/prostitute: "free to exercise my malice toward the very men who once made my life hell."

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

"I understand we are surrounded, by both Blues and Greens we're hounded, oh the tumult from inside the Hippodrome! This purple shroud is mine to lose, but dear, it's also the color, I'll wear no other, it's also the color of a bruise." Lyrics from new, original music about Theodora. 👀

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

I would nope out of that so fast.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

The AHR is doing a special issue on pre-modern history. Worth flagging up because so many of us are frustrated that AHR in particular and AHA in general have become so focused on modern history. I hope some of my very clever colleagues will submit for this. www.historians.org/news-publica...

historians.org

Special Issue Submissions - AHA

Natural light and processed MSI images of the HMML Palimpsest Project Methods for Archival Silence in Early History The American Historical Review seeks proposals for a special issue illustrating a ra...

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Michael Edward Stewart @mikeaztec.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Belisarius & Antonina: Love and War in the Age of Justinian. By David Alan Parnell. New York: Oxford University Press. 2023. 260 pp. £19.99. ISBN 9780197574706. - Kennedy - 2025 - Early Medieval Europe - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Belisarius & Antonina: Love and War in the Age of Justinian. By David Alan Parnell. New York: Oxford University Press. 2023. 260 pp. £19.99. ISBN 9780197574706.

Click on the article title to read more.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Sure, but it also seems relevant that the Ostrogoths razed Milan to the ground in 539, or that they depopulated Rome in 547. These actions materially contributed to the demographic and economic destruction of Italy and it's not clear they were necessary for the war effort.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Also, the gut reaction to focus on the middle and end of the Ostrogothic War rather than the first few years is exactly one of the things I will be talking about. I think it's important to not let the ending of an event obscure our view of opinions toward the event in its beginning.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Personally, I would modify that statement in this way: "Justinian's war (including the deliberately destructive Ostrogothic resistance), the effects of climate disaster and the plague, and then the heavy-handed taxation completely ruined Italy."

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

I am making the pilgrimage to Leeds next week to speak about a topic to which I have given a lot of thought lately: that at least some in formerly Roman North Africa and Italy *wanted* Justinian's restoration, and that modern scholars too often ignore them. I expect debate!

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Adding it to my schedule for the day!

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Colleagues, the inimitable Leonora Neville has written a short book on the name of the "Byzantine Empire" with the evocative title "Sailing Away from Byzantium toward East Roman History." Currently open access and free to download! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

cambridge.org

Sailing Away from Byzantium Toward East Roman History

Cambridge Core - European History 1000-1450 - Sailing Away from Byzantium Toward East Roman History

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Unboxing the paperback of Belisarius & Antonina! On sale now. Particularly proud of this one because it's my first book ever to come out as a paperback. 🥹

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

When I get this kind of email from Quality Matters, of all organizations, I know the end is nigh for us. Kind of speechless, actually. Use AI to generate our course content, QM? Really?

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Preorder from Oxford University Press here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

global.oup.com

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Belisarius & Antonina is getting a paperback edition! Release date is May 15th. Priced at $19.99. Here's a sneak peak of the new back cover with some praise for the book.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

This Friday the inimitable Florin Curta will be speaking on Zoom. Title is "Imperial borderlands to the north and to the west of the Black Sea, 6th to early 7th centuries." Michael Decker and yours truly will offer comments. Join us!

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

JOB ALERT! My department at Indiana University Northwest is hiring a tenure-track, Assistant Professor of American History. I realize most of my mutuals here are medievalists and classicists, but please pass the news on to any Americanist colleagues you have. jobs.chronicle.com/job/37789466...

jobs.chronicle.com

Assistant Professor of History - IU Northwest is located in Gary, Indiana, approximately 30 miles southeast of Chicago job with Indiana University Northwest | 37789466

The Assistant Professor of History will be an experienced scholar/teacher of Modern American History.

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Lucas McMahon @chrysoboullon.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

A year after the original acceptance of publication in a different venue, it looks like this will finally see the light of day!

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Congratulations! You'll have an excellent time working with Colin to get this published. He's fantastic.

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Dr Jane Draycott @handle.invalid · 03/01/2025

My new popular history book Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome will be published in exactly 3 months! It's available to pre-order now 📚

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Following Hadrian @followinghadrian.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

#AncientSiteSunday - The 6th-century AD Byzantine fortress in Ammaedara in North Africa (Haïdra, Tunisia), built during the rule of Justinian. It is the largest Byzantine fort in the Maghreb, measuring c. 195x125m with 10m-high walls, several towers & a wall walk running along the top of the walls.

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Yale Classics Library @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

New volume of Classica Cracoviensia Vol. 27 (2024) journals.akademicka.pl/cc/issue/vie... #openaccess @byzantineprof.bsky.social @conorwhately.bsky.social

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Let me add here a shout-out to the editors of Classica Cracoviensia. They run a very efficient journal! I submitted this to them in July 2024, it went through peer review, editorial review, page setting, and was published by the end of 2024. Incredible speed.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

My New Year's gift to all: my newest article (open access!) in Classica Cracoviensia. I make an argument that the sixth-century historian Procopius resented the power and success of Belisarius' wife Antonina. journals.akademicka.pl/cc/article/v...

journals.akademicka.pl

The Rivalry of Procopius of Caesarea and Antonina the Patrician | Classica Cracoviensia

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SMH Historians @smh-historians.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Hi everyone, the Society for Military History is pleased to be here and contribute to this space. Join us as we work to advance the study of military history! www.smh-hq.org

smh-hq.org

Welcome to the Society for Military History

Home page of the Society for Military History

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

I should note that this article, as well as the entire volume of the journal, is dedicated to the memory of Dariusz Brodka, an exceptional historian. I admired him very much.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

journals.akademicka.pl

The Rivalry of Procopius of Caesarea and Antonina the Patrician | Classica Cracoviensia

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

"Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great" by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. Spotted today at @artinstitutechi.bsky.social.

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Jackaroo🦘🏳️‍⚧️ @kangajack55.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Belisarius & Antonina: a book that’s been on my list for months, finally in my collection! Merry Christmas folks!

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

At this time of year, I like to imagine that the 2nd verse of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" was written by St. Nick after he slapped the heresiarch Arius at Nicaea: "God of God, Light of Light, lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb; Very God, begotten, not created."

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Raze it to the ground and then salt the earth it was built on.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I presented this quote to my ancient Greek history students as a sort of farewell to the ancient Greek polis. It is a good reminder that, as John Ma has argued, even under the Romans the Greek poleis retained some autonomy as interlocutors with the imperial government.

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

“Nowadays,when the affairs of the cities no longer include leadership in wars or acts ofalliances, what opening for a conspicuous and brilliant public career could ayoung man find? There remain the public lawsuits and embassies to the emperor.” - Plutarch, ca. 100 AD

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David Parnell @byzantineprof.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I will be presenting at IMC Leeds this coming July! Title: "Longing for Roman Restoration in 6th-Century Africa and Italy." There will be plenty of loud crowing about Roman identity in the paper. Hope to see many of you there!

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