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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Graduation day - a big ceremony to send off my work on ceremonies. Here are some choice photos from the day, including my attempt to make use of the hood that came with my robe.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Just a few weeks away until this year's CCC in Maynooth - the Late Antique Microhistories panel looks especially strong, so I am excited (and terrified) for my own contribution on two women named Olympias!

Paper title: (14.30-15.20) Euan Croman

Entering and Leaving the Imperial Family: The case of the two Olympiases

Abstract Text: Olympias the Elder and Olympias the Younger were two women with similar stories, but differing outcomes. They lived a few decades apart in the fourth century and were both descendants of the once great, then disgraced and executed, Flavius Ablabius. Both women were betrothed to men from the imperial family, but in neither case did the marriages pan out as intended.
For the elder Olympias, her betrothed died before their marriage, and she would end up instead marrying an Armenian king, becoming little more than a historical footnote to the modern scholar. Meanwhile the younger Olympias’ husband died shortly after their wedding, but she refused to re-marry and devoted herself to the life of a deaconess, her exploits made famous through the writings of the church fathers and hagiographers. While both women faced similar circumstances as intended additions to the imperial family, they came to different ends against the backdrop of the wider context of social and political changes between the mid-fourth and the late-fourth century.
This paper focuses on how investigating the lives of comparatively peripheral figures can reveal much about the dynamics of how the imperial family operated within Roman society. It considers the dynamics of imperial dynastic planning, the ‘qualifications’ for entry into and the methods of ‘exiting’ the imperial family. The paper explores how individuals and family units reacted to the changing circumstances of life in the upper echelons of Roman society, where virtue, shame and politics came together in a very public manner.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I had a lovely time in Düsseldorf on very non-academic business.

Picture of me at a park with a view of the Rhine Tower in Düsseldorf.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

A little sneak peak at something I'm working on... As I have been going through the process of transforming my thesis into a monograph, I decided to make a start on something which was mentioned in my Viva - a list of all the major ceremonies mentioned in the thesis!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

My first time in Glasgow was eventful to say the least

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Interesting charity shop find (I didn't pick it up because I'm not sure I can even run this?)

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Reposted by Dr Euan Croman

Conor Brockbank @conorbrockbank.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Looking forward to this semester‘s @qubhistory.bsky.social seminar series which starts this Friday! Drinks and snacks provided as usual. All welcome!

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Reposted by Dr Euan Croman

Dr Crom @doccrom.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

#OnThisDay - 9 January - in AD 400 Aelia Eudoxia, the wife of the emperor Arcadius, was elevated to the status of 'Augusta'. On the Obverse below she is shown being crowned by the 'Hand of God'. #AncientHistory 🏺 Image: RIC X Arcadius 15; ANS 1948.19.1945. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

This week my e-thesis was officially uploaded to PURE, marking the end of all work on the thesis. Do you think I added enough key words?

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Now that my thesis corrections are done, I ceremonially returned the last books I had loaned out.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I was in Stockholm yesterday with my partner and came across this bookshop. I had to indulge a little (and my partner sneakily took pics). There were a lot of cool books - but I was most impressed by the Swedish edition of Theophanes and the entire section devoted to esoteric religious literature.

Me peaking at the ancient history section, partially hidden under the shelves.

Me pointing out the new Aeneid translation, coffee in hand.
The coffee was just okay, but necessary.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

I left it tastefully long, but I have now updated my Bsky title accordingly.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

It was an honour and a pleasure to talk about my thesis with one of the giants of the field of late antiquity!

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Reposted by Dr Euan Croman

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Congratulations to Dr Croman @croeuan.bsky.social

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

My Viva is today and so far the omens have not been promising: 1. Heavy rain forecast for the rest of the day. 2. My phone passed away, peacefully, in its sleep last night.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Love him or hate him, he was of the few emperors to celebrate a tricennalia ceremony!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Submitted my first article for peer review today. I'm curious to see what the infamous 'Reviewer 2' I've heard so much about has to say about it.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

It's been a long 3 and a half years, but today I submitted my thesis at long last. It has been a wonderful experience to undergo this research - though I must say I am happy to be done with the editing process for now!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

And they all lived happily ever after!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I have this one - I highly recommend it!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Some select photographs from my trip to Trier. I had an excellent time, despite the poor weather most of the week. In particular the folks from the University of Trier were extremely welcoming and provided fascinating insights into the city and their own research. And now back to work...

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

If I had a nickel for every time researching a claim about a wife of Theodosius I led me down a winding chain of references that eventually culminated with Du Cange's Historia Byzantina (1680), I'd have two nickels...

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Reposted by Dr Euan Croman

Dr Crom @doccrom.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

#OnThisDay - 19 January - in AD 379 Theodosius was elevated to the rank of 'Augustus' with the approval of Gratian, taking responsibility for the Eastern Empire. #AncientHistory 🏺 Image: RIC IX Constantinople 71A; Münzkabinett Berlin (18268558). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

I was recently made aware of this surviving Roman dragon standard in Niederbierber. These are often highlighted in descriptions of late Roman adventus ceremonies, and as someone who studies imperial ceremony it's amazing to see what they actually looked like!

Dragon standard of Niederbierber.
Metal head of a dragon on a pole, with an open mouth, teeth, and scales.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Loathed: Taming of the Shrew Loved: Gatsby, Macbeth, King Lear, A Streetcar named Desire, The Glass Menagerie.

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Late to the party but this was an excellent read. Highly recommended!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

The department's closure may predate my arrival, but I like to think I'm keeping the lights on (I have slightly updated the late antique section of the library through my library requests).

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I just opened up Bluesky to take a break from writing and am immediately met with the object I was just writing about. I think the universe is telling me to get back to work...

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

A tale of three early modern sketches of the same column. Which one to trust...

https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KKS13188

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6903597t/f1.item.zoom

https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/manuscripts/uv/view.php?n=O.17.2#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=34&xywh=2421%2C514%2C1526%2C2688

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

This inspired me to go down the rabbit-hole of Eugenius' coinage. I wonder is the second emperor on this example meant to represent Valentinian II or Theodosius I? From what I could gather many assume the former!

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Very much enjoyed Gladiator 2. Denzel stole every scene he was in. Also my partner told me that, during the credits, she overheard the group middle aged women beside us murmuring 'who was that guy they kept talking about, should we have watched the first one?'

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Reposted by Dr Euan Croman

Classical Association in Northern Ireland @classassocni.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

#OnThisDay in 383, the body of Constantia, posthumous daughter of Constantius II and empress of Gratian, was finally buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

en.wikipedia.org

Constantia (wife of Gratian) - Wikipedia

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Dr Euan Croman @croeuan.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

I'm here now. Here's a Tetrarch

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