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I wonder if the original mosaics survive beneath the bleak blank amnesia of the Islamic erasure.

Justinian was one of the greatest rulers in human history ... I think he qualifies to crack the more narrow "The 10 Greatest Byzantine Emperors". Not quite like leaving Jesus and Muhammad off the list of the top 10 most influential religious leaders, but close.

Justinian I is number one. Planning him for the collapse caused by Justin's incompetence and starting Wars on every front after a plague is as unreasonable as blaming alexios for 12:04. His provinces largely held add centres of tax and trade let alone his reforms to law and Roman Prestige. Why would you leave your armies at home to die of plague when it made way more sense to send them away to regions free of plague

I like your no 1 and no 8. Quietly competent emperors should get more credit

I would add that job performance must be also seen relative to the circumstances. Basil 2 had only his power play with magnates to handle, while Leo 3 had Maslama ante portam from day 1, Manuel had new world order and non-state which could only be held together by the emperors personal excellence, no institutions or widely adopted social contract in place whatsoever. So our Basil 2 could prolong his suffocating of Samuils state piece by piece forever, never be decisive, and always save some work for the next year to conveniently place him out of the vipers nest and always by his army. Question for Robin, and all of you who made your lists: How many of those on the list would have appeared on the SPQR goat list? Top 10 from Cleopatras deathbed to Dandolos swan song. No need to add pre-Christian ones, just how many of our boys would have made it?

Nice to have some Nikephorous Phokas representation on there

The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) may have "started " in 330 with the inauguration of Constantinople ( Byzantion), but as a matter of fact was already running since 284 after Diocletian's partition. 476 is a wrong narrative since the West, a great deal of it, was recovered by Justinian I some 60 years later. Odoacer and Theodoric were under the higher authority of the (Eastern) Roman Emperor in Constantinople and they were serving as Regents, not independent Kings. When they decided to act in an anti-Roman manner and independently, were eliminated. 1. Basil II 2. Justinian I 3.Heraclius (heretical) 4. John II 5.. Alexios I 6. Anastasius I (heretical) 7. John I 8. Nikephoros II 9. Leo III (heretical) 10. Constantine V (heretical)

I really enjoyed your list! Some interesting choices, and I can completely understand the argument for Anastasius being number 1. Such a capable administrator. I also quite liked how you limited the emperors from 476 till 1204. I personally prefer to rank the emperors all the way from 330 to 1453 (spoiler: Constantine I is the best imo) but I thought I'd try and copy you and limit my own top 10 to your specified timeframe:: 10) Justinian I (just about) 9) Basil I 8) Manuel Komnenos 7) John Tzimiskes 6) Alexios Komnenos 5) Basil II 4) Leo III 3) John II Komnenos 2) Anastasius 1) Constantine V

What a great episode. Really liked your list! You should someday do top 10 most interesting emperors. I feel like people want to see Justinian on this list just because he is a really interesting character. Thank you Robin for making in my opinion the best history podcast out there

I’m something of a Isaac Angelos enjoyer myself

I must say with the criteria stated the list just fits. also the choice of time period to judge emprors from being the 'hegemony of Constantinople' fits very well with the concept of greatest byzantine emperors. nice on both of those fronts

Very interesting ranking. But even you have the prosopography of justinian although not include him in the list. Justinian was not the best character in history, but for sure is in the top ten Byzantine emperors if not number 1. The plagues and the dark years from the volcanic eruptions were not on his side other wise the course of history might be very different and now the people of spania might speaking Greek. Nice job though. Cheers!

Listened to it on Spotify already (with my walk). However, since I cannot be bothered to write an email at the moment (this will be changed in the next few days). I would like to start by saying, I love the post-amble. I also got really scared I missed some content, when you said after the narrative. Additionally, the list is truly good. I definitely think it's a surprise, and definitely a realistic list. I like that you added Heraclius. I'll do a top 10 Byzantine Emperoers (up to 1204) and then a post period when the narrative is fully complete. I will probably also do another "all roman emperorers" list at some point. (Spoiler, Augustus will take the top of that list, due to bias, but also due to the ability to become an emperor as well as the political talent and the war know-how, along with Agrippa). I'm starting around 457 A.D (to keep within the byzantine podcast period) Anywho, thanks as always, a phenominal episode Robin, thank you for all that you do. 10. Phokas 9. Anastasius I 8. Constantine VII 7. Tzimiskes 6. Basil I 5. Romanos I 4. Alexios I 3. Leo III 2. Manuel I 1. Basil II (who's surprised)

The greatest sultan mehmed fatih❤ the Osmani Ottoman empire

Omg no Justinian?? Or Manuel K? Very sad 😢

Justinian is not on the list?!? 😢

Personally, I've always had a soft spot for John II Komnenos. While you could argue he had it easy, since he inherited a stable empire from his father, he is just such an admirable figure in every way.

Cant wait to listen to this!

A very interesting list, with a number of interesting people on it.

ΥΕΑΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗ ΒΑΒΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥ WE HAVE BEEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE EPISODE 1a

This is superb

Hello !! I wanted to ask you if there are any remains of the Tzykanisterion ! I always founded fascinating

Just discovered this podcast and have been loving it up to this section on Islam, as it suddenly feels like a very abnormal/controversial take on Islamic history. Plus, Tom Holland is kind of a quack - didnt he make a whole documentary claiming that Muslims prayed to Petra or something lmao

"...and the need for humans [of all faiths] to express themselves...." that was a lovely way to end this video. thank you.

These cisterns are a testament of the progresive roman decadence. Hard pressed by continuous sieges and the bad state of repair of the old aqueducts these romans started to abandon the old cannon of ensuring clean fresh water for the population in order to move towards such huge water reservoirs were cleanliness was of secondary importance. Little surprise when it came to the point there was not enough water pressure anymore to clean the waste water conduits and the same man who had built the marvel of the Hagia Sophia had lost the knowledge of ancient roman water managment and dove with his cisterns and little water presure towards the bubonic plague

Thanks Robin 😊

theodosius cistern on gmap says its now 30$ 😢

good video keep it up

2:04 For a small fee you can book the cistern.

It had a creek called Lykos which is Vatan street now.

Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things 😁👍😊

Super

You can tell how passionate John Giebfried is about Baldwin II. Great guest!

I love these videos!

Heraclius was badass even in old age

Thank you

Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things also who do you think is the most underrated byzantine emperor and empress?

Excellent! Thank you so much!

the remnants of believers and infidels intermingled like their bloods

I'm so happy that you've put this on TH-cam. This is the episode where I'd left off. I had been listening through on different podcast platforms but it's so much easier here. Cheers!

I'm surprised that you didn't mention the postern gate mistakenly left open through which the Ottomans entered.

According to Herodotus the metal used to make The Serpent Column, came from the smelting of Persian weapons and booty.

Great job😂

I was waiting for it!

Yes! It seems like the narrative is getting back on track!! Great job Robin!

Punch of silly theories! (Perhaps this, Perhaps that) lol. The reason Muslims (Arabs) wine was simply because of their new faith in Allah (God) and their willingness to die for such beliefs as well as the simple fact that they were all warriors from birth! L. They were never united until the Prophet (peace be upon him) united th and given them a purpose to spread the religion of Islam!. Whilst on the other hand, both Romans and Persians, especially the Romans had so many denominations and sects that they lost any unity they had as a religion and both drained each other in never ending wars.

Although I like the Pod and I enjoy learning about the Byzantines I must say What an utter nonsense! No Historian agrees with this wild take! on Islamic history and certainly most Muslims would laugh at this silly western take especially when these claims are made by someone who can't even speak or write Arabic. This inability to understand Arabic is crucial to understand Islamic history and its resources which would be all in Arabic!.

This sounds like a lot of conjecture. It feels more like Professor Neville has has a different interpretation rather than a "refutation" of the conventional viewpoint. Not to say that she's wrong, but I don't see how she's proved anything conclusively. Admittedly I have only listened to her interview here on the podcast and I have not read the book. I *love* this podcast but it seems like to me that any new revisionist history is taken at face value with little pushback from Robin. I am currently reading Anthony Kalldellis' books and enjoy them, but he's received pushback on his more "controversial" views from others in the field.

Roman Emperors that were canonized after Saint Constantine the Great but before Saint John the Merciful are Saint Justinian and Saint Theodosius the Great (Theodosius I).

That city probably the most fascinating city. The under ground caves where you can see lotr mines of moria inspiration from... the wealth n knowledge launched europe into renaissance period rebirth economics n philosophy...the Islamic Golden age is from the lay out of their establishment.