Almost half the #Roman capital #Constantinople was burnt in the #NikaRiots, beginning #ThisDayInHistory in 532 when #Justinian ignored demands for clemency by the Greens & Blues, racing teams, after deaths from hooliganism. ~30,000 were killed and it almost toppled the emperor.

St. Anne

According to Christian tradition, St. Anne was the mom of the Virgin Mary, wife of St. Joachim, & was Jesus’ maternal grandma.

Her name isn’t in the Bible’s canonical Gospels. In writing, Anne’s name, & Joachim’s come from New Testament apocrypha. The Gospel of Thomas (written circa 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. She’s mentioned in the Quran, but not by name.

The Immaculate Conception was eventually made dogma by the Catholic Church following an increased devotion to Anne in the 12th century. In Eastern Christianity dedications start as early as 6th century.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne & Joachim are attributed to the title Ancestor of God. Both the Nativity of Mary & the Presentation of Mary are celebrated as 2 of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.

The Dormition of Anne is also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. In Lutheranism, it’s believed that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as an Augustinian friar after invoking St. Anne was jeopardized by lightning.

In the 4th century, & in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne without original sin. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with the Annunciation of the Incarnation (Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus). The 13th century Speculum Maius includes information regarding the life of St. Anne.

In the Eastern church, the veneration of Anne herself may go back as far as circa 550, when Justinian built a church in Constantinople in her honor. The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West in an 8th century fresco in the church of Santa Maria Antique, Rome.

The Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary had reached southern Italy by the 9th century. In the Latin Church, St. Anne wasn’t venerated. Except, perhaps, in the south of France, before the 13th century. A shrine at Douai (in northern France) was 1 of the early centers of devotion to St. Anne in the West.

The Anna Selbdritt was a type of iconography showing 3 generations of the “Holy Family,” St. Anne, the Virgin Mary, & Jesus (grandma, mom, son). This style of iconography emphasized the humanity of Jesus. It drew on the earlier conventions of the Seat of Wisdom. (The Seat of Wisdom is/are icons/sculptures that shows the Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with Jesus, as a kid, on her lap.) This was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.

Two well-known shrines to St. Anne is that of Ste-Anne-d’Auray in Brittany (France) & that of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre near the city of Quebec. The number of pilgrims to the Basilica of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre is the greatest of St. Anne’s Feast Day (July 26), & the Sunday before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8). In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St. Anne to the church.

By the middle of the 7th century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anne) celebrating Mary by St. Anne, was observed at the Monastery of St. Sabas.

It’s now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of “The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos.” It’s celebrated on December 9th. In the Catholic Church, the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim is celebrated on July 26. The alleged relics of St. Anne was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 & was kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.

During the 12th & 13th centuries, returning crusaders & pilgrims from the East brought St. Anne’s relics to some churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, & Chartres. St. Anne’s relics have been preserved & venerated in the many cathedrals & monasteries dedicated to her name.

For example, in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, & Greece in the semi-autonomous Mount Athos, & the city of Katerini. Duren has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when Pope Julius II decreed that her relics should be kept there, after they were stolen from the church of St. Stephen in Mainz.

The Church of St. Anne in Beit Guvrin National Park was built by the Byzantines & the crusaders in the 12th century. This is known in Arabic as Khirbet Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna.

St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, moms, & educators. She’s also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makers, & miners.

As the mom of Mary, this devotion to St. Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary & Jesus & the precious metals: gold & silver. Anne’s womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.

St. Anne is the patron saint of Brittany (France); Cuenca (Ecuador); Chinandega (Nicaragua); the Mi’kmaq people of Canada; Castelbuono (Sicily); Quebec (Canada); Santa Ana (California); Norwich (Connecticut); Detroit (Michigan); Adjunta (Puerto Rico); Santa Ana & Jucuaran (El Salvador); Berlin (New Hampshire); Santa Ana Pueblo, Seama, & Taos (New Mexico); Chiclana de la Frontera, Marsaskala, Tuadela, Atarfe & Fasnia (Spain); Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga, Molo, Iloilo City, Balasan; Iloilo, Hagnoy, Santa Ana, Taguig City, St. Anne Shrine, Malicboy, Pagbilao, Quezon, & Malinao, Albay (Philippines); Santana (Brazil); St. Anne (Illinois); Sainte Anne Island; Baie Sainte Anne & Praslin Island (Seychelles); Bukit Mertajam & Port Klang (Malaysia); Kl’ucove (Slovakia) & South Vietnam.

The parish church of Vatican City is Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri. There’s a shrine dedicated to St. Anne in the Woods in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Anne is also revered in Islam, recognized as a highly spiritual woman & as the mom of Mary. She’s not named in the Quran. She’s called “the wife of Imran.” The Quran describes her remaining childless until old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have kids of her own.

She prayed for a kid & eventually conceived. Imran, her husband, died before the kid was born. Anne expected the unborn kid to be a boy, so she vowed to dedicate “him” to isolation & service in the Second Temple.

Anne had a daughter (Mary) instead. Anne named her: Mary. Anne’s words upon delivering Mary reflect as a great mystic, realizing that while she’d had wanted a son, this daughter was God’s gift to her.

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#12thCentury #12thCenturyAD #13thCentury #1500s #1506 #15thCentury #1892 #4thCentury #710 #7thCentury #8thCentury #9thCentury #Adjunta #Albay #AncestorsOfGod #AnnaSelbdritt #AnnunciationOfTheIncarnation #Apocrypha #Apt #Arabic #Atarfe #Augustinian #Austria #BaieSainteAnne #Balasan #BasilicaOfSteAnneDeBeaupre #BeitGuvrinNationalPark #Berlin #bible #Brazil #Bristol #Brittany #BukitMertajam #Byzantines #California #Canada #Castelbuono #CatholicChurch #Chartres #Chiclana #ChiclanaDeLaFrontera #Chinandega #Christianity #Circa150AD #Circa550 #ConceptionOfStAnne #Connecticut #Constantinople #Crusaders #Cuenca #December9 #Detroit #DormitionOfAnne #Douai #Duren #EasternChristianity #Ecuador #ElSalvador #Fasnia #FeastOfSaintsAnneJoachim #FeastOfTheConceptionOfTheVirginMary #France #Germany #GospelOfThomas #GreatFeastsOfTheOrthodoxChurch #Greece #GreekOrthodoxChurch #Hagnoy #HolyFamily #HolyLand #Iloilo #IloiloCity #ImmaculateConception #Imran #Islam #Italy #Jesus #Jucuaran #July26 #Justinian #KhirbetSandahanna #KlUcove #LatinChurch #Lutheranism #Mainz #Malaysia #Malicboy #Malinao #Maresha #MartinLuther #MaternityOfHolyAnne #MiKmaqPeople #MonasteryOfStSabas #MountAthos #NativityOfMary #NativityOfTheVirginMary #NewHampshire #NewMexico #NewTestament #Nicaragua #NorthernFrance #Pagbilao #Philippines #PopeJuliusII #PopeLeoXIII #PortKlang #PraslinIsland #PresentationOfMary #Provence #PuertoRico #Quebec #Quran #Rome #SainteAnneIsland #SantAnnaDeiPalafrenieri #SantaAna #SantaAnaPueblo #SantaMariaAntique #SeatOfWisdom #September8 #Sicily #Slovakia #SouthVietnam #SouthernItaly #Spain #SpeculumMaius #StAnne #StAnneInTheWoods #StAnneShrine #StAnneSFeastDay #StJoachim #StSophia #StStephen #SteAnneDAuray #SteAnneDeBeaupre #TaguigCity #Taos #TellSandahanna #TheChurchOfStAnne #TheConceptionByStAnneOfTheMostHolyTheotokos #TownOfStaAnaProvinceOfPampanga #Tudela #UnitedKingdom #VaticanCity #VirginMary

The #BattleOfTricamarum was on #ThisDayInHistory in 533, effectively ending the #Vandal state in #NorthAfrica. The #VandalicWar, led by #Roman general #Belisarius, was the opening chapter in #RenovatioImperiiRomanorum, a project by Emperor #Justinian I to regain lost territory.

Excavations reveal Church N1 at Marea (Philoxenite), an outstanding Late Antique pilgrimage church in Egypt

A new archaeological excavation has revealed Church N1 at Marea, or Philoxenite, a richly preserved example of Late Antique ecclesiastical architecture on the southern shore of Lake Mareotis in northern Egypt...

More info: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/09/excavations-reveal-church-n1-at-marea-philoxenite/

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#archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #christianity #church #Justinian #philoxenite #ancientegypt

Genomic Evidence Confirms Yersinia pestis as Cause of Plague of Justinian

Researchers from the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University, along with international collaborators, have uncovered the first direct genetic evidence that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, was the cause of the Plague of Justinian, the world's first recorded ... [More info]

Ancient #DNA solves #Plague of #Justinian mystery to rewrite #pandemic history. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-ancient-dna-plague-justinian-mystery.html #science #biology #epidemiology #history

Rare mosaic inscription of Emperor Justinian I found in Ulpiana, Kosovo

Archaeologists who have been working in Ulpiana, an ancient city located in Kosovo’s Dardania region, have unearthed a rare mosaic dedication to the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (CE 527–565) and his wife, Theodora...

More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/08/mosaic-inscription-of-justinian-i-kosovo/

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#archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #romanempire #byzantineart #ulpiana #Justinian

A marriage-focused biographical analysis, Parnell's engaging portrayal of the famous general Belisarius and his wife Antonina offers fresh perspectives on the lesser-explored experiences of elite women during the Late Antiquity/Early Byzantine Period. #History #Constantinople #Belisarius #Antonina #Byzantine #Justinian #HistoryFact https://whe.to/ci/8-519-en/

Mosaic at the Southwestern of the Hagia Sofia Grand Mosque . The Virgin Mary is center with Constantine (right) and Justinian (left) the Great Shot on a Iphone 14+ #hagiasofia #travel #christian #virginmary #photography #mosque #grandmosque #iphone #justinian #iphonephotography #Constantine #Istanbul #turkey #religion

📢 New Podcast Episode! 🏛️

Journey back to 6th century Constantinople and witness the birth of a legal masterpiece: The Corpus Juris Civilis! 🤯

Listen now! www.tiny.uzh.ch/1Lr
Also on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/aincient-studies-lab/episodes/8---The-Corpus-Iuris-Civilis-e2s80db

Commissioned by Emperor Justinian I, this monumental work codified Roman law ⚖️ into four parts:

- Codex Constitutionum: Imperial laws made clear.
- Digesta: Wisdom from Roman legal experts.
- Institutiones: A textbook for aspiring lawyers.
- Novellae Constitutiones: Justinian's own legal updates.
Explore the history, impact, and enduring legacy of this cornerstone of Western legal tradition! 🎧

#law #history #podcast #legalhistory #byzantine #justinian #corpusjuriscivilis #newepisode #romanlaw #learn #DigitalHumanities #digitalhistory

Archaeologists discover early Christian basilica in Aquileia

Archaeologists from the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) have uncovered a remarkable early Christian basilica in Aquileia, Italy. This discovery is the first large-scale architectural find in the ancient Roman city in decades...

More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2024/11/early-christian-basilica-in-aquileia/

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#archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #christianbasilica #christianity #Justinian #Aquileia

@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
Great summary and illustrations!

#plague #Justinian #BlackDeath #smallpox #cholera #pandemic

I posit that the #WesternRomanEmpire did not fall. Rather, over the course of the 4th century CE, the empire transitioned from the Tetrarchy into a confederation, which became gradually more diffuse until the reign of #Justinian, who tried to return to a centralized state, only to be undone by a plague, allowing the decentralization to continue progressively for the next few centuries under a concept of weak, federated, and local kings who simply perceived imperium as an empty seat above them.

True #conspiracytheory of how Arianism was plotted against and now we’re all the worse off for it.

Make #Arius Great Again

#MAGA

@histodons #history #Arianism #heresy #imperial #bigotry #Justinian #Theodoric #Rome #Roman #philosophy #Neoplatonism #Boethius #pagan #paganism #Consolation #IsaacAsimov #DarkAges

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to draw more (whispers-- and to catch up on my commissions) and here are sketches of Byzantine emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora, based on the famous San Vitale mosaics and various contemporary busts out there #sketch #drawing #justinian #theodora #byzantium #empresstheodora #artistsonmastodon

Justinian and Theodora romance sketch! I totally love these two as a couple-- the courtesan that married a prince!-- and there's not much art for them out there. #justinian #theodora #empresstheodora
#art #illustration #sketchbook #sketch
#romanceart #byzantineempire #byzantium

Strange that the Bluebook doesn't give a lot of guidance on citing Latin calligraphy from 1468...

#Law #lawfedi #lawSchool #lawlibrarian #Calligraphy #Justinian

Also, it seems Justinian loved to play some Zelda games, as there’s some triforce triangles on the ground. And it’s not the only one pattern that can be found !

#holiday #holidays #trip #holidaytrip #ravenna #italia #basilica #basilicasanvitale #mosaic #justinian #byzantine #byzantium #theodora #triforce #zelda #pattern

Phenomenal Ravenna ! 😃

This is the place of the first pixel war, since the mosaics have been created to celebrate the win of Justinian’s armies over Goths

#holiday #holidays #trip #holidaytrip #ravenna #italia #basilica #basilicasanvitale #mosaic #justinian #byzantine #byzance #byzantium #theodora #pixelwar

Robert Graves had a unique and idiosyncratic approach to historical fiction. Best-known for I, CLAUDIUS but COUNT BELISARIUS, set against the background of Justinian's attempt to reconquer the Roman Empire in the West, is very much worth reading.

#HistoricalFiction #RobertGraves #RomanHistory #belisarius #justinian #Historicalnovel #Historicalnovels