podcast: buildings for learning
I'm back!
This week, I discuss what, for my money, are Thessaloniki's two best museums. This wall hanging comes from one of them
Download (right click, save as...) or subscribe. (5:45, 3.5 MB)Links: Museum 1, Museum 2
Notes: I'm using a new microphone, an ATR 25. Also, I have 40 subscribers that aren't bots or me (only my soul is robotic). That's awesome. Next week I'm even going to meet two of my listeners. They're adults and everything!
I'm going to have some more updates this weekend. Check back.
posted by Brad @ 5:20 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Hello Brad.
First let me congratulate you on the excellent podcast about the 2 Salonika museums. You've made a small error however about the beginning of the Byzantine period. The Byzantine era indeed began in the 4th century A.D. but NOT because of the split of the eastern church from Rome (this occured during the 11th century). As a matter of fact during that time there was no eastern or western church to talk about. It was the Roman emperor Constantine who decided to move the capital of the Roman empire from Rome to Byzantium in order to better defend its eastern borders. Many (myself included) believe that western civilization owes its very existence to that man and his amazing decision. Furthermore, it was Constantine that stopped the persecutions of Christians and although not a Christian himself till his very last hours, helped get the Christian church started. For that reason the Orthodox church refers to him as Saint Constantine the Great.
There's a great 3 volume book called "Byzantium" by John Julius Norwich that I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the history of Byzantium and Europe in general.
Best regards.
Constantine
P.S. I was wondering about the hostility of the guard in the Jewish museum you mention in your podcast. Could it be because we Greeks are becoming more and more hostile towards everyone including ourselves? Or, even worse, could it be attributed to a new and growing anti-Semitism in Greece? Or maybe both? Whatever the case might be, I'm afraid it's a lose-lose situation for us.
Costantine was born in (what came to be known as) Serbia.
I want to go back and see what the museum said about the origin of the Byzantine era. That's one (of many) foggy areas for me.
And the guard at the Jewish museum himself wasn't harsh or overly hostile; the presence of a guard, as well as the reinforced door, seemed like stringent security measures.
Quite right Rachel. Constantine was born at Naissus, the present day Serb town of Nis, but part of the Roman province of Dacia at that time. I don't know if the Serbs are trying to claim Constantine as one of their own (like we Greeks do), but there's no doubt that he was 100% Roman and of noble descent as well. His father was Constantius 'Chlorus', one the most brilliant and successful generals of the Roman Empire at the time of his son's birth and later to become one of the two Caesars of Rome second only to the then emperor Diocletian.
But let me clarify a point from my first post. Constantine not only stopped the persecutions of Christians during his reign but at some point even adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. And like I said, he himself was not a Christian at least not until he was on his deathbed.
This is what J.J.Norwich has to say about Constantine: "No ruler in all history...has ever more fully meritted the title of 'the Great'. For within some 15 years he took 2 decisions, either of which alone would have changed the future of the civilized world. The first was to adopt Christianity as the official Roman religion...and the second to move the capital of the empire from Rome to the new city...Together, these two decisions and their consequences have given him a serious claim to be considered - excepting only Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed - the MOST INFLUENTIAL MAN IN ALL HISTORY."
Hello Brad!
I'll start by congratulating you on your effort and podcast.
Here's the Byzantine Museum's website
http://www.mbp.gr/html/en/index.htm
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