Historian and professor of Late Antique, Medieval & Byzantine Studies. English, Cypriot. Agent Doug Young
@pewliterary
. Winner, London Hellenic Prize 2023
Overheard in a pizza place in DC last night:
Long-haired tipsy customer: ‘Everything has been caused by imperialism. The reason you don’t know your real language but speak Spanish is because of imperialism’
Server: ‘I don’t speak Spanish. i speak Turkish.’
Recently a German university accidentally paid me my travel expenses twice. Accordingly I repaid second payment - giving them in £ exactly what I received in £. They are now asking for more to make up for what they have lost in currency fluctuations etc. What a cheek! Tough luck.
To my mind one of the most brilliant living historians of the ancient Greek world with what will prove to be one of the most monumental works of this century.
Overheard a N. American student in Cambridge: ‘When people here say “can I help you?” it feels like they are saying “Please stop what you are doing and go away.”’ Yep - generally a pretty good translation of that particular nuance of British English.
Whoever they are I hope they go to prison. If they are students, I hope they are expelled. If they are not British citizens,I hope they are chucked out of the country. Morons.
Totally bowled over that ‘Justinian’ has won the London Hellenic Prize against stiff competition from over 150 wonderful entrants! It is a huge honour to be reckoned alongside such past winners as
@19Averil
, Mark Mazower, Peter Parsons et al. Amazing news!
Peter Sarris' "Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint" (
@BasicBooksUK
) is the winner of this year's London Hellenic Prize. Warmest congratulations to
@peter_sarris
for a brilliant biography of one of the most controversial emperors of Byzantium!
The last Christian country in the Middle East is about to be obliterated. The ethnic cleansing of Christians from the lands of their birth is not far from completion.
Not only will the West do nothing, we are likely not even to notice.
About to finally complete on the purchase of an apartment in Agios Pavlos, Thessaloniki. This is a view from the balcony. Looking forward to doing lots of writing there…
In village pub this evening: saw a lovely but slightly shy dog. Told the owner how pretty she was and he said he was a rescue dog from Cyprus. I addressed the doggy in Cypriot Greek: she looked up, came over, rolled on her back, and got a belly rub.
@KomnenosMegas
The customer said ‘How are things in Turkey?’ He replied ‘Very bad. Very bad inflation.’ Customer said: ‘That is because of imperialism.’ Reply: ‘No, it is because of Erdogan’. Customer: ‘Trust me, there is inflation is everywhere. Erdogan is fine. It is imperialism’
I remember a Fellow of All Souls who had been elected in 1926 telling me that at his first dinner there, an elderly Fellow asked him how he had spent the day. After hearing that he had been off riding a bicycle, the elderly Fellow replied: ‘Ah, bicycles. They are after my time.’
‘The bicycle is fascinating,’ Flora Mayor wrote to her sister from Newnham College, Cambridge in 1892. ‘It’s much easier than skating [but] one must have knickerbockers for it.’
#ViragoModernClassics
Two of the greatest privileges of my life: having spoken in Greek to a survivor of the sack of Smyrna (when I was a schoolboy: Petro - these English people are driving me mad - speak to me in Greek and I’ll give you a cigarette); and speaking in Greek to Constantinopolitans.
Nice to see my book for sale in my hometown of St Albans alongside one of my books of the year for
@EngelsbergIdeas
: Robin Lane Fox on Homer and His Iliad
Back in Oxford - the 30th anniversary of my election as a Fellow of All Souls. Also had a very good night catching up with old friends at The Jolly Farmers
When I was at Balliol I remember a porter chuckling about an encounter he had just had with an aggressive tourist. The college was closed to public but visitor said: ‘But you must let me in! I am a Professor at Yale! Do you know it?’ Porter: ‘Yes, sir, I think you make our keys.’
I once overheard a conversation between the partners of two SRFs at All Souls: Partner A :‘My husband is very clever - he has read everything Derrida has ever published.’ Partner B: ‘But isn’t it a better indication of intelligence to know when to stop?’
Move into my new teaching rooms getting there: half my books still to arrive and mirrors, pictures and curtains need putting up. But probably where I will happily spend the last 18 years of my career…
Today marks the first time since the year 301 when Easter is not celebrated in Nagorno-Karabakh. Here is a photo from the last celebration — in 2023 — during
#ArtsakhBlockade
Highlight of my talk on Justinian in Oxford yesterday: a British engineer resident in Chicago called Andrew who was visiting UK came to Oxford just for the talk because he had enjoyed my book on Justinian so much, buying a second copy from Blackwells for me to sign
@BasicBooksUK
It looks like a Greek translation of Justinian will be forthcoming (Dutch, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese and others in press). I am sure he would have approved!
Me - I think in the Roman amphitheatre in Salamis in now occupied Cyprus, with my uncle and aunt, sister, mother, and another relative - not long before the invasion
O ΠΘ περνά το μήνυμα του για τη συνέχιση της κεντρώας πολιτικής μέσα από τα βιβλία που προτείνει για διάβασμα (the centre must hold). Να του επισημάνουμε μόνο πως με τον τρόπο που κινείται το «κέντρο» σήμερα οδηγεί τη Δύση σε ένα άλλο βιβλίο. To “clash of civilisations”
One of the many very nice things about being in Washington D.C. is being able to discuss the history of Aksum with very well informed and rightly proud cab drivers
I’m really sorry but the idea pedelled by many that far right racist extremists are motivated by their respect for Braverman is ridiculous. She ain’t no Enoch Powell. The far right response and her response were ´unleashed’ by the decision to hold a massive demo on 11/11.
Just gave a lecture on Justinian which reduced some of my audience to tears - for once it wasn’t due to boredom but thanks to the amazing
@cappellaromana
as I played them their lost music of Hagia Sophia.
I do like the cover of the Spanish translation of my Byzantium - A Very Short Introduction (also available in Greek, Polish, Chinese, and - obviously - English).
One of my favourite pictures: my papou (grandfather) Costas Sarris visiting from Cyprus c.1980 with the rescue dog we had just got from the RSPCA (they named her Gypsy). She would be with us for another 20 years. He alas passed away 16 years later (in his 90s).
Looking forward to returning to Thessaloniki next week to start work on my next book for
@BasicBooksUK
- my take on Byzantine/East Roman history and civilisation and its legacy from Constantine to today. Due out Autumn ‘26.
I have greatly enjoyed reading this. Amongst other things, it has reminded me how incredibly fortunate I was to have been a colleague of the brilliant Martin West (and to have met the great Jasper Griffin in his prime)
We have spent many years creating & encouraging the traditional English flower and hay meadow outside our house (long before re-wilding was fashionable). It is enjoying the weather along with the many happy bees buzzing around it