Research Topic
The Author and the General at the End of Antiquity: Military Language, Imagery, and Metaphors in the Sixth-Century Histories
Supervisor
Neil McLynn
Despite the lively state of current Procopian scholarship, the works of his immediate successor, Agathias of Myrina (Agathias Scholasticus), and his successor Theophylact Simocatta remain hidden from the spotlight. This is perhaps because many scholars still regard Agathias and Theophylact's historical narratives as bare, confused, and peppered with specious classical affectations. Moreover, the large shadow cast by Procopius can make them hard to see. Very few read Agathias and Theophylact on their own terms and for their own sakes as historians. Fewer still have undertaken any analysis of the literary elements of their supposedly confused and generic military narratives.
Conferences: 2021 - Oxford Medieval History Research Seminar - Title: "An Edifying Tale: Procopius and Generalship"
Publications: 2019 - The Byzantinist (Oxford University Byzantine Society) - Title: "Procopius and Slighting Fortifications in the Gothic War: Fano and Pesaro."
