The Queen of Cities Part 3: The House of Man

On April 4, 2023May 15, 2023 By Michael LiIn History, LiteratureLeave a comment

Part 1: https://venividiveritas.com/2023/01/24/queen-of-cities-a-fictional-tour-of-constantinople-in-540-ad/ Part 2: https://venividiveritas.com/2023/02/22/the-queen-of-cities-part-2-house-of-god/ Without Ecritius’s presence, I was naked and alone in the grand halls of Imperator Caesar Justinianus Augustus. The courtiers, each of them garbed in silk so fine I could see the pale hue of their skin, were as sullen and silent as mosaic saints as they led me past …

Continue reading The Queen of Cities Part 3: The House of Man

The Queen of Cities Part 2: The House of God

On February 22, 2023April 4, 2023 By Michael LiIn History, Literature2 Comments

Part 1: https://venividiveritas.com/2023/01/24/queen-of-cities-a-fictional-tour-of-constantinople-in-540-ad/ The visages of sages past observed in hushed reverence as I was led through the monastery by Ecritius, their faces immortalised in melancholic mosaic. Golden incense holders and candelabras glittered as the candle flames swayed, contorting like the lithesome frames of Oriental dancers. Either side of me, monks garbed in unassuming raiments …

Continue reading The Queen of Cities Part 2: The House of God

Alternative History: Antony and Cleopatra Part 2

On February 18, 2023February 19, 2023 By Michael LiIn HistoryLeave a comment

Antony and Cleopatra Part 2: Roman Politics When Romulus slew Remus, offering the blood of a king and a brother to the gods, he did so out of neither envy or hatred, but of piety. In the ancient world, when festivals commenced, oxen were sacrificed. On the eve of battles, goats and chickens were gutted …

Continue reading Alternative History: Antony and Cleopatra Part 2