Sunday, September, 17, 2023
Dr. Liviu Iancu (The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization) presented a comparison between the condition of the Greek mercenaries of the Archaic era, on the side of the Egyptian pharaohs, and that of the Varangians of the Byzantine Empire, starting from similar inscriptions left by these two categories on the colossi of the temple of Abu Simbel and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, in his communication „Raiders turned into mercenaries: Comparing the Greeks in the Saite Kingdom to the Varangians in the Byzantine Empire". He emphasized the similarities concerning the organisation of those „warrior-merchants driven by hunger and the quest for wealth and glory", who fought for these great empires.
