ATHENS – College Year in Athens (CYA) continues its Virtual Lecture series with ‘Daily Life on a Byzantine Frontier: The Skythian Dimension’ on Wednesday, October 4, 12 PM Eastern U.S. / 7 PM Athens time via Zoom.

The guest speaker, John Karavas, professor of history and archaeology at CYA, will delve into the captivating findings from the excavations at the historical site of Halmyris. Located at the Danube Delta, Halmyris served as a Roman/Byzantine urban hub with military and maritime significance. The excavations at this site have unearthed a treasure trove of evidence that sheds light on various facets of daily life on a Byzantine frontier, from strategic considerations to religious practices.

Moderating this discussion will be CYA Professor Nikos Tsivikis, a Byzantine archaeologist and art historian.

To be a part of this engaging and educational lecture, register online: https://shorturl.at/jvxJR.

Even if you cannot attend the live event, registering will ensure you receive the recording, which will be sent within 1-2 days after the lecture.

After registration, you will receive a Zoom confirmation email to join the discussion. You may ask questions through the Chatbox or Q&A feature on Zoom.

John Karavas is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford and Durham. His primary areas of interest lie in Hellenistic and Roman History, Greek and Roman provincial archaeology (with a special interest in Roman frontiers), and ancient warfare. He has been associated with various research groups and institutes in the UK and Eastern Europe. Over the years, Prof. Karavas has participated in numerous excavations in Serbia, Romania, and Greece and is currently the Director of excavations at Halmyris, a Greek/Roman/Byzantine military and urban site on the Danube Delta in Romania; as of 2021, he also conducts excavations on the site of Gratiana, a late Roman fort located in Romania.

In addition to several published articles, mostly on Roman frontier theory and excavation reports, his most recent publication is a co-edited volume (with Dr. Emily Hanscam, CYA ’11) titled The Roman Lower Danube Frontier: Innovations in Theory and Practice; forthcoming publications include The Evolution of Roman Frontier Fortifications in the Province of Moesia Superior (1st-6th century AD) and War and Peace on the Danube: A Documented History of Roman Military Involvement on the Danube Frontier Region (1st-3rd century CE).

Prof. Karavas is teaching three courses this fall semester to CYA students: ‘To the Strongest: The Ancient Near East from the Death of Alexander to the Coming of Rome;’ ‘Sports and Spectacles in the Graeco-Roman world;’ and ‘Aegean and Ancient Great Art and Archaeology.’

In addition, he is leading an online Hellenic Executive course titled Byzantium Re-Visited: The Eastern Roman Empire and its Lasting Legacy. For further details click here: CYA’s Hellenic Executive Program.

Nikos Tsivikis is an archaeologist specialized in the study of Late Antique, Byzantine and Medieval material culture. Since 2021, he is Principal Investigator of the project Byzantine Agricultural Landscape across the Aegean at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) in Crete and teaches Byzantine and Medieval Archaeology at CYA since 2019.

His research focuses on the evolution of Byzantine cities and social relationships as expressed in the built and unbuilt environment and various categories of artifacts. Currently, Tsivikis is a senior member of the Ancient Messene Project in Greece and the Amorium Project in Asia Minor, Turkey. He has held research and teaching post-doctoral positions at the University of Athens, Leibniz Institute for Archaeology at Mainz (Germany), Koç University at Constantinople (Turkey), Princeton University, Dumbarton Oaks Research Center Washington, DC, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Harvard University Center for Hellenic Studies.

Tsivikis has published extensively in English, Greek, and Turkish and his monograph entitled ‘Urban Transformation, Christianization and Ruralization in Late Antique Peloponnese: the Case of Byzantine Messene’ is scheduled to appear in 2023 in Mainz.

This fall semester, Tsivikis is teaching a course at CYA titled ‘The Worlds of Medieval Greece.’