Past Lives II

We (my customer with the torque and I) talked about history. His favorite historical time period is set in Byzantium before the time of Constantine (300 CE). He actually liked Byzantine battles and knew famous generals’ names. He talked of battles involving a 100,000 men.

He told me an interesting story about Flavius the Delayer. He was successful because he never actually fought a battle.

In order to avoid spreading bad history or misinformation, I tried to google Flavius the Delayer. I did not find anyone historically referred to as such. I did find Flavius Gratianus (359-383 CE) whose uncle did not wait for him and went into battle with Visigoths (early Germans?) never to return. There were rumors that Flavius did not rush as his uncle was a potential heir to the throne (www.roman-empire.net/collapse/gratian.html) but in truth, his uncle faced such odds that there was never a likely happy ending whether Flavius Gratian appeared then or not.

I know nothing about military history in that area or in that time. I know the term Byzantium because I love the tile work in the ceilings of early Byzantine Churches. I also like the history of early Christianity. How and why did certain churches and religious traditions form? That area’s history is key to that answer.

They don’t teach about Byzantium or military history in the area of Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Middle East in any college classes. You have to know about the time and place to find books covering those areas. I believe that you have to already know about Byzantium to know that you are interested in finding out more. I have spent time studying history and no one has EVER mentioned this time or place as a favorite time period. I have worked with and run into faculty on the way to and from academic conferences; none have ever mentioned a research interest in this area.

On a military tangent, I never heard of the battle of Masada (74 CE) until I ran across a reference to it while study early Buddhism and maritime history. At Masada, Jewish warriors and civilians committed mass suicide to avoid giving Romans a victory after a long siege. There are no sculptures of dying Jewish warriors by Greek or Roman sculptors (in the tradition of The Dying Gaul) that I know of…

As I think about the interesting conversation I had, I have to conclude my customer is walking proof of past lives. He knows nothing about Hessians and Prussians who are mentioned in every Western Civilization class, but he has a depth of knowledge on the level of a graduate student in an obscure area that no other academic has ever mentioned. I can’t help but feel certain that he was in the military at the time. He was probably in the military many times and he has probably had many lives long ago.