293. The Gaza Erotic Literature Festival: Byzantine Gaza (Part 3)

Empire

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How did Gaza become a centre of learning and festivals during the Byzantine era? Who was St. Porphyrius of Gaza, and why did he destroy pagan temples in the city? Why is the Early Christian period considered a Golden Age for Gaza? Anita and William are joined by Peter Sarris, Professor of Late Antique, Medieval and Byzantine Studies at the University of Cambridge, to discuss Byzantine Gaza and the rise of Christianity in the region. Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com. Email: [email protected] Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If you want access to bonus episodes reading lists for every series of Empire, a chat community,
0:06.7	discounts for all the books mentioned in the week's podcast, add free listening and a weekly newsletter,
0:12.4	sign up to Empire Club at www.mpowerpoduk.com.
0:19.6	Why are businesses like HelloVet choosing Apple products and services?
0:23.9	So we started the business two years ago.
0:26.4	We had a few people who were used to PCs and this was their first foray into Macs.
0:31.6	But it's been super smooth getting everyone onto those devices and everyone seems really, really happy.
0:37.2	Find out how Mac can help you run and grow your business at apple.com forward slash
0:42.7	hello vet.
0:45.1	Here's the truth about AI.
0:47.5	AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into.
0:51.1	Service Now puts AI to work for people across your business, removing friction and frustration for your employees, supercharging productivity for your developers, providing intelligent tools for your service agents to make customers happier, all built into a single platform you can use right now. That's why the world works with ServiceNow. Visit ServiceNow.com
1:13.2	slash UK slash AI for people.
1:15.2	Hello and welcome to Empire with me Anita Arnhann.
1:29.1	And me, William Durhamport.
1:31.0	So as our series on the history of Gaza progresses, we're now going to look at one of the great golden ages of the area, and that is late antiquity.
1:40.7	Now that actually is a period when most of the Mediterranean world was experiencing a dark age of decline and disintegration. But conversely, in Gaza, this was a time of great prosperity and intellectual flourishing.
1:55.1	For even as the Romans were abandoning Britain and the Western Empire bled under the assaults of the
2:01.9	Goths and the vandals and the Huns and all those sorts of peoples. Gaza, improbably perhaps,
2:08.1	found a new role for itself as a centre of literary and intellectual achievement, as well as being a
2:12.3	major port, famous for the export of frankincense, perfume, and sweet wine. This is going to be a very different
2:20.3	episode from the succession of catastrophes, which we went through as the Assyrians and the Babylonians
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Goalhanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Goalhanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.