School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry

Dr Michael Stewart

Honorary Research Fellow in History
View researcher profile
Dr Michael Stewart

Biography

Dr M. E. Stewart completed his PhD at the University of Queensland in 2013. His research focuses on issues of culture, gender, and identity in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. He has a published a number of articles and a book on these themes. His most recent paper, 'The Dangers of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius Gothic Wars' will appear in the Journal of Late Antiquity in 2017. Dr Stewart taught HIST2615: Age of Crusades in semester 1 2016 and HIST1400: Medieval and Early Medieval World in semester 2 2016 at the University of Queensland.

Qualifications

  • 2013 PhD, History, University of Queensland
  • 2003 MA, History, San Diego State University

Research Interests

Culture, gender, literature and identity in Late Antiquity, Byzantium, and the early Middle Ages.

Current Research Projects

  1. Editor with Conor Whately and David Parnell on a planned volume on the mid-sixth century Gothic Wars of the emperor Justinian.
  2. Conference Paper, May 2017 (invited): “The Fine Lines Between Courage and Fear in Procopius’ Vandal Wars.” ICMS 52: Barbarians & Barbarian Kingdoms.
  3. Paper, “Playing the Manly Man: Andreia and Generalship in Procopius’s Gothic Wars” for a forthcoming volume of papers edited by Shaun Tougher based on The Art of Generalship: Late Antique, Byzantine, and Chinese Ideals, sessions from IMC Leeds 2015.

Selected Publications

Books

  • The Soldier’s Life: Martial Virtues and Manly Romanitas in the Early Byzantine Empire. Leeds: Kismet Press, 2016.

Journal Articles, Book Chapters, and Reviews

  • “The Dangers of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius’ Gothic War.” Journal of Late Antiquity 10.2 (forthcoming).
  • “Breaking Down Barriers: Eunuchs in Italy and North Africa, 400-625.” In Byzantine Culture in Translation AABS 21 (forthcoming).
  • “Review of Kate Cooper & Conrad Leyser, eds. Making Early Medieval Societies: Conflict and Belonging in the Medieval West, 300-1200.” Journal of Social History 51.2 (Winter, 2017).
  • “The Soldier’s Life: Early Byzantine Masculinity and the Manliness of War.” Byzantina Symmeikta 26 (2016): 11-44.
  • “The Andreios Eunuch Commander Narses: Sign of a Decoupling of Martial Virtues and Masculinity in the Early Byzantine Empire?.” Cerae 2 (2015): 1-25.
  • “Contests of Andreia in Procopius’ Gothic Wars,” Παρεκβολαι 4 (2014): 21-54.
  • “Review of Philippe Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror: Christianity, Violence, and the West.” Parergon 32.2 (2016): 274-76.
  • “Review of Jonathan Arnold, Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration,” The Medieval History Journal 18. 1 (April, 2015): 169-72.

Other Activities and Service

Guest lecture November 2017 on notions of identity and Romanitas during the emperor Justinian’s mid sixth-century reconquest of Italy for the meeting of the Queensland Club History group.

 

Publications

Books (2)
Book Chapters (6)
Journal Articles (35)
Conference Paper (1)
Thesis (1)
Creative Works (5)

Books

Stewart, Michael (2020). Masculinity, identity, and power politics in the age of Justinian: a study of Procopius. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press. doi: 10.5117/9789462988231
Stewart, Michael Edward (2016). The soldier's life: martial virtues and manly romanitas in the early Byzantine empire. Leeds, United Kingdom: Kismet Press .

Book Chapters

Stewart, Michael Edward (2023). Protectors and assassins: armed eunuch-cubicularii and spatharii, 400-532. Brill's companion to bodyguards in the Ancient Mediterranean . (pp. 272-291) edited by Mark Hebblewhite and Conor Whately. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. doi: 10.1163/9789004527683_014
Stewart, Michael E. (2023). Finding Mr or Mrs Right: Marriage Alliances in the Age of Theodora. Masculinities in early medieval Europe: Tradition and Innovation, 450-1050. (pp. 19-41) edited by Cristina La Rocca, Francesco Borri and Francesco Veronese. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols.
Stewart, Michael (2022). The fine line between courage and fear in the Vandal War. Generalship in ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium. (pp. 164-186) edited by Richard Evans and Shaun Tougher. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. doi: 10.1515/9781474459969-014
Stewart, Michael Edward (2022). To triumph forever: Romans and barbarians in early Byzantium. The Routledge handbook on identity in Byzantium. (pp. 107-122) edited by Michael Edward Stewart, David Allen Parnell and Conor Whately. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429031373-8
Stewart, Michael Edward, Parnell, David Alan and Whately, Conor (2022). Finding Byzantium. The Routledge handbook on identity in Byzantium. (pp. 1-15) edited by Michael Edward Stewart, David Allen Parnell and Conor Whately. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429031373-1
Stewart, Michael Edward (2017). Breaking down barriers: eunuchs in Italy and North Africa, 400-620. Byzantine culture in translation. (pp. 33-54) edited by Amelia Brown and Bronwen Neil. Leiden: Brill.

Journal Articles

Stewart, Michael Edward (2023). A tangled web: marriage and alliance in the shadows of the plague, 542-548. Classica Cracoviensia, 26, 161-215. doi: 10.12797/CC.26.2023.26.03
Stewart, Michael Edward (2023). Review of Edward Watts, The Eternal fall of the Roman Empire: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Ancient History Bulletin, 13, 1-6.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2023). REVIEW–DISCUSSION MALALAS AS HISTORIAN OF HIS TIMES Olivier Gengler and Mischa Meier, edd., Johannes Malalas: Der Chronist als Zeithistoriker. Malalas-Studien 4.. Histos, 17, LXVII-LXXXI.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2023). The witness and his source: Procopius of Caesarea. Medieval World (8), 24-25.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2022). Review of C. Doyle Honorius: the fight for the Roman west AD 395-423. Ancient West and East, 22, 365-367.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2022). Review of Sverrir Jakobsson, The Varangians: In God’s Holy Fire New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 18, 253-255.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2022). Review of Bennett, Ellora, Guido M. Berndt, Stefan Esders, and Laury Sarti (eds), Early Medieval Militarisation(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021. Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 18, 218-221.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2022). Bashing Belisarius: polemical characterisations in Procopius' Secret History. Acta Classica, Supplementum XI, 245-264.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2021). Review of Eduardo Fabbro, Warfare and the Making of Early Medieval Italy (568–652) Studies in Medieval History and Culture (London: Routledge, 2020). Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association (2), 26-27.
Lillington-Martin, Christopher and Stewart, Michael Edward (2021). Turning Traitor: Shifting Loyalties in Procopius’ Gothic Wars. Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα Byzantina Symmeikta, 31, 281-305. doi: 10.12681/byzsym.26164
Stewart, Michael Edward (2021). Review of Francesca Dell’Aqua, Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome, c. 680–880 . Australian Early Medieval Association. Journal (2), 15-17.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2020). La gloria del servicio. Soldados y civiles en el Bajo Imperio. Desperta Ferro, 25 (7).
Stewart, Michael Edward (2020). Book Review: A. Omissi, Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire: Civil War Panegyric, and the Construction of Legitimacy, Oxford 2018. Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα, 30, 379-385. doi: 10.12681/byzsym.23040
Stewart, Michael Edward (2019). The assassinations of Aetius, Aspar, and Valentinian III: violent death in the shadow of the fall. Medieval Warfare Magazine, 9 (4), 42-45.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2019). Review of Brown, Michelle P., Ildar H. Garipzanov, and Benjamin C. Tilghman, eds, Graphic Devices and the Early Decorated Book (Boydell Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture. Parergon, 36 (1), 186-187.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2018). Review of Mark Hebblewhite, The Emperor and the Army in the Later Roman Empire, AD, 235-395. Byzantina Symmeikta, 28, 398-412. doi: 10.12681/byzsym.18586
Stewart, Michael Edward (2018). A furious storm fell upon them - The Arab siege of Constantinople, 717-718. Medieval Warfare Magazine, 8 (5), 24-33.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2018). Review of Charles Barber and Stratis Papaioannou, eds, Michael Psellos on Literature and Art: A Byzantine Perspective on Aesthetics. Parergon, 35 (2), 192-194. doi: 10.1353/pgn.2018.0074
Stewart, Michael Edward (2018). Review of Romig, Andrew J., Be a Perfect Man. Christian Masculinity and the Carolingian Aristocracy. Parergon, 35 (1), 198-199. doi: 10.1353/pgn.2018.0043
Stewart, Michael E. (2017). Review of Making Early Medieval Societies: Conflict and Belonging in the Medieval West, 300-1200 edited by Kate Cooper and Conrad Leyser. Journal of Social History, 51 (1), 160-162. doi: 10.1093/jsh/shw071
Stewart, Michael E. (2017). The Danger of the soft life: manly and unmanly Romans in Procopius's Gothic War. Journal of Late Antiquity, 10 (2), 473-502. doi: 10.1353/jla.2017.0025
Stewart, Michael Edward (2017). Review of 'Graphic signs of identity, faith, and power in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages'. Parergon, 34 (2), 199-201.
Stewart, Michael (2016). Review of 'Psellos and the patriarchs: letters and funeral orations for Keroullarios, Leichoudes, and Xiphilinos' by Michael Psellos, translated by Anthony Kaldellis and Ioannis. Parergon, 33 (2), 174-175.
Stewart, Michael (2016). Review of 'Mosaics of time: the Latin chronicle traditions from the first century BC to the sixth century AD: volume I, a historical introduction to the chronicle genre from its origins to the high middle ages' by R. W. Burgess and Michael Kulikowski. Parergon, 33 (2), 196-197.
Stewart, Michael (2016). The Soldier's Life: Early Byzantine Masculinity and the Manliness of War. Byzantina Symmeikta, 26, 11-44.
Stewart, Michael (2016). Review of Georgios Theotokis, Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081-1108. Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 12, 119-121.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2015). Review of 'Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration' by Jonathan Arnold. The Medieval History Journal, 18 (1), 169-172. doi: 10.1177/0971945814565732
Stewart, Michael Edward (2015). The first Byzantine Emperor? Leo I, aspar and challenges of power and Romanitas in fifth-century Byzantium. Porphyra, XXII, 4-17.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2015). Review of 'Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West, AD 367-455'. Networks and Neighbours, 3 (1), 63-67.
Stewart, Michael (2015). Review of 'Holy war, martyrdom, and terror: Christianity, violence, and the West' by Philippe Buc. Parergon, 32 (2), 274-276. doi: 10.1353/pgn.2015.0166
Stewart, Michael Edward (2015). Letters of Pope Gregory: a study of an unknown tenth century manuscript bound in Tenbury and found in Melbourne containing all or part of forty letters sent by Pope Gregory the Great' by John R. C. Martyn (review). Parergon, 32 (1), 258-260. doi: 10.1353/pgn.2015.0007
Stewart, Michael Edward (2015). The Andreios Eunuch-Commander Narses: sign of a decoupling of martial virtues and masculinity in the early byzantine Empire?. Ceræ: an Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 2, 1-25.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2014). Some disputes surrounding masculinity as a legitimate category of historical inquiry in the study of late antiquity. Masculinities: a journal of identity and culture, 1, 77-91.
Stewart, Michael Edward (2014). Review 'The Making and Unmaking of a Saint: Hagiography and Memory in the Cult of Gerald of Aurillac' by Mathew Kuefler. Parergon, 31 (2), 187-189. doi: 10.1353/pgn.2014.0087
Stewart, Michael Edward (2014). Contests of Andreia in Procopius' Gothic Wars. Παρεκβολαι, 4, 21-54.

Conference Paper

Stewart, Michael E. (2017). The fine lines between courage and fear in Procopius’ 'Vandal Wars'. ICMS 52: Barbarians and Barbarian Kingdoms, Kalamazoo, MI, United States, 11-14 May 2017.

Thesis

Stewart, Michael Edward (2012). The soldier’s life: martial virtues and hegemonic masculinity in the early Byzantine Empire. PhD Thesis, School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics, The University of Queensland.

Creative Works

Stewart, Michael (2014). Justinian’s Reconquest: Notions of Return in Procopius’ Gothic Wars. online:
Stewart, Michael (2014). Goths, Lombards, Romans, and Greeks: Creating Identity in Early Medieval Italy. online:
Stewart, Michael (2014). Two King of Kings? Procopius’ Presentation of Justinian and Kosrow I. online:
Stewart, Michael (2014). From Triumphant to Suffering Jesus: Visual and Literary Depictions of the Crucifixion, 300-1200.
Stewart, Michael (2013). Totila: Theoderic Reborn or Barbarian Belisarius?. online: