THE BYZANTINE Irene of Athens

From arriving at the port of Constantinople as a teenage bride to the heir to the Byzantine Throne, to exiling - and blinding - her own son, Constantine IV, to boldly crowning herself the first Empress Regnant of the Byzantine Empire, Irene of Athens' life was a wildly unpredictable ride through one of the most tumultuous and fascinating periods of medieval history.

Olivia interviews archaeologist and historian Judith Herrin, author of Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium and Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium.

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