How these books are made

Every book here starts from its sources and ends with the author checking every page.

Sources first

Strategos follows Procopius's History of the Wars in the Dewing translation, and every caption traces back to it. Martys adds the Secret History. Basileus draws on Theophanes, the Chronicon Paschale, Georgios Pisides and the Armenian history attributed to Sebeos, with the modern scholarship listed at the back of the book. The Veiled Box gives the papers and experiments behind each page in its endnotes.

Evidence for the look

Armour, buildings, coins and objects follow the evidence where it exists: the coins of Herakleios, the rock reliefs of Taq-e Bostan, the David Plates, the land walls of Constantinople. Each book's back matter says which sources it follows.

What AI does

The artwork is made with AI image tools under the author's direction. AI tools also help draft, letter and check the text. The pages are not painted by hand: the ink-and-watercolour look is a style.

The author chooses each story and what each page has to show, checks every claim against the sources and every word of Greek, and approves or rejects every page. Each edition states that AI tools were used.

Names

In Basileus, names follow their Greek forms: Herakleios and Maurikios rather than Heraclius and Maurice. The Belisarius books keep the forms English readers know.

Errors

If you find a mistake, write to hello@andreaspolymitis.com and say which page.