BYZANTIUM

TAMARA TALBOT RICE

1 The Emperor Constantine the Great (306-37)From n fourth-ccnnn;r bronLe

Everyday Life in

BYZANTIUMTAMARA TALBOT RICEDrawings by Helen Nixon Fairfield

B. T. BATSFORD LTD LondonG. P. PUTNAM'S SONS New York

To David, with love and gratitude for his unfailing help

First published 1967

Text Tamara Talbot Rice, 1967JIlustrations B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1967Printed and bound in Great Britain by Jarrold and Sons Ltd,London and Norwich, for the publishersB. T. BATSFORD LTD4 Fitzhardinge Street, Portman Square, London W1G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

CONTENTS

The Illustrations 8Acknowledgment II

1 Constantinople, Jewel of Byzantium 13

2 The Emperor, his Family and Court 29

3 The Church and Churchmen 57

4 The Administration and its Officials 84

5 The Army and Navy 105

6 Traders and Artisans 121

7 Town Life 141

8 Country Life 1759 Schools, Scholars and Musicians 191

10 Artists and Architects 211

Chronology of Emperors of Byzantium 230Books for Further Reading 232Index 233

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TIE ILLUSTRATIONS

Note: The italicised numerals in parentheses in the text referto the figure-numbers of the illustrations

1 Emperor Constantine Frontispiece2 Map of Byzantine Empire 123 Virgin Hodighitria 154 Plan of Constantinople 185 Reliquary of True Cross 216 Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus 227 The Golden Gate 248 Enamel cross 269 Raising of an Emperor 30

10 Imperial procession 3111 Double-headed eagle 3312 Ravenna mosaic 3713 Great Palace 4014 Lion hunt 4315 The Blachernae Palace 4416 Empress Ariadne 4817 Emperor in regalia 5118 Emperor at the Games 5319 Church Council 5920 Bogomil tombstone 6o21 Prelate with a model church 6422 The Pala d'Oro 6623 Interior of Haghia Sophia 6924 Monastery on Mount Athos 7025 Priest 7426 Stylite 76

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THE ILLUSTRATIONS27 Abbess and nuns 7928 Dish of Paternus 8129 High Admiral Apocauchus 8530 Consular diptych 8731 Emperor Justinian 8832 St Michael as a soldier 8833 Roman consul 9334 An eparch 9435 Torture scene 9736 Consul Areobindus 10237 Infantrymen 10738 A horseman 1o839 David armed for battle 11240 A Romano-Byzantine battle-axe 11341 Cavalry assaulting a town 11442 Boat builders 11943 A quadriga 124

44 A weaver at work 12745 A weaver and an embroidress 12846 Meleager and Atalanta 12947 Earrings 13048 Table-ware 13149 Coins 13350 Masons working 13551 Fishing boat 13952 Children playing 14753 Circus scene 14854 Crown of Constantine IX 15055 Theodore Metochites 15256 The Cistern of 1001 Columns 15457 Veroli casket 15658 Marriage scene 15859 Wedding ring 16o60 Honorius and Maria 16161 Silk fabric 16362 Rouge pot 16463 Gold cup 16464 Sauce boat 164

65 John VIII 16766 Belt buckle 16867 A family meal 169

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THE ILLUSTRATIONS68 Spoon and fork69 Oil lamp70 Balance and weight71 Fourth-century fashions72 Palace of Stobi (ground-plan)73 Shepherd74 Harvesting75 Goatherd76 Ploughing77 A smith at work78 A village well79 A water mill80 Working in the vineyard81 Labourers receiving wages82 Hunting scene83 Gospel cover84 Scribes85 Lyre player86 Page from a herbal87 Priestess at an altar88 Pair of dividers89 A piper90 Sixth-century bard91 Musician playing his instrument92 Digenis Akritas93 Rural scene94 Domed church at Mistra95 Ivory reliquary96 Scene from a mosaic97 Icon of St Eudoxia98 Mosaic of a water mill99 Sidamara sarcophagus

100 Capital in Haghia Sophia101 Gold cup102 Samson wrestling with a lion

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Author and Publishers wish to thank the following forpermission to reproduce the illustrations appearing in thisbook:

The Church of St Eusebius, Auxerre for fig. 61The National Museum, Belgrade for fig. 1The Trustees of the British Museum for fig. 31Cleveland Museum of Art for figs. 62 and 64Cortona Cathedral, Italy for fig. 95The Marquis de Ganay for fig. 52The Greek National Tourist Office for fig. 24The Hermitage Museum, Leningrad for fig. 73The Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna for fig. 84The Metropolitan Museum for figs. 63 and 74The Cathedral Treasury, Monza for fig. 85The Pushkin Museum, Moscow for fig. 6The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris for figs. 30, 75 and 76The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York for fig. 86Miss Josephine Powell for fig. 96The Gallerie delle Marche, Urbino for fig. 5The Victoria and Albert Museum for fig. 87

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1CONSTANTINOPLE,JEWEL OF BYZANTIUM

The Byzantine or East Roman Empire lasted for over a thousandyears-from AD 330 to 1453. During this period it often rankedas the foremost power of its day and it played a most importantpart in shaping European culture. Byzantium was the first ofthe great nations to accept Christianity as its official religion, andthe first to set out both to live, and to govern others, in accordancewith Christian teaching. Thus, even though the Byzantines oftenacted with cruelty, harshness and meanness in both their privateand their public affairs, Christian principles nevertheless remainedall-important to them, and the respect with which they regardedthe virtues on which Christianity was based was handed down fromgeneration to generation to form the framework of Europe'sessentially Christian civilisation. But for Byzantium our own wayof life would have developed along very different lines from thosewhich it has followed. This is especially the case with regard to theOrthodox countries-Russia, Greece, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia-all of which have followed the same branch of the Christian Churchas that of the Byzantines, and which, from an early date, developedindependently of Rome.

Great changes always seem to occur suddenly, and this musthave appeared especially true to many of those who witnessed theestablishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire. It may havebeen as early as the year AD 323, and probably before the year325, when Constantine I (the `Great')(]) convened the FirstCouncil of Nicaea, that Roman citizens learnt that Christianitywas to contend with paganism as their official religion, becausetheir caesar, Constantine (306-37), had seen a vision which hadconvinced him that the change had become necessary. The eventis believed to have taken pplace one October night in the year 311

CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMwhen Constantine had encamped with his army outside the wallsof Rome intending to engage Maxentius in battle on the followingday. He saw-and some accounts state that his men also saw-asymbol in the sky and heard a voice telling him that his men wereto paint it on their shields before engaging in battle. Constantineappears to have doubted whether he had really seen the symbol,but, according to Eusebius, shortly afterwards Christ appearedbefore him telling him to paint the device on the personal pennanthe was to use when leading his army into battle. In his visionConstantine had seen the sun, Apollo's symbol, which had alsobeen adopted as such by Rome's caesars, and which was thus, byright, Constantine's emblem. Silhouetted against its rays was animmense standard lavishly decorated with gold and intersectednear the top by a cross-piece, from which Rowed two purplestreamers shot with gold and studded with jewels. It was sur-mounted by a coronet of gold containing a gold cross, the armsof which formed the Greek letters Chi Rho, the initial lettersof Christ's name with, according to some accounts, the wordshoc vinces also appearing. The purple streamers, like the rays of thesun, indicated that Constantine was involved because purplegarments-the most expensive and rarest of all materials, since thedye could be obtained only from the relatively scarce murex shell-had, by order of Diocletian, been reserved for the exclusive useof the ruling family.

The meaning of what he had seen could not be doubted: itclearly indicated that Byzantium was to become a Christian statewith Constantine ruling it as God's representative. Constantinelost no time in carrying out the dictates of his vision. His troopsdefeated Maxentius and Constantine gave orders that the Eagles,which had been used by the Roman legionaries as their standards,should be replaced by the emblem of his vision; at the same timehe put an end to the Roman practice of using the cross as aninstrument of torture: henceforth it should be regarded as thesymbol of Christianity. Eusebius states that he actually saw thepennant bearing the new design which Constantine had used whenfighting Maxentius. Though Constantine continued to use it as hislabarum, that is to say, as his standard, he nevertheless remaineda pagan, worshipping the sun till he lay dying, and only then did heask to be received into the Church. Yet Constantinople, the citywhich he made his capital, was from the start dedicated to theTrinity and the Virgin; when, in the fifth century, Eudoxia sent

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMthe empress Pulcheria the icon

hieh Q+ T -t- h d d fa te pam e owthe Virgin Hodighitria(3), orPointer of the Way, the panelcame to be regarded as thecapital's protective genius.

In reality changes as drasticas the rejection of one faith infavour of another are seldomintroduced as the result of oneman's personal experience;they tend to grow out of achanging outlook and attitudeto life developed by thought-ful people during periods oftrouble and unrest. Ever sincethe start of the Christian eraRome had gone through justsuch a period. As a result, onthe one hand, of the Jewish be-lief in one god and, on theother, of the popularity of

3 Icon of the Virgin Hodighitria

mystic faiths of eastern origins, many Romans had startedto question the validity of their old pagan faith, based as itwas on the irrational behaviour of a multitude of gods, many ofwhom suffered from the worst human foibles. Rome's increasingeconomic and political difficulties also helped to aggravate suchdoubts. Furthermore, with its vast population of slaves, whosework enriched their owners without greatly benefiting the state;with its enormous territories stretching from Northumberland inBritain, across Gaul and Spain, to North Africa and from therespreading across the whole of Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria andEgypt; and with the immense diversity of nationalities that thisimplies, the Roman Empire had become too large to be manageable.Its ruling classes were too self-indulgent to be efficient, its admini-strators had become indolent, its intellectuals increasingly criticalof the government, while Rome itself was torn by dissensions.Caesars had replaced caesars, but to no avail. The device of co-rulers was introduced in an attempt to stop the rot. Diocletian(284-305) came to believe that matters would improve if regionalcentres of government were formed to take the place of the

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMadministration centred in Rome. He therefore moved his courtto Nicomedia, in what is now Asiatic Turkey, and set himself upthere as ruler of Rome's eastern territories, surrounding himselfwith all the pomp and ceremony of an eastern, or rather a Persian,potentate. At the same time he appointed three co-rulers, assigningone, Maximian, to reign over Italy and Africa from Milan,another, Constantius, to rule over Gaul, Britain and Spain fromTrier (in modern Germany), and lastly, Galerius, to governIllyria (present-day Dalmatia and Transylvania), Macedonia andGreece from Salonica. However, these measures failed to improvethe situation. Instead, this principle of co-rulership introducedthe idea of division to peoples who had prided themselves on beingpart of a single entity. Despondency, corruption and indolencecontinued to prevail in Rome and, when civil war broke out,Diocletian turned his back on his difficulties and retired to live hisown life in the magnificent palace he had built for himself on theshores of the Adriatic, in what is now Split. Fourteen hundredyears later the great British eighteenth-century architect RobertAdam was to examine its ruins with wondering admiration and toadapt many of their features to the taste of his own times.

Constantius, ruler of Gaul, Britain and Spain, had been obligedby Diocletian to divorce his wife Helena-daughter, according totradition, of the English King Cole of Colchester, and mother ofhis son and heir Constantine. In her loneliness Helena seems tohave turned to the intellectuals of her day and to have pursued acourse of religious and philosophical studies. She may even havebecome converted to Christianity at this early date, though thereis no proof of this. On Constantius' death Constantine succeededhim as ruler of the western provinces. Helena must have remainedin close touch with Constantine after her divorce and may wellhave been chiefly responsible for winning him over to Christianity.In 324 when, as a result of his own efforts, Constantine becamesole ruler of the vast Roman Empire, he published an edictdesigned to protect Christians from persecution. Twelve monthslater, by convoking a Council of -churchmen at Nicaea, he madethe practice of Christianity legal within the Empire. The step wasnot only wise but virtually inevitable, for by then two-fifths ofthe Empire's population was probably Christian, seeing inChristianity the sole hope of relief from the hardships of theirdaily lives. To these people Helena became the embodiment of theChristian way of life. She was among the first to set out on a

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUM

pilgrimage to the Holy Land, at Constantine's express wishbringing back with her a piece of the true cross. The fragmentbecame Byzantium's most venerated relic. It was kept in the GreatPalace of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople, but, in 565,Justin II granted the request of St Radegonda, the forsaken wifeof Chilperic, for a small piece of it; she had it mounted in thesuperb reliquary of St Croix, which is still kept at Poitiers, butfrom then onwards the original fragment was gradually fritteredaway in gifts. Although it was the Emperor Theodosius I who, inAD 381, adopted Christianity as the Empire's official religion, itwas Helena and Constantine who were both given the rank ofsaints in the Orthodox Church as a reward for the services theyhad rendered to Christianity; that is why they are often representedin paintings or on other works of art standing side by side, Helenausually holding a cross between them.

In Rome Christianity had been introduced and spread bymissionaries, converts and fathers of the Church, all of whom,whilst fighting to establish the new faith, had followed the direc-tions of their leaders; as a result, when once the Church becameestablished in Rome, the first clerics were automatically drawnfrom among these leaders. But this was not the case in Con-stantinople. There the religion had been sponsored by Constantinewho held a supreme position in both the political and the religioussphere, for he was both ruler of the state and protector of theChurch, a secular emperor and also God's vicar on earth. Hissuccessors on the throne continued to regard themselves asdivinely inspired and, as such, took precedence over the clergy,the emperor alone among laymen being entitled to enter the mostsacred parts of the church normally reserved for the ordained. Itwas due to the emperor's dual functions that, when the GrandDuchess Olga of Kievan Russia decided, whilst on a state visit toConstantinople, to become a Christian, her baptism in 957 wasperformed during a magnificent ceremony conducted jointly bythe emperor of Byzantium and the patriarch of Constantinople.

Well-informed people in Rome were probably not surprised byConstantine's decision to legalise Christianity, nor astonished byhis wish to re-establish his capital in some city other than Rome.They must, however, have been startled when, in 324, he made itknown that he had decided to set up his headquarters in the smalltown of Byzantium which occupied a triangular promontory at thenorthern end of the Sea of Marmora, at a point where Asia and

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMBridge of Justinian

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4 Plan of Constantinople at the time of Emperor Theodosius

Europe are within finger-tip distance of each other (4). Apartfrom the emperor few men were at the time aware of the site'snumerous geographical advantages or of the splendid harbourwhich could be made from the pocket of water lapping thetriangle's northern edge. The Byzantines were aptly to name theinlet the Golden Horn, for such it was to prove when merchants ofall nations started to use it, quickly turning it into the world'srichest port. Not only could Byzantium keep in touch with thewestern world by means of a network of roads running inland intoEurope, but, by sailing northwards up the Bosphorus, contactcould also be maintained with the many ports ranged along theshores of the Black Sea. Thus, by way of what is now Russia, tradecould be developed with the Scandinavian countries on the onehand and with Central Asia, India and China on the other. Inaddition, by turning southwards the Aegean could be reachedthrough the Dardanelles and shipping could enter the Mediter-ranean, while merchants, merely by crossing a short expanse of theMarmora, could reach Asia Minor and from it establish contact withthe whole area which we now refer to as the Near and Middle East.

Turkish bridge of boats,1453

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMThose who failed to appreciate these geographical advantages

were not the first men to misjudge the value of the site. Centuriesearlier, at a time when Greece, though a leading power, was besetby economic difficulties, many of her city states encouraged theircitizens to seek their fortunes in places from which they could shipfood-supplies and other essentials back to the motherland. As aresult many Greeks had founded independent, self-governingcoastal cities, known as colonies, along the shores of the Black Sea.During the seventh century BC a group of emigrants from Megaraplaced themselves under the leadership of a man called Byzas.Before departing from their native town they consulted theirfavourite oracle, hoping for advice as to where to found theircolony. In the manner of oracles the reply took the form of ariddle: `Go, settle opposite the city of the blind'. The Megariansembarked and in due course reached the southern entrance to theBosphorus, where the Greek colonial town of Chalcedon stood onthe Asiatic shore of the Marmora (near present-day Moda). Asthey gazed with delight upon the splendid landscape unfoldingbefore them their eyes rested upon the triangle of land projectinginto the sea from the opposite (i.e. the European) shore. As quickas Constantine to appreciate its possibilities, the Megariansconcluded that the inhabitants of Chalcedon, who could well havechosen that site in preference to their own, must have been the blindpeople referred to by the oracle. They founded their townlet on thepromontory. Yet in spite of its advantages the city, when Constan-tine saw it, was still too small to serve as a capital. In the year 324,therefore, he delineated new boundaries for its defensive walls andset workmen to build a palace, essential administrative buildings, aforum and a church which he dedicated to Haghia Sophia, theHoly (or Divine) Wisdom. These indispensable works were com-pleted in six years, and in AD 330 Constantine proclaimed thetown his capital.

To ensure that the capital of his choice should become theEmpire's leading city not only in name but in fact, Constantinealtered the whole structure of the Roman Empire and devised a newsystem of administration, replacing the customary type of officialby men of a new stamp. He re-named the city Constantinople,Constantine's city, yet the town was often referred to as NovaRoma, or the New Rome, whilst Byzas' name came to be appliedto the eastern part of the Roman Empire instead of to the cityitself. There was good reason for referring to Constantinople as

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMthe New Rome, for virtually the entire ruling class, consisting as itdid of court and government circles, was made up of Romans and,even though the local inhabitants were Greeks, Latin remainedthe official language until the fifth century, when the western andeastern parts of the Roman Empire separated. Within a century orso the Greek language replaced the Latin as the official tongue,whilst the eastern section of the Empire came to be knownofficially as Byzantium. Yet still today, in parts of Turkey, Iranand Arabia, the old link with Rome endures and the word Rum,meaning Rome, is quite often applied to the region of Con-stantinople or to people coming from Europe.

In contrast to Rome's caesars, who were at pains to give thepeople the impression that they wished to be regarded as com-moners who had been raised to supreme office by the will of thepeople, Constantine, from the moment he became sole ruler,assumed the position, powers and dignities of an emperor.Furthermore, both as ruler of the Roman Empire and as God'svicar on earth, he insisted on taking precedence over all otherkings. This conception of the emperor of Constantinople assupreme ruler on earth was upheld by Constantine's successorsand remained unchallenged in 395 when, at the death of EmperorTheodosius I, it was decided to divide the Roman Empire into aneastern and a western section. The eastern was to be ruled fromConstantinople, where Arcadius became emperor, whilst thewestern, which was governed from Rome, was regarded assubordinate. However, within five years the Goths, who were thenoverrunning Europe, had advanced to the very outskirts of Rome.In 402 the government was obliged hurriedly to move first toMilan and then to Ravenna for safety, though it was not till sixyears later that the Goths, under Alaric, actually succeeded incapturing and looting Rome. From the start the situation inRavenna was fraught with difficulties; differences multiplied andruler succeeded ruler at very short intervals until finally, in 476, theGermanic chieftain Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus, the lastmember of the Imperial house to reign in the West. With his fallthe mantle of Rome automatically passed to the ruler of the East,that is to say to the emperor of Byzantium reigning in Con-stantinople. At the time the throne was occupied by Zeno, andbecause of the glamour with which Constantine had been able toinvest the office of emperor of the East, Zeno's prestige stood sohigh in the West that Odoacer, though victorious in Italy, felt it

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6 Christ crowning the Emperor Constantine PorphyrogenitusFrom an iron', C. AD 944

CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMnecessary that Zeno should recognise him officially as Patriciusof Rome and prefect of Italy. The ties between Rome and the Eastremained so strong that, in the fifth century, the Gothic ruler ofRavenna, Theodoric, wholeheartedly adopted Byzantine culture.But even so, soon after his death, Emperor Justinian the Great(527-65) considered it his duty to reconquer Italy. His commanders-in-chief, first Belisarius and then Narses, managed to do so by 555,but the result was ephemeral and in the course of the next twocenturies East and West fell apart and, whilst the pope lost hisinfluence in Byzantium, the emperor of the East lost his in westernEurope. In 590 Gregory, bishop of Rome, became pope. He wasto go down in history as `the Great' largely because he was thefirst pope since Leo the Great who asserted his right to actindependently of Constantinople. From his day onwards the pope'sinfluence steadily increased in the West at the cost of the patriarchof Constantinople. Then, in the year 800, Charlemagne challengedthe supremacy of the emperor of Byzantium by reviving the officeof emperor of the West and persuading Pope Leo III to crown himas such on Christmas Day. It is interesting to note that the influenceof Byzantium led the pope to take his title from the Greek wordPappas, meaning father, the name by which the Greek Churchcalled its first bishops, but later applied to all its priests.

Although many buildings had been erected in Constantinoplein Constantine's lifetime the town remained comparatively smalland unable to compete in either size or splendour with suchancient and magnificent cities as Alexandria or Antioch nor,indeed, could it compare with Rome or even Athens. Yet within100 years of its foundation more people were living in Con-stantinople than in Rome. Nevertheless it was to take the best partof 200 years and the genius of the Emperor Justinian and his chiefarchitect, Anthemius of Tralles, before the young capital couldeclipse all other cities in its beauty, wealth, importance and rangeof amenities. Not only did it then become the leading politicaland economic centre of its day but, in addition, it stood out duringthe first few centuries of its existence as the great religious centreto which Christendom looked for direction, in much the same wayas Catholics today look to Rome. Furthermore, Constantinople,like Paris since the later nineteenth century, became the capital inwhich art was to be seen at its best and most vital; it was there thatthe world's latest fashions were launched and there that luxurieswere to be found in greater abundance and variety than anywhere

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7 The Golden Gate and part of the land walls of Constantinople

else in Europe. By the time of Justinian the population must havenumbered close on half a million.

Constantinople's original population had been Greek, descen-dants of the men of Megara who had founded the city. Most of thepeople whom Constantine brought to it were Romans, wearingthe Roman toga and speaking Latin. Yet even when the Romansmerged with the native Greeks, when their language was forgottenby all save the most ardent scholars and when their costume hadevolved into something wholly national, the draperies of the Romantoga were nevertheless preserved for all time in art. Regardless ofthe date at which they were produced, both the exquisite illumina-tions in Byzantine copies of the Gospels and other holy books, andalso religious paintings and mosaics, clothed the Evangelists andsaints in the voluminous draperies derived from the dress of classicaltimes. This usually consisted of a himation or cloak worn over achiton or shirt. Few of these draperies remained white in colour;instead, as befitted those destined to spend eternity amidst the gloriesof Paradise, the garments were rendered in shades more splendidthan the rainbow's; frequently, in the manner of an Indian sari, theyare shown shot with gold and, in the case of white draperies,the folds are generally indicated by shading of deep and variedtones.

The Roman Empire was a multi-racial state and all its freemen,24

CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMirrespective of nationality or religion, enjoyed equal rights. So it wasin Constantinople, where from the first Greek and Roman combinedin evolving the Eastern Empire's new, essentially Christian,culture and way of life. Roman regard for orderliness seems to havebeen mainly responsible for contributing the basic structure of thestate. But Greek thought and tastes, often reflecting the influenceof people from farther east such as the Syrians, became increasinglydominant as more and more easterners flocked to Constantinople,drawn there by the town's growing prosperity. They (the Greeksand orientals) were particularly attracted to the mystical side ofChristianity and often became deeply involved in religiousexperiences and discussions. It was largely due to their influencethat the Byzantines developed a regard and love of symbolism which,throughout the whole of their long history, expressed itself not onlyin their religious writings but also in their art and literature. It wasagain primarily due to the Greeks that the interest the Romans hadtaken in Greek culture was fanned by the Byzantines into anenduring love of the Greek classics. The Byzantines became asfamiliar with the Greek myths as were the pagan Greeks of earliertimes. In consequence they were able to use them as parables whichthey adapted to events of their own day in literature, comparingan idea or occurrence to some well-known text or incident ordepicting it in their art by means of some appropriate mythologicalscene. Yet all these Greek and oriental threads were fitted into sorigid a canvas that the latter must assuredly have been supplied bythe painstaking, methodical, logical Romans. Every branch of theByzantine administration, of its Church, of its social structure andits services was carefully regulated and fully defined. Byzantiumbecame an authoritarian but not a dictatorial state since, withinprescribed limits, its people were free. It is perhaps easier for ustoday than for any other generation to appreciate the subtledifferences which distinguish a dictatorship from a highly disciplinedsociety. For all our love of individuality and freedom, we voluntarilysubmit ourselves to a great many orders. For example, let us take themost trivial, but by no means the least necessary regulations, thosegoverning parking of motor-cars and speeding; to enable our highlycomplex society to function we have to accept these and numerousother rules. In times of national emergencies, too, most of usreadily abandon our customary way of life in order to carry out theinstructions of our governments. It was in much the same spirit thatthe Byzantines, tired of the years of instability and insecurity which

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUM

8 Tenth-century cross

had accompanied the decay ofGreece and Rome, accepted themeasures on which their con-stitution was based, and thetasks and duties assigned to eachsocial class of the population.Yet within the rigid frameworkall retained considerable free-dom of thought and action; inthe intellectual sphere Byzantinelife made up for what it lackedin originality by its fervour andvigour, and when the peopleobjected to an edict or to anemperor they never hesitated toexpress their disapproval. Oftenthey resorted to methods nomodern dictator would tolerate.Rioting and mutinies werecommon occurrences in Con-

stantinople during every period of its history and many an emperor,foral l his divine rights and limitless powers, was ruthlessly deposed,often tortured and, at times, even put to death by his angry subjects.

Throughout much of their history the Byzantines were involvedin warfare. Though by nature far from belligerent, their traditionsas rulers of an empire obliged them to defend the far-flungterritories they had inherited from Rome and to cling to distantoutposts in the face of rising nationalist movements. In 572 theylost Spain; this was the first of a series of major defeats. It wasfollowed soon after by the loss of Italy. Jerusalem, the holy ofholies, the cradle of Christianity, fell to Persian infidels in 613 andin 626 the Persians advanced on Constantinople, but the Virgin, sothe Byzantines firmly believed, came to the aid of her ferventadorers, enabling them to beat back the invaders. Then came therise of Islam, and by the year 640 all of Syria, Palestine and Egyptwas in the hands of the Arabs and Constantinople itself wasattacked. But a decisive victory over the Arabs in 678, largely dueto the use of Greek Fire, saved not only Constantinople, but mostof Asia Minor. This was a timely achievement for, from the latterpart of the seventh century, the Byzantines had to devote increasingattention to curbing the ambitions of their Slavic neighbours; first

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMthey had to acknowledge the Bulgars as an independent kingdom,later the Russians and last of all the Serbians. From the eleventhcentury onwards the Byzantines found themselves menaced by theSeljukid Turks; then western Crusaders proceeded to underminetheir strength, sapping so much of their vitality that at the endthey were unable to stem the advance of the Ottoman Turks. In1453, when Byzantium consisted of little more than the city ofConstantinople, the Ottomans launched their last attack. Advancingunder cover of cannon fire they breached the walls of the city;Byzantium's last outpost succumbed when the greater part of itspopulation lay with their emperor dead on the ramparts they haddefended with the utmost valour. During three days, according toOttoman traditions, the vanquished city was handed over to theconquering soldiery to loot and destroy. Many of the Greeks whohad survived the siege were massacred at the time. Some of thosewho escaped later agreed to serve in the Turkish treasury or toaccept posts as provincial governors in such conquered provincesas Armenia. Known by their fellow Greeks as Phanariotes, thesemen were hated by the other Constantinopolitan Christians. TheOttomans made the latter pay for their hatred by hounding andpersecuting the most active among them.

The Byzantines were ruled in turn by several dynasties. The firsttraced its descent from Rome's caesars and was so strongly Romanin origin and habits that many scholars regard this opening phasein Byzantium's history as an early Christian rather than a purelyByzantine one. In their view Byzantium came into its own onlywith Justinian the Great. In art Justinian created a golden age. Thestandards and ideals which he established endured till the reign ofLeo III (717-41). That emperor believed that the veneration whichhis subjects accorded to icons verged on idolatry. To save themfrom this, one of the greatest of all sins, Leo determined to ban allforms of figural representations in religious art. In 730 he issued anedict ordering the removal of the famous icon of Our Lady of theCopper Market, but even though he was upheld in this by the sup-port of many men of influence the order was so violently and sopassionately resisted that nothing could be done for four years. Bythen the iconoclasts (as those who were opposed to figural repre-sentations in religious art were called) had become so powerful thatthey were able to enforce the ban. In the face of intense oppositionthey remained in power from then onwards, with but a short gapof four years, until 843 when they were finally defeated.

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CONSTANTINOPLE, JEWEL OF BYZANTIUMA new dynasty, the Macedonian, came to the throne in 867; this

dynasty was responsible for the flowering of a second golden age inart and produced rulers as diverse as Leo VI, known as the Wise,or the ruthless, pleasure-loving Zoe who murdered her husbandRomanus III in order to marry Michael the Paphlagonian andcrown him emperor, only to replace him in his turn in 1042 by herthird and last husband, Constantine IX Monomachus. Thatdynasty ended with Zoe's sister after a reign of only one year afterthe death of her brother-in-law Constantine IX.

A palace revolution carried out by courtiers brought Isaac, thefirst of the Comnenes, to the throne in 1057. His heirs were obligedto fight both the Seljuks in the East and the Normans in the Westwhilst also having to deal with the turbulent Crusaders. Intoxicatedby the wealth and beauty of Constantinople the members of theFourth Crusade, led by Venetian commanders, forgot that theyhad set out to fight the infidel rulers of Jerusalem in order to freethe holy places and turned instead on Constantinople. They tookpossession of the city in 1204; after sacking it they installed them-selves as its rulers. The Latin occupation lasted till 1261. Whilst itwas in force members of Byzantium's imperial families establishedrefugee kingdoms in the Empire's outposts. Theodore Lascaris sethimself up in Nicaea and claimed to be ruler of Byzantium. Abranch of the Comnenes created a kingdom for themselves atTrebizond, in the south-eastern corner of the Black Sea. Othersestablished independent despotates in Greece, notably in theMorea, at Mistra and in Epirus, where the Angelus family seizedcontrol. It was a member of that house, Theodore Angelus DucasComnenus, who managed to capture Salonica from the Latins in1224 and who then attempted to lay claim to the imperial title.However, it was Michael VIII Palaeologus, a member of thearistocratic Comnene family, who became the founder of the lastGreek dynasty to reign in Constantinople. Crowned co-ruler withJohn IV Lascaris in Nicaea in 1259, on the ejection in 1261 of theLatin usurpers from Constantinople he re-entered the city asemperor of Byzantium. A descendant of his, Constantine XI,crowned emperor in his despotate of Mistra in Sparta in 1449, wasto die gallantly defending the walls of his capital against vastlyunequal odds in 1453, when the Ottoman Turks launched their finalattack. Only his purple slippers remained to show his subjectswhere he had fallen whilst fighting beside them to defend their city.

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2THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILYAND COURT

When Constantine became sole ruler of the Roman Empire he wasstill a pagan. Though Rome was now a monarchy, daily lifecontinued to conform to customs which had become established inthe days of the Republic. Constantine's assumption of supremepower was therefore not confirmed by means of a coronationservice of the type which was to become usual in feudal times inEurope. Instead it was ratified by a ceremony which dated back tothe days when Rome's caesar was elected to the highest office in theEmpire by his fellow-citizens. In accordance with that ancientcustom Constantine was placed on a shield and lifted up on it infull view of his army and the assembled people (9). Their cheerssufficed to establish him in his new position. That method ofinforming the nation of the elevation of a new sovereign to theEmpire's throne persisted in Byzantium during the best part of100 years, the first rulers to succeed Constantine being presented tothe assembled Senate, army and people of Constantinople in thesame manner as Rome's caesars. Like them, they received from thehands of an eminent official the coronet which served as theemperor's emblem of office. However, by the year 457 when Leo Icame to the throne, the patriarch of Constantinople had becomeso important in the state that his authority almost equalled that ofthe emperor and it therefore fell to him in preference to a layman,however distinguished, to place the crown on Leo's head. Leo'simmediate successors decided to be similarly crowned by thepatriarchs of their day, with the result that from Justinian's timeonwards the ceremony was always performed in the capital'sprincipal church, the great cathedral of Haghia Sophia. The originalstructure begun by Constantine I had been destroyed in the Nikariots in 532, but it was rebuilt on a grander scale by Justinian.

29

41

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTOver the years, coronations were

celebrated in Byzantium with ever-increasing pomp and magnificence.By the tenth century the ritual hadbecome so elaborate that EmperorConstantine VII Porphyrogenitus(913-59) (6) thought that it wouldprove helpful to his son and heir if

=Mill he recorded it in detail in a book heJ'11111 was engaged in writing for the boy's

use later in life. It was called TheBook of Ceremonies; the descriptionof the coronation occupies severalpages, for the emperor listed in fullthe part played by all officials,senators and members of thefactions (see page 35), their precisepositions in the official procession,the clothes each wore and thebadges of office they carried. Thus

_WA patricians were to appear in whitej chlamydes or cloaks trimmed with

gold.9 Emperor raised on a shield On entering the cathedral the

sovereign was met by the patriarch,who assisted him in changing his robes for some which werebelieved to have been given to Constantine the Great by angels,and which were therefore carefully kept in the cathedral for use bythe emperor only on certain specific occasions. Then the patriarchtook the emperor by the hand to lead him into the body of thegreat church. On reaching the silver gates the emperor lit thespecial candles reserved for his use and moved to a porphyry slabset into the floor in front of the royal gates of the iconostasis (analtar screen designed to display icons) to pray. Only then, accom-panied by the patriarch, did he penetrate beyond the iconostasis toenter the altar enclosure. This procedure was followed wheneverthe emperor attended a religious ceremony in the cathedral-it isestimated that his presence there was required on an average some30 times a month. The patriarch always conducted the religiousservice which followed, in the case of a coronation reading a prayerover the crown before placing it on the emperor's head amidst the

30

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT-

acclamations of the assembled worshippers. The emperor thenmoved to the throne, often one made of gold, which had beenplaced in the mitatorion. When he was seated all the assembledpeople, following a strict order of precedence, passed before him,paying homage by prostrating themselves before him.

By the ninth century the habit of crowning an emperor during areligious ceremony had become so firmly established that it washenceforth observed by all other Christian monarchs. However, inByzantium it also remained necessary for the emperor to sign aprofession of faith before he was crowned. From the start thecrowning of an emperor by a patriarch was regarded throughoutByzantium as an act of outstanding significance, being interpretedas the visual confirmation of the belief that the emperor was God'schosen representative on earth. As such, emperors were soon beingrevered almost as sacred personages. In art they were sometimesrepresented wearing a halo; in conversation and literature theywere often compared to the apostles, and a ruler was even occasion-ally described as the `thirteenth apostle' and his residences as`sacred palaces'. An emperor's semi-celestial nature was reflectedin his use of an immensely wide throne. In reality it was a doublethrone, which enabled the pagan custom of the partially emptythrone to be retained and adapted to Christian observances:henceforth, the right side of such thrones was dedicated to Christ,and to make this visibly apparent a copy of the Gospels was placedon it. It remained vacant on Sundays and during religious festivals,when the emperor occupied the left side of the throne. On working

10 Empress leading a procession to honour a holy relic

31

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTdays, on the other hand, the emperor, acting as Christ's representa-tive on earth, used the right half, doing the same on all stateoccasions as well as when granting audiences to visitingambassadors.

When the emperor appeared in the streets of his cities, thecrowds often acclaimed him as God's representative, and as headvanced hymns to that effect were sung by choirs, the membersof which were drawn from the city's political guildsmen and fac-tions. Candles, torches and incense were carried before the emperoras they were before the holy icons and prelates in religious proces-sions (10). Even inefficient and bad rulers-of whom Byzantiumhad more than her fair share-were thought to have been raised totheir exalted position by the Almighty, who had selected them fortheir high office for the purpose of testing the faithful.

The Roman conception of an elected ruler, whether acting as thehead of state or as emperor, was so firmly embedded in theRoman mind that, in Byzantium, the office of emperor was not atfirst regarded as hereditary. When time and events permitted it wastherefore considered right for a dying or ageing ruler to choose hissuccessor. In the event of an emperor's sudden death the membersof his immediate family were entitled to select the new ruler, but ifthe dead man had no close relatives or if, as often happened, hisrule had been brought to an end as the result of a revolution, it thenfell to the Senate to make the appointment. Justinian, perhaps thegreatest of all the Byzantine emperors, came to the throne in thatmanner. No significance was attached to ancient lineage, and classdistinctions were considered of so little importance that the factthat Justin (518-27) was by birth a Macedonian peasant did notprevent him from occupying the throne for nine years.

In early Byzantine times there was a good deal of confusionconcerning the emperor's correct title. To begin with he used aRoman one, calling himself either Imperator, Caesar or Augustus.However, towards the end of the fifth century growing jealousystarted to poison the relations between the Greek and Latininhabitants of Constantinople, and soon each group wished theirnative culture to be chosen as the national culture of Byzantium.When in 491 Emperor Zeno died without naming a successor, withthe result that it fell to his widow to appoint one, vast crowdsassembled outside her windows, some shouting to her to choose aGreek for the office, others to select a Roman. Her decision con-formed to the desires of the former group, for she nominated as

32

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTemperor an unexciting,though experienced andreliable, elderly courtofficial called Anastasius(491-518). Nevertheless,it was not until EmperorHeraclius (610-41)adopted Greek as theofficial language of theByzantine Empire thatthe Greek title ofBasileus replaced theLatin ones as the onlyofficial designation ofthe emperor. It was atabout the same timethat the emperors alsoadopted Jupiter's em-blem of an eagle as their

11 The double-headed eagle of Byzantium

crest. In the fourteenth century it became a double-headed eagle (11).The change was made to parry the German emperor's decision touse the single-headed eagle as his crest, by publicising the belief thatthe Byzantine rulers had made use of the double-headed eagle tosymbolise the Roman Empire's eastern and western territories; assuch, the latter form passed by marriage into the arms both ofimperial Austria and of Russia.

By the seventh century it had become the custom for the emperorsto choose one of their sons, not necessarily the elder, to succeedthem. First they waited to appoint him till they were well on in lifeor until they thought that death was drawing near, but before longthey found it wiser to ensure the survival of their dynasty and toguard against sudden death by choosing their heir early in theirreigns, and for similar reasons they gradually started selecting twosons for the office, naming them in order of preference. Theseappointments were legalised by a religious ceremony conducted onvery much the same lines as an emperor's coronation. (There weretwo minor differences: the coronation was held in one of the palacechurches instead of in the cathedral of Haghia Sophia and, afterblessing their crowns, the patriarch passed them to the emperorwho, as in the case of his wife's coronation, personally placed themon the heads of his co-rulers.) The senior and favourite co-ruler

33

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTgradually came to be spoken of as `the little basileus' and hispicture often appeared beside his father's on the country's coinage.As senior co-ruler he often instantly appointed his own co-rulerand successor. As a result there was sometimes a multiplicity ofrulers living, or rather of members of the imperial family who, todistinguish them from the emperor and his immediate heir, wereinvested with the Roman title of caesar; in the case of a womanthe title bestowed on her was that of Augusta. The mistress ofConstantine IX, though allowed to use that title, was not permittedto wear the imperial diadem or to be accompanied by an imperialbodyguard. To make up for this she, and many other Augustas,wore numerous strange and costly head decorations, gold necklaces,bracelets in the form of snakes, heavy pearl earrings, and girdles ofgold with chains of pearls threaded through them. Each member ofthe imperial house invested with the title of a minor sovereign hadhis appropriate rank conferred upon him by means of a modifiedversion of the imperial coronation ceremony, yet there was nevermore than one ruler with, at most, two co-rulers in power.Invariably the emperor remained the supreme authority throughoutthe Empire; it was his duty to supervise and be responsible foreverything relating to the state. It has been aptly remarked that theByzantine conception of life was based on the belief in one religion,one God, one source of law and one government-that is to say inone emperor. When the latter's unique position was contested byCharlemagne, who persuaded the pope to crown him emperor ofthe Romans in Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800, theByzantine ruler assumed the title of Basileus Romaion, meaningemperor of the Romans, so as to establish his right to rule overRome; by doing so he in his turn challenged Charlemagne's claimto that position.

As soon as it became possible for them to do so the emperorsnaturally chose one of their sons to succeed them, and so the officeof sovereign gradually came to be accepted as a hereditary one.But because the emperors were not obliged to appoint their eldestson to succeed them, gradually particular importance was attachedto the children who were born to a reigning couple. Such childrenwere born in the Purple Bedchamber in the Purple Palace-aresidence which owed its name to the fact that the walls of theempress's bedchamber were hung with stuff, generally silk, thecolour of porphyry. Though a very small number of senior courtofficials were allowed to wear purple cloaks, stuffs of that colour

34

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTwere reserved for the exclusive use of members of the imperialfamily. They alone could wear purple-coloured robes and shoes,and be buried in porphyry sarcophagi. Children born in thePurple Bedchamber in the Purple Palace automatically received theappellation of Porphyrogenitus, meaning `born in the purple'-anexpression which lives on in our own language and times-and,in the case of boys, this lucky occurrence increased their chances ofinheriting the crown. Such princes were surrounded by everyconceivable luxury. Inevitably, when it eventually became custom-ary for the first-born of these sons to succeed his father, rivalrybroke out between him and his brothers, some of them his elders.It was made all the fiercer by the fact that an emperor's sons wereoften no more than half-brothers, their father having married morethan once. Many an heir to supreme power ended his days inprison, in solitary confinement, having first had to submit totortures which included blinding, having his tongue or nose cut off,or even worse. A deposed brother who was allowed to withdrawfor ever to a remote monastery, to become a monk and spend hisdays in prayer and contemplation, was to be counted fortunate.

Imperial weddings were accompanied by an extremely solemn,elaborate and magnificent ritual. All wore their finest clothes andofficial robes for the occasion. The imperial bridal couple appearedwearing their imperial crowns below the wedding crowns which arestill used at Orthodox weddings. But whereas today the weddingcrowns are held above the heads of the groom and bride, through-out the religious ceremony in Byzantium a sumptuous purple-coloured fabric was suspended above the heads of the imperialcouple. The patriarch performed the marriage ceremony; after itall those who had attended the wedding, patricians and eminentofficials, were expected to prostrate themselves before the bridalcouple. Then they formed themselves into a procession and accom-panied their newly wedded sovereigns to the Magnaura Palacewhere the choirs of the Blue and Green factions were waiting towelcome them by singing to the accompaniment of an organbelonging to the Green faction. The bridal couple then proceededto their bridal chamber still wearing their crowns; there theyreceived their guests and in their presence they removed theircrowns, placing them on their bridal bed. Then all went to theDining Hall of the Nineteen Couches where, changing into simplergarments, the emperor and empress sat down to their weddingbreakfast with their guests. On such occasions women were

35

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTincluded in the party, but they were not permitted to dress theirhair in the high style known as the propoloma. Generally, however,the empresses, many of whom possessed large fortunes, and all ofwhom were waited upon by numerous courtiers and retainers,entertained the eminent women of Byzantium at sumptuousbanquets held in their own apartments.

Women were not quite so free in Byzantium as they had been inRome, where they were generally treated as the equals of men. InByzantium, though empresses took part in many aspects of publiclife, they were nevertheless expected to spend much of their timein the women's quarters. Like women of lower station, many musthave used much of their leisure, if not weaving like their humblersubjects, then at any rate in doing fine embroidery as adornmentsfor their favourite churches. Time and again empresses and otherwomen greatly influenced public events and were often thedominating members of their family circle. Many an empressbecame a powerful autocrat, even to the extent of ruling at times inher own right. At certain periods of Byzantine history, and moreespecially during the opening phase (when members both of Rome'sancient aristocracy and of Greece's nobility were establishing thestandards and conventions which were to characterise Byzantium)empresses were chosen regardless of rank and origin from amongthe Empire's most beautiful girls. In contrast to office, birthcounted for astonishingly little in Byzantium. We have already seenthat Anastasius was raised to supreme power from the position of acourt official and Justin from that of a Macedonian peasant. It istherefore scarcely surprising to find that when Justinian fell in lovewith a beautiful circus girl called Theodora he was able to marryher. She appears with him, in all the splendour of a Byzantineempress's apparel, in the magnificent, contemporary wall mosaicof San Vitale at Ravenna (12). High office is as likely to bringout the best in its holder as the worst. It did so in the case ofTheodora.

Though Theodora's origins were humble and her conduct priorto her marriage not above criticism yet, on attaining the throne, shequickly became conscious of an empress's obligations. Soon afterher marriage one of the many riots which mar Constantinople'shistory broke out and quickly developed into an unusually violentpolitical rising. The imperial palace was set on fire, the cathedral ofHaghia Sophia built by Constantine I perished in the flames.Justinian contemplated flight. It was then that Theodora showed

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT

12 The Emperor Justinian, Bishop Maximian, Empress Theodora(Ravenna mosaic)

her true greatness. Apologising for daring `as a woman to speakamong men' she set out to show how foolish it would be to resortto flight. She appealed to the courage of her listeners, arguing that`it is impossible for a man, when he has come into this world, not todie; but for one who has reigned', she said to Justinian, `it isintolerable to be an exile. May I never exist without this purplerobe and may I never live to see the day on which those who meetme shall not address me as queen. If you wish, 0 Emperor, to saveyourself, there is no difficulty; we have ample funds. Yonder is thesea and there are the ships. Yet reflect whether, when you haveescaped to a place of security you will not prefer death to safety. Iagree with the old saying that "an empire makes a fine windingsheet".' Her brave words gave Justinian new courage and hisgeneral Belisarius made a fresh, and this time successful, attemptto dispel the crowd. The rebellion collapsed and Justinian's thronewas secured.

It is no exaggeration to say that Theodora saved the throne forJustinian and enabled him to go down in history as perhaps thegreatest of Byzantine emperors; when rebuilding the burnt-outcathedral of Haghia Sophia Justinian created a masterpiece whichstill stands to rank as one of the world's finest buildings; he also

37

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTintroduced the legal measures which are perpetuated in theJustinianic code. However, because Theodora was a woman shewas never Justinian's consort, that is to say his co-ruler. Nor, yearslater in 641, could Heraclius, realising that his life was running out,appoint his wife Martin co-ruler with his own young son, whowas but her stepson. When his intentions became known to thepeople they expressed violent opposition to being governed byMartino on the grounds that it would be unseemly for a woman toreceive ambassadors in audience. Martino tried to defy them and,helped by her own son, endeavoured to seize power, but her stepsonmanaged to forestall her. On coming to the throne himself hepunished Martino most cruelly for her ambition, having her tonguecut out and ordering her to live in exile on the island of Rhodes.However, things became easier for women by 780 when Leo V diedleaving his ten-year-old son, the future Constantine VI (780-97),as heir whilst appointing the boy's mother, the Empress Irene, ashis co-ruler. In the face of strong opposition and almost continuousunrest Irene succeeded in reigning for ten years, but was thenforced to hand over her powers to her son and to go into exile. Itwas unfortunate for Constantine that he was both foolish andunreliable, for at the end of seven years Irene was recalled to thecapital and asked to resume control of the nation's affairs. She thusbecame the first woman to rule over the Byzantine Empire in herown right. Though she thereby automatically became the head ofall the services, including the fighting forces, state and officialdocuments continued invariably to refer to her in the masculine,calling her Basileus and not Basilissa. Having reached so exalted aposition it is sad to find that Irene marred her good name by ill-treating her deposed son. Though she was his mother she hadConstantine blinded in the Purple Bedchamber in which she hadgiven birth to him. In the mid-eleventh century the two imperialsisters Zoe and Theodora reigned jointly for a few months; thenTheodora, the more forceful of the two, acted as sole ruler for ayear.

Yet even so, empresses rarely appeared in public and women oflesser rank hardly ever did so. However, empresses attended theofficial functions held in the palace, but they seldom took partin state processions or public festivities. In 481 Ariadne appearedwearing her state robes(16) in the imperial box in the Hippo-drome of Constantinople to address the people, but, until theeleventh century, none accompanied her husband when he

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT

went to the Hippodrome to attend the games. Like other women,however, empresses went to church regularly, like other womenattending the services from the gallery, though occupying a specialimperial pew. In the cathedral of Haghia Sophia it extended overthe whole of the west end of the gallery. After a service it wascustomary for the emperor and empress to make their way toseparate halls situated in the cathedral, where each was served withrefreshments. When the empress and her ladies departed, to returnto the palace, the emperor was conducted by the patriarch to theHoly Well-a structure close to the cathedral which was believedto contain the well where Christ met the woman from Samaria.There the emperor distributed gold pieces among the minor clericsand choir singers who had taken part in the service and then handedback to the patriarch the golden bag he had used for the purpose;then he resumed the crown which he had worn in the processionaccompanying him as he left the palace for the cathedral, but whichhe had removed on reaching the Holy Well.

Daughters generally counted for little in Byzantium; so little, infact, that Romanus II (959-63) did not hesitate to relegate all fiveof his to a convent in order to please his new wife, the beautifulTheophanu. Princesses born in the purple, though less pamperedthan their brothers, were nevertheless valued, if only because theymade useful brides for minor rulers whom the emperors wished toconciliate; in the tenth century one was even married off to aMongol Khan.

The emperor and his family spent the greater part of their freetime within the grounds of their palaces; indeed, the womenfolkseldom ventured beyond them, the empress herself rarely did so.Within that large and sumptuous enclosure or compound theimperial family lived a close and intimate family life, meeting inprivate for meals and amusements. Byzantium's royal residencesdid not, as in the West, consist of a large residential block situatedin pleasure grounds and flanked by stables and domestic depen-dencies, but, as in the Orient, took the form of walled enclosurescontaining a large number of separate buildings dispersed amidstgardens and walks. Emperor Theophilus (829-42) was so passionatean admirer of Arabian culture that he laid out much of thewestern quarter of the Great Palace enclosure in the eastern style;a part of it was thereafter called the Persian House.

Until the twelfth century the Great (or Sacred) Palace inConstantinople served not only as the home of the reigning family

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT

13 Vogt's reconstruction of the Great Palace district

but as the centre of the nation's government for every publicfunction, whether civil or religious, evolved at any rate in partwithin it; and every official, whether civil or military, had a positionin court corresponding to his rank in the administration. Thepalace occupied a magnificent site(13) extending along the seafront from the Hippodrome to the cathedral of Haghia Sophia andembracing the whole area occupied in later times by the palace ofthe sultans of Ottoman Turkey, the Saray. Its grounds sloped downto the sea walls and its views extended over the Sea of Marmora tothe Golden Horn and, further eastward, to the opening of theBosphorus, to embrace the coast of Asia and its hinterland. Therewere numerous buildings within the enclosure and Steven Runcimanhas aptly compared this great complex to Spain's Escurial since, inboth instances, in addition to the emperor's dwelling and posses-sions, some of the Church's most venerated relics and the nation'smost treasured antiquities were preserved within.

Apart from seven palaces, the Constantinopolitan enclosureincluded the emperor's official quarters, known as the Octagon.The empress's official residence, known as the Pantheon, wassituated near the church of St Stephen, which was in its turnattached to the Daphne Palace. Both the latter were used by theemperors on the most solemn occasions. The state throne-roomwas situated in the neighbouring Chrysotriclinium which, fromlate in the seventh century, was roofed with a dome. The throne,somewhat in the manner of an altar, stood in the apse forming the

40

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTend of the great hall. The floor there was raised above the level ofthat in the body of the hall and was covered with a cloth of gold;the steps leading to the platform were of porphyry; the throne, likeall the others used by the emperors, resembled a couch with adouble head-board surmounted by a canopy; it was provided witha footstool. The conch of the apse above it was adorned with aglass mosaic representation of Christ, inscribed `King of Kings'.This throne-room remained the principal and most holy of all tillthe tenth century, and it housed the imperial regalia. It wasfurnished with two organs inset with jewels and it was there thatthe mechanical throne commissioned by Theophilus was set up,astonishing the ambassadors who saw it. Ranged behind thethrone, in a semi-circle corresponding to that of the apse, stood themost distinguished members of the imperial bodyguard, groupedaccording to nationality; those whom the emperor wished particu-larly to distinguish were placed closest to him. A second circle ofrather less important guardsmen stood behind them, all wearingarmour; the third and last circle was made up of men of still lowerrank, mostly, to use the Byzantine term, `Barbarians', that is to sayVarangians. As such, they did not wear armour but carried lances,shields, and single-edged battle-axes suspended from theirshoulders.

Theophilus did not admire the Golden Triclinium and in 838built for himself the Triconchus Palace. It derived its name from thethree domes with which he roofed it; it consisted of a hall dividedinto three parallel sections by columns, which served also tosupport the three domes. The building had three entrance doors,the centre one of which was made of silver and the other two ofbronze. Theophilus' throne probably stood under the centraldome, with those of his wife and son on either side. The building isbelieved to have served as the model for the church of the Neabuilt within the palace enclosure in 881. In 1042, when Zoe andTheodora were joint rulers, Zoe's throne was always placed a littlein front of her younger sister's. Near them, forming a semi-circle,stood Varangian guardsmen carrying the double-edged swordsknown as rhomphaia. Assembled within the semi-circle were thespecial favourites and courtiers of the empresses. All stood withtheir eyes fixed to the ground as a sign of respect.

There were a great many more halls, conference chambers andstate rooms within the palace enclosure, each of which was usedfor a specific series of ceremonies. Among the more important of

41

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTthese were the buildings known as the Onopodion (entrance hall tothe Daphne Palace), the Chamber of Candidates (used by gentlemen-at-arms), the Excubitors' Hall (the Excubitors were part of thepalace guard who acted as an imperial militia), the Lychni (acircular, domed structure near the Tribunal where emperors werereceived when they visited the Tribunal), and above all the Chalke,a palatial structure giving access to all the buildings within theenclosure. From Justinian's time the latter contained a domedchamber whose inner walls were faced with marble and whoseceiling was decorated with glass mosaic compositions. Two scenestook the form of imperial portraits: one showed Justinian alone,the other with Theodora; both must have resembled the magnificent,almost contemporary mosaic portraits of Justinian and Theodorawhich survive in Ravenna (12). On a line with the Chalke, but tothe north of it, another gateway in the form of a pavilion connectedthe palace to the emperor's box in the Hippodrome. This entrancewas faced on its Hippodrome side with ivory panels which musthave been quite the most impressive ever made out of this scarceand lovely material.

Numerous churches and chapels were to be found within thepalace enclosure. Among the most venerated were the oratory ofSt Theodore situated in or near to the Chrysotriclinium, the Sigmaand the Baptistery. The famous lighthouse, the Pharos, whichguided mariners safely into harbour and also sent signals to distantparts of the Empire by means of a relay system, stood on apromontory within the enclosure. So too did numerous essentialoffices and store-rooms as well as the silk looms and the imperialfactories and workshops where luxury products of superb qualitywere made for the emperor's personal use. The emperor's personalstables, sheltering his chargers, riding horses and polo ponies, wereclose at hand; so too were those set aside for the racehorses usedin the Hippodrome contests. These were situated close to the gatesopening on to the race-track and were kept in impeccable condition,the gold trappings of each horse being displayed above its stall.The kennels sheltering the dogs and cheetahs used by the emperorswhen hunting deer or bears in Asia Minor, and the cages holdingthe falcons which he used when pursuing hares or game birds,stood close to his private zoo containing his remarkable collectionof outlandish animals. Near by were his aviary, his armoury, hismint, his treasury, his archives. Some 20,000 retainers are believedto have been employed in the enclosure which also contained

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT

residences such as the Pearl Palace, where the imperial familyresided in summertime, and others which they used only during thewinter months; there were also residences which served particularpurposes, such as the Purple Palace or the bridal suite in theMagnaura Palace, standing close to the waters of the Marmora.The latter was equipped with a bathroom used by the empress onlyduring the three days following her wedding day when she wasobliged to bath in it according to specially prescribed rules. Thus,on the last of the three days both factions were expected to assemblenear the bathroom. To the playing of three organs clean linen, abox of perfume, caskets, ewers and basins were carried to thebathroom under the watchful eye of consuls; then the empress,walking between two of her ladies and followed by a third, each ofwhom carried a purple pomegranate studded with jewels, enteredthe bathroom. The terrace of the Magnaura Palace was decoratedwith statues; the last which is known to have been placed there wasa bust of Emperor Phocas (602-10). The palace was abandoned inthe ninth century and converted soon after into a university; thelarge hall in which the famous throne of Salomos had once stoodserved to make an excellent lecture hall. Its plan was similar to thatof a three-aisled basilica terminating,in a central apse. Many of theearlier emperors had preferred the Daphne Palace to the Magnaura.It was the oldest of all the buildings in the enclosure, dating backto the days of Constantine I, and could be reached from one of themain banqueting halls.

Only two ruins survive to give us some idea of the appearance ofthese buildings. Both are to be found in Istanbul. One, a portion

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURT

_L1

The Blachernae Palace

of the Blachernae Palace, stands close to the north-eastern sectionof the city's walls; the other, erroneously called the `House ofJustinian' rises from the edge of a cliff overlooking the Sea ofMarmora; it dates from the eighth century. To judge from theirappearance palace buildings must have borne quite a closeresemblance to the facade of the building depicted in the earlysixth-century wall mosaic in the church of San Apollinare Nuovoin Ravenna or the ruined Roman houses of Ostia. Both ruinsfollow rectangular plans and are built on fairly severe lines. TheBlachernae building was originally three storeys high, the `House ofJustinian' two. Both possessed large, well-proportioned windowswhich made the rooms pleasant to live in. They also prove, whatcan likewise be learnt from their art, that the Byzantines were keenobservers of nature and lovers of its varied aspects. This is borneout by the character of the trees, flowers and rural scenes includedin the magnificent marble floor mosaic adorning a sort of cloisteror peristyle discovered in what was originally part of the GreatPalace enclosure. The magnificent sites which were chosen byByzantine monks for their monasteries were also governed bytheir love of nature.

The main entrance to the Great Palace was through a magnificentpair of bronze gates. Within beat the heart of Byzantium in asetting of unimaginable splendour. By the sixth century, when

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTJustinian set up there the bronze horses which he had brought fromEphesus, so many ancient works of art had been assembled withinthe enclosure that the area had become a veritable museum. Fromthe eighth century the statues of emperors and of heroes of theEmpire were regularly added to the collection. Many were set upnear the Hall of Tribunals situated close to the main entrancegates, whence smaller halls led to a series of dining chambers. Thefinest of the dining halls held 19 couches and the gold plate used init was kept in a building called the Castresiacon, which wasentered by ivory gates, and which was entrusted to a senior officialof the empress's household. Another hall held 36 couches and oneof the smaller ones 12; the banquet given in honour of the emperor'sbirthday was held in the Triclinium of Justinian, where a balletcould be conveniently performed after the roast meat course. Thelargest table mentioned in surviving records was designed to hold36 couches and was entirely made of gold. In the tenth century theGerman ambassador Liutprand was astonished on dining at courtto find that all the guests were served off gold plate, and that thethree gold bowls containing fruit were so immense and so heavythat they could not be lifted; they were therefore suspended fromthe ceiling by ropes encased in gilt leather attached to a mechanicaldevice which enabled them to be moved from one guest to another.

By the eighth century the emperors had begun to build newpalaces. The Great Palace had become a trifle cumbersome andwas beginning to fall out of favour. Already in the sixth centuryJustin II (565-78)-nicknamed the Noseless because his nose hadbeen cut off as a punishment for conspiring against his sovereign-had started to use the Blachernae Palace in preference to the GreatPalace. The Blachernae Palace was situated, as we have seen, at theopposite end of the town to the older palace, close to the church ofthe same name which had been built by Emperor Marcian (450-7)and his wife Pulcheria, but it was not until the end of the eleventhcentury that Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) decided to abandonthe Great Palace in its favour. In the eleventh and twelfth centuriesthe Blachernae Palace was admired for its marble courtyards, itsgreat central hall made of porphyry and for the profusion of itsgold decorations. Nevertheless, Alexius and his family lived in it incomparative simplicity and it was only in the reign of Manuel IComnenus (1143-80) that the Blachernae became the centre of agay court life. Manuel loved it and filled it with beautiful objects.He enjoyed entertaining and was eager to devise unusual ways of

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTdoing so. His parties were amusing and stimulating, for he oftensurprised his guests by the novelty of the diversions he arranged forthem. Thus he was fond of organising tournaments of a westerntype and of inviting ladies to attend them. In 1204, when theCrusaders occupied Constantinople, sacking the city instead ofattempting to rescue the Holy Land from the Muslims, theystripped the Blachernae of its magnificent contents, destroying thepalace in the process. The Latins remained masters of Con-stantinople till 1261, when the Palaeologues re-entered the townand regained the Byzantine throne. By then, however, the emperorswere reduced to relative poverty. By the end of the fourteenthcentury even at state banquets they were obliged to use potteryvessels in place of gold or even of silver ones. Indeed, the imperialfamily found itself so hard-pressed that Anne of Savoy, the wife ofAndronicus III (1328-41), pawned her state jewels to the Venetiansfor a mere 30,000 ducats. She never managed to raise this com-paratively small sum to reclaim them and so they remained theproperty of the Republic of St Mark.

The gates of all the imperial palaces were regularly locked atthree o'clock every afternoon and unlocked at dawn on thefollowing day. The task of closing and opening them was entrustedto a head porter who was also an ordained priest. The imperialfamily's private life started when they closed. During the warmsummer evenings the men could indulge in such sports as archery,javelin-throwing or tennis, or watch boxing or wrestling matches.Constantine VIII revived the gymnopodia, a form of combat recall-ing gladiatorial fights. In the sixth century the games of chess anddraughts were introduced to Constantinople from the Orient andwere often played at court, Constantine VIII being an almostcompulsive player of chequers and dice. In the ninth centuryTheophilus introduced the game of polo from Persia. It quicklybecame popular in Byzantium; public matches were frequentlyplayed in the Hippodrome at Constantinople and in those of othertowns. It remained so popular that in the thirteenth century, on theformation of the Trapezuntine Empire, a polo ground wasespecially laid out for the emperors of Trebizond. The Con-stantinopolitan emperors so enjoyed the game that many played iton their private polo grounds, but when the weather was badjesters, dwarfs, mimes and acrobats were always at hand toentertain their imperial masters.

Under the Comnenes life was particularly gay and light-hearted,46

THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTsomewhat western and essentially up-to-date. The empresses ofthat dynasty were fond of giving balls and of organising concerts ormimed plays in their country villas. These were situated on theoutskirts of the capital, invariably in attractive surroundings wherethe emperors had from early times built their hunting lodges,shooting boxes and castles. Theodora had chosen to build herfavourite villa on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus.

Although every aspect of Byzantine life was organised in thesmallest detail the poor of Constantinople were in such constantneed of the essentials of daily life that they had little to lose bybeing unruly. They therefore never hesitated to express their dis-content and were often so turbulent that even when the hereditarysuccession to the throne had come to be generally regarded asconstitutional rioting often broke out in the capital. It frequentlyended in a change of ruler. When a rising had been successful thecrowd was apt to express its pleasure by dancing in the streets andcomposing songs about the event, as it did in 1042 when Michael Vwas deposed. In 1057 they expressed their gratitude to IsaacComnenus for deposing Michael VI by lighting torches in hishonour, sprinkling him with scent and dancing in the streets.Palace revolutions also often brought an unexpected sovereign tothe throne and so too sometimes did misfortunes of a personal ornational character. As a result nine dynasties and several usurperssucceeded each other on the Byzantine throne. Nevertheless, fromthe start the office of emperor, if not always his person, was deeplyrespected throughout the Empire. Diocletian had been the firstRoman to claim for the sovereign's person a touch of divinity. InByzantium the emperor's position as Christ's vicar on earth assuredhim of the veneration of the great majority of his Christian subjects,and the ceremonial which the Church had evolved for the emperordid much to encourage that attitude. Furthermore, during earlyByzantine history, the influence of her most serious rival, Persia,where the Sasanian rulers ranked as virtually divine, did much toencourage the emperor's assertion that his office entitled him torespect or even adoration.

Though Persia and Byzantium were frequently at war with eachother, vying for world supremacy until the rise of the Arabs in theseventh century, the reverence with which the Persians treated theirsovereigns appealed to the Byzantine emperors. Nevertheless, noneof them ever cut themselves off from their subjects to anything likethe same degree as did the Sasanian kings, though they used every

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTvisible means to stress theiruniqueness and importance.Diocletian had introduced theconception of the divinely cladking; Constantine endorsed itby reserving for himself and hisfamily the use of purple-colouredstuffs and slippers. Soon allexcepting the patriarch ofConstantinople were expected,regardless of rank, to prostratethemselves when greeting theemperor. Every member of thecabinet or Sacred Consistorium,when assembled in the presenceof the emperor, though absolvedfrom prostrating himself, wasobliged to stand throughout theentire session.

An elaborate court ceremonialgrew up throughout the centuriesfor the purpose of enhancingthe glamour surrounding thesovereign so as to increase bothhis personal standing and thedignity of his office. Each of hisofficial appearances was pre-cisely regulated and designed as

16 Theregalia

Empress Ariadne in her carefully as any ballet, unfold-ing invariably in a setting ofgreat splendour. Thus, in the

early fifth century, to celebrate the baptism of Emperor Arcadius'son, the future Theodosius II (408-50), the streets of Con-stantinople were decorated with silk hangings adorned with goldand other costly ornaments; this was at a time when the methodof producing silk was still unknown in the West, so that allavailable supplies had to be imported at great expense by cara-van from China. All those taking part in the official processionto and from the cathedral wore white, creating, in the wordsof a contemporary, the impression of an eddy of snowflakes.The highest dignitaries of the realm walked at the head of the

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTprocession. They were followed by units of the imperial regimentscarrying lighted candles which flickered like myriads of stars. Anobleman of high rank carried the imperial baby, whilst the child'sfather, dressed in purple, followed. Even the onlookers were gailydressed.

Court ceremonial was both complicated and strict. By the tenthcentury it had become so involved that the learned and giftedEmperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus thought it necessary torecord it in all its details in his Book of Ceremonies. The emperorwas an historian and distinguished writer and he also wrote for hisson's benefit The Book of Government. We owe much of our know-ledge of Byzantine court life and administration to these twoworks. In the first Constantine defined ceremony as `the outwardform of inward harmony' and expressed the belief that `ritual helpsto enhance royal dignity'. The broad lines of the ceremonies hedescribed had been laid down in Justinian's day, when the obser-vances had been worked out that were to be followed at coronations,royal births, marriages and burials as well as at a sovereign'sdeparture from and return to his capital, during his presence atsuch ceremonies as the Hippodrome games, at ambassadorialaudiences and at religious and state festivals. But the final detailswere not established till the tenth century. Then even mechanicalcontrivances were resorted to to help stress the superhuman natureof the sovereign. The most intriguing of these was the mechanicalthrone commissioned by Theophilus. However, even less in-genious thrones were extremely impressive, for they were made ofprecious materials, adorned with jewels, surmounted by canopies,draped in rare and precious stuffs, set up on a dais or tribune,furnished with brocaded cushions and accompanied by ornatefootstools.

Whenever an emperor departed from or returned to his capitalhe was either speeded on his way or welcomed home by his sons,the patriarch, the senators and the senior army and naval officersat a convenient point close to the city's boundary. If he wasreturning from a European campaign the welcoming ceremony washeld in the Hebdomon castle standing close to the capital's westernland walls; often it took place in a pavilion situated in the sameneighbourhood. After the welcoming ceremony had been per-formed it was customary for the emperor to enter his capital by theGolden Gate, riding at the head of his bodyguard along the'Meseor Central Street, past the Forum of Theodosius and that of

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTConstantine, skirting the Hippodrome and so back to the GreatPalace.

The emperor, in his role of Christ's representative, had specialduties to fulfil in the main religious festivals, each of which wascelebrated in its own particular way. Many pagan customs hadbeen incorporated in the Christian ritual. Thus the pagan customof celebrating the grape harvest on 15 August became the occasionfor the emperor and the patriarch to leave the capital at the head ofa procession to hold a harvest festival in some not too distantvineyard. On such occasions the legs and tail of the emperor'shorse were bound in silk ribbons and its trappings were studdedwith jewels. Until the end of the tenth century, when the date ofChristmas was fixed, it was customary to hold a public holiday inhonour of the Sun God on 25 December. In the course of thefestivities the emperor, impersonating the Sun God, performed asort of traditional pantomime, appearing wearing a halo, originallythe Sun God's emblem. Christ's birth had until then been celebratedon 6 January when, in one of the audience chambers of the GreatPalace before an assembly of specially invited guests, the emperorinvested newly appointed or promoted officials with their diplomas,badges of rank and carved ivory plaques similar to those known tous today as consular diptychs. The officials had prepared them-selves for the event by fasting throughout the previous day; theyreceived their diplomas from the emperor, kneeling before him. Onsuch occasions the gentlemen of the bedchamber met the emperor'sguests at the palace gates and conducted them to the audiencechamber to await the emperor. When he entered the hall eachguest was expected to greet him in the manner prescribed forpersons of his rank, senators being accorded the privilege ofkissing the emperor's right breast as he bent forward to kiss theirheads, whilst men of lesser rank were obliged to fling themselvesdown on the floor and kiss the emperor's feet, with their armsoutstretched-a posture known as the proskynesis and one which isstill today imposed by certain religious orders on monks or nunstaking their vows.

The ceremony prescribed for ambassadorial audiences was verysimilar, but its opening stages began when the envoy and his staffreached the frontier of Byzantium-in the case of a Persianmission, at the Euphrates. There a reception committee bearingroyal gifts assembled to greet the envoy. Similar ceremonies wererepeated at every regional capital situated on the ambassador's

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTroute to Constantinople, thelocal governor presenting himwith gifts the value of whichvaried in accordance with theambassador's importance. Onreaching Constantinople thediplomat and his staff wereconducted to a house whichhad been prepared for their use.Daily fresh supplies of foodwould be provided whilst theywaited as patiently as they couldto hear when the emperor wouldconsent to receive them. On theday chosen for the audiencethe gifts which the envoy hadbrought for the emperor fromhis own sovereign and thosewhich he was himself to re-ceive from the emperor weredisplayed in the palace for allto see. Meanwhile the imperialguard, wearing full-dress uni-forms of gold helms and breast-plates over whiteundergarments,would ride carrying their lancesto the ambassador's residence,where the envoy and his suite,

17 Emperor in full regalia

dressed in their finest clothes, awaited them. The ambassadorwould mount the splendidly caparisoned horse which had beenspecially selected for his use from the emperor's stables and thewhole group would set out for the palace along streets gailydecorated with carpets and hangings suspended in the envoy'shonour from the windows and balconies of the houses lining hisroute. The spectacle was so superb that, on public holidays, theVenetians later decorated their streets in the same manner.

At the main entrance to the palace the ambassador was met by asenior official who conducted him, together with his interpreterand retinue, to the audience hall where the throne stood on a plat-form concealed from view by sumptuous hangings. At a givenmoment these were drawn apart to reveal the emperor seated,

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THE EMPEROR, HIS FAMILY AND COURTdressed in his state robes and wearing his crown. His clothesconsisted of a long, close-fitting robe made of a sumptuousbrocade, decorated round the neck and waist and down the centreof the back and front with jewelled and embroidered bands (17).The crowns varied slightly in shape according to date, but thesuperb eleventh-century crown of Monomachus preserved inBudapest is made of eight beautifully enamelled gold plaques. Theshimmer created by his crown and jewels probably explains whyan enthralled visitor compared the costume of E