Cameron Elites and Icons

The Past and Present Society
Images of Authority: Elites and Icons in Late Sixth-Century Byzantium

Author(s): Averil Cameron
Source: Past & Present, No. 84 (Aug., 1979), pp. 3-35
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society
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IMAGES OF AUTHORITY:
ELITES AND ICONS IN LATE
SIXTH-CENTURY BYZANTIUM*
EXCEPT AMONG ART HISTORIANS, BYZANTIUM IN THE LATER SIXTH
centuryhas notso farsharedin thevoguewhichtheseventhcentury
now enjoys.1Yet studentsof Iconoclasm,arguablythe majormani-
festationof the problemof changeand continuity in earlymedieval
Byzantium,havenotfailedto see thatone mustbeginwiththeriseof
iconsbeforegoingon tothereasonsforsubsequentattacksuponthem.
And it is agreedthatthefirstgreatincreasein devotionto iconsfalls
squarelyin the secondhalfof thesixthcentury.A numberof basic
studiesconcentrating on artand religioushistory,
and nowthesubtle
argumentsof Peter Brown,2have shownbeyonddoubt that basic
changesweretakingplacein Byzantineculturein theseyears.It ought
thentobe possibleto focusthesechangesmoreclearlyagainstthecon-
temporary background.But we have to facetheabsenceofa fulland
The purposeofthispaper,then,mustbe pre-
detailedsocial history.3
liminary:to set out a framework forthelate sixthcenturyin which
religioushistoryand its expressionin contemporary art are more
firmly "embedded" in their
context.
We have to returnto theroleofthecourtand ofConstantinople. I
shall arguethatin theseyears,betweenthedeathofJustinian in 565
and thereignofHeraclius(6 10-4I), theemperors whosucceededto a
* This
paperwas writtenat theInstituteforAdvancedStudy,Princeton,whereI
profitedgreatlyfromdiscussionwith friends,especiallyNatalie Z. Davis, Ronald
Inden and WilliamH. Sewell,Jr.A versionwas deliveredat the ThirteenthSpring
Symposiumof ByzantineStudies(jointmeetingwiththeClassical Association),Bir-
mingham,April 1979.
1 Debate on the "dark age" of theseventhcenturyis lively:see DumbartonOaks
Papers,xiii(1959) (a specialvolume);and morerecently, J.Haldon, "Some Remarks
on the Background to the Iconoclastic Controversy",Byzantinoslavica,xxxviii
(1977), pp. 161-84; F. Winkelmannet al., Byzanz im 7. Jahrhundert(Berliner
byzantinische Arbeiten,xlviii,Berlin,1978); R.-J.Lilie,Die byzantinischeReaktion
auf die AusbreitungderAraber (Miscellaneabyzantinamonacensia,xxii,Munich,
1976).
2
PrincipallyE. Kitzinger,"The Cult ofImagesin thePeriodbeforeIconoclasm",
DumbartonOaks Papers,viii(1954), pp. 85- 50; A. Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin
(Paris, 1957), pp. 2 ff.;P. Brown,"A Dark-AgeCrisis:Aspectsof the Iconoclastic
Controversy", Eng. Hist. Rev., lxxxviii( 973), pp. 1-34.
3 Workof thiskindis
sadlylackingevenforthereignofJustinian, but see now E.
Patlagean, Pauvrete economiqueet pauvrete sociale a Byzance, IVe-VIIe siecles
(Paris, 1977). G. Weiss, "Antikeund Byzanz: Die Kontinuitatder Gesellschafts-
struktur", HistorischeZeitschrift,ccxxiv(1977), pp. 529-60,operatesat a veryhigh
levelof generality,whileF. Tinnefeld,Die friuhbyzantinische Gesellschaft(Munich,
1977), is conceivedonlyas a modesthandbook.

4 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 84
throneweakenedbya senseoffailureand an empireneglectedbythe

aged Justinian madea realchangein theemphasisofByzantinerule.
JustinII, Tiberiusand Maurice evolveda styleof governingwhich
integratedthe imperialcourtwithcontemporary taste,and which
gave theByzantinemonarchysufficient senseof identityand single-
mindednessto enable it to rideout comingblowsof ever-increasing
magnitude.The Iconoclast emperorsof the eighthcenturywere
not,therefore, reimposingthe imperialironfistout of the blue.4A
strength and unitycan clearlybe seenalreadyin thereignsofthelate
sixth-century emperors;consequently, howeverclose it came to the
edgein thedarkyearsoftheseventhcentury, Constantinopledid not
capitulate.In the face of the Persianinvasionsof the earlyseventh
centurywhichputa sharpcurbon urbanlifein AsiaMinor,5and still
moretheonslaughtof thearmiesofIslamwhichso rapidlydetached
Constantinople frommostofitspreviouspossessions, notmuchmore
than survivalcould be hoped for.The remainingprovincesof the
Byzantineempiresurvivedin a changedform.But Constantinople as
thecentreofgovernment pulledthroughthecrisistoo.We mustnow
ask wheretherootsofthatsurvivallay.
I shall arguethatthelate sixthcenturywas crucial.It was a time
whentheByzantineemperorsin thecapitalpresidedovera processof
culturalintegration by whichtheeliteand itsrulerscame to be fully
identified.In thissocietysuch integration could onlybe expressedin
religiousterms.So ithappenedthatclassicalculturefora timequietly
tooka back seat. StillpractisedbytheeliteofJustinian's day,it had
eventhenbeendangerously associatedwithpaganism.Such a luxury
could no longerbe permitted. Imperialhistoriansand poetswho had
previouslystrivento keep up "classical" stylesof writingnow pre-
sentedtheirsubjectsunblushingly withinthetermsofOld Testament
typology; when classical culturecame back into fashion,afterthe
yearsofstruggle, itwas lessa realalternativethana scholarlyrevival.
The sixth-century emperorslent theiractivepatronageto religious
developments alreadyunderway; theywerequick to allyiconswith
imperialceremony, and to fostertheemergenceof theVirginas the
protectress ofConstantinople bymakinghertheirownprotectress too.
Theirownceremonialincreasedin impactand complexity, and setthe
imperialplayersin a scenarioevermorereligiousintone.6Bymeansof
4 Brown,"A
Dark-AgeCrisis", pp. 23 ff.,makes the eventsof the late seventh
centurythetriggerforimperialreaction.
5 See Clive Foss, "The Persiansin Asia Minor and the End of Antiquity",Eng.
Hist.Rev.,xc ( 1975),pp. 721-47; CliveFoss,"The Fall ofSardisin 6 6 and theValue
of Evidence",Jahrbuchfur osterreichischen Byzantinistik,xxiv(I975), pp. 1-22;
Clive Foss, "Archaeologyand the 'TwentyCities' of ByzantineAsia", Amer.Jl.
Archaeology,lxxxi(1977), pp. 469-86.
6 Since this
paper was written,G. Dagron's importantarticle,"Le christianisme
dans la ville byzantine",Dumbarton Oaks Papers, xxxi (1977), pp. 3-25, has
reinforced thisimpression.

ELITES AND ICONS IN BYZANTIUM 5
hisceremonial,withitsfixedcalendarofprogresses throughthecity,
now probablyforthefirsttimebeingregularized,theemperortook
possessionof his city,and theurbanreligioussymbolswhichhe now
promotedreinforced his positionat its head. It is the mostnatural
thingof all that preciselyduringthese years that most agonistic
featureof Justinianicsociety- the circusfactions was drawn
securelyintoimperialceremonial, evenimperialceremonialat itsmost
fullyreligious.
The seventh-century invasionsdidnot,itis clear,suddenlycutoffa
societyunchangedsince the late Roman period.7Profoundchanges
were taking place already in the provinces,where the internal
organizationof towns was being transformed, and where it was
becomingincreasingly moredifficultforthegovernment to maintain
the late Roman administrative and militaryapparatus.8As forCon-
stantinople,a momentin the city'shistoryepitomizesthe changed
situation,whiledemonstrating thesenseofintegration nowachieved.
It has a flavourwhichone couldnotimaginetransposed tothereignof
Justinian.On 7 August 626 the people of Constantinoplefinally
foughtoffthe invadingAvars aftera trulydesperatesiege. In the
watersof the Golden Horn, in frontof her own great churchat
Blachernae,theVirginherself appearedtothepeople,brandishing her
sword,encouragingthecombatantsand inspiring themto reddenthe
watersof the imperialcitywiththeblood of Avarsand Slavs.9 She
foughtas a warrior-maiden, a reminder ofAthenaPromachos,whose
statuestood in the city,10and laid low the enemy,womenamong
them.11 The khaganof theAvarssaw withhis owneyesa veiledlady
7 As impliedby Foss, "The Persiansin Asia Minorand theEnd of Antiquity".

8 Emperorsbeingout of fashion,thecapitalhas tendedto be overlooked in recent
discussion,thoughearlierstudiesgave it moreattention:see A. Grabar,L'empereur
dans l'art byzantin(Paris, I936), pp. 163 ff.;Kitzinger,"The Cult ofImagesin the
PeriodbeforeIconoclasm",pp. 127 ff.
9 The bestdiscussionofthedifficult sourcesforthissiegeis F. Barisic,"Le siegede
Constantinople par les Avareset les Slaves en 626", Byzantion,xxiv(1954), pp. 371-
95; see also A. Frolow,"La d6dicacede Constantinople dans la traditionbyzantine",
Revue de l'histoiredes religions,cxxvii(1944), pp. 61-127.
o1R. Jenkins,"The Bronze Athena at Byzantium",Jl. Hellenic Studies, lxvii
(1947), PP. 31-3.
1 See Nova PatrumBibliotheca,ed. A. Mai, 7 vols. (Rome, 1844-54),vi pt. 2, p.
433. The GreektexthereeditedbyAngeloMai (hereafter Anon.Mai) is a homilyon
the siege,preservedwithoutthe author'sname, but veryprobablywrittenby one
Theodore,a syncellusofSt. Sophia, and deliveredon 7 August627; itwas also edited
by L. Sternbach,AnalectaAvarica (Cracow, 1900), pp. 2-24, now reprintedwith
French translationand commentaryby F. Makk, Traductionet commentairede
l'homelieecriteprobablement par Theodorele Syncellesurle sidgede Constantinople
en 626 (Acta Universitatisde Attila J6szsef nominatae, Acta antiqua et
archaeologica,xix;Opuscula byzantina,iii; Szeged, 1975); thelatterhas notyetbeen
accessibleto me and I citethetextbyreference to themostreadilyavailable edition,
namelythatof Mai. For thedate and authorship,see Barisic,op. cit.,pp. 373-4.

walkingtheramparts;12 and theVirgin'sicons,deployedinprocession

by the patriarchSergius,actingforthe absentEmperorHeraclius,
stimulatedthefaithand gratitudeof theentirepopulation.We shall
returnto thissiege.For now,it is enoughto saythatitmarkedone of
themostcompletemomentsofunityeverrealizedin Constantinople.
Even thoughHeracliuswas awayfromhiscitycampaigning in Persia,
he was constantlypresentin themindsofhispeople,and represented
to thembythepatriarch.Thus thesiegeanditstriumphant conclusion
becamea demonstration of theintimateconnectionof the emperor,
patriarchand people,all undertheprotection of thewarrior-Virgin.
In thewordsof thenewprefaceto theAkathistos hymn,thepopula-
tiongave thanksto her:
I, yourcity,commemoratethevictoryfestivalas a thank-offering
toyou,Motherof
God, our victoriousgeneral,formycleansingfromdanger.And you, who have
mightagainstwhichno fightavails, releaseme fromeverykindof danger,thatI
maycryto thee"Hail, unmarriedbride".13
It was a momentofcityunity,and theVirginat thismomentfulfilled
thefunctionof a citydeity.But thecitywas an imperialcity,and the
myth-making whichat oncesurrounded thissiegealso arosefromthe
sense of divine protectionfor the whole empire.It was this very
closenessofidentification
oftheemperors withtheirimperialcityand
its divineprotectors
whichmorethananythingelse enabledthemto
survivein the hard timesto come. As theprovincescne by one fell
away,theywereable to retrench and drawstrength fromtheirsecure
positionin thecapital.To understand howthisstrength was achieved
we mustconsiderin turna seriesofdifferent developments in thelate
sixthcentury.
I
CEREMONIAL
Althoughemperorshad long developedtheirown imperialcere-

we can nowsee a
monialand participatedin liturgicalceremonies,14
12 ChroniconPaschale, ed. L. Dindorf, 2 vols. (Corpus scriptorumhistoriae
Byzantinae[hereafter C.S.H.B.], Bonn, 1832), i, p. 725, line 9; JoannesScylitzes,in
Georgius Cedrenus,Compendiumhistoriarum,ed. I. Bekker,2 vols. (C.S.H.B.,
Bonn, 1838-9),i, p. 728, lines23 ff.For furtherapparitionsoftheVirginin thesixth
centuryas a veiledlady,see H. Chadwick,"JohnMoschusand hisFriendSophronius
the Sophist",Jl. Theol. Studies,new ser.,xxv(1974), pp. 65-6.
13Akathistoshymn,proem II; see E. Wellescz,"The Akathistos",Dumbarton
Oaks Papers, ix-x(I955-6), pp. 143 ff.;C. A. Trypanis,FourteenEarly Byzantine
Cantica (Wienerbyzantinische Studien,v, Vienna,1968),pp. 17 ff.;J.Grosdidierde
Matons,Romanos le Melode et les originesde la poesie religieused Byzance (Paris,
1977), p. 34. PeterBrownhas recently emphasizedtheimportance ofsuchconsensus
in a late antiquecity:PeterBrown,Relics and Social Statusin theAge ofGregoryof
Tours (The StentonLecture,I976, Univ. of Reading,1977), pp. 19 ff.
14For a dynamic treatmentof a particularceremony,see S. MacCormack,
"Change and Continuityin Late Antiquity:The CeremonyofAdventus",Historia,
(cont. onp. 7)

significantgrowthin the scale and purposiveness of such activities.

Most of the protocolslaid down in the tenth-century Book of
Ceremoniesof theEmperorConstantinePorphyrogenitus cannotbe
assigneda date of origin,sincetheyare recordedoutsidea historical
context,as timelessprescriptions forfutureoccasions.15Nevertheless
certaindefinite signsdo pointto thelate sixthcenturyas a timewhen
theimperialceremonialwas takingshapeas a regularpatternofocca-
sionsand movements spreadovertheyearand rangingovertheurban
spaceofConstantinople; now,too,itbecameincreasingly mergedwith
the religiouslifeof thecity,so thateven if outwardlyan individual
ceremonialactionseemedto have no religiousconnotations, it would
in factbe investedwitha totallyreligiousinterpretation.
Evidence for imperialceremonyas such in Justinian'sreignis
slight.Yet thereare pointersall thesame. We wouldexpecta priori
thata brilliant,longand self-consciousreignsuchas thiswouldtend
towardsan increasein imperialdisplayand probablyceremonytoo.
Indeedone ofthesourcesusedbyConstantine Porphyrogenitus was a
treatiseon ceremony byone ofJustinian's topministers- Peterthe
Patrician,whoas MasterofOfficeshad todirectand takepartin these
ceremonieshimself.16 Manuals on kingshipfromthe period also
suggestan interestin the theoryand styleof monarchy.17 Justinian
(note 14 cont. )
xxi (1972), pp. 721-52, and furtherin her Art and Ceremonyin Late Antiquity
(forthcoming). The crystallizationof the fixedceremonialas knownin the tenth
centurywas veryslow,but the emperorswereparticipating in regularimperialand
liturgicalprocessionsby thefifth century:see MarcellinusComes (MonumentaGer-
maniaeHistorica[hereafter M.G.H.], ChronicaMinora,ii, Auctoresantiquissimi, xi,
Berlin, 1894), sub annis 431, 472 and 512; see also R. Janin,"Les processions
religieusesde Byzance", Revue des etudesbyzantines,xxiv(i966), pp. 69-88. The
conceptof a "Catholic grid" structuring the lifeof Gallic townsin the late sixth
century(Brown,Relicsand Social Statusin theAgeofGregoryofTours,p. 9) maybe
helpfulalso for Constantinople,where the grid was by now both imperialand
ecclesiastical.
15Constantine De cerimoniisaulae Byzantinae,ed. J.J.Reiske,
Porphyrogenitus,
2 vols. (C.S.H.B., Bonn, 1829-30).Exceptionsto thisgeneralizationare thedescrip-
tionsoftheentriesofJustinianin 559 (ibid.,i, p. 497), Basil I in 879 (ibid.,i,pp. 398-
9) and Theophilusin 831 (ibid.,i, pp. 503-4; see also pp. 627 ff.).The mostuseful
(thoughtoo static) discussionof Byzantineceremonialis still 0. Treitinger,Die
ostromische Kaiser-und Reichsideevomostromischen Staats- undReichsgedanken,
2nd edn. (Darmstadt,1956).
16 See J. B.
Bury,"The CeremonialBook ofConstantinePorphyrogenitus", Eng.
Hist. Rev., xxii(1907), pp. 209-27,417-39; E. Stein,Histoiredu Bas-Empire,2 vols.
(Paris, I949-59), ii, pp. 723-9; A. Pertusi,"I principifondamentali della concezione
di poterea Bisanzio. Per un commentoal dialogo 'Sulla scienzapolitica'attributoa
PietroPatrizio(secolo VI)", Bulletinodel IstitutoStoricoItalianoper il Medio Evo,
lxxx (I968), pp. I ff. Peter's use of the phrase "as is customary"(Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, De cerimoniisaulae Byzantinae,i, p. 397, and see pp. 417, 629,
630) showsthata formalizedprocedurewas alreadyin existence.
17 See P.
Henry,"A MirrorforJustinian:The Ekthesisof AgapetusDiaconus",
Greek,Roman and ByzantineStudies, viii (I967), pp. 28I-308. There is also an
anonymousPeri politikesepistemes,of which a new fragmenthas recentlybeen
(cont. onp. 8)

had no greatpublic inaugurationceremonyto evokepanegyricor

encouragetheformation ofa moreelaborateritual.18But whenmuch
of thecentreof Constantinople was burneddownin theNika riotof
532 he was effectively
enabledto lay out and buildafreshthewhole
area linkingthepalace and St. Sophia,and openingoutintothemain
thoroughfare leadingto theForumof Constantine.Thus he remade
theceremonialcoreofthecityalmostfromscratch;fromthenon,this
complexofimperialand religiousbuildingwouldbe thesettingforthe
beginningand endingof all great cityoccasions.It was only the
finishingtouch - thougha vitallyimportantone - when Just-
inian's successorenhancedthe possibilityof unitingimperialand
religiousceremonialbysupporting thebuildingofa newpatriarchate
in thesamecentralarea.19
When Vandal Africafell so spectacularly(and unexpectedly)to
Belisarius,Justinianstageda celebrationin theformof an archaiz-
ing revivalof the old Roman triumph.20 Not-so-subtledifferences
emphasizedthefactthatsix hundredyearshad passedsincethelast
triumphwas held,21yetevenso, thegeneraleffectwouldbe to stress
thesenseoftheRomanpast.Butby559,whenanothervictory wonby
Belisariuswas to be commemorated, Justinianhad given up the
('11i.' I 7 C0111.)
discovered:C. Behr, "A New Fragmentof Cicero's De Republica", Amer. JI.

Philology,xcv (1974), pp. 14I-9. Another,possiblydifferent, textis mentionedby
Photius: see ibid., p. 144; F. Dvornik,Early Christianand ByzantinePolitical
Philosophy:Originsand Background,2 vols. (DumbartonOaks Studies,ix, Wash-
ington, 1966), ii, pp. 706-7. The anonymoussixth-century Peri strategikes(in
GriechischeKriegsschriftsteller, ed. H. K6chly and W. Rustow,2 vols., Leipzig,
I853-5, ii pt. 2, p. 54) cites as one of the componentsof Byzantinesocietythe
"theatrical" element,employedat the staging of imperialoccasions: see Alan
Cameron,CircusFactions (Oxford,1976), pp. 80-I. Procopius'sfamouscritiqueof
thecourtetiquetteimposedbytheEmpressTheodorais yetanotherindicationofthis
growingimperialself-consciousness: ProcopiusCaesariensis,Opera omnia, ed. J.
Haury,rev.G. Wirth,4 vols. (Leipzig, 1962-4),iii,SecretHistory,xxxi.21 ff.
18
Justinianwas elevatedduringthe lifetimeof JustinI and would have been
crownedby him insidethe palace, whereasinaugurationsof "new" emperorstook
place in public in the Hippodrome:see JanetNelson'sperceptiveanalysisof early
Byzantine inaugurationceremonies,"Symbols in Context", Studies in Church
History,xiii (1976), pp. 98-9.
19John of Ephesus, Historia ecclesiastica,pt. iii, ed. E. W. Brooks (Corpus
scriptorum christianorumorientalium, ScriptoresSyri,ser.iii,pt. 3, Louvain, 1936),
ii. 34 (builtby the patriarchJohnScholasticus,surelywithimperialsupport).See
Robin Cormackand ErnestJ.W. Hawkins,"The Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul:
The Rooms above the SouthwestVestibuleand Ramp", DumbartonOaks Papers,
xxxi(1977), pp. 200 ff.,bringingoutthecentralimportance ofthisbuildingcomplex.
20 Procopius,Wars,iv. 9. Procopiushimselfcommentson the deliberateness and
artificiality of the Roman revival.See J. Deer, "Der Ursprungder Kaiserkrone",
SchweizerBeitrdgezur allgemeinenGeschichte,viii (1950), pp. 5 ff.
21 The culmination ofthistriumphwas notthearrivalofthetriumphing generalon
theCapitolbuthisprostration beforeJustinianin theHippodrome:Procopius,Wars,
iv. 9; in a sense the triumphwas the emperor's,and Justinian,therefore, worethe
jewelledtriumphalcloak: JohnLydus,De magistratibus, ed. O. Wuensch(Leipzig,
1903), iii. 3.

Romanpompfora moretypicallylate antiqueadventus- a formal

entryintothecityin whichhe himselfrodeon horsebackand stopped
at a churchto givethanksto God and prayforthesoul of the now-
dead EmpressTheodora.22The mostmilitary of imperialceremonies
now incorporatesreligiousritual. Small hintsshow that a regular
patternof imperialbehaviournow existed,interwovenwith the
religiouscalendar.It was a markof deep respecton Justinian'spart
whenhe leftoffhis crownon ChristmasDay aftera seriousearth-
quake,and wentfurther bycancellinga nowcustomary imperialfeast
in theChamberoftheNineteenBeds in thepalace.23The poemwhich
Paul the Silentiary(one of the educated,if not perhapsquite the
governing, elite)24composedin 563 tocelebratetherededication ofSt.
Sophia,heavilydamagedbyearthquakein 557,oweslittleto classical
tradition,and sees theemperor'spositionin termsof his relationship
withthe patriarch.25 Justinianhimselfwas willingon some formal
occasionsto walk on footwhilethe patriarchrode in the imperial
carriage.26Similarlytellingis his interestin theincreasinglyelabor-
ate liturgy;27he oftenendowedhis newchurcheswithan incomesub-
stantialenough to providethe personnel,sometimesrunninginto
hundreds,to conductcomplexservices.28 The liturgicalhymnknown
as the kontakion,best knownto us in associationwiththe name of
Romanos,nowattaineditspeak; notonlywas itsperformance during
theliturgyitselfa complexpublicritual,whichbelongswiththecon-
temporary elaborationofchurchservices, butitwas evenusedat times
22 ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, De cerimoniisaulae Byzantinae,i, pp. 497-8,on

which see Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire,ii, pp. 818-I9. The so-called mnema
(memorial)at whichJustinianlit candles is surelya tomb,and thus the tombof
Theodora,whodied in 548 (Stein,op. cit.,ii, p. 589), sinceitis called "the memorial
of our sovereignlady".
23 Theophanes,Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor,2 vols.(Leipzig,1883-5),i, p. 232.
24 For these and "professional"men(lawyers,grammarians and the
palace officials
like),see G. Mathew,ByzantineAesthetics(London, 1963), pp. 67 ff.;PeterBrown,
The WorldofLate Antiquity(London, 197 ), pp. 180 ff.
25 See
esp. Paulus Silentiarius,DescriptioS. Sophiae, ed. P. Friedlander(Leipzig
and Berlin,1912), lines 1-134,92I-1029. There had been a seriousplot againstthe
emperorin 562 (Theophanes, Chronographia,i, p. 237), and this officialpoem,
recitedon a solemnpublicoccasion,was clearlymeantto reinforce imperialprestige.
The emperorand the patriarchled the rededicationceremonytogether:ibid.,i, p.
238.
26Theophanes,Chronographia,i, p. 228.
27 See Brown,"A Dark-AgeCrisis", p. 22; E. Wellescz,A Historyof Byzantine
Music and Hymnography,2nd edn. (Oxford,I96I), p. I38. T. F. Mathews,The
Early Churchesof Constantinople: Architecture and Liturgy(University Park, Pa.,
1971),explorestheconnectionbetweenchurch-building and liturgicaldevelopment.
28 For example,Procopius,Buildings,v. 6. I (theNea churchin Jerusalem), and ii.
10.24 (thechurchoftheVirginat Antioch).See too Justinian, Novel iii (535), ed. B.
Schoell and G. Kroll, in Corpus iuris civilis,6th edn., 3 vols. (Berlin, 1954), iii,
Novellae; P. J. Pargoire,L'eglise byzantinede 527 d 847 (Paris, I905), pp. I 5 ff.

IO PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 84
as a vehicleforimperialideology,29 whichthusgainedthesettingofa
church.It was hardlyto be wonderedat if imperialceremonyitself
followedthe exampleof the increasingly complexliturgy;themech-
anismsof the churchwere,afterall, strongerand moreimpressive
instruments ofpubliccommunication thanclassicalrhetoric.
The directevidenceforJustinianis admittedly slight.But perhaps
the clearestproofthat a changetookplace in his reignis the cere-
monial surroundingthe inaugurationof his successorin 565, as
describedin thepanegyricbythecontemporary poetCorippus.30 The
poem itselfsuggestsa transition;notwithstanding obviousdebtsto
earlierLatin panegyric, Corippus'snovelfocuson thehere-and-now
of theactualceremonies, forinstancethefuneralofJustinian, brings
us forciblyintothe atmosphereof thedepositionof a relicor of the
contemporary mourningscenesin the Vienna Genesis.31The dead
Justinian,covered,it is true,witha funeralpall embroideredwiththe
triumphal scenesofhisprime,has nevertheless attainedthestatusofa
holyperson.32
This panegyricis in facta primetext.It demonstrates unmistak-
ablythetransition I amtrying tosuggest,manifestedin themostsensi-
tiveritualof Byzantineimperiallife,theaccessionofa newemperor.
Indeed,it is, perhapsforgood reason,theonlysuchdetaileddescrip-
tionofa completeaccessionritualin thesixthcentury.33 JustinII was
29See E. Catafygiotu-Topping, "Romanos, On the Entry into Jerusalem:A
Basilikos Logos", Byzantion,xlvii (1977), pp. 65-91, pointingout the connection
betweenthe themesof the liturgicalkontakionand thoseof imperialpanegyric
herethatof royaladventusand acclamation;see also E. Catafygiotu-Topping, "On
Earthquakes and Fires", ByzantinischeZeitschrift,lxxi (1978), pp. 22-35. For
Romanosand thekontakion,theworkofJ.Grosdidierde Matonsis basic: Grosdidier
de Matons,Romanosle Melode, and see also K. Mitsakis,Buzantinehymnografia, i
(Thessaloniki,1971), pp. 17 -353.
30 Flavius Cresconius
Corippus,In laudem Iustini minoris,ed. AverilCameron
(London,1976).
31 For the relationof
depositionritualand adventus,see MacCormack,"Change
and Continuity in Late Antiquity",pp. 747 ff.For tearsand mourning, see Corippus,
In laudem Iustini minoris,iii. 41, and commentary, pp.I80-I; E. Kitzinger,"The
HellenisticHeritageofByzantineArt",DumbartonOaks Papers,xvii(1963), p. I I I;
H. Maguire,"The Depictionof Sorrowin MiddleByzantineArt",DumbartonOaks
Papers, xxxi(1977), PP. 125-74.
32 On the funeral
pall, see Corippus,In laudem Iustini minoris,i. 276 ff.As
inauguration procedure now develops into fixed ritual, so too imperial and
patriarchalfuneralsacquire a set form.See, forexample,the funeralsof Eudocia,
firstwifeof Heraclius(Nicephorus,Breviarium,ed. C. de Boor,Leipzig, 1880,p. 7),
and ofthepatriarchsEutychiusin 582 (Eustratius,VitaEutychii,Patrologiaecursus
completus,ed. J.-P.Migne,Seriesgraeca [hereafter lxxxvi pt. 2, Rome, I 865,
P.G.],
col. 2384) and Sergiusin 638 (ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, De cerimoniisaulae
Byzantinae,i, p. 630).
33 See Nelson,"Symbolsin Context",pp. 98 ff.In thisparticularcase therewere
politicalreasonswhichmade it seemdesirableto reinforce Justin'spositionwithas
complete
I
a crowningceremonyas possible(see Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,
pp. 56-7); forsimilarreasonsit was minutely describedbythepanegyrist, whothus
providedus witha unique record.

ELITES AND ICONS IN BYZANTIUM II
the last emperorin our period to be both raised on a shield and

crownedby the patriarchwith the diadem in one and the same
ceremony.Afterhim,shield-raising, withother"Roman" survivals,
seemseffectively to havelapsed.34WithJustinII theritualis poisedon
thebrinkof itsfullyByzantineform,forhe is crownedin thepalace,
notin a church,whereasafterhimtheceremony was soontransferred
to St. Sophia, its locationthroughout the restof Byzantinehistory.
Thus we are allowedforonceto see a Byzantineceremony exactlyat a
pointof change.We mustnot fail to recognizehow farthingshad
alreadygone.
Why,we mayask,does Corippuswritepreciselythiskindof pan-
egyric,one which departs from the conventionalrhetoricof a
Claudian or a Sidoniusand devotesitselfto theminuteand realistic
descriptionof actualceremonies? It is notenoughto saythathe is an
inferiorpoet.35His carefulaccountmarksa new departure;he not
only describes,but also explains the meaningof everypiece of
ceremonial,and usuallythe meaningshe gives are Christianones,
evenforthearchaicsurvivals.Nor is it enoughto explainCorippus's
detailedapproachto ceremonyas such;we shouldask whyhe devotes
so much attentionto thesespecificrituals.Whyis it that precisely
duringthesixthcenturyByzantineinauguration ritualdevelopsfrom
an unpredictable electivetechniqueto a highlysophisticated and fully
religiousritualperformed by thepatriarchand locatedin themajor
imperialchurch?36We shall see later that the late sixth-century
emperorsused the popularityof the cult of icons and the growth
ofemphasison the Virginto help themto asserttheirown position.
A tightenedand intensifiedinaugurationritual emphasizingthe
emperor'sdivineelectionwouldworkforthemin thesamedirection.
The secularelements stillpresenttillnowwillsoondropaway,toleave
room for an identification of the imperialcoronationas a fully
religiousrite.
The inaugurationof JustinII markstheexactturning-point. The
secularelementsare stillthere,but each is givena religiousinter-
pretationin thepanegyric.Raisedon themilitary shield,theemperor
34See Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,pp. I60-I, noteon ii.
136; Nelson,op.
cit.,pp. oo ff.;C. Walter,"Raising on a Shieldin ByzantineIconography",Revue
des etudesbyzantines,xxxiii(1975), pp. 133 ff.;D. M. Nicol, "Kaiseralbung:The
UnctionofEmperorsin Late ByzantineCoronationRitual",Byzantineand Modern
GreekStudies,ii (I976), pp. 37 ff.
35 C. Witke,NumenLitterarum(Leiden and
Cologne, 197 I), is unusual in recog-
nizingtheoriginality of Corippus'sapproach.
36 Nelson,
op. cit.,givesthemostanalyticand leastdogmaticaccount;thestandard
full treatment(thoughmuch too schematized)is E. Christophilopoulou, Ekloge,
anagoreusiskai stepsis tou buzantinou autokratoros(Athens, I956). The sixth-
and
centuryceremonypresents, Corippusdulyemphasizes, all four elements(recog-
nition,investiture, installationand acclamation)isolatedbyM. Fortes,"Of Installa-
tionCeremonies",Proc. Roy. Anthropological Inst. (1967), p. I I.

nevertheless is said to "rise" like Christ,and the same analogyis

impliedeven whenhe is raised as consulin thecurulechair.37The
wholeinaugurationsymbolizesforthepoettheemperor'sroleas the
imagoChristi;38it is a trueritede passage, afterwhichtheemperor
emergesin hisnewroleas God's representative, a rolein whichhe will
in later timeson occasion ceremoniallyenact the part of Christ.
Justin'scoronationspeech grotesquelybut no doubt effectively
reinforces thesenseof a descendingorderof authority; God has put
theemperoron histhroneas thehead ofthestate,thesenatorsare its
chest,the peopleits armsand legs.39The ideas have seldombefore
foundsucha forceful expression, orconveyedsucha strongimpression
oftotalsocialand religiousunity.Overand overagainthroughout the
panegyricthereis thesameinsistence, in differentways,on thelineof
authorityand protection, withthe emperoras themediatorof both
betweenGod and his people. Unity and hierarchyare the twin
messagesofthepoem,and theemperoris thefocusofboth.
Certainlywemustadmita highdegreeofmanipulation intheacces-
sionof Justin,and a consequentadvantageto theregimein stressing
ideas such as these.Corippuswas an officialpoet,and eventhevery
ceremonyhe describeswas provablystage-managedto forestall
opposition.40 A majorefforthad been made; whenthenew emperor
appearedin theHippodromehe was acclaimednotbythearmy,as had
been customaryearlierin the century,but by the veryBlues and
Greens against whom he had only recentlyhimselfled imperial
troops.41This is verysurprising, as formerly theyhad been mainly
conspicuous as riotersand urban gangsters.42 inthetenth-century
Yet
Book of Ceremoniesthey are the recognizedleaders of imperial
37Corippus,In laudem Iustini minoris,ii. I48 ff.; iv. 99 ff.,250 ff.; see E.
Kantorowicz,"OriensAugusti:leverdu roi", DumbartonOaks Papers,xvii(i 963),
pp. 152-3.
38Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,ii. 420 ff.The imperialimitationofChrist
is also one of the main themesof Agapetus'sEkthesis:see Henry,"A Mirrorfor
Justinian".
39Corippus,In laudem Iustini minoris,ii. I78-274. See E. Kantorowicz,The
King's Two Bodies (Princeton,1957), pp. I85 ff.;forthe Christianovertones,see
I Corinthiansxii. 12 ff. As the tightenedinaugurationritual draws stricter
boundaries,so thehead and bodysymbolism, appearingin thesame context,stands
fora drawingtogetherof all sectionsof society.
40 See note33 above. The panegyric was commissioned bythequaestorAnastasius
(forotherimportant patrons,see Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,i. 18ff.,and iv.
368 ff.),one of JustinII's two closestadvisers;the otherwas the patriarchJohn
Scholasticus,theman who crownedhim.
41 Corippus,In laudemIustini minoris,ii. 310 ff.;forJustin'sown rolein dealing
with recent factionrioting,see John Malalas, Chronographia,ed. L. Dindorf
(C.S.H.B., Bonn, I831), p. 491.
42These activitiesof the Blues and Greensand their"transformation" are fully
discussedin Cameron,CircusFactions.Patlagean,Pauvretdeconomiqueetpauvrete
sociale, pp. 203 ff.,setsthe urban violenceof thefactionspersuasivelyin thesocial
contextofthesixth-century city.

ceremonial.Now JustinII's inaugurationallowsus to see that this
transformation had begun as early as 565. It will not have been
achievedwithoutconsiderableimperialeffortand doubtlessexpen-
diture.Both of thesewere necessaryalso forJustin'smuch adver-
tised revivalof the consulship,whichfollowedveryshortlyon his
coronation.TherewerepoliticaladvantagesforJustinin assumingthe
consulship,defunctfora generation, sinceit enabledhimto winthe
favourof theurbanpopulationbyliterallyscattering goldto themas
his processionspassed,and thatof the upperclassesby distributing
giftsof silverand gold. He mightadvertiseit,too,by promisingthe
returnof an age of justice.43But it had as muchto offeron thesym-
bolic level,withits inaugurationceremony,its associationwiththe
openingof a newyear(consulsenteredofficeon ISt January)and its
regularprocessions throughthecity.44 Almostas muchas an imperial
inauguration, thetakingoftheconsulshipwas botha ritedepassage
and a symbolofhierarchy; henceforth, withtheconsulshiplimitedto
reigningemperors, theassociationswouldbe combinedin one.
So by 565 therewas a recognition of theneedforchange.All the
same this was an early stage in the process.Corippusmay have
abandonedtherhetoricoflate Latin poetry(ofwhichhisothermajor
poemshowshimto havebeencapable)45fortheplainerdescription of
Byzantineprotocol,buthe is notyetwillingto comerightoutintothe
openwithChristiansymbolism, preferring to workindirectlythrough
allusionsand images.CorippuswillnotyetpresentJustinII as David,
or place him in the long span of Christianhistory,as we shall find
Heracliussoon beingtreatedby contemporary writers.A hankering
aftertheclassicalremains.
Whenwe cometo considerhowfarthingshad developedbytheend
ofthecentury, itwillbe clearthatmuchoftheevidenceforthefurther
developmentof imperialceremonialin this periodin fact centres
roundthe Blues and Greensof whomwe have alreadyspoken.The
studyof Corippus'spanegyricand recentworkon thefactionshave
togethershownthatthe "ceremonialrole" of thefactionshad come
43Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,iii. 333-56; seeAnthologiaPlanudea, lxxii
(an inscriptionfora statueof JustinII in consulardress),on whichsee Averiland
Alan Cameron,"Anth.Plan. 72: A PropagandaPoem fromtheReignof JustinII",
Bull. Inst. Classical Studies,xiii (1966), pp. o I ff.
44The ivorydiptychscommemorating a consul'syearofofficeare thebestguideto
sixth-century expectations;see R. Delbrueck,Die Consulardiptychen undverwandte
Denkmdler,2 vols. (Berlin, i929). Apart fromthe consul's obligationto provide
largesse,and hisceremonialelevation,hischiefrolewas thatofpresidingofficer at the
games,thusappearingat thehead ofthecity'smajorsecularpublicoccasion(and that
at whichBlue/Greenconflictsmostoftenbrokeout, wheretherewas consequently
mosturgentneed of imperialcontrol).
45The Iohannis,a moreconventionalepic treatment oftheAfricancampaignsof
Justinian'sgeneralJohnTroglita: Flavius CresconiusCorippus,Iohannidos,libri
VIII, ed. J. Diggle and F. R. D. Goodyear(Cambridge,1970).

intobeingwellbeforeHeraclius.46 Thereareno BluesorGreensat the

entryof Justinian in 559, norin thepartsoftheBook ofCeremonies
drawnfromJustinian'sminister,Peterthe Patrician.But theyare
thereat JustinII's inauguration,at themarriageof Mauricein 582
and thecrowning ofLeontiain 602. WhenHeracliuswentto meetthe
khaganoftheAvarsat Heracleain 6 19 hetookBluesandGreenswith
him,to impressthe khaganwithimperialceremony.47 By 602 there
were certainlyalready Blue and Green "stations" along imperial
processionalroutes,made possibleby a growinghierarchy offaction
officialsnow attestedforthefirsttime,and thedisputewhichbroke
out on theoccasionof thecrowningof Leontiain thatyearwas pre-
cisely about the respectiveceremonialrightsof the Blues and
Greens.48
It wouldbe prematureto assumethatthefactionswerethuseasily
neutralized,for they remaineda potentiallypowerfulfactor in
politics,and madetheirinfluence felton a numberofoccasionsduring
thereignof Phocas (602-10) forinstance.49 In themonthsleadingup
to thetyrant'soverthrow Blues and Greenstookthelead on bothsides
in what was virtuallycivil war in manyof the leadingcitiesof the
empire.50As long as theyremainedas organized,and indeedoften
armed, groups in urban situations,both in Constantinopleand
elsewhere,theywould inevitablybe the firstto be involvedin civil
disturbance,and thus it was that the eventsleadingup to the fall
of Phocas,whichin no senseamountedto a socialrevolution, never-
thelessgave the Blues and Greensan openingforpoliticalaction
whichtheyhad nothad fordecades.51But noneofthiscontradicts the
factthatreferences to Blues and Greensin latesixth-century sources
proveclearlyboththegrowthofimperialceremony and theorganized
participationin it ofthefactions.
Scholarshavetendedto see thisparticipation in ceremonial(which
46See esp. Cameron,CircusFactions,pp. 249 ff.
47 All thisevidenceis discussedin ibid.For theceremonial
aspectoftheattendance
of the Blues and Greenson Heraclius,see also Nelson,"Symbolsin Context",pp.
101-2; but theyare not thereas a "citymilitia",as has beencommonly thought:see
Cameron, Circus Factions, p. 257. Patlagean, op. cit., p. 205, gives a helpful
summaryofpast attemptsto explaintheBlues and Greensbyreference to consistent
social or religiousaffiliations, now mostlyexplodedby Cameron,CircusFactions,
pt. I.
48
TheophylactSimocatta,Historiae,ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig,1887),viii. o. Io ff.
49 Theophanes, Chronographia,i, pp. 292, 294, 296. Phocas orderedthat the
troublesomeGreens should no longerpoliteuesthai;forthe translationand inter-
pretationof thisword,see Cameron,CircusFactions,pp. 288-9.
50 Cameron, Circus Factions, p. 282. It seems perverseto deny that theywere
deeplyinvolvedin politicsat thistime.
51 Apart froman incidentat the proclamation of Tiberius II - see Gregoryof
Tours, Historia Francorum,v. 30 (M.G.H., ScriptoresrerumMerovingiarum,4
vols.,i pt. I, 2nd edn.,ed. B. Kruschand W. Levison,Hanover,195 ) - theyseemto
have been quiet sincethe accessionof JustinII.

ELITES AND ICONS IN BYZANTIUM I5
theymostlyattributeto thereignofHeraclius)52as a "drawingofthe

teeth"of thefactionsby assigningthema "merelyceremonial"role.
On thecontrary we mustviewthisutilizationoftheBlues and Greens
in imperialceremonyas a verypositiveeffort towardssocial integra-
tion. The "young men" frequentlymentionedin contemporary
accountsof factionactivitywereclearlya marginalgroup,and their
lackofpositionorpurposein societyas a wholemadetheirexistencein
an organizedforma constantand realdanger.53 It was not,then,that
their role became "merelyceremonial";rather,if they could be
inducedto participatein imperialoccasionsin an officially
recognized
capacitythiswouldbe botha publicaffirmation ofunityin thestate
and a wayofbringingthemintothesocialorder.
II
THE EMPEROR AND HIS SETTING
We are alreadyfamiliarwiththe idea of the reignof JustinII as

markingsomethingof a turning-point in imperialideology.54But
whatcan we make of such moderndescriptions as "liturgification"
and "new piety"?For theByzantineemperorhad alwaysbeenseenin
a religiouscontext."God gave youto us. God willpreserveyou.You
foryouhonourChrist"ran acclamationsofarmy
are ever-victorious,
and peoplein thefifth century.5But now theemperoris seen more
consistentlyas the slave of God, less oftenas the heirof Augustus.
52 See Cameron,CircusFactions,pp. 297-8.
53 On the "youngmen", see ibid.,pp. 75 ff.;Patlagean,Pauvreteeconomiqueet
pauvretesociale,p. 228. The Blues and Greensweresurelymorethanmeresporting
associations,as theyare firmly presentedby Cameron;the factionalviolenceof the
Justinianicera indicatesboth a generallack of social controland theirown lack of
position:see Patlagean,op. cit.,pp. 223 ff.But as yetwe knowtoolittleaboutwhothe
Blues and Greens actuallywere. For suggestivecomparisons,see G. Duby, "Les
'jeunes' dans la societe aristocratique",Annales. E.S.C., xix (I964), pp. 835-46;
Natalie Z. Davis, "Some Tasks and Themesin theStudyofPopularReligion",in C.
Trinkaus and H. Oberman(eds.), The Pursuitof Holiness in Late Mediaeval and
RenaissanceReligion(Leiden, 1974), p. 327.
54Thus Treitinger,Die ostromischeKaiser- und Reichsidee,pp. 27-8; Averil
Cameron,"The EarlyReligiousPoliciesofJustinII", Studiesin ChurchHistory,xiii
(1976), pp. 65-6; Kitzinger,"The Cult of Imagesin thePeriodbeforeIconoclasm",
pp. 126 ff.;I. Lavin, "The House of the Lord", ArtBull., xliv (1962), p. 23; J. D.
Breckenridge, The NumismaticIconographyofJustinianII (New York, 1959), pp.
54-5; Grabar, L'empereurdans l'art byzantin,pp. 163 ff.In part this impression
dependson stylistic judgementsabout imperialand religiousartin thisperiod,which
I havelargelytriedto avoidin thispaper.But I havesuggestedelsewhere, first,thatby
the reignof JustinII at least,it is a mistaketo see too muchseparationbetweenthe
terms"imperial"and "religious":see AverilCameron,"Corippus'sPoem on Justin
II: A Terminusof AntiqueArt?",Annali della Scuola Normaledi Pisa, 3rd ser.,v
(I975), PP. I 5 ff.;and secondly,thattheliterarysourcesdeservemoreattentionthan
theyusually receivein comparisonwiththe fewextantworks,even when the art
workstheymentionhave notsurvived:AverilCameron,"The ArtisticPatronageof
JustinII" (forthcoming in Byzantion).
55 Constantine De cerimoniisaulae Byzantinae,i, p. 41I.
Porphyrogenitus,

PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 84
WhenthedementedJustinII handsoverpowertoTiberius,hiswords,
faithfully reproducedby a contemporary struckbythepathosofthe
scene,breathea newtone:"see thewretched Justinstrippedandfallen
fromhis kingdom".56The reignof Heracliuscertainlyshows the
change. The emperorwho claimedhis thronein a heroiccrusade
assistedbytheVirginwenton to fighta holywarand restoretheTrue
Crossto Jerusalem. In his reignoccurredthegreatestsymbolicevent
experienced bythecapitalduringthisperiod- theAvarsiegeof626,
with its proofof the city'sprotectionby the Virgin- and when
Heracliusmadehistriumphal returnfromPersiain 628 hewas greeted
bypeopleand patriarchnotwitha Romantriumph butwithhymnsof
praiseto God.57In 629 he set theseal on thischangeofdirectionby
givingup the traditionalimperialtitulaturewhichwentback to the
days of Augustusand officiallyadoptinginsteadthe Greek term
basileus (emperor)- but not basileus alone: henceforth the em-
peror was to be known as the "believing" emperor (pistos Christo
en
basileus).58 Textsofthesameperiodrefer oftentothe"Christ-loving"
emperor;59 andwhileearlieremperors also hadbeenthepiousservants
of God, as Justinianwas shownat Ravenna,60it was onlynow that
theywerewillingto giveup six hundredyearsof imperialtradition.
Certainlythe climatewas changingwithJustinII, who insertedthe
titleofChristas KingofKingsintotheliturgy61 and madeexplicitin
his own buildingprogramme thetwinconceptionsof theemperoras
the image of Christ and Christ as the rex regnantium.Corippus
represents Justin'saccessionas havingbeenforeshadowed in a dream
investiture by theVirgin, and Justin'swords echoed thesame theme:
56 Johnof Ephesus,Historiaecclesiastica,iii. 5. Justinbelievedthatthewordsof

abdication were being dictated to him by an angel; see Averil Cameron, "An
Emperor'sAbdication",Byzantinoslavica,xxxvii(1976), pp. 16I-7.
57Theophanes, Chronographia,i, p. 328. Theophanes elevates the emperor's
returnto thesphereof sacredhistoryby recallingthesix days of the Creation.
58 I. Shahid, "The Iranian Factor in ByzantiumduringtheReignof Heraclius",
Dumbarton Oaks Papers, xxvi (1972), pp. 295, 317-20, stressingthe religious
implicationsas againstearlierscholarswho had seen the change as relatingto the
defeatof Persia (Brehier,Bury)or as a finalrecognition ofGreekas thelanguageof
the state (Ostrogorsky).See now too G. Rosch, Onoma basileias: Studien zum
offiziellenGebrauch der Kaisertitel in spdtantikeund friihbyzantinischer Zeit
(ByzantinaVindobonensia,x, Vienna, 1978), p. 70.
59For example,see theanonymoushomilyon thedepositionoftheVirgin'srobeat
Blachernae(earlyseventhcentury)editedwithRussiantranslationby Ch. Loparev,
"Staroe svidetel'stvoo Polozhenii rizy Bogoroditsyvo Vlachernakhv novom
istolkovanii primenitel'no k nashestviiRusskikhna Vizantiiv 860 godu", Vizantiiskii
Vremennik, Loparev)and its
ii (1895), pp. 58 1-628, at p. 593. For thistext(hereafter
authorship, see notes76 and 84 below.
60 See E.
Kitzinger,ByzantineArt in theMaking (Cambridge,Mass., 1977), pp.
8iff.
61
GeorgiusCedrenus,Compendiumhistoriarum,i, p. 685; Breckenridge,The
NumismaticIconographyofJustinianII, p. 54.

"God gave me thekingdomand God has takenit away".62The self-
abasementin his speechof abdicationwouldhave been unthinkable
forJustinian.
Justin,too,providedthe new settingforthischangeof direction.
Above all, he initiatedthe buildingof a new throne-room in the
imperialpalace, the so-calledChrysotriklinos, or Golden Chamber,
hencefortha chief location for imperialceremonial.63 Above the
emperor'sthronewas the imageof Christ;thusspectatorscould see
theemperorseatedon his throneas a livingembodiment on earthof
Christin heaven,thetrueimagoChristi.64 Lateron,thethroneofthe
emperorcame to carrythe associationsof the throneof Christ;on
certain holy days such preciousreligioustokensas the image of
Edessa, theTrue Cross,theGospelbookweresolemnlyplacedupon
it.65If someofthebuildingand decorationoftheChrysotriklinos was
actuallycompletedby Justin'ssuccessor,TiberiusII, as is possible,
thatdoes notmuchmatter,forthedesignand decorationweresurely
conceivedas a whole.Whatis important is thatduringthesecrucial
years of development, imperialceremonyreceiveda new physical
settingwhosewholeconceptionand decorexpressedthe idea of the
emperorin his throne-room as a microcosmof God in heaven.The
roomitselfwas modellednoton previouspalace architecture, but on
ecclesiastical;its closestarchitectural
parallelsare churchesand its
pictorialdecorationconsistedof scenesfromthelifeofChrist.66
The emperorsknewhow to exploitthe visual image.The central
object in the Chrysotriklinos was inevitablythe imperialthrone,
probablyjustsucha lyre-backed throneas we see in thesixth-century
iconography of the enthroned Virgin.67So too, Justin'sown coins
heavilyemphasizethis quasi-religiousthemeof the enthronedem-
peror,indeed the enthronedemperorand empress,and Corippus
devotesa long and weightysectionin his panegyricto the religious
symbolism oftheimperialthrone.68 On thefamouscrosswhichJustin
and Sophia sent to Rome, bustsof the emperorand empresswere
62 JohnofEphesus,Historiaecclesiastica, iii. 5; TheophylactSimocatta,Historiae,
iii. I.
63See Lavin, "The House of the Lord", esp. pp. 22-3; Breckenridge,op. cit.,
pp. 54-5. I mustthankRobin Cormackfordiscussingthiswithme.
64
Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,ii. 425 ff.
65Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin,p. 34.
66See C. Mango, Art of the ByzantineEmpire,
3r2-1453 (Englewood Cliffs,
1972), p. I28. For the post-Iconoclasticdecorationof the Chrysotriklinos, see
AnthologiaPalatina, i. Io6 (givenin Mango, op. cit., p. I84). Architecturally the
throne-room belongswithcentralizedchurchesand has been described,thoughan
imperialbuilding,as of "criticalimportanceforthe futureof religiousart": Lavin,
op. cit.,p. 23.
67 See A. Cutler, Transfigurations:Studies in the
Dynamics of Byzantine
Iconography(University Park, Pa., 1975), pp. 5 ff.
68 W. Wroth, Coins in the British
ImperialByzantine Museum, 2 vols. (London,
1908), i, pp. 7 ff.;Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris, iii. 194-207.

PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 84
juxtaposedwiththeLamb ofGod.69The messageis alwaysthesame

-to drivehometheunderstanding oftheemperor'sspecialrelation-
shipwithGod, whichgiveshimhis earthlyruleand whichcannotbe
setaside.
III
ICONS AND MYTH-MAKING
If, then,theseemperorswerepreparedto providea new physical

settingfor theirenhancedceremonies,theywere equally ready to
enlistsupernatural The MotherofGod was thebestofall;
protectors.
thusJustinII alteredand refurbishedthemetropolitan churchesofthe
Virginat Blachernaeand Chalcoprateia,and providednewhousings
forthecity'srelics,herrobeand girdle.70 Leo I and his familyin the
fifthcenturyhad had themselvesdepictedin mosaic round an
enthronedVirginin the apse of the chapel of the Virgin'srobe at
Blachernae,and Justinianand Theodora were shownwithher on
embroidered curtainsin St. Sophia. But the late sixth-century em-
perors above all sponsored her cult in the city.71The Empress
Sophia's prayerto theVirginin Corippus'spanegyric,72 thefeastof
her Nativitynewlyintroducedby JustinII and above all thatof the
Koimesisof the Virginadoptedby Maurice demonstrated imperial
supportfor a growthin special attachmentto the Virginhardly
experiencedsince the Council of Ephesus.73We mustask, then,in
moredetailhowtheemperorsinvolvedthemselves in thecult.
A textrelatingto theyear619 allowsus to see how intimately the
Virgin'spositionin Constantinoplein theseyearswas connectedwith
theimperialsphereofactivity.In thatyeartheAvarswerethreatening
the outerwalls of the citynear the Virgin'schurchat Blachernae,
whichstilllay unprotected. On 5thJunetheEmperorHeracliussuf-
feredan ignominiousblow whenaftergoingin greatpomp and all
69 See Cameron,"The Early
ReligiousPoliciesof JustinII", pp. 56 ff.
de l'empirebyzantin,i pt. 3, Les egliseset
70 R. Janin,La geographieecclesiastique
les monasteres,2ndedn.(Paris, 1969),pp. I66 ff.,237 ff.The Virgin'srobeand girdle
in Constantinople:N. Baynes,"The FindingoftheVirgin'sRobe", in hisByzantine
Studies(London, 1955), pp. 240-7; AverilCameron,"The Virgin'sRobe: An Episode
in the History of Early Seventh-CenturyConstantinople" (forthcomingin
Byzantion).
71 See Averil Cameron, "The Cult of the Theotokos in Sixth-Century Con-
stantinople",Jl. Theol. Studies,new ser.,xxix(1978), pp. 79-108.
72 Corippus,In laudemlustiniminoris,ii. 52-69.
73 The standardstudyis by M. Jugie,La mortet l'assomptionde la Sainte Vierge
(Studi e Testi, cxiv, Rome, 1944); see also the excellentwork by A. Wenger,
L'assomptionde la TresSainte Viergedans la traditionbyzantinedu VIeau Xesiecle
(Archivesde l'orientchr6tien, featureis thesuddenness
v, Paris, 1955). The striking
withwhichthecultof theVirgin(and at thesame timedevotionto icons) springsto
the forefront of religiouslife; see VictorTurner and Edith Turner,Image and
Pilgrimagein ChristianCulture(New York, 1978), p. 150: "visionsappear at the
pointofmajorstressbetweencontrary culturesand theirmajordefinitionsofreality".

innocenceto meetthe Avar khagan at Heraclea, he had been am-
bushedand onlyjustmanagedto escape,carrying hiscrownunderhis
arm.74The AvarspursuedhimtotheverywallsofConstantinople and
wereevenable to stealimperialvestments and ecclesiasticalvessels.75
It seemedthatBlachernaeitselfwas in dangerand thatitstreasures
shouldbe removedforsafe-keeping. A contemporary text76tellshow
thecasketcontainingtherelicoftheVirgin'srobewas removedat the
sametimeas theothergoldand silvertreasuresofthechurch,keptin
St. Sophia forsafetyand thenformally restoredto Blachernaewhen
thedangerwas over- probablyon 2 July620. The description ofthis
depositionshowsthat the wondrousproperties of the Virgin'srobe,
and especiallyitsfunction as a palladiumforthecity,werethoroughly
establishedand familiarby thisdate77- beforethe morefamous
Avar siege of 626. The writertellsthe storyas an exemplarof the
Virgin'smarvellousprotectionof thecityas experiencedin his own
lifetime,and it ends witha prayerwhichbreathesthe sense of the
city'sdedicationtoher:"preserveyourgraceforyourowncity,and let
not the eyesof men again see the holychurchharmed,or thisyour
humblecitydeserted".78 The Virginsavedthecityin 619 as wellas in
626 - "turnawayall attacksfromit,makingitmanifest thatthecity
isfortified
byyourpower".79 The writeraskstheVirgin,"fountoflife,
treasury ofsalvation",to preservethecity,togivea peacefuland long
74
Nicephorus,Breviarium,pp. 12 ff.
75 Note thecombination.
76
Loparev; see note 59 above. See also Baynes, "The Findingof the Virgin's
Robe", p. 245; Wenger,op. cit., pp. ii I ff.(the best discussion).For an English
translationwithexplanatorynotes,see Cameron,"The Virgin'sRobe". J. L. Van
Dieten, Geschichteder Patriarchenvon Sergios I. bis Johannes VI., 6IO-7I5
(Amsterdam,972), p. 16 note54, ascribesthetextwithoutargumentto thecontext
of thesiegeof 626, but see Cameron,"The Virgin'sRobe".
77 For the
Virgin as urban patroness,see S. MacCormack, "Roma, Constan-
tinopolis,theEmperorand hisGenius",ClassicalQuart.,xxv(I 975), pp. 149-50,and
for city cults, see L. Cracco Ruggini, "The Ecclesiastical Historiesand Pagan
Historiography, Providenceand Miracles",Athenaeum,new ser.,iv (I977), p. I23
note 71. The valuable studyby the Turners,Image and Pilgrimagein Christian
Culture,has muchto sayon Marian cultfroman anthropological perspectivebutlike
manyMarian studiesis western-based and entirelyomitsthe Virgin'scult in Con-
stantinopleand the east. Curiously,it would seem,it is Gregoryof Tours who first
tells of the miraculouspowersof the Virgin'srobe in Constantinople:Gregoryof
Tours,In gloriamartyrum, i. 9 (M.G.H., Scriptorum rerumMerovingiarum, 4 vols.,
ed. W. Arndt,M. Bonnet and B. Krusch,Hanover, 1885-96,i pt. 2, p. 44); yetit
wouldbe wrongto underestimate thevalue ofhisevidencesinceit is clearthathe had
excellentsourcesforthelate sixth-century east: see AverilCameron,"The Byzantine
SourcesofGregoryofTours",Jl. Theol. Studies,newser.,xxvi(1975), pp. 421-6; N.
Baynes,reviewarticleinJl.RomanStudies,xix(1929), pp. 231 ff.The sourcesforthe
robeas a wonder-working relicare discussedbyC. Belting-Ihm, "Sub matristutela"
(Abhandlungender HeidelbergerAkademie der Wissenschaft,philosophische-
historische Klasse, Heidelberg,1976), but herdatingofthemaindevelopment to the
eighthcenturyis undoubtedlytoo late.
78 Loparev,pp. 592, 6Io (myitalics).
79Ibid., p. 6 I (myitalics).

reignto "our pious emperors",80 longlifeto theholypatriarch,and

answerstotheprayersofall thepeople.Nexttotheemphasisplacedon
theVirginas cityprotectress, themostunusualfeatureofthetextfor
thisdate is itspresentationoftheemperor.He is completely absorbed
intotheliturgicallifeofthecity.The decisionto removethetreasures
fromBlachernae was taken only when Heraclius had prayed in
anotherchurchoftheVirgin"proneon thegroundand dressedas an
ordinaryperson";81as always,hisprayeris accompaniedbytears,the
signofpiety.82 Whentheemperorheardthattheholyrelicitselfhad
been removedfromthechurch- whichhad not,strangely enough,
beentheintention - he ranoutsideingreatfear,threwhimself on the
groundand askedthepatriarchto decidewhatto do. In thedeposition
processionwhichfinally returnedtherelictoBlachernae,emperorand
patriarch walked together, clergyand
headinga lineofcivicofficials,
people; the patriarchcarriedthe relic in his arms and the whole
processionwas bathedin tears.83Of courseearlieremperorstoo had
takenpartin thedepositionofrelics.But nowoccasionssuchas these
standalone; whatis more,theyhave cometo bear thesole weightof
civicand imperialunity.
If,then,thedepositionof theVirgin'srobein 620 can standfora
change in the styleof imperialpublicbehaviour,the siege of Con-
stantinople changein termsoftheevolutionofa new
in 626 represents
mythology. The same writerwho recordedthedepositionof therobe
also wrotetheaddresscommemorating thevictoriousoutcomeof the
siege.84Reporting the exhortationof the patriarchSergius to the
peoplehe wrote:
no citycan be guardedunlessit is guardedby God; our enemiesattackus with
butwe willbe strengthened
cavalryand chariotsand a greatmultitude, in thename
of the Lord God. For the Lord Himselfwillfightforus, and theVirginMotherof
God willbe thedefenderof thecity.85
Whenhe setup theVirgin'spictureon theGoldenGate thepatriarch
addressedtheenemy:
the fightingis whollyagainst thesepictures,you foreignand devilishtroops.A
woman,the Motherof God, will quell all yourboldnessand boastingwithone
command,forshe is trulythe Motherof Him who drownedPharaoh withall his
armyin the Red Sea.86
80 Ibid., p. 6I ; theyare called pistoi basileis(see note 58 above). See also ibid.,
PP-593,599.
81Ibid., p. 594.
82 See note 31 above.
83 Loparev,pp. 598, 6oi ff.
84 For the authorship of both texts,see Wenger,L'assomptionde la Tres Sainte
Vierge,pp. 115 ff.;Barisic, "Le siege de Constantinople",p. 374; V. Vasilievskii,
"Avaria, a ne Russkie,Theodor,a ne Georgii",VizantiiskiiVremennik, iii (I896),
pp. 83-95.
85 Anon.Mai, p. 427.
86 Ibid.

The cityofConstantinople, the"eye oftheChristianfaith",was thus

justifiedin expectingtheprotection
ofGod and His Mother.Atevery
doubtfulmomentin thenextfewdaystheVirginwas there,fighting
forher city;everypart of the storydemonstrated her powerto the
inhabitantsand provedthe mysteriesof God's mercy.87Even the
retreatingand discomfited khagan admittedthat no one can fight
the
against Virgin.88
But themosttellingpassagein thewholetextis itsending,whenthe
authoraddressestheprophetIsaiah:
But you, wise Isaiah, as you prefiguredfor me when I began my speech the
deliveranceofthiscity,so nowalso setyourseal on mywordswithyourconclusion
and announcethegood newsof safetyand peace forthecityin thefuture."Thus
speakstheLordour God: I willdefendthiscityto save itforme and formyservant
David".89 For our emperoris a new David in his pietyto God and his clemency
towardshissubjects.AndtheLordwillcrownhimwithvictorieslikeDavid, and his
son who reignswithhim,90makinghim wise and peaceable like Solomon,and
bestowingon him and on his fatherpietyand orthodoxy. Ask this,prophet,from
the God of Solomonwho knowsno jealousy,and beseechthe Virgin,whomyou
foresawwiththeeyesofthemindto be trulytheMotherofGod,andproclaimedin
wordsofprophecy,91 to save thecityforeverand itspeople,who are sinners,but
who alwaystakerefugein God and theVirgin,fromage to age, Amen.92
The preciseeventsoftheyear626 arethussubsumedintosacredtime;
the Virginis fulfillingOld Testamentprophecy,theemperorshows
himselfanotherDavid.93Thoughin factHeracliuswas awayfromthe
cityduringthesiege,theauthoroftheaddressherebringshimto the
forefrontof his listeners'minds;stillabsenton campaignwhenthe
orationwas delivered, itis nonetheless
theemperor, notthepatriarch,
whooccupiesthemostprominent positionthatcouldbe accordedto a
humanin relationto thedivine.His function toenact
is unequivocally
87Ibid., pp. 429-34.
88Ibid., p. 434.
89Isaiah xxxvii.35.
90The youngConstantine,leftbehindin Constantinople:Anon.Mai, p. 425.
91Ibid.,p. 437. See Isaiah vii. 14: "Behold,a virginshallconceiveand beara son".
The homilyopenson thesame theme:
Isaiah the noblestof the prophetsspoke,seeingfarahead throughthe prophetic
graceoftheHoly Spiritthebeneficence ofGod theFather,thatHe wouldtakeflesh
as the Word of God and be born fromthe Virgin."Get thee up into the high
mountainto tellthegoodtidingstoZion .... (Isaiah xl. 9).
92 Anon. Mai, p.
437 (myitalics).
93Ibid., pp. 425, 428, 435, 437. Besides the emphaticconclusion,the image of
David as a modelforHeracliusis keptbeforethelistenersthroughout thehomily.Of
coursepreviousemperorshad been seen as David (see Dvornik,Early Christianand
ByzantinePoliticalPhilosophy,ii, pp. 797, 823), but thedevelopedtypologyof the
Byzantineemperoras David came only later: see the inscriptionof Basil I in the
Kainourgion,partoftheimperialpalace (see Mango,ArtoftheByzantineEmpire,p.
198, on VitaBasilii,ch. 89). Whether ornotthefamous"David plates"ofthereignof
Heraclius relatespecifically to the emperor- see Kitzinger,ByzantineArt in the
Making,p. 150; S. Spain Alexander,"Heraclius,ByzantineImperialIdeologyand
the David Plates", Speculum, lii (1977), pp. 217-37 - this textgives an exceptionally
emphaticand earlyliterarytreatment
of thetheme.

thetypology oftheOld Testament,and hisdefining are

characteristics
henceforth to be, in thewordsoftheaddress,pietyand orthodoxy.
The Virgin'scult,her robe and her icons,localizedin thecapital
city,werethusdrawnintotheimperialsphere.Was thisnotalso likely
to be true of othericons, whose cult, both in the capital and the
provinces,takesoffat thisprecisemomenttoo?
Respondingto a tendency tooverstressimperialexampleas a causa-
tivefactorin thestriking increasein devotionto iconsin thelatesixth
century,and reactingalso against the temptationto make Con-
stantinoplethekeyto all elseintheempire,PeterBrownoffers instead
a seductivegeneralanalysisof the rise of icons in social and psy-
chologicalterms.94They representfor him signs of a centrifugal
tendencyin theempire,and expresstheneedforlocal and individual
attachments, as wellas thecollectiveloyaltiesofindividualprovincial
towns.The fateoftheiconis thuspartofthestoryofthelateantique
city.95Now while it is surelytrue that imperialsponsorshipcould
hardlyby itselfgo far towardsexplainingthe vast increasein icon
worshipfromthe late sixthcenturyonwards,I suspectnonetheless
thatwe maystillbe ledtoa moresympathetic viewofimperialinvolve-
mentthanthisbrilliantanalysiswouldpermit.
Such public and integrating ceremoniesas the depositionof the
Virgin'srobe in 620, or the greatthanksgiving ceremonyafterthe
Avarsiege,whenon 7 August627 theAkathistos hymnwas solemnly
performed withits newlycomposedprefaceproclaiming thedeedsof
thewarrior-Virgin,96 gave thecultof theVirgina specialpositionin
themythology of thecapitalcity.The same could be trueof certain
publicicons; in factthecultoftheVirginwas itselfnowexpressedas
muchbyiconsas bytherelicswhichthecityhad longpossessed.In 626
herpicturewas placedon thecitygateand paradedroundthewalls,97
and as we have seen,her iconsthemselves werefeltin someway to
have broughtabout the victory.In 6io Heraclius'svictoryoverthe
tyrantPhocashad also beenattributed to theprotectionofpicturesof
theVirgin.98 But in 626 theVirgin'siconswereflankedbypicturesof
Christ.The patriarchcarriedroundthewallsnotonlya likenessofthe
94 Brown,"A Dark-AgeCrisis".
8, 2 I.
95 Ibid., pp.
96See p. 6 above.
97Anon.Mai, p. 427. The bestdiscussionoftheconfusedsourcesfortheiconsused
in thissiegeis stillthatbyA. Pertusi,GiorgiodiPisidia: Poemi,I (Studia patristicaet
byzantina,vii, Ettal, 1960), p. 143; see also E. Von Dobschiitz,Christusbilder:
Untersuchungen zur christlichenLegende (Texte und Untersuchungen, iii,Leipzig,
1899), pp. 52 ff.,128 ff.;Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin,pp. 31 ff.;Van Dieten,
GeschichtederPatriarchen,p. 15 note49; Georgeof Pisidia beginshis poemon the
siegewiththecontention thata pictureoftheMotherofGod willtellus all we needto
know:Georgeof Pisidia,BellumAvaricum,I-9.
98 Georgeof Pisidia,Heraclias, ii. I4; Theophanes,Chronographia, i, p. 298. See
Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin,p. 35.

Virginand Childbutalso an acheiropoietos iconofChrist.99 Whenthe

EmperorHeracliushad leftforthewarinPersiain 622 - a traumatic
moment,forthepeopleofConstantinople wereaccustomedto having
theiremperorwiththemin thecity- he heldin hishandsthefamous
Camuliana imageofChrist,butcommitted his familyand hiscityto
theprotection of theVirgin.100
In the contextof Constantinopleit is not iconswhichcome first,
in isolation.Rather,thisuse of icons is secondaryto, and itselfex-
presses,a growingconvictionof thespecialprotection of thecityby
God and theVirgin.The idea ofConstantinople as the"God-guarded
city"makesitsfirstappearanceprecisely in theseyears,101and itwas a
conceptionwhichwas to last as longas thecityitself.It was natural
thatimagesof Christand the Virginwould finda centralplace on
publicoccasionswhenthecity'sverylifewas at stake,and naturaltoo
thattheseoccasionswouldbe simultaneously religiousand imperial.
Andificonswereseento be thusefficacious in thepreservation ofthe
capital,how likelytheywereto performthe same servicesin other
cities,notnecessarilyin oppositionto or reactionagainstthefailureof
centralgovernment. Icons,in otherwords,couldbe powerful symbols
ofintegration.
Beforethegreatsiegeof626, withitsconcentration on thepowerof
theVirgin,we findtheemperorsof thisperiodturning, likeeveryone
else,to thenewiconsof Christ"not made withhumanhands". The
chiefofthese,theCamulianaimage,firstknownin Syriain the55os,
was brought to Constantinople as early as 574.102 By the reign of
Mauriceat theendofthesixthcenturyitwas beingcarriedintobattle
by the emperor's kinsman, the general Philippicus,and soon
afterwardsused again by his successor,Priscus.103 Thus Andre
Grabar argued that these icons came into being preciselyin the
militarycontextof the Byzantinewars withPersia in the late sixth
century.104But thatis to take too narrowa view.The use of these
iconson thefieldofbattlewas ratheranotherofthewaysin whichthe
sixth-century
emperors associatedthemselveswitha religiousdevelop-
mentalreadyunderway.Althoughwe have no testimony to theother
99Anon.Mai, p. 428.
100GeorgeofPisidia,BellumPersicum,i. 139 ff.(clearlya Christ-icon,notan icon
of theVirgin);Anon.Mai, pp. 424, 425.
101Corippus,In laudemIustiniminoris,iii. 333; seeN. Baynes,"The
Supernatural
Defendersof Constantinople",in his ByzantineStudies,pp. 248-60.
102F. J. Hamilton and E. W. Brooks, The Syriac Chronicleknownas that
of
Zachariah ofMytilene(London, 899), p. 321. See Von Dobschiitz,op. cit.,pp. 40 ff.
Its arrival in Constantinople:Georgius Cedrenus, Compendiumhistoriarum,i,
p. 685; see Kitzinger,"The Cult of Images in the PeriodbeforeIconoclasm",pp.
125 ff.
103TheophylactSimocatta,Historiae,ii.
3. 4; I .I ff.
104Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin,pp. ff.Grabar wouldsee thisas
31 partof a
Constantinian"revival" (that is, the icon takes on the role of the labarum,the
ChristianstandardofConstantine).

greatacheiropoietosof the period,the image of Edessa, beforethe

590s,ittoomayhaveexistedearlier,in ornear544.105Like theVirgin
in thesiegeof Constantinople in 626 thisimagewas believedto have
saveditscityfromthePersiansin 544, and whether or notthiscan be
provedto havebeena contemporary belief(I thinkitmusthavebeen,
despiteProcopius'ssilence)106theveryfactthattheEdessenesheldto
itas oneoftheirmostpreciousarticlesoffaithduringtheyearsthatwe
are considering provesthatthefunctionand importanceof iconsin
focusingcity patriotismmightbe much the same in capital and
provincesalike.
We should not seek too exclusivean explanation.The warrior-
maidenwas farfrombeingtheonlyaspectunderwhichtheVirginwas
honouredin late sixth-century Constantinople, nor was it onlycon-
nectedwiththe siegeof 626. On seals,forinstance,she had already
takenovertheassociationsofthepagan Victorywhichhad preceded
her.107And indeedicons mustoftenhave served(in Constantinople
too) to channelprivateand local attachments. But thehistoryof the
imperialcapitalin thelate sixthand earlyseventhcenturiesshowsus
withtotalclarityhow bothiconsand cultscould themselves become
thefocusofurbanidentity, whichin thisvitalcase cametoexpressnot
merelyan urbanbut also an imperialconsensus.
IV
A "SIMPLIFICATION OF CULTURE"?
Icons,then,couldwellbe expressive ofthesenseofculturalintegra-

tionwhichI see as takingoverat theendofthesixthcentury. Another
manifestation ofthesameimpulsecouldbe seenin literature. For the
divisionof literarygenresinto "classical" and "ecclesiastical"still
observed,thoughsometimesindeedwitheffort and difficulty,
under
105 Firstmentioned in the59os byEvagrius,Historiaecclesiastica,ed. J.Bidez and
L. Parmentier(London, 1898; repr. Amsterdam,I964), iv. 27. See Von Dob-
schiitz,op. cit.,pp. 102 ff.;S. Runciman,"Some Remarkson theImage ofEdessa",
Cambridge Hist. JI., iii (I93I), pp. 238-52; M. Mundell, "MonophysiteChurch
Decoration",in A. A. Bryerand J.Herrin(eds.),Iconoclasm(Birmingham,1977),p.
65. Many mysteriessurroundthe early historyof this icon, whichseems to have
originatedas a painting,and was onlylaterheldto be a clothbearingtheimprintof
Christ'sface.
106ProcopiusdescribesthePersianattackon Edessa in Wars,ii. 26-7,butdoesnot
mentiontheicon. Crucial foritsdateis thesixth-or seventh-century Syriachymnon
the churchof Edessa mentioningthe image: see A. Grabar, "Le temoignaged'une
hymnesyriaquesur1'architecture de le cathedraled'Edesseau VIesiecleetsurla sym-
bolique de 1'edificechretien",Cahiers archeologiques,ii (1947), pp. 41-67. For an
Englishtranslation,see Mango,Art of theByzantineEmpire,pp. 57 ff.
107 Grabar,L'iconoclasmebyzantin,p.
35. For victorysymbolismappliedto the
Virgin,see Frolow,"La dedicace de Constantinopledans la traditionbyzantine",
Pp. 98-9.

Justinian, nowbrokedown,as the"Roman" sideofimperialideology

fellaway. Fromnowon - notwithoutdiscomfort at first,naturally
-it becamemorenormalforliterary worksofthehighestlevel,even
politicalhistoryand panegyric,to expressthe Christianmodes of
thoughtwhichmayhave been mattersofdailyexperiencebut which
had untilnowbeenvirtuallyexcludedfromclassicizingliterature.108
Whatare thereasonsforthischange?Whyshouldit havetakenplace
preciselyat thistime?
One approachis to see thisdevelopment in termsofthedefeatofthe
educatedelitebythetastesofthemasses- "populardevotion"in the
case of religiousmatters,and "simplification" as appliedto literary
culture.109It is thentempting to depicttheemperorsofthelate sixth
centuryas "givingway",or at leastas responding, to thewishesofthe
populace at large, while it is furtherimpliedthat the visual, and
therefore "direct"symbol,suchas theicon,whichcouldappeal to all
equally, replaced the exclusive literaryculture of the classical
period.110
Such an explanationhas themeritofexplainingin simpletermsa
complexsetofchanges.But we musttakecare.The courtliterature of
the reign of Heraclius, though certainlydifferent fromthat of
Justinian,is veryfar fromsimple.Its chiefpractitioners, the poet-
panegyristGeorgeof Pisidia and the historianTheophylactSimo-
catta,are ifanything chieflyknownfortheirlearnedobscurity.111 The
108 See, for
example,AverilCameron,Agathias(Oxford,1970), pp. 136 ff.Many
goodpointersto theliterature oftheperiodare tobe foundin G. L. Kustas,Studiesin
ByzantineRhetoric(Thessaloniki,1973), and see nowR. Browning,"The Language
of ByzantineLiterature",in S. Vryonis,Jr.(ed.), Byzantinakai Metabyzantina,i,
The "Past" in Medieval and Modern GreekCulture(Malibu, I978), pp. 103-33.
109Brown,The Worldof Late Antiquity,pp. 174, I80 ff.,184: a "sea-change"
which affectedthe whole structureof society.Though Brown himselfhas since
criticizedappeals to theconceptof"popularbeliefs"- notablyin his"The Rise and
Functionof the Holy Man in Late Antiquity", Jl. Roman Studies,lxi (197I), p. 8 ,
and hisLearningand Imagination(InauguralLecture,Roy. HollowayCollege,May
1977, London, 1977) - one may perhapsstill take these influentialpages as an
emphaticstatementof a viewstillwidelycurrent.
o10Brown,The Worldof Late Antiquity,pp. I8I, 184. Kitzinger,"The Cult of
Images in the Period beforeIconoclasm",pp. I 19 ff.,has writtenof the emperors
reactingto animisticideas "carriedby the broad masses of the people", a kindof
"groundswell".But thereis no reasonforsupposingthatonlyone class ofsocietywas
affected.
111For GeorgeofPisidia,see Pertusi,GeorgiodiPisidia:Poemi,I; forTheophylact
Simocatta,see 0. Veh, Untersuchungen zu dem byzantinischen HistorikerTheo-
phylaktosSimokattes (Wissenschaftliche Beilage zum JahresberichtI956-7 des
humanistischesGymnasiumsFiirth im Bayern, Fiirth im Bayern, 1957); Z. V.
Udal'tsova, "K voprosu o mirovozzreniivizantiiskogoistorikaVII v. Feofilakta
Simokatty",Zbornikradova vizantoloshkoginstituta,xi (I968), pp. 29-45; Z. V.
Udal'tsova, "Le monde vu par les historiensbyzantinsdu IVe au VIIe si&cle",
Byzantinoslavica,xxxiii(I972), pp. I93 ff.;Z. V. Udal'tsova,Ideino-politicheskaya
bor'ba v rannei Vizantiipo dannymistorikovIV-VII vv. (Moscow, I974). There is
no overallstudyoftheliterature ofthereignofHeraclius.

changemaynotlie onlyin a loss of skill:thesewritersactuallyhad a

different aim. Both Georgeand Theophylact,in theirclumsyway,
reached a synthesisof contemporary Christianthinkingand their
classicalliterary
heritagewhich was out ofthequestionforProcopius
and stilltoo difficult
forAgathiaswritingin the 57os. In the reign
of Justinian,the hymn-writer Romanosfeltthe cleavage so deeply
that he could attack the classics and proclaim the victoryof
the "Galilaeans";112"Nazareth confoundsCorinth"."3 Georgeof
Pisidia,on theotherhand,thougha deaconof St. Sophia,can evoke
Demostheneswithouta qualm."4 In the late sixth-century west,
Gregoryof Tours shared Romanos's attitude."1But Theophylact
feelsable to prefacea full-scalepoliticalhistorywitha philosophical
dialoguecreditinghis patron,thepatriarchSergius,withtherevival
of theology."6Thus we must not interpretthe demiseof secular
historiography as a separategenreafterTheophylactin termsof a
take-overof the educatedelite by the masses(forwhom"monkish
chronicles"are said to have been intended),stillless in relationto a
schematizedtransitionfroman elitist,aristocratic systemto feudal-
ism;117rather,it was part of a deeperand morecompleximpulse
towardsintegration perceptiblealreadyinthelatesixthcentury.118By
112See P. Maas, "Die Chronologieder Hymnendes Romanos", Byzantinische
Zeitschrift,xv (I906), pp. 2I-2; E. Topping, "The ApostlePeter, Justinianand
RomanostheMelodist",Byzantineand Modern GreekStudies,ii (1976), pp. 12 ff.
113Romanos,carm. 3I (ed. P. Maas and C. A. Trypanis,Sancti Romani Melodi
Cantica, Cantica genuina,Oxford,1963, p. 247): Christianteachingdefeatspagan
learning.SimilarlyChristianrhetoricianswould congratulatethemselveson their
faithand orthodoxyin contrastto pagan writers:G. L. Kustas, "The Functionand
EvolutionofByzantineRhetoric",Viator,i (1970), pp. 55-73.Grosdidierde Matons
is rightto pointout thatpassageslike thisin Romanosdo notshowignoranceofthe
classicsbut rathera deliberatedisdain:Grosdidierde Matons,Romanosle Melode,
p. 84. Browningalso emphasizesthatthesuccessof Romanos'shymnsat all social
levels indicatesa changed idea of what constitutesacceptableliteraryexpression:
Browning,"The Language of ByzantineLiterature",p. I113.
114Georgeof Pisidia,BellumPersicum,ii. I-4.
115Gregoryof Tours, In gloria martyrum(M.G.H., ScriptoresrerumMero-
vingiarum, i pt. 2, preface);see W. C. McDermott,"The WorldofGregoryofTours",
in E. Peters(ed.), Monks,Bishopsand Pagans: ChristianCulturein Gaul and Italy,
500-700 (Philadelphia,1975), pp. I 17 ff.,130 ff.
116See the discussionby P. Lemerle,Le premierhumanismebyzantin(Paris,
197I), pp. 78-9. Anotherexample of literarypreciositycombinedwith pietistic
attitudesis to be found in the anacreonticpoems of Sophronius,patriarchof
Jerusalem:see Chadwick,"JohnMoschusand his FriendSophroniusthe Sophist".
117 On Malalas as a
"popular" writer,see Z. V. Udal'tsova, "La chroniquede
Jean Malalas dans la Russie de Kiev", Byzantion,xxxv (1965), pp. 575-91. And
against: H.-G. Beck, "Zur byzantinischenMonchschronik",in C. Bauer (ed.),
Speculum historiale(Munich, 1965), pp. I88-97. The fact that some workswere
writtenin a Greek that approximatedto the spokenlanguage (see Browning,op.
cit.,p. I 12) doesnotin itselfprovethattheywereaimedat "themasses".
118 The worksof the two
major ecclesiasticalhistoriansof the period,Johnof
Ephesus and EvagriusScholasticus,clearlyshowthebreakingdownof barriersfor-
merlystrictly observedbetweengenres.Neitherhas receiveda modernstudy,butsee
(cont. on p. 27)

contrastJustinian'sreignpresentsagonisticfeaturesof cultureand
societywhichby the latterpart of the centurywereon the way to
resolution.
It has beensuggestedthattheprocessof"simplification" followed
on fromthe demiseof the classicallyeducatedelitewhichup to the
timeofJustinian stillfilledgovernment
and provincialadministrative
positions"19 - if no elite,then a vacuum,to be filledby popular
values. It is assumedthat the later writerswere simplyunable to
matchup to earlierclassicizingstandards.But it wouldbe betterto
approachthe questionmorepositively.In the firstplace, it is by no
means clear that a classical educationdid becomesignificantly less
availablebytheendofthecentury, evenallowingfortheconsiderable
impactof Justinian'smeasuresagainstpagans and intellectuals.120
Recentscholarshiptendsto argue forthe continuanceof classical
teachingin Constantinople,and to denythe existenceas yet of a
specialpatriarchalschooloftheology;'2butevenifsucha schooldid
already exist,it is clear enough that it taughtsecular as well as
theologicalsubjects,and thatbothkindsof teachingwenton in the
same place, or at least in the same area of the city.122
Justas the
ti)it' I I S cOntt.)
P. Allen,"Evagrius Scholasticusthe Church Historian" (Univ. of OxfordD.Phil.
thesis, 1977). It is as misleadingto treat secular historianswithoutreferenceto
ecclesiastical(Udal'tsova) as to neglectJohnof Ephesusbecause he wrotein Syriac
(F. Tinnefeld,Kategoriender Kaiserkritikin der byzantinischen Historiographie,
Munich, 197 ). For ecclesiasticalhistory,see now F. Winkelmann,"Die Kirchen-
geschichtswerke im ostromischen Reich", Byzantinoslavica,xxxvii(1976), pp. I ff.,
172 ff.
119Brown,The WorldofLate Antiquity,pp. I 56, I 80 ff.I am notsurewhatcould
be meantby Brown'sreference to "increasedprofessionalization"
in administration
(ibid.,p. 156): if anything,thisvery"scholar-gentry" itselfconsistedofprofessional
civilservants,no moreamateurthantheOxfordGreatsmenwho used to fillthebest
postsin theBritishForeignOffice.For thesixth-century bureaucracy,see T. Carney,
Bureaucracyin TraditionalSociety(Lawrence,Kan., 1971); C. N. Tsirpanlis,"John
Lyduson the ImperialAdministration", Byzantion,xliv(1974), pp. 479-501.
120See Lemerle, op. cit., pp. 68-73; J. Irmscher,"Die geistigeSituation der
Intelligenzim ZeitalterJustinians",in F. Altheimand R. Stiehl(eds.),Die Araberin
deralten Welt,5 vols.(Berlin,1964-9),iv,pp. 334-62; and forthelatersixthcentury,
see I. Rochow,"Die Heidenprozesseunterden KaisernTiberiosII und Maurice", in
H. K6pstein and F. Winkelmann(eds.), Studien zum 7. Jahrhundertin Byzanz
(Berlin,1976), pp. 120-30.
121
Lemerle,op. cit.,pp. 85 ff.;similarlyH.-G. Beck, "Bildungund Theologieim
friihmittelalterlichen Byzanz", in P. Wirth (ed.), Polychronion.FestschriftF.
Ddlger (Heidelberg, 1966), pp. 72-81; P. Speck, Die kaiserlicheUniversitdtvon
Konstantinopel(Munich, 1974); P. Speck, review of Lemerle, op. cit., in By-
zantinischeZeitschrift, lxvii(1974), pp. 385-93.
122 R. Browning,"The Patriarchal School at Constantinoplein the Twelfth
Century",Byzantion,xxxii(i962), pp. 167 ff.Agathiasindicatesthatlectureson
theologicalsubjectswould naturallyhave been givenin and aroundthe royalstoa,
whereclassicalteachingtookplace: Agathias,Histories,ed. B. G. Niebuhr(C.S.H.B.,
Bonn, 1828), ii. 29. Theologicalbooksweresold theretoo: Zacharias Rhetor,Vie de
Severe,ed. M. Kugener(Patrologiaorientalis,ii pt. I, Paris, 1907), p. 8. It was also
thesceneoftheologicaldisputation:CyrilofScythopolis, VitaSabae, ed. E. Schwartz
(Leipzig, 1939), p. 176 (in 53I).

traditionalclassicizingliteraturecame to admit"non-classical"
thatis, religious- termsand subjectmatter,so the"classicalelite"
was itselftransformed. Even in thedaysofJustinian ithad beensome-
ofa
thing chimera, ifthetermimpliestheholdingofdistinct values.Of
thebureaucratswhocomposedcorrectGreekepigramsin themiddle
ofthesixthcentury, and werethuscertainly classicallyeducatedand
surelyan elite,someat leastwerereadyto admitChristianmaterialin
theirpoems,and it is to one of themthatwe owe one of our earliest
testimonies to thegrowingcultoficons.123 AlreadyunderJustinian it
is thebishops,notcivilofficials,whoare takingcontrolin thecitiesof
theempire,and withthegovernment's blessing.124Theyare theelite,
justas muchas thebureaucratsthemselves,125 and manyofthemmust
at thisperiodhave receiveda classicaleducation.By the late sixth
centurythe"elite"- thatis,thegoverning classoftheempire- was
an amalgamofthelay and theecclesiastical, in whichbothsideshad
learnedto be lessexclusivethantheymaypreviously havebeen.Only
when we beginto see the unifying social role of easternbishopsin
the late sixth centuryas clearlyas we do that of theirwestern
counterparts, and as forcefullyas we have been taughtto see the
123
Agathias,AnthologiaPalatina, i. 34, on whichsee AverilCameronand Alan
Cameron,"The 'Cycle' of Agathias",Ji. Hellenic Studies,lxxxvi(1966), pp. 6-25,
and "FurtherThoughtson the 'Cycle' of Agathias",Jl. Hellenic Studies, lxxxvii
(1967), p. 131; R. C. McCail, "The 'Cycle' ofAgathiasReconsidered", Ji. Hellenic
Studies, lxxxix (1969), pp. 87-96; Cameron, Agathias, pp. 12 ff.; C. Mango,
ByzantineLiteratureas a DistortingMirror(Inaugural Lecture,Univ. of Oxford,
Oxford,1974), pp. 6 ff.("highbrow"literaturein the sixthcentury).B. Baldwin,
"Four Problemsin Agathias",ByzantinischeZeitschrift, lxx (1977), pp. 295 ff.,esp.
pp. 298 ff.,would seem to put back the publicationof the Cycle to the reignof
Justinian, butleavesout ofaccountthepoemswhichspecifically refertoJustinII and
Sophia. For Christianityin the Cycle poems,see Cameron,Agathias,p. 5; R. C.
McCail, "The Erotic and AsceticPoetryof AgathiasScholasticus",Byzantion,xli
(1971), pp. 205-67; J. A. Madden,"MacedoniusConsul and Christianity", Mnemo-
syne,xxx(1 977), pp. 153-9.Thereis no pressingreasontothinkthatChristianpoems
wereexcludedfromtheCycle,eventhoughtheyhave becomedetachedin theextant
AnthologiaPalatina.
124 K. L.
Noethlichs,"Materialenzum Bischofsbildaus den spatantikenRechts-
quellen",Jahrbuch firAntikeund Christentum, xvi (1973), pp. 28-59; A. Hohlweg,
"Bischof und Stadtherr im friihen Byzanz", Jahrbuch furosterreichischen
Byzantinistik,xx (1971), pp. 51-62; F. Dolger, "Die friihbyzantinische und
byzantinischbeeinflusste Stadt", in his Paraspora (Ettal, 1961), pp. 107-39; J. L.
Boojamra,"ChristianPhilanthropia:A StudyofJustinian'sWelfarePolicyand the
Church",Buzantina,vii (1975), pp. 345 ff.;Brown,Relics and Social Status in the
Age of Gregoryof Tours,pp. 17 ff.
125 But littlehas
yetbeendone on thesocial backgroundor intellectualequipment
oftheclergyat thisdate.The followingare thebestguides:H.-G. Beck,"Kircheund
Klerusim staatlichenLeben von Byzanz", Revue desetudesbyzantines, xxiv(1966),
pp. 1-24; H.-G. Beck,"Die friihbyzantinische Kirche",in K. Baus etal., Die Reichs-
kirchenach Konstantinder Grosse,2 vols. (Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte, ed.
H. Jedin,ii, Freiburg, I973-5), ii, pp. 3-92. See also F. Winkelmann,"Kirche und
Gesellschaftin Byzanz vom Ende des 6. bis zum Beginndes 8. Jahrhunderts", Klio,
lix (1 977), pp. 477-89. For bishopsand clergywithinthesocialstructure oftowns,see
Dolger, op. cit.,pp. I07-39.

"outsider"or marginalrole of holymen,shall we realize that the
culturalchangesoftheperiodcouldhavea positive,evena revitalizing
side.
V
REASONS AND EXPLANATIONS
"Icons in the late sixth and seventhcenturies",we are told,

"expressedthe continuingneeds of the ancientcity".'26And the
greatestof the citiesof the empirewas Constantinople.So too the
Virgin'scult,as ittookshapein Constantinople, was an urbancult,127
shaped in the imaginationon the patternof the defenceof the city
againstinvaders.She takespossessionofthecitywallswithhericon;
she "walls" thecitywithherpower;128 shedefendsitwithherrobe;129
after626 herownchurchofBlachernaewas walledin witha realwall
ofdefence.130The wallsarebothrealandpsychological, forwecan see
that forthe late sixth-centuryemperorsculturalintegrationwas a
formof defence.If theydefinedtheirown positionand localizedit in
the city by markingout its urban space in their growingand
regularizedceremonial,above all iftheybroughttheimperialand the
liturgicalspherescloser and closertogether,therewas the greatest
hopeforstrength In thiscontexticonswereimportant:
andcontinuity.
thebringingoftheCamulianaimageto Constantinople was an essen-
tial stepfora capitalcitywhich,lackingtheapostolicassociationas
wellas theintellectual oftheothergreateasterncities,was
traditions
in urgentneedof urbansymbolsof itsown.13
So, ratherthan interpreting the late sixthcenturyas a timeof
centralweaknessand generalinsecurity,132 we mightlookforpositive
126 Brown,"A
Dark-AgeCrisis",p. 21.
127 Justas the Virgincan be the protectress of a villagein modernSpain: W. A.
Christian,Jr.,Person and God in a Spanish Valley(New York, 1972), p. I75. Her
function,in cityor in village,is to "bind thepeopletogether".
128Loparev,p. 611.
129 In theAkathistos
hymnshe is called the"shelteroftheworld",an idea greatly
developed in later centuries.In the words of Josephthe Hymnographer(ninth
century)her robe is a "solid rampart"protectingthe "queen of cities": Josephthe
Hymnographer, Mariale (P.G., cv, Paris, I862, col. o009). By this timeshe was
believedto have walkedthewallsofthecityas earlyas thefifth century:Belting-Ihm,
"Sub matristutela",pp. 39 ff.
130 ChroniconPaschale, i, p.
726.
131 For the slow
developmentof Constantinopleas a citywithitsown ideological
strength, see G. Dagron,Naissance d'une capitale (Paris, 1974). For the late sixth-
and early seventh-century sense of the localizationof the emperorin his city,see
Corippus,In laudemlustiniminoris,i. 181, urbiset orbis.. . cura ("his care forthe
cityand theworld"- ofJustinian);ibid.,ii. 149,luxalterafulsitab urbe("a second
sun shonefromthecity"- JustinII raisedon a shieldat his inauguration);Anon.
Mai, p. 424 (Heracliuscommendshiscityto God and theVirgin);ibid.,p. 425 (a wise
kingis thefoundationof his people and his city).
132 Recentlyreiteratedin Kitzinger,ByzantineArt in theMaking,p. io5.

factors,notonlyin Constantinople, butelsewhere too.Whatholdsfor

thelaterseventhcentury, afterdecadesofinvasion,maynot,afterall,
holdforthesixth,nordoes thefactthattheeighth-century emperors
saw devotionto iconsas a threatto theircentralauthoritynecessarily
meanthatConstantinople had alreadylostitsholdon thecitiesin the
sixthcentury.'33
It maythenbe morefruitful to viewlate sixth-and earlyseventh-
centurycitiesin a differentway. The evidenceforthisvast topicis
veryfarfrombeingclear,stilllesscomplete.134 In someareasexternal
factorscan easily be blamed for a collapse of urban life. Thus in
Greecedisasterstruckin the late sixthcenturyin the shape of Slav
invasions,135whilein Asia Minor the lifeof manyearlyByzantine
urbancentreswas dramatically curtailedbythePersianinvasionsof
the earlyseventhcentury.136 But thereare someindicationsthatthe
shape of urban life was alreadychangingfromwithin.The open
spacesand streetsoftheclassicalcitywerebecomingotiose,and were
increasinglyoverlaidbyprivatedwellings.Oftenthestoneofclassical
buildingsnow no longerused was takenand used in thebuildingof
133 Brown,"A
Dark-AgeCrisis". Approved,forexample,by S. P. Brock,in Bryer
and Herrin(eds.), Iconoclasm,p. 57; forcriticalreactions,however,see Haldon,
"Some Remarkson the Backgroundto the IconoclasticControversy";S. Gero,
"Noteson ByzantineIconoclasmin theEighthCentury",Byzantion,xlv(I974), pp.
23 ff.;P. Henry,"Whatwas theIconoclastControversy all about?",ChurchHistory,
xlv (1976), pp. i6 ff.
134 Debate has movedfromthe seventh-century cities- wherethe over-strong
thesisofruptureproposedbyA. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantiiskiegorodav VII-XI vekakh",
Sovetskayaarkheologiya,xxi (1954), pp. 164-83,was somewhattoneddownsubse-
quently,notablyby G. Ostrogorsky, "ByzantineCities in the Early Middle Ages",
DumbartonOaks Papers,xiii(1 959), pp. 47-66- to thelatesixth-century situation.
D. Claude, Die byzantinische Stadt im 6. Jahrhundert (ByzantinischesArchiv,xiii,
Munich, 1969), and Foss, "The Persiansin Asia Minorand the End of Antiquity",
"The Fall ofSardis in 616" and "Archaeologyand the'TwentyCities' ofByzantine
Asia", stresscontinuityup to the earlyseventhcentury.But literaryevidencefor
plague,earthquakeand invasiontallieswitharchaeologicalevidenceindicatingcon-
siderablechangebeforethe end of thesixthcentury.Final judgementsare farfrom
possibleyet,but see Patlagean,Pauvreteeconomiqueetpauvretesociale,pp. 301 ff.;
G. L. Kurbatov,Osnovnieproblemyvnutrennegorazvitiyavizantiiskogogoroda
(Leningrad,197 ). Clearlythe internallogic of Byzantinetownsand the natureof
theelitethatran themare interconnected.
135 HomerA. Thompson,"Athenian
Twilight:A.D. 267-600",Jl.RomanStudies,
xlix (1959), pp. 61-72; Alison Frantz, "From Paganism to Christianityin the
Temples of Athens",Dumbarton Oaks Papers, xix (1965), pp. I85-206; D. M.
Metcalf,"The Slavonic Threat to Greece circa 580: Some EvidencefromAthens",
Hesperia,xxxi(I962), pp. 134-57;S. Hood, "Isles ofRefugein theEarlyByzantine
Period",Ann.Brit.School Athens,lxv (1970), pp. 37-45.
136 See the variousworksof Clive Foss alreadycited,and also hisByzantineand
Turkish Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1976), and his "Late Antique and Early
ByzantineAnkara",DumbartonOaks Papers,xxxi(1977), pp. 29-87. Foss's survey,
"Archaeologyand the 'TwentyCities' of ByzantineAsia", in factprovidesmuch
evidenceto counterhis generalthesis(moststrongly expressedin "The Persiansin
Asia Minorand the End of Antiquity")of continuity up to thePersianinvasions.

defences.'37The veryconfiguration ofByzantineurbanlifewas shift-
ing. The newerpatternreplacingthe open unfortified sites of the
Romanperiodconsistedof a fortified kastronofsomekind,a central
churchand privatehousing,all protectedby securewalls,forwhich
stonefromdisusedclassicalbuildingslayreadytobe used.138It was an
urbanorganizationthatrecognizedthenewimportance ofbishops,139
the centralityof the churchin the publiclifeof the town,and the
tendencyof publicceremonialto becomereligiousceremonial.Nor
had thesesocial changesonlybegun in the latersixthcentury,for
Procopius,the "sceptic",givesus enoughexamplesof thelead taken
by small-townbishopsin timeof war, especiallytheirprocessional
rallieswithrelicsor icons,to showthatthebehaviourofthepatriarch
Sergius in the siege of Constantinoplein 626 was merelythe
equivalentof what bishops had long been doing in beleaguered
provincialtowns.140 The institutionalchurchroseto theoccasionin
thetowns,tookthelead, and usediconsand relicstofocustheloyalty
of thepopulation.141
It is temptingto see theshiftin urbanlifetowardstheecclesiastical
and the defensiveas the productof gloomand anxiety.ErnstKit-
zingerwritesin suchtermsaboutcontemporary Byzantineart: "still
and lonelyfigures,gauntand remote";"a chillhas descended".'42Yet
137 See Foss,

"Archaeologyand the'TwentyCities'ofByzantineAsia", pp. 472 ff.;
excavationsat Anemuriumshow a declinein the use of public buildingsfromthe
secondhalfofthesixthcentury:JamesRussell,"Excavationsat Anemurium,I976",
ClassicalNews and Views,xxi(1977), pp. 5-14; JamesRussell,"Anemurium,1976",
Anatolian Studies, xxvii (I977), pp. 25-9. For Byzantineshops and colonnaded
streets,see Foss, Byzantineand TurkishSardis, pp. I6, 42 ff.;Claude, op. cit.,pp.
60-8.
138 See, for
example,J. M. Cook, The Troad (Oxford,1973), pp. 371 ff.,383 (a
move to the countryside);G. Gomolka, "Bemerkungenzur Situation der spat-
antikenStadt und Siedlungenin Nordbulgarien und ihrenWeiterleben am Ende des
6. Jahrhunderts", in K6psteinand Winkelmann(eds.),Studienzum 7. Jahrhundert
in Byzanz, pp. 35-42; Claude, op. cit.,pp. 45 ff.,72 ff.,85 ff.;Patlagean,op. cit.,pp.
231 ff.
139 See, for
example,Procopius,Wars, ii. 6. 17. For anothersuch ecclesiastical
activist,see G. Downey,"Ephraemius,Patriarchof Antioch",ChurchHistory,vii
(1938), PP. 364-70.
140 For
example, Procopius, Wars, ii. I I. 14 ff.; see ibid., i. 7. 5-I I; ii. 13. I 3; 20. 1;
30.3. Procopiusactuallygivesa ratherlargeamountofspace to priestsand holymen
in thePersianwar,despitehissupposed"rationalism",so thatI prefertobelievethat
whenhe failstomentiontheimageofEdessa in 544 (ibid.,i. 26-7) itis becausehe does
notknowofit,notbecausehe was tryingto disinfect hisnarrativeofsuchmanifesta-
tions(impliedby Runciman,"Some Remarkson theImage of Edessa", p. 244).
141 Whereasin PeterBrown's
analysisthepulloficonstendstobe seenas operating
outside,or against,theinstitutional
church:Brown,"A Dark-AgeCrisis",pp. 8, 22.
Thus iconstakeoverthe "marginal"functionsof holymen: ibid.,pp. 12 ff.,14-15.
142
Kitzinger,ByzantineArt in the Making, pp. I03 ff.SimilarlyPeter Brown
refersto "anxious dependenceon an invisibleVirgin":Brown,"A Dark-AgeCrisis",
p. 29. But she was verymuchvisible,in heromnipresenticons,and themoodwas (at
thispoint)one ofconfidence.

late sixth-century art itselfhas anotherside,and is thesubjectof as

muchdisputeamongscholarsas is urbanismin the same period.143
Archaeologists are now learningto resistthe hastyassumptionthat
whenthe earlyByzantinesused stones- even inscribedstones
fromclassical buildingsin theirown churchesand fortifications it
mustindicate"decline".'44The pictureis varied and complex.In
agrarian and militaryhistorythe most extremedislocationof
Byzantinesocietyoccurredin the seventhratherthan the sixth
century,and recentadministrative studiestendto put emphasison
continuity up to theseventhcenturyas wellas rupture.'45 Late sixth-
century authors complain about neglect,but do notsuggestthatthey
feltthesystemas a wholewas breakingdown;indeedtheyexpecttheir
emperorsto continuethemilitaristic patternsetbyJustinian,'46 and
bothemperorsand writersstillhold to thefundamentally optimistic
view that earthlysuccesswould be the guaranteedrewardof right
ideologyin a God-protected empire.'47Yet recentexperienceseemed
to suggestthatsomething was missing.Thisconsciousness calledforth
notso mucha last-ditchattemptto wardoffchaos as a mentalread-
justment.This tookseveraldifferent formsand was a wayofcoping
with the general sense of dissatisfaction in the face of economic
problemsand military neglectat the end of reign'48while
Justinian's
yetholdingon to the same basic principlesof imperialpoweras had
motivatedJustinian.Clearly,if successwas notforthcoming, it was
because God was not pleased; the logicalcourse,therefore, was for
everyone,but especiallythe emperor,as the head of the earthly
143 Not all art historianshave wantedto findin works(of which
contemporary
few are securelydated) signs of "decline" or, alternatively,
increasedspirituality.
Kitzingerhimselfhas provideda classic surveyindicatingthevarietyand theprob-
lems of the art of thisperiod:E. Kitzinger,"ByzantineArtin the Periodbetween
Justinianand Iconoclasm", in Berichte zum XI InternationalenByzantinisten-
Kongress (Munich, 1958). See also note 54 above, and Cameron, "The Artistic
PatronageofJustinII".
144Aboveall, thecase ofthenorthAfricantownsaftertheByzantinereconquestin
534 showsthatthereis a clearchangeofemphasisand use. For a surveyand further
bibliography, see N. Duval, "Etudes sur l'architecturechretiennenord-africaine",
MelangesEcole francaisede Rome, lxxxiv,Antiquite(1972), pp. 107I-2.
145 Haldon, "Some Remarkson the
Backgroundto theIconoclasticControversy";
W. E. Kaegi, Jr.,"Notes on HagiographicSources forInstitutionalChanges and
Continuitiesin the Early SeventhCentury",Buzantina, vii (1975), pp. 59 ff.For
Cappadocia, N. Thierrymakesa strongcase forcontinuity intotheseventhcentury:
N. Thierry,"Un problemede continuiteou de rupture:la Cappadoce entreRome,
Byzance et les Arabes", Comptesrendusde l'Academiedes Inscriptions(1977), pp.
98-144. We mustrememberthe wide varietyof urbanexperiencecoexistingat this
time:see Patlagean,Pauvreteeconomiqueetpauvretesociale,p. 233.
146 See Cameron, Agathias, pp.
124 ff.; Averil Cameron, "Early Byzantine
Kaiserkritik:Two Case Histories",Byzantineand ModernGreekStudies,iii (1977),
pp. I-I7.
147 Haldon, op. cit.,p. 165.
148 Theophanes, Chronographia,
i, pp. 234 ff.

hierarchy, to striveto makehis connectionwithGod stillcloserand
stillmorevisible.
The storyofConstantinople in thelate sixthcenturyis notthenso
muchat odds withthatof late sixth-century citiesgenerallyas might
appear. Indeed,in a sense,bothare continuations of a patternsetby
Justinian.For themassivechurch-building programme setin motion
by him and continued in someplacesby his successors meant thatfrom
nowon thegreatchurchofeach community wouldbe,evenmorethan
before,un thedtre a realfocusforthetownwhichcouldeven
spirituel,
rival the hippodromeforthe loyaltiesof thepopulation,and which
wouldprovidethesettingforurbanritual.149
CONCLUSION
But we began with the emperorsin Constantinopleand their

assumptionof a moreconsistentand moreovertlyreligiousrole.The
processwas underwayin thereignof JustinII, who notsurprisingly
also initiateda determined(thoughunsuccessful)effortto crush
religiousdissentin theshapeofMonophysitism. 5°Atthisstageitstill
seemed possible to crush the dangerouslycentrifugalpull which
Monophysitism certainlyexerted.If we look more closely at the
imperialsymbolsofthelatesixthand earlyseventhcenturiesitwillbe
clearat oncethattheyare,aboveall,symbolsofauthority. IfJustinian
had triedand hoped,Heracliussucceededin placingtheemperorat
the veryheartof the religiousas well as thepoliticalloyaltiesof his
subjects.As the PersianChosroesII in 626 appearedas the wicked
Holophernes,so the ByzantineHeracliusbecameDavid.15 In con-
temporaryminds the churchduringthe siege was Deborah van-
quishingSisara,thebattlein thewatersoftheGoldenHornthedrow-
ningoftheEgyptiansin theRed Sea, thepatriarchanotherMoses. A
modeof thoughtalreadystandardin religioustexts,152 and soon as
149 See
Patlagean,op. cit.,pp. 207 ff.For hippodromesin the sixthcentury,see
J. H. Humphrey,"Prolegomenato the Study of the Hippodromeat Caesarea
Maritima",Bull. Amer.Schools of OrientalResearch,ccxiii(1974), pp. 31 ff.
150See Cameron,"The Early ReligiousPoliciesof JustinII", pp. 51 ff.Justinian
more than any other emperorhad used ecclesiasticalpolicy to affirmimperial
authority.See, for instance,W. H. C. Frend,"Old and New Rome in the Age of
Justinian",in D. Baker (ed.), The RelationsbetweenEast and Westin theMiddle
Ages (Edinburgh,1973), pp. 1-28.
151Anon.Mai, pp. 424, 434-5,esp.p. 435 (thewordsofIsaiah foretoldtheeventsof
626 byskia kai tupos- "foreshadowing and type").For typeand antitypein early
Byzantineart,see F. Van der Meer,Early ChristianArt (London, I967); Mathew,
ByzantineAesthetics,pp. 99, 170 ff.It was hardlypossibleto go on excludingthis
typology fromtheformalliterarygenres,yetuntilrecentlywritersin thesefieldshad
largelysucceededin doingso.
152 To take
onlytwoofcountlessexamples,in theLife ofthepatriarchEutychius
(died 582), thefourpatriarchsare thefourriversofParadise,and Eutychiusmount-
ing his pulpitis Moses goingup to Mount Sinai: Eustratius,Vita Eutychii(P. G.,
lxxxvipt. 2, Rome, I865, cols. 2309, 2364).

muchof a stereotype as a Virgilianecho in late Latin poetry,was

perhapsforthefirsttimefullyappliedto a historicaleventinvolving
the entirepopulationof the city,in such a way that the emperor
himselfwas drawnintothe "thought-world" of hispeople.
Onlynow,we maysuspect,was thenotionoftheemperor'splace in
the earthlyand divine hierarchies,currentsince the early sixth
century,'53 fullyrealized.The growingimperialceremonialleftno
roomfortheunexpected. The "raising"oftheemperor, whetheron a
shieldor on a platform or in theroyalbox of theHippodrome,sym-
bolizedhissuperiorplace on theladderofauthority, justas itrecalled
therisingof Christ.The emperorwas, afterall, thehead ofthebody
politicand theintermediary betweenGod and hispeopleon earth.In
this "forestof symbols"'54the crystallization of the inauguration
ritualwas an essentialstep.And the Virginherselfwas a symbolof
authority,the "ladder" or "bridge"betweenhumanand divine.55
Apse mosaicsof theVirginand Childhad becomepopularduringthe
sixthcenturyprecisely becauseofherfunction as themeansbywhich
God tookflesh,thatis, as a symbolof theorthodox(and imperially
sponsored)doctrineof theIncarnation.If theemperorscould associ-
ate themselves withher,theytoo wouldpositionthemselves between
thedivineand thehumanhierarchies. Andintheeasternempireinthe
latersixthcenturysheis notonlymotherand warriorbutalso queen,
theguiseinwhichshecouldbestowpowerand authority on herspecial
cityand its rulers.156The advantageof so powerfuland complexa
symbolcould not be resisted;afterall, Constantinoplehad long
153 See theEkthesisof
Agapetus(see note 17 above). Though fundamentalto the
Christianempiresince Eusebius, theseideas of hierarchyreceiveda new emphasis
withthepervasiveinfluenceoftheworksofps. DionysiustheAreopagite(circa 500).
For this and for the notionof Justinian'sempireas representing a "descending"
(theocratic)orderof government, see W. Ullmann,Principlesof Governmentand
Politics in the Middle Ages, 2nd edn. (London, 1966), pp. 117 ff.The prevailing
imageryofgovernment, reinforcedby religion,wouldtendto accentuatethe idea of
hierarchy.
154 Victor
Turner,The ForestofSymbols(Ithaca and London, I967).
155See Cameron,"The Cult oftheTheotokos",pp. 103 ff.The Akathistoshymn,
newlyprominent from626 onwards,is a veritablerepositoryofMarian typology. For
thesymbolicvalue oftheVirgin,see also Turnerand Turner,Image and Pilgrimage
in ChristianCulture,pp. I49-6I.
156 Like the
Virginof Czestochowa,the nationalpatronof Poland, as the regina
Poloniae: whileshe can be seen as theMotherofSorrows(a conceptnotfoundin the
earlyByzantineperiod)she is also regardedas thesourceofnationalvictory.In the
successfuldefenceofCzestochowaagainsttheSwedesin 655 shetoowas seenbythe
besiegers,standingon the walls directingthe siege engines and supplyingthe
defenderswitharms: A. Kordecki,Nova gigantomachia,contrasacram imaginem
deiparae Virginisa Sancto Luca depictam. . . per Suecos et alios haereticosexcitata
(Cracow, 1655), p. 104. For the generalhistoryoftheicon,recentlyhighlighted by
the scenesof devotionprovokedby the visitof Pope JohnPaul II to Poland, see M.
Zalecki,Theologyof a Marian Shrine: Our Lady of Czestochowa(Marian Library
Studies,new ser., viii, Dayton, Ohio, I976). The Virginof Guadalupe could be a
warriortoo: Turnerand Turner,op. cit.,p. 146.

possessedthe Virgin'srobe,bearingthe tracesof her verymilk.157
How naturalthatthispreciousrelicshouldnowbe revealedas a source
of miracles.
In one sensethiseffort
at realignmentwas a failure.It couldnotin
itselfhelp againstthe militaryand politicalproblemsdramatically
posedby theseventh-century invasions.Constantinople founda new
sense of urban unityduringthe siege of 626, but the Emperor
Heraclius,who had triumphantly restoredthe True Cross to Jeru-
salem in 630, gave his support,aided by the patriarchSergius,to
Monothelitism, a misguidedattemptat resolvingthe problemsof
heresyand divisionin the easternchurchwhichin theeventcaused
opencleavageformorethana generation.158 Soon Jerusalem, thesite
of Heraclius's triumph,fell to the Arabs,and the emperordied a
disappointedman. Hardlyanythingis knownofcultureor education
in themid-seventh century.Yet somehowtheemperorssurvivedand
thecentralgovernment clungon. Therewas certainly no timenowfor
theluxuryofconsciousclassicismornostalgiafortheRomanpast.But
I wouldsuggestthatinsteadof supposingthata curtainfellwiththe
seventh-century invasions,we recognizethat a revisionof imperial
ideologyand an adaptationof the educatedclassesto contemporary
needswas alreadytakingplace fromthelate sixthcentury,and that
thisprocessactuallygave to the still-existent
but now forus highly
obscureelite of Byzantiumthe strengthand will to hang on until
betterdaysopenedtheiroptionsonce again.
King's College,London AverilCameron
157Loparev,pp. 605-6. From626 onwards,moreand morestresswas laid on the

physicalintimacyof theserelics;see the worksof thepatriarchGermanusof Con-
stantinople(eighthcentury).
158 The basic
(but not very satisfactory)guide for Heraclius is A. Stratos,
Byzantiumin the Seventh Century,4 vols. (Amsterdam,I968-73), i-ii; see also
A. Pernice,L'imperatoreEraclio (Florence, I905). For Monothelitism,see Van
Dieten, Geschichteder Patriarchen;C. von Sch6nborn,Sophrone de Jerusalem
(Paris, 1972).


Cameron Elites and Icons

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The Past and Present Society

Images of Authority: Elites and Icons in Late Sixth-Century Byzantium

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throneweakenedbya senseoffailureand an empireneglectedbythe

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7 As impliedby Foss, "The Persiansin Asia Minorand theEnd of Antiquity".

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walkingtheramparts;12 and theVirgin'sicons,deployedinprocession

Althoughemperorshad long developedtheirown imperialcere-

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significantgrowthin the scale and purposiveness of such activities.

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had no greatpublic inaugurationceremonyto evokepanegyricor

discovered:C. Behr, "A New Fragmentof Cicero's De Republica", Amer. JI.

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Romanpompfora moretypicallylate antiqueadventus- a formal

22 ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, De cerimoniisaulae Byzantinae,i, pp. 497-8,on

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the last emperorin our period to be both raised on a shield and

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nevertheless is said to "rise" like Christ,and the same analogyis

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intobeingwellbeforeHeraclius.46 Thereareno BluesorGreensat the

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theymostlyattributeto thereignofHeraclius)52as a "drawingofthe

We are alreadyfamiliarwiththe idea of the reignof JustinII as

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56 Johnof Ephesus,Historiaecclesiastica,iii. 5. Justinbelievedthatthewordsof

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juxtaposedwiththeLamb ofGod.69The messageis alwaysthesame

If, then,theseemperorswerepreparedto providea new physical

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reignto "our pious emperors",80 longlifeto theholypatriarch,and

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The cityofConstantinople, the"eye oftheChristianfaith",was thus

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thetypology oftheOld Testament,and hisdefining are

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Virginand Childbutalso an acheiropoietos iconofChrist.99 Whenthe

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greatacheiropoietosof the period,the image of Edessa, beforethe

Icons,then,couldwellbe expressive ofthesenseofculturalintegra-

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Justinian, nowbrokedown,as the"Roman" sideofimperialideology

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changemaynotlie onlyin a loss of skill:thesewritersactuallyhad a

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"Icons in the late sixth and seventhcenturies",we are told,

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factors,notonlyin Constantinople, butelsewhere too.Whatholdsfor

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137 See Foss,

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late sixth-century art itselfhas anotherside,and is thesubjectof as

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