First published 1998 by Routledg(, II New (:ener Lane, London EC4P 4EE SimuJraneou.~ly
published in the USA and Canada by Routl«lge, Ine. 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY lOool Reprinted io 1998
Cl 1998 Michaei Grant Publications Limited The right of /l.l ichael G rant Publications Limited to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the C"pyright, Designs and Patents Act J 988 Typeset in Garamond by J&L Composition Ltd, Filey, North Yorkshire Printed and bound in G reat Britain by Biddies bd, G uildford and King's Lyon All rights reserved . No part of this book may be rt"printed or reproouced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter inv('nted, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without JX'rmissioo in writing (rom the publishers. B~;tiJh Lib~a')'
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ISBN 0-415- 14753-0
FROM ROME TO BYZANTIUM The fifth century
AD
Michael Grant
London and N ew York
CONTENTS
Usl
..
of i/hu/ralions
vu .
Introduction
ox
1 Rome and other cities
I
2 The divided empire
8
3 Constantinople
II
4 The fail of Rome
17
5 Finance and the armies
30
6 Eas t and
37
WCSl
7 The eastern emperors
49
8 Empresses
60
9 Religion
67
10 Literature
77
11 Architecture
81
12 Th e human and divine fo rm
105
v
I NT ROD UC TIO N
118
Epilogue
Appendicu
I Constamine I the Great and after 2 Africa, Spain , Gaul 3 Justinian I and before
Notu Lists
141 1 Roman emperors (western and eastern)
2 Po pes (fifth century) 3 Events
Bibliograp1!Y
122 129 132
I Latin
179 181 181 184 188 191
2 Greek 3 J\ilodern
Index
197
.
.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures 1
T he walls of Constantinople, erected in the time of T heodosius n (41 2) 2 Gold s(Jlidu/ of Honorius, i\1ilan AD 396 3 Stilicho on ivory diptych, Tesoro dclla Catedrale, Manza 4 Gold solidus of Valencinian Ill , Rome AD 425 5 Gold wlidus of Ramulus 'Augustulus ', AD 475-{) 6 Po rtrait statue of Arcadius 7 Gold solidus of Theodosius n, Constantinople AD 443 8 Gold solidus of Leo I, T hessaloruca AD 457- 74 9 Bronze of Zeno, Rome AD 489-91. 10 Bronze of Anastasius, Constantinople 11 Wing of ivory diptych: the Barberini ivory 12 Gold solidus of G alla Placidia, Ravenna AD 425-30 13 Gold solidus of Pulcheria, Constantinople AD 415-20 14 Gold S()/idus of Aclia Eudoxia, Constantinople AD 423 15 Gold solidus of Aelia Verina, Constantinople AD 457- 74 1G Gold Inmims of Ariadne, Constantinople AD 474-91 17 Statuette of an empress 18 The Church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, Rome 19 The Church of San Giovanni e Paolo, Rome 20 The Mausoleum o f Galla Plaeidia, Ravenna 21 The Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna 22 The Baptister}' of the Orthodox, Ravenna 23 The Church of St John Studios, Constantinople 24 The Church of St D emetrius, Salonica 25 The Church of the Acheiropoietos, Salonica 26 The Church of the H oly Mary, Ephesus 27 The E ast Church of Alahan, western Cilicia, Asia r-,1inor 28 The church at Dag Pazari, south-eastern Asia .l\-fjnor 29 T he church at Q al'at Sim'an, north-western Syria ..
\,11
15 18 41 45 46 50 51 53 SS 56 58 61 62 63 64 64 65 82 83 84 85 87 88 89 90 92 94 96 97
L I ST O F ILLUSTRATIONS
30 31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Gold plague showing St Simeon Stylites T he church of D eir-el-Abiad, Egypt A leaf from a 'consular' diptych in ivory Floor mosaic from the church at Mopsuestia (Misis), Cilicia Mosaic fro m a church floor at Elaeusa (Aya~), Cilicia Painting in the funerary chapel of El Bagawat in the Kharga Oasis, Egypt Head of Eutropius Colossal head of Constantine the Great, Palazzo Capitolino '·lead of Constantine the Great or one of his sons Relief of T heodosius I on base of obelisk in the Hippodrome, Constantinople Mausoleum of Theodoric, Ravenna Mosaic in the Church of S. Vitalc, Ravenna, depicting the emperor Justinian I Mosaic in the Church of S. Vita1e, Ravenna, depicting the empress T heodora T he Church of Santa Sophia, Constantinople Church of S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
. 98
100 108 112 113 114 liS 123 124 127 130 133 133 137
139
The author and the publisher wish to thank the following for their help in acguiring permissions; the Bibliothegue Byzantine, Paris, the Warburg Institute, London, the Conway Library, the Courtauld Institute, London, the Classical Institute, London and Thames & H udson Ltd. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders and wc apologise for any inadvertent omissions.
Maps 1
2 3 4 5 6
Italy and Sicily T he western provinces North Africa Eastern Europe Asia ~finor T he east
2 6
19 32 33 39
V111
I N TR O D UC TI O " T
Bpantium figures vcry lit de in our own talking points. It was dismissed by Gibbon and his Victorian successors as a decadent, dark, oriental culture given up 10 intrigue, forbidden pleasure and refined cruelty. I While most schoolboys of my generation knew the key figures in republican or imperial Rome, wc would have a hard time S2},jng much about Byzantium other than that Constantine was its re-founde r, and had a vision which inspired him to make Christianity the empires official religion. See also the Epilogue for more on this subjecl. But meanwhile it may be added that me fifth century AI\ with which this book is concerned, is one of the least and most imperfectly known of all history. We are often told that the western Roman empire ceased to exist during rhat period. But who can explain, although some have tried, why the eastern empire did not cease to exist, but on the contrary, continued to exist, governed from Constantinople. as the Byzantine empire. for nearly a thousand yean 10 come (with an intermission during the thirteenth century)? Despite the determined efforts of expertS since the late 19205, the Byzantine empire is still not sufficiently appreciated or understood in western countries. This is partly because of chauvinist biases, which lay great emphasis on pelty western SlateS and statelets, and ignore the fact that the empi re ruled from Constantinople was infi nitely more powerful, and was, indeed, by fa r the most important state in the world west of India and China. This situation is reAected in the educational system today, which says hardly anything about the Byzantine empire. Our prowestern prejudice is paramount. If the B}'zantine empire as a whole is neglected, how much greater is the neglect o f the fifth century, when that empire survived the fatal threats to the west and set itself up as the most impressive unit in Europe and western Asia? Virtually nothing, except about the fall of Ro me, is said about the fifth century, and yet that was the period when this great eastern empire survived its birth pangs and continued to Aourish. Onc of the reasons wh)' so comparatively little is known about the eastern empire is our ignorance of Asia r>.linor. 2 On the map (p. 33), that .
"
INTRODUCTION
seems a single unit, whereas in reality it is as complex and divef'Se as a whole continent, and had already been complex and divef'Se for centurie~, including the fifth, in which Asia J\..1inor was unscathed by Rome's fall, remaining the heart of the eastern empire and the core of Byzantine rule. Here, then, is a further, special reason why this latter is misunderstood and underestimated, because so little is known about Asia t-.linor mday.3 Ancient AsiarvLinor was full of rich, fine and stable commercial cities. This is what Pausanias, in the second century AD, had m say about its west coast, centred upon lonia: 'lonia enjoys the finest of climates, and its sanctuaries are unmatched in the world ... . The wondef'S of lonia are numerous and not much short of the wondef'S of Greece itself.'4 The Ionian cities played a considerable part in the dawn of the imperial Christian faith. For example, Pergamum (Bergama) maintained its intellectual leadership and became an important missionary centre. T he Aegean coastlands were at first dependent on Constantinople, but their long tradition enabled them to strike out for themselves, in very varied fashion. Elsewhere in Asia Minor, too, there was considerable activity. PeTga (Munana) in Pamphylia was still prosperous, and Myra (Kale) was the capital of the independent province of Lycia at the time of Theodosius 11 (408- 50). Side ('Pomegranate'; Selimiye) revived in the fifth century. Prusias ad Hypium (prusa, Brusa) in Bithynia was prosperous. But there was also a good deal of individual activity in the central, inland part o f the peninsula. T he employment by Leo I (457- 74) of officers and soldiers from the bandit country of Isauria is particularly famous, and led to the creation of important churches and monasteries in the region. Angora (Ancyra) in Galatia, too, enjoyed a good deal of wealth. Cappadocia had already given the world talented bishops, the 'Cappadocian Fathers', in what was a productive but traditionally backward areas (now the terrimry of Cappadocia had been divided into two provinces, Prima and Secunda). 'I am convinced', said Norman l3aynes guite rightly, 'that the essential condition of the prosperity of the later Roman empire was its possessIon of Asia Minor - that reservoir alike of money and of men.'" Let us consider what in fact happened during this period. In 395 T heodosius I, having gained control of the whole empire, died, leaving the west to his son Honorius and the east to Honorius's elder brother Arcadius, both very yo ung. In the west, Honorius ruled until 423, moving from Mediolanum (Milan) to Ravenna in 402, and suffering the sack of Rome by the Visigoth Alaric in 410. Thereafter, following a brief interlude, Valentinian Ill, the son of Constantius III and Galla Placidia, was western emperor from 425 until 455, during the latter part of which time there was a grave danger from the HUllS, whose king Anila was, however, defeated in 451 by the Roman general Aetius, subscguently murdered by Valentinian III (454), who paid for the crime with his life. Then followed,
,
INTRODUCTION
with the support of the German commander of the day, a rapid succession of short-lived western emperors, terminating in Romulus Augusmlus, who was deposed in 476 by the German Odoacer (Odovacar), whereupon the western empire ceased to exist. Odoacer became king of Italy, and was succeeded by the Ostrogoth T heoderic (or Theodoric) (493-528) . ~kanwhile, the eastern empire had managed to evade external threats, under Arcadius (395-408), Theodosius 11 (408-50), Marcian (450-7), Leo 1 (457-74), Zeon (474-91) and Anastasius I (491 -5 18). It is worth while to investigate why this eastern empire did not fall, while its western counterpart did. 7 One difficulty that we are bound to experience in considering that question is that the fifth century was a deeply religious period. People were very much concerncd with what the true, defensible character of Christian belief was, and this is reAeeted in the evcnts that occurred. The resultant situation has been described by A.H.M. Jones: il is difficult to make any generalisation which is both true and significant about the religious temper of an age, but it may at least be asserted with some conlldellce that the later Roman empire was intensely religious. Sceptics and rationalists. if the), existed, ha\'e left no mark on history and literature. All, pagans and Christians alike, believed, and it would seem believed intensely. in supernatural powers, benevolent and malign, who intervened actively in human affairs. All were anxious to win their aid and 8 favou r, or to placate and mastcr them, as the case might be.
The same point was made by Averil Cameran: 'Christian doctrines themselves, together with the many permutations on which Christians were d ivid ed, aroused the passionate feelings of contemporaries in JUSt the same way as social and political issues do toda)'.'9 T his makes the period hard for us to comprehend, because such an attitude is inconceivable, and not easy to understand, in our own time. In those days, however, religious beliefs had great dynamic force: even if they mean little now. Indeed, religion seemed the only source of stability and permanence in an unstable world. The writer Procopius (born (. 500) was onc of the few people who thought it best to avoid Christological debate: '1 hold it to be a sort of mad folly, he said, research into the nature of God. Even human nature cannot, I think, be precisely understood by man; still less so can the things that appertain to the nature of God. So let us shun the peril and pass these ques tions by in silence, if only to avoid casting doubt to
INTRODUCTION
on things revered. For I personally will say nothing whatever about God except that he is altogether good and holds thinb~ .In h·IS power. W As against this view, consider how St Gregory of Nyssa (c. had found the public - much more typically:
AD
330--95)
Every corner of the city is thronged with men arguing on incom~ prehensible subjects. Ask a man how many oOOls a thing costs, and he dogmatises on generated and ungenerated E ssence. Enquire what is the price of bread, and you arc answered, the Father is g reater than the Son, and the Son is subordinate to the Father. Ask about you r bath, and you arc told, the Son was created out of nothing. I I That sort of conversation would certainly not happen today, and the fact that it happened then creates a gulf between the fifth century and ourselves which is virtually impossible to bridge. The people o f that time seem quite different from ourselves, or from anyone we meet or know. And the rulers were correspondingly pious; agnosticism practically did not exist, as we have seen. For these various reasons it is hard to reconstruct what really happened during the fifth century AD. 12 The present book is an attempt to rec tify this situation, and to look behind the smog-corroded urban blight of the present Constantinople to locate its early soul. This is nOt an easy task. For onc thing, as W.B. Anderson observed, 'the sources available for our knowledge of the fifth century are meagre and often obscure, and the attempts of modern historians to reconstruct the facts show marked dive rgencies,.D Yet there is little doubt that during the fifth century the emperor at Constantinople was the richest monarch in the world - and 14 the refore wo rth studying. Yet, as we have seen, that century is not a readily accessible period, being remote from our consciousness and grasp of events, preoccupied with matters that scarcely concern us now, badly served by our existing sources, and seen lopsidedly, when seen at all, because of our preference fo r the west. Yet the fifth century is worth persevering with, not only for its own sake but because it lies at the heart and origins of our modern civilisation, which would not have been at all the same without it. Finally, may I add onc or two personal notes. I have allowed myself some repetitions. I have inserted these deliberately, because the subject is complicated, and J felt my readers would be helped if 1 said certain things mo re than once. And I have introduced a good many quotations from ..
'"
I NTRO D UCTION
modern sources. I have done this because, although Byzantium, as I have said , is unden::stimatcd in the west today, a certain amount has nevertheless been said about its early years : and it would be a pity if this were forgotten. Among other things, the actual course of events has been narrated by earlier writers. And I have not anempted to do so once again. This book is rather a series of comments on some of the situations that existed and arose. I am very grateful to Mr Richard Stoneman of Routlcdge and his colleagues and staff, especially Leigh Wilson, Coco Stevenson and Sarah Brown, for their help. I also owe thanks to Mrs Maria Ellis and Dr James Crow and Mr Paul Jackson, of the Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies and the Reader Services of the British Lib rary, for very useful assistance. And, as always, I appreciate very warml y the aid I have received from m}' wife. I also want to thank the following publishers for the quotations from books published by them which I have included: Barnes & Noble; British Museum Publishers; Halt, Rinehan & \X/inston; Meridian Books; i\'lcth uen; Murray Uohn); Johns Hopkins University Press; Oxford University Press; Princeton University Press; Redman (Alvin)i Routledge; Ullstein Blicher; University o f Oklahoma Press (Norman); Unwin (L. Fisher); Vario rum; Weidenfeld & N icolson. Michael Grant Ganaiola, 1997
XIII
1
ROME AND OTHER CITIES
It was nothing new for emperors to consider and decide that Rome wouJd not do any longer as the political and military centre of the empire. Panegyrists plaintively felt that Rome should once again become the imperial capitae but there was no chance that this would happen. In consequence, there was a long pre-Constantinian history of the planting of imperial headquarters in other cities. As Herodian had already observed in the second century AD, 'Where Caesar is, there Rome is.' 2 Yet Rome was still all-powerful at that epoch. In the third century, however, Gallienus had established his headquarters at Mcdiolanum (Milan), when his father Valcrian had gone east to fight the Persians. 3 Mediolanum was conveniently equidistant from the northern frontier and Rome - and the location of major road crossings from the provinces and northern I taly was more appropriate than Rome for combating the Germans on the Rhine and D anube. Rome was a long way away from them, and was easily Cut off from the sea. For all practical purposes, therefo re, the capital moved out of the city. The walls o f Rome were greatly strengthened by Aurelian (270-5),4 but its role as political and miliary capital of the empire was over. 'The old empire ... of Rome and Italy as queen of the provinces was dead o r dying.'" It was not at Rome, for example. but at Mediolanum, that Maximian felt it necessary to rule;6 while his senior colleague D iocletian only visited Rome upon a single occasion, namely his twentieth anniversary (vicennalia).7 The ancient city, as capital of the empire, was already an anachronism. And in 4 10 it was sacked, by Alaric I the Visigoth. The event appalled St Augustine. And it caused great distress to St Jerome, far away in Palestine. I was so stupefied and dismayed tha t day and night that I could think of nothing but the welfare of the Roman community. It seemed to me that I was sharing the captivity of the saints, and I could not open my lips until I received some more definite news. All the while, full of anxiety, I wavered between hope and despair, 1
ROr.IE AND OTHER CITIES
Map I haIr and Sicilr
torturing mrself with the misfortunes o f others. But when J heard that the bright light of all the world was quenched, or rather that the Roman empire had lost its head and that the whole universe had perished in one city, then indeed 'J became dumb and humbled myself and kept silence from good words: 8
2
ROME AND OTHER CITIES
The British or Irish theologian, or 'heretic' Pelagius was equally disturbed. It happened only recently, and you heard it yourself. Rome, the mistress of the world, shivered, crushed with fear, at the sound of the blaring trumpets and the howling of the Goths... . Everyone was mingled together and shaken with fear; every household had its g rief, and an all-pervading terror gripped us. Slave and noble were one. The same spectre of death stalked 9 before us all.
Yet in spite of the disaster - and, indeed, even after the nnal demise of the western empire in 476 - Rome remained highly privileged, and it was also still the spiritual and cultural and traditional centre of the world.
Jt remained the centre of western society, and its refugees were particularly vocal and influential. Above all, Rome was the symbol of a whole civilization. Tt was as if an army had been allowed to sack Westminster Abbey o r the Louvre .... Rome symbolized the security of a whole civilized way of life. To an educated man, the history of the world culminated quite naturally in the Roman empIre, just as, to a nineteenth century man, the history of lo civilization culminated in the supremacy of E urope. In addition, Rome even now remained the home of the senate. But the character of that body had changed. It decided nothing - it was the emperors who decided everything; nor were they necessarily keen to be near the senators. T hese were largely rich landowners, who were, it is true, extremely influential: though often they did not bother to come to the meetings of the senate at all, but stayed on their enormous estates. T he tradition of their opposing the emperor still existed - and some emperors were afraid of it - but it had greatly diminished. So if the rule rs no longer ruled from Rome, where were they? 'Where Caesar is, there Rome is', as we have seen; and Caesar was in a good many diffe rent places. Mediolanum has already been mentioned: the new concept of imperial defence had also made Aquileia and Verona more important. Tt was right that Mediolanum (like Verona) should become a (olonio Callieniana,11 because Gallienus (253-68) was based there, making it his capital, as we saw. In 268 Aureolus was proclaimed emperor in the Cityl2 (though he did not last). Aurelian (270--5) fortified Mediolanum at the same time as he built the walls of Rome; traces of his construction are still visible. 13 Mediolanum was rising as a g reat political centre, largely because of pressure from the Germans, but also for the other reasons that have been stated. Maximian, it may be repeated, reigned there; and he abdicated there (305; for a time); Valentinian 11 (375--92) moved his coun to the 3
ROME AND O THER CITIES
city. Ambrose was bishop of Mediolanum, and it was lhere that he won his great victory for the Church. 14 But Mediolanum was not the only imperial centre in north Italy. Aquileia and Verona have been mentioned, and Gallienus, when he established his residence at Mediolanum, had his military headquarters at Ticinum (Ticino), which, moreover, replaced Mediolanum as a mint unde r Aurelian (274). In 402 the emperor Honorius decided to establish himself at Ravenna, where there was landward protection from the marshes, and easy maritime facilities in case escape to the east became necessary. The later story of the monk Fulgentius is also illuminating. One day in the year 500 the African monk Fulgentius, later bishop of the small town of Ruspe, fulfilled a life's ambition in visiting Rome .... Rome, centre alike of law and the tradition of human authority and of Christian orthodoxy and primacy, had beckoned to him. He had read in the pagan poets their eulogies of this city, elevated to the status of a goddess, to be revered and justly revered throughout the world. But whal he saw amazed him. 'How wonderful', he is said to have exclaimed, 'must be the heavenly Jerusalem, if this earthly city can shine so greatly!,1 5 Fo r Rome was the centre, the city, the lawgiver, the fact that had dominated and made the world men knew. From Iraq to Wales, from the Baltic to the Sudan, she had fashioned and left all in her image. On the countryside her language had left the placenames men used; in the towns men lived by her organization, her law, her peace. 'What was once a world, you have but one city', a poet of the previous century, Rutilius Namatianus, had declared. 16 T he good monk, from the small white towns on the edge of the desert ... could yet know that he was at home. All this was the work of time. Rome was now in the thirteenth century of her foundation, and in the eleventh of her domination, a matter to move men's · mm ds·m awe. " For one thing, Rome was the headquarters of the Pope, who now became increasingly important. And, as we have seen, it was still the meeting-place of the senate. Another very important centre in the west was Augusta Trevirorum (Trier) on the River Mosella (Moselle). Not only was it the capital of the diocese (group of provinces) of Gaul, and residence of the Prefect, 4
ROME AND OTHER CITIES
containing one of the best universities of the west (attended by St Jerome), but it was the capital of Constantius r Chlorus (305-6), who contracted for the construction of his fleet there, and it remained the capital of his son Constantine I the Great until 312; then he moved to a fifry~ room villa-palace on the Mosella, five miles out of the city. Subsequently, Augusta Trevirorum still figured as an imperial town for at least another century. IS Valentinian I (364-75) made the place his headquarters for operations against the Germans, and his son Gratian (c. 380) lived there. During the same period Arelate (Constantina, Aries) also became more important; 19 Constantine had lived in that city as well, in addition to other places. One of them was Naissus (Ni~), where he had probably been born. He often visited the tOwn later, and erected splendid buildings within its precincts. It was probably the earliest permanent military camp in Moesia, possessing great strategic significance. In 314-15, however, Constantine had moved his headquarters to Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica)/o which was a road junction and the most important strategic centre of the Danube region, containing arms factOries, a fleet station and an imperial mint. It had been, for a time, the residence of Marcus Aurelius (161 - 80) and Maximinus I T hrax (235-8) and others. Claudius Gothicus (268-70) mopped up the Goths from his base at the imperial palace at Sirmium, which was also where he died. Possibly Aurelian (370-5) came from the place. and it profited from the encouragement of grape-growing by Probus (276-82), who had been born the re.21 Maximian was a peasant's son from Sirmium, and his senior colleague D iodetian spent much time at the place, promulgating numerous Jaws. Galerius resided for a long time at Sirmium; it was his 'favourite ciry,.22 Cons tantine, too, moved his administration from Augusta Trevirorum and Mediolanum to Sirmium, and he had seriously though t of Dving his name to the last-named town, if his first war against Licinius had proved decisive (which it did not). It was from there, perhaps, that 24 Licinius promulgated the Edict of Milan, published at Nicomedia. But subsequently Constantine, who transferred his headquarters from one place to another - includin~ Thessalonica (SaJonica), which was strong and had served as a capital S - moved from Sirmium to Serdica (Sofia) (3 17/18). He Liked the Balkans, because the region was pivotal for the army; he enlarged the already existing palace at Serdica, and seriously considered the place as a possible imperial capital, declaring that it was his Rome.26 But Serdica had disadvantages as well as advantages, and Constantine finally opted for somewhere c1se. He did not fancy going out of Europe, because of the threat from the Germans. So the ancient and wealthy cities of Antioch and Alexandria did not attract him, despite their imperial connections, intellectual ferment, and loud noises regarding ecclesiastical affairs? 7 Nor did Nicomedia
5
ROME AND OTHER CITIES
G E R /I." A NY
CALI.IA
III SP"N I A 1A"ACO~ . ~' "
o
-
Map 2 The .....cstern provinces (lzmit), which had been the capital (and place of abdication) of Diodetian; and Galerius, too, had resided at Nicomedia. It had a great deal in its favour, including a good harbour, large fertile territories, and a position on the trunk road from the Danube. But it was tOO far away from the northern frontier, being in Asia r>.linor; and there were other things against it 100. 28 Its position has been estimated as follows: T he dawn of late antiquity even saw it [Nicomedia] become capital of the Roman empire, a role it was to maintain for a generation. Events of the fourth century, however ... brought this moment of glo ry to an end, as the city resumed its old role as a major provincial centre.... T he foundation of Constantinople, only sixty miles away, sealed the fate of Nicomedia forever,
ROME AND OTHER CITI E S
though not immediately.... IConstantinople] created a far more powerful rivallhan Nicaea [lznik] had ever been, and permanently de prived the city lof Nicomedia] of its ephemeral glory.29 To sum up, it had been clear long before the fiflh century began that Rome, however great its prestige, could no longer effectively be the political or military capital of the empire. So the emperors, who made wherever they went their capitals fo r the time being, tried a good many other centres. But none of them proved really satisfactory until Constantine I the Great fastened upon Co nstanti nople - which is the theme of the third chapter o f this book . T he second chapter, which will now follow, deals with the division of the empire which seemed to have become inevitable.
7
2
THE DIVIDED EMPIRE
The doc,rine. ,hcn, ,h,! ,h~ empi« wu too Wge for > single mUl to gov.rn was oot new. !t h.d. 10. 10 do, os we h ..,•• een , with rhe fac, rh .. the n,,"hern (.... "'eU os the ",,"cm) frontier """ dangerous ond li>.bk tu d.maging .'plo,ion.. A, [ wrote on a previous occasion,
it h.d long been f.l! rh>! ,h. empire ..."" loo I. rgc, .00 it. frontie .. wo men.cing. ID be controUed by one man. In o.mr wonb, the pr.tCtkal divi.ion "f the empire intO 'wo J"M" ~ alre.dy uken plote. M1Icu. A"",liu. (161-80) h.d been oo",,,,ou, of ,hi. "'hen he..,m hi, junior coUe.gue Luc iu. Vern. to [he ••". Then Val.rirn (253-61) ocled .imil:uly. though in the of'PO'itc <Jire«ion, him.elf moving to .he .as' (with faul remit.) while he left hi•• on Gonionu. !O comm:mt! ,he . rmie.o of ~ w .... SuO.cqucntly the broth.," C.nnu. and Num.ri." (283-4) opc ... ,ed a com!",,,,bl. divi,ion, which w .. regulari.ed by Dioclcti.n 12i34-3051 when he introduced the '1u.dripartite mon.,ch)', him.elf with hi •• ubonliru"~ C""ur G.Jeriu, «maining in the 'ast, while Maximi.n (who,. C ..." w;u Con, tanuu. I, the f.,her of Con· stantinc 1 the Gre.,) remained in luJy. . _ . Diodeuan', actuo.! achievement """I to «gubrise the divi. ion. with hirn«lf remaining in the e1st 1n
putly the product of nece .. ity, for M.ximw. couk! nO, have 1""..,r =k than the British uso!.m which""", intended to be ~rnancnt. Thi. Tetrarchy [i.e. wi,h • Cae.ar attached ID each Augustusl mulup~ed 1uthOrity. but did not divide it; in .pit. of the regiono.! . ubdivi. ion •• ,he empi« was nil! 'an undivided potrimony'.... eonstanunc r 'he G .... «united ,he empi«, bu, when he died in 337 h. left it divided be,,,'.en hi. three . un. (and twu others) .
rIllU'
•
THE OIVIOEIJ
EMPI~ E
In 364 V:alentinian I more or le .. formoli.ed Ihe posilion when h. gave the ca.. to hi, broth.. Valen •. The empire wa, ,till, offieially, united, and the cmperors ~oiru:d in each other'. territory, but the divi.ion ,.... neverthele.s very ,eo.!. The institution of this divi.ion by V.lencini.n I h., been described in the following terms:
It ,.... in 3-64 that V:alentini1n I was hailed emperor by the ~'my. Immedi.,ely af,.""ard" the solJiers demanded that he shou1d appuint a coll~e to .hare hi. p"".... Fur whene"er there ",os only. single emperor, the troops rel< that the rUk of his d... h, and o f conse~uent chaos,"'" '00 ~reot, .nd inJeed the dea,h of the I.., monarch, Jm'ian [3-63-41, had re.ulted, ~kc similar moments o f transition 'hrougllout the POU' cemuri ... in • perilou. emergeru:y. Volentini"" I, in hi. in.ugu...J address to the 'roops, expressed agreement tha, a iuint Emperor should be nurniru.ted . . . . He was thinking in particular of pressing external thic.ts on man)" sectors of the frontier; and 'here we .. dangers of internal revolts as ",·ell. So he immediately ni..d hi. brother Valen. '0 .n equol . hare in the empire . ... Hencefo~d, the we5lern realm consisted of the whole of Roman Europe e.ccpt the Bbcx Se. co ... 1t1d its immediate hinterland, It po'''''",ed North Afri<;a '" far '" Tripoliunia [fripolitan.] - ,he w"'ern pan of modem J~by. - inclusive. The remaining part of [..ibp fell to the e",tern empire, which a1.0 comprised ,he European Black Sea fringe (ex,ending down to the capitol eonmntinople) ""cl Eg,pt, 1t1d 'he A.i"" ,erri,orie' that now bdong to Turk)', Syria, I...b:mon and h ... e1 .. • . [Valemini.n's . on ,ian probablYI ceded '0 lhi. e ... orn PUtn"l Theod.,.ius ! m"" of the former We5lern possessions in 'he Balkan penin.ula. Hcnc.forth, the frontier between the we>lern and ea .. em empires, while remo.ining unchanged in North Africa, ran in Europe from Singi<Junum [1Ielg""'01 due sou th to ,he Adriatic, whe .. Albania is today.'
ai,,,
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TH Il D1V1DIlD IlJ.!Pl k ll
prove incompc"'nt. He him,elf m.y not h.ve dc .. rved tIK title 'the G",.,', which me Christian. c.u.d him bee.u,e of hi •• uppon for their c.u.<, but he""'" no fool, and he ItId .ucceeded in ",uniting the empire. Why, then, did hc th,O\V ill thi> .\V1y, by dividing me Rorrun world, .nd dividing it be"".. n !WO .uch feeble boys? The on.wer, I think, lie. in dynucic feeling. llti. " "" very .!tOng :unong cmperol"5, .. Septimius Se"erus had .hown, ",hen on hi. de.rn (211) he left the rulcl"5hip to hi. No'O young .on5, Ca=o.Ila and G .. I; .nd Con.tontine I 'he Great, tOO, bequcothed the empire to hi. in.d'quote .ono. The", i. every re .. on to ouppose thot Thwd",iu. I fclt the 'ame. De.pite all the dmgel"5 implicit in bequc.. hing 'he .ummi, '0 Arc""iu. and Honoriu., h. Iud long f.voured 'he ide. of their .ucceeding him, and .ue<:ccd him they did. It i. true that dyn. ,,;., feeling could, un oc<:2Sion, .. vc the Rum.n world, wime .. the de<:line of the empire in thc "..,5\ . f'er the dtath of it> dyouuc inheritor V:a1en,inian III (455). Bu, il i. al. o ,rue that this ,ame dYlWtic feeling, under Thcodosiu. I, contributed to the final and f.taI division which tau ..d the do".. nfall and destruction of the ",estem empire. It h.. been "'ptated here ,ha, the Roman empi", had become ,on large and unm:uugeo.ble, with pcrilou. frontie" for admini.""tion by one mln, 0< one ceo're, to be any Ioogt'r pr:actic.bk. Pur.~ timc put, .he«furc, ,he« had been I tendency for there to be two emperon simultaneously, OOe in the ,,'C" and onc in the c.". lIy the beginning uf the /ifth cen.u')·, .he epoch with which the present book ;. concerned, this tendency had become " ... ,ifi.d, 10 that Arcadiu. (395-4()8) """ the emperor in the ca
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l1Iis is ... hat I ",id odit... bout Const2ntinoplc, buing rnyJdf on the l;,.th·C~nrury hiltorian Zosimus:
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E . .... he ICons ...... tinel found a li,., ... hich .wtcd him ... :at the poinl ... hen: the n:r.d from Europe: to the Rive. F.... pI>n' .. ;,. Ctou<:d. in 'p«.acu\a. fuhian. by the maritime pu.age of rhe tIosphoru. bnking the Aegean and Slxo Se .... Mo reo .... it _ in thi l ",ca th .. Con"anti~ had won hi. hrul :Lrld hilmric victory .,.,... UciniuI (324). t t Chry.opoIi. (ScUt.ri . Ol oudlt).... T he duinK uf 'he new Constantinople is . li"l. unc! it ""'" ituuguratcd in )26 . 00 tha, ill dod · it" ion 'oolc pi... in 330. 11M: whole iniw,iye ..-.u given an impetUS by c. .......... tinc'. J=Xncc on the: Danub.:.... The ...... dry ...... fonWlll'" 10 posses. the rn:agt>i~(.n' harbou. of the: Goklcn H", ... It wu oh<> dcf. ...ibIc ""'h by bnd ~ by IIU • . . • And i, enjoyro ",ody xecuibilitr. ogain by land ~ .... olilt •. 10 , he vi,ol ind",1riol and cultunl cen,rn of A$iI. Mino> and Syri.. It ..... oh<> .. c...iblc '0 the grain 1"f'P1ic, of Egyp' ... hich _"" ~";.-cd in ank. ' u f.ed the large pupul>1i<>n whith, i, ..... hoped. this gfHt """" ,own would ..nnct. . . . N""....hdc<•• by the ,i",,, of IConotantine'.J death the pupub tion i. unlikely tu h..,· ••• c«tled >0.000. and Con"antinoplc did not be.""", .. g'u, cummcrcW ccnlfe very quidcly. Co" .. t nti"e·. determin.tion to m.ke i, I ,ruly Chri.· tiln pl.c. li, noteworthy). It i. likely that h. did 1\01 annowKc initially .h. , ,he new city he hod bruugh. into bdng ...... to become hi. sole npi.al. and ,h., i, , houId therd,,", be cnti*d , ... N..... Of Second Rome,.mm. R_~ (ol,hough ,11<: •• p:mded cif)' .. cm. ,0 h1.c ho:~n ctlled infomully by IUJ'rIot Of nrly ... 324). • """·cvc •. thi. m tU' h1vc been his u1tim ... oim ... ~ ;, ..... nor vcry \ooIg befOf~ thi. intention nmc in.o .rfec" .. . [80' 1 Cons.,."o... WU, os 0"", pnxccditlg ""'h ci"'......p«I ",otion. 1lw: is ... Rom.. loo. non. of i" prtvilcg... ~ .. ~... eo .... ..,rinopIc did not .ttarc ifS mditional potition ... although ,ho: granGeo, of the p:Ux" in the ....... ciry. ~ ill ~ dimcmio .... promisod that thi. """"Id no' olways be
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\1"1 dON t.l. N V.LS NOJ
CONSTANTINOPLE
rise as ecclesiastical capital, not only at Rome but at Antio<:h 7 and 8 Alexandria as weU. But already by the end of the fifth century the city of Constantinople, growing in size and wealth, had 4,388 private houses, and had to draw 175,200 tons of wheat yearly from Egypt. It was impregnable because of its walls, of which more will be said later (Chapter 11).9 Moreover, the senators of Constantinople, unlike those of Rome, had very often started their careers as craftsmen, so that the senate of that city fulfiUed a fairly constructive role. T he empire IwasJ no longer of Rome but of Constantinople .... Constantinople was now clearly the ruling city, in which the emperor resided and where government was administered. Compared with the ancient Christian centres, on the other hand, Constantinople was a newcomer, lacking status. At the Council of Chalcedon IKadikoyJ in All 451, therefore, the emperor Marcian took advantage of a dispute within the Church to humble the Patriarch of Alexandria, and so to secure the position of Constantinople as the leading Christian city of the empIre.... All attempts to achieve unity in the Church passed through the court at Constantinople . ... As the residence of the emperor [itl was nOt only rhe ruling city, the centre of government, but also the holy city, the centre of the Church .... And Constantinople rapidly became the administrative and
Figllrt I The walls of Constantinople, erected in the time of Theodosius 11 (412). (The Conway [jbnry, Courtauld Institute of Art)
15
CONSTANTINOPLE
social centre to which gold was attracted by every device at her d lsposa · 1. " Once the empire was divided, then, it was not long before Constantine the Great's foundation Constantinople became recognised as the capital at least of its eastern half. The new foundation, or rather refoundation, had, as we saw, numerous advantages, which enabled it to survive as a city and the capital of the Byzantine empire for many hundreds of years: a survival imperfectly appreciated by westerners even today, when tOO little is said about Constantinople or the Byzantines in educational curricula, which prefer, as we have seen, to concern themselves with western states. It was in the fifth century, however, that this far greater permanence of the eastern empire, based in Constantinople, first became apparent.
16
4 THE FALL OF ROME l
'The emperor Honoriw', ,aid A. Fc:rrill, h .. bee" asked by ancien, and modem historians oJik. 10 ,ake far 100 much of the bl2mc fur Romc:', roll. PntJy tlut is bIO.ndard !O our present l..ad ..., and j, is perhaps no. wuea.o .... ble to do the for lcul.... in the put. On th< other land. if it i. possible to be righ. and still Lo"', Honorius may have done ju", ,hI!. He does not de.erve ,he criticism he uniformly ge", for doing nothinjo\. since doing nothing was aim"" certainly, for him, :on 'active' o. con.ciou •• tnt.gy, not . imply negligence. I " ... tegy tlul might in r"", tuvc WOI'ked if ..,meone had n01 opened I gate to Rome for
.:un.
Allrie', Visigoth. in August 410.... Po..ibly. jf 'he .... ources uf Britain [Ap?
As it WU, Alaric d<sccndcd upon Rome in 4]0. and .ackW ,he city. In .~.
eau..,d a tremendous shock to Chrismru and pagan< olike .... The foil of Rome .pelt the foil of the empire. It even me..,' the end of the "",rid.... To ~'. the expl:orution of the o,.. trophe WU only loo obviou •. The misfortunCll of the em""" Md ine~... cd with 'he growth of Christi.nity. _ . • The Chri.tians mode .everal an.wen, llOIle o f them very convtncIIl& ... To the Chri.tian [said
THE FAL L OF ROM E
Figul't 2 Gold 10lidus of Honorius, western emperor 395-423. tllediolanum
(Milan). The issue was made to mark the joint consulship of Honorius and An:adius in 396. Honorius holds a sceptre and a mappn (a napkin used as a signal for starting the Games). (photograph: Michad Grant) Augustine], earthly disasters weTC indi fferent; they weTC even to be welcomed as sent by God to discipline and purify the faithful. 3 Nevertheless, T he sack of Rome (4 10) does not represent the definite fall of the empire, often as the event and its date are mentioned in accounts of the period. It was a costly raid which damaged Roman prestige; but it was essentially only a raid. Alaric led his people, laden with their booty, to southern h aIr T he re he built a fleet with which he intended to cross to Africa [Appendix 2[, a rich g rain-land which he thought would serve as a ho me for the Visigoths. But the fleet was destroyed by a sto rm, 4 and Alaric died soon afte r. All the same, the western empire now stood little chance of surviving. Alaric was succeeded by his brother-in-law Ataulf,S who was, at least initially, in favour o f an understanding with the Romans, although the latter were nO[ generally pro-German. Ataulf once said that he had o ften dreamed of the establishment of a
18
NL'MIDIA
L IIH A
EGYPT
Map J North Africa
THE FALL OF R OME g~~'
Gothic kingdom, hu' Iud be:e" forced <0 condude ,fu, hi. people did no' h~ve me necessary '1ualilies, $0 tha, 'he be:.t thing for !hem to do W2S to give up the idea of 'Gothia', and .uppon the Roman empire, 'Romani,'. In 412 Atllulf took the Vi.igo!h. o..ul in ,he "" ... ice o f Honoriu •. Bu, he "' ••• efu.ed ,he recognition which he had b:u-g2ined for, and he led hi. people '0 Sfain (Appendix 2), when: he W2S mumetal and Juceeeded hy Wallia (415-16). Thef the po"ible exception of Goiseric the Vandal ("". be:low), the gr.ate" of the opponentS of Rome. Thi, i, , curiou, fK', .inte the Hunni.h kingdom coll.p.ed immedi.tely after Atrila·, dea!h, and be:fore the westem empire did. A,tiLI', northem kingdom, however, W2S the fi"t emergence of a horl>arian empire "fkal to!he empire or empire. of !he Roman •. Hi. fi .. , t~rget had Ix:cn rhe costem Roman empire in 441, 443 and 447; on the I.., oec.. ion the defenc .. of CorutllJltinople were funher threatened by I di.amou, earthquake. But he W2S .omehow perSuaded to tackle 'he w.It inlt.ad _ prob.bl), the ,""em emperor Theodo.iu, 11 bought him off, wi,h 700 lb. of gold, 1'hcn AttiLI taCkled 'he WClt instead: .. Jordlne. rem .. ked," he Inli.ed ,h~, ,he ",."em empire could be: milked, and need no longer be: feared. Bu, his a"ack on Gaol, ,hough ,evere, "'.. mi .. eulously thwarted by Actiu. at !he ho"le of the CatoIaunian Plain. (451) . Yet this c.used grave difficultie. for Italy itSelf, .inoo A,t::ib ,hen proceeded '0 inV">de rh .. eoun,ry. Christian tradition made g:re~' play"";!h the ~'s role in •• nding him bock home, northwud •. But wfu, .co1Iy happ<:ned, in all prohobility, i. !h.. A,tiIa wu concerned about how to .uppl), an .rmy .0 for awa), from its, and hi., h:o.e, with !he re.ul, th:ot V.rentinian III succeeded in buying him off, though he him.elf Aed to Rome. Aetiu., ",ho had defe.ted "'nil. at the C.taI.unian Plain" W2S ~ man of heroi,m and ability _ '!he Iaot of the Romans' according to the .ixth cenlUry his,orian Procopiu.' _ who succeeded in neutrali,ing the power of Galla Placidi. (Chap«. 8), .r V.renti_ ni2n in 454. 'Y"u fuve Cut off your right hand wi!h YOUt left; V.rentini ... W2S told." And a year later !he emperor himself "'........in.ted b)' Aetiu.', fo.mer ~,ainers.
'0
Thi. W2S only ..... enry-one )"C1J"I be:f",. !h. firuJ downfall of the welt; and with these even" its ... miruJ ph..e m.y be: .aid '0 ha,-. be:gun. It. penultimate cri.i. cante abou, thtough the octivicic' of • German king who was almOSt !he
20
(
THF. FAl. !. OF ROMP.
Hi, I.ck of Rome in 455 ~ hdpr::d by the Wge number of Germ"", :rnd Othet Inrlnrians in the employment of the cmpitc, m:rny of whom, no doubt, '0"'" irregubrly ","d, And the "",",ern empire made • """ked p.y<:hologic:ol e.,ot in ill f.i.1ure to ... irn.ibte or welcome th e •e pr::oplc , The Vand:ol, (Appr::ndi. 2) "'ere the only bon,.,;:rn kingdom on Rom:rn wi1 which toOk to the .n, :rnd in 431, 441 and 467 G:oiKric h .. vi1y dof... ted ""'mp'S to ovenhrow him, .pan,ored by the .... t.rn empire but ..,i... d by the w•• t. Africa had be.n con~ucred by the Vandals in 429:rnd wu:rn <.. y prey, benu.e the dcferuiv< ' Y''''m of the provinc.,.... . ui",d for no more tiwl policing :rnd the .uppression of .par:ldic tribal fC\'ol ... With his Rc .., Goisenc controlled the: western MediteH:rne:rn throughout his reign, :rnd he died undcf...ed in 477: he never benme ",.. tern empr::ror, becou« it WlS understood dut "" Germ:u> could do '0; but h. PUt Rome in the ,hade. Th. fin:ol decade, of the ",fiJi and I",,,in,,, with • mu<;h dimini.hed .ilver coitugc of rifiq_ ... d h:olve., and in bronze the small coin. with a Victory type Or the empr::ror'. monogrun on 'he re~ .. e. to One of th",e final rol .... uffered the .upreme dam.ge :u>d humiliauon of. VandoJ >tuck on Rome." "flU. W>lt the grc.t.St of 'he VandolJ' exploits: their de ..en, on Rome i"elf which, .. h.. been .aid, took place in the year 455. It w... Wge,.cole robbery:rnd ~ttlc cl ••• Like oth.. "';d., it w:o. de.igned to augment the m.tcrial tcSOUrCc. of the VandoJ kings. The ciry WlS .y. tcm.ticaUy looted of everything capable of being carried off by the robber expr::dition.
Then the "'e' tern empirc finally eoil'p'ed, :u>d gave w:oy to the Genn.n kingdom of Odo.ccr in 476. t2
Tho •• hi' lOrum ",ho "'l!""d oh. y.ar 476 .. the )'= of ,he faU of the empire have something of. poin', Alrhough Od~e" recognized lhe .uthoriry o f the cmpr::tor in Constan,inople, he WlS "m only the command.,. o f the Genn:rn wldiefS . .. igned to the defence of Itoly. Afri .. hid be.n los, to the Vandal., and G.ul and S","n were under the J. !
TilE FA!.!. OP ROME
Among the hi"oricol que,,;on. which men have po'ed ,hroughou, ,he age. none h. . .,1N.cted m"", .nention ovcc • longer period of time ,fun ,he which ••ko. Why did 'he Rom"" empire in ,h. wes, collapse? It has remained. vi,oI qUe'tion beau,e e.ch age h"" . een in ,he tole of Rome', foil something .ignifi.""t >n<:I ,clev""t tu it> own .itwuion. The meme ha, proved e.pedilly 'ffractive in ouc own time; 'hc f"e of Rome loom. Wgc in the co.mic .peculation of Spengler [o.wild Spen . gler. 1880---1936J ""d To)'nbee JAmold Toynbec. 1889_ 19781. and has been inten,ivdy "eated fmm
0""
,ha,
So how .ignificant i, fall in 4761 For 'he "",,,em empire h.d dearly been destined 10 fill fo. ,ome time. But "'hat, finally. ca",ed i, 10 happen? Hundn:d. of .... on •. i, may be .. peared, ha~e been .uggested for the
"'"0
I
The foilure of ,he army 1 THE GENERALS AGAINST THE STATE 2 THE PEOPLE AGAINST T HE ARMY
!1
The !l"lfs 3 THE 4 THE 5 THE
be""een me cw,e. POOR AGA INST THE ~LATE RICH AGAINST THE STATE MIDDLE CLASS AGAINST THE STATE
TilE FAI, 1. OF R OME
JI I T he cr<:dibili!:y g>p 6 TH E PEOPLE AGAINST TH E 7 THF. PEOPLE AGi\JNST THE
,ha,
IV
The p:mne ... hip' ft.ile
V
The groups that op,ed ou, 10 DROP· OlITS AGAINST SOCIETI' II TH E STATE AGAINST FREE BELlEF
VI
The undermining of .ffort 12 COMPLACENCY AGAINST SELF· HELP 13 TH E OTH ER WORLD AGAINST THIS WORlj) "
All,h ... oow;e, for the d<>wnf:ill of the we ...rn Roman .mpire, I"'"c.· .ing the connecting thr.ad of ill.uni,y, are .W1 valid; and ,he foil of Rome remain, a mm! hi,lOrtc event, To Rome w<: owe an inalculable debt for buikling • great civili'ation which incorpor:ucd and prc>orvcd the Grcc.,. Oricntol culture which sh. herself inherited, and for pm.... i.Jing a setUn~ in which Christianity, hcr own heir, could COme inw being. For more than twO thou.and years 'he " ... tern "..,rld has been taught and irupired by Rame. And rot, in the fifth century, and mort puticularly in 476, Romc foll. Roman civili •• uon did not die a naturo! death. It "'20 murdered. Vet prople all.cked by W<Juld·be murder .... someUm ••• u",;ve if they Ofe strong enough to fight back. And the Rom1J1' rould ,",ve su",ivcd, if they had pon...cd .uffieien, suength. But when the mu,demu5 blow> were deli"ered, ,hey could no longer mUSter 'he forc. 10 parry them .... B)' ,his time r,he weSlern empir.) had become paral)'sed by its int.mol di,uniti.s. ,. But I think th.t on further consideTation I should blame the ft.il. though Avcri! Carncrun. for onc, does not agree. chieA y upon pre .. ure from the Germ"". along the northern fmntier, which the " ... tern .mpir. proved unabl. 10 re.,,, owing to '" ft.ilur. to pmvide i".lf with 'he fin.new backing which was needed in on:Icr to underpin . uch re. i..""cc. Th ••• are th. comm.ntS of R. Doch.."j ~nd W.E. Kacgi, who ",. .. 'he misery ""d rov."}" which ..su),ed from ,h. eclipse of Romc:
TI!~.
FALL OF ROME
PaV.n;' i, for u, the .... ntia] ch:ux'eri"k of 'he sueie,y of th. =Iy Middle Ag ... I, .xpbim ,h. forms and w•• kn ..... of ,he authorities, ,h.ir problem. ""d 'heir in.fliciency r •• ulting from bck of means.. . If [p(",eny) .. k•• from m.n the .apa.ity '0 gov.m, at 'he . ame time it ,ake. frum tho.e ,h.y gO"em ,h. n'''ngth to grasp re.lity and to overthrow 'he inteUe:c,ua! and social Struc'"reS which domina'e ,h.ir ,hough .. and behaviour. The na'ure and cau.es of the fall of Rome Mve been contrm·...iaI i"uc •• ine. ,h. fif,h century .nd douhtle .. will temain 00. The •• perience of the B)7..mio •• ;n the lifth and .ixth c.n,urie' d.monstr.u.d how diffi.uI, i, W2S '0 phrase 'he problem of Rom"" decline proreri)' for ... ,ional con.ide,.,cion. Modern .xplain the dechne of the Rom.n . chow..hip. in a".mpting empire, h .. encoun,.red the ,ame c~nge Zooimu. I.e. Bibiio· g ... phy) did: ,h. difficul,)' of e.plaining in one theor)" both the dec.)· of ,h. ,,'.".rn Ruman empire and the .wyival of the • • "ern "om.", or y.an""., .mp"e, . "
'0
.
".
Aod ,hi. i, wha< Brook Adam. h.d alread)' ""t. d . bout the west,
cl.,,'
lof th. empire] w.... d the ".te by working The ' murued only to concent .... ,.:ill "'eal,h in ,heir hand ..... A. the su.taining force [money) failed I". Chop,.r 5), the line of rroop;s along the D.nube .od Rhine "'.. d",wn ou' until i, broke. ""d the barbar· . L ,- __ , t. ,an. poureD~.In "nc""c,..,... Rome "' •• w•• ry beyond the d.Y' of h.r strength. The e.pense of maintaining a IU1uriou. coun and an idle popuhuion upped the p,m·in..,; 'he le~ns, perman.ntly encamped on the fronticked Rome i"df, elidting from S, Augu,tine > great .e.reh for ,he m""ning of hum"" and divine governmen'.. _ . Ephemem emperors. 'pon. ,ored by 'he genem. and ministers, 'os. ~nd fell until ,he la.st •• boy, wu ploced on 1 meaningles. ,hrone by hi' fa,her Orcote. ,
'0
TilE F.l.U. OF
~O ,\! F.
who _ such were the rev()lution. of the time, - had once ,erved
.. Attila's scc"'tary. He did DOt la" long. ... The imperial insignia ,,-cre "'turned to the C2St."
The devdopmen. of an dabor.o.te buro.ucracy in the I.te Rom.n .mpi,. W2S .dmini.tntivdy inevitable. As Christian Lue .. has noted, 'the growth of 'he inte.fe •• nee of the imperial burc.ucr.ocy in 10..1 concerns proceeded alongside the d"dine of spontaneous municiJ>21 govemmcm'. Ago.in, un",i •• currency manipulation. in the third century had led to inll.tion ond to spiral. of rising pri.,,", ",hich could only be hpt in check by an elabora'e .nd Sleadily inc ...... ing system of .ta'e con'roIs. Finolly, founh.ceotury kgislation !Coded ." «gul... to the de,ail 'he activitie. of ""cry citiun."
.m.n.. ,
The bure.ucracy •• pr.... d its.lf by vcry '.veTe tnation (.ee Ch'ptcr 5): The bruJ ·UJI ... reachW more than one·,hird of • farmd. gross produce. It ", •• infl.xibl. and thoroughly ilJ·dimihutcd.... NOIhing .hows mor. dearly the ineluctable victory of the two unse.n encmi.. of the Roman empire _ time ""d di"ance. Tu assessments Were conscientious; bur in so huge. roei.ty they could never be either complete or frequent enough. Hence. the only ",ay to allevi.,,, une', burden wall to e~e it. !c,,·iog the le" fortunate to pay up. Th. .mperors rerogni>.cd this. Oc .... io nall)· the)' would ease the burden of ta ... tioo b)· ,pcctacular &<"ure, _ privil'ges, remi,.ions, the cancelling of hood debt •. l:Iu. the •• "'·el"<: ~k" spout. of ".,.m f'om • •• fety-VlIlv.; though impre .. ive, they did nothing to ,edimibut. 'he burden i«elf. Hence, in the wO>lcrn province . of the empire, the wcalth the empc",r could tap . h"",k "e.dily io.o the hond. of the groat bruJo"'·ocrs, Ico.·ing the smaU man !O ha ... his propcrty ground fine by 'he constan, dem""d . of the tneoUeero •. NO! for nothing in the Christian hymn 'D;". be' i. the coming of the LIst Judgment 'ho~ghr of in .crm. of the .rri....! of • late Rom.n revenue offidal." s,uvian (. 400 to .fter 470; 5ec Bibliogr.lphy) lad already had. kJl to . a), .hou•• h. damaging effee .. of "'e5lern a ... tion: T=tioo, however h .... h ond brutal, would "ill be I... s.v«. ""d brulal if all , hOled equally in .he eommon lot. But the .itu.tion is made more .hameful and di""
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OF ROME
476, 'will cvcr he rememhercd', .. Gibbon [Edward Gibbo~ 1737-941 ded. red, 'and i•• rill fel' by the nations of the earth',
So 'he we"ern Rom.n empife ceased 10 exi" in 476, o.mid generol .~'hy in the W"", although subscquen, ages luvc ne,'cr ce.,cd 10 m>gnify the evcot, It. rdevwee, I luve wrinen, utending nwnerou. westem countne.,
'0
has nevcr .eentcd more vi.ible thon ,od.y. Bri,ain thinks of i", own v.ru,hcd empire. Thc Uni
'0
'pm'
In the cigh'eenth ccntury the deb. te on the fall of 'he [",c>tern] empire w.. re.umed, and i, h.. gonc on evcr .incc. RlttiorWi,,, like Gibbon uw rcUgion . . . prim.ry couse o f its dccUnc .. , . Othcr historUn" .eeording to the temper of their time, h.vc emph. ,izcd the empire'. mili~ dcclinc, its poUtical or ' ocial w~ncn .., or its Nonomie decoy... . The ,imple but "'ther unf.. hionablc vicw the barbarian. pl.)'cd a consider.blc port in the declinc and. fall of the cmpire m.y luve some truth in it .bovel. External p",ssurcs.nd internal " ... kne,"e. of coone interacted. The enfeeblement of the empire no doubt encouf2llCd the barbarian. to win casy .poil•.. , . Thc wc",crn ""'pite borc much mOre th"" its fair ,lute of the burdcn and "''' much le$! favourably plxed to make a reeovery ... hen its fim linc of dcfcnce \\'U brokcn.... mc cncmi",] all realised tha, Con.untinoplc ",., too toogh • nu, '0 crack.... In ,he ea" no, only werc Icgitim.,. cmperors rarel)' challcnged bu, when an emperor had aIrW)' de,igru".d hi. suec...." w deetion wo. hcld in • con.OtutionaJ m"""er, and its =ult :IC
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i'"
w.,
THE FALL UP RUME
One thing tllllt was quite certain was that the wnknc .. of the western empero .. meont the ri.e of the importoncc of the pope" under Leo I the e .... (440-61), the primacy of Rom. wa. finally ....bli.h.d, though this involved t.",ion with Con"ontinople, Zb And yet ,he Gcn"."" who eame nex' cliJ no, ac, badly. Owing to the prog .... ive depopul.tion of the coun,rysid., the .. would be omple .ccommodation for new ocwpic",. The new· come", ..""..d prosperity to Italy; for now ,h.t the tr.oditional •• terrull SOUK.S of the .upply of grain w.re in alien hand., the ltali. n fun'e" bec:une once ag1in. prime f.ctor in the ~fe of the COUntry; so much.o that, "imul"ed by ,hi, nec...i,y, half, which h.d for •• ntwie. imported corn O! a tribute, w. . .oon able to export it at • profit. Odoacer deliberl"cly maintain«l, eVen enhonccd, ,he .st.bli,hed au,horiti.s of Rom •. The s.n.t. he .. ~rdcd ... p-aftner, .. ,.\\0"' signifiC'ant of all, ado.ccr, (althwghJ on Arian, .hov.'ed evcry deference to the Pope.v Indeed, E.A. f'reelTUJl felt able to write equall)' optimiukolly about Rome. "'en before its eoUapse, with the implication th .. its collapse could no, be total. No fronti.r w....f. again .. foreign enem;',. Yet the wonderful thing i. how often the empire came together .gain. What .trikes us at "'ery "ep in the unglcd history of the.. tim.. is the wonderful look which the Rom.n !JV"e and the Rom.n power .tilI kept when it wO! thus .. tukcd on every .id. from without and tom in piece. in every quarter fmm within." Othe". h""""er, will hold that the .;,uati"" at Rome. when 'he Western cmp;"', in .pite of this talcnt for oucvivoJ, hod finally <1ft""', was bound to fall. Yet its .ctual fall. for all ito in.vitability, c.nnot fail to be of COnCern to U',
'fHE FALL OF
~O.l! 1!
1>«•.,•• it brought inlO ~ing no! only th. pow~r .,f ,h. ~. bo", IM whole his'O<}' uf the Middlc Age.> '" ""hlch., .. ind.ed It, .ho; pKviou< :mti<juc period, w • .,..... such a 101. Ind«
5 FINANCE AND THE ARMIES
Onc rn.on, it
""uId
IIC<:m from the foregoing
"'<"em empire reu was
~ommcnl'.
why the
of the eN,hing burden of ,,,,,.tion, deemed necessary to moinain 'he fronti .. again" the Gcrnuns. beCIUS.
Successive <mpe=>, J have pointed out, c.ch tried to turn 'he
•• re'" • hnl. tigl" ••.... Vo.Ientinian III openly odm;n.d 'he s.v.gery of hi. own ')'.n [457--611 came to the throne shortly .f,crward, . .. :and Sidorn". (Apollinuisl weloomed hi, .ccc.. ion with • congr::uuJ..ory :uld..... he rfWla' god to insert • ",feronce 10 ,he wc burden which oppr",~d hi. n.live Gaw [Appendix 2J. And the new emperor himsdf i .. ucd • kgol pronouncemen, deploring "' ••• ""veritic. with. (rank"" .. I.... There was >.loo • terrifying omount of corruption involved in .pplring 011 compulsions.... When criuu of the 'rot.m poin«d out that by far the wo",t .uffe~n wen: ,he ru,tic poor, what they .o.id wu no mon: man the truth, ... It was incumlxnt upon city councillors Ixlow """ n. 3), and thcir ' un< when their turn came. tu induce thei, fellow·citizens tu disgurge the m:my t:nc •. dcm"""w by me Slat<. os "'cll os the required I.vi•• in kind: food"uff.. clothing and the likc.... To Salvian I'cc previou s chapt"'j, th. councllion' Ixh.viour toward. thc poor , ..m.d humbly brutal: h •• a'" .hem os "'p.ciou, I"'",e.ulo,., of widows, orphan. and monk •.... Yet [this view) was .00 one-.idw oil the ,ame, .ince the .ituation of the .
,he,.
I"''''''', •••
FINA~CE
A~D
THE AR)'!IES
nucleus mean, th .. ,hi. world could no, rem';n in e.inence an)' Io"&,,r. I
And thc rich wi, hd,.", in,,, ,hei. e...,,,., which were economic:illy . elf.
,ufficienl and fortified. The .. men, opar' from IlOl contributing ",h.. they ,huukI,:illU\Ved .cfugec. frum the lax .y"cm (and brigand2ge) '0 be<:ome ,heir ~bourers. AnY"'J.)". the w"" .. n government,..... bankrup'. In the e..,. ,he gre .. er import.nce of trade, .nd Ihe prolifenuion of .m:ill bOI v;'b!e citie, in the runlerland "f the Mediterranean, en.ured • more lxmnc.d, .~n • more .galilari>.n, .ociety. The local I..,downers of • Gteek
'own,
There were more ancien, and rich .. cities (in ,he cost) than ,herc were in the W.", and tht .. ,..... a Inge . nd .UMW1tial middl.Hlas. Ix.ide> the much critici ... d nition tu last out during this
RAETlA
.. .
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rANN
LLYR1CUM
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OAC 1A
Map 4 Eastern Europe
OF
THItACE
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A S I A
.-
Map 5 Asia
Minor
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.i7. •• bl.) in .>
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Once og>.in, ,he e ... eoc.pcd the f.tal haza,,!o ,hat encomp05ocd the weot. &yond .he fronti ..... ConSlan.jnopk .chieved .. m... u... of pea« with the one thre.tening power. rhat of the Pcrsians, in mark.d con, .... , the German menace thot eon ... nd)· 'h..... ned the ,,-c"em empire. A. for the G .. mans, the .a".m capi.ol wa. protected by a and the Long Wall of Th"",e. bo,h of which prov.d more imp ...gn.ble 'han anything to be found in ,he " ...1. Goln .., it is true. gained power in the e.. tem ci,y in 400, but jt go, him OUt (Ch.pte. 6). True, '00, the ... tem ROfIUII army, and ito command. ,"rgel)· con.isted of (;."runs, bu, ,h....'ern emperors 1...0 I .nd Z.no ,uccc.ded in t.plxing mos, of ,hem by n..ives of A,i. Minor, Isauri.ns, who in ,u.n w.'" gut rid of by An2s, .. iu. [ (491 _518). Bu, in any c..e ,he c.. tem population W2$ much better equipped 10 d.al wi,h ,he mili,",y cri.i. ,h.n ,h. "",,,. Cert.inly, • high level of ,a1Ooon wos once again ne.ded 'u mainlllin the can ,h<: wc ... A. W2$ . . ."rrcd ., ,h. beginning of ,his ch.pter, i, is possible '0 m.kc a strong cos. for aocribing ,he faU of the we .. em .mpire to ntwlciol inode<Ju.cie •. True, historian, wi,h MaOO" leaning< ~kc '0 fonow Solvian
'0
.....u,
FINANCE AND TH E ARMIES
and o .. «,~rnph .. i'~ th~ rnj ..,,), of the poor. The ...... ~pp->lling poverty _ e. pecially in the we.t: this wu not new (there had al~y. been fomine.), but owing to the """,kne.. of the we .. ern government th~ ,itu~tion had hther G.rmans, and did not "';s<: enthusiasm among the people. of the empire ",hom they wed (as. in the west, it did).
6
EAST AND WEST
[Valentinian I'sl son Gratian [the western emperor1 failed to come to the help of [the eastern emperor] Valcns, when the latter was
about to fight the fatal battle of Adrianople (Hadrianopolis, Edirne) against the Visigoths (378) . Where the blame for this failure of cooperation lay is not quite clear, though Gratian's
principal German general was suspected of sabotage. . . . And then in 383 ... when the usurper Magnus Maximus rose against Gratian in Gaul, the preoccupations of the eastern emperor
T heodosius I [379- 95] with his own frontier problems meant that he, toO, did not send help in time to save his colleague's life. . . . When, after [fhcodosius's] death in 395, [the empire] was
divided into
twO
parts once again, between his
twO
sons Arcadius
and Honorius ... relations between the two empires began to become really bad .. .. At a moment when the civilized world could only survive if west and east co-operated, the split between their two governments [represented, most authoritatively, by Stilicho, d . 468, in the west, see below and n . 9, and Rufinus, d. 395, in the eastl became almost total. .. . The hostility between the twO empires ... was exacerbated by savage ecclesiastical disputes.... Irreparable harm had been done - particularly in the more vulnerable west .. .. When Marcian (450-7) was proclaimed the eastern emperor, the west showed an initial reluctance to recognise him .... As a result of the tension and mutual ill-will, the frontiers had been gravely undermined, and the enemies of the Roman world were strengthened in every quarter.! Furthermore, east and west were differently administered: the sons and grandsons of Theodosius I did not inherit his ability, and the actual direction of affairs came into the hands of generals and ministers such as Stilicho and Rufinus, in the two empires. A significant difference between
37
EAST AND WEST
east and west appeared at once. In the west, the men who guided the administration at its highest level, down to the end of Roman rule there, were almost all generals. In the east, civil officials were in charge, while 2 military figures had less influence. The western aristocrats also formed a deplorable unit which the east lacked: they took care of their own selves and neglected everybody else's interests, including the emperor's; whereas the career bureaucrats of the east had only themselves and the state to serve,3 and that made them more useful. This was yet another of the reasons why the eastern empire, unlike the western, survived. The differences between the two regions can be summed up in the following terms:
The eastern empire, thanks partly to its geographical poslllon, was much less subject to external pressures, particularly those of the barbarian peoples, than was the western empire which attracted and absorbed most of the barbarian invasions. The eastern empire, also, enjoyed relatively stable and purposeful administration, either by effective emperors or, in less fortunate reigns, by praetorian prefects o r others near the throne .... Attempted usurpation in the provinces was rare in the eastern empire. The great strength of the Roman empire, added Haywood, is shown by the long and stubborn fight for survival which it waged against odds often g reater than those which had p revailed in the west. In the long run the Byzantine government did prove itself capable of governing, in spite o f periods of weakness and of shameful corruption. The techniques of production and distribution were maintained. The high intellecrual tradition of the Greco-Roman civilization was largely directed into religious channels, but its secular form was not allowed either to die Out or to degenerate.... It must be remembered that during this time the east had suffered no comparable damage. The Huns had caused it considerable damage, but it had lost no important terntory, was economically fairly sound, and had restored the citizen army of other days .. . . Norman Baynes asserts that the reason why the eastern, or Byzantine, empire was able to protect its integrity at this time and go on, while the west gradually slipped into the hands of the Germans, was the superior wealth of the east. ... Once the empire had gotten into the unfortunate position of acung as two practically separate halves, the west was the weaker 4 partner.
38
••
•
-
.-
._.
Map 6 T he: east
EAST ANt> WEST
&""'-.
The ..... m empi", wa. for a time undo< ,hrea, from ,h. G ....man •• no,ably under A,eadiu •• when Gain .. ac,u.uy occupied Con'tantinople for .i1 month. (400-I).j And •• fter .u. the di.... rous memory of 'he batik of Adri1l1oplc (378), when Volens hod be.n killed ...... quite f,esh. 1\10re0\'..... f,om 396 until 4(11 the AIans ruled over the cas, Balkan •. and befo", that, in 395. 'rm.-u.unsim 1·1wu; ruw poured through 'he C.. pian Ga,.s as far a. Syria. Bu, Gain .., although helped by hi. relation T ribigild, w.. mit:lculously dislodged from the c.pita! b)' Fr:o\'it .... with the hdp of the Patrim;h of Constantinople, and lied "",th. where he ....... killed. while the Germ.n, in, id. Constantinople itself became pow.,less, Later, i, is 'ruc, there ..... r. renewed thrnts. WIder Le" I (457_74) 1nd then from ,h. Vandal. in the time of Zeno (474-91 ), bu, • peace th., I..ted fo, nearl)' sixty)'..... followed. What, e>
w:t, •
.. racks.· For one renon or another. then. the c .. tern empire _ lacking deep internal barriers, civilUn,run, and bettcr .. keeping peacc _ .urvived, 1nd the """em empire did noL Above all dsc, the west ....... more vulner:able to e.temal.ttaek owing to its g.ogl'llphical Localion. which,..... far inferior to that of Con.untinoplc.' Gl""villc Downcy .ummed up the whole situation in the folJowing rcrms; The .trueture of !he government differed .ignificantly in the ca" and ..... " [$Cc above ""d n. 2J. In the wc.t, thc Iand."wning ari"OC"'ts. some of them f""t .. tically wealthy, contributed much Ieo. money ,fun they .hoWd h.ve to the C05t of the army and the government. The cu!Cm empi,.. in co",r:a", pos . • e"ed • civil .e rvice compos.d I.rgely of middle-cl ... prof•• sionals. and while gr:aft uru.voidably eAi"ed, !he .."cm government recei\'ed in tne. a higher proportion of thc n:oclonal income tfun !he we.,ern government enioy."
co..w
The go\,ernmcnt of the cast was con"'q""nuy much bener .bl. to defend i,..,lf. It had th.",for•• urvived the third-century horron more effecti,·dy. Th. porticul...dv""t.ag. of the .... t, and its "rain.d ,clation. with the .....". Ius been further crtU.tgcd upon'
EAST AN D WEST
It was now fin 395J that the relations between the (Wo empires began to become really bad, so bad that this must be regarded as a majo r faela r in the debilitatio n of the weaker partner, the west. The worsening o f relations was directly d ue to a western leader, o ne o f the most able men of the age. This was Stilicho. ... It became his determined ambition to reunite the whole empire with himsel f as its real controller. T his would necessarily involve the suppression of Rufinus [Stillcho's personal enemy, whom Theodosius 1 had chosen to be the hruardian of his older boy Arcadius, the eastern emperor of the fu ture. Stilicho's plan would necessarily involve the suppression of Rufinus] .... At a moment when the civilised world could only survive if
Figurt J Wing of ivory diptych, (. 400. The man represented, Stilicho, was commande r-in-chief and regent to the western emperor Honorius, the juvenile younge r son of T heodosius I, rrom 395 10 408. (Archivi Alinari/ Anderson) 41
EAST ANI) WEST
....~" and ~ .. , c"'¥"'tcd, the spli, be",,«n ,I\tit governments hod beeo..., olmos, ,oW. ~ of the _ , mullS of this t.eriouo misundc:toUIIding be","«o Ru~nUJ and Stllic.... _ tha, i, ~ ... bkd AIaric '0 po<Mtnte into Grtt«'. Chudian decb ..... tha, Ru~n ... had uncho: ..... sl, ...;thdn"", his uoops, boo" in all pro!>. ~bilil)' it _ deliberate pbn tMt Abtit: shookl be: dittrt«l . . . . . the <2S.em . . . . ., ord" to keep him ou. of .he welL Nu •• Run ..... fell from ~ 1LtId....as a",,"in.u:d .. . . Sillicho, after ,ho: ease had in¥i.n! him '0 .,"",me against AIirit in Om:e~, mysteriously 1<. IUm e $C1po< from his clu,che. in 3')7 .nd dcp-ut. Noting his unholpfulnes., EuttopiuI leunuch, ,,,,,ecuor of Runnu., likewise .".eked by CLoudi.n; ',e 8ibliog... phyl, on behalf of the CU' ern govemmen" n.... only d«Lored StiUcM • public .n~rny, but felt it n«c.,aty to .ppe..e the V;,igolht by .ppointing him Mute, of SoIdiet"l in the 8.IJun, - ••• ep which nused w>
SciIic......
qu.",..].. , , And "" [llioow.J
pn><<
oopIc .. the: , ink of 011 .he vicn. ... In 401 .• . Alaric crossed the botd<. from the cas"m to the: well•• n empin:.... Stilic:ho •.• ddn.«i him in ....... lu«e .. n-.: )" ..... bu, twi(c le. him go .mm h. could Mv. IifliJhed him off.' Be fore
,ho., in ,he year 400, the VlSlgoth Gm.... and his relative T rib;.
Wld.'o tcYohed ogtins'
the cas, Roman ,e~, in the atmy o f which they
"".... rvinll .. office.., having prnunubly 50mC ide. of seizing the n"e'n empire for ,""m..lves. l1It:y evitkntly intended not ,,, cu' them . .. Ivel off from cu, Rornan H, o. ovenhrow ,he CUtern government, but to u ... b\ish • f'<"'"erful position irtridt the .... '.m empire. In thi. r.spect, however. they diff... d (rum the main bulk of ,he •• bel. with 'hem. woo no doubt ....,,«d ,,, dc"ruy th. t ~mpi .. al'ogcth~r; and ,ha, i. why these rebel. matChed $0 u ..",ivc1y (and pointlc..Jy) fOb. AIanf and Suevi (Qud) from c.ou~ the RhiM, and Ihey WCre "",." rolled back. Numc. OUJ d .... ""r. "'It",),ed by Ihem ond depopuLotcd, and '<>0 many o f ,he "·U"m emperor'•• ubjeCtf joined .tw: eMm,. AI f
,ho,
f!n
I!AST AND WES T
Meanwhik, m",,1 mb~r Cermaru ,,'ere tc.. in«rn«d in inv .. ion th"" in .!wing: in the mO!eri:al benefiIJ and pro. periry of lhe Roman empire, I bope , from Con"antine I the Gmt and Theoo",iu. lo " ~ Vi,igotb rnorIllCh Auulf, for ~pk, was far more in«reot"d in fu.ion than in fi .. ion. " SUI ,he Romaru. most of them. r<:rru.i""d ir",· v<>c.Wy anti·German: Christian Romaru were e.pecially . hocked by the Cermans' Arian and barbarian w.)'>, and OUnd. " And, eve,,",he.." _ blrly on, tbe e."em emperor A •• .di"s reached a .lose pe",orW unde"'tanding "'itb Yazdagird J, whom he I .. uall)· .ppointed .. Itly bee. ",. of
'0
EAST AND WEST
remained rel.rively n.tie and ".hle; !he Pe,..ian danger "'"' d. enggeroting when he wwte, 'Pe,..ia, .. our foot, with humble air, .prad. c<»lIy ornaments and jewel.....c: Such chauvini.m would h:udly h.ve .ppealed tu the Chur<;h in I'<:,..i •. which became Monophy.;te (Chapte. 9). thot i. to .ay oppo,ed 10 the imperial chur<;he. of the Roman •. Yet ...n)· rote the Zone' of di.pote wcre >..IIowed to .uy ... they wc.e, and p"""e ,re.. ic • •emained rdalivd)' durobl•. Thi. w"' • much happier posioon th.n !he west en;C)'ed with .egard to the G ..m ..... The re...,n why thc Rom.n. and ,he Pc,..ian. did no, war with one .no,h..... for<;oFully "' they might h.ve done 11125 bee.u •• they hod Ie:uned fwm experience that onc could not destroy the other and bee,u,e e.eh of them had o,he. e""mi.. - bo,h e~tc.nal and imemal - who wen: eonst.ntly !hreot.ning them borh; indeed, Constantinople often wanted. strong Pc,,;'" for help win" the norrwJ .. Thu> ,he rcmarluble pe.ce of one hundred and fifty yea,... Nevertheless, in 502 Kavod I .tt.eked AfUS,...iu, I, who built • fon ......gainst him at Don ne .. Ni,ibi. (l\lUoa)"bin); but then peace " ... , ... umed. The coinage illustt"l.1es ,he de'ermined. o. at leas, outward, effort. of the e .. tern .nd ",.. tcrn empero,.. to coll.bo ..«. in .pite of everything th .. w"' driving !hem .part. The beginning of ,he reign of Valentini.n tJJ ".,.. m...ed on ,c/,ib" coinage or Rome in 425 by • ,eve"e inscribed "ICTOUA AVGGG., [depicting[ two empero,.. standing mi ng, e.cb hulding kmg er",. and globe. Thcod""iu. rll) i, .hown •• ,>..lIe. than Valeminian who i. erowne<.l from he.ven. Aquileia also in 425 .truck ;oIiJj for Thcodo..ll .. ~gure .unding. e:ach holdin); the in.ignia of thei' join, eonsul'hip in tha, year.... A ,imilar coin.ge ruck for Valentinian [In1 by Theodooius [Ill at Coru;untinopl •.... Romc .nd Ra,·.nn. [".. re) ,he main min ts for ,he eoilUge of thi, reign .... In Ihe lan ye.,.. nf Valen,inian [111[ ,c/iJi w.re "ruck It Rovenna and Rome 01.0 for the .."cm empero •. Marc;'n."
'Al..'"
w., ..
Nev.nhcleu, "' 11125 perhop. inevi ..ble. the c.. t.rn empi.c (which would very soon be known .. 'he BY',an,in. empi.e) .... " .• "'ell !mow• •urvived, and the did not. The victorious e .. tem empire was a fusion of the Hdlerti.tic and Rom ... tnditions: it was much •• f•• th.n the WC", "'e m.y conclude, P"f\Iy becau,e of ill more f,vOll",ble gcogrophicol ."d therefore military Io<.oon, but 01.0 because of its le .. ha:<ardOlls socio1
w."
EAST AND \VEST
Figure 4 Gold so/idu] of Valentinian III (placidus Valcntinianus), emperor of the west 425- 55. Rome. He is shown draped and cuirassed, wearing a pearl diadem. (Photograph: Michael Grant)
and economic structure. And so, a century o r so later, it was to become the greatest power, and greatest trading power, in Christendom. Moreover, it was Christendom that it stood for. Furthermore, it preserved and maintained an equilibrium which had never been maintained elsewhere, by the guidance of bureaucrats who may have been tiresome, but were never, or not usually, as fatally repressive as their western counterparts. With their help, Constantinople kept alive the whole machinery and concept of empire, which had fallen into desuetude and disrepute in the west. In fairness to the eastern regime, it must be pointed out that it was difficult for it to spare sufficient troops for the western Mediterranean, which is partly why it never committed its full resources to the area. Yet Constantinople itself was strong enough (see Chapters 3, 11), and it was that very strength, to a large extent, which diverted barbarian attacks to the west, and thus, as Gibbon pointed out, helped to bring about its downfall. Besides, Constantinople was toO much preoccupied with its own survival to help a great deal in the west. So when the penultimate western emperor,lulius Nepos (474-5), went to his eastern colleague Zeno for help, he did not get any, except fo r kind words. 19 In this age of weak western rulers, however, Julius Nepos was 45
EAST AND WEST
reasonably strong. He had been a success ful general in Dalmatia, but he fo und it necessary to cater to Rome's now almost exclusively barbarian army by appointing a generalissimo acceptable to the barbarian troops. Eventually, in 475, the cho ice fell on Orestes, a man who, like Aetius, had spent time at the court of the Huns, as Attila's secretary. Although he was Roman by birth , the long association of Orestes with non-Romans made him acceptable to the largely no n-Roman army. Before the year was out, however, he re belled against Nepos, and the emperor fled to the east (Dalmatia), while the general elevated his own son, Ramulus (475-6), to the western throne. The empero r at Constantinople still recognised Nepos, but for the next year Orestes ruled in Italy under the banner of his you ng son, who too k the title Auguscus but was generally called Augustulus (or 'little Augustus,) because of his age. In the end not even Orestes was able to control the Germanic troopS who o fficially served the Roman emperor in the west. They wanted a settlement in Italy, JUSt as the Visigoths and others had been settled in Gaul. Whether their demand s involved a third of the land or merely of the tax revenues remains uncertain, but it was a large concession in either case. Orestes refu sed , and in a meeting the Germans elected one o f their own o fficers, Odoacer, as Icing. The new ruler de posed and executed Orestes and sent Ramulus Augustulus o ff to retirement in Campania on a public pension. The Roman empire in the west was finished. Rome had joined the company of Nineveh and other fallen empires. Odoacer ruled in Italy as king (rt"q, and the Roman senate returned the imperial regalia to Constantinople, sending a delegation to the eastern emperor Zeno (474-91 ) which d eclared that there was no longer any need for an emperor in the west. Zeno did not, officially, acquiesce. Indeed, he req uested the Roman senate to take back Julius Nepos. But Odoacer ignored these instructions, and Nepos died four years later
(4BO).'" The prudent Zeno soon deserted the hopeless cause of his abdicated colleague lNepos]. His [Zeno's] vanity was gratified
Figllrt 5 Gold solidNs of Ra mulus 'AUguSIUlus', last weslern emperor, 475--6. Mcd iolanum (Milan) . (British Museum)
46
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EAST "ND WEST anoth~r •• hc
out and "'c" .plit up - and the ~ .... urvivcd ...hile the ",c.t did nor. Gcza Alfoldy W2S another ",ho summed up the ",,,,"Iion... foUow •• covering. snuf.c.orily wide fi.k!: In the ~llIpire of the e ... ciKulll"""«S we'" beu.r: the.e wu oot . udl • thorough .Iienation of . ocicty frum the S... e .. had occurred in th~ .....,st. Th~, ....... c!oo.c relationship betwe.n the emperor of the e.., and the landowning upper ........ pamcubrly the .cnat ••, Con.t2ntinoplc. The Church of the =t wu very much bound up with the ... te and supported it energetieolly. In general the eiti •• of the ... t ,till poue.ued • foirly sound economic potential. Thu. cven thc curial ordcr in the vlLriou. cities of the ..." ..... nor only Ics. ~k. but 0.150 .upponcd the ...le more than in th~ wc, .. Moreuv... th~ mmpulsory inheritance of urban occupation. did not Ipply in thc C,". by and large. Abov~ all. .h c cmpire of the eOSt wu much bener protected ag:oinst the boorharian. than the .....,".m .mpi... Thu. it w.. • pared mU.pse.""' So the eastern empire .urvived but the western empire did no,. But this chapt« h .. been concerned. ornong other things. with onc difficult and .wlcw-.rd qu •• Iion. Whcn the """cm Rorrurn empire f.n, could the ...,_ em empire have done more 10 •• v. it? You can rak. onc view or the "ther. Eilher the dcc~ne of the wc".rn "",pi" had gone o.1logcther 100 fir. and nothing on earth could ha"e propped il up, or.)"oo may conclude. o.1temative!y. thal if Constantinople. which W2S inc ...sirlgly 11 odd. with Rome. Mcdiolanum and Roverut2. (both politically and spiritually). had internned more decisively and effectively. On I variety of occ..ion •. Ihe western empire might have been saved, or., I""'t its eoUapse might have been posrponed. Pc"orully. I .dhere somewhat re the former eonclu.ion. It ..cm. 10 me tlu •• once th. division of the empire had ulr.cn plac •• the ",e" w" bound to .uccumb before thc c.. t did .
.
7
THE EAST E R N E MP E R O RS
Curiously enough, although the C2StCm empire survived these horrors overcoming even the hazard of excessive taxation - its emperors during this period, like those of the west, are mostly not very exciting, although they, o r their advisers. succeeded in keeping their state in existence. They arc Arcaclius (395-408), Theodosius 11 (408--50), Marcian (450-7), Leo I (457- 74), Zeno (474-9 1), and Anastasius I (491-518). The permanent division of the empire into east (which survived) and west (which did nor) dates from the time of Arcadius in the east and Hooorius in the west (395),1
Arcadius and Hooorius ... became the founders of rwo sub· empires in the east and west respectively. Though, in strict law, Arcaclius and Honorius remained joint rulers of an undivided realm, in actual practice they became independent of each other, so that the history of the eastern and western divisions henceforward ran on separate lines?
In contrast [Q his western counterpart Arcadius - although mocked at the time fo r the lack of military skill and interest, and, nowadays, for the persistence of VICTORIA on his coins - successfully got rid of the G erman Gainas (a 'miracle' made possible, as we have seen, by another G erman Fravitta, helped by the Patriarch). And the successor of Arcadius, Theodosius 11, at least under guardianship (his ministers were Runnus and Eutropius [395-9], both attacked by Claudian, and Anthemius, from 408), was not so bad as he has sometimes been painted, considering that, in his last years, the empire was threatened by three powerful enemies, who were success fully fought off. Theodosius 11 seems to have been well educated and humane, though untalented and lazy and something of a bigot. But it can be argued that his policies did something to distance the eastern empire from the western decline. Then,
49
THE EASTE RN E MPEROR S
Fig,m 6 Probably Arcadiu5, eastern emperor 39S-40S. National Archaeological Museum, Istanbul. (Arcruvi A1inari/ Andenon)
50
THE E ASTERN EMPERO R S
Figllrt 7 Gold IOlidlls of the eastern emperor Theodosius 11 ,408-50, attributed to the emperor's eastward journey in 443 after securing peace with the Persians. (Photograph: Michael Grant)
Theodosius 11, responding to Placidia's appeal to help her fouryear-old son Valentinian III to ascend the western throne [425], struck a hard bargain: he would help, and would remove a usurper who had intervened Dohannes, 423- 5], on the condition that a large strip of central Europe, bordering the middle D anube west of Singidunum (Belgrade), must be transferred to his territory.... This 'cooperation' was celebrated by the last coinage of Constantinople ever to show onc of the emperors in the company of his western colleague. Theodosius [I and his successors also assisted the west against the German invaders of north Africa Gaiseric and his Vandals - on at least three occasions. But ... it seemed better not to pour too many troops down the drain ... . The last cooperative enterprise in which the two Roman empires both had a share was the legal code o f T heodosius n, published in 438 ..3 Theodosius 11 was succeeded in 450 by Marcian. Since the death of the younger Theodosius lll], the domestic repose of Constantinople had never been interrupted by war or 51
THE EASTERN EM PER O R S
faction. Pulcheria (Chapter 8] had bestowed her hand, and the sceptre of the east, on the modest virtue of Marcian. He gratefully reverenced her august rank and virgin chastiry; and, after her death, he gave his people the example of the religious worship that was due to the memory of the imperial saint. Attentive to the prosperiry of his own dominions Marcian seemed to behold with indifference the misfortunes of Rome. And the obstinate refusal of a brave and active prince to draw his sword against the Vandals was ascribed to a secret promise wruch had formerly been exacted from him when he was a captive in the power of Genseric IGai seric]. ~
Marcian was a retired military officer of no distinction ... who had been 'domestic' [personal assistant] [Q Aspar (German general 424-71], and one of his first acts was [Q appoint one of Aspar's sons, Ardaburius, magilJt r miliJllm fNr OrienJtm [?>Iaster of Soldiers in the East]. There can be little doubt that Aspar arranged Marcian's election by the senate and the army, probably with the co-operation of Pulcheria Augusta [Chapter 8], who consented to marry the new emperor and thus confer upon him the hereditary prestige of the T heodosian House, wruch was sorely needed at this moment of dynastic exhaustion. The new emperor ... re fused to pay Anila his subsidy. 5 This rash gesture of defiance, which might have involved the European p rovinces of the empire in even deeper ruin, turned out luclcily, for Attila was too busy with his western schemes to retaliate at once, and died before he had time to take his revenge. Or, it might be argued, Marcian had deliberately turned him against the 6 west instead of against himself. But our sources for the reign of Marcian arc poor. He was, however, clearly bmh pious and courageous. And it was beginning to be clear that the troubles of me eastern empi re were less perilous than those of the west. As fo r the next eastern emperor, Leo I (457-74), he had little formal education; but, as Gibbon indicates, there were points in his favour. This emperor, the fi rst of the name of Leo, has been distinguished by the title of the Great from a succession of princes who gradually fixed in the opinion of me Greeks a very humble standard of heroic, or at least of royal, perfection. Yet the temperate firmness with which Leo resisted the oppression of his benefactor {the German general Aspar, d. 471] showed that he
52
THE EA STERN EMPE ROR S
Figure 8 Gold solidus of the eastern emperor Leo I (457-74). Thessalonica (Salonica) : a mint as well as an imponant regional capital, formerly an imperial residence. Leo is described, like other eastern emperors, as PERPET(U"S), rather than as the more common p(ilu) F(tlix). (pho tograph: Michael Grant)
was conscious of his duty and of his prerob~tive .... It was impossible that the reconciliation of the emperor and the patrician [a title accorded to Masters of Soldiers] could be Sincere, or, at least, that it could be solid and permanent.7 Leo I had sound common sense and a mind of his own. Consider, too, what A.H.M. Jones has added: The eastern emperor Leo I acted decisively by replacing his G erman troops, whose loyalty he doubted, by people from Isauria (bordering on Pisidia and Pamphylia), who had previously been known for their brigandage in that area. This brought them to o rder, and made them civilised subjects of the eastern emperor, like many other peoples of this highly diversified and heavily populated peninsula.8 Although the eastern ruler Leo I may not deserve the title of 'the Great', he was distinguished by remarkable talents: his mind was enlightened, he was active and wise and knew how to attain his ends. His piety is said to have been sincere, but his conduct
53
THE EASTERN EMPERO R S
towards Aspar lwho helped him to come to the throne] has left an indelible stain upon his memory. Although himself illiterate, he appreciated literature and science, and when reproached by one of his courtiers for having given a pension to a philosopher he is reported to have replied: 'Would to God I had to pay no other people but scholars!,9 Nevertheless, he refused to recognise the last competent emperor the west ever produced: namely Majorian (457- 61). And his help to the west, by (partially) backing Julius Nepos, is questionable (Chapter 5) . $0 while there are points in his favour, there are others against him. In addition to those just quoted, It is oftcn stated that Leo freed the eastern empire from the menace of German domination. T his would seem to be an overstatement of his achievement. He finally succeeded after fourteen years in ridding himself of his patron, Aspar, and ensuring that the throne should pass to his favourite, Zeno, and his grandson Leo. But he left to his successors the problem of dealing with the Gothic federates in Thrace and Macedonia. Financially his rcign was ruinous. On the great Vandal expedition of 468, which proved such a disastrous failu re lsee Appendix 2], he spent all the accumulated reserves in the treasuries of the praetorian prefects, the /argitioneJ [Iargesses], and the TU pnt'ala [personal estate of the emperor], amounting to 65,000 lb. gold and 700,000 lb. silver. It is not surprising that after trus he was driven to the ruthless confiscations of which Malchus [c. 500] accuses him. Leo I was soon followed by his son-in-law Zeno (474-91). Zeno's position was extremely precarious. Save as son-in-law of the late emperor he enjoyed no domestic prestige, and even here he had rivals. His mother-in-law Verina [Chapter 8] detested him. . .. By the senatorial aristocracy Zeno was hated and despised as an upstart, and as an Isaurian he was unpopular with the mass of the people and of the army. Nor was he the man to win the respect of the army by his personal qualities; he was not physically an impressive figure, and he was no hero . .. . Finally, the treasury was extremely low. Zeno's reign was as a result punctuated by a series of revolts, and it was only by adroit and unscrupulous diplomacy that he . c 10 manage cl to survIve IOf seventeen years. J. B. Bury had already tried to dissect the strange personal qualities of Zeno, and the acute difficulties that he had to face.
54
THE EASTERN EMPERO R S
FigJlrt
9 Bronze COin of Zeno, eastern emperor (474-91). Rome. Zeno is described as 'Always the Augustus', SHtl'ER AVG(JlIINI). (photograph: Michael Grant)
Historians of the time vent their feelings by describing him [Zeno] as physically horrible and morally abominable, and he was said to be a coward .... If the Emperor was able to cope with foreign foes by negotiation or arms, his position amid a hostile court and people was highly precarious .... A modern historian who was perhaps the first to say a good word for Zeno observes that 'the great work of his reign was the formation of an army of native troops to serve as a counterpoise to the barbarian mercenaries' - and goes on to remark that the man who successfully resisted the schemes and forces of the g reat T heodoric (Theoderic) [Ostrogothic king of Italy, 493-526} cannot have been wholly contemptible. And even from the pages of a hostile contemporary writer we can see that he was not so bad as he was painted. He is said to have been in some respects superior to Leo, less relentless and less greedy. He was not popular, for his ecclesiastical policy of conciliation did not find general favour, and he was an Isaurian. But he was inclined to be mild; he desired to abstain from employing capital punishment. [YetI in fiscal administration Zeno was less successful than his predecessors.... We are told that he wasted all that Leo left in
55
THE E ASTERN EMPE ROR S
the treasury bv donatives to his friends and inaccur.lcy in checking h·LS accounts. " Unfortunately, tOO, Zeno's decree the H molikon (481 -2). though aiming to end the discord between emperor and pope, actually caused anger at Rome, even if it reconciled moderate lvlonophysites. L2 The Emperor Zeno died in 491. The day after his death he was replaced by Anastasius [11. appointed by the widowed Augusta Ariadne, who married him within a month [Chapter 81. The choice was popular at first, but before long Anastasius's ecclesiastical policies stirred up the wr.lth of (part of the] population of Constantinople. Some vociferous monks (called 'The Sleepless' because of their perpetual chanting) were fanatical o n the subject. The new emperor was inclined towards opinions that were popular in Nexandria and Syria, but at least initially he considered it his duty to support the H tnOfikon. u Jones has this
to
say about Anastasius I;
Anastasius was a man of somewhat puritanical piety.... [But his] great title to fame is the financial rehabilimtion of the empire . ... Anastasius seems to have achieved his results mainly by careful measures to prevent peculation and cut out waste. . . . It is a measure of Anastasius's financial achievement that. despite ... substantial fiscal concessions. and despite three major wars, he left. after a reign of twenty-seven years, a reserve in the treasury of 320,000 lb. gold. 14
PigNrt 10 Bronze coin of Anastasius I, eastern (BY1.antine) emperor 491-5 18, an
example of the new, larger, bronze issues of which the introduction in 498 traditionally marks the end of the Roman coinage and the beginning of the Byzantine series, with its use of Greek lettering. The reverse depicts the seated figure of Constantino polis, with her foot on a prow, acco mpanied by the letter M, the Greek numeral 40, which shows this to be a piece of 40 Nllmmi. (British Museum)
56
THE EASTERN EMPERO R S
Here is a further, more personal comment about Anastasius I: Anastasius had one blue eye and one black one .... He was intelligent and highly cultivated, given neither to those outbursts of cruelty nor to those sudden fits of ungovernable rage that had characterised so many of his predecessors. His chief defect was an almost pathological parsimoniousness a failing which, combined as it was with a strong puritanical streak, made Constantinople a duller place to live in than its inhabitants could ever remember.ls However, Bury thought that Anastasius deserved more credit than he received: Personally, Anastasius was generous and open-handed .... His parsimonious resourcefulness, stigmatised by his successor Justin fT], was entirely in the interests of the state. And the general tenor of his policy was to finance the empire by economy in expenditure, and not to increase, but rather to reduce, the public burdens. This feature of his administration corresponded to his character. Though resolute and energetic, he was distinguished . . . by his mildness. . . . Ifhe had not held heretical opinions, historians would have little but praise for the emperor Anastasius .... [But] partly through his religious policy and partly through his public economy Anastasius failed to secure the goodwill of various classes of his subjects. 16 The eastern empire had shared in many of the western horrors, and survived them, while its people overcame all the hazards. Moreover, A long period of comparative tranquillity followed [after Theodosius 1], during which east Roman emperors found leisure to continue the work of internal reorganization .... But the separation of the eastern empire from Italy inevitably caused it to lose its Roman character. The Byzantine monarchy, which grew insensibly out of the east Roman empire, was a Hellenistic kingdom, with a Christian Church and a Roman lawbook. . . . From the middle of the third century the Roman empire ran a course which led to its disappearance in the west and to its transformation into a Greek kingdom in the east. 17 The eastern empire's reaction after the fall of the west remains a little mysterious. Zeno, it would appear, officially assumed control over the
57
T HE E AS T E R N E M PE R O R S
Figure " Wing of ivory diptych: the Barberini Ivory. Paris (Louvre). T he mounted emperor is likely to be Anastasius I or Justinian J. (Musee du Louvre, Paris. Agence PhotographiCJue de la reunion des musees nationaux - Chuzeville) whole empi re; and O doacer os tensibly recognised this. H owever, Zeno later encouraged T heod erie to destroy him. Were Odoaccr and Theoderic kings? T h eir coins say they we re, bUl this remains a slightly misty area. 18 So does the assumption of 'cultural continuity'. Wh at can be said , how-
58
Til E
E"'STI'~N
EMPE ~O~S
ev"r. ;. tlu.t. oJthough Odou"', arm)' cOMilled mainly uf Danubian Gennan., the holi.n .ristocr:aey ret:ained i" po.ition, with no gre .. cUmag" dune, There were :oh", it is true. """ius GoI/wnuJr, yet civil poSts wen: re.erv.d fur Roman,," .nd Latin lite",tu. . .upp ..... d Guthic. It may be cuneluded th., the wellem wotld continued on ito .......y, 'with diff• ..,nt blood in its vein.'."" nu. ch.pter h.. tried to show why the ....tern empi,.. unlike the w... em empi .. , surviv.d, although it> emperor> during the initial periool _ covering the fifth century _ wCre not u"tst2t1dingly di,tinguish.d. But they did . t kast bave fairly long reigns. unlike their wcstern cull~e. (after VoJeminian Ill). Mo.eo,·er, they we .. not dduged wi,h ",utpe"', although at time. (for example under Zcnu) it bc:c:m>o:: nec"ssary to deal with them. ".1:'e mu" end. then ... "'e ""vn: although the e .... rn cmpem .. o f the fifth cen,ury who guided their empire inro By..",ine time .. even if nOl wholly inefficient, wet. nor ou",."dingly gr... " nevenhd ... 'he)' .. igned fur quire .u bo'antioJ period.; and ,umehow Or uther th" ea"ctn empire. unlike its watcm count<rp.rt • • urvivn! for hundred. uf y..... c.w.c. Oman summed up the re .. ono for ,his in ,he fullowing tenns. which .,. not unf,vo"tahle to ,he ea"ern empero ..; whom he singles OUt for quire distinctive achievements. Both ..... and wc.t ""ere equally cxpos.d to the n,..lnrilll in the fifth century, and the difference of th"ir f,'e came from the .ha"", ••• of th.i. rul .... nOl fmm ,he dive .. ity of ,heir potiri.a1 conditions. In the we .. , .fter .he extin.uolI of the house of Theooooius (455 .\D), the emperu'" ",cre "phemew pUp?<", mroe and umru.de by the genews uf their ~rmi .., who wen: invui.hl)· Germ"",. The two 1f(~l!ir"; IftiIiINIf( [M .. ter. o f Soldiers). Ri<:im .. and Gundo'-.ld - one Su.hi." [Suebian), the other Burgundian by binh - deposed or . Iew no le .. 'han five of rheir nomiruJ m.. terS in kVentccn )'C&IlI. III the e.... on .he o,he' h.nd. i. w. . .he emperors who demoyed <>It" .f,er ."othe. the ambitious g<"ne ..... who, hy ",rnS u' intrigue. tlttco.tcned theit throne ... . They were J;,coatly helped by the fact th., the German clement in theit Hmi .. had never re.ehed the pitch uf power tu which i, had . twned in the wc ..; the .upp.....ion uf Goinas forty )""" before [Ch.pter 61 bro .aved .hem from that danger." 'fhio. it mu .. k repeated. i. to .. timate the ... tern rul ... faid)' highly. But pe,h.ps th.y deserved i" for at I.... ' 'heir empi.e .u.vived.
"
8 EMPRESSES
In my book 'f'" On~
Si""""
I "'101<,
of the OU1>Wl
p."jcul.. in,.",,, !Od.},. i. 'he universal prominence of P''''"crful ,,'omen. We or. u•• d to hearing 'OOU! M....lin. and /\grippin. the younger in the firS! .Iam""., beau"" ,he« i. no first_chs. hi..orUn who wri,e ••hou, ,h.....",wng ·S)"ri.., prince" •• •... Gibbon c.Jb ,hem. Ye" <.,taml)", ,h..., women for. time "'er<: in supreme control of !h. huge Roman cmp"• .' A...J c.,.,ly 'he •• me i. trUC of 'he fif,h ccn,ury All, in which _ while there wcr. abo "the, ",eU-known Christian Iadi.s - Go.Il.a Placid;', Honoria, Pukh.ria, Ach. Eudoxi. (or Eudocia) '00 ArUdnc "'cre OUt>Wlding. and ""tsundingly i"""crfw, pcrSoruilitie$. Adia GaUa Placid;', born in 368/90, wa.s (he daughter of (he em!",ror Theodosiu. I, and the half-,i"er of Arcadi u. ~nd Honuriy •. In her child_ hood ,he ..... greatly de!",nden' upon Serena, the wife of Stilieho (d. 408). In 4OS--9.he feU inro ,he hand, of (he Vuigmh$. And a, the beginning of 414 .he w.. "bilged 10 m....!)' their king At~ulf, whom she appearS '0 have inAuenced in f.vour uf .pproochi ng the we"em empire .. :an C<Ju.al. with the rc.wt ,ha, a '«a')' ..... agtced upon at 'he beginning of 416. Bu, in 417, again" hcr will. bu, at 'he wi>h of her brother Honoriu., ,he married Conotantiu. 111 from N>.i"u. (Ni.). con.ul in 414. 4J1 and 420 (A ugu"us in 42 1; probabl)· di.d in (h •• ame y=)_ Raised '0 the ... nk of Augu"", hu, widowed, .nd at odJ. ",i,h Honoriu •• Placidi. fled at 'he beginning of 423 10 Con.antinople, with her children Honuri. and R.avenna after the death of Honori". la,,,, Valentini:an (Ill). Re'urning
'0
EMPRESSES
Figurr 12 Gold JoJim,s of Galla Placidia, Ravenna. On the obverse, Placidia has the Christian chi-rho on her shoulder. (British Museum)
in the same year, she managed, twO years later, [0 secure the western th rone fo r Valentinian.2 She was described as 'the most pious, everlasting mother of the em pero r', and, granted the title of Augusta again by the eastern ruler T heodosius 11 , became virtual ruler of the western empire_ This woman sought and obtained the support of the Church; but her interest in good legislation also won her the adherence of some o f the sena[Ors. However, she managed [0 remain independent of them, and gO[ on badly with some of them: the Master of Soldiers Felix (d. 430?), Boniface (d. 432), and especially Aetius (d. 454)3 - though the details of the ensuing intrigues arc hard to reconstruct. After the marriage of Valentinian III to Aelia Eudoxia (see below) in 437, Placidia moved somewhat into the background, concentrating on works of piety - such as the building and decoration o f churches at Ravenna,4 which she made into a worthy weStern capital. Yet she also continued her involvement in high imperial politics until her death in November 450. Placidia was wealthy and worked hard, and encouraged good relations with the G ermans, which would have helped the western empire; but she was tOO quarrelsome (and therefore inadequate) to save it or even to delay the demise of that empi re. T he daughter of Placidia and Constantius Ill, and thus sister of Valentinian HI , was Justa Grata Honoria Augusta. Valentinian coined for her, with the inscription nONO RE1PVBLl CAE. 5 This lady deserves credit fo r the last great western Roman victory, over Attila the Hun at the Catalaunian Plains (see Chalons-su r-Marne) (451 ).6 The most spectacular event of this part of the century was the great battle with Attila's Huns in 45 1. T his has been called one of the decisive battles of the world. It was brought on, curiously enough, by the fac t that Honoria, one of the imperial princesses, feeling that her great political abilities had little scope, managed to convey a request to Attila that he would help her to have more influence in the Roman government [and to cancel her compulsory betrothal to the rich senator Flavius Bassus HcrculanusJ. He chose to interpret the
61
EMPRESSES
FigNrt 14 Gold so/idm of Adia Eudoxia [11; Athenais[, Constantinople, depicted here draped and diademed, with the hand of God reaching down to touch her head. On the reverse appears SALVS RI!IPVIILlCAE, and the winged figu re of Salus. (British Museum) distin!,>uished from the woman of the same or similar name who was that emperor's mother, and the wife of Arcadius). Aclia Eudoxia was introduced to Theodosius by his sister Pulcheria (after having been victorious, it was said, in a beauty-contest), and changed her name - from the pagan Athenais - when she was baptised a Christian by the Patriarch of ConStantinople; but she fe ll Out with the Grand Chamberlain (pfluposilus sam cubiculr) Eutropius. Nevertheless, she married Theodosius II in 421. In the next year, she gave birth to a daughter (Licinia Eudoxia) who married the western empero r Valcntinian III in 437. However, she gOt involved in tOO many q uarrels; and in 438 she went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, from which she returned in the following year. In 443, however, she left the capital a second time, in some disgrace, and spent the rest of her life in Jerusalem, where she devoted herself to piety and charity, and constructed magnificent churches - as well as rebuilding the fortificati ons of the city, where she died in 460. For a time she showed leanings towards 1'.1onophysitism, but died a Catholic. She was a poet: her Greek poems included a panegyric o n the east Roman victo ry over the Persians in 422, and a number of religious works. 9 The imperious Eudoxia has been hailed, or dispraised, as the first of a long line of worldly, beautiful, luxurious Byzantine empresses. She was not afraid of changing her mind. when her superstitious piety seemed to require this. She was very beautiful. being rather tall, with a wonderful figure. and curly blond hair that framed the feamres in a golden aureole and enhanced the brilliancy of her fair complexion. Her lovely eyes were intelligent and full of life, and she kept them modestly lowered. She had a pure Greek nose, and she carried herself with grace and dignity. Furthermore. she could express herself well . .. . Athenais-Eudoxia had indeed a strange career ... she was born in Athens a pagan; through a love-match she became empress of Byzantium; and she died in exile at Jerusalem near the tomb of Christ, a devoted and impassioned Christian mystic. And it is just because of these contrasts in her romantic and
63
El\II'RESSES
melancholic life that she is of such interest to the historian .... Combining in herself the dying traditions of pagan culture with the precepts of victorious Christianity, and having, withal, sufficien t intelligence and education to understand the evolution in process around her, she presents a curious and significant example of the way in which the most contradictory ideas and the most violent contrasts could, in that century, exist side by side in a . Ie personali ry.W stmp We next come to a period when the eastern empresses, although they still wanted to be powerful, did not achieve <Juite the success for which they had hoped. One such personage was Aelia Verina, the wife of Leo I. She conspired against Zeno, supporting the usurpers who rose against him, Basiliscus (476-7) - who was her brother - and Leontius (484--8), an officer in Syria, who joined the revolt of Illus. But in both cases Verina failed; and she died in exile (from which she had temporarily been released by lllus, in c. 484).11 Ariadne, in whose name, like that of Verina, coins were issued, was the daughter of Leo I and Verina, and married Zeno be fore his succession to the throne. She tried to have Ilius murdered. Her importance is shown by what happened after Zeno's death in 491 (which she was accused, by some, of causing; she certainly did not like Zeno). Once he was dead, she summoned the ministers and senate to decide on his successor, but on the proposal of Urbicius, the Grand Chamberlain, the choice was referred to herself. She selected Anastasius I, and married him. In Daphne [the auditorium, kathisma, at Constantinople} were played many of the dramas of Byzantine history. Here in Daphne you might have found a scene of some agitation in AD 49 1. ...
Figure 15 Gold JoJiduJ of the eastern empress Aclia Verina, the wife of Leo I (457- 74). Her coins show the well-worn theme of Victory. (British Museum)
Figure 16 Gold fnmiJliJ of the eastern empress Ariadne. (British Museum)
64
E MPRE SS E S Th~
political situation was delicate. The Emperor Z~no had juSt been formaUy entombed while in an epileptic fit and the sentry re ported that he was clamouring to be let out. The city having gOt news of this was pouring into the Hippodrome shouting 'gi v~ the Romans back their emperor.' On the advice of the chief Eunuch the empress Ariadnc went into the k,alhisf!/a and pacified the populace by promising that an empero r should be immediately appointed. An elderly courtier Anastasius was chosen, and the obsequies of Zeno were solemnly perfo rmed at his tomb. . . . The next day was the coronation o f Anastasius in the H ippod rom~ , which w~nt off very W~U. 12
Figllrt 17 Smuette o f an empress. (Cabinet des Medailles, Blbliotheque Nationale de France)
65
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9
RELIGION
It has already been mentioned ,h., the fifth century was a deeply re~giou. age:. and the f.c, i. undu.cored by the ;nee...", .erie. of Church Council., Chn.tianity replaced paganism; it \VD a long struggle; but tbe ou
of cult •• m)~h. and philooophical bclid, of v:l');ng origin. ond cven more varying levels of cuh"",.... 11. m.in ",.ngth lay in the f.ct that it incmpor.llcd evotywhcfC ",dent cui ... hillowed h)' tndition and fortified by lonl Io).,.jty .. _ Of ,h. helief. of the ordinary pago.n wc know lituc. He no doubt bcliC'o'cd in ill u. contingencies of lire might make p""ycrs and vow. and offerings 10 the "PP"'pri...
de;ty.' l'agani,m w:I' , till prclly .trung in Rome, especially in the .c n.tori.o.l cla ... among which 'h«e " .,.. throughout the fifth and .ixth centuric. a large circle of 1"'&"" 'Hell."",'! And .f,or 'fheodooiu. I hod pu' on end to "")' nflicial ",""", ,..."di with 'he papn,: paglni.m still manag.d to survi"., sine. both lionuriu. ""d ArcIdiu< fdt ub~b",d tu promulgotc aw. against 'u<:h he~<:f.' They "'e'" ,tt""ked It Rome - al,h()\.!gh Theod",;u. ll. who applauded such me.sure •• w.s prcmoturc In hetieving pagoni.m w . . .t "" cnd, for i, .ti11 p<:rvoded higher educ,tion. A,hen. remained 'he principal h,.., o f the p:ogon ,..dition. Thi. w .. the place of , , he did whot he could to 'yot.mali•• and popuIori.. the .omcwlu, . hap<:l... he~cf. o f the pagan •." which were cc~l".d by the more direct and dy"omic and .u""'t;ve doctrine. of Christianity, with its in.i"ence on the af'OTlife. Yet ' he c:lstcrn emperor Zenu ........ cloudy, f01' • time, cOfl'c"ed by
RF.l.ICOJON
the rebel lIIu. of Lcontini (Carlcntiru) in Sicily, who pOSl,.,,'ed prominent p2gafl link •.' He W2S def.ated (.I, 488), and the pagans continued 10 be ."ocked, along with the Jews,' although th<: L:atin Church criticised the Greek Church for neglecting the evang<'li.ation of non.Chri.ti>. .... whom the .os' never ,eg2fded os • polirico.l force. But the strength of the pagan' lay ill their interp.-ctotion "f the fall of Rome. which the pagan writor Z",imu. (.e< Bibliography), for eumple. oscribcd to the abandon· mem of the ,raditionol pagan rit •• , d.spit. th<: ,.n.t.·, ..,If-p,ochim.d ,01... 'guardian of tradition'. And indeed, by the sixth c.ntu')'. pagani,m had truly disapp
..,
[n 416 Theodo. iusll banished 011 pagan. from ,h. civil or milito')' se,-vice of the empire. and in a rescript a few ye=; !:uer a sovereign could st.te: '\l:'e belicv. tlu.t the pagan. iUe no more: I.ee .bovel. Th. wi,h I" "., •.1 already) mu", hore lu.ve been f.ther '0 'he though,; fo' in the sixth cen,,,,)" the .. we...till thou,ands within .he empire ... d,"!!ooned into Chmtianit)'.... AII.oo offen the fear of the.e new adherem. toward. 'he Chri. lian God W2S ,.ught by the precepts of man, and their heans remuned fa, ,emoved: fC.:Lining that oIIegi:mce to the older faith. , .. Th. ruin of paganism. in fhe age of Theodo. ius Ill), i. perh.ps the only eumple of the toto! extirpation of :my andent and popular ,uperstition, and m.y therefore d.se,,"e 10 be considered as • •inguL.r ev.n. in the history of the human mind. The Chri,tian,. more e.peci>.lly the clergy. had impatiently .upponed the prudent delay, of Constantine 11) and the e'lual ,ol .... oon of the cider VoIenUnUn Ill. Nor """Id they de<:m th<:ir wn'lU..f perfe., or S«ure .. Inng as ,heir adversaries ...e .. permitted '0 ex", .. , . flllrough the influence of lat.. Chri.tian'l .peciou, principle. of religiou' juri'prudence were e".blished, from whence they deduced. direct .nd rigorous conclu,ion again" ,he .ubjccts of the empire who otiU adhered to The c..emonic. of their oncc.tors, .. , The zeal of the emperors W2S excited '0 vindicaIC their own honour and tha, of the Deity.,a Wba, a historic cven'. of perm"""nt , igniliCVlce, was the e~tablishment and vinu.1 univ.rsa/i,y of ,h. Christian fai,h. in a Roman "",hiencel And the ,me and the Church vcry much .tood rugethe, in thi' deeply re~giou' .ge." In the word. of Haywood: The civiliz.tion of ,he .... em. or Byzancine, empire continued to advance during the fifth and
RELIGION
foremoot. 1 Christim empire, and had ~en .0 , ince the dedica· tion of Coruwuinople in 330. \l'ha .. ver one may think abou, the union of chureh and "lie, .uch a pwute",hip has of,en proved ;t..lf capable of producing a very wund social fab.;c, nor only in gJC
"""'2
The p"", Rom""", 'he ~. whieh Rome gave to ,he ancient world, f.cili,. orgWntion. it> admini" ntivc 'Y't<:m. and it> I...aw." But there were dispute, omong Christian. which. in our largdl. irreligious ~, can only seem misguided and, inde.d, ridiculous.' ArnakJo Momigliano. following Gibbon, conclud.d that 'the prosperity of the Church WlIS both. con •• quence and. cau.e of rh. decline of rhe .""c'. " ConoequCflCe, perhapt, but >cued)" cau.e. ~cau'e. in fact. the arguments and di.put •• on the .ubjec, "'e,,, far mo", acute in rhe e.,tern empire. which did nor coU.p.c, ,han in ,he WCS!, .... hich did. Towards ,he end of the fifth century Con5lantinopl. began to .merge a, 'he .econd centre of the Church, after Rome; it had alre.d)" been called the New Rom., panl)' for rhat rCllOfl. And in cenaln other .... t.rn ceutre<, tou, nOLlbly Antioch, the churches werc ~lled. Yet, .. .... ed. rhere wu bitter turbulence io rhe Church, ev.r since rhe previous ce",ur)". for one rhing. ,he prel .. e. were keenly j had been re.olved
RIlUGION
by ,he expul.ion of ,uch mi""rity groups as «fu. ed to confo<m to the general consensus of 'he Chu«h. Mmy of ,he,e group. h:id died "ut, but ~ .ubs'OlItio.l number , urvi"ed as di .. idcnt ..ets or her.,i... which often in thei. turn ,p~t into smille. groups.... [From ,he ,im. o f Con"OlI,ine r ,he C«. , onword.) tic doctrine. and gm. ,e's. A, ,he Council of Chalcedon (451 ) the .truggle W1.S d""ided in favour of Constantinople. Bu, 'he definition of Orth<>do~ fai
at
56. 60,
What it Christi1ttity? Which of its Pro ...... f",m' is the tto.l onc? ... These divisiom ... must e.u.e .he c,,",cicnnou. hi"urUn great .earehing of hean. . .. They began almo" .. soon •• Christi1ttity wos Ix>
RELIGION
""d of the 'hird cen'ury ... 'he number of dispu,ed doe,rine< w .. still grt1" ,.
There""", • violen, di'pule .bou, ' he N.. UfC of Jesus Chri" ~ whe'her i, wu wholly and only divine (MonophJ"itism) or both hwnan and divine (DyophY';'i,m). (In a d",e ,d.tion.hip 10 ,hi. bos;. que,tion ""'" tb>., of Mary as the Mother of God [nt.ld:.sj, which wu ofliei:illy agreed upon ., 'he Council of Ephe,u. [431J.) The resul, o f ,hi. di'pule w"" th .. 'he v.riou. province, of ,he n"em empire c""'. into di.ag",.me,,' wi,h Onc another. AJeundri. " ... Monophyrt> of the =lem empire be.ame more .nd more differ.",.) On the other hood, Ihe exi''''nce of these dispute. increased Ihe strength and polency of ,he ...lern emperor> Ihemsdves and their .""n._ Por, whichever f..,ion go.;ned the uppe' hand, Ihe Church stood in n.ed of imperiol suppon."" In g.neral, il ho. bun .aid. th. " .. 5t strcssed the divinily of J"suS. and the c.st the ,inglmcss of the , upreme dei"," SUI o,her destructive .0nAi.IS '00, no, k"ened by super>ri,ion, remained. It UI" in ,he fif,h .en,,,'1', in order '0 combal the.e lendencic" thal here.y became 0 crime .gain.. the .tale. SI Augustine feU in wilh lhi. punitive view. The ChristW! S.. Ie. . must punish crimes, "''''.~, mNr-tkr and J..m!w. ~'~r~ nol, he ..ked, th~ cmperors righl in inAicting de ..h on ,hose who ..cri ficed to idol., or in bani.hing ,ho.e who would nOl .ubmi' to ",w? How Ihen could il be wrong for the Chureh '0 de.t"'Y ,hose who ....,. guihy of 'he , ...... on of he ... y, 0' to call in emperors to help her, by fire .nd ."""d, 10 eru.h her .nemie.? 'Compel ,hem '0 eorne in' wcre Ihe word, of Christ; and lhis involved ,urel)", in the 10" resort, the USe of compul,ion not merely moral but ph)". ical. Thu. early had ,he Church, having e..... ed 10 be persecuted, learnl to pe,.eeu« othen. And thu, '1Llickl)' h.d Augustine:, bUI ",Icly • heretic himself. Ie.rn, 10 malt"'.' he. ui",_ Thai he, ~k. the Inqui.i'ion I...., persuaded him.cif thor he pe,secuted them
ltEl,l GION
he ~lVed them _ he dwcll. on hi. kwc for thcm with endl... ropelition _ only m.ke. m.tters worse,n b«.u,~
Vet people'. mind. :md hC>fts eould not be wmpelled in ,uch • WO)'. Pope Leo I had failed to do 00 when he isoued hi. T..... (0. 23 below).:ond the "'''ern emperor uno found the .ame when, in • brave .ttempt at compromise, he isoued in 481/2 No dccroe the f/,M/j!M/ (adopting the wo,k of two p .. rician., An.iu.:md Pet~r Mongu.). 'nu. w., meant to be conciliatory, bu., fa, ftom pUlling an end to .on«m'e,,;".. it eucerb. tcd them, So th:ot its """ authoro. OS wc h.ve .een. we'e e".omtnunica!ed by ,he Pope, and Con":mtinc', dream of Christian uniry WU OI>W truly ..... end. Onc of the few 'here,ie" which ,till rings • bell tOO.y wu Anani,m. from which Unit.ri.ni. m i, de.«nded. J\lost e.. tern Chri,tian, .upportcd it. most wcrtly beCiuse of the .trong ...1 Roman view to the contrary - Ari.ni.m w .. en,hu1i..,i.ally b •• ked by the Germans,'" whose
"
RF.LlGION
religiou, view, the Hun., too, enhued agojn>t the empire. And so, .. Jerome h.d ""'erved (360), the whole world grouu:d in utoni,hmcnt to find itself Arian. But thi. w.... "",e1y tr"", .ince both the w<:.tcm and """em Roman rcg;me. turned . latply again" the 'here,y'. The Manichacan." sound rather reasonable, with their belier in God and [he Devil, i, i, diflicuh nowad.ys tu «phin how .n all'p""'erful and all· good God Ius been fC, pon.ible for the horrors of the twentieth century. They 0100 fo.tc .. d an impressive ,ocial .nd «onomic movemcn', but oclion again" them ...... continued by Pop<: Le" I the Gre., (440-6 1). Pelagius. the ",her leading 'hc.. ti.'. w;u Briti,h or lri. h. He come 10 Rome . . . monk '" t. 400, and hi. work . are ,he car\ie .. extant Srili .h literatu .... He encountered and provoked much opposition. If Briuin (App.g1irut the cor",?" tion .nd tyranny of an effete and incompetent regime. 'he foct is only partly intelligiblc ... niumph of PeI.gian ideolag)·. Nowher. cl .. . , that time could be found the hunun idcted." In hi. ~ "fl'l1IJ1 liN Pt/ugiilIlJ, Jeromc ."ocked him and hi, fol· lower<, ,ince they ,eemed to depredate Je.u. - and Pdagiu, w;u Mni'hed in 417( 18. SutJohn Wesl.y beli ••• d th., h. wos not a 'h .... tic'., :ill? " Montani,m. N"vationism and Dontti.m "'ere all, in pan, mm'cmen" of protest >.gainu what w;u feh to be >n ainndonme", of the ".nd.rd of individuo! holin<:.s required if the Church was itself t" «main hol)" The Don.tist .. et w:os nomed .fter Donatu. (313) .... [The pro'e" in hi, f,vou r, . , Cartlugc) stood for a . .. deeply ",,,,.d di.harmony. f or the Donttists completely spurned traditional, clas.ical, urban culture, and rejected the oovereignty of Con"",,· tine', of~ciol Chu",h. Th. Donoti.\> we", aided by tough band. of rim....,,'u.~/, .inging 'praise be to God '. But the mif. they cau.ed was vinu:illy ended in 411 and 429, ,h''''gh the V.ndo! Genseric IG.i •• ric) saved them from compl",e extinc,ion.'" More dangerou>, for • Long [imc. '0 imperio1 unity, es pecially in AIe,andri. and among thc Ilg)l,tian m..... and in Syri., were the Monoph).. itcs, protagoni". of. doctrine of . single divine Nature t1ut accentuated the divinity of Jesu. at the cost o f his humani ty. They were att.cked by ,he government and deno"", ..d 11 the Council of Chalccdon (451 ), bu, the emperor Zeno (474-91) "'ther f.voured their view.,"" and Annt .. iu, I (491~518) was a piou, Monophysite. The prod ucts o f ,he comroversies
~EI.I GIO r-.:
thus c.us
.h~y
w.re ..
,re-
The Council of ClWcedon (451) ... decl=:d th.o.t in ChriJ>' md hi. rc.idencc hod tu be guarded b)' soldie ... to pro~t him from bodily horm . .. , dashe • . . . of,en ended in bloodshed. Her. U'2S g .... ve trouble for the future." Ne>toriu. _ bi.bop of Constantinople (428) _ lad • lot 'o"y .bou•• he N.. ure of Chri .. , 'he 'ju..toposition or conjunction' o f the 'wo Jesuse. (two penons. onc hum"" and one divine. in"e:od of on<j . He .tt.cked Crril o f the rival Sec of Ale.""dri. (d. 444). who, however •• f«. ,he Ncstoti:m 'heresy' h.d becn dcnounccd 1t the Fi .... ' Council of Ephe.u. in 431. brought him down.'" Ne"oriu. abo nude the..,h political mioulr.e o f a"""king ,h. emp ..... Puleheria and he. M.riok>gy (Chapt.r 8). Prodw . on the other hand ( •• which the court wo.... hippcd at a church nilttcd .fter MOf}·. The emperor A,eodiu. (395-408) :also found i, n""e"Of}' to MonWli,m. the prophetic movement .h.. h. d emerged in Phrygi. (A,", Minor) in the second cen,ury hI) and hooJ subse'lucndy gained greot strength. md indeed became :on organi.ed Church with • hierarchy of i.. own. ·It waS not' ...id E.R. Dodd., 'until the reign or Ju.tinim [I; 527_ 65J th.o.t th~ 1:0" Montoni". locked them.dv~. into their churchel ""d burn.d themselves to de.,h .... ther than foll into the h:ond, of .hci r f.llow· ,,",OOllS. C·- '" Anoth« very divi.iv< clemen., and "n<: which wu e~trcmely influential _ encouraging ideoJ. of . scetici.m _ WlS provided by ,he monks, who og2in were for ",on~~r ond more numeroull in the <. "c,n thm in the
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"''I'
"PflOJ\\ ~4' JO , uOll"dw", po> ,oon,u,,!!' ''I' un4' 0, ',U'WJJ!lJJ .''1 ...'" """u"o, po' "., ''I' 411001fl1' ';u!dw, UJ>,"'" '!"LL "P"-'!",,'"
",... >Il' jOU
NOIDI"l>IH
RELIG I ON
Once more the Chrnch >ought to tum this popular devotion to ,ts own purpo.e.
•
•
The most articuia.e of.u the ascetic holy men of the ~fth cen.ury was Jcrorne, whose coreor, ;n .hi. c'p.dty, we ore .ble to follow: most provincial. of talent he was .unctcd to Rome ond there studied rhetoric under Dona,,,., returning to A'Iuileia in 370. In th" town he ..",bli.hed hi. ~'" o.ocicty of as<eti«. which lasted for juS! 'hree ye .... Then .ome event _ referred to by him variously", '•• udden .. orm' ""d '. monstrous rending .. under' - broke up the fellow· ship, ond Jerome with. few of his closer ""uei"e' went e",,· ",ord. to Antioch. The adj""en, de,ert . . . w'" ol'e )'e .... , ond then j.f... three )........ in Rome1 the second period of Jerome·. He btgins. . .. T.king Paul. ond Ewtochium wi,h him he ",'cn, once more to the c.,t .od seuled Jown in J udac. at BClhlehem, where he remained for ,he !.ut thiny_four )· .... rs o f hi. exiStence. A, Bethlehem he built a ""'''"'!Cry ond a con>'ent. a chur<:h .. • ond a hospice to lodge !he pilgrim. who =ne from .u p .... of the world to that holy I~ke
""Y'
ground." And wc even have the opportunit)· of hearing wh..t Jerome him.elf, in his gloomier moment... hought of thi, life:
I
,h.,
Oh, how often, when ",os living in the d''''rt, in lonely woste. ,.<><ehed b)' the burning , un, which afford. to hermi .. a ,avoge dwelling-place, how often did I f"".y my.elf ,urrounded by !he pI...urc. of Rome! I used to alone; for I flUed with bitterne ... My unkempt hmb. "'ere covered in .h..pele...ackcloth; m)" , kin 'hrough long neglect had ho. were evay day my portion; and if .Icep ever overcome my , .. i. lan<:e and feU upon my
.i,
wo,
10
LIT ERA TU RE
Ily.. ntine ~,.r:"u'" a, • whole i. OOt • g"'OI li,er,uure; olthouw> !here wc", a good m:rn)" po<:l>. notably in Egypt. Few ",ould "udy all ,he", Byzantine writing< for pka
So ,he ti,.""ure of ,he period i. mo,dy, .. li,er:l1urc, . econd-rat. and unoriginal: the .ducotro public of both cmpi""_ who WOft Guile nurn<:r· 1.11.1', •• pr ... ed
them.elves through architecture and, to some extent, v;,uol .rt, ,..ther !han through writings. The only exception. were pro. vid.d by the Gtin ..·rit<:rs Augustine and Jeromc (KC previous duple •• and Bibliography, below, with .ome d.,oW). A lI'."' deal Ius been written about them both, but on Augustine it i. legitimate !U add here !hat it i. noteworthy, even I"',ru.p. . . ,oni. hing. ,!ut [he "~I.rn Roman empire pfOducod this out.tanding thinker UId writer", • time when me empire in '1ue,tion w.. failing, when ~,.r:ature, bom L.dn ""d Greek, W2S ., •
• o mewhat Low ebb, UId when Greek. even if poorl)" ",pre.ented in ~tc"lo"" had gained strength .. the I.nguage of the '.... stem world. Sinc. Cicoru and Cae.ar there had been nu /i"t· cwo Lotin ~tc""ure _ until Augu.tine. That he Cilme from Africa i, not .0 rem",hbl., .;nee north Afric1, and •• p«ialiy C.nhag., wa. the great remaining home of Latin culture ( •• e Appendix 2) .fter me e"ablishment of Chri>tionity, which, f:or from dimini.hing jts impofUnee, inc ..... ed it. Augustine developed hi. id= wim = independence that di,quieted even his admir.", He ha. I.f, hi. dj.tinetiv. mark on mo" aspeen of w."em Chri,donity. Augu.tine'. m.jor work. arc lUldmuk. in ,he .lnndonmen, or cW. ical ide ...
LITERATURE
His early uptimism "'.... soun overd.. dowed by • rarIic:tl d",,· trine o f g",ce. . .. The .uthority or the Catholic Church ... e ... bled his re.de •• in«Ue •• to ",'ork .re. tively.... In hi. /U,,«. 141;_J Augustine critici:u:d hi •• uper·abundant ou'pu, of 93 work, in the tight of a Catholic orthodox)· ro which he believed he h.d p";'ljrco ,ivdy wnformed _ le .. consi .. endy. per"'po. dun he realiscd. Augu,tine w.. inferior to the Greek write ... Ckment (b, <. 150) and Origen (185/6-254/5). both of Alexandria. in le.ming, hu, exerei.ed a m""g'" Ippe:tl beea.,se he 'eemed 'a hum1l\ being bkt ou ... oh·cs'. He Wa$ the m.. ter of St Thom.. AGuinas and C:tlvin. It i, the C"'fm~~J th .. "'ve WOO human h.. m. And the Ci;, of c.J hIS been described as the fi ..., groat philowphy o( history. SI Augustine .. though a far .ubtlcr thinktr Ithan Jeromcl. infinildy mure influential in .... ping .ub'''Gucnt theolug)', and • mOle ami.ble personali,y, and ,hough him.elf thoroughly grounded in the cl."ic•• nd 0 con.umm1tc rh .. orici:ut, mark$ a . pecial break with the cbssical ,... dition... . He wu perhaps I"'rricular1y ,oi«d to .",ve as Ithe .ulmin.tionl of ,he new world and as introduction to the new e ... brought on by the "unninJ.l blow of the fall of Rome .... It i, no aCCKknr t"'t million. who could bardy «w doer"", have re.d wi,h e.geme.. hi. C."jrJlionJ and hi. 0;, of c.J. J Although ho W"a' not perh.ps 50 pro(ound a ,cholar I" J«omel, he pus.e"od in a . uprcme deg,ee .ome Gualitie. of genius thot Jcrome lacked. Hi. ch"""'«r i. a medic)· of cont ... dictio", .... He studied. more deeply perhaps t"'n any other writer. 'he m)"Stcric. of ,h. human roul and ,hc la,,'. th., should govcm conducr; bu, while in one pI.ce he insi", on freedom o f jodgmen" in another he demand. implicit obedienoe to . uthority, ... Taken all in all Augu.tine is • marv.nou, genius and onc of ,lie mos, fasei ... ting of Larin writ..... . .. Augu.tine i, perh.ps the gfCate.! mind rcvc:tled to u. in I... tin ~te"'turc, And not only did he emergc triumphant from all hi. difficultie., hu, he succeeded in imprinting hi. ma:rk more de.pl)· than any other write r upon the ~f. of the Middle Age ... .. In 'he history of Christi=ity Augustine hold. a place .econd to S, P;oul. Strong as hi, inBuence wu in hi. own age, it grew eVen .tr""gcr .. time went on. and j, pe ... i", toda)".... If one wish.. to t... ce the development of Europe.n cirili.. tion .nd European mor.ol" from this .uthut >nd from that he will derive a cortain """um of inform.,,;on;
UTf.RAT U Rf.
but until he h .. m.de • ""riou, study of AUgu5t importon. wl>tk, in all pwb:ohilily. wu hi. ,ran,lotion of the Bibl •.
Th. Bible , toud complct. in ill n~ :ond «holorly Latin ,·.,.,ion. Jcrome had added the Old Tc"amcn, '0 the Ncw. It had ken. mountainous I.bour. 10 antiquily '" accunt. text of "'y work w:o, hord to come by, ... Jetome him..,lf .uffered f,om raully tran.· mi"ion.... Jetome had 'pte •.. i. marked by vigour, aptnes. of e.pre.sion :ond a Hai, amounting '0 genius for catching the meaning n.hcr 'han the le"c' of the . . .... ongm
.,'
St Jetome wO< brought up in the Latin cultu,. .nd had little
knowledge of G=k. He studied in Rornc: .... He moved to the c'" .nd bcg>n then to imptove hi•• hgh, booki.h knowledge of Greek... , The autho .. w<:re no, ,he old G",ek CI ... ic" hu, the g"'at theologico.l wrilers.· Jeromc ",ioforce. the .omewhat ""Mo.ioal poin' made .bove in con· nection with Augo.tine. It i. in'ere'ring th:o, at the time when the western empire cou,."",d, aod when G=k ..... making .uch stride. as the I",· goage of the Rom", world, Jerome'. rcmarx.ble Lotinity prevailed. 0 ..., he did not write only to pl .... e. but to ...en the Chri.tian way. '[Yeti
M",.·
LIT E RAT U RE
hi. controversW "",k, [wdl A. Sou,er] = danctcri.ed by ,he foule" abuse . Hi. repu,ation is due '0 the midy of scripture in the we51 "'ther than to . aintlint .. of chancter, ' Perhap' the man is be" illw''''tw by hi. !.If"". which have been c=fully edited and tranSlated. They = an e''''ntiil SOurce ... They include fierce invective and fervently extol viIginity among women. It may be repCltted, however, th.t in genenl- apan from Augustine:and Jeromc _ the ~ter:.. ure of the period .. m"'tI)' not very good. Let ul face it: we ue dealing with." epoch in which, if Wc once again !c,ve out th"'e two men. people did no, .xp,,,, them.elv.s chi<:fl)' through liter:"ure. which j , not thereft>re outstanding. Nor did the intense current prr<>Ccu · pation with theology help. although. tow.rd. th. cnd of the founh century. i, hod produced ,ome rernukabl. Ii,.rary results. It must not be furgotten, however. that Com!2ntinople and the other con"e' of the eastern empire (notably Al.undri •• Anlioch, Ath.n. and Thes.a1unk.) were the principal places where Du.iea!. ... pecialJy Cb.. icaI Greek. lit .... ture was p .... e"'.d, and where the writings of \a,er time. also survived . Moreover. in the philosophiuJ .. hool of Alenndri •• the Pa,ri""ch cheri,hed hi. power :and independence. Th. W1S a1w:o.Y' more deeply pen.t ... ted by Chri.uUlity than the w .... Onc reason for 'he weokne .. of lit .... 'u.. during the fifth •• n,u.)', with the two e"".poon. (Augu.tine and Jerome) mentioned. was the "'ong religiou. indnatiom of ,h. period. which do not make for g .... writing. Indeed. apart from the.e two m.n (who wrot •• a, We h.ve said. in Latin). there Were no very remarkable authors in the W.", :and in the cast the.e were no impren in G 'eek writers at aU. Th.t i. on. ",own why thi. chap"" i. 50 e""ep,ionoJ1f ,hort: 'here w... Wril .... bu, mo51 of th.m ... not worth dealing with here; they will be found duly listed in the Bibliog .. phy. And it i. partly bec.u •• of the ..cond· ... '" chancter of 00 mUlY of the writers - de.pite the excellenc. of certain oth.r ..... , as will be seenthot the fifth century has been $ 0 gnvclf neglected. The Oas~ie, depart. men .... . ehoot. and uninrs;ne. do not co", for a period in whieh good Latin li",... ture was reStricted to two men (both ChristiID). and thele wo.< no good G,eek lite .. tu ... wh.tever. So thi. Iuo been a vcry iruodequ:ote survey. A, ,,",ed above, more de,ailed information will be given in the Bibliography.
c:o"
80
11
ARCHITECTURE
Although there were Jcrome and Augustine in the west, there is, as we have seen, startlingly little good literature in the eastern empire during the fifth ccnrnry. This might, at first sight, seem to be a delusion, based on the subsequent relative unpopularity of the Greek language, as against Latin, in the west (which we inherited), but on further investigation it turns out to be truc. Such scholarship as there was, as we have seen, was devoted to theology, hut even in that fiel d the Cappadocian Fathers, for example, were dead . There was no lack of artistic ability, but it was largely diverted to architecture, and religious architecture at that, rather than to literature.
1
We are in an age in which that was how people expressed themselves, and that may be one of the reasons why the fifth century has not attracted so much interest as other epochs. And yet, in fact, it was in the fifth century that one major branch of architecture, church building, began. Church building was very remarkable indeed, in the east as well as the west, although it is difficult for us to appreciate what was done in the east because the buildings there arc still often inaccessible or difficult to get to. h does emerge, however, that the churches constructed during this period, in the eastern and western worlds alike, arc without any equaJs at any period, even though mighty individual churches, such as Santa Sophia at Constantinople, were erected afterwards (Appendix 3). In other words, the fifth century, so often neglected or deprecated except fo r a few choice sites, was outstanding fo r its architecture over a huge area, covering both west and east alike. If we do not appreciate what was done in the field during the period, we are giving ourselves a very inadequate picture of ancient development. For architecture was the spirit of the age: and some of it was first-class. Tt is in its art, expressed chiefly in architecture, that the fifth century chiefly excelled. Byzantine art is functional, being mainly religious: it is one very effective means of delineating the relations between God, the emperor and humankind. Tn other words, the principal art of the eastern, as well as the western, empire was religious : art successfully compromised 81
ARCH ITECT UR E
with faith. And churches, moscly H.P. L'Orange architecture) and
this an was panicularly expressed by the creation of foUowing, in some form or other, the basilica pattern. stresses the dose relation between the Church (and its the imperial state.
While previously the Christian basilica was thought to be derived from the antique market-basilica, modern scholars emphasize the differences between the market and the Christian normal· basilica. The market-basilica, which is dedicated to secular and everyday life, stretches along the side of the market as a sort of architectural addition to it, a kind of market under a roof. In the Christian basilica, on the other hand, which is dedicated to the Christian cult. the entire architecture is axiaUy directed towards the centre of the cult in the rear, toward the altar, glorified under its central baldachin, the ciborium: precisely in the same way in which the imperial pa/anum faCTI/m was oriented axiaUy rowards its cult centre, the enthroned emperor under the cibon'um. Indeed it is just these fixed architectural elements of the
Fig/m 18 The Church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill at Rome, built between 422 and 430, and incorporating the remains of more ancient constructions, is typical, in plan and proportions, of a new standard type of basilica. (Arehivi Alinari/ Anderson)
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A RCHITE C T URE
FigHrt 19 The Church of San Giovanni e »aolo, Rome, originally of earl y fifth century date although much altered subse<Juently, had a huge fivearched fa{:ade, such as disappeared from the city after 430. (Archivi Alinari/ Andcrson)
imperial pala/ill'" J(lffllm - first the open atrium in front of the palace, then the vast covered assembly hall before the holy of holies, and further, a number of glorifying architcctural forms such as the glorification gable and the dbon/fm - which recur in more or less remodeled fo rm in the Christian normal-basilica of Constantine [l the Great]. T he sacral architectural forms, which framed and glorified the appearance of the god-emperor before the people, are taken over and sublimated in the Christian normal-basilica, which fram ed and glorified the presence of the celestial king in the sacraments - the altar of the land .... T he whole decoration of the church interior . . . foll ows the ascending line towards the apse .... Again, as we found in the imperial pala/illm ! Offllm, this applies also to the figurative decoration. The emperor, in other words ... is the centre in a land of superhuman symmetry. he is the apex of the hierarchy of the state, he is God on earth?
83
ARCHI TECT U RE
In any case, the basilica pattern became fully established. But it also displayed local and rural styles and differentiation. That is vcry true of the fifth century ADj and this we may concede without discussing whether the art of that century should be regarded as late Roman o r earl y BY7.antine. 3 Owing to the functional, religious character o f the art of this period, mentioned elsewhere, by far its most important artistic creations are churches, some small, Others vast buildings for masses of the population, incorporating, often, ",ar/pia, places where the faithful celebrated a martyr's feast-day. Such edifices in the west are fairly well known. For example, there arc the basilicas of Santa i\hria t. . laggiore and Santo Stefano Romano (46882) at Rome, preceded by onc of the largest and oldest circular churches, Santa Sabina (422-31), and by the remodelled San Pietro in Vincoli (c. 450). And there was also the restoration of St John Lateran by Pope Leo I (440-61), now disappeared - and its baptistery, too, was reconstructed at about the same time. 4 In addition, we can sec the 'Mausoleum of Galla 5 Placidia' at Ravenna (c. 425-440), roofed with a domical vault - perhaps the earlicst cruciform building. Whether she was buried there o r not, she
Figurt 20 Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Ravcnna, (. 425-440. It is a cross-shaped, barrel-vaulted construction, whose decoration includes important mosaics of St Lawrence and starred Heaven and four pairs of apostles, on a blue ground. (Archivi Alina ri/ Anderson)
84
ARCHIT E CTURE
was, as wc have seen, the first to adorn the city of Ravenna splendidly. And what has been said about the ornamentation of the mausoleum named after her has a bearing also on its construction (as of the construction of other buildings at Ravenna and dsewhere). There is nothing that could nO[ have come from Rome [however, see nn. 8, 91 . But how much of the ornament that appears here ... actually emanated from the east at a much earlier date is another matter, which art historians are still debaring.6 T hese brick buildings, whose outer surfaces are occasionally enlivened by blank arcades, renounce all attempt at external embellishment. The impact of the interior is thus all the more intense, for here the structure and decoration work together to create a sanctuary such as the ancient world had never known. Marble incrustadons and mosaics dissolve the walls, banish all restrictiveness by the splendour of their colour and transport the worshippers, as they scan these pictures, into a heavenly world jcf. belowJ . . .
Figurt 21 The Church of S. G iovanni Evangelista, Ravenna, built by Galla Placidia between 424 and 434. Later reconstructions make many aspects of the fifth -century church conjenural. (fhe Conway Ub rary, Courtauld Institute o f Art)
85
ARCHITECTURE
The intensification of the architecture by this means is seen at its most incomparable in the little church known as the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. ... This simple edifice is the most perfect example of a building in which the entire artistic effect is reserved for the interior.1 In Ravenna, too, there was the Baptistery of Neon, or of the Orthodox (San Giovanni in Fonte).
The bottom parts, now deep in the ground - and with them the octagonal plan and the marble revetment - date from about 400 .... This first building was not vaulted. Not until fifty years later, under Bishop Neon, were the dome and the top part of the outer walls built. . . . Likewise, the interior received its decoration partly about 400, partly about 450. T he Baptistery of the Orthodox [is] a domed octagon . . .. There is a rich, draped throne below a baldaquin, a vacant throne, for it symbolizes the preparation for the Second Coming of Christ (HtIOimasia) . ... In the mid-fifth century Ravenna was in full communication with Constantinople [but see n. 51, and this contact is reflected in the elegance and courtly bearing of the Apostles, as well perhaps as in the blend of two apparently conflicting stylistic canons [Italian and ConstantinopolitanJ.s [At] the Baptistery of the Orthodox ... there are elaborate architectural compositions ... with the Apostles above them, and at the centre of the dome, the Baptism. T he architectural compositions are important, for they show the influence of the architecture-scapes of Hellenistic or Pompeian art. But the candelabra motifs probably owe their origin to the inspiration of Sassanian models, though the influence no doubt came by way of Syria.') Much of the Ravennan technique is reminiscent of Mediolanum (Milan), and at Mediolanum, toO, there were five huge early churches. San Stefano at Verona, of similar inspiration, dates from c. 450. The Roman Rhineland, too, always maintained strong architectural links with Mediolanum. As for the new city of Constantinople, which had, as some have suggested, a marked effect on Ravenna, building operations there began at its refoundation by Constantine [ the G reat (306-37).
86
A RCHITECT U RE
Figlll7 22 The Baptistery of the Orthodox. Ravenna, (. 400 and 450. (The Photographic Collection, The \,(Iarburg Institute) Although it was not ye t a major architectu ral centre, Constantine built important churches there ... but scarcely a trace of these buildings has survived. About his cathedral at Constantinople, the church known as
87
A RCHI T ECT U RE
Santa Sophia - the Holy Wisdom with which Jcsus was identified - our knowledge is particularly deficient, because the edifice was burnt down in 404 and totally rebuilt, on a massive scale, in the sixth century by Justinian, whose magnificent construction sur~ vives today [Appendix 3] .... But the first church, completed in 360, had been started by Constantine and was endowed in his will. Probably this architect designed it as a basilica with double aisles and galleries. 1o T he architecture of Constantinople owed its vaulting techniques to Asia Minor. But there were also close links with Mediolanum (!\ililan). The general tendency was conservative. J\·luch disruption, however, was caused by d isastrous earthquakes in 408 and 447 (when Attila was near the city). Nevertheless, the brilliant, soapy marble of Proconnesus was easily accessible.]] T he remains of the Church of St Euphemia at Constantinople have been found, and St Mary Chakopratia (one of three chu rches of Mary established by Pukheria), and a basilica in the second court of the Saray (furkish palace), of the fifth century. But most of this ecclesiastical building has disappeared, and is known only from descriptions. T he only major surviving church of the period - or at least its outline has survived - is StJohn Studios, founded by the Pat riarch Studios (consul 454) in 463. It was inhabited by three g roups of 'Sleepless' monks. I n spite of its
,
,
3'2i Figut"( 23 The Church of 5t John Studios, Constantinople. (photograph; Richard
5toneman)
88
A RCHITECT U RE
poor condition today, it is quite easy to see what the building was like. [t had a shon nave punctuated by twelve-foot-high columns elevaTed on pedestals and joined to one another by parapets, and crowned on three sides by galleries beneath an entablature. T he aisles had substantial windows, and the apse was of polygonal shape. The church was approached through a colonnaded nanhex. The columns of the nave were of expensive green marble, and those of the galleries were veined with grey, and possessed graceful Ionic capitals. The classical tradition had been maintained in Constantinian and postConstantinian days, and pervades the elaborate decoration, although this also has original features, based to a large extent on contrasts between design and background, that is to say between light and shade. As has been said, the classical tradition, which Constantine had consciously maintained, remains paramount. And indeed it pervaded the entire architecture of Constantinople during the fifth century, although it was inevitable that this imperial capital would evolve new features all of its own in the design and technique of ecclesiastical buildings. The Studios church can be seen to illustrate all these tendencies. 12
FigHTr 24 The Church of S[ Demetrius, Thessalonica (Salonica). The building is large - more than 180 feet long. (The Conway Library, Courtauld Institute of Art)
89
A RCHITECT U RE
At Thessalonica (Salonica), too, one of the richest centres of eastern architecture, stands the basilica of the famous miracle-worker St Demetrius: St Demetrius is a large, five-aisled transept basilica provided with a gallery.... But what precisely were they coming to worship in the fifth century? ... It seems that originally St Demetri us belonged to Sirmium, but moved to Thessalonica about 442. The cult of the saint may have migrated at the same time. However that may be, there arose a legend that St D emetrius had been manyred at Thessalonica, in the heating plant of the public bath that was next to the hippodrome. ... T he architect went to considerable trouble to locate the church over the spot where St Demetrius was believed to have suffered martyrdom. 13 Originally of the later fifth century (probably not earlier), the church is an impressive blend of Hellenic and oriental elements. It is a basilica with crosstransepts, such as became fashionable in this century: the most elaborate and costly of its kind, inAuential in northern and eastern Greece, and still onc of the most imposing churches of the entire Aegean region, as well as one of
J--Igllrt 25 The Church of the Acheiropoietos, Thessalonica (Salonica). c. 470. (Bildarchiv, Foto Marburg)
90
ARC H I T ECTURE
the lar~est, being twice the length of the basilica at Neos Anchialos (see below), 4 o r t.he Acheiropoieros Church in Thessalonica itself. Although smaller, howe\'er, than the Church of SaiOl Demetrius, the Acheiropoietos Church, o f about 470, is not emirely dissimilar, since it tOO is fund amemally a basilica of the customary type. But remains that can be detected on the fapde indicate that the narthex, at its entrance point, was adorned with twO towers, which added impressiveness to the building. T he windows within the aisles and galleries of the church itself also demand attention, because they are separated by piers which consis t of twO half-columns, one of which faces inwards and the other outwards an architectural feature which is peculiar to Greece and the coastal region of Asia Minor. The emire design of the Acheiropoietos, however, depends on the nave, as was proper in a building which perfo rmed the liturgical programmes of Constantinople, in which - as was nOt normally the case in the wes t - the nave (together with the chancel) was reserved for the priests, while the congregation was concentrated in the aisles (and the galleries).l s El sewhere in the Balkans there were fou r early churches at Neos Anchialos (Pyrasos) in Thessaly,1 6 and there was a good deal of ecclesias[ical building at Corimh, showing both Aegean and Italian influences. By the end of the fifth century church construction in Greece was at its peak, o utshining other provinces; and indeed the whole area was still making something o f a recovery. In Asia Minor, tOO - that vast and varied terrirory which, as we have seen, is too little studied - there were a good many fifth-century churches, although the region is still imperfectiy known or, at least, described. Reference may be made, however, to the Church of 5t John at Ephesus (Sc!s:uk : c. 450?) - cruciform in plan, inspired by the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople; there was also, at Ephesus, an earlier Church of the Virgin Mary (c. 400). Probably the capitals and columns of the Church of the Holy Wisdom at Trapezus (frabzon, Trebizond) date from the fi fth century, and it seems to have been at about the same period that the temple of Augustus at Angora (Ankara) in Galacia was made into an apsed Christian church. But it is in the southern part of Asia ~'linor - still regarded, as we have seen, as part of a single amorphous mass today - that a special architecture truly came into being, notably in Cilicia and Isauria,1 7 from which the eastern emperors Leo I and Zeno came. The churches of this area raise particular problems. The Cilician and Isaurian basilicas - for the basilica formula remained dominam, while adapting itself to marryrial needs - include transepts, ambulawries, narthexes and other developments and expansions of the original plan: and the remarkable characteristic of Cilician- lsaurian chu rch planning, it has been said, is the passage behind the apse. 91
A RCHIT E CT U R E
Figllrt 26 The Church of the Holy Mary, Ephcsus (Scls:uk). It establisher.! a standard architectural plan for Asia Minor, closer in some respec ts to the G reek mainland than to Constantinople. (fhc Conway Library, Courtauld Institute of Art. Reproduced courtesy o f Geoffrc), House)
When, and where, were basilicas firs t given domes? \'Iie do not know for certain, although we do know that before the year 500 this sort of construction had already come into existence in Isauria - which is very likely to have derived its inspiration from Constantinople itself. lsauria was a distant, rugged and semi-barbarO llS region, but it should be remembered that Zeno himself came from the area, and that a good number of his fellow tribesmen were influential in his entourage. It remains, therefore, probable that the local links of the emperor and mcmbers of his court fulfilled a significant and active role in the construction of three lsaurian churches of remarkable distinction and o riginality. In other words, Isauria came into the forefront of eastern imperial architeccural life, although the impetus, as has been said, had o riginated at Constantinople. IS Others, however, have doubted the Constantinopolitan influence. In any case, the enormous Basilica of 5t Thecla (the alleged disciple of Paul whose las t retreat was believed to have been in a cave there, at Meryemlik or !\-Icriamlik (Ayatekla) o utside Seleucia (Silifke), is a conspicuous example. It seems to have been built, o r completed, by workmen sent out by the eastern emperor Zeno, who was especially interested in 5t T hec1a, and constructed her sanctuary to commemorate his victory over o nc 0 (h· IS · flvaIs." 92
ARC H I T ECTURE
The date of the Meryemlik is known from contemporary reports, and is confi rmed by the style of the capitals. The building lies in ruins, but its plan is clear. Preceded by a huge, semi-circular forecourt and an outer narthex, the short nave was Ranked by barrel-vaulted aisles and galleries .... [According to one theoryl the church at Meryemlik would have been the first example of a 'domed basilica'. But present opinion inclines towards a different reconstruction; the firs t bay was covered by an ordinary timber roof, the second bay by a pyramidal timber construction. The question still awaits a final solution .... It is of course possible that all these buildings, beginning with l\Ieryemlik, simply transposed into timber construction a model that was entirely vaulted ... a 'domed basilica' .... Indeed, it has been suggested tha! the plan for Meryemlik was designed in Constantinople. 20
Important in the church at l\kryemlik is the square bay west of the chancel fo rmed by four massive piers which break up the rhythm of the colonnade and divide the nave into two. The church is ill-preserved. But as it is known that the side aisles and shallow forechoir were all barrel-vaulted, it was long assumed that the western nave was similarly roofed, with the square bay at the east end crowned by a stone dome. West of the church, but of o ne build with it, was a very deep apsidal coun. 2 1 T he churches at Alahan (Apadnas?), of the same region and period, offer an obvious comparison with their counterparts at Merycmlik. The building complex at Alahan is now the most famous o f the early Christian monuments of [sauria. This is, in a way, su rprising, since in antiquity it can in no way have rivalled the marble splendour of the exactly contemporary buildings of the much more renowned pilgrimage shrine of St Thecla at Meryemlik. The buildings of AJahan arc, of course, much better preserved than those at J\'ieryemlik. Bu t the popularity of Alahan probably owes as much to the wildly romantic nature of its setting as to its unquestionable claims to architectural significance. n The monaStery of Alahan is constructed upon a ledge on the southern flank of the Taurus moumains. The East Church is so well preserved that onc can deduce its general design and elevation, except for details of the tOwer, which rested upon four pillars at the eastern extremity of the nave. There was no lack of wood or stone in isauria, so that either material could be
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ARCH IT EC T U RE
Figll" 27 The East Church of Alahan (Koca Kalesi ), over the G6ksll gorge in western Cilicia, Asia Minor. Fifth (or possibly sixth?) century. It was umber-roofed, with a pyramidal roof over the tower-like flnal bay of the nave. ([he Conway Library, Counauld Institute of Art)
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scJected for the construction of the roof. At Nahan, the aisles, and western end of the nave, had wooden roofs, and it is considered that the rest of the building was the same. But what is really importaO£ is that during the last years of the fifth century there were architects skilful and knowledgeable enough to convert the old-fashioned basilica iO£o something rather different, by equipping it with a tower over a square bay. Clearly the architect of the EaSt Church at Nahan knew all about this type of conStruction. n Throughout, the building was timber-roofed: truss roofs over the aisles, galleries, the fi rst bay of the nave, and the fore-choir: perhaps a pyramidal roof over the tower-like final bay of the nave, although a dome has also been suggested .24 Rising at the eastern cnd of a long rock terrace, half-way up the steep cliff, the church is preceded farther west by a sculptured gate and two buildings in ruins, onc a basilica, the other a baptistery, and all belonging to a monastery, a suggestion supported by its size ... as well as by its clear volumetric design, its excellent masonry, and the fine workmanship of its capitals. But both the date of its construction and its ch ronological relation to the other buildings · ·mdou bt." on t he terrace remam Nahan [lies) uphill, along an extremely rough dirty road. The ascent is well worth the effort, for the monastery at Alahan is the most inte resting example of Byzantine architecture in Cilicia. The monastery was founded in the middle of the fifth century, and the oldest buildings date from that period. Its site is spectacular, perched on a platform looking out over the G6ksu gorge · 2:6 · surroun d'109 mountainS. an d Its Once again, the agency of Zeno has been suggested, since he was closely associated with twO monks of the place named Tarasis, which was much the same as his own orih>inal name (Tar.'lcodissa). There is also a third fifth-century group of churches in south-eastern Asia Minor, at Dalisandus (?) (Dag Pazari), a steep site above a swift-flowing stream, on the northern fl ank of the Taurus (Toros) mountains. T he best preserved of these churches at Dag Pazari (the Standing Church) was a sq uare bay with four pillars, as at Meryemlik. There were barrel vaults, it would appear, above the aisles - perhaps later. And an old photograph indicates that the eastern bay of the nave orih>inally lay beneath a tower, of which only a fragment is still extant. 27 Churches at Olba Diocaesarea (UraUzuncaburs:) in Cilicia Campestris (plain) were likewise built out of temples (sec Ankara [Angora) above).28 And there is a fifth -century Church of the Virgin Mar}' (fo rmerly a temple) at Cennet Cehennem (the Corycian Cave), five miles west of Corycus, at the bonom of the chasm, 70 merres 95
ARCHIT ECT URE
rlgllre 28 This church at Dag Pazari (?Dalisandus) IS onc of the great fifth ctntury churches in mountainous inland south-eastern Asia i\'linor. The stump of masonry on the left-hand side of the entrance is all that remains of a tower which formerly crowned the end of the nave. ( rhe Conway Library, Courtauld Institute of Art) down; and there are a dozen early Byzantine churches at Coryclls itself KiK'·)" · (K or!gos, z a es! . The basilica at Side (Selimiye) in Pamphylia was erected on the site of temples of Athena and Apollo, and, in the same place, there is another church of the fifth or sixth century. At Myra (Demre) in Lycia, the Church of St Nicholas is a little complicated, because new portions were added to an original fifth -century church in the eleventh century. There was also a fifth-cemury church at Miletus (Balat) in lonia. Syria, too, was full of church buildings, of monumemal styles and filigree delicacy, and music. Much of the architecture is by no means easy to see today, although rural Syria, on the whole, is better known than the towns (even if it is a mistake to think that western architecture was largely derived from the countryside of Syria). At Amioch itself, for example, few early churches have been found. But outside the city there are a good 3o many; some of them are listed by Krautheimer. Onc notable example is Qal'at Sim'an. It is not far from Antioch, although there is a modern fromier, almost impassable, in between, so that Q al'at Sim'an is more easily approached from Aleppo (the anciem Beroea).3!
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hgHn 29 The church at Qal'at Sim'an in norrh-wt:stern Syria. Late fifth centur)".
(Photograph: Richard SlOneman) Qal'at Sim 'an was a very large mo nastic establishment, and we can still gee its baptistery, church and g uest-room s. The chu rch itself was a crosssh:rpt:d lIIar!;'nlllll based on a central octagon, containing the pillar on which the saint had stood for so long. The roof was of timber. " 'hat is most important and peculiar is that the arms of the cross were framed b!' four basi licas, each open at o ne end to the central octagon. Rich mould · ings outside - and particularly on the windows and doors - co mributed to a powt:rful articulation, and the whole exterior was far more impn:ssive than the exteriors of western churches. So the fou r fl anking basilicas at Qal'at Sim'an, each equipped with aisles, led into tht: central mart/ n'IIJ!1. T his J!lar~)'!illlJj. it wo uld seem, waS originallr timber-domed . It contained the pillar on the TOp of which St Simeon Stylites had so famously spent the last fo ur decades o f his life.32 This building was so magnificent and ambitio us - the most grandiose example of the new phase of ecclesiastical buildings - that, alThough ordinary paris h or monastic church e~ could not hope to model themselves on it, it established in its region a tradition of monumentality com bined with many classical feat ures, but also in many respects novel, which (although later studied by Muslim architects) remained llni'lue and unparalleled in the Roman and Christian architectu re of the fi fth century and bespo ke the p rovision of eastern imperial fund s. It is still uncertain whether there was a single dome o r m ore than one. \X'hat is sure, ho wever, is that this complicated design envisaged th e housing of large numbers of pilgrims
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Figltrt 30 Gold plague from Syria, of the sixth century, part of a reliquary casket. St Simeon Sty lites is shown as having outfaced the Devil, who appears in the shape of a huge snake. (l\lusee du Louvre, Paris. Agence Photographique de la reunion de~ musees nationaux - Herve Lewando...n;ki)
(often drop-outs) who Aocked to the site. 33 T he immense reputation of SI Simeon made Qal'at Sim'an a major centre of the pilgrimage which was so fashionable in the fifth century, being encouraged (as far as the west was concerned) by Pope Leo I the Great (440- 61). Mention should, in addition, be made of a church at Kasr (Qasr) Ibn Wardan in the Syrian desert, though its fifth-century date is not certain. There were also large, multiple pilgrimage churches at Gerasa Oerash), including the Church of the Prophets, Apostles and f'..fartyrs (465) - built in the shape of a cross on square, with the four arms subdivided into nave and aisles by thirty columns - and St George, with an interesting circular plan.
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T he churches o f Gerasa are extraordinarily impressive - through their size, through their number, and through their tendency to group several structures within one prccinct. . . . The principle o f grouping. . . may well be due to the impact of the building complexes which had grown on Golgotha Oerusalem] since Con. , . 34 stantme s time. The cathedral at Bostra (BoHa) likewise had an intcresting circular plan. T here is also an important fifth -century church on Mount Gcrizim. This was the emperor Zeno's Church of the Mother of God. It is octagonal, but on the eastern side an apse extends out of the side o f the octagon, while the other sides each contain small door-porches; between them are chapels. T he octagon itself carries four pillars, above which an ambulatory runs right round the building. Above the ambulatory was a pyramid (or, some would say, dome) made of wood. The church was, in essence, a centralised ",artyt1IJ"', although it was endowed with novel, clever features, as one might expect in a foundation in which the emperor himself appears 35 to have played a leading part. So these inland countries of the near east reveal striking and distinctive architectural styles. In Egypt, too, there was a cathedral at Hermupolis (Deir-el-Abiad, 'The \xrhite Monastery', near Sohag, c. 43~0), with a three-lobed sanctuary transept and aisles, combining the inAuences of Constantinople and Italy in what has been considered a novel church type. To this day the structure is extraordinarily impressive. Enclosed by huge walls, slightly sloping and built of beautifully cut large stone blocks, it has the grandeur of an Egyptian temple or, for that matter, of a Roman fortress . Within the tall rectangle of the enclosure, the church is preceded by a narthex [porch] and Ranked by a long hall on the south side .... Inside the church, colonnades rise from high pedestals and were surmounted by a second, lower order.. .. Profiles and capitals are crude but clearly reveal their classical ancestry, and the scanty remnants of the pavement are composed of splendid white marble and red granite plagues. T he chancel is laid out along grandiose lines. . . . The lay-om then, is clear, despite the thorough remodellings the structure has undergone . .. . The trefoil [threelobed] plan itself ... may well date from about 400 when the great abbot Shenoudi [Schenoudi, SinouthiusJ founded the monastery?6 T he large Abu Mina Church in the Mareotis (Maryut) desert of Egypt (a long-aisled basilica combined with a cross) was financed by Arcadius and
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Fig"" J 1 The: Dci r-el-Abiad, '\,('hitc: Monas tc:ry ', nc:ar Soh3g in southc:rn Egypt. (. 440.
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ARCH!TECTURE Th eodo~ius
11. It was near Alexandria, and of cou rse Alexandria played a
leading role in east Roman and Byzantine ecclesiastical arthitecture.
17
There were also palaces, or large houses, built for the emperors - imperial residences - at all the capitals where they lived or stayed,38 and the establishment of Constantino~le as a great city involved the building of important roadways and fora. 9 T he building of walls was also significant. It can, perhaps. hardly be described as art : rather as an important aspecT of military defence although, as we shall see, aesthetic considerations were not forgotten. But, however wall -building is defined, it was a very notable element in fifth-centu ry achievement. Pride of place must be given to the walls of Constantinople itself (Chapter 3), uf which the reconstruction was ordered by Theodosius IJ and carried out by his Praelorian Prefect Anthemius (413)_40 Anthemius demolished the earlier walls of C:onstantine I the Great in order ro construct his new version - extending 1,520 metres west of the Constantinian walls, and very nearly doubling the size of the city, which had already greatly exceeded the size of the old Byzantium. Better than anything else, the building of the new land walls of Constantinople attests to her position as an architectural centre of the first rank in the decades at the turn of the fifth century. Four and a half miles long, the main wall rises to 30 ft.; it is 16 ft. thick and preceded by an advanced wall and a 60 ft.-wide moat. Ninety-six towers, square o r polygonal in plan, project from the main wall, and six major gates gave access to the city.... The whole is remarkably well preserved. It gives a splendid idea of the working organization - the main wall was apparently completed in little more than a year - and of fifth-century military engineering, and of the building techniques of Constantinople at the time. \\!hile Roman fortifications as a rule had been limited to a towered main wall and a moat, the insertion of an advanced wall creates, perhaps for the first time in military history, a double enceinte. ... The walls of Constantinople are one of the great H sights of the late antil.J.ue world: They are not only in themselves impres~lve, they are perfectly expressive of all that the city STOod for. ... As we drive along the walls from the Golden Gate on the Marmara [Propontis] to the Wooden G ate on the Golden Horn, we can grasp, as we never could from books, the might and majesty of a bulwark that protected the culture centre of civilization from tidal waves of barbarism for ten centuries_ These long lines of walls and towers rising tier above tier from 101
ARCHITECTURE
sea to sea - their alternate courses of grey stone and red brick shattered here and there by earthquakes and siege engines, overgrown here and there with ivy and trees, and green under the aquamarine blue of a Constantinople sky - these walls [are] still grim and warlike in their ruin, their long history written on them in inscriptions and hurried re pairs in the face of the enemy.... On the Marmara the walls are flanked by a great medieval fo rtress, the original Strongylon or Kuklobion (the Round Fort), dating from Zeno (486) .... The Inner, or Great, Wall was the main defence. It is thirty to forty feet high, and thirteen to fifteen feet thick. It carried a battlemented parapet five feet high, and was ascended by flights of steps • runrung up stone ramps. [The wall's] ninety-six towers are about sixty feet high and of all shapes, from square to octagonal. They are, in structure, separated from the wall, as required by the principles of fortification. Each tower has two floors: the lower a store-house or arsenal, the upper a guard-room. On the roof were the military engines. Between this Great Wall and the outer wall is an inner terrace (peribolos), sixty feet wide. The outer wall is from three to six feet thick, and about thirty feet high. The lower part forms a retaining wall for the inner terrace, the upper is an arcade, with a rampart over barrel vaults. lts towers rise about thirty feet above the terrace, and arc alternately square or crescent; variations upon these forms being the result of hurried repairs. Beyond the outer wall, again, is the outer terrace, sixty feet high, and sheltered from the moat by a baulement six feet high .... The moat is also sixty feet wide, and was probably at least thirty feet deep.... T he gates are alternately military and public; the former admitting only to the fortifications, the latter to the city highways.. .. Originally the Theodosian Walls continued along their own line across to the Golden Horn. T he next emperor to Arcadius, Theodosius fl I, 408-50], was the builder of the walls. The city had by now reached its full growth, filling the present girdle of the sea and land-walls; though it was not to reach its full grandeur until Justinian [1]. The walls were building from [412- ]413, under Anthemius, regent of Theodosius. Tn 447 an earthquake threw most of them down, just when that tidal wave of barbarism, Attila and the Huns, was sweeping down on the city. It was one of the great crises in the history of civilization, and the city rose to the emergency. (\Ve are told that] the walls were rebuilt in two months .... The citizens not only rebuilt the single wall of Anthemius, but added a second wall with 192 towers 102
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and a moat, which tremendous task was carried out by an interesting combination of socialism and the sporting spirit. T he money was raised by a capital levy. Th e two great factions of the Greens and Blues, co rrespo nding to our Radicals and Tories, started building in competition with onc another from different ends, and proved their equal enthusiasm and efficiency by meeting almost 42 exactly in the middle. Is it not as if li fe itself during the great, dangerous, all-encompassing metamorphosis leading from Antiquity to the J\liddle Ages, armours and encloses itself in these massive blocks and unbreakable rigid systems in the spheres of state and religion? Thus Rome and Constantinople, and behind the limes the whole Roman empire, at this period literally armoured and enclosed themselves within the hard shell of the most powerful fortifications of antiqui ty. Is it not as if life itself, both of the spirit and of the body, sacri ficed liberty and mobility to security and permanence? \"'(/ho knows if the seed could have survived without this firm shcll?43 Great importance, toO, as has recently been realised, should be attached to the Long Wall~ of Thrace, which may well have been erected before AD 469, although they are usually ascribed to Anastasius I (491 - 518). The monument known as either the Long Walls of Thrace or the Anastasian WalJ lies 65 km [nearly 41 miles] west of Is tanbul and runs from the coast of the Black Sea. ... Originally the wall was 45 km ]28 miles] long. But less than half of that length survives above ground .... [n front of the wall was an outer work and a d eep ditch and associated with it are a system of forts mostly obscured in deep woodland. As it survives, it is the most monumental linear fortification dating from antiquity in continental Europe, comparable only with Hadrian's Wall [in Britain: AD 122-6] in its complexity and preservation. Yet compared with the Roman WalJ in Britain almost nothing is reco rded of the structure of the Long \Valls, and there has never been a detailed surveyor excavation. [t is clear, however, that until the death of Marcian [4571 there was a very real concern [at the eastern court] for the security of the Danubian provinces and T hrace, and that this was reAected in an active building programme .... T he fro ntier no longer lay on the D anube bank ... the Long Walls were symbols that 'the laSt frontie r' was within two days' march o f Constantinople itself . .. T he verd ict o f P roco pius [historian, sixth century] on the Long
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\X'alls was that they were a failure, and that they were doomed to faiL But even a superficial review of the history of the Long Walls in antiquity reveals that the system succeeded in repelling the majority of its attackers during the later fifth and sixth ccnturies .... Gibbon was right to describe the Long Walls as 'the last frontier', but they were not defences of last reso rt - for that, the empire had to rely on the fortifications of Constantinople. 44 Thessalonica (Salonica) also received new fortificati ons at this time. 4S There were also important walls, of the same period, at Corinth, the Isthmian \X'alls. Later, these were estimated as continuing for 3,750 m with 130 small tOwers, 19 large ones, and three castles, but it is uncertain how far this is applicable to the fifth century. Procopius refers to a garrison of 2,000 men for a defensive wall at Thermopylae, of which the reconstruction has been assigned (Q the first rears of the fifth cemurr There was also a mud -brick wall al Nicopolis ad Istrum (ad Haemum), in the T hracian Chersonese, and there was also a wall at Nicopolis in Epirus (Paleopreveza). It has been suggested that at many other places, too, there were walls erected in the early part of this epoch.46
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12 THE HUMAN AND DIVIN E FO RM
Architecture was not the only interesting an during the exuberant and vital fifth cemu ry. Let us consider, for example, portraiture. Here, as in other respects, things are not what the y were. A morc hieratic, less realistic portrait was now in fashion, with emphasis on the emperor's relationship with the Almighty. This tendency, although now accentuated, was nothing new. It had already shown itself in the previous century, under Constantine r the Great (306-37). Constaminc's enormous ma rble head, seven times life-size, now 10 be seen in the courtyard of the Conservatori 1Tuscum in Rome . . . was part of a statue of which the fabulous dimensions alone
were deeply impressive. And, furthermore, it has mobilized the remains of classicism to infuse a sinister, imposing touch o f realism into its hieratic pattern, which is reinforced by surrealistically, transcendentally huge upward-gazing eyes, and formidably aloof, exaggerated, scarcdy mortal-looking features. An effort is being made to show a man in close contact with God .. . . In certain respects, the head looked back to the earlier empire. But much has changed .... T he old plastic language ... had largely been jettisoned .... Life had stiffened into impersonality; and people arc no longer individuals. But they are not yet entirely abstractions. T hat final and total spiritualisation was the work of Constantine. From now on the magnified faces of emperors stare immobile, with eyes surrealistically enlarged, into a distant world we cannot see - just as Constantius 11 ]337-61J moved not a feature when he proceeded through Rome. These heads, built up with a minimum of detail into a system of concentric arches including the arching brows that stress the steady gaze, are cult objects like the colossal statues of Persian monarchs, and Christian icons of the future . .. . T he unapproachable gravity of this hypnotic gaze into unending space {was the
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principal feature of] the 'divine face', the 'sacred countenance', in which the artist of the Christian epoch saw a mirror reflecting the eternal order.... This new artistic style had reached its decisive 1 stage under Constantine. Yet, thereafter, Byzantine stone sculpture was rare, because of Christian distrust of the graven image. Moreover, particularly in respect of this fifth century AD, the subject has been imperfectly studied, partly because so much of the eastern material is undiscovered, or at least unreported. There is, however, a certain amount of stone statuary at Istanbul (Constantinople). For example, onc of the best portraits to have come down to us is a bust there attributed, without complete certainty, to Arcadius. 2 There is also a good head of an Augusta. 3 But portraits of imperial women are hard to identify. There are, in addition, some interesting heads of private citizens: a bust from Ephesus (Selj:uk), considered to represent the minister Eutropius (under Arcadius and Theodosius 11), is outstanding. 4 Furthermore, there is an especially fruitful series of ivories (often of rather Hellenistic character): As a rule, it is very difficult to determine the place of manufacture, as the objects could be transported over long distances. Moreover, in many groups it was also easy for the artist to change his abode. For example, someone who carved ivory needed few tools in addition to the material, so he could travel without great expense from Alexandria or Constantinople to Trier [Augusta TrevirorumJ if he saw possibilities of earning money there . .. . lA particularly valuable series consists of those known as the consular diptychs.] They arc usually dated . . . they thus provide points of contact for classifying other ivories and further works of small-scale art. These are tablets connected by hinges (dip(yhot/) on the insides of which the new consuls or other high officials announced to colleagues in office and dignitaries their accession to office (the original inscriptions are always lost). The outsides were decorated with various kinds of representation. Those which show the consul enthroned at the opening of the circus races, animal baiting or theatre performances which he gave at his accession arc particularly impressive. The consular diptychs and related pieces were made in Constantinople and Rome and perhaps in other places. 5 Important personages make their appearance on these diptychs, notably not only Stilicho but also Ariadne, the wife of Anastasius I (491-518). And so does the emperor Honorius (d. 423). The best representation of 106
THE HUMAN AND DIVINE FORM
Honorius, however, with his wife Maria, is provided by a pearl cameo. 6 AJaric l, too, is to be seen on a gem. These imperial or regal figures had become Roman consuls. The consulship was the only anCient Roman magtstracy which survived with any importance into the late empire. To hold the office was a mark of distinction bestowed only on the noblest aristocrats and most distinguished imperial officials ... it was hard to attain .... The most important function of the (Wo annual consuls was the provision of Games seven times a year, and the colossal expense involved 0ustinian once spent the e<Juivalent of 288,000 lo/idl) was probably the reason for the decline of the office. An insufficient number of men could be found with the necessary means, and the last subject to be consul held office in 54 1. . . . Several representations of late Roman consuls survive, mainly on ivory diptychs. . . . The most important elements in their costume were the !rabea or special toga, the sceptre and the mappa or napkin which was used as the traditional signal to start the Games .... Over a subse<Juent period of time the costume was absorbed into the imperial re!,.-alia. 7 Ivories were also utilised to depict the emperors themselves. A famous example is the Barberini Ivory at the Louvre. This, wrote Michael Gough, is but one leaf of an imperial diptych, made originally of five panels, four of which survive. In the centre, beneath a victorious emperor mounted on his charge, is Earth bearing her tribute of fruit. The lowest panel depicts barbarians bearing tribute on the left, while to the right a band of elegant Indians bring gifts of ivory tusks and native animals. Anastasius [ I] fought many successful Balkan campaigns and in 496 received an embassy from India, and both style and subject suggest a date towards the end of the fifth century.1! JeweUery was also g reatly in evidence during this period. By the fourth and fifth centuries, an increasing emphasis had been placed on stones for their own sake, and less pains were taken over the working of the gold in which they were set. Here for the first time the very hardest stones were used: diamonds occasionaUy, though uncut; sapphires, and above aU emeralds, from the newly discovered mines in the Red Sea HiUs [Mts Claudianus,
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FigNrt 32 A leaf from a 'consular' dipt)"ch in kory. Vicwria and Albcrt Museum, London. Here is the consul Probus (408), atte nded br personificarions of Rome and Constantinople. ( rhe Board of Trustees of the VictOria and Albert Museum)
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PorphyritesJ, which were used in the natural hexagonal prisms in which these stones are found .... The chief centres of production were probably Nexandria and Antioch, and also Rome itself, whither many immigrant craftsmen from the Greek east had migrated.') One of the most prominent arts of the period was that of the mosaic. This was an age in which the mosaic, having crept from the Aoors of churches up to their walls and apses, continued to come into its own. The art of the mosaic, it has been said, was now attaining, or had attained, its zenith. The technical process alone demanded a maximum of concentration and precision: the wall was first painted over, and afterwards the host of tiny, evcn minute, lozenges had to be fastened into place . . . . These lustrous fields of mosaic are composed chiefly of myriads of tiny gold and enamel chips, which evoke an atmosphere of mystery and magic. 10 Floor-mosaics had long been known to the Roman world . . .. But the stone cube is heavy. Attempts to use it for wall -mosaics were unsuccessful. Then it was discovered, probably firs t in Nexandria with its vast glass-factories, that glass cubes were far more suitable for fixing on walls. T hey were lighter in weight and they were more luminous. T he glass could be dyed, o r coated with gold or silver dust. It could be cut rough or smooth. It could be set at an angle best fitted to catch the light. Patterns and pictorial scenes in mosaics could now be placed on the walls, and by careful lighting they seemed not to enclose but to enlarge the space that they surro unded. 11 There were remarkable mosaics of this period at Rome, where the mosaics on the tribune of Santa Pudenziana have been dated to 401 17. Old Testament scenes were not uncommon, but those at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome - which lay especial stress on the Virgin (see Chapter 9 on Mariology) - happen to be the most ancient that have come down to us. They had a specific and deliberate aim, to stress the triumph of orthodox, imperial religion - including the role of the Mother of God - at the First Council of Ephesus in 431. The papacy of Sixtus 1II only began in the year following the Council, and the Virgin of the Annunciation, in this mosaic, is not merely the 'handmaiden of the Lord' but the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by numerous angels. Very often the attributes of the Virgin are taken from imperial prototypes, she hersel f assuming the role of Augusta; and, by the same token, the Infant is 109
T H E HUMAN AND DIVIN E FORM
clothed in purple and attended by a throng of courtiers. The fact that there is a continuous narrative, frequently rendered in twO registers, seems to indicate that the mosaic may be derived from an illustrated roll (rotuIIlS), such as was later to become incorporated in the pages of a book (codex). There is a good deal of Hellenistic tradition here. But the inAuence of later Constantinople is apparem in the emphasis on the holy and transcendental, rather than the physical, aspect of Jesus and his saints, despite the effects of Roman imperialism. 12 The mosaic decoration of the 'l\husolcum of Placidia' at Ravenna is also very distinguished, and in harmony, for the first time, with the architecture. Doves - approaching a small spring or drinking from a basin - appear four times on the walls beneath the dome of the mosaic-lined building. T his motif already had a long tradition .... This is one of the bucolic themes; gentle country motifs were contrasted with the life of the town. When it was transferred to a sacred Christian interior the idyll became a symbol. ... The drinking of the doves became a symbol of believers drinking in the truth Aowing out from God and containing the life of the spirit .... [Andl once again the Good Shepherd motif was a classical Roman tradition which Christian art could adapt to its own purposes .. .. A youth surrounded by trusting lambs - the good, bcloved Shepherd is seated in a two-dimensional, ornamental landscape of rocks, softened by green plants ... . The symbolism becomes specifically Christian with the tall cross on which Christ leans and at which his finger points. ... [Christ'sl character as a teacher and a miracle-working saviour is stressed more fervently in these works than his severe, judicial side. . . . \X'hether this small circular building was intended as a church or as a tomb it makes an utterly unified impression - architecture and mosaic blended together to form an almost super-worldly interior. . . . As almost no daylight enters the interior of the mausoleum, oil-lamps or candles had to be used and these brought out all kinds of reAections and light-effects. I ] T he blueness of the background reaches the summit of its effectiveness in the dome of the mausoleum, which contains a mosaic of a central cross with the animals that had figured in Ezekiel's vision at the four poims of the cross. The transepts display two deer and a brook, illustrating a text from the Psalms: 'As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God' (psalms 62.1 ). The twO most famous mosaics 1\0
THE HUMAN AND DIVINE FORM
in the mausoleum arc in its main part, with the Good Shepherd in the west end and the martyrdom of St Laurenee in the east end. Although the treatment is, naturally. religious, the way in which the Shepherd and his sheep are represented is not oblivious to the long Greek, Hellenistic tradition of the past. Who, and what, inspired this choice of subject by the mosaicist? It is hard to tell, but it has been suggested that some 14 eastern cultural centre played a dominant part. There are also fine mosaics in the Baptistery of the Orthodox at Ravenna: where, indeed, mosaics arc prominent (Chapter 11). Obviously, in a building that was a baptistery, baptism is prominent; as it was, indeed, in the whole of the Christian faith (see Chapter 9) . 'Baptism - being accepted into the Church - was a particularly solemn act in the early days of Christianity and a special place was built and decorated for it, usually a round building: the baptistery.'1 5 T he mosaics of Africa and Sicily continue to reflect the doke vita of the great land-owners. Thessalonica, toO, displays impressive mosaics. One is at the Church of St George. It has been suggested that the buildings represented on the mosaic of St George's are less fantastic than might at first sight appear. Nevertheless, the ethereal lightness of the architectural framework of these mosaics has attracted attention, and, by way of contrast, emphasises the physical reality of the saints which also appear on them. Yet an atmosphere of spiritual unreality, and mysteriousness, remains dominant, and is further stressed by 16 the liberal use of gold. Reference has been made to the saints: and a rich mosaic of saints 17 standing against complex niches and gables covers the dome. 'T he plan obviously recalls more closely ma'1Yna ... at Constantinople rather than . . . Antioch or Milan [MediolanumJ. But the closeness to the palace and the central plan make it equally plausible that it was to serve as a Palace Chufch.'18 The mosaics on the floor of the Great Palace at Constantinople 19 seem datable to the years 491 - 505, though some prefer 408-50. Asia Minor, toO, had fine fifth -century mosaics. A mosaic representing a bear-hum, from Xamhus (Kinik), is in the Antalya museum, and there are mosaics (as well as sculptures) of the fifth century in the Church of 5t Pameleimon at Aphrodisias (Ovacik). T here are others at Mopsuestia (Misis) . In the fifth -century church at Mopsuestia (?v[isis) in Cilicia Campestris [Flat Cilicia, its eastern part: the Plain], a square panel in the nave mosaic depicts a variety of creatures g rouped round a little cabinet on four legs, labelled 'Noah's Ark'. There are no human figures, and the only occupant of the Ark is a bird, with another coming in through a side door. . .. An attempt, however inadequate, has been made to portray a 111
T!-IE !-IUMAN AND DIVIN E FORM
FigUrf }3 A floor mosaic in the fifth -century church at i\lopsuestia (Misis) in Cilicia Campestris (the Plain, eastern Cilicia). Animals and birds surround a small cabinet representing the Ark, the remaining parts being filled with elaborate natural and geometrical decoration. (Reproduced co urtesy of Leo Gough)
scene, and birds and beasts stand on a base line for the most part, and do not float about in the disembodied manner typical of what is probably slightly later work in the same genre_ Much more technically competent, however, is the ornamental background of s<Juares filled with geometric ornament, of rectangular panels enclosing some item of church furnishing (e.g. a candle or a suspension lamp), with the rest of the composition occupied by a running acanthus scroll from which emerge, like gifts on a Christmas-tree, exotic flowe rs, free birds, birds in cages, goblets, and even animals like an antelope and a fine cat. ... This scroll has a plastic quality recalling the colouristic treatment of architectural sculpture characteristic of Syria and eastern Cilicia during the late Roman and early Christian periods.2Q Another admirable mosaic survives in the hilly, western part of Cilicia (Rough Cilicia), at Corycus (Chapter 11). In the cathedral at this site, soundings have been made as fa r as the floo r, and there a mosaic has been found with a piece of Isaiah's text (11. 6, 8): 'the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid'. This is the Peaceful 112
T H E H U M AN AN D DIVIN E FORM
f'igllrf 34 t\ scene from the 'Peaceful Kmgdom' of Isa1ah al Elaeu~a (t\)'a~), less
than two miles from Corvcus, on the edge of Rough Cilicia. (Reproduced courtcsy of Leo Gough)
Kingdom of Isaiah, which attracted this period; and the animals are found again on a mosaic at Elaellsa (r\ra~), between onc and two miles from Coryclls. It has been suggested that these symbols of a peaceful unity may have been motivated by the Henotikon of the eastern emperor Zeno, by which he attempted, without a great deal of success, to bring about 21 more friendly relations between Orthodox and Monophysite. The inAuence o f Syria is often perceptible: and Monophysitism was securely entrenched there. At Gerasa Uerash, now in Jordan), in the remarkable mosaic in the Church of St John the Baptist, the River Jordan is the link and reconciliation between the men and women, and the buildings on the bank, and the water plants and birds in the river itself. T he artist mayor may not have wished to be realistic, but in any case it has been suggested that he was consciously nostalgic about 22 the Hellenistic past.
113
THE HUMAN AND DIVIN E FORM
.'' ,'. • • •
'.
.:.. ,,. ,
••••
,
.. .. ....
:~" • •
. ' .., ....
o. ' o •
"•
...,., ....
" . '" . 0
•
Figurt 35 Painting in the funerary chapel of El Bagawat in the Kharga (Khargeh) Oasis in Egypt, named after the Book of Exodus. Here the Seven Wise Virgins are shown in single file, holding lamps. The style is naive. (Photograph: R. P. Pierre du Bourget, reproduced courtesy of Departcmem des Antiguites Egyptiennes, Musee du Louvre, Paris)
Mosaics were of course de rived from, and closely linked with, paintings. At Rome itself, during the fifth century, paintings continued to be executed in the Catacombs, though in a period when pilgrimages to the tombs of the firs t Christians were just starting, these paintings were made for the benefit of the living as much as the d ead. Technique deteriorated considerably, and themes tended to be repeated interminably. Only a very few scenes hold the attention: for example, the sea-faring man in the Catacomb of St Pomianus, or Peter with a child in the Catacomb of St Gaudiosus in Naples [Neapolis] .... Composition adopted a more hieratic rhythm: standing figures are placed inside large rectangular frames, in scenes which sometimes cover considerable surfaces . ... Outlines are apparently hastily sketched. A popular vein is to be detected . . . which had already been anticipated in the third century.23 As for paintings in the cast, however, which were very Important, we are much less well informed. 114
THE HUMAN AND DIVIN E FORM
II is a pity . . . that very little of the early Christian paintings of the cast has survived .... T he surviving artistic evidence is primarily western, and the very rarity of eastern examples renders any lis t of early Christian painting necessarily sketchy.. .. The total lack of surviving work from the east . . . cannot be disreb~rded .... [Nevertheless,l though ... the Roman catacombs have provided most of the evidence ... surviving Christian edifices, in the east as well as the west, have made a particular 24 contribution which should not be ignored. It is at least possible to see, from paintings in cast and west alike, the
varying and changing interpretations of Jesus from Good Shepherd to young hero (like Alexander the G reat) to Lord of the World .
.f'-/
PigHrt 36 Portrait head from Ephesus. It is often labeUed 'Eutropius' - che eastern minister (395-9) - but may be slightly later. (Kuntshistorisches Museum, Vienna)
115
THE HUMAN AN D DIV INE FORM
There are also significant illustrated manuscripts of the period, notably the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Quedlinburg !tala, mostly in Berlin. 25 The techniclue Erobably originated at Constantinople, not Antioch as has been suggested. (, Silver and gold work of the period is quite important. 27 And a word or two about the coinage, and especially the basic gold Jolidm, will also not be out of place. The scale of values in the ancient world was very different from our own. One gold JoliduJ was enough to furnish bare subsistence for a year; four or five provided a soldier's annual ration, while six or seven bought a decent, if humble, standard of living. It was naturally more costly to live in a city than in the country, and all manufactured goods were very expensive. A modest suit of clothes, for example, is recorded to have cost onc JoliduJ. . .. Late Roman coins ... bear the head of the reigning emperor or of a member of his family. On the reverse side, the victoriousness of the emperor is the abiding theme .... During the fifth century designs became stereotyped for long periods. . .. During the fourth and first half of the fifth centuries, a foremost feature of the design of both gold and silver coins was the wreath bearing . ·al volo. '" !mpen And so most art, like architecture, served the emperor (and thus served religion). Textiles, however, served a purely private pur~ose: and there were evidently a lot of them, though few are still extant. 9 A tremendous quantity of textiles must have been produced all over the Roman empire in the early Christian period. They have survived almost exclusively in Egypt, where they were put into tombs and did not decay because of the dry climate. Garments, curtains and wall-painting with decorative and figured decoration are particularly important for the sphere of art. The materials were linen and wool, and also valuable silk which in late antiquity and the early Christian periods had to be imported from Persia: only in 552 did it prove possible to get silk worms in the Byzantine empire and begin production there .. . . It is very difficult to date the textiles . .. [but they] arc very important, first because they tell us something about the everyday life of the early Christians; second, because they attest the ongoing existence of pagan designs well down into late antiquity; and third, because in part [also] they copy monumental cycles, 116
T H E HUMAN AND D I VINE FORM
probably of wall pamungs, with scenes from the Old Testament and New Testament. Xl T he taste fo r sarcophagi, already started in earlier years, also continued actively, and they displayed some very effective reliefs, reflecting, once again, the tastes of the time. Only in Rome have so many sarcophagi been preserved that we can say something about the technigue of their manufacture .. .. T he preparation was divided into several processes which were undertaken by sculptors trained in different ways . ... In a great many examples we can see different states of finish in a sarcophagus: more progress has been made in one part than in another. T he pieces were used nevertheless, erobably because a sarcophagus was urgently needed for a buriae l
117
E PILOG UE
As mentioned in the Introduction, we do not, in the west, talk enough about the eastern empire, which began to come into its own in the fifth century All Often it is assumed that the part played by Byzantium in history was passive, to be for nearly a thousand years the bulwark of Christendom against the eastern infidel. ... It is forgotten that throughout its whole existence the empire continually exercised an active influence on the civilisation of the world .... Western Europe was perpetually in debt to her.... Up to the Latin capture, Constantinople was the unquestioned capital of 1 European civilisation. It seems strange, therefore, that so little attention is still paid to Byzan-
tium in educational systems. This is partly because the attention of their classical teaching is not unnaturally focused on the periods when there had been g reat literatu re - which there was not in the fifth century. Religion also plays a part: for we have to make a great effo rt, indeed as most would agree - toO great an effort, to understand a period in which religious matters filled such a predominant role. Chauvinism also comes into the matter. We talk so much about petty western kingdoms (such as those of Mercia, \Xressex and Northumbria in England) that we forget the point underlined above. But many of us have worried about why the eastern empire, based on Constantinople, survived for so long, when the western empire, based on Italy, did not. An endeavour has been made in this book, as in many others, to answer that question. I have not tried to exalt the east at the expense of the west; the east was surely, in many ways, a pretty nasty place. But J have tried to explain something about the eastern empire, which is so sadly neglected by our educational system. It surely deserves as much attention as the west, if not more. T hat, I hope, will be clear, and not least from Chapter 11, which shows how wonderful the architectural achievements 118
EP1LOGGE
of the eastern empire were, even though some of them, nowadays as well as at other times, are far from easy to visit and see. I, of course, have had to deal principally with the earliest part of the Byzantine period (if indeed it is Byzantine at aU). But aU the better, I feel, because it has made it possible to concentrate on the little known o rigins and early years of the eastern empi re which then continued to last fo r so many hundreds of years. Many people like their history to be garnished by relating its relevance to modern times. Such relevance ean be jusdy ascribed to the fifth century AD. For it was the eastern empire, above all, which protected Europe from ruin at the hands of external aggressors; and it was in the fifth century that this empire survived its critical moments, and succeeded in living on to assume its critical protective rolc. True, the Arab and Turkish outsiders had not yet, by that time, arrived on the scene. But there would have been no Europeans to encounter them and kee p them at bay if Constantinople had not, during the fifth century, battled on, and created the Byzantine empire that was to come. The relevance of all this today lies in the fact that Europe is once again threatened from outside. The exact nature of the threat is much disputed, but most would agree that the next world war will take the form of a war of 'clashes of civilisation', between Europe, or the west, and what lies beyond.2 Of course the situation will not exacdy repeat itself. For the eastern Roman empire, and Byzantium, stood for the Ch ristian Church (however divided) against non-Christians. For that was a highly religious age, which the present epoch is not. The next major war, therefore, will be secular rather than religious. But we can still think gratefully of the east Roman, Byzantine empi re which established itself in the fifth century, for in the centuries to come that empire, looked at from a secular point of view, defended the western world against the onrush of other secular powers, based elsewhere. We should therefore study the fifth century with great care, since it heralded a movement of defence against the outside world which may very well have to be repeated d uring the years just ahead of us. It may seem rather artificial to choose a specific century for this book; because, after all, history is continuous and does not pay attention to the beginning and end of hund red-year periods. And yet few will echo that view today, when we are approaching a millennial landmark. For, after all, the beginning and end of a millennium, or a century, do mean something. People are conscious of when these landmarks have been reached, and are determined to make a new start. This is so in AD 2000, and was so in AD 400 (or at whatever moment the new century was recognised). Men and women may, it is true, not have been conscious of the fact, but in reality it was one of the decisive moments in the transition between the ancient and medieval worlds. Without all that occurred the fifth century AD, the 119
EP1LOGGE
l\1.iddle Ages would have been very different. And yet what took place during those hundred years is little known, because the geographical location of what happened and the attitudes of those who made things happen arc alien from our modern experience. That is why the effort ought to be made to explain what the fifth century was all about. Already in 1929 Robert Byron, whose work has on the whole nor met with universal scholarly approval, saw the relevance of the Byzantine empire to the modern world; and much of what he said is relevant to the present study of the fifth century. The European countries correspond to the city-states of Greece; the range of Anglo-Saxon Institutions to that of Roman; Europeanism to Hellenism; and the intellectual effect of the scientific revolution to Christianity. It may be argued that, far from creating an international spirit, the British empire has done no more than propagate an evil nationalism. During the last half-century, the charge may hold good. But by its work of Europeanisation, of which, indeed, it is only the foremost exponent, it has laid a common ground on which the peoples of the world may find the basis of international concord. T his also, on a lesser territorial scale, did Constantinople accomplish. Within her walls mingled all the races of Eurasia, and all their products, commercial, cultural, philosophical. .. . The internal structure of the Byzantine state bears . . . a singular affinity to that o f ourselves. T his is, perhaps, pitching it rather strongly. Fifth-century Byzantium was, in many respects, very different from our own culture. And Robert Byron seems to talk rather too favourably of the British empire, though it still existed when he wrote, which gives additional interest to what he said. But he is q uite right to point out that the Byzantine empire was one of our most important forerunners. The first stages of that empire are what has been considered here. T he first of the eight periods into which the life of the empire is usually divided, lasted from 350 to 518 . . . . T he new city, the imperial whim, was proved. Sheltered by the Black Sea, as though beneath an umbrella, from the full torrent of the Asiatic migrations to the south-west, she escaped the disasters that overtook the west, as the great leaders, Alaric, Attila and Theoderic allowed themselves to be diverted by the seductions of 120
EP 1 L OGGE
.
Italy and Spain . . . . T he strength of lhe cmplrc lay in the Levant . . . . Amid convulsions, abstract and material, the Byzantine empire was formed and tempered . From the barbarian migrations It emerged intact when Europe lay inundated.}
121
APPENDIX 1 CONSTANTINE I THE GREAT AND AF T E R
T his book is about the fifth century, but [ feel that the period should be linked up with Constaminc I the Great (306-37) - about whom I wrote a l book - to dcmonstrntc the continuity that existed. I have tried to note in the present volume certain of the paims of direcT contact and influence between Constantinc and the fifth century, but something more needs to be said about the role of c.onstantinc in determining the future: or rather, the book to which I referred needs to be guuted, before later developments can be outlined. FirST of all, the religious developments to which allusion has been made in Chapter 9 need some reference to Constamine as a prelude.
Constamine is, of course, best known as the first Christian emperor.. . . He was a Christian of a very peculiar type, a type that would hardly be recogni~ed as Christian at all today. For the God he believed in was a God of power, who had given him victory, and he would have had little sympathy with the idea that Christianity meant love, or charity, or humility. .. . Furthermore, he was utterly confident that he himself was the man of God, God's servant and representative who was constantly in touch with him and was told by him what to do - and how, by doing accordingly, he could avoid divine anger.... T he Christian community ... should be brought in as the ally and close component of the government, and should be amalgamated with it, so as to achieve the national unit;, which the persecution had so conspicuously failed to supply. And there lay Constantinc's great failure. For it became clear, very soon, that Christianity was hopelessly divided within itself. ... Although an impulsive man, he also had a keen eye for what was politically possible, and his whole reign is an object lesson in how to get Christianity accepted, firmly yet cunningly, without attempting too much speed. [But] his Christianization of the
122
A P PEN DI X]
Figllrt )7 Colossal head of Cons~ntine I the Great (306-37), Palazzo Capiwlino. (i\rchivi Alinari/ Anderson) Roman world [was] accompanied by an unprecedented outburst of church construction. 2 \'\fhat seems ra ther odd, however, though it d id not, apparently, seem odd to the d ynastic mind of Constantine I the Great, was the division of the empire which he envisaged in 335, to take place after h is death (which
123
.\PPICNDIX I
,,",cuned in 337). The beneficiaries uf thi, sulution Iller<: mootl~ hi' Ion•. Con",uuinu, junior [11) w .. '0 ,ule in 'he wC"ern provinc", Co""~n. in llllly :and Pannoni.a ~nd north Afrin. :and Consw"i", 11 in the e..,; .J,hough Con1!""tine'. o<ep-""phCIII DdmatiU$ ""'" ,0 rulc in
(his son) Cri.pu. (d. 326) ""'" alive. it is not impossible ,h.. ConSlanrinc envisaged him .. hi, sole ,uccc"or, though m; • •olution ovuld have been SI.cnuouol)· ..,i"ed b)' me empo=wr's wife F.".,,,- who was pushing hor OIIIn tluct: .ono forw ..d .. Cri. pu,'. rival •. After the remuval of both Crisp". ""d Fausta, Const.ntine . did nothing to di.eou ...ge 'he continued ad,'ance of her sun •. , .. lIu, why, in 'hI! c",e, did Con .."",;nc r no. dcsigtUlC hi, dde., surviving . on Con,w"inu. junior (11) a, 'he fu,ure .ole empo=ror, .uch .. he was him",lf? PwbabJ)' bec..u'e he did not mink ,h.. C..on. nntinus junior """ c'p"blc of 'he rolc ... which w .. cvi· dendy correct, .. , [And Ihe[ multiple . ubd'vi,ion [which he ,nSlead Il"tIJIgedj ., ~, .trved me pU'f'<>'" of dimini.hing the d""ger of a plot ag:ailUt Cunsranrin<: I himself, while he .... , , till alive :rnd in cm.gc. Bu, e"" he seriou.ly have ,hough, ,h., . ueh • join< or""'gc' rnent ,,'OUId work? In f~" i, foiled '0 work, very quickl)' ""d completely ""d abysmally :md .xplo'i,'dy! Fin, of all. Delm.tiu. ""cl Hannibali""u, loun died at the h.od, uf 'he •• my. Then. in 340, Con".n,in. [[ W", slain ., Aquilei. by ("..on" ..... In 350 Con"""s """ killed in Gaul by 'he JXIgOn u. urpe. Mognentiu •.' Then, in 353, .. Mun. M.jor (Osijck), M,o gncn,iu. "'••• uppre ..cd b)' Con ... ntiu. 11, IIIho rc-elt.bli.hed hi. f.mcr'. sule n,le of the empi.. until hi, de.m in 361. During the next mfeC yean JWi"" me Apust:.. e (361_3) :and men Jovi"" (363-4) managed '0 maintain this impo=ri2l unity. Juli"" ~.m...d mrough many .dmini. ",,,ive reforms, ond fought wi,h dubious """CC" >g2ins' ,h. Pen;"n •. He ,. also kf>O\Oo'Il "' ,he Aposta,. be",u,. h. fenou<>I:.d Christiani'Y in f.vou, of pagarU.m. JWian h:id Long been a . ecret pagan. R=ting viulendy agairut me Chrioti.n 'caching ,ha' h<: had KC.iv.d in a lonely :and misero.ble childhood. he had developcd ~ pu, ;"na« inlereSl in ,he art. li.. ro.,urc ond my,hology of G,.... and had ~rown '0 dCfeSl
APPE N DIX \
'he ne'.' «ligion whi~h con killed in 363. He hod fought. losing battle :.gai"" Chri"Wli,y; and ,he hou.e of Co""""'i",, wo> extinct. JuIi.n was .uc~ceded by Jovian, • geniol .nd popular young officer (. Chri,ti.n), ,,'00 "',.. \i,de mor~ thltl • nonentiry. He signed. di.odv=t:ogcou. treaty with the Icing of Pen ... bu' then. olm<>$' immedi.tely, died, .fter. reign of le .. than eigh' mo nth. (363--4).
Nim: d.y< Iat I, OS emperor, He "' •• • violent, brUtal o.nd uncultiva'ed m"", but. c.pobl. soIdier.nd a <artful admini"nwr, ,aking. genuine inter." in the ",'elf.re of 'he lower d ....., to which he him.elf by origin had belonged ,· Only. month later he nominated os hi, fellow-Augustu. hi. brother Valen. , who, or the age of ,hin)'-six, ",a. "ven y.... younger than him. elf. The choi •• , . aid A.H.M. J0O<' , had very li,de to commend it, , ,,'e 'hat Volen,' Ioyolt), could be depended upon. Valen. ,.,.. uttdy umUstingui. hcd, "ill only • p,.,,,/o, [bodyguard], o.nd pos.....d no military abiliry, H. betn)'ed ru. conociousness of inferiority by hi. nervOUS . ""pie;"n of plO!. ltld lavage punishment of ille~.d traitors, Bu, he '00 ",a, • wru;cicntiou. admini"",'or, careful of the inter.st> uf 'he humble, I~ke hi. brother. he "'os :rn e .. ne .. Christi.n. The twO brothelS paned in Sirmium, VolcntinW> guing On to tue c~ of I~yricum, Italy, Afric. :rnd the Gauls, while Valens ... urned '0 rule the . .. tem prefec,ure... . The !Wo brothers natutally promoted 'heir Ponnoniltl friend •. The pruce" h.ad indeed ~n under Jov;'n, who wos likewise of P:rnnonian ori· gin.' Ahhough Valencini:rn wu • strong Christian. '] do not be con. idcr', he wrote, 'any rite pcrmi!!cd by OIlr .nee"ors criminal, , .. Evetyone [h .. been] granted a free choice of practi,ing what.v .. religion hi. mind determined." And, under VolentinW>, most 'heretic, ', toO, ,,-ere tolerated. Valen,inian wo> one o f the few emperors who ~.mly ",fu."d ,ue in ,heological controve .. ie •.. ,. Valen. had • more complicated theological .itu.tion to deal with in the cast, where opinion Wlt> n ill much divided.'
,0
'0
,id..
But Valens enCOllntercd a cri,i, in 376. The .d,=dng Hun. had c.u . ed • panic among the S.,ma!ian and Germ:rn ,rib.. of ""uth Ru .. i>., v.st numbers of whom c'''''ed into the empire, 50me with impcriol
'"
APPENDIX 1
thin&"J were not going very well. Theodosius I had to move there, to deal l4 with (Wo usurpers, Magnus Maximus (383-8) and Eugenius (391-4), the nominee of Valentinian lI's Master of Soldiers Arbogasl. Theodosius I was called in to deal with both of them: he defeated Magnus Maximus at Siscia (Sisak) and PoetOvio (ptuj), and executed him at Aquileia, and then he defeated Eugenius and Arbogasl at the battle of the Frigidus (Vipacco) . Less than five months later Theodosius, having reunited the empire, died at Mediolanum (Milan),'!; beq ueathing the rulership to his sons, Arcadius, aged seventeen, whom he had left in Constantinople, and Honorius, who was only ten, and was brought to Italy by Theodosius. They were both not only youthful, but fe eble; the real ruler of the empire, in the west, was Stilicho, the Master of Soldiers, a fri end of the late emperor Theodosius, and in the east Rufinus. Why did Theodosius take the disastrous decision of leaving the empire to Arcadius in the east, and to Honorius in the west? Granted that he had performed a unique feat by uniting the empire, which was, otherwisr:, doomed by military and administrativr: necessity to be divided into two. But why leave it to his vr:ry yo ung and incompetent sons? - as we already asked with regard to Constantine I. We may dismiss the view that Theodosius JUSt did not care; he may not have fully deserved the title of 'the Great', which was awarded to him (because of his piety) by ecclesiastical histo rians, but he was nOt that kind o f cynical fool. On the other hand, like most pcoplr:, he was a believr:r in his family, and their keen supportr:r, and hc could back this natural inclination by a conviction that d ynastic policy alone was the kcy to imperial survival. And so, as was stated in Chapter 2, he sanctioned and solidified the already existing division of the Roman world between western and eastern empires; and by the time that this book truly begins, at the o nset of the fifth century, the twO governments - even if striCt lebralists still declared that they rcpresented a single unit - were in fac t sr:parate, under Honorius at Mediolanum and then Ravcnna in the wcstr:rn empire (which was destined to last only until 476), and under his elder brother Arcadius at Constantinople in the cast.
128
APPENDIX 2 AFRICA, SPAIN, GAUL
All these three areas, which had belonged to the western Roman empire, succumbed to the 'barbarians' before Rome itself felV unlike the provinces of the east, which remained under the imperial control of Constantinople, at least for the time being. North Africa was onc of the culturally and commercially most active
parts of the western empire. Based on Carthage, it kept Latin going, and at a time when both Latin and Greek literature were otherwise at rather a low ebb it produced the great Latinist Augustine. Augustine was also active in stimulating the Church against schismatics, notably the D onadsts, who flourished in Africa (Chapter 9) . Nevertheless, the country remained p rosperous - Alaric's scheme to invade north Africa
after his sack of Rome came to nothing - and a decisive stage in the collapse of the western empire was marked when Carthage was conquered in 429 by Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, who found it an easy prey, since the defensive system o f the city was suited to nothing more than policing and the suppression of sporadic tribal revolts. Canhage became the capital of Gaiseric and his successors, and in 442 the Vandals were recognised as the masters of north Africa. Of all the striking events which the fifth century saw in Europe, writes E.A. Thompson, none was of mOTe consequence for the political life of the Mediterranean than this Vandal conquest of north Africa. And this conquest split the Mediterranean into twO parts. Once north Africa was lost, the days of the western empire, as a political entity, were numbered. So this is another reason fo r its fall .2 T he Vandals were also a great threat in the Mediterranean area as a whole. Not only did the Vandals have at their disposal the men and material wealth of A frica, which they were to control until the Byzantine recon<:jues[ of 533 [Appendix 3], but they set themselves up as the original Barbary pirates. With their fleets they made commerce in the Mediterranean extremely difficult and carried out raids on the south coast of Europe.3
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t\PPENDIX 2
In 431, 441 and 467 Gaiseric d efeated Roman and eastern attempts to overthrow him. And in 455 he temporarily captured Rome. He died in 477. As for the Iberian peninsula, which produced distinguished Latin writers during the fifth century, after the Visigothic sack of Rome (410), various groups of Germans, led by Ataulf, crossed the Pyrenees - Gaiseric's
Figurt 40 Mausoleum of T heoderic, Ravenna. (Archivi Alinari/Anderson)
130
APPENDIX 2
Vandals heavily defeated the Ro mans at Carthago Nova (Cartagena) (Chapter 7, n. 1), causing the downfall of the western emperor Majorian (the city having been destroyed by the Vandals in 425) - and the Suebi occupied Emerita (Merida) in southern Spain. The Suebi took rOOt in northern Lusitania (po rtugal), where Recharius (445-56) was the fi rst barbarian monarch to embrace Arianism, under the influence of the Visigoths, who overthrew the Suebian monarchy and maintained a protectOrate in no rthern Spain (one sou rce for the Visigoths in Spain is Hydatius of Callaecia [Galicia[, who died after 468). On the death of T heoderic (fheodo ric) the Ostrogoth (526), a mass of Gothic tribesmen flocked to the peninsula. In 551 part o f southern Spain was reconquered by Justinian I, who for a short time made Carthago Nova (Cartagena) the capital of his empire in Spain. In Gaul, the Romans settled Visigothic Jotderali Qed by Ataul f, officially in
the service of the western emperor Honorius) in Gallia Narbonensis (Septimania) in 412 and in western Aquitania. Then, under Wallia, more wcre settled in western Aquitania in 418. In 443 the Burgundians were installed by Aetius in Sabaudia (which includes Savoy).4 Bo th Visigoths and Burgundians, although Arians, sent troops to help Aetius against Attila the Hun, who claimed Gaul, at the battle of the Catalaunian Plains (near Chalons-sur-l\brne) (451 ). But Euric, king of the Visigoths from 466 to 484, rejected the unreal sovereignty of the western Roman empire in 475. In 481 or 482 Oovis succeeded his father Childeric as leader of a tribe of Franks round Turnacum (Tournai), and before his death in 511 had created a g reat Frankish kingdom in Gaul, having vanquished the Alamanni, Burgund ians and Visigoths (under Alaric II) (507) .5 At Caesarodunum (Tours) hc received a delegation from Constantinople in 508, and was apparently invested with the insignia of a Roman consul. 6
13 1
APPENDIX 3 J US TI N I AN I AN D BEF O RE
JU5tinion do<,
not
come inw the pr.",,", boo., bcClOU$C he reigned too
l.,c (527-(5). But i, ...... he who raped ,he fruit. of the long. f>Qticnt pwccroing. of his prrorrc,"o," during the fifth century. UK! who bcnrnc me m,," famou, Bynntinc emperor, r<prc1Cnting. it ru.. ban truly . aid, on apog •• in the hi, lOry o f li)""",tium. Born in r. AD 482 Or 483, probably ~t T. urc,ium (n .... Skopljc). h. Iw:l .f firs, the n;un. of P.,ru. Sabbacius, but took the """'. Justinian ... on his adopoon by 'he previous emperor Jwtin I (51&--27). nu. ,.... the mon no ..bl. thing th., Juotin I did . )",,;n I ...... on lUyrion pe.sa", \llho h.d ri.en from the rank... and w:15 now." the .~c of about 65, "",ut tXn.bil""'", IComnundrr o f
gftl'""
Theodo .. was ...• Greek of Cypru •. Her f.,he. w", • keeper in the Constantinople;wo. Fwm an ... dy:age the .ud. d,y with which .h. defi.d the propricti•• of. corrumlfliry already 'homughly corrupt. won her ,h. pooirion of Qu. en of the HoIf-""orld, From this . he
APPENDIX 3
Figum 41 and 42 Mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, depicting the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527-65) and his wife Theodora, with their staff. They are shown in full imperial majesty, into which considernble eastern (persian) elements have intruded. (Both Archivi Alinari/ AndeP.ion)
133
APPEN DIX 3
rose by a higher audacity to be empress of the eastern hemisphere. The character of her public performances is best left veiled in the verbosity of Gibbon or in the obscurity of Byzantine chroniclers.... But T heodora was no mere light-hearted votary of Vanity Fair. She was equally shameless, whether making herself a career as a singer or as a saint .... There have been attempts to whitewash T heodora .... The hard brilliance of her character gleams through them like Byzantine mosaics.... T here can be no doubt that her repentance and retirement into private life was a trap set for Justinian, who used to fi nd her day after day sitting demurely at her spinning wheel in a modest attic. Justinian was then principal adviser and heir-presumptive to his uncle, the worthy Justin rl1; and he risked his whole career when he determined to marry her.... T heodora responded by becoming most rigidly respectable, though insatiably rapacious. She undoubtedly saved Justinian his crown when the lawlessness of the circus factions nearly destroyed the city in the Nika riots [532].2 She was, however, a convinced Monophysite (Chapter 9), thus belonging to a sect which Justinian I, after various developments, declared unorthodox (564), though the Monophysites paid no attention to his edict. J ustinian actually favoured a tia mtJia, but he also believed that the greatness of the empire depended on the su~pression and extermination of Christian 'heresy', as well as of paganism. For Justinian I, a well- read student of history, was pro foundly conscious of the fo rmer grandeur of the Roman empire, and was determined to restore it, by recovering the lost territories of the west. He began by sending his famou s general Bclisarius to [north] Africa with a small but efficient force. The Vandals were quickly conquered, and Africa, with its highly important natural wealth, was to remain under Byzantine control for a hundred years thereafter, until it fell to the Moslems. 4 After Belisarius had broken the Vandal power in Africa and conque red a new continent for Justinian, [he] consequently became suspect and was recalled . But, in de ference to his immense influence with the people, he was accorded a triumph in the style of Old Rome, the first that ew Rome had seen. 134
APPEN DIX 3
It must have been a sight worth seeing. For, to the usual display of the treasures of the eastern empire was added the spoil of the Vandals, themselves for generations the spoilers of the ancient world. In this spoil were many historic relics, such as the vessels of the Jewish Temple. Behind it walked Gelimer, the handsome Vandal chief, repeating to himself as the chronicler tells us, 'Vanity of vanities, aU is vanity.' \"(!'hile beside him, in plain service uniform, walked Bclisarius. The captive chief and the conquering general then knelt before the throne of Justinian and T heoclora: the general, before he rose from his knees, obtaining pardon and a pension for his opponent. 5 The military task in Italy was then entrusted, first to Bclisarius, and 6 subseCJuently to Narses. The campaigns were successful, but costly, devastating and impermanent: in 568 the Lombards had settled in northern Italy, where they remained for two centuries. J ustinian's active interest in the west re presented no radical departure from the policy of some Byzantine. emperors during the fifth century. Indeed, his expeditions to recover the western provinces, involving the commitment of important resources of his empire, arose from (1) a long background of fifth-century eaStern military expeditions to aid the west against internal and external threats, and (2) the extensive interest o f both eaStern pagan and Christian individuals in western misfortunes and the significance of those misfortunes for the eastern half of the empire. Justinian also did a great deal to regularise the Law. In 528 a commis · sion was appointed to codify all imperial constitutions, in so far as they were still valid, from Hadrian (11 7-38) onwards. T he first Codex J ustinianus was published in 529 (with a revised edition in 534), and the DigfSl became public in 533. Justinian subsequently issued more than 150 Novels, dealing with various legal topics. 7 He also reformed the provincial administration and was determined to abolish corruption and extortion. He increased the status and pay of p rovincial governors. And he also revised the system of appeals, arranging that minor cases should not be sent to the capital. Since Justinian's wars cost a very large amount, he instituted numerous economics, with the help of his efficient but much disliked financial adviser John of Cappadocia. 8 For example, the public post was cut down, and a strict auditing system controlled municipal and military accounts. Nevert.heless, a new land -tax (the atrikon) had to be created,9 and numerous monopolies were set on foot . Justinian I was accused of being avaricious with his own resources, and spendthrift with those of others. A great deal of money was also spent on a lively building programme throughout the empire, which has been considered the beginning of truly
135
APPEN DIX 3
Byzantine architectu re. Even if, in many cases, what really happened was a refurbishment of works started earlier by Anastasius I, fortresses were constructed by Justinian I, and aqueducts and other public structures were restored by him.l o Among many architectural innovation s, his supreme achievement, a 'world wonder', was the reconstruction o f the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Santa Sophia, Aya Sofya) at Constantinople, which can still be see n more or less in the form that J ustinian gave to it. The architecture of Sama Sophia is essentially an architecture of space. The Byzanti nes seem to have concerned themselves much less about the exterior aspect of their buildings.... It was the interior that was all-important . . .. Here the intention was to give an impression of movement by covering the walls with shimmering colours .... The decoratio n owed much of its effect to a subtle use of light .... There must be symmetry, achieved by the perfect realisation o f geometric possibilities. There must be a feeling of movement; for movement meant life. Plotinus 1205-69/701 had defined beauty as symmetry irradiated by life. T he Byzantines agreed with this. And their use of light, and of shade, was intended to make every mosaic, even every bas-relief, shimmer with movement. At the same time the spectator's glance was expected to move. He was not to stare fixedly, but to let his eye wander across and up and down the building o r the pictu re, noting the harmonious seguenccs of the parts till he could appreciate the whole. A favourite theme of Byzantine philosophy was diversity creating Ulllt}'.
Santa Sophia was uniCJue: there were no attempts to cop}' it, at Constantinople or elsewhere.... T he construction of St Sophia belonged to an age when the Roman idea of empire was still dominant, when Majesty expressed itsel f in size and magnificence. The Church of St Sophia . .. was the fou rth church on the site. T he basilica of Constantine [T] was rebuilt by Co nstantius rH] with a 'trick' dome which fell [shortly aftcr the] accession of Julian the Apostate [36 11. The third church, built by T heodosius fI], was burnt in the Nika riots. T he architect of the fourth church was Anthemius of Tralles [Aydinl . ... Under Amhemius ten thousand workmen fini shed the building in about six years, by which time it had cost, according to the estimate of Professor Paparigopoulos, about ten million sterling in o ur values. Such extravagance strained even the resources o f Constantinople in the G olden Age .... It is not until one gets inside that one recovers something of the impression that inspired medieval and modern travellers with 136
APPENDIX 3
Figun 43 The interior of Santa Sophia at Constantinople, as seen by G, Fossati in
the sixteenth century. (The Conway Library, Courtauld Institute of Art) pages of eulogies and ecstasies .. , . Of the original glories of the interior decoration [however] there alone remain the columns and the mosaics . . . . In Justinian's day the service of the cathedral employed 1,000 people, and its upkeep the rentals of \1,000 shops. There were 100 singing eunuchs and 200 choir boys. There was even a choir of 100 women, a concession to art contrary to orthodoxy. Three hundred musicians in crimson silk played harps, cymbals, dulcimers, mandolines, tambourines, and zithers.... Five years' revenue from Egypt had been expended on the pulpit (ambon) . . , . In the sacristy were the chariots of Constantine and Helena [his mother], made of solid silver, and such a quantity of
137
APPENDIX 3
gold plate ,h., il look lOO porters 10 carry i, in proce..ion. Bu, of gre .... ...Jue ,h.n aU w.., to medieval eye., the hundred. of ,elic •• ,.
vu,
]',,,,,, m .,chitectural point of view, S.n .. Sophi. repre>ental. on a .cal •• Cd with circular m.u. oleum, (There ""ere alw arhe. important Ju.tinianic building< .. Curutan' tinoplc .. wen,) " the •• "",re .ignincon, Bu, it was not only >! C"".tantinoplc chul'C~ o f ,hi. I"'riod. Thcy were al. o to be found at IUvenna,
,Iu,
.how.
The op>c mosaic o f San""'pol1inare in Cl"'c (535-49) on allegorical •• pr... nlOtion of 'he T....... ligura,ion. 'he large cro .. "'hith occupks the central position symbolising the Tran;ligurcd Chri .., ond 'he sheep clooe b..ide i, the three Apoodc. who ... i",. ued ,he 'CC!>C. Th;, ')~ of .ymbolism belongo '0 ,he Semi,i. world. and i, pwlubly come !O Italy f,om Syria along with the Chri,ti.an faith .. , . It i., indeed, onc of the mo<, succcuful pjece. of decoration thin hove come down to us. " aut the gre>!e" construction, o r reconmuctlon. in Justinian [', Ital), was San Vital. in the ..me dty, Sm Vital. is . n ...entiol1)' B),zanon. church with an ..,.noally B)'Z.ntine mo,aic decoration imide it, eVen if certain c.. tem and ccnain cla.. ical cl.men", con be i.obted by rn02tl. of • carcf..t "ylistic anal)'.i •. The main .ps. of San Vital. (526-47) is occupial by • very beautiful mmpooition •• bowing Ch";,, enthronal upon the orb of h• • ven, The "."ment ;, b .. ical[y idealistic and n.tom,tic. and ,he colouring i. particularly f,n h ""d lovd)" The paneb .. the ,idc of th<: pre.b)'tcry, which include ponraits of Ju"inian III and Theodora .nd 'hei, coun •• on 'he mhe. hand. are much more e.. tcm .to conceptIOn,
."
San,'Apollin..e Nuovo, in 'he ,mte city uf IUvcnru.. was anothor Justinianic building, ogoin ,,;th , uperb mosaic" The 'crip,utal . ccnc. along 'he nlve wall, .. , con.otute on. of the e:uti.., ~nd mos, complete terie. of New Testom.", scenes that survive, .nd tcU the ",of}' uf Chri .. •• life and p'''''''' with gre., vividne .. and expre>.ion. CIao.;c.l .nd ... tcm ide.. arc here
APPENDIX 3
Figurt 44 Church of S. ApoIlinare Nuovo, Ravenna, built in 490 br Theoderic in honour of St Martin. ( rhe Photographic CoIltction, The \,\Iarburg
Institute) once more blended .... The lovely processions of saints at a lower level are [0 be assigned to the third period, that of Justinian I. They were set up soon after 561 when the church was rededicated as an Orthodox instead of an Arian sanctuary. T he character of the ruler who inspi red all this magnificence is worth considering. Weak-willed and vacillating as he could often be, Justinian was - with anyone except his wife - an autocrat through and through. He possessed in full measure the faults which are all [00 frequently associated with absolute power: the vanity, the quickness of temper, the occasional bursts of almost paranoid suspicion, the childish jealousy of anyone (though it was usually Belisarius) who he feared might threaten his prestige. On the other hand, his energy astonished all who knew him, while his capacity for hard work was apparently without limit. Known within his court as akoimeloJ (the sleepless) he would spend whole days and nights together pondering on affairs of state, attending personally to the minutest details, wearing out whole successions of secretaries and scribes as the sky darkened, then lightened, then darkened again outside the palace windows.
139
APPENDIX 3
Such, hc believed, were the duties imposed br God upon an emperor; and he performed those duties with conscientious dedication and - at least until the verr last years of his life - with unfailing efficiencr.... He must also move Out among his people, dazzling them with a majesty and magnificence that reAected the glory of the empire itself. . . . He worked ceaselessly, indefatigably, as few rulers in historr have ever worked, for what he believed to be the good of his subjects.... More than any other monarch in the history of Byzantium, he stamped the empi re with the force of his own character; centuries were to pass before it emerged from his shadow. 15 A.I-I.M. Jones, tOO, offers a fairly favourable opinion of Justinian I. \'';/hatever may be the verdict on his policy and achievements, there can be no doubt that Justinian was a commanding personality and a most conscientious emperor. He was lucky in being served by a number of able generals and ministers, but he had at least the merit of having picked them out and promoted them, oft en from very humble posts, and he directed their policy and commanded their unswerving loyalty. His own abiliti es were not perhaps of the first order, but he used them to the full in the se rvice of the empire. He was immensely indus trious, regularly working far into the night, and his legislation shows that he took an active interest in all departments of government and had a remarkably detailed knowledge of their complexities. His laws also show that he was deeply concerned fo r the welfare of his subjects, and strove to give them honest governors, protect them from fiscal extortion and assure them uncorrupt justice. Justinian had two major passions which overrode all other considerations. He was in the first place a Roman to the core. It was his boast that Latin was his native tongue ... . His second passion was religion. He was an earnest Christian. 16 Yet Justinian I, for all his ability, seemed withdrawn, and lacked the common touch. There was also a fearful plague during his reign: although for that he cannot be blamed. But he left the Treasury exhausted, and the economy ruined, and his eastern empire (the only onc that had survived) on the verge of collapse. A somewhat cheerless period followed him, even if its miseries have been exaggerated. Nevertheless, it is as a prelude to the remarkable achievements of Justinian that the whole of the fifth century can be regarded, and often has been regarde; cl " though that has often unduly prevented the consideration of the century in its own right. 140
NOTES
I NTRODUCTION I Gibbon (Thr Dedint and Fall of the Roman Empire 11776----881, Ch, 32) took a gloomy view of the Byzantine empire which, it seemed to him, 'suh~jsted in a state of premature and perpetual dc<:ay'. See also the extreme hostility of \X~ Leeky, History of Europtan Morals (1869). N.H. Baync5, Tbr 8yzontim Empire (1925), p. 243, which, conceding excessive adhereo<:c to 'inherited moulds', objected to the idea of the empire's 'unchanging rigidity'. EW. Walbank (The Aufu/ Revolution [1969J, p. 110) called the Byzantine state 'a rump'. But see now Moorcock, Times Literary SNpp/rmml, 17 November 1945, p. 10. There is much dispute whether the fifth century AD should be called ' Byzantine' or 'protoByzantine' or 'late antique'. In fact, however, it should be considered in its own right (sce Epilogue), though without too rigid an idea that this (or for that matter any other) (entury should be regarded as a separnte, independent period. Professor Norman Baynes, Sir Steven Run(iman, and (a few) other distinguished experts, have done a great deal to put Byzantium on the map. 2 I am particularly well aware of this because I lived for five year.; at Ankara. I found that in Britain very little was known about Asia t<.Iinor, which did not surprise me since I had not heard mu(h about it at school or university. In particular, the extraordinary diversity of the area passed unrC(ognised, sin(e it looks homogeneous enough on the map. Resear(h on Rome's eastern provin(Cs (led by ar(haeology) has greatly increased, despite the comparative absen(e of books; and I hope that this is now beginning to hit Asia Minor. The British Institute at An kara, whi(h now produ(es a journal, Anatalian Arrba~ologh is proving very useful in this respect, but I confess that I am not unbiased, sio(e the Institute particularly interests me. The dimensions and complexities of Asia M.inor were des(ribed by J. Freely, Companiorl Guidt (1984), p. 15, who (aHed it 'a vast sub-(ontinent with an enormous variety of topography and scenery'. See also Classical Numismati( Conferen(e on '\'qestern Asia .M inor in Grneco-Roman Times', Berkeley (1996); F. Y.T. Arundell, DisrotJ(rin in A,ia Minor (reprint 1975); Wc. Bryce, ErI{J"rlopafdia Rn·tarlniea (1971 edn) vol. 11 , pp. 605, 612; jOllrnal of Roman Studiu , 86, 1996, pp. 219ff.; K. Ashton (cd.) j"tlldies irl Anrimt Coinag~ from Turkry (1996); C.S. Lightfoot (ed.),
Rumt Turkilh Coin Hoards and Numismatic Jtudies (1991). Asia l\linor is the principal land-link between Europe aod Asia and has often witnessed (onAicts between western and eastern dvilisation. T he populations of Asia Minor have always been extremely mixed. See M.N. Turfan, Blue Gllide (1969), pp. 13f.: 'Anatolia (Anadolu) has for the last 9000 14 1
NUTES TO PP . X _ XII y.... bo.,ion •. It i• • 1.00 rich in hc:ri"'g<, horn< 'hrough ,he: "I!" tu f'«'i>"" "f cli><"" origin •• di>'<"" liv",. di>'<"" <,,,,,~bu,~,,..-" H,,,.. righ' uf him '" ,he ,J,'N";'! of ,h. p the: 'Land of Civili •• tion.· _ which i. 50 e..il)' oc:gIc: unit>'Y 'ppc:",,,,ee u" ,he m.p.nd;tS ",udem d",igno.';'", .. 1"urkey ;" A.i". For 'he Iron Ag< pt'Pubtion " f A.i. Minor ;" g<""f'd, ..., P.R. H. S. 1.I0)'d. ~I"""'" r"'h:J (l9B9). pp. 76ff, So,., obo, J. S... k. Tk~ A T"",Ud, Ililuri<.J ~"" ~j,di"'JklJ C.iJt (1\190). S, .\~'cheU. A-.u..: I.-./. M,. """ G.dt iw A,;" Mi_
(1993) ,
impt","",. P'''' "r ,he ,."ogni'~'" ,h.. ,he Hp.IlI;II< Jid "'" cun.i" of Cons=>rinopI< >Ion< _ o.lrhoo~h i, "'.. ',he d"'zling crown of ,he empire' le. DH:hl. 1I:1"",1i.. p."",;'1 119211. pp. .131f.) - hu, 0.1..., ,,[ pr"';""<" F", ''''Of >pin" ,no ~,,, i. ,he of "'" <mpi"" (}v«:ogWro' ,I>< tou<" ..... uf «.un ~f< "'" "'" provindo.ls "'it!J ,heir rough • .ood vOrtue. _ le" re6nin.. ,I>< I"'I"y mint" uf ,I>< c'"'" .... . nd ,,,",,,,.. .'" ,he ,bo, middl< cb ... . . ,he old pt<", .... ial nobili,y _ cowurifi<J. Im.'< 111<1 W2rliI:< _ .00 th< "unl)' <..,cm PC""""'Y. From ,hei, .. nit> ,he odmini",.,ion i> 'e< fr>.m< ....". ,,[ ,he hUJ;< «l;n«; >ngain.oo ag.m urricd ,no imp<. of ,hi> o,h« Br.. n'ium, rhe ,>bocure lives of co,,",;,u,«l i, i. of ",.ngth for ,no p'e ~ rv,tion.n.J glory of ,he By.etntin< empire. 11>< mi'gov<mmen, of As;' Minor 1»' By.... tium i. of,." >I".",d. hu, ,hi> ..... <>0' ["rticul.fIy nnticnhle by ,he fifth ,Om<no< , ...... "" (.« ,....1< 4). ""pi« ,ho ;"",=,<<< Iu.'< bocven,h ccnru,y (1« e. 1'0", Ep/HJIIJ 4'" AoIiqoiJy 119791), "j>ltrodili.. (G<),,,,) i, an 'ow''" ,,( i"fOl''''a';'''' f"r ,h. p<';''''. Fot Side (Sdirni),' u, Eow.; Atu"),.) ... J. NoU • • JiJt i. / U!",._ (1993) , 11>< prindpol po.rt of C.pp><\oci • ..wo • mmi"". 'uu"" ...... , of ffiOWlWnou • .. ,';tory. wi,h >Om< ubJo.boo, For ,he promin<:n« of I.. un. .•« boluw. Ch, 7. j ..""" ofllNt~. j'.Jju. 1943. p. 31; ><, :doo D. Talbot Ric<, 1I:1t",.IiM' (1%2). I' 39, It i. tIouh,[ul who,he. A"""ni •• houId bo idc«d p2tI of A.to Minor; hu, ir i> worth me:nDoni"ll tIu,. al,bough J>ffiirion
Thi. i. ""I)'
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NOTES TO PP . XII _ 4
,o.
pp. 9 A. C1mJI :IS • d.. ign DO ,~tib ('ec Ch.plet 12). 'rh< Chureh Council •• howeve., .ecm no....cb)"> '""""how irrelevan,' ~bid .. p. 21). BUI for the pr •• eminence of the 'Up<"f' ",nu"'" in the ByzlUltinc: view. sc. M""g<). iJJf!Ulin•• p. 151. 10 l1islory of ih< W"" of Jklli>timt. V. 3. 5f.; ~ G, ~L1.th<w. i!J,.oli., A,lI6Mt, (1%3). P. 71 • ..,.j Oup'.'~. n. 7. 11 5<:. G. Young, C""WrIi""", (1992), P. 28. 12 See P. Br..-n. IltIit.... mid s.,,;,!J ;" Iht Ag of SI A_';'" (1979), P. 11, 'N<>thing i, quite i, opp in u,c late empire'; «< olso E 11>t, 7br EoJ n, Jidr';" __ ~m (Lo' (ed.). Byr!'.ru... (1949). pp. 71f., G. M.
p.m.p>
as,
..-tu,
I ROME AND OTHER CITIES 1 P''''O';' IV (X). },). 6.1, 6.4, M. G...,~ 7IH ~ C-..'Wrtm. (1993), P. 116. 2 Herodi.n 11. 11. 9; ... W. FJI"lin. C_1mJu A~ History, XIJ (1956) , P.
3
4
S 6 1 6
9 10 11 12
13 14 15
374. 'Un,il ThcOOo.iu' !I] the: cmp<"IOf', ~f....... 'un"",,' du,ing from """ coo of ,he: empire to 'he othe,.' (p. 2(2). 'Hi, .........," wcre mOl< .. denur),.' See M. G .. n,. His",? of R... (I97S. 19%). pp. 284f, FurthcrntOf<. under Amb",. e, Meiliobnum (:\lilim) bec.me the . pirituoi <>pi,oJ "f the: "'e,,em world. The b;g dti« cl", ... on the: wc-alth :utd popuLI';"n of the: .miller ccn"n, >c. Innoduction, n. 3. C.... odo" .... Cb' flimri« A,«-,,''"'' (A.,,/i,ur), 21.9, OK Dudi.y. Url» R-.. (1967), pp. 35f., It'. En .. ~n, C_~ AoOOoJ fliJrory; L Hmnn mythulogy (pubH,ilcd at R"cI in 1535)."d .ompil<er· 'ain, KC J.A. Butler (1nrur1..oo .d.). E"-'" f/,rlJrrlc ~ R,h,#- (1996). P
,.,".-w.. '" C_* A""'.'
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212,,,.2. 16 Ru,iliu, N:un,timu •• Cd""'. 0. lUt/illt S... I, 66.
",
NOTES TO PP .
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17 UrwcDyn. &m.t Ut ,'" D...-k .-'\vs. Rkh peupk i" !tom. included PliniIUlU' and tU. wife Md,uw.. woo sold thei,..,.., and wMk.pmld i" r. 4lO. Se, a1,o Symm:>:'. \l"a1bank. 71N Aofol RnJ..... (1969), p. 86. Ard,,,. w.. tefcer of Go.ul. eo.u .. nu...: 1 ,be Gm, re,idc:d in42 "r SoIl) was • [""'<>u' Churchma". 20 M. G=" 71N E",,,,,,,, C...""",;". (1993), pp. 4<1. liB. 21 ,~, fI~ Aog"'''''. "."..". lB.8, 21.2; cf. 3.1. 22 y., the . ..rch f.... GaI.bi.. d Glk,;",', pab.c •• and ,,, h." •• ,,1.,<:cd I,. Si.nu"m, ,h. copi,a1 of lilyricum until the .... , of Ih<: rrcfc« ..... moved '0 "tl....aIo.tia. (SUmic.) in ,_ 442 • ..,.. "f.. n ,he ... idc:n« of .mp<''''' (fhrodosiu. If ~,.. cl the .. fOf • rime) and tUgh officials. It ..... ,be he:od'luan of an "",he:, cohort ,od <WO kgion •. The '''''''n w....... «gic.uy , i,,,,,,ed Of! ,he: Vi. F.gnau .. which was, bowc .... " "CI)" vulne:"bl. on<. the D:urube !in< w,,! b,uchcd. :1"'."''';''''; of G~nu., (base .ilver &cc. of "'"0 Jno.m,) .f< .ttnbu,ro '0 Srrm,um. A. A1fOldi. '\""',-",",,;0.# ~ 26-7, 1927--11. pp. 23f. 23 Th, do« of ,tU. w>r. ho,,",>«,;, d;. pu«d (G",n'. 6-1'<'" C..".oJi",. p. 42). 24 Ibid., PI'- 1'Hi. 158. 25 Ibid .• ;>- 111. Onc. COf!'t>"ri"t>pl. w.. ,.rab~,he:d •• he: "C<>nd c;ty of ,he: cmpirc ..... Thc"aIocic. (S2locic.). which "'..
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nc:w " ...... ,''''.. 27 Se. below, Ch. 9. Amioc:h', theological (now ChWti:ut) rndition ..... im"",,,,,. ood ,he: in,dkctua! fetm.", COf!Unued. The church .. ,".re 01 .... ". ftill .... d in ' pi'" of cocrupcion ,he: .. ..,.. g.... .,..lth _ much of i[ in [be h:mdo of len f,unili"" .ce also Ch. 1. n. 1, and for Akundri ... n. 29 below. and Ch_ 3. n. 8_ 28 G"n'. E ..",,... C",'.oJi~" p. 118. lIi,,"""'''' (1995). 29 C. Fos. in C. ~Iango and H Dog,on. C",-,,,,,w...pk pp. 181. 18,. 187. Nitomro ....... ron •• nicnlly "IWdi,..", from the O .... "be ..-.d the Euph"'lC ~ GaIU<\CU of 451 was ~ ro Chalce""" (Kadik(ly). NOf mUll Egyp[ be forge."en. AJ=odrio WO> , 8""'[ ciry in which Christi:uri'J' pullu_ 1>,«1. The ",,,,n'l)" "'........ mdy rich, and .boumkd "';,h ..ilon. For j" mbe, du~"riotit:,. ",e Ch. 3 n. B. H""" .... Ak"""clrio wo. hoorile 1o Ih<: Council of duk«lon, be",,,,,,, thcre. primocy ..... gnntcd '" eoru"""inopk.
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.
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NOTES TO PP. 7-0 2 TtlE DlVIDED EMPIRE
n.
M. G~,. f;J/",'" R _ £...".,. (1976, 1?90, 1996). ~ 1 Uf. (~f... nc:n in u.n.: ...... at< "'" , ,, oh< .... ·Ii ..J Aoncnb<'I! School ..... dMioon buT ,,, ,... c.:.m.-, 1I00I<. !Mac:milbn Publiohing c.o...p... . N.... Vork!...cl Irfldmfdd at N ......... paf>tuimi>n and f.m.-. or <:om ........ ! , ... Gm'. Gn ...... !be - . of V............ I. ~ in !be waI from '7$ '" la). Thcodoo.iuo I. oh< "'" of eo..... TIw •• ""':......... poocbitno:d Augumu in 179 VIII rulrd M , in oh< cu' ...cl then in ..... oBd ohm (fot ,he rimt) ..... ' on ....dMdaI cmpir< (3')4--5: ... lA' uf r=p
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3 CO NSTANTINOPJ. I! G. Y""nll- CMut~ (1992), 1'1' Bf: C. M""IIo, in C. ~hngo ...d G. Ihg"",. CM/H' ; rk - ' 14 flD4rl-J (1995).1'1' 5f. eoru..",;"" 1 oh< G ..,,·, dcoioion h.o, b«n the .ubj«, of ugwn1ly iN,nd Coru....unopl< '0 be ohc impnW apital? H< pru«
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Zooimu.o ..... G .. ek hio"""" who wro« ohio - . • ,,·,.lliIMy of'" _ E , ', A~ .".., 410. He ..... '.,..,001 iI ,f,.. .oa. ~k ..... pogo<>. 1 A,II.,... Joneo, Ut.. _ E i ' , 1'1 Wl (1%4). Pf'o 69ur.• 7t)}. o..oiled ........ o.iom of ohc food :ond ........ ....,.,.,. ,,( ~tinopk Of. P'",idc.l in Mln/r> iIIId Oogron. eMl· ..... iio·.J... ...... vuIu.nc. FcU.od (pp. J67ff.{ dnb wid> immignoiogohliM (p. 35)."';d> i" I""f"'lo""" (moinlr 10.. <); the """,bc, of , .... inhobilOn" "f "" city 41 3 ...... poobably lOO.(1(l(1-o4OO,OOO. n.. ChllfCh of Con,W1u"",,1c .......
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under th e Metropolitan of Heradea (Eregli). At the (Robber) Coun cil at Ephesus (449), Constantinople obtained official approval of the territories it had ac quired. In due course, its Patriarch displaced Ephesus, and Pulcheria (foll owing what was already a tradition) built three churches :11 Constaminoplc, all dediuted to the Virgin J\h r)'; see Ch. 8. R.J\I. Hayuuod, T7N II!Jf" of Ro"u's /-011 (1960). pp. 126-7. S. Runciman, RYZ""I;,,, CiriliJulioll (1933), pp. 163, 170, 15f. E. Gibbon, Dulin' und 1-01/ of Ib, Roman F.",Piff (1776-88), Ch. 17. Anrioch (on which see also Ch. I, n. 27), although it suffered (ram serious earth'luakes, and was strategically vulnerable, was very rich, and its expert3 we re well informed (es pecially about the Resu rrection). In the time o( Valcrian (253--60) the imperial camp hcadguaners had been at /\ntinch, and Valcns (364--78) ruled there, moving (rom Conscaminople. See references in A. Cameron, Tb, M ,dil,mmtIJlI II'qrld in 1~llt / Inliquity (1993), p. 227, n ..1 Fo r Alexandria, about which there is 'luite a lot or recent li tem ture (e.g. C. Hau, Altxondrio in U't Anlitjllity \19(61); sec also Ch. I, n. 29. Alexandria had enjo)"ed the same distributions as Rome since 332. The city had immense pres tige (sec the 'J\lcet us in Alesand ria' tmining coursc at Beloit Collcge, 1993; and for the l .ibmry D. D clia, -" "'triron Hisloncol Rn'it,,: 97, pp. 1449rf). Alexandria proclaimed the Incarnation with authority, especblly as its philusophical schU(J] was vcry import am. Jcrome criticised the bishop of Jerusalem in 386-7 ror rererring to t\lexandria rather than Antioch . eyril of :\lcsandria brought ahout the rail or Nestorius, bishop or Constantinople, in 431, and in Thc same rei);n of Theod(l ~ius ] I Pope Cc1estinus supported Alexandria against Constantinople. But the COllllcil o( Chalcedon (45 1) was a defeat (or AIe)[andria's claim of eccksiastical su premacy. to the advantat;e or Constantinople. For th e strong nationali~m or Egrp t and Syria alike, scc N.H. Ih )'ncs, 77N I!)'ZtJntint Ell/pi" (1925). p- 42. Sce also Saad -F.l-Din (etc.), .-lItxtJndri,,; IIN Jilt O/,d III HiJlory (1 996), and the r:hronirlu of Altx;Jndrill (A. lhucr and J. St r... ygowski, I:;illr -",,-,;,mdrinisrilt lr'tIJr/Jrolli/e [1905]). Sce helm\', Ch. 11: this was an epoch u'hen many cities were gi\'en walls. Constantinople was also prntected frum maritime assault by the r:lpid waters uf the 13o sphorus. TheO\.lcric marched on the cit)" in 487, but was di\'e n ed. ,,"S. Painter, in J.P.C Kent and 1':.5. P:limer, lI";'ollb of lilt ROII"/tIIl World ,/) 100700 (1977), p. 77.
4 THE FM.1. OF RO,\l E I ] d('alt with this ~ubiect, to th.;: b.;:st of my ability. in Tb hilI 0/ IIN Ro",,,n l:mpi" (1976. 1996). 1 would nuu' cite also J\ I. \'fes. I", ]1";sIM du riimiuINII Rtirbl (1967), wi th which I \\'as not ramilia r; and I han' a rew poims to add here. Ital y was in a miserable State. There were famines, there al1<1 elsewhere (e.g. in P:lnnonia); the Roman world was constantly on the edge o( St:ln'ation. r or attitudes to G ermans, sec G.1l Ludner, I 'iolor, VII , 11)76. Man\', Germans had been inside the empire since the disas trous battle o( Adrianoplc (l'A:lirnc) in 378, and before; sce also evidence fmm gmves. The povert}" (more wides pre~d even than ever before) was violently auackcd by S. Dill, Rom(ln Jo(irt)' i1l Ibe I ,ml Cmlflr)' 0/ Ibt ]17n lrm I.::mpirr (1898, 1958), pp. 228ff., :md taxation by B.\x( \"(Iells, JW·tJIIU Rrl"ifIJ; 1922, pp. 42lff., though it has also been argued that tas ation was not a major eause or thl.' fall of the westl.'rn empire (but SI.'t: Ch. 5, n. I). Valentinian IJ had aln:ady attacked extortion. Undoubtedl)", there was tO(l much centTOllisatiun in the western empire - causing an alienation 146
NOTES TO PP. 17 _21 from the .. ~ ..i••Jy Hp<""i •• ....d demwding ".[. '1~'"'"
- oIthoogh the
01[."",,;,,. of [OW~ <",,~cillors (JHm...... ",m,"~ .ec below) ."cl of .. gion>J o. loco.! ,"",m..., "'placing .lalO •• ,vie., ...... no[ attra<'; ••. The IlIck of na,utal heirs to the .... <S'em impllr.... 'ed. In gene,.], the ........ ''''' much .-ioknce, Mo=v<" the Loco.! "';"""",cl.. (o.!though todl members <>« .. ionaJIy «nouncod the world, and =ir.d) w .... f>O[ fre. from bllIme, 'The ""ble.', .aid J.B. Bury W-1J RM.", 192, 1900. pp. l29ff.l. 'pu' .hd, m
land, which rHl thus lod '0 the economic ruitt of !uIy.' 0. Seeck', helid in "'cw dilurion now .. cm. d>ted: depopuLt. tioo. i. doulKful (n. 24), .. ind ..d .... purely economic Hpl>nation. (n. 25), and Muxi>ts h •• e to.IIted too much .bou • • llIy.... the cau« of the [ill, h:id they been m...:h mo", nwnerou, eu!icrl E. Gibbon, [)wt,.. """ F.u of Ih< R-a £.pi,., ;, iUuminating. "The: ,oIni wcre the moo. typico.! run! popula. tion: but theft ..... no .imple traruirion from to medicv-a! Agri' ldy, Ill< s..;.J ilil,"? of R-, (r if i. i. Correct to de,c~be .he ",tWtl u middle s. day of '106). 'fhj, <>«urred during the ......em reign of H"""'l.., E.R. Chantberlin. 1IN s...t of 1Wrt, New York (1979); and for bouined reactiuas by ChurchmCC Appen. loo Bibli.ogt2phy, Sce Gibbon, DttIHtt a&J T"",," Ch. 3~, Gibbon (IJ.dJ'", ~&J hIIj ralk Alari.', .ucc....,.. 'AdoIphuo'. Haywood, s prob.bly a Goth. Jr is unccnain ... hether he wrote his books in Jt2!y or in Con ..."tinopl •. See jord.,-,e., flilloirt J" G.rh<., ""-" oripots tit rE","/>, (uarullltl,o wro.e • virulem .Iffl-t, lfillary See now A. Cllrrteron. Pro.plen';ni." HI "'" >aid '0 luvc been incited by the nut .mp«"', Pelroniu. Mnimu. (455-6),"e n, 11. See oJso Appendi. Z. RAG. Coios of tIH R-"" E.pi,., (1990), P. 207.
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11 455 by Gaiseric (Appendix 2). For these last twenty years of the wes tern empire sec C. Scarrt~, Cbronirit 0/ Ibe Roman Empin (1995), pp. 231 f.~
Valentinian I IJ was succeeded by Petronius J'.\aximus, a wealthy senator and leading member of the Italian aristocracy. His riches had bought him the support of the trOOpS, but he was killed just eleven weeks later while trying to flee Rome in the face of a Vandal attac k. The Vandals [Appendix 2] had crossed to north Africa in 429 and established a strong kingdom from which they were able to raid the Italian peninsula. In June 455 they captured Rome and spent two weeks sacking the city, leading the empress Licinia Eudoxia (Valentinian's widow) and her two daughters away into captivity. The next emperor was proclaimed not in Italy but in Gaul. T his was Avirus, the friend and nominee of the Visigothic king Theoderic 11 , who was proclaimed emperor in July 455 at Tolosa [Toulouse], whcre Theoderic had established his court. The following year, however, the Suevian army commander Ricimer rebelled at Ravenna. Avirus marched agains t him but was captured in battle at Placentia [Piacenza] in October 456. Ricimer neutralised him by making him bishop of Placentia, but Avirus was soon forced to Ace back to Gaul and died shortly afterwards. Avirus's overthrow and murder was followcd by an eighteen-month interregnum. . .. Majorian, a distinguis hed senator, was officiall), installed in D ecember 457. Ricimer at length became troubled by Majorian's growing power and decided to overthrow him. Majorian was returning from Gaul in August 461 when he was captured by Ricimer, tortured and beheaded. Ricimer then installed a harmless senator, l ,ibius Severus, as the emperor Severus Ill. The authority of Ricimer and his puppet-emperor now barely extended beyond the Italian peninsula, and even there they were harassed by Vandal raids from north Africa.... Anthemius was proclaimed emperor in [tal), in April 467, but ... in July 472 Ricimer marched on Rome, captured Anthemius and put him to death. Ricimer appointed a Roman noble Olybrius to succeed Anthemius, but Ricimer himself died in August 472 and Olybrius in Novem ber. Effective powers passed to a Burgundian prince, Gundobad, who in March 473 nominated Glycerius his puppetemperor ... [but when] in June 474 [the eaStern emperor] Zeno dispatched a new candidate, Julius Nepos, to Italy ... Glyce rius Red ... . But a year later Uulius Neposl too was overthrown b)' his army commander Orestes ... [who[ installed his son Romulus Augustulus. But neither Orestes nor Augustulus had any real power. That lay with the German mercenaries who now dominated the Roman armies. [n the summer of 476 they staged the final roup d'ilat, demanding onc third of the land of Italy for themselves. \X' hen Orestes refused their demand he was killed and his son deposed. On 4 September 476 the 16-year-old RomuIus Augustulus abdicated imperial office and retired to the Gulf of Naples with a pension... . The abdication of Romulus AugustuIus was the final act in the demise of a once-great office. 12 The origins of Odoacer (Odovacar) are
148
disputed~
sec A.M. Rollins,
nr Fall of
NOTE-S TO PP. 21-2 7
13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Rome: A Riferena Guide (1983). \X'as he a Scirian German? Or was his father a Hun? He is described as tolerant and efficient by Perowne, End of/ht WQrld, p. 95. Although an Arian, he showed deference to the Pope. He was overthrown and murdered by the Ostrogoth Theoderic (fheodoric), on whom see B. Saitta, Lo {it'illa di uoderi{Q (1944); A. Garcia, 7"todoriro t Bizanzio (1994). For the constitutional position of these post-imperial rulers see A.H."-!. Jones, Journal 0/ Roman Jtudiu, 52, 1962, p. 12, J. F. i\1atthews, Journal of Roman Jtudiu, 58, 1968, pp. 165ff. And for the Goths in general sec H. Wolfram, J-liitOry of tht Golh! (1988); P. Heather, GOlhi and R.omons 332-489 (1994). See also Ch. 7. Haywood, M),th of R.ome'! Fail, p. 262; see also p. 156. D. Kagan, Tht D ulim and Fall 0/ tht Roman E mpi,., (1912), pp. viif. Gram, fall of tht Roman Empire, p. vii. Ibid., p. xii. Or should onc speak of 'transformation' as many (e.g. Germans) do? Sec L. White (cd.), The Traniformation of th f Rom(m Jr1Jrld (1966); with doubts from Ferrill, Fall 0/ tht Roman Empire, pp. l(,0f. At least the Latin language survived. W.E. Kaegi, l!;'zantiuR/ and tht Decline 0/ Romt (1968), pp. 254f. B. Adams, The LlIJ' 0/ Civilization and Du ,!)' (1879, 1943). P. Llewellyn, Rome in tht Dark Agu (1971,1993), pp. 22f. G. Mathew, Byzantine Aestheti{! (1963), p. 52; sce also C. Lucas, JOHrnal of Roman Studia, 30, 1940, p. 72. P. Brown, The IVrm'd 0/ Lott Anh'qHity (197 1) , p. 36. Quoted by Grant, Fall of fhf Roman Empire, pp. (;9f., esp. p. 77, Ibid., pp. 22f. A. Cameron (Thr M(diterran~an If/orld in Lotr A'ltiqHiD' AV 395600 [19931, pp. 45,47) favours an internal but nut a purely economic cause for the Fall of Rome: There is enuugh that is clear to show that the Roman government was not so much faced with discrete [individually distinct] incursions as with slow but steady erosion uf Roman culture in the western provinces from within. The process was not of course understood in those terms by contemporary writers, who are inspired by ethnographic and cultural prejudice and tend to paint a lurid picture of Romans versus barbarians .... Their moral and political explanations are not ade<Juate to explain what was happening on a broader scale. And most of the long-term changes lay outside government COntrol. Yet it was these changes, rather than any political events, which would in the long run detach these areas from effective imperial rule, and particularly so once that control passed from the hands even of a weak western emperor to those of a government in far-away Constantinople.
24 Ibid. p. xii. Perowne, End of tht Roman IVilrld, pp. 94f., like others, stresses depopulation. But this has been <Juestioned (see n. I). For Arianism, ro which Odoacer subscribed, see Chapter 9. 25 But the economic type of solutiun (see next chapter, in text) is regarded as exaggerated, or erroneous, by Cameron (Aledittrrmuan World, p. 241); Much of the secondary literature presents the later Roman empire as a crumbling, top-heavy economy with tOO few producers, too many consumers (the army, the Church, the bureaucracy) and too 149
heavy or otherwise inadc'luatc system of taxation. This increasingly being revised.
26
27 28 29
VIew
is
It is 'a dreamy and confused story'. Sec pp. 82, 91, 93, 97ff., 212f., n. 2. She goes so far as to describe 476 as a 'non-event', though one cannot expect c.g. numismatists to agree with her. Others, too, call it 'the manufacture of a turning point'. Contemporary writers, although prepared to call Rome 'on the threshold of Old Age', Took co mfort from previous disasters, from which the city had recovered. See Anrimt, 4, Feb. 1997, pp. 22ff. The Pope was nQW the greatest man in Rome, and indeed in the whole of the west. The supremacy of the popes, and their prolests to Constantinople, make a long story. ror a list of popes, sec the end of this book. The Ro man Church, it has been said, was the ghost of the Roman empire sitting on its grave. See F. Dvornik, Byzanlillm and Ihr Roman Primary (1964); C. Falconi, J/oria dei Papi, 4 vols (1967-70); C. Rendina, I Papi: ltona e srgrefi (1983); and Chapter 6, nn. 22, 23. Jones, Late,. Roman Empi,." pp. 1026f. EA Freeman, IPrllent t:llropt in the Fifth Gntllry (1904), pp. 10 If. Perowne, t:nd of Ih, Roma'l lf1Jrld, pp. 94f. The depopulation insisted upon by Perowne has been questioned (sec above, n. 1). Perowne (juotes T. Hodgkin, 77;wderif the Goth: 77;, Barbarian Champion of Cil!ilization, p. 165.
5 FINANCE AND THE ARMIES I M. Grant, Tbe Pal/oflhr Roman E mpirt (1976,1990,1996), pp. 53--6,83, 85f. Subsidies to German tribes (both by western and eastern imperial governments) cost a lot of mone y. The extent of contemporary inflation within the two empires has been much disputed, but it inevitably continued to exist. And 'a time camc when the suction of the usurers so wasted the communitv that the stream o f bullion ceased to flow from the capital to the frontie;s' (8. Adams, rhe 1"'/11/ ofC/I·ilizalion and D((a), [11:195,1959], p. 43): he writes about the consequent impoverishment. Ambrose (f. 339- 97) and Salvian (r. 400after 470) attacked the attitude of the rich to the poor (but suspicion of the poor, as traitorous, also existed): a fatal blow had been struck by the confiscation s of vast estates, and resultant centralisation, by Septimius Severus (193-211). On the whole, the imperial governments were of little help. T heir excessive taxation (in which, when mo ney was lacking, paymentS had to be in kind or by personal service) was not new, but caused increased oppression, as well as brigandage (by those who tried to escape), which created a widespread lack of security. Anastasius I relieved the tax situation in the east. Although there we re very rich families, cities often fared hadly (but not Carthagc, which remained prosperous, although riots Ol:curred; Appeodix 2). The bureaucraq' was a drain on local resources, and so were increased donations and bonuses. Trade and industry declined, and so perhaps did [he total western (tho ugh scarcely eastern) population. It is fair to speak o f financial exhaustion, even in the cast, and lack of stability. Even eastern senators had to sell their jewellery. See M. Hendy, Jflldifl in Ih' BYZ(llliinr Monetary /::."conom)' A D 300-1450 (1985); but see also Ch . 4, n. I. The monks and nuns made a good financial policy difficult to achieve; sce Ch. 3. 2 P. Brown, The World of [-tIle / lnliqllifJ' (1971), pp. 43f. 3 The fHr7a/es (middle-class town-councillors) were caught between two fires:
150
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Di" ... ili.d . locoli. ed and f'''g,m n1ed .
,nc R"".." army. '" ,..,het
:l rtni... of th. lifth onJ ,ath "nturi.. wc", fu
diff.t<m in compori.on and .qwpmcn' from thmc of .. r1i< , d.y •• CV"" if "''' o."",,..,,..bly iofo';'''' ... i, uf",,, ' '),;UW cff«tiv" • • , much dcb:>«d by cOflr<m~' .. bjt mod"n his"'tUn~
R. Collin •• ' The Oi.. pp<' '''''''' of ,I>< Ronun Army' (EQn, ,u,dir,"} /:.'N"/,,. j()()....IOOO). The arm)" n«< near th< motley :un... ed by ,h. , .. ·c,~lcCt"'.. Cam<:ron .."'.... ,he vu, .. «n' "f ,h. ho"k" i, ~ to, <"",·. ""«" "'1 ~tW;0. .. ,in«
5«
6 E AS T ANO W EST M. Granl. n. '''''' of ,''' R....Q~ E ..pi" (197G. 1990. 1996). pp. 115- 18, 121. G",n.n reigncd in ,he "'.., from 375 '0 383. Mognu. ~! ..im u. .... , • Spaniard woo", w""un ri, ing ""Iro f,om J8J 10 388: he- w:u .. firs! "'cognisc:d by Theodu
151
~OTE S
TO pp , 31 _ '2
had been ...."iruo,ed by Slilicoo in 395. Then: no> be
ob<.>u, whtirnu of tl>< ""." ""ith tl><.,,, (which «ntted. in P"", ""~r tl>< di.po,«l 2
3 4
S
owtlC" hip of lU)·Ocum). G. [), .... ",,)"• .,.. I..,,, R.... &.tpirt (1%9). P. 72. A...d. in I th .. <"< <.. t.", <mrHn:' ft" <""mpl. ,h.n: ""., not ,mJy bu,""uc=y bu, nq,,,,ti.m (c,l(. in f:;",our of 11>< family of ,he P .... ,orim P,cfoet Amhemiu.). And "at< .upremacy w.. ""idol)' impoood (N. II. Ibync: •• 1.. ltn.""Ij.. R..pirt 119251. I'P- 2-Wff.• 83), ~ I.T.\l:' Amhd",. 1), ,-;,,,,,,M,,/ A dJ"""'J;' 'ht '"",,, /Uw.,. EMpi" (1972). i. ilIumiruoting OIl this 'Ubj<eL R. A,G, Cmon. CoiWI ofl"- R_~ " "'pi>< ( 1990). I'P- 210. 217;.e< 01." R..\!. 11.)"',,00. 7). ,1(". of R_ ~ F.JI (1958). I'P- 165. 159. A"ib lh< Hun poocd • , el'e", ,hr.., lO eon. ..minopic in 447: K. G. Young. CM/Ieo: A~uilei . Coof.,""", 1996 (A,ub. gli Unni). \"(~ . n< ~hl off by lbe ..SI.m emperor ·Thn, ' ;n ,he ""<SI "'u ~:ud.d as a «mponry phenomenon jn th< ....). Ijut we du no< Jtr.o,., how, by "'hot ·mi<>u.· m.,.n .. C>in ....... di.lodged f,vm Co >n"""li"opk: (though il "' .. . >id ro Iu,'e b1 (n. F..,J of ,ht / I"",., Iflo.{J 119.11). I' 220) .bo,ut. I"<>n. ".,J &"",;,IIU (1 982). 1', Z6~. n, 16, It h .. hc:cn ,"'plu$i,ed. I>.,,,,.V<curd), p88. 7 10. l)ow""y. I""" H_~w F...pi,.. p. 81. A lot d0 llut he: inv>red "'irh the id •• of K""'eming <. pp. 116ff. It i. rru< Ih .. rh . . ." crn <mpi'" ",'" in. mo", h"""nbl< g«>!!nphicalpooition _ .00 Ih .. the . itu .. i"n both of rh< citio • .00 of th< ("m-"",'Io: .. .... , m",. , .. i,hclury, But Ih<.
/Wtt"",
6 7 8
~
'""'*
It m.), b< ..id bro>dl)' llut. in w.guagc, in ~t< .. tun:. in thcoloJg)' .00 cult .... , Rom. i. Gn:<~ in it> La .... nd it> mili",)' ',....j;IiOf\.;n i" diplom><)'. its fi. ciil policy .nd i" c",,,;,,,nt mllinl
152
NOTES TO PP.
4~_H
In p< uf
"f.m.u ''''''0. An.! n.""" 5<e M. G".nt. C"" J..,;•• Jh, C".Tt'" (1993), 1" 225. S. Pe,.,w ... , tbt £/IJ of IIH R_~N W.n.i (1%6). pp. 70f. G ...... , r;,u of Jh, R....,N E .wpi", P. 131. Mo<~" lul)' W>JI continuing.o dJI . . .l«d in .he: ,;.th ccull'''''': Iw:l Pen;'" .ffinitin. Fu, ' ... ,·Kil' di.h" of Vohoh..." v.nd prub.bly ~""z, O<e J-p.c. Ken, and K.s. Pain"", In~lI. of "" R.... U''i>dJ.AD JOO-lO() (1917), pp. 146, fL J()7, 147, n. }OS. F", otht:r ~n< S.... nian . ilo" of ,hi. [,<",>d. pp. 149, 152. V.h.hrnt V ",<"",«I h<e H. 111<><1. f-~lim of ,0< R_. E..p;.. (199(,). V.c. Bullough, J..""" "CHjIin 1I",fI,IiH, 7. 1%], pp. 55-63. E... Ronun """",,aro with P. One of .he price. of ['<,CC _ '"""h p.ying fur', .inc< .h< "'... futile- (F. S""k, R_ .. 10< E"f'h""" 11967\) th< di"islon of Acm<";. in ,h. founh «n."<)'. l'or Thcodo.i", friendl), gc"u« V.,daginl I•••• ,\1. C .... B. Q",ili FrSIJchrifi (1993). Adi, Eudu.is wrote. poem in 422 comm<montinK 'vie· tor)' ov .. ,h. P .... i2n~ Bu, .lIch on .h. =1<m cmpin: in 'Itlt Ni.ibi. (Nu .. ybin) . . . Ifnfc .gain" .hem (505-7). Se. J. Curti., AMi", Pmi# (l9OO). RAG . .. arson, CoiN' of IIH R_"" El_pi,. (1990), pp. 2261. R,v0 hecn muO" of !he !heo<)' th .. <.."," ,n "' ... ,,"'. propped up Ill< we" (,0..'1. Rollin. Icd.l. 1'" FJ " R_: A RtJ""'" GitiJ. 119831). And ,he ""'" could nO, «lyon [,<"istem co".m bodting OJ. SanoJ< agoin"
'0 havc been.ble tu pu. up,..;th i. with grc.,« "'Iuonimi,y (ibid"
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
n,
H."
"',.,kIN
rol
17
w" 11.
!~
19
w,,. '0
'''''''''''0''''''.
153
"If.,
NOTES TO PP. 46 -5 1 Gaiseric the Vandal. But the dday in appointing the western emperor Anthemius (467-72) was largely due to negotiations with the eastern emperor Leo I, who had probably never recognised f..hiorian (457-61) officially, although Ricimer made futile attempts to get him to do so (Leo wanted his own nominee, Anthemius, to be appointed). However, efforts to stress the differences between east and west must not be exaggerated (R. MacMulIen, Corruption and tb, Decline of Rome [l988J, p. 246, 'no 75). But our whole knowledge of the period is very inade<Juate Oones, Later Roman Empi" p. 1026). 20 A. Fernll, The Fal! of th, Roman Empirr: 17;, Milita'J' Explanation (1986, 1988), pp. 159f. The relations between the Roman and Constantinopolitan Churches had already left much to be desired, amI Zeno's Hmo/ikon (481/2) accentuated the breach (sce next note). See Baynes, B]zantinr Empirr, pp. 82f., and F. Dvornik, /f;'zantium and th, Roman Primary (1964). 21 Ferrill, Fall of th, Roman Empirr. (Nepos had come to the throne by deposing Glycerius, with the backing of the eastern emperor Zeno.) There was another problem as well: How could Ithe east Roman emperors] placate the opposition of Syria and Egypt, passionately espousing heres y, and at the same time maintain communion with ,he orthodox west? Zeno's Henoticon united the eastern churches, but the price was schism with Rome. Throughout the reign of Anastasius I (at heart a Monophysite) the breach was unhealed. (Baynes, /f;"{,anline Empirr, p. 82) 22 M. Chambers, The Fall of Rome (1963) , p. 5. In spite of occasional Byzantine discouragement - Rome was only onc faction among many when a delegation visited Anastasius I in 517 - the claims and powers of the Pope increased steadily, as the western government first weakened and then disappeared; sec Ch. 4, n. 26, and next note. 23 J. Randers -Pehrson, Bmvant/ns and Romans (1983), p. 203. For a list of the popes of this period, see the end of this book. 24 G . Alf6ldy, Thr Jocial History of Rome (reil. edn, 1988 119751), p. 219). B. Singleton, 'Italy in the Early Christian Period' (lecture, 1997). 7 THE EASTERN F, ,\ I PERORS 1 In the west, although Honorius was feeble - though no t perhaps as bad as he was made out to be (Ch. 4) - and Valentinian III was not very exciting, the latter did at least reign for a long time, and kept the dynasty going. After him, Maiorian (475-61) was able, but, in spite of eastern suppOrt, suffered a grave defeat from Gaiseric's Vandals (A ppendix 2) at Carthago Nova (Cartagena), and was put to death by the Ge rman generalissimo Ricimer. The eastern emperor Leo I probably never acknowledged Libius Severus (461-5) in the west, and was slow to recognise Anthemius (467-72). But our sources for the whole period, as indicated elsewhere, are poor. 2 M. Car)' in M. Chambers (ed.), Th, Fall of Romr (1963), p. 103. 3 M. Grant, Tbt Fall of Ih, Roman Empiff (1976, 1990, 1996), pp. 120-3. For the Code of T heodosius Jl see C. Pharr, tbt n)(odosian Cork (1952). The reign of Theodosius II has been seen as a stable period of consolidation, despite the emperor's personal weakness. As for the emperor Leo 1 (457-74), did he
154
4 5
6 7 8
9
10
11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21
really try to save the west? See Ch. 5. The 'two transient successors' of Valentinian III were Petronius Maximus (455) and Avitus (455- 6). Before Attila left the cast (to attack the west), he destroyed seventy eastern cities. For his relations with the eastern leader Eutropius (exiled 398), sce A. Ferrill, the Fall if Ihr Roman Empire: Tb, Military Explanation (1988), p. 177, n. 152. E. Gibbon, Dre/inr and Fall if Ibe R.oman Empire (1776-88), Ch. 36. '] have iron for Attila, but no gold,' !'\hrcian is reported to have said. He showed some interest in the western empire, but came too late to save it. He was a reformer, but of a somewhat orthodox nature: for example, his measures for tax relief favoured arisTOCrats. At the Council of Cha1cedon (451) he secured the triumph of Constantinople over Alexandria. R.A.G. Carson (Coins if Ih, Roman F-mpin [19901, p. 2\0) praises J\larcian. Cf. Gibbon, Det/inr and Fall. R.M. Haywood, Tbe Myh if Romr'J FiJI! (1960), p. 170; cf. A.H.M. Jones, Tbr LAler Roman E mpirr 284- 602 (1964), p. 218. Gibbon, Du/int and Fall. The eastern emperor Leo I's accession was accompanied by the first formal inauguration procedure, based on military custom. For the Isaurians, and Asia Minor, see also the Introduction. H. Goodacre, A Handbook if Ihe Byzanlinr Empiff, Part I, Arcadius to Lrontius, p. 49. Fla\'ius Aspar (Ardaburius), on whose staff Leo 1 had been, had established himself as Generalissimo in the east, where he was created magisler militum (Master of Soldiers), and fought against the Vandals in Africa (43 1-4), the Persians (441) and Attila (447- 50) . He reached the height of his power under 1Iarcian, but was brought down by Leo I. Jones, LAltr Roman Empire, pp. 22( Zeno had to deal with the usurpations of Basiliscus and Leontius (backed by 1IIus); see Ch. 8, n. 10 - after Leo I1 had also reigned for, it was said, one week. Theoderic the Ostrogoth, too, marched 00 Constantinople in 487, but was diverted to the west by encour· agement to overthrow Odoaccr. Zeno's great service was the solution of the problem of the lsaurians, TO whose predominance he put a stop. J.B. Bury, Tb! LAter Roman E mpire (1958 edn), pp. 390, 400. For the Hmotikon, and i\ lonophysites, scc also Ch. 9. J.D. Randers-Pehrson, BaroariarlJ and Romans (1983), p. 205. For ecclesiastical controversies, see Ch. 9. Set: also D. I3rukke, Atharlasius and /ht Poliry if Am/icism (1995). Jones, / ~/fr Roman Empire, pp. 232ff. J.J. NOl"\vich, Byzantium: Tbt Early C"rnlurits (1989), pp. 182f. Anastasius [ issued a reformed at! (bronze) coinage. He also gave merchants an incentive by reducing the income tax (the 'Gold of AfAictionl and abolishing the profits tax (chrysarg)'ron). But he had to placate the rt:bdlious anti-Monophysite Goth (?) Vitalian (d. 520). Bury, LAt~r Roman Empire, pp. 446f. M. Cary, History if Iht Roman lPorld (2nd edo, 1954), pp. 771 - 81; cf. M. Chambers, Tb, Fall if Romt (1963), pp. 103ff. See above, Ch. 7, n. 18, Ch. 4, n. 12, for Odoacer. See F. Lot, Tbr EndiflhrAndml Wilrld(1931), pp. 241f. L ~hdach, Tb! tragub' 0/ Man (1962); see also S. l\\a:r.zarino, The End if Ihe Ancitnl W/Orld (1966, 1959), p. 179. C.W.c. Oman, Tb! By':(flntinr Empire (1892), p. 16. Another powerful German general was Guodobad (d. 516), son of the Burgundian king; st:e Appendix 2.
155
NOTES TO PP. 60 - 66
8 EMPRESSES 1 l\t Gram, Tht .If/lfflJnJ (1996), p. 4j. 2 The intervening period had witnessed the western reign of the usurper Johanm:s (423-5), formerly primimiuJ notan()rIfm (Chief Secretary), for whom Aetius raised a large force of Hum. 3 Flavius Constantius Fdix, consul in 423, was from 425 " ' aster of Soldiers (both br.mches of soldiery) in the west and the leading personage at the court of Valcntinian Ill. Boniface (Bonifacius), too, was a western general, who
4
5 (,
7
8 9
10 11
12 13
served in north Africa and refused orders to return to Ital\,. He was believed to have invited the Vandals tu cross uver to Africa from S<pain and help him against the western government of Valentinian 11 I. He died of a wound while trying to suppress Actius. Placidia built the sanctuary of S. Cmce at Ravenna. \,\'hether she was actually buried there in the mausoleum that bears her name has been disputed (see Ch. 11 ). But coins were issued for her at Ravenna, as well as at Rome and Aquilcia. Her head has also been identified on a silver ingot (R.A.G. Carson, Coinr if !he Roman r;mpin 119901, p. 223). Sce also S.F. Oost, Calla Plaridia AU!l.UJ!a (1968). R.A.G. Carson, Printipal Coi/If if !he Rom,mr, voJ. Ill. The Dominate AD 294408 (1981), p. 83, no. 1540. The victory against Attila was won b)' Aetius, but the battle had been caused 'by the folly of Honoria .. . who in resentment at being compelled to marry the husband [Bassus, p.(1) chosen for her by her brother [Honorius), wrote to Attila imploring his protection and sending him her ring' (A. H.M. Jones, Thf !",,/er Roman Empire 284--{)0211964], p. 194). R.~L Haywood, 7l;t ,Io !)'!h if Rome'; Fail (1%0), pp. 160ff. The 'Theotokos' title of ~hry, the mother of Jesus (' ,\ lother of God'), which pla)'ed a large part in politics (see K. Cooper, The l /irgin mid Ihe Bride: IdraJiJtd Womanhood ill !.olf AlltiquilJ' [19%[), was recognised b), the Council of Ephe~us (431). On a mosaic in the Church of Santa Maria ;\ laggiore, Rome, Mar), is depicte(] as a Roman empress. Pukheria built th ree churches at Constantinople (including, apparentl)" St MlIry of the Coppermarket [Chaicoprlltill) [480]), backed the ' two Natures' at the Council of Chaicedon (451 ), and was heavily involved in Pope Leo 1'5 Tom! (Ch. 9, n. 23). The Pope wrote to her in the hope of annulling the jurisdiction of Constantinople over the dioceses of POntuS, Asia and Thrace. See also Ch. 7, and n. 4. See also K.G. Holum, 7heodosion Empmm (1982), pp. 79ff. for Pulcheria's churches, see also Ch. 3, n. 3. Por the question whether she (Aelia) should be called 'Eudoxia' or 'Eudocia', see. H. Goodacre, A Handbook if Ihe Coinagr if the I~)"zanlinf Empire, Pari ! (Arradius 10 l'(o1lliusj (1928), pp. 26f. She was criticised by 5t John Chrysostom on the grounds of the alleged luxury and insolence of her court. She wrote a poem celebrating a supposed victory over the Persians in 422. She must be distinguished from another Aclia Eudoxia, the wife of Arcadius. C. Dieh!, l!;'zan!ine Portrail! (1927), pp. 25f. For coins in the name of Aelia Verina, sce Goodacre, /-Jalldbook, p. 43; Carson, Principal Coinr, nos. 1('28ff. Verina was the sister of Basiliscus, who rose against Zeno (475-6). G. Young, Conrtanlinoplf (1992), pp. 35f. Jones (Ltller Roman Empir?, p. 230) also describes the scene. For coins in the name of Ariadne, GOlxillcre, f!andbook., p. 47; Carson, Principal Coins, pp. 102f., nos. 1657f. There arc two versions of the ivorv
156
NOTES TO PI'. 66 - 67
diptych said to bear her portrait, at Florence and Vienna. For Ariadne see also Ch. 7, n. 13. 14 C. Diehl, Byzanlirlt Portraits, pp. Mf., e.g. there is a relief of Hul y \'(!omen at Augusta Treviwrum (frier): see Ch. 12, n. 4. For the role of women in the later empire see H. Foley, RfjlUliorlS 0/ W/omm i'l A ntiqllit;, (1981), A. Camcron and A. Kuhrt, !ma.£P r:f /Y-omen ill " lntiqllit)' (1983), R. Howley and B. Levick (eds), IPoll1m ;'1 Antiqlfity: N fu' /lsse.r.rmmt; (1996), G. Clark, U''omen in !.alt Antiqllity: Pagan and Christian Jift-Jt;'ln (1993), A. E. Hicke y, Women of Ihf Roman Anit()(ral)' {If Christian Monailiu (1987), n E.E. Kleiner and S.B. Mathcson, I Oalldia: Iromen in Anrimt Rome (1996). 9 REI.IGION I Especially at Athens, Thessalonica, and Rome; and in the civil service. 2 A.H.:"L Jones, Tht LAltr Romall Empire 284-602 (1964), pp. 904, 957. 3 [t is not known how many pagans there were at Rome (for Sun-worship, sce below, n. 6). But Gaza was still predominantly pagan in t. 400, and at Carrhae (Altiha~ak) paganism stiU survived. The position of 'Hellenism' as a part-base of late cast-Roman and Byzantine culture must not be underestimated. And the Neoplatonists, for example (stressing abstinence), were strong; when Justinian J shut down Athens University, some of them were said to have gone to Persia. There has been a revival of interest in late Roman imperial Neoplatonism. Sce also now E. Herbert, Pa!!.arl RdigilNl (cd. JA. Butler, 1996); T.E I\Iathews, TIN Gash of Gods (1994,1995). 4 This was at Ihe battle of the River Fri.!,>1dus (Vipaeeo) in 394, in which Theodosius I defeated the western usurper Eugenius and the !>.laster of Soldiers Arbogast, who committed suicide after the battle. Although nominally a Christian, Eugenius had sympathised with the pagan revival. It was once again in the interests (he hoped) of unity that Theodosius I had issued a stringent edict against paganism (see G. Young, COIutarllinoplf [1992J, p. 32). 5 Augustine favoured the destruction of pagan temples, and Jerome violently attacked the dead pagan Porphyry (uf Tyre jEs -Surj, or Batanea jprobably NugraJ, r. ,0,0 232/3-r. 305); and John Chrysostom (r. 354--407) often spoke against the pagans. Sec now IN.n Kell y, Go/dm Mouth (1996) ; cf. Orosius, Historirs agairl!1 Iht Pagam. But Proelus (410/ 12- 85: see Bibliography) still hoped for toleration of paganism. It had received a boost during the brief rei.l-,JT1 of the pagan Julian the Apostate (36 1- 3). 6 \'(le know little about the beliefs of ordinarr pagans at this time. But the Olympian gods increasingly failed to satisfr people's aspirations (sec n. 2 above). These gods could be regarded as symbols; if so, paganism might be made to look a tolerant form of monotheism. lambliehus of Syria (2nd century) gave the Sun the place of honour among the 350 deities; for Sunworship see also M. Grant, nJt Antoninu (1994), p. 76. Sec also J.H . Smith, Ht Death of Classical Paganim/ (1976), p. 3, cf. p. 2. Herbcrt, Pagarl Rdigion, p. 82), wrote as follows: The adoration of the Sun, so not only scripture, but Homer, Hesiod and the ancient historians tell us, was both ancient and univep.;al. It was ge nerally thought that the Supreme God had made heaven his home (as immortal things afe suitable to immortality). And the pagans could not think of anything more conspicuous or worthy of worship and adoration.
157
NOTES TO PP_ 6 7 _68 ~
,he,d,,,,: lifted ,heir <)'" wd hwd. d.vO\Itly up to he».n. not only on gre .. >< ..,ydling good «>uld «>me_
Sco on th< whole .ubjc:ct. P. Chuyin. ~1 ~ of IlK '..ut ~ (I '.l"IO); IL Cuneron. 1lH ,If"/;"""",,,,, W...u;" /.-.1, ,,.b~i~ AD J95400 (1<)'))), pp, 70. 1J:1J (n. 16. I" (1%5), Ch. 4 (pp, 102f[.);:tnd A"",,_. 1:;,""'I""Jt~ rriJlimM oti _1_1i Jri Ft/V'i (1990), The pri<" c" of c.te> appc:m on th< Inf of the w"'Y dip (h<>11ong in Rom<; !Wo Nik .. (Victorie.) :If. to be: >een on the side. o f ,he pc"""oJ of ,he Colwnn of Mud ... (450-7); and ,he I.upct<.li . ...... ,till cdeb"'ted at ,he end "f ,be 6fth c< ""!KIY""':' uf b..d .. , B~l hhibi,ion of 1'.I'J5. 7 IU", . ... ho ,upp<.>r1.d ""'n,,~ en<m)' ,he u>u'i"" Il ...iliocu. (47'0-6), ..... do,,< '" the N<'1'I."",i" po •• nd St Joon Ch')''''''om (r, 354-407) ha. a lot to .. y again" th<m_ Sc< a40 C ...... ,,"', MetIik,."",,,,,, ~0dJ. pp. 14Of" 224. n. 42; M_ Gram, 7TH 1"'" ;" IlK _ IrMJ (1973) , pp. 282ff; n J:ocoby in C Mango wd G, D"llfOJl. C...td"ligpk """ /" Hi""",,,,' (1'.I'J'). p. 232; C. lieu "of" J'"" _ ~ "'" Chritti...,;",.. E 1IIfJir< (I'.I'J2). Ikvol.. by the Sam.arita", (d"hnc' from .be J<W$) , tar,ed in 484. 9 Se.- F. I.o!, 71H Eu of tIH Ann,., UOdJ (1 931 ). po 41. h lot of .i.oknu ch:UX1 pmee .. , f()J'
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69~70
wo.
Chadwick, Conftrtnre on Gibbon's Dtdine and Fall Oanuary 1976), etc. For the early Christian world-view, references in Cameran, Aftditem:mtan World, p. 205, n. 5. 11 That probably accounts, at least in part, for the pomp and splendour of the eucharistic rite. It is not practical to try to differentiate between 'OrthodO)l:' and 'Catholic' in the early Christian world, although the two ways of thinking graduaUy developed in the east and west respectively. Missionary activity was strong, especially among the 'barbarians' (Cameron, Mediterranean World, p. 210, n. 25). She also stresses the close link between church and state (for the modern secondary role of religion, see Introduction). We should sce the fifth century as a period when some of the basic implications of Christian belief we re being hammered out, amid a situation of increasing imperial involvement in the Church, and increasing power and indeed wealth on the Church's side. The guestion of how to deal with the passionately held differ~ ences between Christians was not, as it tends to be today, just a Church issue: it was at the top of the imperial agenda. . .. \Vhile in our own society religion is relegated by the majority to a separate, and usually minor, sphere, in late antiquity (in contrast) not only was religion ~ both pagan and Christian - at the centre of the stage, but the Christian Church was itself increasingly occupying a leading role in political, economic and social life. (pp. 25, 65f.) 12 R.M. Haywood, The .Myth rf Rome'J Fall (1960), p. 165. The Zuni Indians live south of Gallup, New Mexico. In the ancient world, 'there were always going to be a few hard-liners: said Henry Chadwick (TzmtS I jtn"al] Supplement, 22 March 1996, p. 4), as there had been earlier: [n the north African provinces, especially Numidia, militant bands of dissident peasants, armed with stout clubs, mounted unstop· pable charges on the orchestral instruments at pagan festivals [390,391, Syria, Egypt] .... The conse{juence for the Church of such strong-arm methods was bitter confrontation, with impassioned hatred and resentment, and in some places formidable counter-attacks. 13 S. Katz, The Du/int rf Rome and the RiJt of Medin'aJ Europe (1955), p. ISO; cf. "I. Chambers, The Fall of Rome: Can I1 Be Explained? (1963), p. 118. 14 G.WF. Hegel found these disagreements 'tiring'. See now G. LOdemann, Hmtiu (1996). 15 See Grant, Fail of th~ Roman Empiff, 1990 edn, p. 171. 16 WE. Kaegi, BYZantium and Ihe Dedine of Rome (1968), p. 235. 17 Baynes, B)'zantint Empire, pp. 42f. 18 On these sects see T.E. Gregory, Vox Populi (1979), pp. 223f. Jesus Christ was seen by many as a magician (p. Brown, "fl)e Worid of Late Antiquity, p. 55, fig. 39; J.P.Co Kent and K.S. Painter ledsJ, tbt Wraith rf the Roman World AD 300~ 700, p. 94, fig. 157). 19 E.E. KeUett, A Shorl History of Religions (1 933,1962), pp. I 66ff. 20 R. Krautheimer, Ear!;' ChriJhan and Byzantine Arrhilffturt (1965), pp. 67f. Egypt was hostile to the Council of Chalcedon (451), because priority was given to
159
NUTES TU PP . 11 _ 73 C",,,tantiooplo:. See also I_M.R.M. de Lu,ign'n. R_ " h, '&I'J" ~•...., (1976). 21 Se< aI.o M. G...",. TIN CIiIftdX of Ruu (1968. 1993), P. 24 •. Th< wonhip of imagn IOU muoh """')\ef in ,he 00" than in ,he "'e". And Mphy. 23 Gran'. Foil of "" ~ E"'}'in. p. 200. Du.;.,g. "" .. . ... ul! ufo ."""" dc:1ic .. e Ungui.cic ",<.>!ly dc:b.,«I. I>t.ry. ,.cendy ockncrwledf;«I •• ,he ·~!othe, of God'. is "p"cW/y prominen' on the mo. :ric. of S. Mw ~Uggiou .. Rome (Ch. 12). Th, .. !tll!im ."empu ~'" made. during !he ~fth «mury. !O . .",bli.h e«le.wtical. and 110 poUtica!, uni'y. and all ......: deadly failUf= See l.ooem""". I/",'i
to·"""
mu
fi,..,
J"""_
..... ,nu,. i"",,.,,«I in Moclg>blc Formula uf ito '.... n.. . . 'm. Gr".'" ",~,d the 1.. ,;" . .. om.tcu,,;" ,!>a>Jugy..,d in gp T..... unci! of Chalcedon (451 )•• boo, which. g .... deal h .. bee" wtiu,,, •• et ou'. with 'UCcd', tu de", 'he m.. 'e< up.
""'pO""
n.
If"'"
1C2tI'
In .51 laol unu.uoli)" ~ ... embly of Chu",nmen me, ., Chalccdon. «",.';,uting ,he Fourth &wn,nico1 Coun
NOTES TO P. 73
."cl
hi, di.inity; M< ,he ..m. Chri .. in twO N.,u, ... "';,h<>u, confu. ion or clung<, div:i. ion Of' .. par:>tion; each N, mf< concu,· ring into onc p<non. . . . Bu, rhc lnJ,h i. n' onc thing; to chi.". ..• ,,,rnc,hing dif-
't'
f."'",.
Politically. ,h. Council In>. 'her....... solid "u.. or <>pici<>fI loyo.! tne doctrine of onc N>turc IM<>n<>physiti.ml. and firmly "I'P"'ed ,he f",muta of Chok.tkrn . •. . Th< ChriJlti:tn rc~gio". witn it!. 'heololl;y which OJ> of opinion. hod inu-odu«d in,o the cmpir< which wcr •• ,Of< p<rp"'x"y to rhc gu •• mmen,: (I.B. Bury, nu /"", R""6' F.-Pi". 1889. 1958 ,dn. pp. 357ff.)
'0
'0
Anorh.r major .tternl>' '0 heo.J the divi.ions in the Chun:h 7..cno; .. A.H.M.
Jone. irulicole'.
7.. ",,',
",~
WO>
"",d.
..... odd", ... d
h-t
w ,he
rd which hod ren' the ChUfCh .tnce the CDWKil of Ch>kcdon .. • [rhc oppoO! cnthu· for CIuk<doo,.nd he ,u!,-!!e"ed w le"" th .. unit)' . ' b< achieved if i, could be buri.d. An imperial roru;ti,ution. the 1I,,,,,lihIr or decree of wllOll. w.. • ccotrlingly is.",d in .hi. sense. The .mperor ..... t for,h • brief , "'emen, of the foith. which rn.nrioncd <>either ,he otic no, rhe two Noture. of Chri .. , .nd ,n, them,tioed all who bebc.cd or Iud br" -" ". ",he, Coun-
.wUe
cil.
,,'C<.
.
(I""", I..r., ~ '"-Pi''' pp. 227f.) So 011 rh, Mth-<en.0'Y .".",p" ,,, ""hievc on;
,,,
.....
25 eon."ntinc I the Gre .. hod becn bop",.d 0<1 hi. deorh·bed h-t Eu«biu• • bi. hop Df Niroma!i. (l" .. of Con"""tinopk. BB, d. 341/2), who w>s on i\ri:rn. Th< ~""'" Ari>n ""'" the Vioigorhie King Eork (4«>-84). The ><wo, (r. 368----430/40). 26. F<.>r" ,he;, fOllndCf Mw (216-77) . cc Gr'lm, C/i",=" Ruu. pp. 2OOff. 27 J. W.L My ..... j ..",", of ~"" .lioJi",. SO. 1%0. po 36. 28 On John W<>ky xc KcUctt. JbMt Hhl"?> P. 167. n. r. l>f",y ... ho consider them.d ... Chrisrions ,od,)" in f.ct h... .\l,nich.C"UI be~cf~ 2') Augu.tinc puticubrly di,bk >nd Egyp<. Se, W. F",,,d. A HhJory " , ..
NOTIlS T O PP. 7) _74
M..",,,o1 (1972). Se.«o1, of Sowpolis (ApolIoni> PonUca; BUJg25), """[onding M<>t><>ph)"it< [heologian;"< Bury, l~, R _ £.p;.., I, p. ~38, n. 2; P. Brown, ANtIHriI] """ , .. s"..,./ (l!l'!5), pp- 71, 87. ".. nu', H.""ikmt, dir<.I I. d«ply i.,t<",,,ed in ",Ugion (he e"" . uU",,«I :oJ"..cion, to the ~tutg}'). got into ..-riou. oroubk in 512 b
<2rly , iJ.th.cc.,["l)' bishop of Antio
Monophysili.m. 50. John M.w..
«. 491 _ 518),
'rh< popuLocion of the city crowded togmou. ond ehanlCd for he, hu. bond, A",obindUl, [0 be cmpcror of the ROIJW1 ,,. ... a ohn Molalu, CbnI ' X';yh, ,,..,,.1 ]eff.. )", 728)
The,.
..ru..
For ~brinu., ••" Bury, Lu" 11_ E.,m, I, p. 470. 31 G. Duwnooy, 1-"" R....,,, E..pi" (1%9), W. 00-232 B,)·n ... 1l]~.,.Ii.. £",pi"_ P. 7~
n.
Na to"u. , t~ncd in the hi, t<>ri.:oJ ond criri<:oJ method. of the school of Antioch, ..... Patriarch of Co"'''... 'inoplc... . [He) ..... "".u.ed uf di.~ ,he pcnocling • • P'pol ldi.ooiu. 11 .ft.. rom. hco.i"clon ykkkcl '" the 'on\monding pcnoruilil)' of the EoIypri1n m.hop. AI.nodria triumphed h. But Rome grow une ..y.
,f,..
Cpil of Akundn. had "",rinuaI hi. prod."" . ....... p>1icy of , uPP"'''ing ~m (he ,.... ..id 10 ... guihy of p1l'li2l , .. poruibiliuriuu, .>ndria and Antioch. A, the Cound of Chokcdon (451) both . ideo oppcaled '0 hi. '''temenlS, but Akundri. did no< f... "",lL In 428 EUlj"che. or Comt2nbnuple had t>pJ><>«d the doctri... of ""u N.,u .. , of N.,,,,riul, bu, Pope Leo I, ",boo. TOM< (n. 23 >hove: . ",pce«d by St John Chry>ostom and l1Wly e.... men) ....... d the two Nature., p«m<>unccd >g>wt him - oltbough deploring hi/. .ootkmnaci<>n, ",hich then o«""cd: for Euty<:b ... or tht: lOUgh, con"'".."", im,i" .nce of Cyril of Alcund.a. ...... ccusphy.ici, m _ though m. " .. hing liv
'"
NO T ES TO P,?5
:w
Gnn" I'J
of ... R-... E-J>in. po
232 . ... W.H.c. F",nd. /"'''''' of R-...
JIoJiI,. 59, 1%9. po 9. The biK a.tJ" . . . . .~~ •• pU, up if their "",ne,. ... 1M)UII«d the -.Id. I.lboniw. (l l"-t. )91) had b«n "''I' bU>olk: '0 !be:
........... b." So J...... a..,....-. '''PP'''I«I ,hooc known .. thc ....alI B_h· ..... .... ,he "'...... ,..., of thc 'SW~. 0-,;' ,,_0.«1 "" wcioI m.kon ...... >Ad Mnktup< ~ .... ~ inB......w. ....... . Iotta: pt, xl . . . . . . ioen of Ioi'l' ...d Of ,,-< .ffocccd "" bad """"" Of plop< Of penonoI , ..... ,..... Indeed, they IwJptd. io .'21 uid, to 'r""" .... new m .........,.. 0( .... ~'. And .... ~ to ,t.. ";',h":.n''''J" his ............... """" '" Cxooon (1'2le" .... ). chri • .,..,......." .. «1 in thc d.r..... of 'h< Syrion r"""Iie,. f .... w... lifch.«n,ut}' wtiring> "" ch.: """"", ... C. M"'I'lo, ~ (1980), p- I ll. ·Wha. 00 1 do "';th chose fasutit:al monlur Tht:ooJo.iu, I "'P<'nedly o.aid So Atnbrooc. fox Y.); ,bey ."..kecl the "SI«pl< " Qnea' from Anlioch in 426 (the "Sleepk-.. ' Aleund .. Iopl<); and in 466 Sinuchiuo (She .. > .,!;, srn.nt>dl) of A ...... (d", Whi.. ).4""".. ..,.. in the l'hchaXI; "" .....,.. o.w<.ultll) Ionks ..... 12 -..~ ...... *>1 .. thc Coo.nt:iIs 0( f.phn ... (4) 1) and CIuk.· don (451). Sce t>IJW . . . r.~J><' in P. F"",,<. 11-': n. ''''iQN' of~'" ( 1996); I>u., (Of .... limncial burdm tha. the ............ (and the d.rv) «pn: ..",od, )ono" I..." ~ F...,m. 11. pt>. 933(. l5 B..il of ea...... (Kay .. n) in C.ppodocia _ ",he.. mon .. ,iciom ...... tti •• _ t. 3JO.-79. 5« S. Pe""" .... n. E'" of ,.. FW..... 11"..... (1%6). pp, 127f.; V. Wimbu.h (od.). ANt_ &b.t. ., ;" er"..R_ A.~ (1'.1%). and Bibliography.
....,....,.rin
.....u.......
'0
J--
c.-..
"L
<_ ...... _
fl
f"""" ....
Il..il the G ..... . . . 0<>"» irucciYc and .... fNitful. and 10'-', in ,he IidcI ot ....... hop _ co form pan or ,he ~fe of pn)'" , oi s..iI """,od ». modd It> 50 Be....., ),. 480-S47J wbtn IeJilbIiD& fut thc motW of thc ...... ~~_ (B.y ..... ~..p- 87)
n.. ......
e.,....
'Un"
'Pillu like Simeon nO. Mf..iIi..,on 0( cl>ang<M. t..1ping 'u .",antIpa,• •wrow>d . inJI ~aiden.. ftom . tt. dunen, their pan polythoi"ic p...tit: ••.' Th... is •
'0
NO T!; S TO PP . 15 _ 13
III UTER AT U RE 1 K.tt. Manlu.ll ...cl L Mm,,!!on!.,,,, in N, B. IhY"<' """ It So U I. M",. (: KC C. M""Ko. 1V'f.""- (198O). P.
Ox!" a.u,;'.J 0;.",,"",, 2nd od<>
(1970). I' 128. Se.: J.M. Ri" . (19!16), ~'hni', (J.aun) at ,he lJniv (l.ocb «ill. 1%.) .
2 c.1'.. St. •• n••
A.,...,,. (19'.'4); H. Chadwick, AJwuIiIH
,...,,,,«1
}
4 5
t.
7
8
ss.
un. n. M-"" " .t-, o../:.
11 A ROIITECT U RE 1 Ono "'uo, boot it> mind tIw uchitKtOlR iI only on nprc: ..iott of
..,,!Iem
1>""""" Th. "lHly or .. "kmen' 1"'"<"" rep«><:" " • m,,,,, adv:uac:< ,oW"Ud. und1; intc'I'''''''''''' io ""'1 much . o.prtw;", """"... (A. Camt:_. n. M,Jit.~"" 1I"" u. '_A~ AD J9J-6{)() 1 1 99}I.po 4 ~)
NO T6 S TO I''' . U _ 91 29) " ..."Kd the cccleliuli«I {functil:>ntJ} cho_I« of this
tu"'. Koch (E-&
OoiJn.. .... ,., .,.; ....ttlJilW/• .,. I" 29) "" ....t
.)'pe ..
en . ",hl,ce-
fOllows:
In the carly Chriu;a" .nd By,,"ndne period 'builia' dc:noctd .. ohureh l!.~~lirtily. Today vt. NllonUII "ndc"t.. nd by 'bui!la' • cl"•."h . 'nil with ,he fong pr<.>ptrun.__ it "'"St be long. iluditW; it ""'" h • ..., ..,"cno! *"-In _ at Icon .h
s- .....
"'"" ""' " ' ,
1 Il Tolbot Ric:c. 4
s.. Agnesc on 11", I .. dc:.th.
6 7
pp. 305f. The wil>ll<>wl OK of olaballcr. ~,;., (1965). I" 133, , pp. 94, 96: 152. I SIi, Thcrc .,.., oho other fif,h-ccnlUry ::." , M. Sn\.u and R.J. Iluck, nr Exuun..s III S. wU 'f"hM 1.i..........,., (l m ). ,,".'CM//••';" (1993). PI" 199f, The original Church of 51 ',;"~' Ch,;';~,:,;I~cn Ctmlu tuini.n (.t<: Young. c.slalf. " c. h,vc been • J>
.,.;
•,
AttIM',.,,-,,
" A~.
P. 78; ' " oho
s....
"
M . ,G;=;;;::'; '~;A;tt;' IM ~. to ... hich
.
Po ~ ; n. E..,g 8)t -0 The feU of me ~fcct of 111yritwn in " 442ArrIlilWMr. pp. 95ft, Probably the: (_ belooo ); Hill, &11 8)t 0
"'.
church ......
1'1' 15 "'""" Knuthcimc.,
R_ E."m the ch"",h
I'\X1JnWt 01' ,hrono:: ..."" ...... ct>or>'ntW In,., me Oturch o f Se Gcotgc at TkoWonica. 16 N ..... AnchaIoI h.od been Thebu in I"hthiotit. Itl ~.""... P)'ruos lOOk
165
NOTES TO pp, 91_96
ov.. i" rum. >nopric. 111< <>Id 'own w:u fortified by JWlrini2n I (Appendix 3). Gr«<. h.d . "",ed m «'0'« in ,he rhi..! «mu,), An,..,d ,he:
pro<:'" "'...ontinuing.
17 Cilici. was divid.d into two p.m, Rough (A.pc") and PWn (Campe"ri., PedW). Cilic .. w:u ofr.n turo '" distingui.h from b.uria (Hill. El",,:! 8.n-h"' C"mhtr. pp. 31f.• 55). CiIi ... •• ch",d"" ""r< 0<'. the "'001< faithful !O the:
18
19
20
II 22
13 2-4 25 26 V 28
29
ba. ilic. form (,bid .• P, 55). 111< di"ric, w:u ,d"tiV I.. un.., if ..... .., aKhi.«tur:;rl hothouk and .rchc:typc: ~bid" pp. 7. 38f.), Gough. ~ o( Chmtimt Aft. pp. 64. 68; Hill (E",,:! s,'f!""W a-rhtr. p. 39) belic:ved in ,be G1icia:r dome, and puin«d to fi .. tot;nl•• ·,J..,m.d baoilic,,' in the country, Th. ·Cav. Chunoh' '" M.:')'.mlik ;' . kind of cryp1 of the huge baoilic •• ",hich was prot..bly th< emperor uno', " .. Hon. Thc", ", also. 'CupoL:r Church'., Mc,),.mtik. In eff«t, St 11I<Jgh. ~ of C*",timt Aft. P. 64_ ,IiU, £ 4'f} flJ'(JUI#'" Chi',,}",. I' 65. Th. 'I'~t Church' (Kvco Ku..i) ;, the be" p, ......,d, GQugh. %;., of C! tiltimt Aft. pp. 65(. For. diocu .. ion of dli. I'<'int . « Hill. £.1:1 s,'(JUI#" pp. 80. 214, Gough. ~ of CIm,timt Aft. pp, 177f. J. F«dy. 111. C""t-;'" C..;J, to T"'~ (19E14). I' 221. Gough, of Ch,;m"" Aft. pp. 65f.; Hill. E.vft S,'(JUIIi.. Ch."},,,. ph 62_ 74; prot..bJy not Coropi .. u•. The: dome "'"» rrub.bty mad. of mwrnry (,bid., I' 150). 'n'I" , "" Ambubto,), Church (ibid_. I' 155). Un .00 U.un<.bur~ m.y be winter .nd .ummer >"e church .. Olb • • u.nd. to a:ry lreiglu (if indeed it "ill doe.) (ibid., plo 112, In. ",.:Wo I' 150). 111<"' ..... >I",. church of thU period .. Canytd. (K.nlidiVlll1e). pm of Ou.. (ibid .. pI, 8l, 93). Olba "TO n1' 0 «~ui« , tQ be mr:nt~"llf of Cilicia, probably influcn<ed by AJllIwli1 mu« th"" Srri. (ibid .. pp. 85. 91 ). Anemurium (E. ki Arramur) (ibid., p. 91). Acltu.u. (R:rbbolu), C. (K.dirlr) ~hid " I' 179), Yanilthan (thU !in • • with o>Ily . ' 9'" in the: Holy 1...,& ibid .• p. .12. plo 11$-26). A k ~ ",n (in ,he T,u"" foothill.) (",~or:;rl chu«he" ibid., p. (6), AUkili .. (ibid .• p. 83). Emincli (ibid ,. p. 11 0), Epiph • .
o,."},,,.
o.w.,
nun,
.how.
nei. (Eo--,in) (ibid .. PI' l66f,). C1llbv.~. ~Ialr .... IJ.gi (K>I. Pin1r) (,bid., plo 95. 96). EI1
"1,.
)() F",
M,oIil"''''''.'
lI'"..tJ, P, 227, n. 9_
31 Qo.l'ot S.... ·'" .." '>n the rood which c"nnr:<<:h and Ile"",. (AI.f'PO). Th. chwch .. R",.pfur (Ru.. ph>., Scogiopolio, R '.. fah) in Muopoumi. may Iu"e been ta.", (u . S.. __ ;t..o.J.n;"cky, lM .JJiI.",,&1N KDJr. PI' 5Of_. fig. 21 ),
'"
NOTES TO PP . 96 _ 101 Simoon St)·b •••
(J'JO....oI5~) W» •
uin.
woo..
pi<:ty bord.«d 00
madnn .. H. w» .>pclkd rront hi, fir" m<Jo""'ry r", winding • ">PO uf twi,,,,d po.lnt I",vn SO tighdy oround hi. budy th1l i, ". ;"'0 his B•• h ond lOOk three dol" 10 be . UJEieo.Uy ICIn""ed He then moved '0 ,he hill. beyond Akppo [BcfOu[, where .• f'er ~,m<>rtifiClOti<.>o •• he duin«! him",lf rod. Thi • • ttrn: .. d oome ,"enti<.>o; people w
'0
'0.
Finding the interruptions dHweC1bk. Sim .nd suyIt 'UP uf which he .pUnd the fitul pilb.I. '\t .he time i. ,.... .he: biU'" church io the world. tr .... Robe".. r..".6 .... pril 1996. P. 18)
n.
Sec 1100 Ch. ~. 00. 34. 35, ond P. Brown. ANlw;!J "'"' I'" J.wrd, PI' 116, 76f; D. hlug rilicd ;., height in ordc •• " bring him do.., ." 00.. 0. Hi. dnling> """e mo>tly witb lower· c.... drop-OIl". but he 0.110 Md rich nil fur. culour plc,ur•• he p1'p R","'-' (I'J%); It Bum •• M.,,_oI, of.»... (1996) . Knoutheim imi ... ,,, "f St Simcoo. rwnely Darucl the Sty~ ... KO M. K2p1.., in Murgo:rnd lligron, CM''''''';""". pp, 1%-201,20-4.111<1 M>ngo. P. 111. D.nicl (d. 49)) buln n':Ol S.mo.... (5""''''). >nil >l Y..cno (471.-7). <0»«1 '0 be. 'heretic', Knurhmc constru<.cd imp"ru", building> 11 Be'hlehem. with rh< help of Paw. (.ee Dup«r 9. n. 37). Kniurh
4"
Afr.l,}1)'
32
Br<.""'iI,,
/Jnmt-.
w.,
.tu,
J3
:w 35 36
"'0
11>0-.. Ch. 9, n. :Wo 17 T.Jbot RiN. 8]{""b'''' An. P. :Wo "Ther. were ....... nuIl squ .... g1""" in.he K"-"l!. 0..;'. "The run 151 _5)_ Sc •• in ~"....J, K. ","0'« (od.). 8J,jIJ i. AN"'''' rtMt, ( 1'J?4). 38 "The Grut Palace at eoru""'tinopIc (Yuung. C""""'~. PI' 24. )S) is • r rur.. ...i ...
C"""',
NOTES T O PP. 101_106
I bail, • palace 11 Dlxhemac in ,he .ubwb. of tit. city. And tIt,n: ...... of <,:u>oth<", R."nn., ... hich beame. ",,,nhy upi,al uf ,IK: ... <s' urlOubi<. though much '<ston:d, .n<e> at C"","'n,i"'pi< ('_g. "f An ... ",hu •• .-..1 J.o.u.u,). F"r .U(h raJ""" ,•• Koch. Eo", Cb';'I;'. An. pp. 68f. 'There.r< also «oWn. of "" inn .. Qai'.. Sim'>n (>e< .rov<, n, 26), .nd 1 fif,h.«ntu'Y in..: ription .bout • boo .. l: th .. "f ,he <1<1<1'" Appiu . .. Amid> (Diy..-b.kir)_ •.g. the: Forum of A,ndi" •• wi,h ill high column, hc:gun in ~02, F"" the: Ar<.cli"" '«" 1 .e< K""h . £~11 CM'';'" An, p. 65 .....J fig. 25. Knuthcimt WdI" IM 011 (1899). j.G, Crow in .\I.n~ " ... cl D":n>". Ii• • pp. IWf.. 112f.. 12O----f; 'It i, eJ..or ,ru" Urtw ,h< de"h of.\l..-ciut !('i7J, ,h ... w. . . "''1' mtI <curil)' uf ,h. D>.nubi"" plovi"" .. in Th..., •• ond tJ,,, 'hi' "'.. «H«'ed i" :on .. tive b"ild;n~ pwgrunme' (p. 120). Sce .1", refe«""" in A""""An""'"'w 1. 1995. pp 12fl., ond J.F. Hoddon in Mango .00 D>g«>n. C-"'''''''h'oopk. P. 144, ". 3: .00 f"" • ncigltbourinj! e...:utlpme",. p. 15-4. For P""'opiu, (,i~,h century) .....J Gibb"" on 11", . objec<.... Crow. pp. 124f. For the: delibe,,". """ hctk .pp<:al, Kocb, £.m, ChriI';'" An, pp. 661. Yuung. C..,,"",;• . p. 33, H.P. L'lli>ng<. A rt F' ''''f dNI Cirit I if- io IIN l.J'" lINt"" E!ttpiw (I %5), P. 131. C ...... in .\1"-'11° and Dopon, C_''''''h'..pI.. P. 121, n. 36: J. C ...... .....J A. Ricd, / I~ Arth.ot,q. R.... «h Reports 1996, pp. 16£. (n. 2 J:lnU>S1' 1997). B.'),:ili in ,\ b«ooru. (n.. r S,ip) ..... ,,10< .. «1 to • MW def;bk po>ition HI the: fifth «",ury, Th< new ...,.11. at "Th< .. al,...uu .,.« "f the ,ime ufThn