(The Transformation of The Classical Heritage Volume 7) A. P. Kazhdan, Ann Wharton Epstein-Change in Byzantine Culture in The Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries-University of California Press (1990)

The Tran formation of the Classical Heritage
Peter Brown, General Editor
I Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity, by Sabine G. MacCormack

II Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-Bishop, by Jay Alan Bregman
III Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late
Antiquity, by Kenneth G. Holum
IV John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth
Century, by Robert L. Wilken
V Bio raphy in Late Antiqllity: The Que t for the Holy Man, by Patricia
Cox
VI Pacltomiu: The Maldng of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt, by
Philip Rous eau
VII Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries,
by A. P. Kazhdan and Ann Wharton Epstein
Vlll Leader hip and Community: The Transfonnation of Late Antique Gaul,
by Raymond Van Dam
IX Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and tlte Growth
of the Epic Tradition, by Robert Lamberton
X Procopius and the Sixth Century, by Averil Cameron
XI Guardians of the Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late
Antiquity, by R. A. Kaster
CHANGE IN BYZANTINE
CULTURE IN THE ELEVENTH
AND T ELFTH CENTURIES

Th1. One

J
l ,
Copyrighted material
A. P. KAZHDAN AND
ANN HARTON EPSTEIN
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley Los Angeles London
Copyr grted fT1

University of California Pre s
Berkeley and Lo Angeles. California
University of California Ltd.

London. England
(') 1985 by
The Regents of the University of California .
First Paperback Printing 1990
Library of Congre 5 Cataloging in Publication Data
Kazhdan. A.P. (Aleksandr Petrovich). 1922-

Change in Byzantine culture in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
(The Transformation of the classical heritage; 7)

Includes index.
1. Byzantine Empire-Civilization - 52-7-
2. Byzantine Empire- Civilization -
J081-1453. I. Epstein. Ann Whar.ton . II . Title . IIJ . Series.
DF601.K39 1985 949.5 84-188
ISBN G-S2G-06962-S
Printed in th United States of America

3 4 5 6 7 9
Copyr gtltec rra

TO FRIENDSHIP
Copy r gt'tea 'T a <..

CONTENTS

[.ist of Dlustrations IX

Abbreviations X1II
Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction XIX
1. BACKGROUND: FROM LATE ANTIOULTY TO THE

MIDDT ,E AGES 1
Restructuring the Empire: The Seventh Century 1
n. DECENTRAl.(ZATION AND "EElJIJAUZATION" OF THE

BYZAN'I'INHSTATE 24
Decentralization 31
Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Archaeological and
Literary Evidence 31
Urban Evolution in the Provinces: Arts and Crafts 39
Urban Economy and Institutions 46
"Feudalization" of the Byzantine Socia.! Structure 56
The Nature of the Byzantine Estate 56
The Nature of the Byzantine Nobility 62
Changes in th Social Character of the Byzantine
Aristocracy 69
Changes in the Bureaucracy 70
m. POPUJ.AR AND ARISTOCRATIC CIJI JURAJ. TRENDS 74
Popular Tendencies in Byzantine Society 74
Changes in the Daily Regime: Dress, Diet, and
Dive rsion 74
GODY IQntec 'T Q q ,

VUl Contents
Popular Elements in Literature 83

Popular Features in Religious Life 86
"T'IThe "Aristooatizatjon" of CuUme 99
The Byzantine Family 99
Search for Legitimacy: The Importance of Lineage 102
Image of the Ideal Ruler 110

Epitome of Aristocracy: Digenis Akritas 117
IV. 'IHTT'E PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE 120
The Educational System 121
. I . .
Aca d emlcnstJhlt]ons 121
Academic Politics 126
Intellectuals in Society 130
The Assimilation of the Classical Tradition 133
Byzantium and the Authors of Antiquity 133
The Byzantine Reading of Classical Literature 138
Art and Antiquity 141
I.aw 145
Byzantine Science 148
Intimations of Rationalism: Theology and Ideology 158
Rationalism and the Imperial Ideal 163
V. BYZANTfUM AND ALIEN CULTURES 167
Traditional Attitudes Toward "Barbarians" 167
Contact with Alien Cultures: The Frontier Zone 170
Contact with A lien Clllhues: The Center 172
Breakdown of Some of the Traditional Barriers 177
Effects of Foreign Inluence 180
Unbreachable Barriers 185
V I. MAN IN I.ITERATlJRE AND ART 197
Artist, Audience, and Object 197
From the Ideal to the Ordinary 206
Abstraction to Naturalism 210
Impersonal to Personal 220
Conclusion 231
Appendix: Texts 235
Index 267
CODy IQnlec 'T Q q ,

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FOLLOWING PAGE 136

l. Servia, Metropolis, general view of the ruined basilica from the
southwest, 11 th c.
2. ThessaJoniki, Panagia ton Chalkeon, generaJ view from the
south, 1028.
3. Kastoria, Anargyroi, general view of the exterior from the
southwest, early 11th c.
4. Kastoria, St. Stephen, general view from the west, late 9th c.
5. Areia, near Nauplion in Argolis, Hagia Moni, general view from
the southwest, 1143-44.
6. Merbaka, in Argolis, Koimesis, general view from the southwest,
12th c.
7. Amfissa, in Phokis, Soter, view from the southeast, 12th c.
8. Monreale, Cathedral, barrel vault of the sanctuary, detail of the
archangel Uriel, late Uth c.
9. Istanbul, Kalenderhane Camii, fragment of an angel in mosaic,
late 12th c.
10. Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, cod. 5.3. N.2, Chronicle of Skylitzes,
fol. 12v. 12th c.
11. Kakopetria, St. Nicholas tes Steges, proskynesis image of the
patron saint, east wall of the nave.
12. Cyprus, near Koutsovendis, St. Chrysostomos, general view of
the complex, la te 11th c. foundation.
13. Cluny il, plan as in 1050.
14. Istanbul, Zeyrek Camii, the Pantokrator Monastery, zodiac in the
opus sectile floor, early 12th c.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r

x List of OIustrations
15. Athens, Little Metropolis, general view from the southeast, late
12th c.
16. Cyprus, Lagoudera" Panagia Arakou, general view of the interior
to the east showing Virgin Eleousa and Christ as proskynetaria
flanking the apse, 1192; the iconostasis is an early modern
addition.
17. Cyprus, near Paphos, Enkleistra of St. Neophytos, processional
icon of the Virgin, late 12th c.
18. Kastoria, Mavriotissa Monastery, detail of the Koimesis on the
west wall of the nave, late 11th c.
19. Cyprus, Kato Lefkara, Church of the Archangel, apse, the infant
Christ as the eucharistic saoifice, third quarter of the 12th c.
20. Istanbul, St. Sophia, m aic, Virgin and Child in the central apse,
probably 867.
21. Pari, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. grec. 139, David singing in a
bucolic setting, fol. Iv I 10th c.
22. Mount Athos, cod. 587, fot. 116r, St. Symeon the
Stylite, mid-ll th c.
23. Hosios Loukas in Phokis, vault mosaic, Christ and the Virgin,
early lIth c. .
24. Vatican, Barb. gr. 372, fol. Sr, Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia
with their son Michael or Constantine, 1060.
25. Istanbul, Zeyrek Camii, the Pantokrator Monastery, plan, early
12th c.
26. Vatican, Barb. gr. 372, Barberini Psalter, the raising of Hezekiah
on a shield, fol. 3Ov, probably 1092.
27. Cyprus, Asinou, Panagia Phorbiotissa, south conch of narthex,
St. George, late 12th c.
28. Budapest, National Museum, crown with Constantine IX, the
empresses Zoe and Theodora, and dancing girls, 1042-55.
29. Mount Athos, Stauronikita cod. 43, fol. 11r, author portrait of
Mark, third quarter of the 10th c.
30. Vatican, PaJ. gr. 431, Joshua Roll, detail including the
personification of Mount Ebal, 960s (?).
31. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. gr. 139, fol. 5v, David's
,r eception, %05 (?).
32. Cappadocia, Goreme Valley, Tokah Kilise, New Church, Peter
anointing the deacons, mid-10th c.
33. Cleveland, Museum of Art, cod. acc. no. 42, 1512, St. Matthew,
mid-11th c.
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,

List of Illustrations Xl
34. Cyprus, Asinou, Panagia Phorbiotissa, west barrel vault of the

nave, Pentecost, 1105-6.
35. Vezelay, Ste.-Madeleine, tympanum of the central portal, relief
representing the Pentecost and Mission of the Apostles, ca.
1125- 30. .
36. Cappadocia, Goreme Valley, C;;:ankl.J Kilise, panel with the donors
Theognostos (in a turban), Leo, and Michael, mid-11th c.
37. Kastoria, Mavriotissa, detail from the Koimesis with pseudo-
Kufic, late lIth c.
38. Amphissa, Soter, detail of the brickwork from the north fa~ade,
12th c.
39. Vatican, cod. gr. 1613, Menologion of Basil II, Nestor's conversion
of the Ethiopian eunuch, p. 197, c. 1000.
40. Vezelay, general view to the east of the interior, 12th c.
41. Cyprus, Lagoudera, Panagia Arakou, general view toward the
dome, 1192.
42. Princeton, University Library, cod. Garrett 16, fol. 194r, monks
ascending toward heaven, 11 th c.
43. Istanbul, St. Sophia, mosaic in the south tribune, Empress Zoe,
her consort, and Christ, 1034- 42.
44. Cappadocia, Goreme Valley, Tokah Kilise, Old Church, John the
Baptist preaching, early 10th c . .
45. Ohrid, St. Sophia, Communion of the Apostles, mid-11th c.
46. Perachorio, Communion of the Apostles, central apse of the
church, third quarter of the 12th c.
47. Cappadocia, Goreme Valley, Karanhk Kilise, Nikephoros
Presbyter, one of two donors in the conch of the church,
mid-11th c.
48. Cyprus, near Paphos, Enkleistra of St. Neophytos, bema,
Neophytos canied to heaven by archangels, 1183.
49. Cyprus, near Paphos, Enkleistra of St. Neophytos, opening of the
passage between the nave of the chapel and Neophytos's retreat,
1196.
SO. Carpignano, 55. Marina and Christina, angel of the
Annunciation, 959.
51. Kurbinovo, St. George, angel of the Annunciation, 1191.
52. Cappadocia, Goreme Valley, Ktll\lar Kilise, Crucifixion,
early lOth c.
53. Kastoria, Mavriotissa Monastery, Crucifixion, late lIth c.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a <.


ABBREVIATI ONS
PERIOD ICALS
AB Ana/eela Bollandiana
ABull Art Bulletin
ADSV Anticnaja drevnost' i srednie veka
A/A American Journal of Archaeology
Arch. Archeologija
BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
BS Byzantinoslavicn
Byz. Byzantion
Byz. Bu/g. Byzantinobulgaricn
Byz. Forsch . Byzantinische Forscl/Ungen
BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift
CA Cahiers archeologiques
DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers
EEBS Epeteris Hetaireias Byzantinon Spoudon
EO Echos d'Orient
GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies
lRAIK Izvestija Russkogo Arche%giceskogo lnstituta v
Konstantinopole
Izv. Arch. Inst. lzvesti;a IIa Archeologiceskija lnstitut
.. ..
JOB Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantinistik
PPSb Pravoslavnyj Pa/estinski; sbomik
REB Revue des etudes byzantines
RESEE Revue des etudes sud-est europeeltnes
TM Travaux et memoires
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

XlV Abbreviations
VOt Vizantijskie oterki

VV Vizantijskij vremennik
ZRVI Zbornikradova VizantolofuJg instituta
PRIMARY SOURCES AND COLLECTIONS

AASS Acta Sanctorum Bollandiana (Paris, 1863-19(0)
An. C. Anna Comnena, Alexiade, ed. B. Leib and
P. Gautier, vols. 1-4 (Paris, 1967-76)
Attal. Michael Attaleiates, HistoriD, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn,
1953)
Ben. Tud. Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary, ed. and transl.
A. Asher (New York, 1907)
Bibl. eecl. A. Demetrakopoulos, Bibliotheca ecclesiastica
(Leipzig, 1866)
Boissonade J. F. Boissonade, Anecdota graeca, 5 vols. (Paris,
1829- 33)
Bryen. Nikephoros Bryennios, Histoire. ed. P. Gautier
(Brus els, 1975)
Chr. Mytil. Christopher of Mytilene, Die Gedichte, ed. E. Kurtz
(Leipzig, 1903)
CMH Cambridge Medieval Histury, vol. 4, part 2, ed. J. M.
Hussey (1%7)
Esp. See Eust. Esp.
Eust. Esp. Eustathios of Thessaloniki, La espugnazione di
Tessalonica, ed. S. Kyriakidis (Palermo, 1961)
Eust. Opusc. Eustathios of Thessaloniki, Opuscula, ed. Th. L. F.
Tafel (Frankfurt, 1~2; rep.r int: Amsterdam, 1%4)
Fontes W. Regel, Fontes rerum byzantinarum, vols. 1-2 (St.
Petersburg, 1892- 1917; reprint: Leipzig, 1982)
Hist . Ged. Theodore Prodromos, Historische Gedichte, ed.
W. Horandner (Vienna, 1974)
Kek. Kekaumenos, Savety i rasskazy, ed. G. G. Litavrin
(Moscow, 1972)
Kinn. John Kinnamos, Epitome rerum ab loanne et Alexia
(sic; should read: Manuele] Comnmis gestarum,
ed. A. Meineke (Bonn, 1836)
L. Petit, "Typicon du monastere de la Kosmosotira
pres d'Aenos," lRAIK 13 (1908),17- 77
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r

Abbreviations xv
LAvra Actes de LAvra, ed. P. Lemerle, A. Guillou, N. G.

Svoronos, D. Papachryssanthou, vol. 1 (Paris,
1970)
Leo Diac. Leo the Deacon, Historine libri X, ed. C. B. Hase
(Bonn, 1828)
Logo; dyo Nicholas of Methone, Logoi dyo, ed.
A. Demetrakopoulos (Leipzig, 1865)
MGH 55 Monumenta Gernumiae Historica, Scriptores, ed. G. H.
Pertz, Th. Mommsen, et al. (Hannover,
1826-1934)
Mich. Akom. Michael Choniates, Ta sozomena, ed. 5. Lampros,
vols. 1- 2 (Athens, 1879-80)
Mich. Ital. Michael [talikos, Lettres et discours, ed. P. Gautier
(Paris, 1972)
MM F. Miklosich a nd J. Miiller, Acta et diplomata graeca,
vols. 1- 6 (Vienna, ]860- 90)
Nic. KaU. Nicholas Kallikles, Carmi, ed. R. Romano (Naples,
1980)
Nic. Mesar. Nicholas Mesarites, "Description of the Church of

the Holy Apostles at Constantinople," ed. and
trans. G. Downey, Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society, n.s. 47 (1957),857- 924
Nik. Chon. Niketas Choniates, Historia, ed. J. A. van Dieten
(New York, Berlin, 1975)
Nik. Chon. Orat. Niketas Choniates, Orationes et epistulae, ed. J. A.
van Dieten (Berlin, 1972)
Opusc. See Eust. Opusc.
PG J. P. Migne, Patrologiae ClIrsuS completus, series graeca
(paris, 1857- 66)
PL J. P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina
(Paris, 1840- 80)
Poemes prodr. Pohnes prodromiques en grecque vulgaire, ed. D. C.
Hesseling and H. Pernot (Amsterdam, 1910;
reprint: Wiesbaden, 1968)
Ps. Chron. Psellos, Chronographia, ed. E. Renauld, 2 vols.
(paris, 1926- 28)
Ps. Scripta min. Michael Psellos, Scripta minora, ed. F. Kurtz and
P. Drexl, vols. 1-2 (Milan, 1936-41)
Reg. F. D6lger, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des
ostromisdlen Reidles, vols. 1- 2 (Munich, Berlin,
1924- 25)
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r

XVI Abbreviations
Reg. patr. V. Crumel, Lesregestes des actes du Patriarchal de

Constantinople, vols. 2- 3 (1936-47)
Sathas, MB K. N. Sathas, Mesaionike bibliotheke, vols. 1-7
(Venice, Paris, 1872-94)
Scripta min. See Ps. Scripta min.
Skyl. John Skylitzes, Synopsis historiarum, ed. J. Thurn
(Berlin, New York, 1973)
Sky!. Cont. John Skylitzes, He synecheia les chronographias, ed.
Eu. Tsolakis (Thessaloniki, 1968)
Takt. Leo VI, Taktika, PG 107 (1863), 672- 1120
Theoph. Theophanes, Chronographin, vo!' 1, ed. C. de Boor
(Leipzig, 1883; reprint: Hildesheim, 1963)
Theoph. Cont. Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn,
1838)
Tzetzes, Ep. John Tzetzes, Epistulae, ed. P. A. M. Leone
(Leipzig, 1972)
Tzetzes, Hist. John Tzetzes, Hisiorine, ed. P. A. M. Leone (Naples,
1968)
Zepos, Jus J. and P. Zepos, Jus graecoromanum, vols. 1-8
(Athens, 1931)
Zon. John Zonaras, Epitome historiarum, vol. 3, ed.
M. Buttner-Wobst (Bonn, 1897)
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r

ACKNO LEDGMENTS
This work is a collaborative effort by a historian and an art historian

that began in the pring of 1979. Alexander Kazhdan had then recently
anived from the Soviet Union to take a position at the Center for Byzan-
tine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.; Ann Epstein wa
still in residence there as a F How for the 1978- 79 acad mic year. We
drafted the first chapter together in the summer of 1979. Drafts of the
other five chapters have made numerous jOllrneys between Washington
and Durham, North Carolina, generating in their round a great deal of
rap paper and fruitful argument. Our disagreement were, in fact,
smaU; the ar as of our agr em nt are vast. Most fundamentally, we be-
lieve that understanding i best gleaned through a ynthetic approach to
cultur . The narrow bord r of any discipline imp e arbitrary limita-
tion on history. 1n thi era of increa ing specialization, the stimulation
and insight that come of working closely with a colleague in a neighbor-
ing di dpline is one of the few remedie for th desiccation of the hu-
manities. Our shared purpose and perspective wa complemented by
our mutual affection and respect.
Our work has entailed many debts. We both want to thank Peter
Brown, editor of this series, and Doris Kretschm r of the Univ rsity of
CaHfornia Press, and as well James Epstein, Robert Browning, Anthony
Cutl r, Charles Young, and Kent Rig by, for their omments n variou
draft of this work. Our collaboration was gr atly faciHtated by a grant
from the American Philo ophical Society, a well as by the Center for
Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks and it director, Giles Constable.
Elizabeth Mansell and David Page of the Department of Art at Duke
COPY 91' ed fT1

XVlll Acknowledgments
University and Charlotte Burk of the Photographic Archive at Dumbar-

ton Oaks have kindly assisted us in the iUustration of this volume. We
particularly want to thank Mary Cash and Denise Franks for their care
and patience in typing our manuscript. Ann Epstein wishes to express
her gratitude to th Humanities Council of Duke University, who sup-
ported her leave from teaching responsibilities during the academic year
1981 - 82 with a faculty grant from the Mellon Foundation .
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r
I
,
INTRODUCTION
When little is known of a society, whether it is distanced from us by

time or by geography, there is a tendency to conceive of it as simple and
static. Byzantium, that dark sphere at the eastern edge of medieval Eu-
rope, is regarded by even a welJ-educated layman as the immutable
re idue of Rome's decline, interesting for its resplendent decadence,
intrigues, and icons. Battles and provinces might be won or lost, dynas-
ties might end in a flurry of nose splittings and blindings, but the ideo-
logical construct remained unperturbed: a sumptuou , a world
of static values and changeless institutions. The assumption of Byzan-
tium's changelessness grows from the West's bias for the rhythms of its
own development: in comparison to the social and political upheavals of
medieval Europe, the Eastern empire seems quiescent. This prejudice is,
furthermore, complacently maintained because of a scarcity of ources
fTom Byzantium and because of the conservatism of those sources that
do survive. But all cultures, past or present, are rich in their complexi-
ties. That some societies are survived by less documentation than others
does not mean that they were less complicated. An anonymous work of
art is not necessarily cruder or more easily understood than one associ-
ated with a name or even with a personality; a culture cannot be judged
immutable because it had no newspapers.
In an effort to modify this sensuously ponderous image of Byzan-
tium, we have put our emphasis on change in the empire, change within
the narrow bounds of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. By limiting the
time-frame of our study, we can consider change on a human scale: we
can look at material changes that occurred over decades as well as at ab-
stract changes that occurred ove.r centuries. The reader may feel in the
(,opy' (jl"ted 'T a '-

xx Introduction
end that we have overdramatized the change that took place in Byzan-
tium. Lf we have, it is in a to timuJate discus ion of both the
structural shifts in the empire and the means of identifying the e basic
development .
The sources for Byzantine history are limited. Th r are no day tab-
I t hopping list or papyru hipping accounts. Only a few monastic
archive . with docum nt concerning land donations and peas-
ant taxe , and of date from th first half of the fourteenth
century. The works of Byzantin historians are usually reliable, but often
they provid information rather than insight, facts rather than percep-
tions. Developments in the form and emphasis of the e histories have
proved more useful for identifying changes in society than have the po-
litical events the historians r corded in them. Similarly, by their style

and approach the authors of works in other literary genres, from poetry
through

encomia and saint ' live to foundation document, unwittingly
have provided glimp s into Byzantium' preoccupation. But largely
becau e of it fragmentary natur , Byzantine Literature is not an enviable
re ource for under tanding the medieval Ea t. Con equ ntly, we have
ought t supplement our by considering Ie explicit media.
Our primary ourc s apart from literature are the material remains
of Byzantium . Potentially th riches t field of investigation is archaeol-
ogy. An wer to que tions of land and livestock use, as well as of urban
expan ion and dwelling modes, lie just below the urface of the Mace-
donian massif and of the Boulevard Ataturk. Unfortunately, there they
are likely to remain until archaeolOgical expeditions are better funded
than they now are. Such infollnation as has so far been gathered in the
trenche we have incorporated into our analysis. The e onomic life of
th empire, as reconstruct d from the encrusted pocket money of the
Rhomaioi, also figure in our overview.
But the part of the material culture of Byzantium that mo t absorbs
our attention is its art. Byzantium's contribution to the stock of the
world's great works ha long been appreciated. Art historian have, how-
v r, tended to enshroud th mpire in a cloak of artistic predestination,
plotting it stylistic and iconographic path from antiquity to the fall of
Con tantinopJe. It form are often presented as having a life distinct
from and, inde d, above that of the society that produced them. One
architectural hi torian went 0 far as to remark, "How strange that such a
d cad nt society could produce such gr at architecture." We do not be-
Ii ve that life and art ar so separate. In the pre ent study, manuscript
ilJuminations, mosaic , buildings, and other art fOlo\ are treated as evi-
d nee for understanding social change. As with literature, we have at-
C pyr grted l'1a r I

Introduction XXi
tempted to interpret in these forms not only shifts in subject matter but
also reflections of the broader patterns of the culture. This way of look-
ing at art is new to us. By no means have we seen all that can be seen.
Our essay represents only an initial effort in using art as a historical
document.
Three technical points must be mentioned. First, regarding the

transliteration of Greek terms and names: following the old Roman prin-
ciple, we have represented Greek letters by their Latin equivalent . Pro-
nunciation has not been taken into account. Thus both epsilon and eta are
ted bye, although in spoken medieval Greek they were pro-
nounced differently; or again, the Greek chi has nothing to do with the
English sound ch used in this book to render it. We also followed tradi-
tion by rendering the upsilon as y, rather than as u. Our treatment of
Greek diphthongs is an exception to our basically graphic approach. It
would be ridiculous to write aytokrafor, considering such English forills
as "automobile." We deviated from Latin principles by rendering the
diphthongs oi, ai, and ou as such, and not as oe, ae, and u (e.g., paroikoi,
scholai) and by using k, not c, for the Greek kappa.
Transcribing Byzantine names is even more problematic. We tried to
preserve traditional fOJms for all geographic names: e.g., Athens, Con-
stantinople. Familiar fLf'St names we tried to render as closely as possible
to modem English: John, Nicholas, and Constantine, not Ioannes, Ni-
kolaos, or Konstantinos. For rare fLf'St names and for family name that
have no English equivalents, we applied the same principles as for the
terms, e.g., AJexios and PseUos, not Alexius or Psellus. We did, how-
ever, retain conventional spellings for well-known last names, uch as
Comnenus and PaJaeologus.
Second, because the points that we make from literature, Like those
that we make from monuments, require illustration, we have included
texts as well as plates in this volume. Although both texts and plates
might function better were they introduced into the book at the point at
whic.h they are discussed, such an arrangement is prohibitively expen-
sive. Consequently they are gathered in two sections at the end of the
work.
Finally, regarding references: because of the flood of scholarly litera-
ture, references threaten to outgrow the text. The danger is especiaUy
great in books, such as this one, that treat a broad range of subjects. We
tried to control our appetite for references, not always.successfully. We
sought to place short references within the text itself and to avoid "ex-
planatory notes," those minute monographs rarely relevant to the sub-
(,opy' (jrted 'T a '-

)(Xu Introduction
ject of the book. When they do occur in our volume, they usually
due to final revisions. Dates of emperors and other prominent individu-
als have been included in the index. We ask the readers' forbearance in
re peel to any failures of and hope that they wi)] remember
how many more troublesome difficulties we had to overcome, being per-
sons of different ages, backgrounds, and fields of study .
C pyr grted l'1a r I

BACKGROUND: FROM LATE

ANTI UITY TO THE MIDDLE
AGES
RESTRUCTURING THE EMPIRE:

THE SEVENTH CENTURY
No state titled Byzantium by either its population or its government
ever existed. This conventional label appeared only in the sixteenth cen-
tury, well after the fall of the empire. The people who inhabited the
empire's towns and countryside in the Middle Ages continued to use
the tradition-honored title, the Roman Empire (basileia ton RJlOmaion), as
their self-designation. The term Byzantion was applied only to the em-
pire's capital, but even that usage was an affected anachronism, alluding
to the remote past, since in 330 A. D. the old city of Byzantium on the
Bosporus had been rededicated by Constantine the Great to his own
glory as Constantinople. Contemporaries usuaIJy referred to the capital
as "the imperial city" or, literally, "the queen of cities," the Greek word
for "city" (polis) being feminine. The state was called Romania by its
western neighbors and Rmn by some of its eastern ones. And there are
scholars who prefer "the East Roman Empire" to "the Byzantine
Empire." Since, then, no emperor, senate, or band of audacious rebels
ever a the Roman Empire and introduced in its stead a new Byz-
antine state, any date chosen as marking the transition from Roman an-
tiquity to medieval Byzantium remains as conventional as the name
Byzantium itself. In their yearning for strict definition and exact chro-
nology, scholars have identified this transition with certain events of po-
liticaJ history, such as the inauguration of the city in 330 or the division

2 CHANGE IN BYZANTINE CULTURE
of the Late Roman Empire in 395. But neither date satisfactorily fixes a
moment of transition. The division of the empire in 395 was by no
means final, and Constantinople remained an imperial residence rather
than the capital of the empire until at least the mid-fifth century. The
essence of the matter is that the Late Roman Empire, despite all its al-
terations, remained an ancient state, with life focused on the city the
polis or municipium. Culture remained predominantly urban in character.
The seventh century was more critical to the evolution of medieval so-
ciety than was the fourth. It was then that, by and large, this ancient,
mban way of life disappeared. Of course not all cities ceased to exist in
the seventh century. Nor was urban decline limited to the seventh cen-
tury; already in the sixth century, city life wa losing its cultural impor-
tance. Moreover, the a isis of the ancient polis took different forms in dif-
ferent regions. The seventh century is simply a crude demarcation for
this shift, though one with a rationale: the Byzantine Empire was differ-
ently clad after the seventh century than it had been before.
Many basic changes in the culture of the eastern Mediterranean oc-
curred dwing this period. Numismatic evidence suggests that dwing
the second half of the seventh century and throughout the eighth cen-
tury a barter economy became increasingly important, I as it did in the
West over the significantly longer time that has been disdainfully labeled
the Dark Ages. Archaeologists have demonstrated the d esertion of many
provincial cities from the mid-seventh century onward. Even in Con-
stantinople building activity was limited to modest repair work. The gap
in literary production is particularly appalling: not only were historians
silent after the middle of the seventh century, but even the hagiog-
rapheTs, writers in the dominant genre of the Middle Ages, cannot claim
any notable literary achievements until the end of the eighth century.
Perhaps an analysis of the social background of the heroes of hagi-
ography will shed ome light on the shift in the seventh century. Many
saints of the fourth to sixth centuries originated in an urban milieu-
both in large cities such as Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, and
in smaller po/eis like Emesa, Apameia, Pecge, Edessa, and Chalcedon.
Very fewaints of this period can be shown to have been connected with
the peasantry. Theodore of Sykeon, who died at the beginning of the
seventh century, is harbinger of a change: he was a peasant himself, and
1. C. Foss, ''The Persians in Asia Minor and the End of Antiquity," The En-
glish Historical Review 357 (1975), 728 - 42; Ch. Bouras, "City and Village: Urban
Design and Architecture:' lOB 31 /2 (1981),615.

From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages 3
his vita shows a close concern with the problems of the country life.
Among saints of the seventh to ninth centuries a few may be associated
directly with Constantinople, and fewer still with Thessaloniki. Smaller
provincial towns rarely appear in the hagiographic scene. Theodore of
Edessa and Elias the Younger of Heliopolis seem to be the only genuine
townspeople within this group, but, quite typically, both of these saints
lived beyond the imperial frontier. During the same period a significant
number of saints stemmed from peasant families (e.g., David, Symeon,
and George of Mytilene, Demetrianos of Cyprus, Euthymios the Younger,
loannikios the Great, Philaretos), were children of country priests, or
belonged to the country gentry. The provincial polis, so picturesquely
described in the vita of Symeon the Fool, Z virtually disappeared from
hagiography after the seventh century; its absence corresponds to the
disappearance of city life on the periphery of the empire.
The microstructures and cultural values of urban civilization simi-
larly went into abeyance. Ancient civilization was open and public. City
life concentrated on the marketplace, the theater, and the circus. It was
found in the broad porticos flanking the main streets. In Byzantium aU
public forllls of life were radically recast. Traditional city planning based
on the Greco-Roman gridiron system was abandoned, and trading often
centered on the narrow, organic alleys of medieval sites. The last de-
fense of the theater was voiced in the sixth century thereafter the the-
ater was equated with paganism and with moral decadence. ) The circus,
too, was abandoned, or at least it lost its social significance. Public baths
ceased to function. Not only were public libraries and "universities"
dosed, but the book itself acquired a new shape, the codex, better fitted
for reference work and for individual use than the ancient roll, which
required two hands to hold and which for the most part was read aloud.
Silent reading without Up movement began to become more common
around 400 St. Augustine was still amazed when he saw St. Ambro-
sius reading a book silently to himself.
Concur.rently, basic social structures also changed. The family, so
loose and feeble during the last centuries of the Roman Empire, became
2. L. Ryden, Das Leben des Jteiligm Narren Symeon von u '.Ontio tlOII NeaTmlis
(Stockholm, 1963), used by A. P. Rudakov, Oterki vizolltijskoj kul'tllry po danllym

greleskoj agiografii (Moscow, 1917), 103f. and C. Mango, Byzantium , tire Empire
of Nf'W Rome (London, 1980), 64f. On the life of a provincial center, see also
G. Dagron, Vie et miracles de Sainte Thede (Brussels, 197H).
3. J. J. Tierney, " Ancient Dramatic Theory and Its Survival in the Apologia
mimorum of Choricius of Gaza," Hellellikn, parartema 9, no. 3 (1958), 259 - 74.
Cooyr gtltec rra

increasingly tightly knit from the sixth century on, functioning as the
nucleus of society. The ancient gens, or clan, Jost any ignificance, and
even the usage of the nomen gentile, or family name, was abandoned.
Practically, the nuclear family was the essential social microstructure,
but ideologically the Byzantines went even further, proclaiming celibacy
and virginity as the highe t social ideal.
Life became increasingly constricted. In antiquity the typical upper-
class dwelling had be n open to nature. Even urban houses had cen-
tered On an impluvium, which introduced fresh air and rain into the in-
terior; a small garden had also usually been part of the house, and,
further, natllralistic floor mosaics and frescos had shown plants and ani-
mals indoors. In Byzantium the open habitat was apparently replaced by
two- or thtee-story building with little interior open space. The only
courtyard appears to have been that cut from the space of the public
street, although the roof may have been used for domestic purposes.
The ground floor seem to have be n given over to utilities storage
rooms or even a donkey-drawn mill.~
Increa ing self-isolation is also evident in the Byzantines' spiritual
life. Religious rit1lal was progressively deprived of its public features.
With the popularization of Christianity, reHgion wa . transferred from
the open space of the public altar to the enclosed space of the church
building. Perhaps to compensate, the church interior came to be inter-
preted by theologians and probably the people too a a microcosm; the
annual, weekly, and daily liturgies ted the cyclical nature of
time. Early ecclesiastical entries that had moved between the e terior
and the interior of the church were incorporated within the structure.
The scale of sanctuaries changed equally dramatically. The voluminous
monument of the sixth century had no counterparts of equal ize in
later centurie .
o cond mn the seventh and eighth centuries as a Dark Age of
decline and collapse would be misleadingly simplistic. Ba ic internal
changes occurred under the tumultuous surface of history, proces es so
broad that they largely escaped the attention of contemporaries and still
remain unclear to modern scholars. For instance, it may be plausibly
sug ested that the crisis of the urban civilization of the seventh century
coincided with an upsurge of the importance of villages. Unfortunately
the archaeological study of the countryside in Asia Minor or in Greece is
4. See the description of an urban mansion in Michael Attaleiates' lypiko1/

of 10/7 (MM 5:297f.). On two-story houses in medieval Cherson, see A. L.
Jakobson, Rarme!>redlleuckouyj Chersones (Moscow and Leningrad, 1959), 185f.

in its infancy; work in the Crimea, however, indicates that the decline of
Late Roman Cherson was concurrent with the flourishing of local vil-
lages in the eighth century.'
Diet and agriculture may also have changed. Little evidence survive
concerning Byzantine food consumption. Nonetheless, a comparison of
the figures established by E. Patlagean for bread consumption in the
Late Roman Empire with those for the eleventh and twelfth centuries
shows a sharp decrease in the amount of bread eaten. 6 This reduction
may have been at least in part due to Byzantium's loss of Egypt and
North Africa during the seventh century; these had been the two most
important sources of grain in the Roman Empire. Other Byzantine gran-
aries were also lost. Sicily was e.ized by the Arabs by the ninth century,
and the steppes on the Black Sea coast were also removed from imperial
control for a time. Did these changes lead to food shortages and an in-
creased danger of starvation, or was the diminishing grain supply re-
placed by other varieties of nourishment? We can only speculate on the
answer. Several registers available for Late Roman Asia Minor and neigh-
boring islands show serious underdevelopment in sheep and cattle
breeding. Yet at a later medieval date foreigners expressed surprise at
the number of cattle in 'Byzantium and especially at the large herds on
7
the Aegean islands. If a change did take place, is it pos ible to deter-
mine when?
The Fanner's Law may provide significant reflections on change, al-
8
though the document is notoriously problematic. We know neither the'
date nor the place of its promulgation nor what its exact nature was.
Whether the Fanner's Law was a state regulation or a collection of local
customs is unclear. Exactly how broad or narrow was the geographical
sphere of its application is also unknown. It is generally recognized,
however, that the Farmer's Law was issued sometime in the seventh or
the eighth century. Since olive trees are not mentioned in the text, it is
likely that the FaJiner's Law related to inland areas (of Asia Minor?). The
lack of any mention of horses and the frequent references to wild beasts
and forests suggest a mountainous region. In any case, the Farmer's Law
5. A. L. Jakobson, Rannfsrednevekovye sel'skie poseienija /ugo-ZafXldnoj Tauri/o

(Lening rad, 1970), csp. 146 and 181. Some remarks on the countryside in Mes-
senia have been made by J. Rosser, "A Research Strategy for Byzantine Archaeol-
ogy," Byzantine Studit.'S 6 (1982),117-22.
6. A. P. Kazhdan, "Two Notes on Byzantine DemogTaphy of the Eleventh
and Twelfth Centuries," Byz. Forsell. 8 (1982),117-22.
7. See below, Chapter 2.
8. P. Lemerle, The Agrarian History of ByulIJtium (Galway, 1979), 27- 67.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

does apply primarily to those peasants engaged in cattle breeding. Not

only does the number of entries dedicated to cattle breeding outstrip
those related to farming, but also it occupies a privileged position: cattle
breeding is the only occupation still involving slave labor. Further, in the
case of damage caused by a domestic animal, the law protects the owner
of the animal rather than the owner of the field or vineyard. This has a
parallel in the Western leges barbaronlm, which aJso favored livestock
owners. Bulgarian excavations provide some further evidence of in-
creased cattle breeding in Byzantium (see Chapter 2, pp. 29ft.).
Along with the cn is of urban life and the basic economic shifts in
Byzantium there occurred a simplification of the social structure. The
curiales, the elite of provinciaJ cities, disappeared after the seventh cen-
tury; moreover, there is no evidence from the eighth century of the con-
tinued existence of large estates. The only document that can be cited in
this connection is the vita of 5t. Phila.r etos, written by the saint's nephew
Niketas of Amnia. 9 From information in his vita, Phila.retos appears to
have been a wealthy landlord: he is said to have had about fifty estates
(proasteiil) and numerous herds of cattle (the figure are slightly different
in the two surviving versions of the vita). If these proasteia had been
comparable to later estates, and if his herds had been large, then Phi-
laretos would indeed have been a rich man. But the fact is, all fifty of
Philaretos's estates were located within a single village, Amnia, and all
his herds grazed on the grass around the same village. Further, al-
though Philaretos possessed the roomiest and the most beautiful house
in the village, his life was not one of leisure. He appears in his vita plow-
ing his allotment aJong with other members of the village. Any evidence
of wealth provided by saints' vitae must be treated cautiously.
Not only are provincial elites and their estates absent from eighth
century sources; so also are the dependent peasantry (paroikoi). An argu-
m ntum ex silentio is always very weak; a decline, however, in the
number of dependent peasants in the eighth century is suggested by a
general unfamiliarity with the terms for them when they do reappear in
the econd half of the ninth century. When Byzantine legislators tried to
reintroduce Roman law (as discussed below, p. ]6), they used Roman
designations for dependent peasants without understanding their origi-
nal meanings. Even the term paroikoi, known during the Late Roman pe-
riod and eventually used for the major group of dependent villagers,
was conceived in the eighth and ninth centuries only in its BiblicaJ
sense, "stranger" or "tenant."
9. On this tlita , see J. W. Ne bitt, "The Life of S. Philaretos (702 - 792) and Its
Significance for Byzantine Agriculture," GRBS 14 (1%9), 159- 80.
Copy r gl"tea 'T a '"

From Late Antiquity to the MiddJe Ages 7
While provincial urban life disappeared and rural society was sim-
plified, there was some continuity of sociaJ organization in the capital.
Most notably, elements of the state bureaucracy survived. The ruling
class seems to have been unstable, loose, and fraught with the insecuri-
ties of vertical mobility. Only rarely did children inherit their fathers' ad-
ministrative positions. At least within the imperial circle relatives were
regarded as competitors rather than as later the natural supporters
of the ruler. Thus it appears that the first concern of an emperor was to
mutilate his brothers and uncles in order to frustrate their ambitions.
The history of the seventh century is fuU of the bloody maiming of impe-
rial relations. Among the more bizarre instances of this habit is that of
Justinian H, whose nose was cut off after his deposition, but who man-
aged to regain the throne and take his revenge on those who had de-
throned and mangled him.
It is very hard to determine the values held by this unstable elite offi-
cialdom. Neither noble origin, nor martial prowess, nor fealty, nor large
landholdings, nor trade profit were regarded in themselves as virtues.
Saints' vitae sometimes mention the noble origin of their subjects and
the wealth of their parents, but this may be a topos. Theophanes, the
leading historian of the early ninth century, is very careful in his use of
the teIU' "noble" (eugenes). According to Maximos the Confessor'S vita,
the saint belonged to an ancient and noble family, yet this noble heritage
is not mentioned by Theophanes. In contrast, Theophanes calls Muham-
med's spouse ellgenes, although he could not have intended to flatter the
wife of the Moslem "pseudo-prophet." Nor was Theophanes enamored
of military heroism; for instance, he did not hesitate to describe victories
won by Constantine V, whom the historian styled "dung-named"
(kopronymos), the "worst" among the hated Iconoclast emperors. Mer-
cantile activity was also regarded as valueless. In the mid-ninth century
Emperor Theophilos ordered the ship of his wife, Theodora, to be
burned with all its freight. He was disgusted with the empress's trading
interests and wished to avoid being called "shipowner" or "captain."
Contemporary definitions of the Byzantine elite are very rare, espe-
cially in this period. Therefore an edict issued by Empress Eirene that
classes elites is particularly valuable. She included in her group of
"honorable" persons the clergy, two strata of officials (the archons and
the so-called po/itellomenoi), soldiers, and those who lived in piety. lo In
fact, piety remained the only universally acknowledged value of social
ethics; it tended to be substituted for aU the fragile, mundane values of
10. L. Burgmann, "Die Novellen der Kaiserin Eirene," Fontes minores 4
(1981), 20.54-56.

the ancient world. The unage of the holy man as an ideal of social behav-
ior acquired tremendous significance. Although this image was a cre-
ation of an earlier age, it had grown enorillously in stature by the eighth
century, even overshadowing the image of the ideal emperor. 11 Concur-
rently, the eighth century witnessed the expansion of the cults of relics
and of icons a veneration that at times took peculiar and exaggerated
fo][ns.
Because urban centers contracted and the provincial "small aristoc-
racy" practically disappeared, there was no stable layer between the bu-
reaucratic elite of the capital, supported by salaries, imperial grants,
extortions, and bribes, and the working population, which consisted
largely of legally independent peasants. Peasants fonned the village
community, but the integrity of the Byzantine village community re-
mained rather loose. The Byzantine countryside, which is for the most
part stony and hilly, supported labor-intensive agriculture (vineyards,
gardens, olive trees). 12 With irrigation rarely and poorly used and trans-
humance common, conditions did not favor any form of collective labor
or collective supervision of fields. Peasants' lots were s1.JIIounded by
ditches and stone walls; there is no hint of an "open-field" system. The
plow was light and wheelless, of the so-called ard-type, requiring only
two oxen (in contrast, eight-oxen teams were common in northern Eu-
rope). In the East, consequently, peasants had no reason for pooling
their efforts to the soil. The basic social unit of the countryside was
the nuclear family supported by close relatives and neighbors. Neigh-
bors might even obtain an enlarged uSllfiUct, including the rights to
mow grass or collect chestnuts on neighboring allotments. The village
could act communally at fetes and in danger, but this unity was not or-
ganic, and the conununity was atomized, consisting of isolated families.
The wealth of Byzantium was dependent largely on the peasants. Of
course, no figures exist by which their agricultural contribution to the
Byzantine economy can be calculated, but the general impression is that
from the seventh century the role of craft and trade diminished signifi-
cantly. The number of coins, especially copper pieces, in circulation, dj-
11. P. Brown, Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity (Berkeley and Los An-
geles, 1982), esp. 103- 52 and 251-301.
12. No comprehenSive survey of Byzantine agriculture has yet been pub-
lished. Enormous but unsystematized material is presented by Ph. Koukoules,
Vie et civilisation byzantines 5 (Athens, 1952), 245 - 343. Also see A. P. Kazhdan, "Jz
ekonomic~skoj !izni Vizantii XI - XII vV.," VOl 2 (Moscow, 1971), 186- 95; J. L.
Teall. "The Byzantine Agricultural Tradition," DOP 25 (1971), 33- 59.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a '"

minished as well, suggesting that Byzantine country life from the sev-
enth to the ninth centuries was based more on a barter economy than on
money.
The peasant were both the taxpayers and the protectors of the fron-
tier. The Roman fiscal machine seems to have decayed by the seventh
century; how taxes were collected after that time j unclear. At any rate,
municipia ceased to be centers of fiscal organization, and repre entatives
of the Constantinopolitan administration assumed the responsibility of
gathering taxes. Since revenues were collected primarily in coin, of
which there was a severe shortage, peasants often had recourse only to
usurer; consequently, tax collectors and moneylenders became the prin-
ciple objects of the people's hatred. Many peasants further supported
the empire as soldiers. Despite the fact that the empire was almost con-
tinuously at war, there was no professional army. The bulk of the rather
large Byzantine army consisted of the so-called stratiotai, whose duty it
was to serve during military campaigns or enemy' . . They sup-
plied their own horses and weapons. During periods of peace, however,
these same men worked their fields and vineyards. Their property was
not significantly larger than a peasant's; this made their burden particu-
larly onerou . Even the scanty surviving sources occasionally preserve
the complaints of poverty-stricken warriors.
Other social and political forms show a general trend toward sim-
plification. During the seventh and eighth centuries Byzantium was di-
vided into new territorial units called themata, or themes. The themes
coincided neither territorially nor administratively with Late Roman
provinces. In contrast to the sophisticated network of civil and military
officials in Late Roman provinces, themes were ruled by a single gover-
nor (strategos) who functioned as judge, tax collector, and commander of
the local militia. Restrictions were impo ed to limit the powers of the
governor: the post could not be inherited, the strategos was not allowed
.to acquire lands within his theme, and the central government tried to
move strategoi constantly from one theme to another. Nevertheless, by
the beginning of the eighth century, these governors had managed to
as ume considerable independence and influence. The political chaos of
the beginning of the eighth century was apparently caused principally
by the strategoi of the la~rger themes, who embroiled. the empire in civil
wars in their lu t for the throne. Especially powerful were the great
themes of Anatolikon, Armeniakon, Thrakesion, and Opsikion.
The Byzantine peasantry of the eighth and ninth centuries had also
become uniform. Whereas Libanius in the fourth century might assert
(,opy' ql"too 'T a t-

that slaves were ubiquitous, and John Chrysostom, in treatise On

Vainglory, used terms for slave more frequently than those for God,
slaves had vidently become quite rare at the time of the Fanner's Law.
Nor is there any trace of coloni. Some peasants were richer, some poorer;
some could not till their lots and instead let them to more substantial
villagers for a sort of rent; some preferred to work on the soil of another,
usually as hepherds. Although these hirelings, mist/tio; or mistholoi,
had a low social status, they were nevertheless free people. Their Lack of
dependability was notorious: the verse of Saint John's Gospel 10: 13,
"The mist/lOtos fleeth because he is a hireling, and careth not for the
sheep," was often quoted by Byzantine authors.
This period of disruption of old social links wa simultaneously one
of titanic external menace. While the invasions of the Germanic tribes
and the Huns, however, destroyed the western half of the empire, Con-
stantinople urvived this bitter initial onslaught. Later invaders from the
north, such as the Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars, were less a threat to Con-
stantinople. The Avars disappeared IInexpectedly; some Slavic tribes in-
vaded, s ttled on Byzantine territory, and were ubsequently slowly
hellenized; other Slavs created independent states on the frontier of the
empire. From the seventh century onward, the greatest danger to the
empire came not from the north, but rather from the east. First, the Per-
sians threatened the existence of Byzantium, and just when that danger
had been repulsed by Emp ror Heraclius, the Arab invasions began. The
Arabs conquered the Byzantine provinces of Syria, Palestine, Egypt,
Cyrenaica, and Africa, and even attempted to . Constantinople it-
self. In eastern Asia Minor between the empire and the Caliphate a large
no-man's-land was inhabit d by an ethnically and religiously mixed
population. Here Orthodox Chri tian , Monophysit.e s, Arabs,
Syrians, Greeks, Armenians, and Georgians lived side by side.
All these invasions cha.nged the character of the provinc.e s but djd
not destroy the empire it elf. Byzantium emerged from the crises of the
"Dark Ages" more rapidly than did the western part of the ancient Ro-
man Empire. It was never completely overwhelmed by the barbarian
onslaught, and consequently the old political, e onomic, and cultural
traditions were Ie s thoroughly disrupted there than in Gaul or in Spain.
While there is no reason to assume ab olute continuity in Byzantium,
fragments of antiquity were more available in the East than in the West.
e ertheLess, although the military dangers of the seventh and eighth
centuries did not end in collapse, they contributed both to the political
chaos of the empire and perhaps also to a consolidation of the most re-
sistant social structures.
Cooyr gtltec rra

RECONSOLIDATION:
THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES
Numismatic evidence indicates that an economic revival began in
the first half of the ninth century, primarily in Constantinople and the
coastlands of the Aegean Sea. 1J Culture began to revive around 800. One
. of the signs of its revival was the invention of a new, more rapid means
of writing, the minuscule script. The introduction of a faster mode of
lettering reflected an increased demand for literature. The milieu of this
cultural revival wa consistently monastic: among the intellectuals of the
first haJf of the ninth century, the vast majority we.re "professional"
monks and nuns, that is, persons who assumed the habit in. their youth,
usually in their twenties, rather than on the verge of death. Theoph-
anes, Theodore of the Studios, Joseph of Th ssaloniki, Ka sia, iketas
of Amnia, Patriarch Methodios almost aU the great names of the time
(perhaps with exception of only Patriarch Nikephoro and Deacon Igna-
tios) belong to thi cat gory. The Monastery of Studios wa probably the
most important center of this early revival.
This monastic revival which cannot in any way be called a renais-
sance seems to have developed in reaction to Iconoclasm, an anti-
image movement lasting between 730 and 843 that embodies ideological
and political perspectives then current in Byzantium. Concern over the
worship of icon is expressed as early as the fourth century A.D. Already
at that time the principal positions of the debate had b en defined; the
arguments relating to images were derived from the ancient philoso-
phers. Both the Iconoclasts ("image-breaker ") and the Iconodules ("icon
wor hipers") of the eighth and ninth centuries adopt d the fourth-
century formulas; the most notable feature of the controversy was not
the originality of the opinions expressed but the emotional tension and
iolen e of the debate. What in the fourth century had been an academic
question became from 730 onward a locus of social and cultural con-
frontation. Why?
Iconoda m of the eighth and ninth centuries was directed, first and
foremost, against monastic institutions. Leo III and Constantine V, th
great Iconoclast emperors, along with their followers, did not seek to
acquire monastic lands, since there was no extensive mona tic land-
ownership at the time. Nor did they desire the accrued wealth of the
monasteries. New regulations were not directed at the confiscation of
gold, ilver, and precious stones but rather were aimed at the abolition
13. D. M. Melcalf, Coillo e ill I"e Balkal/5. 820 - 1355 (Thessaloniki, 1965),
17 - 29.
(,opy' qrtoo 'T a t-

of the monastery as an in titution. The Byzantine monastery as estab-

Ii hed by Pachomius and Basil the Great in the fourth century and deveJ-
oped by Theodore of the about 800 was a koinobion, a conunun-
ity of brethren who not only slept, ate, and prayed together but also
worked togeth r. Theodore' regulations describe minutely the vine-
yards and kitchen gardens, ateliers, and scriptoria that belonged to the
Studios; the monks provided the labor.U In the atomized
Byzantine society of the eighth century the koinobion formed an odd so-
cial group bound int rnally by stable and perpetual if not organic links.
It contradicted Byzantine social order.
The Iconoclasts did not simply attempt to abolish the institution of
monasticism, they tried to replace the koinobion by the most
individualized micro tructure po sible the nuclear family. When Mi-
chael Lachanodra.k on, the strategos of Thrakesion and one of the most
enthusiastic supporters of Constantine V, dosed the monasteries in his
theme, he pre sed monks and nuns to marry each other. Theophanes
r lat< . that Lachanodrakon gathered all the monk and nun of Thrake-
ion in the plain of near Ephesu, ordering the monks to
clothe themselves in white and immediately choose wives. hose who
would not obey he threatened to blind and exile to Cypru . He also or-
dered the sale of monastic posses ions, including lands, holy vessels,
books, and cattle; the wealth thus gathered was presented to the em-
peror. Those books that d alt with monastic customs, induding the
stories about Egyptian and Syriac founders of monasticism (paterika)
were burned along with the relics of the saints. Many of the "stubborn"
monks were whipped and mutilated (Theoph. 1.445f.). Although it is
hard to determine to what extent Theophanes exaggerated out of hatred
for the Iconoclasts, the marriage ceremony did in fact take place. This
was not simply a sort of mockery; it reflects the structural urge for social
atomization.
The veneration of icons and relics was in essence a collective experi-
ence: icons and relics were not only adored by the mas of believers,
they also e cited collective emotions. Pope Gregory the Great stated that
icons were "books" for the mass of iJliterate Christians. The veneration of
icons in Byzantium was very different from the quiet contemplation of
sacred images assumed on the basis of the religious habits of the twen-
tieth century. The power exhibited by icons through miracles, like that
shown by relics, was predominantly public. The icon participated in
14. On the Studios' economy,!it? A. P. Dobroklonskij, Prep. Feodor. ispoved-

nik i igultlt'll sludijskij 1 (Odessa, 1913),404- 19.

From Late Antiquity to the MiddJe Ages 13
battles, defending Byzantine citjes and extending the empire's territo-

ries; icons were carried by armies, paraded by clergy and populace
around the walls of beleaguered towns, and prominently displayed in
the triumphs of victorious emperors. The communal nature of the icon
was apparent in the first Iconoclastic gesture of Emperor Leo Ill: the re-
moval of the image of Christ from above the so-called Brazen Gate, the
main entrance to the Great Palace the most public of places. His action
caused a riot. Emperor Michael II, a lukewarm Iconoclast, noted in his
letter to Louis the Pious that icons were not to be destroyed, but rather
reset higher in the church so that in their frenzy the pious would not
worship them a idols. This again is indicative of the communality of the
image as well as of its potential power. Thus, not surprisingly, it was dur-
ing the struggle over the veneration of icons that the emotions of the
people reached a crescendo. In contrast, the act of Communion, on
which the Iconoclastic idea of salvation concentrated, was highly indi-
vidualistic. By taking the consecrated elements, the celebrants partook
individually of the Lord's flesh and blood. They were each isolated from
the throng; they each personally merged with the Divinity.
Individualization of worship and, accordingly, of salvation, is only
one side of Iconoclasm. Another major consequence of the movement
was an increasingly important role for the emperor both in civil admin-
istration and in ecclesiastical matters. During a period of political and
military difficulties, the problem of imperial power acquired great sig-
nificance. Leo Ill, who initiated Iconoc.lasm, wrote to the pope that he
considered himself not only an emperor, but also a priest (Reg. 1: no. 298).
The elevation of the authority of the emperor over that of the church
was combined with a campaign against the cult of saints. The image of
the holy man created in late antiquity as a denial of Greco-Roman values
and virtues was a dangerous riva l for imperial propaganda; his venera-
tion was to be restricted.l~ In their attack on icon worship, the Icono-
clasts accused their adversaries of the Nestorian heresy, averring that
worshipers of icons venerated the human aspect of Christ, His divine
nature being inconceivable and undepictable. No such charge could be
against th veneration of the icon of saint ; nevertheles the
Iconoclasts strove a.!so to abolish the cults of the icons and of the relics of
saints.
In 843 the government of Empress Theodora restored the veneration
of icons. But the lconodules were only apparent victors. Certainly im-
ages were returned to the churches, but it was the Iconoclasts' socia.!
15. Brown, Society and tile Holy, 290f.
C.OPY (jrted 'T a '-

prindple that became increasingly dominant. This is particularly clear

in intellectual life: formerly controlled by monks, Byzantine culture in
the ninth and tenth centuries became predominantly secular. After
George Hamartolo , the historian of the 86Os, there was not one signifi-
cant monastic figure among Byzantine writers \lntil Symeon the The-
ologian, about 1000. Significantly, also, the Byzantine monastery was
10 ing its cenobitic EOi Ill. The monastic community of working brethren
gave place to individualistically structured lavms (gatherings of hermits)
and smaIl mona teries dependent upon state grants in kin.d and in money
(solemnia). The ideal of the poor brotherhood was very popular in the
tenth century, when Emperor Nikephoros Phokas supported the re-
cently founded communities on Mount Athos, with their ideal of the
monastic denial of property. He could not have imagined that these lav-
ras would eventuaJly accumulate immense estates and numerous par-
oikoi. The tendency toward individual isolation was also reflected in the
emphasis on personal means of salvation that deveJoped during the
tenth century. The teaching of Sym on the Theologian epitomized this
disposition. Symeon proclaimed a vision of divine light and personal in-
spiration, somewhat minimizing the efficacy or sufficiency of the sacra-
ments. Further, he ,rejected basic odal ties such as friendship and even
the family, considering mortals as standing lonely and naked before the
of God and of the emperor (see Chapter 3, pp. 90ft.).
It might well be suggest d that it was the emperor who gained most
from Iconoclasm. The Byzantine church was made subject to imperial
power. After the end of the ninth century, emperors twice placed the
patriarchate within the imperial family. Leo VI set his brother Stephen
on the patJiarchical throne, as did Romanos I Lakapenos his son The-
ophylakto . The idea of the emperor-priest as expressed by an Icono-
clast emperor found its realization, albeit in a slightly altered form, after
the defeat of Iconoclasm.
The emperors of the ninth and tenth centuries not only won a vic-
tory over the mona tery and the church; they also assumed a 6mdarnen-
tal role in the consolidation and reorganization of the empire after the
chaos of the seventh and eighth centurie . The ninth and tenth were
"imperial" centuries; their intelJectual character has been appropriately
titled "encyclopedic" by Paul Lemerle. l~ An enormous effort wa made
to systematize the received intellectual tradition. Initially, there was a
phase of transmission: ancient manuscripts were collected and recopied
in minuscule script. Edition of the Greek classics, including Homer, the
16. See the concluding chapter in P. Lemerle, Le premier 1IIIIIIIIIIisme byzQlltill

(Paris, 1971), 267 - 300.
Copy r gl"tea 'T a <..

tragedians, Plato, and Aristotle, were produced at this time. Concur-

rently the ancient heritage was surveyed. Encyclopedism can be dated
from Photios's Myriobiblon, a bibliographical description of more than
three hundred works of ancient historians, geographers, philosophers,
theolOgians, rhetoricians only poets did not gain a place in his col-
lection. This phase ends with a famous Ie icon preserved under the
conventional title Souda. There were further collections of fragments
gathered for Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus: On Embassies,
On Virtue atld Vice, On Plots against Emperors, and so on. An anonymous
author produced the Geopollilm, a compilation from Greek writers on ag-
riculture also sponsored by Constantine VII.
The encyclopedism of the ninth and tenth centuries also fulfilled
more practical tasks. A great many works considered the administrative
system. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, with the help of learned aides,
produced three major books on the themes of the empire, on the goals
of Byzantine diplomacy, and on the ceremonies of the imperial court.
The last subject was also elucidated in a series of the so-called taktilm,
whose authors are anonymous, excepting a certain Philotheos who
finished his Kletorologion, a manual of court life, in 899. This literary
genre first appeared around 842 and did not survive beyond the end of
the tenth century. Lists of officials, whose authors attempted to reconcile
the administrative tradition with the late Byzantine reality, appeared
again only in the fourteenth century. The same chronological limits ap-
ply to military loklilea and sfrategika. Emperor Maurice or an anonymous
contemporary was the last of a series of Late Roman writers o n military
science. After a silence lasting from the seventh through the ninth cen-
turies, Leo VI revived the genre in about 900 by producing his Taktika in
imitation of Maurice's work. Throughout the tenth century the genre of
military manuals continued to flourish; some of these treatises may be
ascribed to Nikephoros Phokas, some remain anonymous. Nikephoros
Ouranos, a courtier and military commander under Basil II, was prob-
ably the last to write about the military arts: afterIOOO this genre disap-
peared, a did the laktilea of the imperial court. Similarly, although the
two surviving instructions to tax collectors are not precisely dated, they
too may best be assigned to the tenth or early eleventh century. 17
17. The first of them was published by W. Ashburner and I.a t r by F. Di.jlgeT,
Beitrii.'~e zur Gcsclriclrte der byulIltillisc/rclI Filraw:verwaltrlllg (Munich, 1927; reprint:
Darmstadt, 1960), 113 23; the second by J. Karayannopoulos, "Fragmente aus
dem Vademecum eines byzantinischen Finanzbeamten," Po/ycirrOlrioll, Festsclrrift
Franz Do/gel', ed. P. Wirth (Heidelberg, 1966), 321 - 24. For an English transla-
tion, see C. M. Brand, "Two Byzantine Treatises on Taxation, " Traditio 25 ("1%9),
35-60.

Important also was the reconsideration (reception) of Roman law, or

as the Byzantines put it, the "cleansing" (apoklltharsis) of the law. Leo m
in 726 attempted to substitut his brief Ekloge for the voluminous Corpus
of Justinian. He introduced substantial changes in both the marriage
and the penal code. Legislators of the ninth and tenth centuries con-
demned and rejected the Iconoclast emperor's effort, even though sev-
eral principles presented in the Ekloge, particularly the new approach to
marriage and the family, were generally accepted. In contrast to Leo I11's
concise codification, Leo VI promulgated a gigantic bulk of sixty books,
the Basilikll, which con isted largely of translations from Justinian's Cor-
pus, including even some obsolete legislation . Minor legislative works of
the epoch (ProcJliron , EpaMgoge, and others) were also based more or
less on Roman law.
Ecclesiastical setting and ritual were probably also regularized.
While regional variations continue to be found, church architecture and
decoration acquired a greater homogeneity in form and scale after 900.
Ecclesiastical structures w re small, often with tripartite sanctuaries,
and commonly of the so-called cross-in-square plan. This plan, which
remained popular in Byzantium throughout the High Middle Ages, had
a square nave divided internally into nine bays covered with a central
dome, lower bal reI vaults over the transverse and longitudinal bays, and
groin vault or cupolas over the comer bays. The pyramidal space thus
construct d was adorned with images of the Godhead, the Virgin, an-
gels, prophets, and saints, arranged hierarchically according to their sta-
tus. The liturgy also became more consistent. One of the major civil ad-
ministrators of the end of the tenth century, Symeon Metaphrastes,
compiled a monumental collection again, a collection of saints' lives
for ecclesiastical feast .
Imperial regulation was g nerally extended throughout the empire
during this period. This is reflected in attitudes toward state lands.
While Late Roman imperial estates have been repeatedly investigated by
there has been as yet no thorough examination of the scattered
ources concerning imperial property in the tenth century. In theory, the
Byzantines drew a strict line between state and royal property, though it
cannot be assumed that thi trkt existed in
,
Leo VI
in his Novel 51 differentiated quite clearly between basilikon, demosion,
and private land . But the distinction disappeared when it came to prac-
tical problems. For instance, law required that a treasure found on pri-
vate soil be divided equaUy between the proprietor and the
finder; if, however, the land on which the treasure was discovered be-
longed to the state or to the emperor, it was in both case the demosios,
(,opy' (jl"ted 'T a "

1
the treasury, that received half. Thus, at least in this case, no real dis-
tinction was made between the basi/ikon and the demosion.
There is unfortunately no way to calculate what percentage of the
cultivated land in the empire belonged to the imperial demesnes. It
seems likely, however, that imperial possessions increased during the
second half of the ninth century and throughout the tenth century. Em-
peror Basil I is said to have been bequeathed eighty estates (proasteia) by
Danielis, a rich widow in the Peloponnese (Theoph. Cont. 321.9); per-
haps she was an independent ruler there. When in 934 the Byzantine
army moved eastward and conquered the r gion of Melitene, Emperor
Romanos Lakapenos ordered the newly acquired territory be trans-
formed into an imperial curatol)', from which he received considerable
silver and gold (Theoph. Cont. 416.23). lmperial estates are conunonly
mentioned in various sources of the tenth century. For instance, in the
vita of St. Paul of Latros imperial estates in Thrakesion are mentioned as
being administered by a certain protospatharios; 19 the title had extremely
high status at that time, being awarded to theme governors. New cura-
tories were created around 900: Basil I, according to his panegyrist and
grandson Constantine Porphyrogenitus, was not inclined to spend state
resources on his private needs; he therefore decided to establish the "cu-
ratory of Mangana," which provided special agricultural revenues des-
tined for imperial feasts (Theoph. Cont. 337.1-10). Probably during Ro-
manos Lakapenos's reign the "curatory of the palace of Lord Romanos"
was created for much the same reason. Numerous officials were kept
busy administering imperial estates: curators, klematinoi, episkeptitai,
and epi ton oikeiakotl, among others.
Further, in the tenth century the Byzantine state proclaimed its su-
preme right over all the lands of the empire. Leo VI in his Novel 114 as-
serted that property throughout the Byzantine Empire (pan akineton)
was hypodemosios, that is, literally, "put under the treasury" or "due to
taxation." Did Leo consider pan akineton to be in some sense state prop-
erty, or simply taxable property? He clarified his position further by stat-
ing that private property was allowed to individuals who fulfilled state
"burdens." Basil II in the Novel of 996 affirmed that the claims of the ex-
chequer could not be denied through reference to praescriptio long is tem-
poris: the emperor had the right to reclaim all lands that had at any time
belonged to the state, even if they had been in private hands since the
time of Augustus (Zepos, Jus 3: 315.20- 23). Whether or not the notion of
18. P. Noailles and A. Dain, us novelles de lA m VI Ie Sage (PariS, 1944),
197.21 - 24.
19. AB 11 (1892), 138.18.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a ""

the dominium directum could be applied to the Byzantine concept of state

ownership of land is controversial. Two important points, however, are
evident: the Byzantine state possessed rights to most of the taxes on the
population, and the state could confiscate estates of any magnate,
whether lay or ecclesiastical.
The levies colJected by the state did not differ essentially fTom those
of private lords: state cortICes included the building of fortifications and
ships, construction of bridges and roads, and the cutting of forests. W
The billeting of imperial envoys, of commanders, and of foreign ambas-
sadors, and even of the emperor and his court was a special form of
compulsory service. The population was al 0 obliged to serve the cursus
publicus, or imperial post special tatjons provided with horses were
situated throughout the empire. In addition to various other services the
Byzantine peasantry was also obliged to supply both the emperor and
the administration with a variety of stores uch as fish, fodder, grain,
and cattle. Storehouses were built under the supervision of oriarioi. No-
table among the numerous seals of Byzantine oriarioi of the tenth and
eleventh centuries is that of the notarios Constantine, titled "oriarios of
l1
holy [i.e., imperial] wares" in the town of Kios in Bithynia. Finally, the
state demanded tax payment in cash, most particularly the so-called
kapnikon, a levy on each house or fireplace.
To fulfill state requirements, the population was divided into several
special categories according to their rent or service, both military and
agriculturaJ. Some sense of these divisions was conveyed by the tweLfth-
century historian Zonaras in his criticisms of Emperor Nikephoros Pho-
kas's exorbitant taxation. The emperor's tax collectors, wrote Zonaras,
wrongly forced people into tasks above their station. Pea ants had to as-
sume the duties of the urSIiS publicus; those obliged to serve the cursus
publicus were listed as ailors, the sailor as infantry, the infantry as plain
cavalry, and the plain cavalry as armored cavalry, the kataphraktoi. By so
doing, ummed up Zonaras, the state increased the burden on each tax-
payer (Zon. 3.502.5-9).
The last four groups mentioned in Zonaras sailors, infantry, plain
cavalry, and kalaphraktoi were all. known by the common term stratiotai,
"soldier ." In th imperial edicts of the tenth century, stratiotai appear as
holders or owners of special plots, so-called soldier ' holdings. This
20. On Byzantine taxation, A. P. Kazhdan, Derermja i orod u ViulIItii IX - X

. (Moscow, ]960), 142 - 74; G. C. Lilavrin, Vizarllijskoe ol~l!s tvo i gosudarst1.Jo v
X-XI u . (Mo cow, 1977), 196- 236; . Vryonis, "Byza ntium: The Social Basis of
Decline in the Eleventh Century," GRBS 2 (1959), 157- 75.
21. V. Laurent, La collection Org!ridan (Paris, 1952), no. ] 1.
Cooyr gtltec rra

form of property is not mentioned in any source of the previous century

and therefore may be regarded as an innovation. The law of Con-
stantine vn describing these holdings as the basis of the soldiers' live-
lihood and their means of equipping themselves prohibited aJienation. l2
Constantine added that saiJors of the imperial navy should possess allot-
ments valued at no less than two pounds of gold, while cavalry soldiers
and the marines of the themes should have plots at least twice that size.
But their landholdings were not enough to assure security; the loss of a
hor e could mean the ruin of a soldier's family. Theophanes Continuatus
related the story of a general who seized the horse of a sfratiotes as a gift
for the emperor; the soldier, deprived of his most substantial property,
died and left his children beggars (Theoph. Cont. 92f.). Though Leo VI's
Taktika (PC 107.672-1093) characterized stratiotai as well-to-do (para.
4: 1), in fact they were hardly better off than the normal peasant. Leo
made it dear that agriculture was the main occupation of the stratiotai. If
they were summoned for a military expedition, they were required to
arrange for someone else to till their soil in their absence. Leo empha-
sized further (para. 20: 71) that stratiotai had to pay state tax as welJ as the
aerikon, a special judicial payment; they had to be compensated, how-
ever, if they were drafted for construction coroees. Thus whiJe the dis-
tinction between the soldier and the peasant was vague, it did neverthe-
exist. Leo's Taktika (para. 11: 11) put this distinction in social terms,
stating that there were two occupations necessary for the flourishing of
the state: peasant labor, which nurtured soldiers, and military activity,
which defended the peasantry. A similar formulation is found in Ro-
manos I akapenos's Novel of 934: the payment of taxes and military ser-
vice are the two pillars of the state (Zepos, Jus 3: 247.9 - 13). Basically the
sf'ratiotai were soldiers; the peasants, georgoi, were the taxpayers.
The peasantry, like the miJitary, was divided into several categories.
Zonaras wrote of the people whose duty was the service of imperial post
(dromikai strafeiai), dromos being a technical name designating the state
postal service. Peasants obliged to provide means for the imperial post
were called in eleventh-century sources exkoussatoi dromou. The term ex-
koussatoi, without the clarification dromou, is found in variou . texts of the
tenth century as well. Its literal meaning is "exempted from the prin-

cipal taxes," but the question arises, who were these "exempted" ones?
Since some exkoussatoi were included in grants to mighty landlords,
scholars tend to regard them as dependent tenants. An unexpected ref-
erence, however, in a work by Basil the Younger, archbishop of Caesarea
22. On Constantine VII's novel, see Lemerle, Agrarian History, 116 25.

in the tenth century, shows the fallacy of such an assumption. In his

marginal notes on the works of Gregory Nazianzus, Basil mentions im-
perial armorers, "who in our Caesarea are called exkoussatoi." 2J
The next category of the peasantry, although omitted by Zonaras, is
identified in two imperial charters of 974 and 975: 2. they are called pro-
sodiarioi. If it can be assumed that mentioned in a charter of
995, was a tax in kind, then perhaps the prosodiar;oi were those pea ants
obliged to supply the state or the emperor with various goods. The term
exkoussatoi could have been employed also for these peasants obliged
with payments in kind. One such case occurred in the village of Tembroi,
wh re there were exkoussatoi whose duty it was to catch fish for the im-
perial table.
Exkoussotoi and prosodiarioi are mentioned very infrequently, mostly
in tenth-<:entury sources. More often, references are found to the lowest
dass considered by Zonaras, the poor (ptoehoi). In the intperiallegisla-
tion of the tenth century the tenn ptochoi was commonly applied to peas-
ants taxpayers as opposed to soldiers. In the charters of the tenth cen-
tury another telm was repeatedly used: demosiarioi. The telln is usually
thought to designate tenants of imperial estates, but this interpretation
ha little evidence to support it; perhaps demosiarioi, like georgoi and
ptochoi, was a technical term used by the treasury for the common peas-
antry. All these distinctions, in any case, suggest that, in contrast to a
generally uniform rural population in the eighth and ninth centuries, by
the tenth century a series of fiscal distinctions was being made within
the peasantry. Not only were there different terms in use for each cate-
gory; they may have been officially strictly recognized: Nikephoros Pho-
kas's attempt to sidestep these categories was regarded by the later Byz-
antine hi torian Zonaras as illegal.
The Byzantine gov rnment also attempted to stabilize the categories
it imposed on the population. A considerable amount of tenth-century
imperial legislation was aimed at preserving the village community:
23. R. Cantarella, " Basilio Minimo n," BZ 26 (1926), 31.'1-3.

24. LAvra 1, no. 6.5; Joakcim [berites, "Sigillion peri ton monon Kolobou,
Polygyl'OU kai Leontias," Gregorios 110 PaJamas 1 (1917), 787.5. On these docu-
ments, G.OSiTogorsky, Quelques prob/bnes d'/Iistoire de /a paysalmerie Ilyumtilte
(Brussels, 1956), 17.
25. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De cerillloniis, ed . 10. la o Reiske (Bonn,
1829), 488.18. scusati DuC'atus in Venice of th ninth century (L. A. Muratori, Re-
rum lta/iearum Scrip/ores 12 [Milan, 1728], 188) were probably to supply the doge
with fish and game. On prosodion, see F. Dolger. Aus dm ScI,atzkammern des
Hei/igen Berges (Munich. 1948), no. 56.13, as well as the chrysobull of 1074 (LAura
1, no. 36.15) .
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

powerful per ons and institutions high officials in the bureaucracy,

army commanders, bishops, and hegoumenoi (abbots) were restricted
in their right to buy peasants' and soJruers' holdings. Family members
and neighbor had o-called protimesis, preemption rights: any villager
inclined to sell his allotment was obliged to offer his land to his relatives
and neighbors in an establi hed order of precedence. Only after all these
had refused might a dynatos (powerful man) buy the property.
Conver eJy a peasant was responsible in general for his neighbors.
As early as the beginning of the ninth century Emperor Nikephoros I
enjoined the ptochoi to acquire military arms with the assistance of their
neighbors (Theoph. 1.486.24). A tenth-century regulation required that
soldiers who were unable to equip themselves should receive aid from
so-called syndotai (literally, "those who give together"}.:" syndotai
were members of the same community who supplied the soldier with a
coat. of mail, spear, sword, and horse. The first evidence that the peas-
ants were obliged to pay the tax arrears of their neighbors if they died or
fled i dated to the fir t half of the tenth century: Symeon Metaphrastes
mentions this regulation as existing (or introduced?) during Romanos
Lakapenos's reign. v The Byzantine treatise on taxation provides a name
for this regulation, alle/engyoll. 2/i In certain cases neighbors were not sub-
jected to thi burden; the e cheated holding formed a special category
of land, the klasma, which might be sold by the treasury after thirty
years. According to a law issued by Basilll, only the dynatoi were sub-
jected to the allelengyoll and had to pay taxes for missing or deceased
29
neighbors. Also reflecting state concern for the countryside was the
concept of justum pretium, "just price," which was widely operative in
tenth-century Byzantium. If a peasant was forced by circumstances such
as a bad harvest or coerced by the dy"atoi to sell his holding for a price
considerably lower than the just price, he could reclaim hi allotment.
The state attempted to regulate not only agrarian bu.t al 0 commer-
cial conditions. Usury was a problem in Byzantium: although con-
demned by the Church Fathers, it was an important part of the Byzan-
tine economy. The nllmber of insolvent debtors was so high that in the
late ninth or early tenth century Patriarch Euthymios begged Leo VI to
free them of their debts. Romanos Lakapenos was forced to bow to this
26. Constantine Porphy rogenitu s, De cerilll. 695.18. On ~y"dotai, sce also
Lemerle, Agrarian History, 134f.
27. Quoted by K. E. Zachariae von Lingenthal, GesdliclJte des riecllisch-
rom;scllell Recllls (Berlin, 1892; reprint: Aalen in Wiirttembcrg, 1955), 235 n. 761.
28. Dalger, Beitrage, 119.24.
29. Sky\. 347.76- 80, 375.54- 55.
30. Vita Eutllymii potnarc/lae CP, cd. P. Karlin -Hay ter (Brussels, 1970), 63.5.

demand: the treasury paid all the debts in Constantinople regardless of

th social status of insolvent debtors; the vouchers were burned. It was
L 0 VI' father, Basil I, who had most radically attacked the problem of
usury. The collection of intere t was prohibited completely only mi-
nors and orphans were allowed to use their money for this purpose. 31
Mortgages were also restricted: the mortgage debt was to be repaid par-
tially in produce. In addHion, Basil's lawbook, the Epa1lagoge, prohibited
the peasant from mortgaging his field. Basil's legislation failed. His son
and heir, Leo, abolished the law because, he wrote, it badly afflicted the
economy of the whole country. Leo, however, established the legal ceil-
ing on interest at 5.5 . Jl
Emperors also tried to regulate the trade activity of Byzantine mer-
chants and craftsmen . Again the only known collection of trade regula-
tions, the so-calJed Book of the Eparch, was promulgated by Leo VI. 13 The
purpose of the regulations in the Book of the Eparch was to protect the
members of the trade guild in Constantinople from the competition
both of the dy"atoi and of the non-guild craftsmen and peddlers, who
were not admitted to the privileged trade organizations of the capital. At
the same time, the Book of the Eparch outlined the rights of the state in
respect to the guilds. In some cases direct services were stipulated. But
more important was the exercise of state control over the trades. It was
the state, not the guilds and their administrators, that checked the quality
of products, the size of workshops (ergasteria), the wages of the journey-
men or hired workers (misthioi), and market prices. Members of the elabo-
rate staff of the dvil governor of Constantinople (eparch) could poke
their noses into every nook of the ergasterion, where the master worked
with his family and relatively seldom with a couple of misthioi.
Th ruling class of the Byzantine Empire was the higher officialdom
of the capital. According to the taktika discussed above, it consisted of
various ranks, among which magistroi, anthypatoi, patricians, and pro-
tospatlUlrioi were regarded as forming the highest body politic the sen-
ate. Title were not inherited, but granted by the emperor; in some cases
they could even be purchased. Though in practice unstable and chang-
ing because of imperial favoritism, this system was rigid in theory and in
ceremony: a specific place at the imperial banquet was assigned to every
official rank. The bureaucracy consisted of several dozen central depart-
ments and tribunals administering frequently overlapping judicial and
31. Epa"agoge 28:2, ed. Zepos, Jus 2:320f.
32. Novel 83, ed. Noailles and Dain, Les /lovelies, 28lf.
33. The best edition, with a Russian translation and commentary, is by
M. fa. Sjuzjumov, Viuwtijskaja kniga eparcha (Moscow, 1962).
Copyr gtltec rra

tasks. Conversely, one department might perform functions that

from our perspective appear quite different. Thus, the department of the
dromos directed not only the imperial postal service, but also foreign af-
faits and political security. No general head of all departments existed;

the emperor was regarded as head of the whole administration, as well
as the supreme judge, ultimate legislator, and commander-in-chief. The
relative independence of the provinces was eliminated: the major themes
of the eighth century were divided into smaller units, and the power of
the strategoi was restricted by thematic judges and tax collectors.
Thus the whole economic, social, and intellectual life of Byzantium
was systematized during the ninth and tenth centuries. Byzantium be-
came a state rigidly governed from its center by the imperial court and
by the multibranched bureaucracy. Under this surface, however, two im-
portant processes began to develop at least by the tenth century: the
growth of provincial towns and the emergence of a semi-feudal seig-
neurie. The state seems to have been ultimately centralized, but. in fact
new forces were evolving that were destined to shatter the monolithic
structure of the Byzantine Empire. These forces came to the fore in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries.

DECENTRALIZATION AND
"FEUDALIZATION" OF THE
BYZANTINE STATE
The period fTOm the mid-ninth through the early eleventh century
has been traditionally regarded as one of great political and cuJtural re-
surgence due to a sagacious protection of peasants and oldiers by the
emperors of the Macedonian dynasty. I In contrast, the later eleventh and
the twelfth centuries are commonly considered a time of di integration
and collapse. The ignominious defeat of the Byzantine army by the Sel-
juk Turks in 1071 at Manzikert and again in 1176 at Myriokephalon, the
ormans' conque t of southern Italy, completed by 1071, and their cap-
ture of Dyrrachium and Thessaloniki in 1185, the Pechenegs' onslaught of
the eleventh century, and the successfuJ rebellion of the Bulgarians in
the 1180s seem to have presaged the disastrous fall of Constantinople,
the previou Iy unconquered capital of the empire, to the Latins of the
Fourth Crusade in 1204. These military setbacks have been attributed to
the growth of feudal tendencies and to the decentralization of the state.
Likewise, it has been as umed that serious internal political decay was
with a collapse of the economy and a demographic crisis.
Such assllmptions may be questioned.
Even the precarious military situation may perhaps be explained dif-
ferently. Certainly the of Byzantium were not always adequate.
In the third quarter of the eleventh century, the invasions of the Seljuks
in the east, the NO! mans in th west, and the tribes of the steppes in the
north resulted in considerable territorial losses. Con tantinople it elf
1. E.g., G. O strogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, 2d d. (Oxford, 1968),

chap. 4, "The Golden Age of the Byzantine Empire (843- 1025)." 210- 315.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Decentraliz.ation and "Feudalization" 25
was threatened. Again, in the quarter-century after Manuell's death in

1180, Byzantillm fell prey to the Latins. But apart from these two mo-
ments of great danger, the empire continued to enjoy its traditional
place of prestige in the Mediterranean world. Through the middle of the
eleventh century Byzantillm remained strong enough to annex several
Armenian principalities. More importantly, from the end of the eleventh
century the emperors of the Comnenian dynasty, Alexios I, John fl, and
Manuel I, reasserted Byzantine power through the reconquest of most of
the coast of Asia. Minor and the subjugation of Serbia and Hungary. Un-
til the late twelfth century, the Byzantine Empire remained an important
political power between Catholic Europe and the Islamic Near East.
The interpretation of the economic evidence for Byzantium during
this period is more ambiguous. The debasement of Byzantine coinage
during the eleventh century has traditionally been seen as an expression
of economic decline. The Byzantine nomisma-solidus, struck of high-
quality gold (twenty-four carats), had remained stable until the mid-
eJeventh century; around the second and the third quarters of the cen-
tury, gold coinage was debased to eight carats. This debasement may,
2
however, be interpreted as a reaction to an increased demand for cir-

culating coinage and may therefore be associated with a general eco-
3
nomic resurgence. Gold coinage, which had functioned primarily as a
symbol of imperial power from the mid-seventh through the mid-ninth
centuries, seems to have become instead an important vehicle of ex-
change. To judge from coin fUlds discovered in excavations and from
coin hoards buried inside and outside Byzantium, the eleventh century
seems to have seen a great increase in coin use. 4 ln any case, during the
2. P. Grierson, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in tire Dumbarton Oaks Collec-

tion, vol. 3, part 1 ngton, D.C, 1973), 39- 44.
3. C Morrison, "La d~valuation de la monnaie byzantine au XI' siecle: essai
d'interpretation," TM 6 (1976), 24- 30.
4. A. P. Kazhdan, Dcrrvnja i gorod v Vizantii IX - X lnI. (Moscow, 1960),
271.; M. F. Hendy, ''Byzantium, 1081-1204: An Economic Reapprajsal," Trans-
actions of the Royal Historical Society 20 (1970), 47f. .For a few examples: at C urium,
Cyprus, there is a gap in coin finds between ca. 666 and ca. 989: D. H . Cox, Coins
from tile Excavation at Curium, 1932-1953 (New York, 1959), 82; at Kenchreaj, be-
tween Constans U and Leo VI: R. L. Hohlfelder, Kenchrl'ai, Eastern Port of Corintll,
vol. 3, Till' Coins (Leiden, 1978), 74J. At that site, COinage apparently became
more abundant after Basil 11 . In Asia Minor between 668 and 867, "bronze coins
are considerably rarer than in earlier and later periods" (C "
and the 'Twenty Cities,'" A/A 81 (1977], 470). Also D. M. Metcalf, "The Coi nage
of Thessaloniki, 829-1204, and Its Place in Balkan Monetary History," Balkan
Studies 4 (1963), 277, suggests that between ca. 650 and 829, " the circulation of
petty coinage dwindled drastically."

26 CHANGE IN BYZANTJNE CULTURE
reign of Alexios I ComneRus, the nmnisma was again stabilized at ap-

proximately the same leveJ as the old standard, and there it remained
until at least the middle of the thirteenth century. 5 In all, the nature of
th economic "crisis" of the el venth century is not 0 clear as has often
been suggested.
Similar problems of interpretation surround Byzantine demogra-
phy. It is ommonly held that after the middle of the eleventh century
the empire suffered a continuous population decline. Research on
Greece, however, suggest that after an abrupt depopulation in the sec.-
ond half of the eleventh century, village life was stable until the second
half of the thirteenth century.' Only the so-called praktika, inventories of
villagers, mostly from Macedonia of the first half of the fourteenth cen-
tury, allow a statistical investigation of the problem. These praktika are
Ii ts of pea ants, including information about family members, the size
of fields and vineyards, and number of domestic animals (Ex. 1). For the
village of Radolivo, which beJonged to the monastery of Iviron on
Mount Athos, we posse 5, however, not only a set of inventories of the
fourteenth century, but also a praktikol/ of about 1100; comparison of
these documents leads unexpectedly to the conclusion that during this
period of severe political problems the population of Radolivo did not
but rather expanded significantly; moreover, the average size of
the family seems to have grown, a fact that radically contradicts the
common opinion of a perpetual demographic decline in Byzantium after
the defeat at Manzikert. The absence of inflation in Byzantium in con-
trast to the We t has also been seen as indicative of a demographic cri-
sis; 9 it has been argued that prices did not rise because demand de-
creased. It might just. as well be suggested that increased supplies kept
pace with new demands for goods.
5. M. F. Hendy, Coil/age alld MOlley in tire ByUlIltilll! Empire, 1081 - 1261 (Wash-
ington , D.C., 1%9), 14- 25.
6. N. G. Svoronos, Etudes ur I'organjsatioll illteriel/re, In societe et ['economie de
rEmpire by.zantin (London, 1973), part 9, 389; H. Ahnvciler, Erosion sociale Itt com-
porterlllmts excentriques Ii Byzallce aux Xl' -XIIJ' siedes (Athens, 1976), 18f.
7. H. Antoniadis-Bibkou, "Villages descries en Grece," Villages desertes ..'II
Iris toire ocorLomiqul' (Paris, 1965), 364. The author assumes that when a site ceases
to be mention'd in surviving sources it is de erted. In view of the paucity of
contemporary documents, such an argum nt is extremely weak.
8. G. Ostrogorsky, "Radolivo/ ' ZRVI 7 (191),67(. J. Lefort, "Le cadastre de
Radolibo (1103). Les geometre . et leurs mathematiques," TM 8 (1981), 268 - 313.
9. H. Antoniadis-Bibicou, "Problemes d ' hlstoire economique dc Byzance au
XI' iecle: demographic, salaire ct p.rix," 85 28 (1967), 25 , 259f.; "Demog-
raphic, salaircs ct prix a Byzance au Xl' sieele," Annales 27 (1972), 215-46.

Decentralization and "Feudalization" 27
The problem of demography is, of course, closely connected with

that of agricultural development. Modern historians have emphasized
the number of crop failures and famines in Byzantium in the eleventh
century (Ex. 2).10 Famines also occurred earlier in Byzantine history. The
famine foUowing the severe winter of 927-28 is perhaps the best known
of these. But famines are virtualJy IInmentioned in twelfth-century
sources. II [n fact, Western observers in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies, participants in the First through the Fourth crusades, all de-
scribed the abundance of grain, wine, oil, and cheese. 12 English chroni-
clers even commented that there were more ollves in the southern
PeJoponnese than anywhere else in the world. I Greece was furthermore
able to supply grain to U1yricum and to Sicily. I. In the twelfth century,
Italian me.r ehants exported grain, wine, and meat from "Romania." U In
certain specialized forms of agriculture, such as beekeeping, the Byzan-
tines seem to have been more developed than their Western counter-
parts. 16
In general, Byzantine technology was extremely conservative. Byz-
antine agricultural implements remained virtually unchanged from Ro-
man tunes. The peasant continued to use the light plow dragged by a
pair of oxen. It was made of wood and had a removable iron plowshare;
it did not have wheels, 0 the plow bit rather than cut the oil. The scythe
was not in use in Byzantium, and the image of Death with its scythe in
hand, so popular in the West, would have left the Byzantines unmoved.
10. For a catalogue of the "people's ills" in the eleventh century, N. A. Ska-
baJanovit, Viumtijskoe gosudarstoo i cerkov' v XI veke (St. ,Petersburg, 1884).
250-58, reproduced without notable alterations in Svoronos. Etudes sur I'organisa-
tion interieure, part 9, 348f.
n. OnJy a few local famines are noted. For instance, Nicholas Mouzalon
records a famine on Cyprus in the first half of the twelfth century. In this case
the land produced fruit, but there were no laborers available to harvest it.
S. Doanidou, "He paraite is Nikolaou lou MOllzalon apo les archiepiskope
Kyprou," Hellenika 7 (1934), 136. Nilos. bishop of Tamasia. mentions a famin on
Cyprus at the end of Manuel I's reign, MM 5:395f. For complaints concerning
the lack of grain in Athens and on Chios. Mich. Akom . 2 :41, 237.
12. A. P. Kazhdan. "lz economiteskoj iizni Vizantii Xl - Xll vV.," VOC 2
(Moscow, 1971), 19Of.
13. H. Lamprecht. Untersuchungen iiber eillige englische ChrOtlisten des 12. und
des begimumdtm 13. !ahrhunderts (Torgau, 1927), 117.
14. A. P. Kazhdan. "Brat'ja Ajofeodority pri dvore Manuila Komnina."
ZRV19 (1966), 9If.
15. A. Schaube. Handelsgesclrichte der romaniscllen V iilker des Mittelmeergebietes
his zum E"de der Kreuzzuge (Munich. 1906). 238. 245.
16. S. Studien ZIIr ~'Yumtinisch-jiidisdle" Gesclridlte (Leipzig, 1914), 113.
Copyr gtltec rra

They used the sickle to harve t their corn, cutting away the ears and leav-
ing the high stalks in the field, protecting their left hands with rough
gloves. The were brought to a threshing floor usuaUy placed at
the top of a hill in order to exploit the wind for winnowing. No flails
were used in threshing; the Byzantines drove donkey and oxen over the
sheaves to separate the grain from the chaff. The animal either trampled
out the grain or dragged a threshing The line from Deuteronomy
25:4, ''Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn,"
was frequently quoted by Byzantine rhetoricians. Barley was predomi-
nantly sown in Greece, and wheat in Asia Minor. Bread and wine formed
the major part of the Byzantine diet, though variou vegetables and
fruits were produced in Byzantine gardens, where vines, fruit trees, and
cabbage were planted side by side. Little is known about the yield in the
twelfth century. 17 Eustathios of Thessaloniki bragged that he reaped fifty-
nine medimnoi on a field where he had sown only three medimnoi (Eust.
Opusc. 155.69- 71). Even if he was emphasizing the exceptional size of
his yield, the figure must have been exaggerated in fourteenth-century
Greece a ratio of five to one was remarkably high; contemporary Italy
produced thr e or four measures to one. Fertile soil, warm climate, and
irrigation allowed two harve ts a year in some areas. Gregory Antiocho ,
a Byzantine officiaL wrote with disdain about Bulgarian agriculture.
Among .its dj advantage was the fact that in the vic.inity of Sofia it was
pos ible to reap only one harvest a year. 1
As mentioned in Chapter 1, cattle breeding was important in the

Byzantine economy; it. is, however, impossible to suggest what percent-
age of the Byzantine diet was meat. Some sense of the importance of
flocks and herds is provided by the vita of St. Lazarus of Mount Galesios.
While wandering in Galatia, a monk came across a flock of sheep that
was guarded only by dogs . These fierce creatures, having surrounded
the poor man on a rock, tore all his clothes away before giving up on
their quarry. Soon after, another flock is mentioned. While the monk
Paphnoutios was climbing a tree in search of fruit, a shepherd, mistak-
ing him for an animaJ, shot him with an arrow. The vita gives the im-
pression that even before the Seljuk invasion, already in the first half of
the eleventh century, the ountry was full of sheep and their protectors
.,
17. N. Kondov, " Uber den wahrscheinlichen Weizenertrag auf der Balkan-
halbinsel im Mittelalter," Etudes balkaniques 10 (1974), 97 - 109.
18. J. Darrouzes, " Deux leltres de GregOire Ant iochos ecrites de Bulgaric
vers 1173," BS 23 (1962), 279.18 - 19.
Copyr gtltec rra

(AASS Novembris JII, 5170, 521E; see also 581B). Bulgaria was especially
abundant in sheep and cattle. The Byzantines described it as a land rich
in cheese, pork, wool, and fowl. 19 Foreign observers found the number
of cattle in Byzantium remarkable. The Russian pilgrim Daniil at the be-
ginning of the twelfth century was surprised by the size of the herds he
saw on islands such as Patmos, Rhodes, and Cyprus. 20 In addition, bone
evidence from Bulgaria indicates that at least in some areas there was an
increase in the percentage of cattle among the livestock, which in tum
suggests a higher level of agricultural production. 21
Such agricultural development may explain an apparent shift in atti-

tudes toward the land that took place in the eleventh century. Evidently
landownership became inc.reasingly attractive, as is reflected in changes
in the treatment of taxes. Until the tenth century, the Byzantine state had
been concerned with the collection of rent from deserted land, hence the
allelengyon, the previously mentioned custom that made the community
liable for land taxes if an individual defaulted. But from the eleventh cen-
tul)' on, abandoned land seems to have been increasingly sought after.
Monasteries, for instance, requested that the state award them deserted
allotments not already included in their inventories. 21 The allelengyon
was evidently no longer necessary; it was abolished by Romanos m.
As there are indications that previously abandoned land was brought
back into use in the eleventh century, a further question remains. Were
great secular and monastic estates in the eleventh century increased in
. only by such redistribution, or was arable land extended, in ad-
dition, and labor intensified? Byzantine data concerning the clearing
19. R. Browning, "Unpublished Correspondence between Michaelltalicus,

Archbishop of Philippopolis, and Theodore Prodromos," By... BlIlg. 1 (1962),
285.82 - 89; reprinted in his Studies all ByulTItillc History, LiteratuTe alld Education
(London, 1977).
20. Daniil, "Zine i cho1en'e," PPSb 1, no . 3 (1885),8.
21. Z. VtUarova, Slal'ja'lO-bulgarskota seliSlc kraj selo Popina, Silistnmsko (Sofia,
1956), 89. Th excavations of Dzedz()vi lozja {Z. VU:l..lrova, SlalJjallski ; slav-
janobUigarski seliSla v balgarski ZCnt; 0 1 kraja lIa VI- Xl vek (Sofia, 1965], 208, table 2)
to contradict this conClusion: the percentage of cattl bones is lower there
in the layer of the eighth to eleventh centuries than in that of the seventh to
eighth c nturies. However, as that settlement did not survive the mid-eleventh
century, the published figures do not reveal changes in the crucial period of the
eleventh through twelfth centuries.
22. N. G. Svorono , 511r Ie cadastre byumti/J et la fiscalite aux Xl' ,.t
Xl1' siec/es (Paris, 1959), 127f.
(,opy' ql"too 'T a t.

of woods so important in the contemporary West are vague;23 the

sources do, however, mention the reclamation of deserted, stony, or bar-
ren areas. st. Christodoulos's foundation of a monastery on rocky, moun-
tainous terrain in Patmos is an example of such amelioration. In his tes-
tament Christodoulos relates how Emperor AJexios I endowed him with
lands on the island of Patmos, but his monks refused to move there as
the island was deserted and a constant obje<:t of piratical assaults. 'They
were afraid," says Christodoulos, "they fled from me; they left me
alone" (MM 6:88.24- 26). But step by step the Monastery of John the
Baptist on Patmos increased its property both on the island and outside,
attracting some peasants from neighboring areas as laborers. Fields
were worked more by the hoe than by the plow; vineyards were planted,
and the successors of Christodoulos flourished where in AJexios I's time
there had been only a stony desert. If Fields might also be brought into
use by irrigation. According to Michael Choniates, Patriarch Theodo-
ios, when exiled to the island of Terebintho , made water available and
planted trees, "extracting oil and honey from stone" (Mich. Akom.
2.49.22- 25). A century earlier Psellos dreamed about developing his es-
tate in Medikion by buying oxen, acquiring sheep, planting vineyards,
diverting streams, and directing water through channels (Sathas, MB
5:264.6 - 7).
Other literary ource may also reflect the development of agri-
culture in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The literati took a new in-
ter st in the land. Echoing classical values, Kekaumenos praised fanning
as the most appropriate enterprise for the wealthy. 25 As mentioned
above, Gregory Antiochos while sojouming in Bulgaria occupied hjm-
self with writing a detailed comparison of agrarian conditions there and
in Byvmtium. 26 In his letters, Eusthatios of ThessaJoniki devotes much
attention to the large harvests and the high quality of the fruit produced
on his farms; his works are full of agricultural allusions. 27 Similarly, ques-

23. Eustathio Boilas in the middle of the eleventh century cleared Lands in
the eastern part of the empire " with axes and firc," P. Lemerle, Cinq eludes SlIr Ie
Xl' siecie byulIItin (Paris. 1977), 22. Data concerning the dearing of woods in By-
zantium have not yet been collected. The word apokntharsis does not appear in
the index of Ph. Koukoules. Vie et civilisation byzant;IIes 5 (Athens, 1952).
24. E. Vranuse, Ta hilgiologikn keimella tou IIOSioll Cllristodoulou (Athens, 1966).
111 - 16; and by the same author, Byzalltina tmgrapha tes mones Pamroll 1 (Athens,
1980), 39- 49.
25. G. G. Litavrin in Kek. 58.
26. Darrouzes, "Deux Icttres de GregOire Antiochos," 278- 80.
27. A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantijskij publicist xn v. Evstafij Solunskij." VV 28
(1968), 74f.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Decentralization and "Peudalization" 31
tions about grain production are prominent in the correspondence of

Michael Choniate (e.g., Mich. Akom. 2.211.17-19). Thi interest in agri-
culture is not common before the eleventh century. The contrast of con-
m ' i perhaps most remarkable in the writings of two religious fig-
ures. The mystical work of Symeon the Theologian, from the end of the
tenth and beginning of the eleventh centurie , are full of metaphors
from court life and the trad s. In contrast, Elias Ekdiko , a theologian of
the eleventh or twelfth century, delights in agricultural images. lI! )n aU,
while too little evidence remains to chart Byzantine agricultural develop-
ment in any detail, it appear that especially during the twelfth century
fanning flouri hed in Byzantium.
Thus the common a umption of decline in the eleventh and twelfth
c nturies may be seriously questioned. Byzantium was aliv and eco-
nomically well. With thi understanding, it is possible to con ider the
ba ic cultural shift that occurr d in the empire during this period and
then to identify their underlying significance.
DECENTRALIZATION

URBAN EVOLUTION IN THE PROVI CES:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND LITERARY EVIDENCE
An understanding of the conditions in the Byzantine prOvinces is es-
ntial to the broader view of Byzantine society and culture. Although
economic revival began in Byzantium in the early ninth century, at that
time only Constantinople, its immediate environs, and a narrow strip of
the Aegean coast we.re affected. From the eleventh century onward im-
provement was seen over a considerably larger area, notwithstanding
foreign political hindrances. While the evidence for urban evolution is
very limited Byzantinists still are in general more interested in study-
ing monuments than in urban archaeology nevertheless, a survey of
th available material show a pattern of urban growth, varying from re-
gion to region.
Reent Bulga.rian and Rumanian excavation allow an insight into
urban Iif in the northern Balka Unfortunately, national prejudices
have ometimes limited the scope and biased the interpretation of the
archaeological expedition; many Bulgarian scholar have ignored the
28. A. P. Kazhdan, "Das System der Bilder und Metaphem in den Werken
Symeons des 'Neuen' Theolog n," in P. Hauptmann, ed., Unser ganze5 Leben
Chris/us utlserem Gott aberantworlen (Munster, 1982), 225f.
Copyr rt fTla al
period of the "Byzantine yoke," suppressing the evidence of the elev-

enth century and ascribing the finds from the twelfth century exclu-
sively to the Second Bulgarian Empire, although that was established
only at the very end of the century. Nonetheless it was a Bulgarian
scholar, Li~ev, who first demonstrated, largely on the basis of literary
and numismatic evidenc , that Bulgarian towns prospered under Byz-
antine rule. 29 Even the old centers of Bulgarian power, Pliska and Pre-
slav, survived the Byzantine conquest of 1001-18, although the fine ce-
ramic ware typicaJ of the tenth-century capitals disappeared with the
Greek occupation. New towns were founded, one of them on the site
30
of the Thracian Sebtopolii its inhabitants not only cultivated the land
and bred cattle, they also produced iron implements, bone and wood
carvings, jewelry, and ceramics. )1Inscriptions of the eleventh century re-
ferring to Adrianople, Apros, and Mesembria also attest to building ac-
tivity in the northern Balkans.l l Mesembria remained a trade center even
29. S. Li~v, Bulgarskijal srednovekoven grad (Sofia, 1970), 64. A biased ap-
proach to economic development of towns under the "Byzantine yoke" is char-
acteristic of archaeological in Sofia. According to M. Stanteva, "Sofia au
moyen age ala lumiere de nouvelles etudes archeologiques," Byz . Bulg. 5 (1978),
215, it is "impossible d 'admettre" that the.re was building activity in the town
during the eleventh and twelfth centul'ie , even though the author mentions
both a hoard of gold and silver of that period (226) and "urban architecture" of
the eleventh century (223). On th basis of a study of eleventh-century ceramics
from Sofia (twelfth-century ware . ignored in this connection), M. Stanceva and
L. Donteva-Petkova, "Suda surface habitee de Sredec au lXo-XIV' s.," Izv. Arch.
Inst. 35 (1979), 124- 33. state that the population of the town decreased under the
"Byzantine yoke"; see also below, n . 36. However, recent studie indicate the ex-
panded use of new ceramics ("pe.rhap "of Byzantine origin) in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries throughout Bulgaria: see especially 1. ~ereva, "Prinos kum
prouevaneto na srednovekovna keramika v Bulgarija (Xl-XD v.)," Arch. 19,
no. 3 (1977), 6 - 11. Very reluctantly S. Georgieva, "Srednovekovna keramika ot
Melni~kata krepost," Arcll. 22, no. 2 (1980), 51, acknowledges the existence of
the tw Ifth-century ceramic in Melnik but without mentioning their Byzan-
tine connections and without relerence to eleventh-century ware. P. Gatev,
"Nakiti ot pogrebenija
..
ot Xl - XlI v.," Art'h. 19. no. 1 (1977), 30, empha izes that
most jewelry of this area may be dated to the eleventh and twelfth centuries
and reproaches his predece sors for not distinguishing it from earlier or later
production.
30. V. Ne~va. "Srednovekoven nekropol vuv Vut:re~nija grad na Preslav,"
Arch. 21, no. 2 (1979), 53.
31. J. Cangova, Srednovekovno seli~e na trakijskija grad Sevtopolis. Xl-XlV vek
(Sofia, 19n).
32. Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum vol. 4, fasc. 3, no. 8713; A. P. Kazhdan,
"Grece kaja nadpis' XI v. upominaniem armjanina-stratega," lstoriko-filologi-
feskij iurnal, 1973, no. 2, 189f.; V. Velkov, "Zur te Mesembrias im 11 . Jahr-
hundert," Byz. Bulg. 2 (1966), 267-73.
Cooyr gtltec rra

,
Decentralization and "Feudaliz ation" 33
later. In 1134 the charter of the Russian prince Ivan Rostislavic men-
33
tioned merchants from Mesembria. That Me embria remained com-
mercially important is also confirmed by discoveries of Byzantine coins
in the city.34 Further Byzantine ruins of the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies have been found in many Bulgarian sites, including Pernik, Tver-
dica, and Lovec:.lS the necropolis excavated near Lovec is dated to the
tenth through the thirteenth centuries;36 the eleventh-century Byzantine
fortress near the village of Mezek (district of Svilengrad) evidently
served as a refuge for the neighboring peasantry in times of peril.:11
Often originally defensive sites later became settlements in their own
right. The permanent occupants of the fortress on the island of PAcuiul
lui Soare lived by fishing and by small-craft production through the
eleventh century. J8 Coin finds indicate that other towns on the
Danube Dinogetia-Garvan, Noviodunum-Isaccea, and many others-
reappeared in the eleventh century and survived well into the twelfth.l'I
33. 1. Guhibov, Ncsebur i negovite pamjatnici (Sofia, 1959), 49f.

34. Nessebre 1 (Sofia, 1969), 22f. See also V. Gjllz,e lev, "Die mittelaHerliche
Stadt Mesembria (Nesebar) im 6. - 15. Jh.," Bulgarian Historical Review 6 (1978),
52ff.; Z. timbuleva, "Parnjatniki srednevekouvja v g. Nesebre," Byz. BlIlg. 7
(1981), 128f.
35. J. tangova, "Archeologiteski proutvanija na Perni~kata " /zves-
tija na Brilgarskoto istoritesko druiestvo 26 (1968), 123-37; and the same author's
"Srednovekoven Pernik," Vekove 5 (1975), 5-12; A. Popov, "Srednovekovnite
kreposti Tvurdica i MugM," /zvestija na Bulgarskoto istoritesko druiestvo 27 (1970),
273; J. tangova, "Razkopki na Love~kata krepost," Arch. 8, no. 2 (1966), 32, 36.
36. Bulgarian scholars who have published the material assert that a decline
in the quality of artifacts reflects the deterioration of the economy under Byzan-
tine rule. This important conclusion is, however. drawn from a Single observa-
tion of the "coarseness and simplicity" of bronze necklaces found in a tomb
along with coins of the reign of Manuel I. S. Georgieva, R. re~eva, "Srednove-
koven bulgarski nekropol kraj gr. Lovet i nakitite, namereni v nego," Izv . Arch.
Inst. 20 (1955),551. On Lovet, also J. Cangova, "Srednovekovniat Lovet," Vekove 5
(1976), 26 - 31.
37. K. Mijatev, Ardritekturata v sredllovekovna Bulgarija (Sofia, 1%5), 129-31.
38. P. Diaconu and D. Vilceanu, Pdcuiullui Soare, cetatea bizantilla 1 (Bucha-
rest, 1972).
39. I. Barnea, "Dinogetia et Noviodunum, deux villes byzantines du Bas-
Danube," RESEE 9 (1971), 352f. (Dinogctia is sometimes identified with the
Byzantine Demnitzikos: A. Bol~ov-Ghimpu, "La localisation de la byzan-
tine de Demnitzikos," RESEE 5 [1967], 543-49); G. Florescu, R. Florescu, and
P. Diaconu, CIlpidava 1 (Bucharest, 1958). In this collective work, Florescu insists
on the basis of ceramic finds that Capidava existed uninterruptedly from Roman
times (227-32) . Diaconu on the basis of coin evidence assumes on the contrary
that the city existed only from the end of the tenth to the middle of the eJeventh
century (238-44). See also P. Diaconu, "Une information de Sky litz~s-Cedrenos
ala lumiere de l'archeologie," RESEE 7 (1969),43- 49. In contrast, ~1. A. Botilov

Further, there are indications that agriculture in Bulgaria was adapted to

a money economy. ~ A new exploitation of Danubian quarries, which
dates from this period, also indicates new construction on a large cale
in the northern Balkans}l Thus it appears that, though the northern Bal-
kans suffered from the invasions of the steppe tribes, the Pecheneg in
the eleventh century, and. the Po)ovtsy (the Cumans of the Byzantine
in the twelfth, town life flourished.
Similar urban development seems to have been characteristic of the
Balkan Peninsula as a whole. Despite the sad fact that many Byzantine
layers in Athens have been destroyed in search of classical antiquity,
. om patterns of medieval settlement can be re tored. Much of old
Athens was abandoned during the seventh and eighth centuries; the
city was confined to the Acropolis and to the area immediately around it.
Revival began in the econd half of the ninth century with the construc-
tion of the Church of St. John Mangoutis, but the height of medievaJ
pro perity was achieved in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The com-
mercial center has not been located, but it may be surmised that the
trades developed in residential area where houses had ground-floor
storerooms and workshops. Some industries, such as soap manufactur-
ing and tanning, which required a water upply and were notorious for
their bad sm lis, wer located on the outskjrts of the town, at the Di-
pylon and at the Olympieion respectively. The administrative and reli-
gious center continued to be the fortified Acropolis. U The sy tematic ex-
believes these were Bulgarian towns that fell to John Tzimjskes rather than new
By:t.antinc strongholds: "'Kum tulkuvane to na dye izvestija na j. Skil.ica za gra-
dovete po Dolnija Dunav v kraja na X vek," lu.restija 1m IIarodll;ja mllzcj VamQ 9
(1973), 119.
40. G. G. Litavrin, "Tempove i spccifika na soda lno-ikonomil-eskoto raz-
vitie na srcdnovekovna Bulgaria v sravnenie s Vizantija (at kraja na vn do kraja
na XII v.)," l s l ori~eskj pre led 26 (1970), 38; Li ev, BUlgarskijat srednoveko " rad,
36- 45, 54 - 64; J. Cangova, "Kum vuprosa za ustrojstvoto na s rednovekovnija
bulgarski grad (IX - XIV)," Architekturatll IIa Puroata ; Vlorata bulgarska durinlJa
( ofia, 1975), 93f.
41. P. Diaconu and E. Zah. "'Les carri r's de pierre de P.lcuiullui Saara,"
Dacil1 15 (1971), 305.
42. Th principal monographs on Athens ar I. Traulos, Paleodomike exelixis
11.'5 poleos tOil Athello" (Athens, 1960), 149- 72; H. Thompson and R. E. Wycherley,
Till! Agora 0 At/it' lL (Prin eton, 1972). General surveys of the development of
Byzantine urban Life include A. P. Ka zhdan , "Vizantijskie goroda v VIJ - XI vv., "
SOlJetskaja arclll'% ija 21 (1954). 177- 79; P. Tiv :ev, "Sur les cites byzantines aux
XI- XW s iecle ," Byz . Bill. 1(1%2), 152- 56; V. Hrochova, Les ui/les byzalltines allx
11 ' - 13< siecks : plll?II0mell e celltri!" e 011 ccnlripetc dans 1'/h'O/utiOI1 de ia socitite byzall-
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

Decentralization and "Feudalization" 3S
c.a vations at Corinth allow more dear-cut conclusions concerning the

layout of the medieval city: the settlement lacked any plan; it developed
spontaneously, with small houses and workshops covering what had
been the free space of the ancient polis. Like Athens, Corinth experi-
enced a boom in industry and construction in the eleventh and tweHth
centuries. OJ Growth in Sparta during the twelfth century can be sug-
gested as well. At that time the town extended beyond its southern wall:
some houses and a public bath from this period were discovered in that
area. It seem also that Cadmeia in Thebes was densely populated in the
twelfth century.
There' little evidence from Thessaly, Epiros, and Euboea; Mace-
donia and Thrace have been better studied. Thessaloniki was the largest
city in this region; although archaeological data concerning its ceramics
and houses have not yet been published, the medieval ources, at least,
Thessaloniki as an important commercial city. The anonymous
author of the dialogue Timarion (Ex. 3-4) de cribes the annual fair in
Thessaloniki of the first half of the twelfth century, to which merchants
came from Italy, from Egypt, from the northern coast of the Black Sea,
and from Spain. The twelfth-century Western chronicler Robert de
Torigny mentioned Thessaloniki as an important trade center..... Accord-
ing to the tenth-century vita of Photios of Thessaloniki, small towns that
had formerly surrounded the city were at the authors time in ruins;4~
but quite a different picture appears from texts of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. For example, Rodosto attracted considerable grain
trade.46 In Macedonia archaeologists have uncovered some sections of
medieval walls, but except for those of Servia, where they indicate a tri-
partite divi ion of the city lower city, upper city, and acropolis the e
remains are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions about urban life to
tine (Athens, 1976), 6- 9. On the economic development of cities, D. Zakythinos,

Byzollcc: fta t. Societe. Economic (London, 1973). part 5, 320; J. Koder and F. Hild.
Tabula Imperii Byumtilli, vol. 1, Hellas ulld Thessaliell (Vienna, 1976). 65. Also see
the important s urvey by Ch. Bouras, "City and Village: Urban Design and Ar-
chitecture," 1GB 3112 (1981), 611 - 53, who dates "the renaissance o( the cities"
from the exact date (!) of 961 (p. 616).
43. On. Corinth, R. L. Scranton, Medieval Archilt'chm: ill the Central Area of
Corinth, Corinth, no. 16 (Princeton, 1957); see also D. M. Metcalf, "Corinth in the
Ninth Century: The Numismatic Evidence," Hesperia 62 (1973), 180- 251.
44 . Chrollique, ed. L. Delisle, vol. 2 (Rouen, HS73), 87.
45. Arsenij, Pocilval'IIoe 51000 SU . Fotiju Fessalijskolnll (Novgorod, 1897), 13f.
46. K. Dieterich, "Zur Kulturgeographie und Kulturgeschichte des byzan-
tinischen. BaJkanhandels," BZ 31 (1931),41.
Copyr gtltec rra

47
be drawn from them. Church buildings are more informative. The
rather large congregational basilicas constructed or rebuilt and elabo-
rately decorated in Verria, Servia, Manastir, and Ohrid, as well as the
great and small private cha constructed in Thessaloniki, Kastoria,
and e here in the province, attest the revitalization of urban life in
Macedonia (figs. 1-3). Although archaeological evidence for the rest of
Greece is minimal, the reJatively large number of fresco programs ur-
viving from the later twelfth century suggests broadly distributed pros-
perity in the province by that time ....
It would appear, then, that urban life in the Balkans flourished dur-
ing the eleventh and twelfth centuries,4\I even though some towns, es-
pecially those on the lower Danube, were destroyed and abandoned at
the end of the eleventh. Conditions in Byzantine towns in Asia Minor
are much harder to reconstruct. Vryonis ha consistently denied eco-
nomic progress in Asia Minor. In his opinion, towns declined in the
th century and were plundered by the Seljuks in the twelfth; any
revival during the Comnenian period was short-lived and of little conse-
quence.- In constrast, Tivtev reco nizes the existence of larger urban
center in Asia Minor during the leventh and twelfth centuries, and Ka-
rayannopoulos sugge ts that the traditional view of decline in the elev-
47. A. Xyngopou los, Ta mnemeia ton Serbioll (Athens. 1957), 12.

48. For the most recent urvey, K. Skawran. Tile Der.leloplllent of Middle Byz-
antine Fresco Painting ill Greece (Pretoria. 1982).
49. P. Charanis, " Observations on the Demography of the Byzllntine Em-
pire," Proceedings of the XlIlth International Congre$s of Bymnti"e Studies (London,
1967). 459f. reprinted in his Studies on the Delllography of tIle Bymntinl' III/,ire
(London, 1972); Tivcev. "Sur les cites." 156f.; ). Karayannopoulos. Kelltrop"ygoi
leai !eentromoloi dynameis stOll Bymntino kosmo (Athens. 1976). 19f.; Bouras, " City
and ." 616, contrasts decline and decay in twelfth-century Asia Minor to a
further activity of cities in Gr ek lands. He mentions, however. a dt'nsely oc-
cupied settlement in Pegamum of the twelfth century (63.5). For the architecture
of Mac donja. Ch . and L. Bouras. " Byzantine Churches of Greece." Architectural
Desigll 98 (1972). 30- 37. For D. Koco and P. Miljkovic-Pepek. Mallastir
(Skopje. 1958); (or Ohrid, A. W. Epstein, "The PoliticaJ Content of the Paintings
of Saint Sophia at Ohrid." JdB 29 (1980), 325- 29; for Veljusa on the Strumica,
R. Hamann-Maclean, Die Monumentalmalcrei ill Scrbien Iwd Makcdo/lic/I 2 (Gies-
sen. 1976), 255 - 61.
SO. S. Vryonis. Tile Decline of Medier.ial Hellellism ill Asia Mitior arid tire Process
of Islamizntion from the Elet'fllth tllrough till! Fiftee"t" Centuries (Berkeley, los An-
gel s, and London. 1971), 78- 80; al 0 see his review of TM 1 in ByzantillQ 1
(1969), 219, and his reply to hi critics. GRBS 27 (19 2). 230f. He did not include
this point in the major " seven theses of the book" that he endeavored to defend.
Cooyr gtltec rra

,
enth century is simply an exaggeration. I The work of Fos, in any case,

now helps establish a probable pattern of urban existence in Asia
Minor. 52 Smyrna seems to have been the only city in the region in which
urban life continued uninteltupted from late antiquity. Ephesus re-
tained its harbor facilities, but the populace slowly migrated to a nearby
hill. SJ .A great many Ionian po/eis, Miletus, Priene, and Pergamum, for
e ample, were abandoned in the seventh century and rebuilt after the
tenth. These new Byzantine towns bore no resemblance to the highly
ordered, gridiron-planned cities of antiquity. Pergamum, which was
particularly densely populated and was refortified by Manuel I, wa . a
settlement of unsystematically arranged small houses and workshops.
Sardis, after a long period of desertion, reappeared again a.r ound the
tenth century as a group of villages built near a stronghold. It flouri hed
in the eleventh century and then again at the end of the twelfth. '15
Exiguous material from Ankara, including coins and pottery, indicates
some reoccupation aloof that city in the tenth and eleventh centuries . .
That urban life revived, then, in Asia Minor in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries appear probable from the archaeological evidence.
Written sources confirm this probability. After Side was deserted,
urban life grew up in Attaleia: 51 at the end of the tenth c ntury, the Arab
geographer Ibn Hauqal described Attaleia as a fortress amid wheat-
producing land; 58 by the eleventh century, Attaleia wa a major commer-
cial. center. ~ A letter of 1137 characterized the neighboring town of
51. Tivcev, "Sur les cites," 165f.; Karayannopoulos, Kentrophy oi /wi ken-
tromoloi dy"tltneis, 18f.
52. Foss," Archaeology and the 'Twenty Cities,'" 469-86.
53. C. Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity: A lAtc Antique, Byumtille alld Turkish City
(Cambridge, 1979), 107. Fo s admit both "a notable decline" of the city during
the Dark Ages (103) and a "medieval recovery" (116-37); he is inclined to begin
the recovery around 850, although the scanty archaeological evidence dates to
the tenth through thirteenth centuries .
54. W. Radt, "Die byzantinische Wohnstad! von Pergamon," WOIIII/lllXSbaU
im Altl!TtunI (Berlin, 1979), 199- 223; also see his " Pergamon. Grabungskampagf\c
im Herbst 1973," Tiirk Arke%ji Dergisi 22, no. 1 (1975), 99- 107.
55. C. Fo s, ByZtllltille alld Tllrki II Sardis (Cambridge, Ma ., 1976),70 - 76.
56. C. Foss, "Late Antique and Byzantine Ankara," DOP 31 (1977), 84.
57. A. M. Mansel, Die Rllill/,II VOII Side (Berlin, 1963), 14 .
58. X. de Planhol. Dt'la plaitre pilmpllyliclIIll' allX lacs l'isidil'lIs. NomadismI' el vie
paysallne (Paris, 1958), 84.
59. A. Scharf, ByullllillL' Jewry (London, 1971), 108; Vryonis, TIlt' Dedi"e of
Medieval Helle"ism, 131.

60
S I ukia in Isauria a flourishing and weU-to-do. Other urce c n-
tantly mention the f undation and r c n tructi n f town in Asia
Min r.61 Und r A1exi I th coa tal citie from Smyrna to Attaleia were
r built (An. C. 3: 142. - 9, 217.24-25), a w r Koryk and Seleukia
(346.2- 3). Kallikle wri about th bujjding of cities under John 11,
exdajmjng that the death f the emperor would be lamented by the citie
f Eur pe and of A ia.62 Under John il, Lopadion was also rebuilt (Kmn.
38. - 10). Manuel I both founded new and recon tructed old c n-
ter f which only the name remained (Fontes 1:32.21-24,127.14-18;
Eu t. Opu c. 20 .69- 71; also Kjnn. 38.18). Dorylaion wa refounded
n t rrit ry regain d fr m the Seljuk (Kinn. 295.10- 11); 63 the f rtres of
ublaion wa built nearby.I>< ~ rnil< prai d I aac II f r funding the
t wn of Ang loka tron on the ite of the Id of Choma, recap-
tur d from th Turks (Fontes 2:261.4- 16).M
Th e archaeological and lit rary record of Byzantine A ia Minor
ug e t certain differen e between Balkan cities and tho e in the ea t-
rn part of th empire. With e ception uch a Ephe u , Nikomedia,
ica a, and Attaleia, the towns of A ia Minor were fortre es rather
than trad and craft cent r , a iketa Ch niate c nfirm . In writing
about comm rcial activity, Choruates refer to Con tantinople and such
Balkan citie a h b ,C dnth, r Philippop li ; h allude onl t ag-
ricul in hi r fer nce to town in A ia Minor. He mention the abun-
dant crop and fruit tre f P rgamum, Chliara, r Adramyti n (Nik.
Chon . 150.40- 44), the th fl rs in Chonae (400. - 9), th herd
in Bru a (28 .46- 49). aI 0 de cribe how Laodicaea in Phrygia, be-
for b ing encompa d b a waU, con i ted of everal cattered village
(124.13- 15). Overall, the towns of A ia Minor em to have been largely
agricultural commurutie ; they lagged behind their Balkan counterpart
and did not be om urbaruzed. It i n t dear why thi wa o. Perhap
th damage cau d by the Mo lem inva ion and the militarization due
60. . . it in, " A L tt rfr m I u ia ( ili ia) Oat d 21 JuI 1137," Spe-
culum 39 (1964), 29 -303.
61. H . GI katzi-Ahrw il r, " L forter e con truite en Mineure face
I' in a io n eldjoucide," Aktm des XI. illtem aziOllalt'll Byzalltilli ten-Kong r se
(Munich , 19 ), 1 - 9.
62. i . Kall. 113. 20 - 22, 29- 30.
63. On Oorylaio n, K. . Mpo n ," uthymi u t u Malake d 0 enkomias-
tikoi logoi i to n autokratora Manouel I Komnen ," Theolo ia 19 (1941 - . ), 529.
64. Ibid ., 547. 23- 24.
65. H. Ahrweiler, " Choma-Ag eloka tron," REB 24 (1 66),
GODY IQntea 'T lat

I
I
to the constant threat of enemy incursion was, in the long run, more de-
structive of urban institutions than was the temporary Slavic occupation
of the BaJkans of the seventh and eighth centuries. Or perhaps the
growth of a strong rurally based military aristocracy stifled a widespread
redevelopment of urban life. Whatever the cause, there is less to indicate
an urban revival than in the Balkans, despite ample evidence for in-
stance, the foundation and decoration of monasteries of rural pros-
perity in the heartlands of Asia Minor from the tenth through the first
three quarters of the eleventh century. While different provinces of the
empire, then, developed somewhat different social forms in the tenth
through twelfth centuries their economies by and large improved.
URBAN EVOLUTION IN THE PROVINCES:
ARTS AND CRAFTS
How did economic growth in towns of the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies affect the traditionally hegemonic capital of the empire, Con-
stantinople? An investigation of the crafts produced in the provinces
provides some indication of a changing baJance in their relationship.
The craft most clearly reflective of endemic localism is the building
trade. The markedly regional character of construction may be seen in
the many surviving churches of one Macedonian town, Kastoria. There,
the characteristic cloisonne method employed in consh uction indicates
that a continuous building tradition was maintained in the city between
the tenth and thirteenth centuries under both BuJgarian and Byzantine
rule (figs. 3-4) .... Similarly, regional building traditions informed by the
local geology and by the prosperity of local patrons are found through-
out Byzantium from Cyprus to outhern Italy.
Provincial building techniques also improved recognizably through-
out the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The most obvious sign of this
progress is found in the facing of the buildings: the mortared rubble or
mugh ashlar of the ninth and tenth centuries wa superseded by a
more decorative combination of brick and well-cut stone. The churches
of Hosios Loukas, Nicholas in the Fields, Panagia Lykodemou, and
Daphni in central Greece from the eleventh and twelfth centuries and,
from the twelfth century, the Argolid group in the Peloponnese (with a
closely related member, the Soter church in Amphissa, to the north in
Phokis) indicate not only the strength of local traditions but also the ar-
66. A. W. Epstein, "The Middle Byzantine Churches of Kastoria in Greek

Macedonia: Their Dates and Implications," ABull62 (1980), 190- 207.

chitecturaJ refinement that might be achieved in the Byzantine provinces

(figs. 5-7 and 38)."" In contrast to the apparentarchitecturaj evolution in
the provinces, improvements in Constantinopolitan architecture are less
easily identifiable. Between the tenth and twelfth centurie in the capital
there were changes in building style, involving a generaJ opening of inte-
rior space and broadening of proportions; in plan, with experiments in
the domed octagon; in construction method, most notably with the intro-
duction of the recessed-brick technique; and even in articulation, for in-
stance in the modeling of apse exteriors through registers of niches. t>8 But
there was no significant aesthetic or technological advance in architecture.
Ceramic evidence, which surviv . in rna s and is relatively welJ pre-
served, is a less grand bu,t perhaps more reliable economic indicator
than monumental art. Provincial centers in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies increased their ceramic production; '" this has been especially welJ
studied in Corinth, but it is aJso manifest in Athens, Thessaloniki,
Sparta, and Olynthus, as well as in such towns of Asia Minor as Per-
70
gamum, Priene, and Ephesus. Recent excavations at Bulgar-
ian sites uncovered large quantities of ceramic ware of a Byzantine
type. ?1 From the end of the tenth and in the eleventh century here, too,
n
c rami production evidently improved and increased. In contrast,
Constantinopolitan ceramic manufachlfe, which flourished during the
67. E. Stikas, Oikodomikon chronikon tt!S mmlt!S tou H. Louka Phokidos (Athens,
1970); R. Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture (HaIDlonds-
worth, 1976), 37St. n. 9; S. Savvas, "Etude de quatre eglises du XU' siede se trou-
vent en Argolide," Thealogw 29 (1958),368 -76.
68. P. L. VocotopouJos, "The Concealed Course Technique: Further Ex-
amples and a Few Remarks," JOB 28 (1979),247- 60.
69. Kazhdan, Derevnja i gorod, 213-18.
70. The resurgence of ceramic production in Corinth took place in the elev-
enth to mid-twelfth century: C. H. Morgan, The Byzantine Pottery, Corinth, no . 11
(Princeton, 1942), 59f.; T. S. MacKay, "More Byzantine and Frankish Pottery
from Corinth," Hesperia 36 (1967), 273, 280. For Corinth, also see B. Adamsheck,
Kenchreai, Enstern Port of Corinth, vol. 4, The Pottery (Leiden, 1979), 100- 104.
On Byzantine ceramic ware of the twelfth century, possibly produced on the
mainland of Asia Minor and recovered from a shipwreck off the northern
Dodekan se IsLands, R. M. Randall, "Three Byzantine Ceramics (The Walters
Art Callery, Baltimore)," Burlington Magazine 111 (1968), 461f.
71. K. Mijatev, "Vizantijska.sgrafito keramika v car Idja dvorec v Tumovo,"
Arch. 9, no. 3 (1967), 8; J. Cangova, "Srednovekovni am(ori v Btilgarija," lzu.
Arch. Inst . 22 (1959),255-59. Also see SCereva's artjde, above, n. 29.
72. M. Stanteva and L. Donteva-P tkova, "Srednovekovna bitova keramika
ot E rus pri s. Cigen," Arch . 14, no. 1 (1972), 30; L. Donteva-Petkova, ''Tra-
peznata keramika v Bulgarija prez Vrn - XI v .," Arch. 12, no. 1 (1970), 22f.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

second half of the ninth and the first half of the tenth century,
later to have declined, most sharply at the dose of the twelfth century. 7
Precisely at that time, however, a new type of pottery known as Zeuxip-
pos Ware made its appearance. Vessels were fired at a high temperature
one inside the other and separated by tripod stilts, which allowed more
pots to be finished more rapidly. A large find of this pottery in the baths
of Zeuxippos initially led scholars to believe that it wa produced in Con-
stantinople,14 It is, however, so widely distributed it has been fOllnd
in the Aegean basin, on Cyprus, on the northern coast of the Black Sea,
in Antioch, Egypt, and as well in Corinth, Pergamum, and Preslav 75 -
that it no longer can be assumed that it was manufactured exclusively in
the capital. It is just as likely that new urban demands in the provinces
led to the widespread introduction of a new technique for increased
production.
A brief consideration of a few other Byzantine crafts both suggests
that Byzantium was by no means technologically backward in the elev-
enth and twelfth centuries and confirms the impression that Con-
stantinople no longer held a monopoly in the production of goods. Byz-
antine silk continued to be produced from the tenth through the twelfth
centuries. But beginning in the eleventh and most especially in the
twelfth century, silk production spread beyond Constantinople to the
76
Peloponnese, to Thebes, and perhaps to Thessatoniki. It was from
Thebes and Corinth that the Normans abducted silk weavers in 1147 in
order to establish this prestigious craft in Sicily. Decentralization of craft
skills is dear in this case.
So far as can be judged from the colophons and scriptoria that have
studied, a book culture also was active in provincial towns and
monasteries in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. n In Asia Minor, de-
73. R. B. K. Stevenson, "The Pottery, 1936-1937," Tile Great Palac~oftlre Byz-

antine Emperors (Oxford, 1947), 47f., 52.
74. A. H. S. Megaw, "Zeuxippus Ware," Annual of tire British School at Athens
63 (1968), 68f., 87.
75. Megaw, "Zeuxippus Ware," 77f.; MacKay, "More Byzantine and Frank-
ish Pottery," 259f.
76. Kazhdan, Demmja i gorod, 230L
77. R. Devreesse, Introduction Ii [,etude des manuscrits Crees (Paris, 1954), 56f.
Devreesse's references to Constantinople are evidently incomplete. He did not
indude manuscripts from the Studios that he knew quite welJ or iUuminated
works ascribed to imperial scriptoria. But even a recently established list of
manuscripts produced in the Studios's scriptorium reveals the same pattern:
twelve manuscripts can be dated to the ninth century, nine to the tenth, 'even to
--
the eleventh, and none to the twelfth: B. Fonkic, "Vizantijskie skriptorii," lOB
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

pit the Seljuk in a ion boo continued to be made through the third
quarter of the eleventh and into the twelfth century,78 although after 1072
Anatolian towns no longer appea in the colophon of Greek manu-
. Devreesse mention only two book written in Opsikion in
1161/62 and in 1186. In continental Greece, how v r, and on the islands,
book production apparently loud hed through th twelfth century. For
in tance, of the seven manu ripts of eastern Medit rranean i les in-
cluded in Ii t, fi e dat between 1100 and 1204. '" Some sen e
of how many book might have b en being produced j provided by the
library of the Cypriot monk Ne phytos, an ardent cnbe and writer,
who owned at lea t ixteen lume, orne of which he may have copied
him elf.1!O Even iJJuminators appear to have been wid ly disper ed, if we
may judge from the di tribution of manuscripts as ociated through their
illu tration with the r McCormick New Te tament. 8 1
la s manufacture a1 0 continued throughout p riod. From the
xcavation at Sardis it would rn that glass was rare after 700 but reap-
pared in the tenth and ele enth centurie . 2 The only Byzantine glass
factory that ha be n studied in any detail i that at Corinth, which dates
to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Gla smaking at thi time seems
to ha undergone technoJogicaJ changes. While traditional Roman
methods continued to b u ed, new workshop techniques also ap-
peared. ~ As were silk weaving and book production, the highly skilled
., , .
31/2 (1981.), 433f., who provide an enormous bibljography, primariJy of works
dedicated to special problem . For a general urvey, above all J. lrigoin,
" Centre de copie et " Byzantine Books alld Bookmall (Washington,
D.C., 1975), 18, who tre that criptoria ha not been adequately studied; in
anoth r artid , " Pour une etud des centres de copie b zantins, II: ' Scripforilll1l
13 (1959), 195- 204, he a group of Athonite manu cript of the begin-
ning of the eleventh century.
7 , J. Darrouzes, ilL mouvement des fondations mona tique au Xl' sic -
de, " TM 6 1976),172.
79. Dcvrecssc, ["troduction, 57.
SO. I. P. TsiknopouUo , ed., Kypriaka Typikn , Pegai kai me/etai tes Kypriake Ilis~
torias (Nicosia, 1969), 3f.
81 . For instance, A. W. Carr, " Byzantine Manu ript lIIumination in Twelfth-
cntury Palestine," Abstracts of Ihe Second All/waf BYZilIltille Studies COllference
( w York, 1976), 1S.
2. Fo , B ZIIn/ illt! a"d . Sardis , 75 .
83. G. R. David on, " A M dia val Glass Factory at orinlh," AlA 44
(194O), 302J .
. J. L. Stapova, ilL verre byzantine du V - XU' ieeJe" in Sredl1ovekovl/o
staklo na Balkallli (V-XV vek) (Belgrade, 1975), 41 - 4:7.
C pyr qrted r1 I
Decentralization and "FeudaLization" 43
manufacture of glass was known in the provinces as well as in the capital

of the empire.
The production of some lUXUry goods remained, however, a monop-
oly of the capital. Figural. stained glass, for instance, has so far been
found only in Constantinopolitan churches of the twel.fth century, not in
provincial monuments. ~5 Whether the secrets of this medium originated
in the East or in the West, it is clear at least that Byzantine craftsmen
possessed the technology to produce glass of high quality. 86 Similarly,
both literary and epigraphic evidence indicate that large-scale bronze
casting another extremely expensive and technologically
process was not common outside Constantinople. Byzantine casting is
known principally from a number of bronze doors that can be more or
less precisely identified as to date and provenance. 87 Although there are
earlier examples of Byzantine bronze doors, such as those at St. Sophia,
the height of bronze door production occurred in the tenth through elev-
enth centuries and ended in the twelfth. These doors were often ex-
ported beyond the borders of the empire; a number of them still exist in
Italy, where they were later imitated by local masters. KII
The art of Laying may also have been restricted to Con-
stantinople. Mosaic programs executed in Constantinople during the
second half of the twelfth century are known almost exclusively from
literary sources.1I9 The fragment of an archangel in mosaic discovered in
the restoration at Kalenderhane Camii in Constantinople provides some
85. A. H . S. Mcgaw, "Notes on Recent Work of the Byzantine Institute in

Istanbul," DOP 17 (1963), 362-64; A. Underwood, Tire Kariye Djami 1 (New York,
1966), 19.
86. Against the theory of Byzantine priority, J. Lafond, "Les vitraux histo-
ries du moyen age decouverts recemment a Constantinople," Bulletin de la Societe
nationale des antiquaires de Frllllce, 1964, 164-66; "Decouverte de vitraux histories
du moyen age it Constantinople," CA 18 (1968),231-38.
87. Ch. Bouras, "The Byzantine Bronze Door ' of the Great Lavra Monastery
on Mount Athos," JOB 24 (1975), 229-50; W. E. Kleinbauer, "A Byzantine Re-
vival: The Inlaid Bronze Doors of Constantinople," Archaeology 29 (1976), 16- 29.
The Byzantine o,rigin of the so-ca lled KOTsunskie YTata (Gates of Cherson) in the
Church of St. Sophia in Novgorod is debated: A. V. Bank, " Konstantinopol'skie
obrazcy i mestnye ko pii," VV 34 (1973), 193- 95.
88. M . E. Frazer, "Church Doors and the Cates of Paradise, Byzantine
Doors in Italy," DOP 27 (1973), 143-62; G. Matthiae, Le porte brorlzee biumtine ill
Italill (Rome, 1971).
89. P. Magdalino, "Manuel Komnenos and the Creat Palace," BMGS 4
(1978), 101 - 14; P. Magdalino and R. Nelson, "The Emperor in Byzantine Art of
the Twelfth Century," Byz . Forsell. 8 (1982), 123-81.
Copyr gtltec rra

indication of the hjgh quality of the lost works (Fig. 9).'\ Further evidence
indicates that mo aicist traveled from Constantinople to neighboring
states to work abroad. In about 1070, Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cas-
sino, sent to Constantinople for mosa to decorate his n w basilica.~\
The Paterikon of the Cave Monastery (Peterskij monastyr') in Kiev is also
quite explicit: Greek artists, it says, were sen.t by God's will and that of
the Virgin from the Queen of Cities to embellish the Church of the Cave;
it dates this event to the reign of Prince VsevoJd Jaroslavich (1078-93). 92
It is also commonly thought that Constantinopolitan craft men were in-
volved in Manuel I's efforts to restore the major pilgrimage shrines in the
Holy Land in the later twelfth century. The literary evidence provided by
Manuel's contemporary, John Phokas. affirms the emperor's patronage
of work undertaken at the Holy Sepulcher and elsewhere, but fails to
indicate the origins of the craftsmen employed in these restoration and
redecoration programs. The iogle exception, found in the passage de-
scribing the complete recon truction of the Monastery of the Holy
Prophet Elias "through a Syrian who was in charge of it," suggests that
at least some of the builders were local (PG 133.944A, 952B, 956C-D). In
contrast. Constantinopolitan mason and perhaps even Byzantine bricks
were used in Constantine IX Monomachos's reconstruction of the Holy
Sepukher of 1042- 48. 9 Despite a lack of literary documentation. it is gen-
erally assumed that Constantinopolitan mosaicist were employed by the
Norman kings of Sicily to adorn their acred and secular buildings. Cer-
tainly the mosaic figures of William II's 'Monreale show a dose stylistic af-
finity to the fragmentary archangel of Kalenderhane Camii (figs. 8 - 9). ~
From an earlier date, in the late el venth century, there is tylistic evi-
dence that mosaici is also came from Byzantium to the northern Adriatic
to work in Venice v~ and TorceUo.% As in the case of large-scale bronze
casting. it seems unlikely that any provincial center outside of Con-
90. C. L. Striker and Y. Dogan Kuban, Kalt:llderlume umii ill Istanbul : Filial
Excatration Report (Washington, D.C. . forthcoming).
91. "Chronica monasterii Cassinensis," MGH SS 7: 718.
92. D. Tschizevskij, ed., Das Paterikan des Kiroer Hohlenklosters (Muni,c h,
1%4),172.
93. R. Ousterhout, "The Byzantine Holy Sepulchre," Abstracts of tile Nilltll
.Annual Byzantille Stl/dies Conference (Durham, N.C., 1983),61 - 62.
94. Striker and Kuban, Kalenderlutlle Camii, forthcoming; E. KHzinger. The
Mosaics of Monreale (palermo, 1960), fig. 40.
95. O. Demus, Ti,e Mosaics of Sail Marco i" Veil icc (Chicago and Washington.
D.C. , 1984).
%. I. Andreescu, "Torcello," parts 1 and 2, DOP 26 (1972). 183- 223; part 3,
DOP 30 (1976),245 - 341.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

stantinople could sustain the continuous workshop tradition fundamen-

tal to a craft involving both great skill and advanced technology. <r1
The minor arts provide only ambiguous evidence concerning the re-
lationship between the capital and the provincial citie because it is often
difficult to identify the provenance of the objects. In the works produced
for the court of the tenth century, ivory reattained a prominence it had
not had since the first half of the sixth century."" While in the eleventh
century ivory continued to be an important medium, it was replaced in
the twelfth by steatite or oapstone."'" It is unclear what caused this
change in mat rials. There are no grounds for believing that ivory was
no longer available; perhaps the cause was simply a growing appeal of
smaH-scale relief carving. Figurally carved steatites, e pecially of the
lighter, more translucent variety, were evidently highly valued. 100 In con-
trast, cloisonne enamel work remained highly refined throughout the
period. The popularity of this medium, in which piece of brilHantly col-
ored glass are drawn into a figure in a web of gold wir s, is typical of the
Byzantines' taste for highly crafted, jewellike objects. The enamels of the
upper register of the Pala d'Oro, probably originally from the sanctuary
screen of John [[ Comnenus's Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople,
attest to the superb qllality of the craft during the twelfth century. 10 1
On these golden plaques, Christological scenes from the liturgical calen-
dar are rendered with the refined opulence that both mosaicists and
manuscript illuminators strove to achieve. Similarly, silverwork of a high
standard was produced in the tenth century after a lap e of nearly three
centuries. Stylistic analysis may eventually allow developments in silver-
work to be traced from the Limburg Staurothek of 964 / 65 through the
97. R. Cormack, "The Apse Mosaics of S. ophia a t Thcssaloniki," Deltion

tes Christianike archaiologike~ Ilt'taireias, ser. 4, 10 (1980- 81), 111 - 35, largely on the
ground of style. but also partially on the basi of its tcchnicaJ ineptitude, pro-
poses that the mosaic Virgin in the apse of St. Sophia in The saloniki is a local
product.
98. A. Goldschmidt and K. Weitzmann, Die bYUlIItillisc/ICII Elfellbeinsklllp-
tuml des X- Xlll/alrrll//TIdert s (Berlin. 1930t vol. I, 15. On the redating o( ivories
to the eleventh century. I. Kalavrewu-Maxeiner. "Eudokai Makrembolihssa and
the Romanos Ivory," D P 31 (1977), 304 - 25.
99. 1. Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, Byzantine Icon s ill Steatite (Vienna, 1984).
100. 1. Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, "The Paris Psalter," Abstracts Of tIll? Eighth AI/-
nual Byzafltille Studies Conference (Chicago, 1982), 50- 51.
101. On the Pala d'Oro, H. R. Hahnloser. " Magistra Latinitas und Peritia
Graeca," FestSChrift filr H. 0011 fille/ll (Berlin, 1965), 77f. K. Wessel, Byzantine
Ellamels (Shannon, 1969), 3Of. , suggests that enamclwo rk continul'<i in Byzan-
tium to Palaeologue times.
CODyr grtCd 'T'

twelfth century. I01 For in tance, there are a number of processional

crosse decorated with silver repousse and niello work that probably
date to the eleventh century; 100 the only one with a gene.rally accepted
date and provenance is Michael KerouUarios's Constantinopolitan cross,
now in fragmentary form in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. 1(1t While
the minor arts thus do reflect continued prosperity in Byzantium, their
usefulness as a cultural barometer is qualified by the difficulty of ascer-
taining the exact date and the original source of many of the individual

pieces.
In sum, the empire prospered through the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies. The material production recognizable from excavations and in
surviving monuments implies a stable agricultural and demographic
base and conscious local traditions. There appears to have been an eco-
nomic shift away from the capital and in favor of the hinterland. This
redistribution must have been, of course, very gradual. Constantinople
continued to control not only the manufacture of many luxury goods but
also the politics and high culture of the empire. Perhaps the discrepancy
between the political domination of the capital and the economic impor-
tance of the province was alluded to by Michael Choniates, who wrote
that Contantinople lived off the provinces, the nobility never caring for
the countryside, but only sending there "the tax collectors with their
bestial fangs" (Mich. Akom. 2: 83.4 - 10).
URBAN ECONOMY AND INSTITUTIONS

While the provinces may have become increasingly important in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, political institutions in the Byzantine
Empire were not structurally altered. Moreover, the emergence of pro-
vincial cities in Byzantium did not produce a new urban economy and
ideology or innovative institution and attitudes as in the West. This
conservatism may be at least doounented, if not satisfactorily explained.
Autarchy and cautious attitudes toward the market continued to de-
termi.ne Byzantine business practices. I - Kekaumenos recommended
avoidance of the marketplace. An effjdent master, he wrote, would al-
ways see that hi household produced everything it needed (Kek. 188f.).
102. A . V. Bank, "Opyt klas ifikacii vizantijskich serebrjanych izdeli; X - XII

vV .," VV 32 (1971), 138.

103. A. V. Bank et a I., " Etudes sur les croix byzantines du Musee d'art et
d'histoire de Geneve," G f.' IIe7.N1, n.s., 28 (1980).97- 122.
104. R. Jenkins and E. Kittinger, " A Cross of the Patriarch Michael eeru-
larius," DOP 21 (1%7), 233 - 49.
105. Kazhdan, "Ix ekonomite ko; zizni," 198(., 208- 12.

If a market was indispensable, the master was advised to use it with cau-
tion . The typikon of the Monastery of the Virgin Kosmosotira instructed
the Itegoumenos to buy olive oil in the Aenos once a year, on the one day
when the price was cheapest. He was to buy not from the merchants,
but directly from those who brought the oil in their ships. Medicine also
was to be bought once a year (Kosm. 50.1 - 4, 54.14 - 15). Similarly, one
trusted one's own produce more than that which was purchased. Eu-
stathio of Thessaloniki, living in the capital, wa proud of the fruit of
his orchard because it was not imported and had not changed hands re-
peatedly (Eust. Opusc. 111.42- 45). In the same vein, Gregory Antiochos
believed that foodstuffs acquired at the market were of poor quality. 106
Nicholas Mesarites admired the independence of the Church of the Holy
Apostles in Constantinople. He praised the site of the church, which
though within the city was surrounded by its own grainfield and thus
safe from foreign invasion, storms, pirates, and the schemes of sailors
(Nic. Mesar. 898, c.h . 4.2).
In principle the Byzantine economy was based on money, but trad-
ing in kind was COllU110n. According to Zonaras not only money could
be lent, but also wine, oil, and other kinds of foodstuffs (PC 138.4OB).
Taxes and rents in kind were collected; similarly, labor and services were
also frequently paid for in kind in the capital as well as in the provinces.
High officials and soUders received clothing and produce in addition to
money. The clergy were rewarded with money and with grain. A medi-
cal docto.r's honorarium might consist of money and of wine; his salary
included both grain for his family and forage for his animals. A porter
was to get dinner and a mug of wine; construction workers received
both money and a ram upon completion of a church. 107
The separation of crafts from agriculture was far from complete. The
Arab geographer Idrisi emphasized the number of fields and vineyards
and the abundance of grain and fruit in his descriptions of Byzantine
towns such as Adrianople, Rhodosto, Athens, Serres, Zichnae, Serdica,
and Laris a. II" Similar observations are typical also of Byzantine authors.
In his description of Dorylaion, Kinnamos, who thought of the town as
a large one, sketched the agrarian merits of the site: valleys that grew
dense grass and weighty ears of wheat, a river that supplied abundant
water and fish (294.U - 21). PselJos noted wells, wheatfields, and fruit
trees in Antioch (Scripta min. 2.117.3 - 6). He mentioned that Cyzicus,
106. Darrouzes, "Deux lettres de Gregoire Antiochos," 279.39- 50.

107. Kazhdan, "'z ekonomiteskoj Zizni," 200f.
108. Tivcev, "Sur les " 159-61.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

like Antioch, wa "wheat producing" (Sathas, MB 5: 265.15). To P ellos's

contemporary Attaleiat s, {konion was best known f r it catU (Attal.
135.11 - 13). When Alexio I founded a new town named AJexiopolis or
Neokastron near Philippopolis, he ettJed it with men who knew how
to manage oxen and the plow and he granted them field and vineyards
(An. C. 3: 184.21-28). Twelfth-century Athens was also an agricultural
c nter. Michael Choniate lamented that a number of had been
replaced by fields and that the famou Stoa had been transformed into a
pasture (Mkh. Akom. 1: 159f.). When complaining of evere taation in
Athens, he referred above all to the p or quality of the land. 109 The rus-
ticity of Athens as pr sented by Michael was confumed by his brother
iketas, who told how when Leo Sgouros failed to capture the Acro-
polis, he turned in a fit of anger against the city, burning down the
oikopeda (usually, "country hou es") and taking all the cattle (Nik. Chon.
60 .40-43). Even Constantinople had its rural side. Eu tathio of Thes-
aloniki, as already mentioned, wa proud of his orchard in the "Queen
of Gtie ." While fruit of uch quality, he wrote, could be found in the
countryside occasionally, it was very rare in the capital (Eu t. Opusc.
30 .55-61). According t Odo of Deuil, there were gardens and free
lands cultivated with shovel and plow within the city walls of Con-
tantinople." The field around th Church of th Holy Ap ties men-
tion d above were located almo t in the center of the city.
Communication and trade over any distance remained extremely
difficult. III Transportation wa hampered by mountains, forests, and
riv rs. The great river , the Danube and the Euphrates, were on the out-
kirt of the empire: they w re borders, not communication routes.
Small mountain rivulets imp d d rath r than facilitated n.
Th ophylaktos of Ohrid wrote that when the Vardar r e, it could be for-
ded neither on foot nor on h rseback. Only a tiny boat was available for
the cro sing (PG 126.472C- D). During the winter, the fragile lines of
communication were evered. The winter, wrote Eustathios, forced
people to crawl into their dwellings as into lairs (Opusc . 86.61 - 63). Snow
and winds made winter journeys almost impossible. Niketas Choniate
109. G. StadtmuLler, Michael Chaniates, Metrapolit von Athens (Rome, 1934),

161.13.
110. De pra/ectjane Ludavici VII in orien tem, ed. and trans!. . G. Berry ( ew
York, 1 ), 64.
111 . Kazhdan, " lz ekon mil' koj zizni," 170-83. According to H. Ahr-
weiler, 8yZilnce et fa mer . 1966), 269, the Byzantine made their last con-
certed attempt to restore the tlUlfasSOKratia in the middle of the twelfth century.
C pyrgr ed I
DecentraJimtion and "Feudaliution" 49
stated that after the sun turned toward the winter, the road from Philip-
popolis to Serdica became impassable the cold froze the rivers; snow
covered the earth, filled the ravines, and blocked the doors of the
houses. Even the road from Heradea Pontica to Nicaea was apparently
difficult in winter.1l2 For transportation the Byzantines used donkeys
and mules; only under especially favorable circumstances were oxen
used to draw carts. Draft horses were seldom used, though the collar
and horseshoe were known. II;} Byzantine cargo ships were small and
slow. According to Antoniadis-Bibicou, their average capacity was 8.5-
17 cubic meters 500-1,000 modioi. They seem to have been much
1H
smaller than the ships of the Late Roman Empire, which, at least accord-
ing to hagiographic texts, carried 20,000, 50,000, or even 70,000 modioi.
Byzantine ships, called strongyloi (round), were short and broad for the
sake of stability but very ponderous.
There is some information concerning travel time in Byzantium
(Ex. 5). It took about three days to reach Adrianople from the capital and
eight days from Thessaloniki to the shores of Danube. The trip from Pa-
phlagonia to Constantinople, like that from Antioch to Nicaea, lasted
eight days. Idrisi and Western travelers recorded longer travel times
than their Greek contemporaries. For example, according to Idrisi, it
took eight days to go from Nicaea to Amoriml1, but, as Anna Comnena
measured it, it was only eight days from Nicaea to Antioch. II Sea travel
was also slow; the Bymntines feared the open ea. As Theophylaktos of
Ohrid put it, they preferred to sail along the coast, "touching the land
with their oars" (PG 126.501C-S04A). In good weather, from
Constantinople to Cyprus took ten days. Odo of Deuil wrote that it was
po sible to sail from Attaleia to Antioch in three days. 116 To sail from Pa-
phlagonia to the northern shores of the Black Sea, it was necessary to
allow three or even four days. Of course, neither the difficulties of the
journey nor the fear of storms, of pirates, or of robbers could prevent
travel. Pilgrims, merchants, and artists all journeyed ac.ross the country,
112. A. Heisenberg, Nel4e QueUe zur Geschicl,te des lateinischen Kaisertums und
der KircJ,e"u/l;on (Munich, 1923), now in his QueUe" u"d Studim zur spatbyza,,-
tiniscllctl Gescllicllte (London, 1973), part 2, section 3, 46.29-32.
113. 0. Lefebvre des Noettes, "Le systeme d'attelagc du cheva1 et du boeuf
a Byzance et les con~quences de son emploi," Melanges Ch. Dielr/1 (Paris, 1930),
183-90.
114. H. Antoniadis-Bibicou, Etudes d'histoire maritime de Byzance (Paris,
132f.
115. Kazhdan, "Iz ekonomiceskoj zizni," 175f.
116. De pro/ectio1le Ludovici VII i1l Orielltem, 130.
Copyr gtltec rra
ometime forming large cara an . Bridges were constructed or re-

paired, inn establi hed on r ad and in large ci . People moved, but
slowly.
A in transportation, little progre was made by th Byzantines in
t chnology. In the West, wat r power tarted to be widely and effectively
u d in the tenth century for craft production, especially in the woolen
indu try and for forging; the windmill wa introduced. 1I7 Byzan-
tium eem to have lagg d b hind: although water mill were men-
tioned as early as the venth or eighth century in the Farmer's Law,
millston turned by dank y ' remained the mo t common means of
grinding grain, and even hand quem continued in . windmills were
unknown before the thirt nth century. There were idio ynCJatic experi-
ment , however, such as the 0 -dri en kneading gear inv nted on Athos
at th nd of the tenth c ntury.1I8 But generally peaking, n w modes of
produ tion did not ari e.
Conservatism wa al 0 typical in urban political forms. There is little
doubt that Byzantine townsp ople had orne pow r. Th crowd's exer-
ci e f influence was cOllunonenough in th empire's history: crowds
could aft t judi tal proce ding (Kek. 120.16- 20, 118.7, 200.23 - 24), and
official apparently sought popular upport. a P e110 relate,
th clerk (tlolarios) of a provin ial judge wanted to prai his patron
while in Constantinople, he ought hi platfoIm in crowded quares
among the demoi and mob , rather than at the Treasury or in . malJ gath-
ering (Sathas, MB 5: 298.12-16). There also seem to hay be n rudimen-
tary forms of local political action. Eustathios of The aloniki mentions
"a good rper .on], elected for a year" perhaps an annually lected mag-
i trate who was constantly e n in the marketplace (agora) and at the
cit council (bouleuterioll). Large numbers of common folk sought his ad-
vice on marriage, trade, and c ntract of different kinds (Eust. Dpuse.
92.3-4, 32-36). Urban convention and coun ils ontinued to b sum-
moned 0 ca ionally in the eleventh and twelfth c nturie , de pite the
prohibition of Leo Vl. I19 In on of hi Michael Choniates al-
luded to regular public me ting , de cribing them with some derision:
in th pa t, he said, the gath ring of the barbarian , the Sybarite , and
117. L. White, MedietlQl Tcclmolo "Y alld Social Grallge (0 ford, 1962), 82-87.
11 . Ph. Mer, Die Hallplllrklllufell fiir dit CescJrichte der At/rosklOster (Leip-
zig, 1 94), 157.9- 10.
11 . E. Kirsten, "Die byzantini che Stadt," Ber; hit! ZUlli XI . i"temazionalen
Byza"tiP" KOllgress (Munich, 1958), 27 ( A . P. Kazhdan, "Gorod i de-
r vnja v Vizantii v Xl - n vV., " Actes du Xl/' COli res interllo/ioltol d'etlldes byzall-
tilll! 1 (B Igrade, 1963), 37 ( mil ia).
Copyr grtoo I
the Phoenicians had been noisier than flocks of jackdaws, while the Hel-
lenes had gone even to battle in silence. Now eve.r ything was changed;
the Celts, Germans, and Italians preserved solemnity and order during
meetings, whereas the Greeks, whose upbringing hould have contrib-
uted to their eloquence and decorum, went crazy when they discussed
th ir common affairs (Mich. Akom. 1: 183.3- 15). The inhabitants of Con-
stantinople in the eleventh century were politically effective at certain
critical moments. Their political potency was recognized by the em-
perors, who on occasion addressed both the people and the senate. l20
According to Attaleiates (Attal. 70.16), Constantine . assembled the ur-
ban corporations (somatcia) and delivered a speech in their presence. His
son, Michael VD, is said to have addressed the politai, the citizens of
Constantinople, as well as the senators (Attal. 186.20-22). Later on, when
Michael's power had been shaken by a revolt he sent a chrysobuU to the
ekklesia, a gathering of the inhabitants of the capital, that had elected
Nikephoros Botaneiates emperor. Attaleiates says they had assembled in
St. Sophia and were acting "democratically." Michael's chrysobulJ was
a failure: when read in the meeting, it elicited only disdain and laugh-
ter (256.).
Traditional forms of corporate organization, however, were weak-
ened rather than strengthened. Sources do mention corporate bodie
distinct from the senate somateia (Altal. 70.16) or systemata (Kek.
124.22), perhaps signifying urban organizations. The systematikoi, for in-
stance, were ordered by Ale ios I not to take oaths in private houses
(Reg. 2: no. 1091). Other ources of that period seem to reflect the exis-
tence of trade-related organizations: apprentices, journeymen, gui.1d,
and market aldermen are all mentioned in the text . I~I Trade regulations
as well as craft titles were retained. Tzetzes alluded to the rules crafts-
men were obliged to follow; if a master refused to comply with them, he
was debarred from his work. m This seems to be confinned by Michael
Choniates, who described a "fake" cloak made contrary to regulation
(Mich. Akom. 2:34S.19-20). But neither Tzetzes nor Michael referred to
the regulatory body; it is unclear whether it was a trade corporation or
the state. Furthermore, a tradesman does not seem to have been as-
120. S. Vryonis, "Byzantine den/okralia and the Guilds of the Eleventh Cen-
tury," DOP 17 (1963),302 - 14; Lemerle, Cinq Ciudes, 290- 93.
121. PC 126.5210; Eust. Opusc. 79.83- 90; POe,lIes prodr. no. 4, 97.115; AltaI.
12.10. The act of 1008 referring to Thessaloniki. F. Oolgerr AilS dell Schatzknmmern
des H('iiigCtl B('rges (Munich, 1948), no. 109.
122. P. A. M. Leone, "Ioannis Tzetzae iambi, " Riuisla di Studi bizalltini r ne/}-
ellmic;, n .s. 6 - 7 (1969- 70),13 .123- 25,141.213 - 14.

signed to a specific guild group. When Kekaumenos recommended that

craftsmen not change their trades, he did so not because of legal restric-
tions but because it was unprofitable (Kek. 244.2 -8) . Nicholas of Meth-
one wrote specifically that the Byzantines didn't people possess-
ing the necessary skill or talent in their choice of living-place or trade
(Bibl. eed. 279). Hence Prodromos, or rather the subject of his poems,
could leave his trade as soon as his lack of skiJIbecame apparent (Pohnes
prodr. no. 4, 76). Manuell's ordinance of 1151 or 1166 (Reg. 2: no. 1384)
allowed anyone who had bought a money-changer's shop to sell it to any
worthy person whatsoever. . 0 internal control of the corporation is
mentioned by any source. Such freedom contradicts guild norms. What-
ever regulation existed was, then, most likely impo ed by the state. Dur-
ing the twelfth century, traditional forms of corporate organization were
l
gradually lost; guilds in Constantinople vanished. 2.'I While, however,
there is no dear evidence of corporate life in the crafts and trade in the
eleventh and especially in the twelfth century, perhaps corporate life
in parochial districts originated at this time. Confraternities, united
around a parochial church or a.r ound an urban monastery, began to ap-
pear in the eleventh century. 124 It is noteworthy that when such a new
institution developed, it did so in a provincial, non-metropolitan setting.
The free populations o( the cities did not evolve (orms of self-
government, autonomiai, as were called by Michael Choniate (Mich.
Akom. 2:81.25-26), and tTa the towns into independent com-
munes; communes evolved only on the periphery of the empire, in
Amalfi, Venice, and Cherson. But as no accommodation was made by
the imperial regulatory system for these new forms of government, the
conuflunes were forced to break away from Byzantium thus the em-
pire lost its mo t vigorous and efficient urban elements. 12$ Other provin-
cial cities remained under the sway of the central imperial administra-
123. E. Frances, "La disparition des corporations byza ntines," Actes dll XlI'
COtlgres international d'etudes byzanti"es 2 (Belgrade, 1964), 98; R. S. Lopez, "Silk
Industry in the Byzantine Empire," Speculum 20 (1945), 24. N. Oikonomides,
Hommes d'affaires grecs et latins rl Constantinople (paris, 1979), 108-14, argu.e on
the contrary that gu.ilds did not disappear after the Book of ti,e Eparc". He bases
his argument on data of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
124. See the .r ule of the lay confraternity associated with the monastery of
the Virgin in Naupaktos, J. Nesbitt and J. Wiita, "A Confraternity of the Comne-
nian Era," BZ 68 (1975), 364- 68.
125. A. P. Kazhdan, Centrostrelllitel'nye i centrobei "ye sily u vizantijskom mire
(1081-1261) (Athens, 1976), 18.
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tion.llf> At the same time they did not escape the "seignorial" power of
the church and of the local aristocracy. The episcopate took upon i
the functions of the city community, even defending urban interests
again t the central government. The bishop and the town were not.
then, antagonists. as was seen whenever the church and the people
acted in concert again t the central government. The sensible adminis-
trative concern of Michael Choniates, metropolitan of Athens, fOT his pa-
rishioners in the face of predatory secular tax collectors is well docu-
mented. m Further, bishops were often important in the defense of th ir
cities, as were both Michael Choniates and Eustathios of Thessaloniki. In
return for his concern, the bishop might well receive the support of the
populace. For example. when Aimilianos, patriarch of Antioch in the
1070s, was ordered to Constantinople to face civil charges, crowds in his
city frustrated attempts to remove him. llB This riot in su pport of the local
prelate was as typical of Byzantium as the riot of Laonese citizens
again t their bishop was in the medieval We t. Such traditions of politi-
cal organization militated against the development of new adJltinistra-
tive forms.
A considerable conservative influence wa asserted over provincial
1
c.ities by local magnates also. 2'I Ac.c ording to Kekaumenos, the urban
population considered such a magnate as their lord, pledging him their
fidelity and obedience in recognition of his family's past position; never-
theless they might de ert him at a moment of external menace (Kek.
198.15-202.11). The urban magnate had some jurisdiction over the
inhabitants, induding the right to punish them (232.9-236.11). It was
ev n possible for the emperor to bestow an entire city on a Byzantine or
foreign noble. At the end of the eleventh century. Thessaloniki was
granted to Nikephoros Melissenos (An. C. 1 :89.9 - 10), and Trebizond
was awarded to Theodore Gabras (An. C. 2: 151.27). whose descendants
126. H . Clykatzi-Ahrwciler, Reclrerch Sltr ["administration de I'nrl'in' byUIII -

till allx IX'- XI' siecies (Paris, 1960), 48. 63, 72.
127. E.g., C. Brand, Byzantirlllr COllfrollts the West, 1180- 1204 (Ca mbridge,
Mass., 1968), 149f. Another e ample of an efficient metropolitan is Thcophylak-
to of Ohrid. On him, B. ranov, "Ohrid vo krajot na Xl i poi':etokot na XlI v. vo
vetlinata na pismata na Teofilakt Ohridski," Melanges D. Koco (Skopje. 1975),
19lf., and his ''L'activite de Theophilakt d'Ohrid en Macedoine," La Macedo;"e et
les MacMoniens dalls Ie passe (Skopje, 1970), 45 - 60.
128. Bryen. 203f. See Skabalanovit, V izJllrt;jskOi~ oSIIdarstuo, 421f.
129. On nobles dwelling in cities. see N. C. Svoronos, "Sur quelques fOl/lles
de 1a vie rurale a Byzanc ," AllIra1es 11 (1956), 325ft.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

54 CHANGE IN BYZANTINE CULTUR
stiU ruled there during the reign of John II. uo Often, too, small towns
and strongholds fell under seignoriaJ power... , The interests of landed
magnates and of city populations couJd, of cour e, coincide, and urban
movements were occasionally led by seigneurs. In 1057, mperor Mi-
chael VI was dethroned by the combined efforts of a popular insurrec-
tion in Con tantinople and an aristocratic rebellion in Asia Minor headed
by Isaac Comnenus and Katakalon Kekaumenos, both of them able gen-
erals supported by the local nobility. In 1078, Nikephoros Botaneiates,
also a noble general, was proclaimed emperor by the people from the
agora, including tradesmen as well as the repre entative of the clergy
and of the senate. Some of the ruling authorities hop d to smash the
rebellion, ince the crowd, they said, consi ted predominantly of crafts-
men inexperienced in warfare, but the frightened Michael VU allowed
the rebels to take over. 02 In 1181, soon after Manuel I's death, when the
throne was occupied by the youth Alexios n and the administration was
controlled by the unpopular weakling Alexios the Protosebastos, an aris-
tocratic conspiracy wa formed that included Manuel I's nearest rela-
tions, his daughter Maria and his illegitimate son Alexios the Protostra-
tor, as well as military commanders such as Andronikos Lapardas. The
Constantinopolitan population immediately sided with the conspirators.
Priests carrying icons led the mob, which assembled in the Hippodrome
and began to as ail the palace, cursing the regent and hailing the em-
peror. l33 And again, when Andronikos Comnenus proclaimed him elf
defender of the young II and marched ag.a inst the capital from
hi exile in PaphJagonia to overthrow the regency of Alexios the Proto-
sebastos, the common people of Constantinople provided the staunchest
support for his usurpation. But his alliance with the masses did not last
long. Despite propaganda describing Andronikos I as a ruler who pro-
vided people both economic prosperity and security from tax collec-
tors contemporary leaflets praised his protection of the peasantry,
who might finally lie at ease under their fruit trees the urban popula-
tions defected. First provincial rebellions aro e in Nicaea, Brusa, and
Lopadion . Everywhere magnates sided with the local populace. An-
dronikos Lapardas, commander of the Byzantine troops fighting the
130. A. A. M. Bryer, " Byzantine Family: The Gabrades," Un irwrsity of Bir-

ming/wln Hiiltorical joumal 12 (1970), 175f.
131. N. Oikonomides, "The Donations of Castle in the Last Quarter of the
11th Century," Polychronioll, Festschrift Franz DOl,,?er, ed. P. Wirth (HeideJberg,
19(6), 413 - 17.
132. Vryonis, "Byzantine demokratia," 309 - 11.
133. Brand, Byzantium Confr0'" 'he West, 34f.

Hungarians, was married to Manuell's niece and therefore closely bound

up with the Comnenian dan, which was threatened by Andronikos I's
policies. Laparda~ sailed to Bithynia to join the rebels, but was eized at
Adramytion, blinded, and imprisoned in Constantinople. Other leaders
of the revolt belonged to such noble families a the Kantakouzenoi and
Angeloi. The revolt, however, was cmshed. In Nicaea, Andronikos I
executed or exiled many of the nobles, and in Brusa insurgent were
hanged or thrown into pits to die. Theodore Angelos was blinded, put
on an ass, and driven away toward a region occupied by nomadic Turks.
Later on, Constantinople itself revolted against Andronikos I, and again
the Angeloi headed the rebellion. The same population that had hailed
Andronikos I a few years earlier as a savior now him. His hands
were cut off and his teeth pulled out. He was bollnd to a mangy camel
and driven through the streets, where he was bombarded with stones,
blows, dung, and urine until he was finally suspended between two col-
umns in the Hippodrome and tortured to death.
Governmental and aristocratic traditions seem to have stifled .i nno-
vative urban institutions; the inhabitants of Byzantine town never de-
veloped the urban self-consciousness typical of medieval culture in the
West. There wa no distinction in Byzantine terminology between for-
tress (kastron) and town (polis), or between town and borough (polich -
nion), I34 and there did not exist a special notion analogous to the burgen-
sis of the West. When rhetoric was revived in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, praise of the city (polis), a theme well known to Menander,
the foremost rhetor of the third century A . D., was not practiced by the
Byzantines. Their epideictic attention was devoted to such traditional in-
stitutions as the imperial court and the patriarchate, and only after the
fall of Con tantinople in 1204 did enkomia of the polis begin to appear at
all. Late Antique civic pride in one's polis never revived. The Byzantines
sought to define the polis not by its administrative or legal, nor by its
social or economic pecuJiarities, but by its external appearance, or even
134. A. Carne, "Partitio terrarum imperie Romanie," Studi Velleziani 7 (1965),

227, suggests that Byv>ntium did retain the Roman principle of distinction be-
tween the capital (polis), the town (kas/ron), and the countryside (chora). See also
V. von Falkenhau en, Untersuchungen uber die byzanlinische Herrschnft in Suditalien
'vom 9. bis zum 11. /al,rhulldert (Wiesbaden, 1967), 132f., and objections by A. P.
Kazhdan in a review of this book, VV 33 (1972), 236. Also see his review of
A. Guillou's publications concerning Italy, VV 37 (1976), 273. For reference, L. V.
Corina, "Nekotorye voprosy terminologii srednevekovogo bolgarskogo goroda,"
Sovetskoe slavjanovedenie (Minsk, 1969), 580- 85, and K.-D. Crolhusen, "Zum
Stadtbegriff in Sudosteuropa," us cultures slaves et les Balkalls 1 (Sofia, 1978),
132- 47.

by the virtue of its inhabitant. According to Michael Choniates, a city's

typical features included fortifications, an entrance bridge, and a large
population (Mich. Akom. 2: 106.13- 17). Moreover, he saw the peculiarity
of the polis "not in the strong walls or tall houses, the creations of car-
penters, not in market and temples, as the ancients imagined, but in the
existence of pious and courageous, chaste and just men" (2: 258.12-16).
To summarize: while there was economic growth in provincial towns
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, this was not accompanied by
political liberation. Subjugated to the state, to the episcopate, and to the
landed magnates, the urban populations did not become an indepen-
dent, antifeudal political and cultural force.
"FEUDALIZATION" OF THE
BYZANTINE SOCIAL STRUCTURE
THE NATURE OF THE BYZANTINE ESTATE

Concurrent with urban and agricultural development in the prov-
inces came the expansion of lay and ecclesiastical estates. Il; Whether this
displaced the traditional balance of small and large properties in Byzan-
tium is unclear. The sources doom scholars to impressions and to specu-
lations, providing neither exact figures nor clear conclusions. As earlier
indicated, there is no evidence of the existence of both large estates and
dependent peasants throughout the eighth and, with a few questionable
exceptions, even the ninth century. The tenth century presents a differ-
ent picture. Imperial legislation indicates a struggle between the old free
peasantry and the new dynatoi (powerful), secular and ecclesiastical dig-
nitaries, who endeavored to substitute the exploitation of dependent
holders for the village community. Their success over the following
135. N. G. Svoronos, "Le domain de Lavra jusqu'en 1204," lAvra 1, 64- 72;
"Remarques ur les, structures economiques de l'Empire byzantin au Xl' siede,"
TM 6 (1976), 52; Eludes sur rorganisation inlerieure, part 9, 373-76, 3, 142f.
j. Lefort, "En Macedoine orientale au x siede: habitat rural, communes et do-
maines," Occident ef Orient aux X' siecle (Paris, 1979), 251 - 72, and his "Une
grande fortune fonciere au x'-xm' siedes: les biens du monastere d'Iviron,"
Structures ftodDles et feodaiisme daltS [,Occidenl mediterranien (Rome, 1980), 727-42;
A. Guillou, "Economia e societa," lA civilld bizantina dal IX all' Xl secolo (Bari,
1978), 330-41; G. G. Litavrin, "K polozeniju vizantijskogo krest'janstva v X-
XI vv .," Beitriige zur iJyZAntinisclren Gesclrichfe im IX. -Xl. lahrh . (Prague, 1978);
S. Li~ev, "Nekotorye voprosy feodaJ'nych otno~nij v Bolgarii v X v. i. v epochu
vizantijskogo gospodstva," VV 41 (1980), 30-38.
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centuries is difficult to determine. It goes without saying that some large

landowner , both lay and ecclesiastical, acquired new lands notwith-
standing active imperial legislation in the tenth century. The charters
from the archive of the Lavra of St. Athanasios on Mount Athos indicate
a policy of land acquisition. For example, in 993 the Lavra acquired the
island of Kymnopelagisia (Lavra 1, no. 10); in 1014, Constantine and Ma-
ria Lagoudes gave their possessions to the Lavra (no. 18); and about 1016,
the widow of the koubouklesios John gave her land on the island of
Skiros as a gift to the Lavra (no. 18). But did such donations lead to a
change in the social structure of the empire, or were they simply trans-
ferences of land from one large proprietor to another within a traditional
rural framework? Further, could it not be assumed that some lands were
distributed among smaller landowners at the same time that other dyna-
toi enlarged their estates? An exceptionally valuable source, the so-called
land register of Thebes, reflects conditions in Boeotia in the second half
of the eleventh c ntury. l')& The register contains forty-five stichoi, or fiscal
units, located throughout at least twenty-three choria (villages). Since the
register compiled for fi cal purposes, it does not reveal the nature of
the property or the social relationships on the land; no dependent peas-
ants, slaves, or wage workers are mentioned in the text. Some conclu-
sions, however, concerning the status of the taxpayers (Le., of the land-
owners) can be drawn from the document no persons are described as
peasants, with the single exception of a man who is called plocltos (poor),
a term widely used in tenth-century agrarian legislation in contrast to
dynatos. But terms indicating high social status are very frequent: archon
is used 8 times; protospatharios, 43; spa tha rokandida los, 12; spatharios, 8;
kourator, 11; protokankellarios, 6; droungarios, 7; proedros, 4. At least in this
region the land was by the end of the eleventh century in the hands of
the dynatoi, some of whom lived far from their fields in cities such as
Athens, Thebes, Euripo , or Avion. Some landowning families were
even connected with southern Italy and with Sicily, or at least had ItaJjan
origins. Contradicting the impression this document give is a fragment
of an inventory (praktikon) from Attica issued, according to the editors,
before 1204. While this document does not mention any aristocratic
families in the region, it does in contrast to the Theban register refer
both to dependent peasants (paroikoi) and to domanial estates (pro-
136. Published and anal zed by N. G . Svoronos, "Recherches sur Ie ca-

dastre byzantin et la fiscalite aux XI siede: Ie cadastre de Thebes," Bulletin de
Correspondnnce He/Unique 83 (1959), 1- 166, reprinted in his E.tudes sur I'organisa-
tion interieure, part 3. Also see, P. Lemerie, The Axrariall History of Byzalltium (Gal-
way, 1979), 193- 200.
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58 CHA GE IN BYZANTINE CULTURE
a l eia). W a while it is evid nt that great e tates gr w during this period,

it d not follow that fr peasant or even free villages di appeared.
The Crusaders came acroind p ndent vici in Bulgaria who paid taxes
to the state but who had no privat 10rds. 'J8 ln the Taygetu Mountains in
th Peloponnese they also ncountered independent village populations
of Slavic tock who were hliged only to serve in the army they knew
n ither private rents nor tate taxes. of a lack of comparable
ources, particularly of in ntorie, from the tenth through the twelfth
nturie , it is difficult to pro ide a detailed de cription of this process.
v rthel ss, some of the peculiarities of the Byzantine e tate may be
gl aned from the document . A a rule, Byzantine aristocrats were not
dependent on th ir land for their income, but were aloin the
mploy of the state. According to his te tament of the late eleventh cen-
tury, 5mbat Pakouriano left approximately 340 pound (Iitrai) of gold.
His landed property consi ted of four proasteia, with an annual gross
profit calcuJated by G. Lita rin as 3.5 litrai. The incon i tency between
the two figure i triking. Pakouriano 's wealth ould not have been ac-
cumulated from the incom of hi land alone. In fact, 5mbat Pakourianos
wa kouropalates by rank, nd a kouropalate' alary would bring him
40 litrai of gold every year, that is, ten or ev n tw Iv time more
than h proasleiaY'J Even wealthier was the nobelissimos Constantine,
on of the brothers of Michael IV, in the mid-eleventh century. When he
wa arrested, the government confi cated about 50 kenlenaria i.e.,
about 5,000 pounds- of gold. In 1157, an agreement wa oncluded be-
twe n Manuel I and Baldwin III of Jerusalem: Manuel agreed to marry
hi ni c Theodora to Baldwin, offering a dowry of 100,000 golden hyper-
pera one pound of gold .o n isted of 72 hyperpera a well as gifts
, 6
. worth 30,000 hyperpera and 10,000 more for w dding expen es. Theo-
dora received as her dower from Baldwin not gold or predou tones but
the stronghold of Acre and aU it .1 The age ment of 1157 thus
dearly reveals the difference betwe n two distinct economic systems-
in Byzantium wealth was m a ured in bullion, while in the Latin world
property was still th mea ure of pro perity.
137. E. Granstrem, I. Medv dey, and D. Papachr, anthou, "Fragment

d'un praktikon de la region d' Ath n (avant U04)," REB 34 (1976), 5- 44.
138. C. A dracha, LA region RJrodopes QUX XIW ef XIV' i&:les (Athens,
1976),213.
139. G. G. Litavrin, ' razmery i ostav imu~te tva provin-
cial'noj vizantijskoj ari tokratii vo vloroj po!ovine [v.," VOt2 (Moscow, 1971),
164 - .
140. PL 201. 734A - B; also ee S. Runciman, A History 0 the Crusades 2 (Cam-
bridge, 1952), 349f.
Copyr grtoo I
There was considerably more direct state exploitation of the primary

producer in Byzantium than in the contemporary West. Even though the
extent of the dominium directut1l, the right of the state over all the territory
within its boundaries, is controversial, it seems likely that in the elev-
enth and twelfth centuries most Byzantine peasants paid taxes in gold
141
and in kind to the state, in addition to fulfilling various services. Pri-
vate estates, though certainly increasing in size and number, were still
not the rule. Accordingly, the notion of freedom was radically different
in Byzantium from that .in the West or from what it had been in antiq-
uity. The Roman concept of freedom as the opposite of slavery was stm
preserved in juridical manuals, such as that of the eleventh-century
judge Attaleiates, but it had lost its practical significance. SimHarly the
Western concept of freedom as a positive quality the possession of
landed wealth and independent jurisdiction was also inoperative in
Byzantium. The same Attaleiates denied the Roman definition of free-
dom in his History. Those who were genuinely free, he stated, were not
those who obtained liberty with a gold ring and a box on the ear (refer-
ring to the ancient ritual of manumission), but those who were safe from
fear of taxes (Attal. 284.6- 9). In the taxpaying society of Byzantium,
real freedom was the freedom from le.vies.
Related to the government's right of taxation was its right to confis-
cate private possessions or to force landowne.rs to resettle. Manuel
Straboromanos wrote that all his father's belongings were forfeited, re-
marking further that this was by no means exceptional. His property
was confiscated by certain officials without the emperor's knowledge.
Manuel's father was dearly not a criminal; he remained free, squander-
ing what little he had left after his dispossession. When he died, he left
142
his family impoverished. Equally, ecclesiastical estates were not ex-
empt from confiscation. Theophylaktos of Ohrid complained that a vil-
lage that the archbishopric of Ohrid had long owned was confiscated
(PG 126.533D-536A). From a charter of 1095 emerges the story of several
properties of the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos; at some
ea.r lier time the monastery acquired a proasteion at Portareia from the
family of the protospatharios Theodore Gymnos. Later on this proasteioll
was reallocated by a financial official to the sebastokrator Isaac Comnenus
141. The principal objections against the slate control of property have been
expressed by G . G. Litavrin, "Problema gosudarstvennoj v Vizan-
tii X- XI vv.," VV 35 (1973),51 - 74, and M. Ja . Sjuzjumov, " Suverenitet, nalog i
zemel'naja renta v Vizantii," ADSV 9 (1973), 57-65.
142. P. Gauti.e r, "Le dossier d'un haUl fonctionnaire d' Alexis l ~ Comnene,
Manuel Straboromanos," REB 23 (1%5), 183f.
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and an allotment of 412.5 modioi in a neighboring village was substituted

for the estate. This grant wa in it turn modified. The land was given to
a certain Stroimer, and the monastery received other acreage in ex-
change. tO In theory the acquisition of land was invalid without imperial
sanction or confirmation. Cyril PhiJeotes once met Emperor AJexios I
and told him about the . of his monastery. Some of these
lands had been inherited by Cyril and hi brother from their "ances-
tors," others were acquired later "by their own toiling." AJexios re-
sponded that the land of Phileotes' monastery had to be considered the
property of the state; special ,imperial "grace" was necessary for it to be
treated as a monastic estate. But he promised to give this "grace" and
thereby free the land from any treasury claims. t44 Thus the acquisition of
land did not lead to landownership, but only to detentio, i.e., occupation
and u e. Imperial sanction, a chrysobull or prostagma, was necessary for
real ownership.
The supreme right of the emperor over the land did not exclude pri-
vate property of various types: large and small, secular and ecclesiastical
or monastic. Some owners lived on the land, some dwelt in urban cen-
ters and only .. their proasteia from time to time, most often during
the harvest. It may even be suggested that from the eleventh century on-
ward more and more land was included in private estates and that some
of the rents levied on the basis of "public law" were gradually replaced
by private rents. '45 Although aristocratic landholdings in Byzantium
never obtained the size or independence of We tern baronial estate and
although the emperor never lost control of the private property of his
magnates, the real power of the great Byzantine landowners was
considerable.
The power of the landed aristocracy was exercised in various ways.
Along with lands worked by dependent peasants (paroikoi) and those
tilled by paid laborers (misthioi) and slaves, the Byzantine lords held 0-
called incorporeal rights, which allowed them to appropriate the surplus
labor of free peasant taxpayers. '~ In the eleventh century, pronoia (liter-
ally, IIforesight" or "care") began to be mentioned. At that time, the term
143. Actes d'splligmblOu (Paris, 1973), no. 5,4- 18.

144. E. Sargologos, LA Vie de Saint Cyrille Ie Plliitote moine byultltin (Brussels,
1964), DU.
145. E. Patlagean, '''Economie paysanne' et 'feodaliM byzantine,'" Annait's
30 (1976), 1384- 89; now in her Structures socia/e.s, famille, chn!tiellte Ii Byzal/ce (Lon-
don, 1981), part 3.
146. H . Ahrweiler, "La concession de droits incorporels. Donahons condi-
tionneUes," Ades dll XlI' co ngr~ in/ernatiolla/ des etudes byznntilles 2 (Belgrade,
1964),103- 14.

was applied to land endowments given for life; 147 it did not have a mili-
tary character. Another feature of large lay landholdings wa their ad-
mixture with monastic property. Secular magnates received monasteries
according to the rights of charistikion, that is, of conventional possession
for a lifetime or for as long as three generations. l 48 Lords functioned
also as monastic founders (ktetores), establishing houses to which they
granted a shar of their riche apparently with the economic intention of
stabilizing their property in the unstable conditions of the time. These
monastic establishments may be seen in some ways as the Byzantine
equivalent of Western castle building.
Unquestionably, medieval lordship, seigneurie involving a depen-
dent peasantry and the principal forms of medieval rent (rent in cash, in
kind, and by corvee) did exist in Byzantium. Even the exploitation of
the so-caJled free peasant on state lands was associated with the seig-
neuriaJ system. But this seigneurie cannot be equated with "feudalism"
as the term has been used historiographkally to describe Western so-
ciety. The specific structure, involving links of personal obligation both
vertical and horizontal, that characterizes the medieval West, and par-
ticularly its ruling cia 5, is found only in an embryonic state in Byzan-
tium. Similarly the characteristic ties binding together people of the
sallie social layer in a feudal ociety are underdeveloped in the empire.
Nevertheless, certain ocial and economic features emerged in Byzan-
tium that resembled feudal links.
During the eleventh and twelfth centuries there did exist large reti-
nues owing allegiance to great magnates. I"" Such retinues perhaps repre-
147. J. Karayannopoulos, "Fragmente aus dem Vademecum eines byzan-

tinischen Finanzbeamten," Po/ychronioll, 322.57. On the !,ronoia of the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, ee G. 0 trogorsky, Pour I'liistoirl' de /a leoda/ire byzalltinc
(Brussels, 1954), 20-54, and A. Hohlweg, "Zur Frage der Pronoia in Byzanz,"
BZ 60 (1%7), 288-308. For O strogorsky's answer, see "Die Pronoia unter den
Komnenen," ZRVI 12 (1970), 41 - 54. For the special issue of the prolloia in the
Pe.loponnese, set' D. Jacoby, SocieU et dbnographil! a Byzallce I't en RomaniI' lAtinc
(London, 1975), part 4, 479-81; A. Carile, "Sulla pronoia nel Peloponneso bizan-
tino anteriormentc alia conquista latina," Stutii IIrbinati 46 (1972),327 - 35; also in
ZRVI16 (1975),55-61.
148. P. Gautier, "Requisitoire de patriarche Jean d ' Antioche conlre Ie charis-
ticariat," REB 33 (1975), 77 n. 1 (bibliography).
149. V. A. Arutjunova, "K voprosy ob anthropoi v 'Tipike' Grigorija Paku-
riana," VV 19 (1968), 64- 72; Tipik Gri,gorija Pakuriana, tran lalion and commen-
tary by V. A. Arutjunova-Fidanjan (Erevan, 1978), 28- 30; B. Fcrjantit, "Ap -
anatni posed kesara Jovana Rogerija," ZRVI 12 (1970), 196- 98; A. r. Kazhdan,
" Odin netocno istolkovannyj passaz v 'Istorii' loanna Kinnama," RESEE 7 (1969),
469-73; H. G. Beck, Idem ulld RcaliWm in Byza/lz (London, 1972), part 11, 14 32;
la. Ferluga, Byzantium Oil tIre Ba/kans (Amsterdam, 1976),399- 425.
Copyr grtCd 'T'

sen ted the reaction of threatened populations to the feebleness of the

tate's defensive apparatus; groups may have formed around local dy-
nasts in an attempt to protect themselves. But the relationship between a
lord and the local peasantry never became formal vassalage. ISO These By-
zantine retinues, although undoubtedly looser and more unstable than
their Western counterparts, strengthened the private power of the
magnates.
Tax privileges, exkollsseia, facilitated the establishment of senu-
feudal properties. hey completely or partiaUy freed the lands of mag-
nates and monasteries from the payment of state levies and protected
privileged territories from the access (Latin introitus) of fiscal and judi-
cial officials. I I While properties did not enjoy full immunity from cen-
tral authority or from the emperor himself, the exkousseia restricted in-
terference from local and minor functionaries. In practice, the exkousseia
led to the creation of seigneurial authority in the assessment of levies
and in the jurisdiction of the dependent population, although even the
paroikoi preserved the right of appeal against their lords.
In the twelfth century, Emperor Manuel I attempted to legalize privi-
leged properties. He prohibited the transfer of a certain type of land to
anyone except high army officer (strategoi) and senators, i.e., to anyone
but members of the military and civil nobility. This legislation was, how-
ever, canceled soon after his death (Reg. 2: nos. 1333, 1398). At the same
time that tax immunity created a privileged landownership, a new con-
cept of freedom was being elaborated, most dearly expressed by the ju-
rist and historian Attaleiates who regarded as free those who obtained
tax privileges (see above). Thus, there seems to have been a perceptible
change in the relationship 'b etween the social elite of 'Byzantium and the
land. The nobility slowly appropriated property and the attributes of
private power. At the same time, the character of the aristocracy itself
was modified.
THE NATURE OF THE BYZANTINE NOBILITY

The Byzantines designated the members of their upper class by the
relatively vague term archon, literally " magistrate" or "ruler." At the be-
ginning of the eleventh century the term was still associated with court-
150. H . AhrweiJer, "Recherches sur 1a societe byzantine au XI " siecle," TM 6
(1976), 117f.
151. G. Ostrogorsky, "K istorii immuniteta v Vizantii," VV 13 (1958), 65- 73
(French translahon: Byz. 28 (1958], 182-97); M. M. Freidenberg, "Ekskussija v
Vizantii XI xn vv.," Utenye ZJ1piski Ve/ikollikskogo pedillstitllta 3 (1958), 339- 65;
A. P. Kazhdan, "Ekskussija i ekskussaty v Vizantii X-XII VV.," Vat 1 (Moscow,
1%1), 186- 216.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

iers and officials; it had no feudal connotations. Symeon the Theologian

asked rhetorically about the s rvants of the earthly king:
Are they those who dwell in their own estates or rather accompany him
wherever he goes? Are they tho e who loiter in their proasteia or those
enlisted in the army? who stay at home in luxury and la civityor
tho e who act bravely on the battlefield, who are smitten and would
mite in their tum, who kill numbers of the enemy, who rescue capti e
comrades and cover th (oe with disdain? . .. These strategoi and arch-
ons are the servant known to the emperor, his friend s, a well a to
men under their command.'Sl
Although from the tenth c ntury on, a landed, hereditary nobility
began to arise, it was never fully established; vertical mobility r mained
characteristic of Byzantine ociety through the eleventh century. W Dur-
ing that century, the aristocracy was divided into two major groups ac-
cording to military and ci it functions. The military aristocracy origi-
nated primarily in the frontier r gions: Cappadocia, Armenia, and Syria
in the east, Bulgaria and Ma edonia in the northwest. Even when ettJed
in Con tantinople and mbedded in the imp rial hierarcily, the e aristo-
crats preserved connection with their homelands. There they possess d
e tates (oikoi or proasteia) or even palaces and small to which
they could retire in case of imp rial di favor. Not coincidentally, the mili-
tary aristocrats of th elev nth tury often drew their family names
from the sites where their estate were located: the Botaneiates of Bot-
ana, for example, or the Dokeianoi of Dokeia, or the DaJassenoi of
DaJassa. The history of the Dalassenoi is typical of the Byzantine mili-
tary ari tocracy. JS.I They were landowners, military commanders, and
provincial governors clos Iy connected with other aristocratic families.
Th y took great pride in their noble birth and could afford to po ture in
di idenc . Damianos, founder of the famil , was magi tros and doux of
Antioch in 996-98. Hi on Constantine had the rank of patrikios and,
like his father, he served as governor (katepano) of Antioch. His broth r
Theophylaktos, the famous general who put down an aIi tocratic re-
152. Symeon the Theologian, TraiUs tlll.101ogiqlles el etlliques, ed. J. Darrouzes,
vol. 2 (Pa 1967),106.133- 41 , 152- 55.
153. G. Ostrogor ky, "Ob ervations on the Aristocracy in Byzantium,"
Oop 25 (1971), 3- 12; A. P. Kazhdan, Socia/'lIyj sostav gospods lvuj ll~tego klassa
Vizalltii Xl - Xli vv. (Moscow, 1974). For a compr h nsivc ummary in French,
I. Sorlin, "Publication ' ovilHiq ur I" si de," TM 6 (1976), 367 - BO. For re-
c nt monograph on individual families, W. Seibt, Die Skleroi (Vi nna, 1976); ,.-F.
Vannier, Families byzantines . Les Argyroi (Paris, 1975).
154. N. Adontz, Etudes armblO-byzalltines (Li bon, 1965), 163-67; A. P.
Kazhdan, Armjane v 50s/ave gospodstvuju~tego klasSQ Vizall . imperii v Xl - XII
vv. (Erevan, 1975), 92 - 97.
Copyrq~
bellion in 1022, is titled anthypatos, patrikios, vestes, and doux of Antioch

on a lead seal. It eems that the administration of Antioch at that time
was firmly in the hands of the Dalassenoi. Further, their power extended
beyond Antioch. Romanos, third son of Damianos, was katepano of Iberia;
eventually Theodore Dalassenos occupied the post of the doux of Skopje.
Women of the family married members of famous houses such as the
Doukas and the Charon. Anna Dalassena, daughter of Alexios Charon,
governor of Italy, married John Comnenus. Their son was Alexios I,
founder of the Comnenian dynasty. The estates of Constantine Dalas-
enos are mentioned several times in the Chronicle of Skylitzes; one of
his oikoi was located in the theme of Armeniakon. Constantine lived on
his estates, even though he also possessed a mansion in Constantinople.
Constantine VIII, inmlediately before his death in 1028, endeavored to
appoint Constantine Dalassenos his heir, but was disslladed by an influ-
ential courtier who favored Romanos Argyros. When Romanos as-
cended the throne, the Dalassenoi concealed their rivalry but behaved
ambiguously. In 1030, Romanos sent to Syria a great army, which de-
pended heavily for assistance on the Dalassenoi, as they held Antioch.
The expedition was a disaster; Arab sources ascribe the Byzantine defeat
to "the son of the doux" who aspired to the throne and, to that end,
desired the ruin of Emperor Romanos. Apparently the doux was Da-
mianos, and the on Romanos III Argyros was drowned in
a bathhouse in 1034, but Michael IV gained both Romanos's wife and his
throne; Constantine Dalassenos failed in his expectations once more. He
was indignant, especially since his rival was, as Constantine put it, "a
vulgar and worthless [literally, "three-penny"] man" (Sky I. 393.34-35),
an arrogant, aristocratic criticism, though one with some foundation-
Michael came from a family of usurers and money-changers, not war-
riors and governors. Moreover, Michael IV represented a real threat to
the Dalassenoi. Constantine was summoned from his estate to the capi-
tal. He refused to go without a pledge that nothing evil would happen to
him. A eunuch was sent with holy relics, including a letter written by
Christ and an icon of the Virgin. On these relics the eunuch swore the
desired oath, and Constantine rode off to Constantinople. He was re-
ceived courteously, granted an even higher title, and allowed to live in
his mansion in the capital. In the meantime, however, an imperial func-
tionary had uncovered a subversive plot in Antioch, the seat of the
Dalassenoi's power. Eleven rich and noble men were arrested and identi-
fied as Dalassenos's supporters; Dalassenos was seized and banished on
this pretext. When friends and members of his family protested, they
were exiled or imprisoned and their property was confiscat.e d . .It is dear
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

Decentralization and "Feudalizatjon" 65
from such episodes that despite their considerable power, landed aristo-
clat were re tricted in their independence; they were not autonomous
barons but imperial functionarie who could be dismis ed, exiled, or
di po es ed at any time. This certainly led, in Ahrweiler' terms, to the
"Constantinopolitization" of the Byzantine aristocracy, with its tight
bonds with the capital and imperial court. ISS Probably only toward the
end of the twelfth century wa there formed a substantial tratum of
prOvincial aristocracy that, while not tied to imperial ervice, n verthe-
less received the highe t imperial titles.
The civil aristocracy was more differentiated than the military no-
bility. It included, above aU, the noble families in imperial rvic:
judge , tax collectors, chiefs of the chancelleries, who from generation
to generation held similar po itions. The Kamateroi, Xeroi, Xiphilinoi,
Serbliai, Zonarai, and others who belonged to this group are mentioned
in the sources throughout the eleventh and twelfth centurie . Occasion-
ally people from unknown familie were al 0 found in the rank of the
civil aristocracy. I...... In contrast to the military aristocracy, the civil nobility
originated primarily from Con tantinopie, Greece, the Aegean lands,
or the c astal cities of Asia Minor. Some of these familie had practiced
urban trades and craft; their patronym , which are sometimes derived
from the professions (e.g., Saponai, "soapmakers"; Phoumatarioi,
''bakers'') or from Constantinopolitan quarters (e.g., Akropolitai,
Blachen-utai, Maktembolitai) testified to their past. Families of the civil
nobility also included a number of well-educated individuals, rheto-
ridan , theologians, and jurists. Recruited primarily from this ector
wet" th highe t clergy, provincial bishop, and the deacons of
St. Sophia, who fonned the staff of the patriarchate.
The civil nobility's prop rty consi ted primarily of urban hou and
a variety of concessionary rights, i.e., charistikia and found r ' privileges
over monasteries as well as basilikata and episkepseis, which were impe-
rial land lea e of some sort, and solemnia, the rights to tax revenues.
Neither pecial education nor state examinations were mandatory for the
civil although profe sional jurists and counted
among the officials. Resourcefulne , flattery, and obedience, as much
as spedalized knowledge or skill, d tel mined the ucc of an official's
r. If the fate of the nulitary ar tocrats was pr carious, that of the
155. Ahrweiler, " Recherch s sur la ociete byzantine," 104- 10.
156. On the civil nobility, ee in addition to the work cited in no. 153
G. Weis , 0 tromische Beamte im Spiegel der Schriftert des Michael Psellos (Munich,
1973); B. Laourdas, "Intellectuals, Scholars and Bureaucrat in the Byzantine So-
ciety," Kleronomia 2 (1970), 273-91.
Copyr gt'\ed rna

civil nobles was even more so. They could be promoted, demoted, or
dismissed at the whim of the emperor. Theodore Styppeiotes was one of
the high-ranking bureaucrats at the court of Manuel!, acting as the em-
p ror's secretary (grammatikos). Theodore Prodomos prai ed him as the
most trustworthy scribe of the young Manuel I and as the guardian of
secret . H became influential serving as the assistant of John Hagio-
theodorites, an imperial favorite. Not willing to remain an underling,
Styppeiotes "directed hi way toward the peak," as Niketas Choniates
wrote (Nik. Chon. 58.87- 88). Through intrigue, he managed to have
Hagiotheodorites sent off to "a . remote place" a the civil governor
(praetor) of the theme of Hella and the Peloponnese. A cending from
one office to another, Styppeiotes reached the position of kanikleios, that
is, guardian of the imperial inkstand. The kanikleios did not have a staff,
and his function was limit d to holding the pot of purple ink for the em-
peror when he signed august documents from the imperial chancellery.
But in the Byzantine world, do eness to the autocrat was the essence of
power. Choniates suggested that Styppeiote . gladly fulfilled the em-
peror's orders and that con equently the emperor followed Styppeiotes'
advice (59.11 - 12). Styppeiotes became the victim of intrigue in his tum.
Hi principal rival was John Kamateros, logothete of the dromos, i.e., the
minister of foreign affair, the post office, and state security. Although
his functions were incomparably more complex and important than
holding the imperial inkstand, Kamateros had a lesser role in court life
than the kallikleios . While Styppeiotes could enter the imperial inner
sanctum at any time, Kamateros had access to the emperor only during
special and limjted hours. Styppeiotes achieved his goals quite easily;
Kamateros saw his demands dispersed in the air like dreams (111.34 - 41).
In frustration Kamateros forged correspondence between Styppeiotes
and the Norman king William n of Sicily, hid it so that it was easily dis-
covered, and then charged Styppeiotes with treason. ManuelI's judg-
ment was immediate and severe: Styppeiotes was blinded and, accord-
ing to one contemporary historian, his tongue was cut out. 1>7
Of cour e, although instability was pervasive, not every Byzantine
official's career ended in disaster. In practice, many famjlies retained for
centuries their influential positions within the state apparatus. The
transfer of power to a n w emperor was not necessarily followed by a
radical change in bureaucratic personnel. The form and style of chryso-
bulls of the second half of the eleventh century remain the same despite
157. See O . Kre ten. "Zum Stur'.l de Thcodoros Styppeiote ," JOB 27
(197M),49- 103.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Decentralizatjon and "FeudaJjzation" 67
frequent turnover in imperial power. This may indicate bureaucratic

stability within the chancellery. The significant modification of the for-
mulas of imperial documents in the middle of Alexios I's reign may, in
the same vein of argument, indicate a wholesale dearing of the bu-
reaucratic establishment a move that would have been quite in
with the tenor of Alexio 's rule. IS!!
Byzantine nobility of the eleventh century also included two peculiar
groups: eunuchs, who traditionally occupied high positions in the civil
and military administration, and foreign mercenaries, who commanded
certain troops of the Byzantine army. At least thirty eunuchs are .k nown
to have occupied important posts within the state and ecclesjastical orga-
nization between the death of Basil II (1025) and the beginning of the
reign of A1exios I (lOBl).1 Among them are Nicholas, domestikos of
the scholai during the reign of Constantine VIII , and iketas, doux of
Iberia and perhaps later, about 1030-34, the governor of Antioch . The.r e
wer John Orphanotropho in the mid-eleventh century, logothete of the
dromos Nikephoritzes, and Michael, metropolitan of Side at the time
of Michael VII. During Constantine IX's rule, several eunuchs assumed
the highest po t in the army. Sebastophoros Stephen Pergameno was
strategos-aulokrator; Nikephoros, stralopedi1rcIJes; Basil the Monk, gover-
nor of Bulgaria. It is not dear why eunuchs were so important in the
Byzantine administration. Were they more reliable because eunuchs
were not allowed to ascend the imperial throne? But they could, as John
Orphanotrophos showed, acquire the throne for their brothers or neph-
ews. Were they less arrogant because of their castration? But there are
numerous testimonies to the haughty behavior and impudent aspira-
tJons of eunuchs. Or was perhaps the prominence of castrates in Byzan-
tium a symbol of the civil nature of power, an emblematic denial of the
aristoc.ratic principle of blood and lineage? It is worth noting that the eu-
nuch became prominent in hagiography: angels appeared as youths or
eunuchs dad in white rob s before the eyes of mortals; in pious visions
eunuchs accompanied th Virgin. For whatever reason, eunuchs were
important both in myth and reality in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
158. A. P. Kazhdan, "Die Schrift einiger byzantinischen Kaiserurkunden

und die konstantinopolitani che Kanzelei in der zweiten Halfte de Xl. Jahrhun-
derts," Studio odicologica (Berlin, 1977), 263f.
159. A. P. Kaz.hdan, "Sostav gospodstvuiu~t. 'go klassa v Vizanti.i Xl - XU vv.
Anketa i Castny vyvody, c. VI: Evnuchi," ADSV 10 (1973), 184-94. There is no
survey of foreign mercenaries and tradesmen in Byzantium; older articles on
particular problems, e .g. , Marquis de la Force, "Les conseillers latins du basileus
Alexis Comnene," Byz. 11 (1936), are out of date.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

The prominence of foreign mercenaries in Byzantium is perhap

easier to understand . Mercenaries largely provided loyal support for the
emperor; Normans, Pech negs, Germans, and Englishmen lacked the nec-
essary Byzantine roots to pre ent any dynastic threat to the reigning fam-
ily. Nevertheless, mercenaries apparently harbored a strong sense of in-
dependence. They sometimes created their own principalities ("feuds")
on Byzantine territory and even occasionally attempted to elevate sub-
mi sive rulers to the throne. The chronicler Skylitzes (484f.) relates the
story of a orman knight, Herve, known in Byzantium as Frankopoulos,
who was awarded many honors at court. Offended by Emperor Michael
VI, Herve left Constantinople around 1057 for his oikin, Dagarabe in the
theme of Armeniakon, on the eastern bordels of the empire. There he
gathered a ho t of about three hundred Franks (Normans) and joined
the Turks. This alliance was, howeve.r, of hort duration: by a ruse the
emir of Chliat managed to defeat the Normans and capture Herve, who
was sent to the emperor. Another Norman soldier, Roussel de Bailleul,
left the Byzantine army after a successful service in order to plunder the
imperial provinces of Lycaonia and Galatia. He fought both the Turks
and the Byzantin s; he even attempted to proclaim his own emperor, the
uncle of Michael vn, caesar John Doukas. Only after a number of
and long negotiations was Roussel brought in chains to Constantinople
by the youthful general Alexios Comnenus.
Among the clergy, notwithstanding its social mobility, table group-
ings may have been formed within the higher ranks. Provincial metro-
politans and bishops, to extent connected with the local aristocra-
would have constituted one of these. An anonymous deric, sometimes
identified as Niketas of Ankara, in an eleventh-century treatise described
the ideal position of the provincial bishop. He stressed, for instance, the
right of the metropolitans to control the patriarch, who was but one
among them. Moreover, the writer insisted on the metropolitans' inde-
pendence from the emperor. tOO The deacons of the Church of St. Sophia,
the numerous officials of the patriarchate who managed the church's
fiscal and judicial fu its archives, and its treasury, and who were
closely conltected with the lay functionaries and intellectuals in the capi-
tal, form d another such group. 1M
160. J. Darrouzes, Documents i",fdits d'ecclesiologie byznntine (Paris. 1966),

198. 13- 19, 200.21 - 26, 214.5- 8, 242.9- 11.
]61 . V. Tiftixoglu , " Gruppenbildungen innerhalb d es konstantinopolitani-
schen s wahrend der Komnenenzeit," BZ 62 (1969), 25-72.


CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE

BYZANTINE ARISTOCRACY
Neither the growth of provincia] cities nor the consolidation of the
military aristocracy caused a breakdown of the traditional tate appa-
ratus. Despite an inchoate urban autonomy, the extension of basic seig-
neuriaJ jurisdiction, and the embryonic development of private military
retinues, the Byzantine Empire remained a centralized monarchy gov-
erned from the capital. Nevertheless, in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies, two aspects of the administrative structure of the empire changed.
One of these was in the social character of the governing stratum.
Th mid-eleventh century witnessed the full realization of tradi-
tional Byzantine vertical mobility; during that period an attempt was
made to draw urban, principally Constantinopolitan, elements into state
government. 11>7 AttaJeiates' evidence concerning the myriads of senators
receiving rewards during the reign of Nikephoros III suggests that sena-
torial ranks were then swollen with foreigners and merchants living in
Con tantinople (Attal. 275.12- 19). At the end of the eleventh and in the
twelfth century, dramatic changes took place. The highest military elite
was consolidated in a dosed body of powerful families connected by
intermarriage and forming a "clan" around the ruling Comnenian dy-
nasty. The higher military administrative functions were monopolized
by the Comnenian dan, while the families of the military aristocracy
who 'w ere not included in this clan either disappeared or entered the
rank of the civil nobility. Consequently, the nature of the Byza ntine hi-
erarchy changed (E . 6). From the beginning of the twelfth century, old
titles (e.g., magistTos, patrikios, protospatharios) were replaced with new
ones (sebastokTator, protosebastos, sebastos), inaugurating a new principle
of title granting. While previously titles had depended ultimately on
function, in the Comnenian period they were granted according to kin
pro illlity (e.g., sebastokrator to sons of the emperor, sebastos to nephews).
In the eleventh century there was no unbridgeable gap between the
military and civil elites. Some families of the civil aristocracy perfol'med
military functions. lntermarriage between the two groups was common.
After the Comnenjan dan was established, the situation changed: mar-
riage between members of the Comnenian dynasty and the bureaucratic
families was discouraged; in general, the senators, i.e., the civil elite,
were regarded as socially inferior. The consolidation of a narrow ruling
stratum (landowners and military commanders) excluded from power
162. Lemerle, C;1Iq etude, 287 - 93.

70 CHANCE I.N BYZANTINE CULTURE
both the eunuch and the foreign mercenarie . As mentioned above,

about thirty eunuchs appear in the sowces for the years between 1025
and 1081; many of them occupied high ad mini trative po itions. The
number of eunuchs at Alexios l's court was till considerable; twelve are
mentioned in the source . Only one of them, however, Leo Nikerites,
stmtegos and doux of several districts, belonged to the highest echelon of
the Byzantine elite. In addition, Eustratios Caridas was patriarch, and
two men, Eustathios Kyminanos and Symeon, were grand droun8arioi.
Carida and Symeon, notably, were active only in the earliest years of
the reign of AJexios. Alexio 's other eunuchs were servants, doctors,
and the like, with no political power. And in the reigns of John 11 and
Manuel I (i.e., the year- 1118-SO), only five eunuchs are found in the
source , none of whom possessed a military command they were
church hierarchs, courtier, and princes' teachers .
The consolidation of Comnenian power also led to the exclusion of
foreigners. The Comneni were regarded by contemporaries as being be-
nevolent toward the Latin (Ex. 7). Even Latin writers such as William of
Tyre or Robert of Auxerre eulogized Manuel for his esteem of the Latins,
whom he is said to have promoted to important positions (PL 201. 570;
MGH SS 26: 246). Prosopographical analysis, however, does not support
thi ' view: surpri ingly, Latin generals do not seem to have held high
military positions in ignificant numbers. There was no one in those
years comparable to Herve or Roussel in the eleventh century. Except for
orne hellenized familie uch as the Rogers or PetTaliphas, Latins at the
Byzantine court erved as diplomats or theologians rather than a mili-
tary commanders. Turks played a greater role in the armies of John 11 and
Manuel I, but even they were not mercenaries, but rather immigrants.
The consolidation of the semi-feudal aristocracy at the end of the
eleventh and in the twelfth century had political and social significance.
The military and landed aristocracy was conscious of its privileged posi-
tion and its hereditary superiority. Initially formed around the Comne-
nian house, it acted a . a centripetal force that contributed to the tempo-
rary str ngthening of the state. But in vain: the military nobility was
demolished under Andronikos I. At the end of the twelfth century, the
influence of the civil ari tocracy, which was connected with the upper
layers of the merchant and craft cIa se and with the intellectual of
Constantinople, again incre-ased.
CHA GESI THE BUREAUCRACY

The social character of the governing elite was one aspect of the ad-
ministrative s tructure of the state that changed during the eleventh and
Copyr grtCd 'T'

Decentralization and "Feudalizalion" 71
twelfth centuries. The second was the machinery of the bureaucracy.

Minor bureaucratic reforms reflecting the increasingly autoc.ratic ideology
of the Constantinopolitan court and officialdom were introduced in the
eleventh century. l6J The old financial departments were remodeled. The
logothete of the treasury (genikon) became less important, and the chief
of the military exchequer (logothete of the stratiotika) disappears from
the sources after 1088. 104 Concurrently, the imperial demesne was in-
creased, along with the chancelleries administering it (most notably the
sekreton epi ton oikeiakon). I'"
Alexios I introduced changes of a more radically "patrimonial"
nature. "He perfolin d his functions," says Zonaras, "not as public or
state ones, and he considered himself not a ruler, but a lord, conceiving
and calling the empire his own house" (Zon . 3.766.11 - 16). The rise of
patrimonialism in the Comnenian administration was reflected not only
in the dynasty's animosity toward the senate (Zon. 3.766.17-19) but also
in its attempt to simplify and regularize state machinery. The central
offices that were preserved fell under the control of a single supervisor
(logothete of the sekreta).I66 Further, the judicial system was reformed,
although perhaps not very succes fully, in an attempt to implify legal
and to eliminate corruption. 167 Manuel I was particularly ac-
tive in this area (Kinn. 277.1-7).
Provincial administration was also remodeled. In the eleventh cen-
tury the old system of provincial divisions the theme system col-
lapsed. The military administrator (strategos) was replaced by a civil
administration with the theme judge at its head. The themes were di-
minished in size. Seemingly in contradiction to this shift, a new system
of great military districts doukates and katepa,tates developed from
163 . N.Oikono mides, ''L'evolution de I'organisation administrative de

l' Empire byumtin au Xl' siecie," TM 6 (1976), 150ff.; H. Ahrweiler, L ' ;d~olog;e
politique de I'Empire byw ntin (paris, 1975), 54- 56.
164. Oikonomides, " L'evolution de I'organisation," 135(.
165. Kazhdan, De:revnja i gorod, 129- 37; . " L' evolution de
I' organisation," 136.
166. R. Guilland, "Les Logothetes," REB 29 (1971), 75 - 79; Oikonomid ~s ,
"l' evolution de I' organisation," 131 f.
167. An attempt to rehabilitate the Byzantine judicial sy tern of the eleventh
century was made by G. Weiss, "Hohe Richter in KonstanHnopel. Eustathio
Rhomaio und seine Kollegen." lOB 22 (1973), 117-43. In contrast, D. Simon,
who analyzed the same ouree as Weiss, the Peira (see chapter 4, n . 65), believes
that Byzantine law was purely ca5uistical; it was enough to be a good rhe torician
to achieve success as a lawyer: Reclltsfindung am byZJlIIti,tischen Reichsgericht (Frank-
furt a. M., 1973), 17, 32.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

72 CHANGE 1 BYZANTI E CULTURE
the end of the tenth through the eleventh and twelfth centurie . This
condary y tern, which was initially established in the most vulner-
abJ frontier areas, covered the of smaller them s. These military
fOl med the core of the Comnenian provincial administration,
while the theme system virtually disappeared in the frrst halt of the
tweJfth century.l68
Similar ambivalent trends marked military organization. As
arly as the second half of the tenth century, a reorganization of the
army replaced the them conscript army (stra tiotai) by profe slonal
who e core was forll1 d of kataphraktai, heavily armed "knights"
Chapter 1).16'1 Simultaneou Iy, the Byzantines hired greater numbers
of foreign mercenaries and began to employ new military tactics adopted
from their neighbors. At the . arne tune, centripetal tendencies were
170
particularly evident in the military administration. Th provincial gover-

nor (doux or katepano), who was u ually appointed from among the fam-
ily relations of the ruling dynasty, held both civil and military authority
(Ex. ); furthermore, the troop were directed from Constantinople.
Th ir overwhelming numbers a tounded their enemie . Although con-
tributing to the al'my's str ngth, c ntral direction and large size made it
cumbersome; this was further aggravated by the army' h terogeneity,
for it included private retinue and large contingent of foreign mercen-
ari . An IInwieldy army and a lack of on-site initiative, caused by the
con tant necessity of awaiting imperial direction, proved liabilities, par-
ticularly in the face of the intense military pres UTe being exerted on the
border of the empire. A in th ea e of administrative and judicial re-
form , the changes in aJlny administration did not prove u cessful.
The antinomy of historical development is manife t in the contrast

of . and economic improvement to cont mporary political mis-
fortune. The loss of provine s in A ia Minor and Italy, although the
traditional domain of the landed a , doe not em to have
curtailed the pretension of that elite group. On the contrary, "feudaliza-
tion" seems to have intensifi d through the twelfth century. At the same
tilne, the loss of the e provinces meant the 10 of important trading
1 . Glykatzi-AhrweiJer, Recherches sltr l'administration, 9ff.; G. G. Litavrin,

Bo/garin i Vizantija v Xl - Xll vv. (Moscow, 1960), 285- 7.
169. A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantijskaja armija v IX-X vv.," Uletlye Ulpiski VeLi-
ka/uk kogo pedi1lstituta 1 (1954), 1 -31; . V. Kucrna, "Komandnyj i rjadovye
tratioty v femnom vojske Vizantii v konce IX-X vV.," Vat 2 (Mo ow, 1971),
86- 97.
170. Oikonomides, "L' volution de I'organisation," 144.
C pyrgr ed I
Decentralization and "Feudalizati n" 73
towns. Yet provincial comm ree does not appear to have been weakened
by th elimination of these centers. It may be concluded that the socio-
economic development of Byzantium in the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies was determined by the general evolution of the medieval world
rather than by political successes or by the failures of it aIlllies on the
battlefield. Those main tendencies were, indeed, to tho e of
w tern Europe: the growth of (provincial) the e tabli hment of
the feudal or serni-feudallanded estates, and the seigneurial exploitation
of peasant labor. But in the e areas Byzantium moved . lowly by com-
pari on with the West. Nevertheless, the urban growth and the nascent
"feudalization" of society implied serious chang s in th social and cul-
tural activity of the empire and were reflected above all in altered exter-
nal forms of everyday life.

Copyr grted fT1

POPULAR AND ARISTOCRATIC

CULTURAL TRENDS
Byzantine tendencies toward urbanization and feudalization and

the concomitant economic development in the provinces in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries certainly affected contemporary culture, although
different ctors of society reacted in distinct ways. In Byzantium the
pea 'antry and craft-working have left few traces. Even aristocrats
and intellectual can be only partially envisioned from their documents
and monuments. The ubject of this chapter i thus primarily the elite of
the society. Two eemingly contradictory may be identified
within that stratum: first, a popular one, through a consideration of the
religion and the mundane habits of the Rhomllioi; and second, an aristo-
cratic one, a apparent from an analysis of family structure and ideal
type . Further e idence of both trends is found in Byzantine art and
literature.
POPULAR TE DE CIES IN
BYZA TINE SOCIETY
CHANGES IN THE DAILY REGIME:

DRESS, DIET, AND DIVERSIO
For want of evidence, it is impossible to trace with as urance the
evolution of dress, diet. entertainment! and the like. Nevertheless, a few
contrasts may be drawn between Byzantine habits of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries and those of earlier periods, and it i tempting to relate

Popular and Aristocratic Cultural Trends 75
them to change in the social structure of the empire. Most strikingly,

Byzantines seem to have become better dressed. 1 There is, for instance, a
great difference between the impressions made by the Constantinopoli-
tan populace on foreign travelers of the tenth century and tho e of the
twelfth. Liutprand of Cremona, on an embassy to the Byzantine capital
in %8, was astonished at how shabbily dressed the people were. The
German thought the solemn procession led by Nikephoro II was a
wretched sight. The people in the crowd went barefoot, and even the
magnates were wearing shabby hand-me-downs. 2 Liutprand's writing
may have been affected by what he thought his own emperor, Otto,
wanted to read. But Ibn Hauqal, who also wrote in the tenth century,
held much the same opinion. In contrast, in the twelfth century, Ben-
jamin of Tudela was struck by the fact that the Con tantinopolitan
mases were clad not worse than princes; Odo of Deuil also described in
detail their splendid jewelry and silk apparel..'
It appears that the Byzantines were not just better dressed; they
were also more variously and elaborately clad. Writers of the eleventh
and twelfth centuries unanimously emphasized their contemporari s'
delight in rich, bright fabrics adorned with gold and silver thread and
embroidered decorations. Psellos, who preferred simple garments, de-
scribed a noblewoman who wore an "unhabitual embellishment" on her
head, gold around her neck, and on her wrists bracelets in the shape of
serpent; she wore pearl earrings and a girdle shining with gold and
pearJs (Ps. Chroll. 2: 135, no. 87.4-7; 2:49, no. 152.6-10). He remarked,
evidently with surprise, that Empress Zoe disdained gold garb, ribbons,
and necklaces and wore rather only simple, light clothing (2: 49, no.
158.11 - 14). Eu tathios of Thes aloniki, commenting on a Homeric meta-
phor (he believed "don a coat of stone" I Iliad 3.58) was a euphemism for
1. On Byzantine dres ,see Ph. Koukoules, Vicet civilisation byzalltines, vol. 2,

part 2 (Athens, 1948),5- 59; vol. 6 (1957),267 - 94; M. G. Houston, Allcient Greek,
ROlllall and Byznntille Costume and Decoration (London, 1947), 134 -61. C. Mango,
"Discontinuity in Byzantium," ByulIItiulPl and tlle Classical Traditio" (Birmingham,
1981), SU., changes in upper-class costume in late antiquity but not in me-
dievaJ Byzantium.
2. Liutprand of Cremona, Die Wake, ed. }.Becker, 3d ed. (Hannover and
Leipzig, 1915), 171.
3 . .Ibn Hauqal, COllfigllrati0f1 de fa terre, ed. and trans!. J. H . Kramers and G.
Wiet (Paris and Beirut, 1964), 195.
4. Ben. Tud. 12f.; ado of Deuil, De profee/ione Llldo! lei VII ill Orientem, ed .
and trans\. V. G. Berry (New York, 1948),64. For ado, Constantinople surpassed
aU cities in wealth; he described with delight the heaps of gold and on the
tables of money-changers (74).
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

death by stoning), unexpectedly referred to contemporary fashion, re-

marking on robes besprinkled with pearls and pr dous stones. Appar-
ently a greater variety of materials might readily be procured by clothiers
of the era. Wool remained the most common material, but silk, cotton,
and linen were all available for finer garments. fi High-ranking Byzantines
seem to have had a variety of style from which to choose. The tradi-
tional full-length patrician coshnnes, the full caftan with wide sleeves
and the straight caftan with tight sleeves, worn with high boots, remained
in use, as manuscript illuminations show (Fig. 10).1 These are also
known from literary descriptions; for instance, Constantine Manasses
wrote that when ari tocrats went hunting, they tucked up the long hems
of their robes, which normally dragged on the ground. But revealing
clothing was introduced in the twelfth entury. We tern observers at
that time wer surprised by the close-fitting apparel that they found in
the East. Odo of Deuil remarked upon the tight cut of Greek clothing:
They do not have cloaks, but the wealthy are dad in silky garments that
are short, tight- leeved, and sewn up on aU sides, so that they aJways
move unimpeded, as do athletes. t
It is not clear whether trousers were in continual use from Late Ro-
man times (braccarii, "breeches makers," are mentioned in Diodetian's
Edict of Prices and in some Egyptian papyri) through the early Middle
AS' 5, but they were being worn again by the twelfth century. Eustathios
of Thessaloniki several time mentioned with disapproval "the covering
of the pudenda (breeche I, known by the Romans as braccae or atlil-
xyrides." 10 For instance, in his description of the kna ish governor of
Th ssaloniki, David c'omnenus, Eustathio noted that nobody had ever
5. Comm~ntary on t"~ fliad 379.24- 25, ed. M. van der Vatk, vol. 1 (Leiden,
1971),598.27- 28.
6. Poemes prodr. no. 1, 93; no. 2,35; and esp. no. 1, 59. For a commentary,
. Vie et ci ilisation 6, 270f. Longibardos (ca. 1000) still disdained "ajry"
clothing of linen and silk. .F ta, " Longibardos," Byz. 6 (1931), 116. Authors of
the e1eventh to twelfth centurie often mentioned fine linen: Koukoules, Vie ct
civilisation, vol. 2, part 2, 23; vol. 6, 275.
7. Perhaps most obviously in the iIIust.rated Skylitzes manuscript in Ma-
drid : S. Cirac Estopanan, Skyllitzes Matritensis, vol. 1, Reprodllcciones y miniatllros
(Barcelona, 1965), e.g., fols. 12 ,SOv, etc. The manuscript has been convincingly
ascribed to twelfth-century southern Italy. See N. G. Wilson, "The Madrid
Scylitze ," Serittllra ct ciuiltd 2 (1978), 209- 14.
8. K. Horna, Analekten zur byznntinischell LiteraluT (Vienna, 1905), 10.140- 41.
9. De profectione Ludouiei VlJ in Ori~"tem, 26.
10. Commentary on the Iliad 22.9; 216.5, ed . van der Valk, vol. 1, 36.11;
328.28- 29.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a '-

seen him clad in armor or riding a horse; rather David went about on a
mule, wore braccae, newfangled shoes, and a red Georgian hat (Eut.
Esp. 82.6-8). Choniates also commented acidly on David Com-
nenus's dress, mentioning that his tight trousers (anaxyrides) were held
up by a knot in the back (Nik. Chon. 298.30- 32). Trousers were men-
tioned twice more by Choniates in ambiguous descriptions of emperors.
Rather than walk, as was traditional for emperors, Andronikos Com-
nenus preferred to ride to the Shrine of Christ the Savior. Choniates re-
corded that the first explanation for this innovation suggested by the
people was the usurper's fear of the crowd. Others sneered that "the old
man," exhau ted by the day's work and the weight of imperial regalia,
would oil his braCCJle, being unable to retain the "dirt' of his tomach" if
he had had to walk (273.85-89). Choniates also wrote of a soldier who
reproached Manuel I, "Had you been a strong man as you claim to be,
or had you had on your anaxyris, you would have smashed the gold-
robbing Persians, routed them courageously and brought bac.k their loot
to the Rhomaioi" (186.73-75). Though Choniates was clearly suspicious
of trousers as a new fashion, the expression "to wear trousers" eems to
have already become synonym for manliness. Even the liturgicaJ vest-
ments of bishops evidently became more complicated during thjs time,
with the regular addHion of a rectangular embroidered doth (encheirio,,)
attached to the right side of the belt of the prelate's tunic (Fig. II)." Avail-
ability of alternative fa hions was not limited to clothing; it a] 0 extended
to personal grooming. A considerable continuity of certain features of
Greek hair tyles from Mycenae to Byzantium has been assumed; how-
ever, a new vernacular term, parampykia, designating a curl on the fore -
head, appeared only in the twelfth century in the , riting of Eustathios
of Thessaloniki. Also in the twelfth century, for the first time since late
12
antiquity, Byzantines might be dean-shaven, a fad perhaps introduced

by the Latins. Ll
The Greeks' new concern for their appearance is reflected in the nu-
merous complaints of conservative members of society about their con-
temporaries' vanity. Zonaras disdainfully wrote that. orne men wore
wigs and had free-flowing hair down to their waists, like women (PG
137.848B-C) . Niketas Choniates' conservatism was reflected in his nos-
n. N. Thierry, "Le costume episcopal byza ntin du IX' au XIlr siec1e d' aprcs
les pcintures datees (miniatures, fresques)," REB 24 (1966), 308- 15.
12. On the continuity of hairstyles, see Ai. G . Korre, ' Korone' -parampykia -
/I
phJokos," EEBS 41 (1974), 128- 35. See Euslathios, Commelltar;; ad Homer; l/iadem
1280.52-60, ed. J. G. Stallbaum, vol. 4 1830), 257.26 - 37.
13. Koukoules, Vie el ciuiiisatioll 4 (Athens, 1951), 34M., 359f.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

talgic . . of a tatue of Athena, on which, he wrote, the folds of

the goddess' long robe covered everything that nature had ordained be
covered (Nik. Chon. 558.52-54); it was alsohown in his disdain for
clothing of a new, open fashion. Andronikos Cornnenus, for instance,
wore a lit mauve costume sewn of Georgian fabric that came down to
hi knee and covered only hi upper arm ; he had a m ke-colored hat
in the shape of a pyramid (252.73- 76; al 0 see 139.50- 52). According to
Choniate ' de cription of Androniko 's public portrait, he presented
himself "not arrayed in golden imperial vestment , but in the gui e of a
much-toiling laborer, in a dark, parted cloak that reached down
to his buttocks, and having his feet hod in knee-high wrote boots"
(332.35- 37). 14 The openness of the costume clearly sparked Choniates'
indignation the short parted cloak and short sleeves might be conve-
nient for freedom of action, but, after aU, naked arms were unchaste
(509.11- 12) and symbolic of humiliation and unconditional submission
(285.79). Even emperor might be critical of new fashions. Chonjates re-
corded that John n inspected his courtiers' hairdos and shoe styles, not
allowing them to chase new fashion and discouragjng silline s about
clothing and food (47.67- 70). In contrast, the proto ebastos Alexios, re-
gent of the young AJexios IT, not only followed new fashions but even
introduced them, which gained him considerable support among the
nobility. It is not, however, dear that the new fashjons in which Alexios
wa interested concerned clothing. noted that he et a fashion
of during the day and entertaining during the night and, fur-
ther, that h cleaned his teeth and replaced those that fell out with new
one made of (244.51 - 60).
Ethnic diversity, too, was to be seen in eleventh- and twelfth-century
Byzantine dress. Illuminated manuscripts , for instance, that
Bulgarians had an identifiable costume,15 and other ethnic groups within
the empire also wore traditional attire. Skylitzes reported that a certain
AJousianos, a Bulgarian noble exiled to Armenia, e caped from his place
of banishment by dressing .in Armenian clothing, thereby going un-
noticed (Skyl. 413.1). al 0 varied according to odal status; a mem-
ber of the elite ould alway b distingui hed from a peasant or an ar-
ti an. In manuscript illumination, common people are repre nted with
short tunics, patricians generally with long one . Similarly, monks could
be identified by their habits (schemata), although only the relative .
plicity of cleric ' garment might distinguish them from laymen.
14. Translation from C. Mango, TIle Art of fhe ByulIl/ille Empire (Englewood
Cliff , N .J., 1972), 234.
15. J. Ivanov, Le costume ill/ciells BIt/gilre (Pari, 1930).
COPYrighted material
Within the elite, however, clothing did not greatly vary. In this, By-
zantium contrasts with late antiquity, when dress reflected class and
professional affiliation quite explicitly. Sailors, doctors, lawyers, and
teachers, besides senators, each had their particular costume. Such dif-
ferentiation among the largest sectors of society probably disappeared
during the general collapse of urban life in the seventh and eighth cen-
turies. Dress remained a mirror of rank only at a court. There dignitaries
were assigned their different colors, special embroideries, and distinct
embellishments. The city prefect (eparch), for example, wore a black and
white tunic (chiton); its colors symbolized "the judicial axe," the illegal
black being separated from the lawful white (Chr. My til. no. 30). The
sebastokrator wore blue shoes and the protovestiarios was entitled to green
shoes. Red sandals and purple garments were the prerogative of the em-
peror, although by the end of the twelfth century a few high officials of
the court had the right not only to wear purple themselves, but also to
adorn their horses with it. In
Court costume was not the only feature of Byzantine society to recalJ
in a rarified form Late Roman urban life. For instance, the tradition of
luxurious communal bathing, abandoned by the populace since the
eighth century, 17 remained a peculiar privilege of certain emperors. At
the beginning of the tenth century there was apparently no great con-
cern for hygiene: Nicholas Mystikos thought that having a dirty face was
shameful but did not worry about filth on other body part, vi ible or
1
8
not. To what degree bathing was revived with the reemergence of ur-
ban life is unclear. At least one bathing establishment was rebuilt in the
twelfth century and then transformed into a church. I ' Further, there are
a f~w descriptions of baths in the countryside. Mkhael Choniates ridi-
culed one such place: it was no more than a hut heated by an open
hearth; the door could not be properly closed, so that the bathers suf-
fered from smoke and heat and at the same time shivered from the draft.
The local bishop, Choniates joked, washed with his hat on, afraid of
catching a cold (Mich. Akom. 2: 235.13-19). Another small country bath
was depicted in the typikon of the Kosmosotira. There was room for the
bathers to rest; women's days were Wednesdays and Fridays and the re-
16. Nik. Chon. 438.43 - 45. On the imperial ceremonial co tume, M. Hendy,
Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire, 1081-1204 (Washington, D.C, 1969),
65-68.
17. C Mango, "Daily Life in Byzantium," lOB 3111 (1981),338- 41.
18. Nicholas I, patriarch of Constantinople, Letters, ed. R. J. H . Jenkins and
L. G. We h~rink, (Washington, D.C, 1973), esp. 32.101-3.
19. K. Homa, "Die Epigramme des Theodoros Balsamon," Wiener Studien
25 (1903), 190, no. 26.

ma'ining time belonged to men. Though such references are rare, they
suggest that the communal bath might not have been altogether forgot-
ten out ide the palace walls. Further, while the bath may have ceased to
be an element of everyday life, it . regarded as a medical remedy: doc-
tors recommended that sick people bathe twice a week. 20 Monks presum-
ably bathed less often than laymen, but typika dictate variously between
bathing twice a month and three times a year, although the most com-

mon monastic practice was evidently a bath once a month (e.g., Kosm.
66.28- 29; MM 5:369.22). In any ca e, Prodromos moc.k ed a monk who
never appeared in a bath between Easters (Poemes prodr. 52.80- 81). Per-
hap the man was following th ascetic advice to wash with tears rather
than with water.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Byzantines showed the
same diversity in diet as they did in clothing. Hagiographers, of course,
maintained the traditional ideal of fasting; their heros were able to re-
frain from food for weeks or to restrict them elves to small amounts of
bread and water. Elias Speleotes in the tenth century was said to have
eaten only a little green barley once a day (AASS Septembris lU, 877A,
879B). Sabas the Younger wa completely ab tinent during the first five
day of Lent; on Saturday he satisfied himself with a small portion of
bread and water, and in the following weeks he only took bread after the
21
communion, and even then no more often than three days a week. Had
the diet of a saint undergone any change by the twelfth century? Per-
haps: Meletios of Myoupolis, who was praised for his traditional bread
and water diet, also had a mode t quantity of wine and a simple cooked
dish seasoned with olive oil.22 Kekaumeno had a conservative attitude
toward food; he recommendea a well-balanced breakfast and no lunch
(Kek. 214.4, 216.4 - 5). Another source evidencing a conservative diet is
the monastic typikon, or rule; typika indicate that one or at the most two
meals were eaten daily. 2J The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery, writ-
20. P. Gautier, " Le Typicon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator," REB 32 (1974),
91.1051-52. On the Byzantine bath also see G. C. Spyridakis, L'usage des bains a
l'ipoque byumtine, les origines de la mtdicine en Grice (Athens, 1968), 55f.; Kou-
koules, Vie et civilisation 4, 419- 67; A. Berger, Das Bad in dn' byzantitliscnetl Zeit
(Munich, 1982), esp. 56(, Tzetze5, a literate man and do e to the upper a'ust of
society, was not ashamed to acknowledge that he bathed only two or three times
a year cit d by N. G. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium (Baltimore, 1983), 191.
21. Historia et la"des 55 . Sabae. et Macarii, ed . G. Cozza- Luzi (Rome, 1893),
19.1- 1l.
22. Ed. V. Vasil'evslcij, PP5b 17 (1886), 7.19- 24.
23. A. P. Kazhdan, "SkoYko eli vizantijcy?" Vaprosy istorii, 1970, no. 9,
215-18. On Byzantine diet se also J. L. Teall, ''The Grain Supply of the Byzan-
tine Empire, 330-1025," DOP 13 (1959), 99.

ten in 1136, carefully detailed the meals for the year providing the monks
with a diet far removed from the hagiographic ideal. For instance , "On
Saturdays and Sundays, one serves three plates, one of fresh vegetables,
one of dry vegetables, and another of shellfish, mussels and calamari,
and onions, all prepared in oil; one also gives them the habitual pint of
wine .... " 24 Like Kekaumenos, the typika enjoin a good breakfast; they
limit the evening meal to bread and wine, occ.a sionally with vegetables
and fruit in addition.
From less conservative sources it appears that by the twelfth century
there was both a greater desire for sumptuous meals and a greater avail-
ability of different foodstuffs. The variety of seasonings and edibles-
induding pepper, caraway, honey, olive oil, vinegar, salt, mushrooms,
celery, leeks, lettuce, garden cress, chicory, spinach, goosefoot, turnips,
eggplant, cabbage, white beets, almonds, pomegranates, nuts, apples,
hempseed, lentils, raisins, etc. listed by Prodromos (Poemes prodr.
no. 2.38- 45) mirrors both a concern with good eating and a new diver-
sity of dishes. Symeon Seth's compilation of the dietary advantages and
di advantages of different foods, dating from the late eleventh century,
also shows an increased interest in eating. 25 But perhap the new, Rabe-
laisian delight in consumption is best conveyed by Eustathios of Thes-
saloniki. With great excitement, he described a fowl on which he had
feasted: it was seasoned with fragrant juice (anthoehymos, Eustathios's
neologism) and swimming in a sort of nectar. He called it "unusual,
good, a sweet marvel." Eustathios's account is in the form of a riddle: it
was a fowl yet not a fowl; from the fowl it borrowed blooming skin,
wingbones and legs, but the rest had no bones at aU and certainly did
not belong to the realm of birds. His consideration of the stuffing brought
further delighted confusion. Apart from the almonds, he didn't recog-
nize any of the ingredients: "} could not help inquiring frequently, what
is it? To look at the thing was to suffer from starvation (literally, "likened
the mouth to suffering from dropsy"], so I set my hands in motion and
tore the chicken into pieces" (Eust. Opuse. 311.42 - 56). In another letter
he described the bird as "whitish, abluted with wine, like the sun by the
ocean, according to Homer"; it was rich with fat, tinged "by noble red"
from the wine in which it was drenched; it was not hidden with a curtain
of horrible feathers, but exhibited in all its beauty (311 .80 - 93). The sub-
ject of culinary overindulgence was also treated by Choniates, though
more critically. His frequent disgust at great drinking bouts seems to in-
dicate that such excesses were not uncommon. He ridiculed the Latins,
24. Gautier, "Le Typkon du Pantocrator," 57.466 - 82.

25. On Symeon Seth, see below, Chapter 4.

who consumed chines Qf beef boiled in gTeat pots, or ate smoked pork
with ground peas, or sharp sauces with garlic (Nik. ChQn. 594.1 - 5). Byz-
antine gluttons were equally dispicable. JQhn Qf Putze could no.t refrain
from eating right in the middle Qf the street. AlthQugh members o.f his
retinue tried to. convince him that proper food was waiting for him at
hQme, JQhn seized a Po.t of his "belo.ved di h," halmaia (a So.rt Qf sauer-
kraut), and go.rged himself o.n both the cabbage and the juice (57.53-63).
JOM Kamateros also. was a no.torio.US gluttQn and drunkard, who. Qut-
drank all lithe rulers Qf the tribes," swalJowing dQwn banels o.f wine and
emptying ampho.ras as if they were small cups. He eQuid destroy whQle
fields Qf green peas. Once saw peas Qn the far side of a river and im-
mediately tQQk off his chiton (shirt), swam the river, and cQnsumed mQst
of the field Qf peas on the SPQt, taking the rest back to' hls tent to. eat later.
He ate as thQugh he suffered .frQm starvation (113f.). Isaac II, wrote
Choniates, lived in luxury, arranging spectacular feasts even during the
day. On his table it was po. sible to see hills Qf bread, coppices full of
animals, streams Qf fish, and seas o.f wine (441.9- 12). The sumptuous
meals were enlivened with jQkes and wisecracks; Choniates' de cription
of an imperial dinner prQvides Qme sense Qf the atmQsphere Qf revelry.
On Qne occasion Isaac asked that the salt be passed to him. The mime
ChaJiboures, who attended the dinner, retorted immediately with a play
Qn the Greek word for salt (halos) and the feminine plural Qf the wQrd for
other (alias). LOQking around at "the chQir Qf the emperor's concubines
and relatives," ChalibQures cried Qut, "Your majesty, WQuid you first
taste Qf these, and lat r o.n o.rder to have others brQught in?" (441.23 - 27).
Everyone burst into. laughter.
While greater wealth and a prQpensity tQward self-indulgence seem
identifiable in the relatively private spheres Qf dre s and diet, the atQm-
izatiQn of Byzantine c.ulture is most apparent in the hlghly public dQ-
main Qf PQPular entertainment. Byzantine mass amu ements became
less spectacular and less Qfficially contrived in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. RQman hQr e racing had cQntinued to. be exceedingly PQPuiar
during the first centuries Qf Byzantine histQry, even pLaying a part in
state ceremQniai. By the eleventh century, hQwever, the circus spectacle
was relegated to. a minQr role in Byzantine so.cial life; 2' its place was
taken by the carnival. In CQntrast to. the spectator SPQrt Qf the circus, the
carnival, with its masquerading, carousing, and buffQQnery, allQwed for
26. According to the sources of the tenth through the twelfth centuries, the
number of chariot races was drastically reduc d. As pointed o ut by C. Mango, at
some unspecifiabl time chariot racing ccased to be a competitive sport and be-
came an imperial pageant: "Dajly Life in Byzantium," 349.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

the full participation of the common man. The riotousness of the e fes-
tival often elicited the censure of the more staid members of society.
Theodore Balsamon criticized both the lay participants in a popular
Januacry festival who masqueraded as monks and clerics and the clergy
who disguised themselves as warriors and animals (PC 137.7290).27 Both
Balsamon and Zonaras wrote that ometimes the festivities held on saints'
day became 0 lewd that pious women fled the feasts in fear of being
assaulted by the lecherous participants (PC 138.2450-248B). Balsamon
(Ex. 9) also describes a ritual fortunetelling celebrated annually on June
23, which included dancing, drinking, public parading, and numerous
acts of a superstitious nature regarding a virgin oracle (PC 137.741B- 0).
o doubt . rite' pagan overtone led to its being banned by Patriarch
MichaellIl; its obvious traditional folk elements make it mention here
relevant. Christopher of Mytilene depicts in a long but unfortunately
now badly preserved poem a procession of masked students (rom the
notarial schools on the feast of 55. Markianos and Martyrios. 2IJ In sum,
then, there is some evidence that cOJlullunal entertainment had become
participatory and more popular by the twelfth century.
Buffoonery even seems to have penetrated the Con tantinopolitan
court (Ex. 10). According to Psellos, Constantine ex was a pleasure-
loving fellow, fond of practical jokes (Ps. Chron. 2:34; no. 132.3-8;
2:39f., no. 142.3- 25). He amused himself by digging pits in his garden
into which his unsuspecting guest might tumble. The element of social
prote t that might be read into popular carnivals, however, cannot be
ascribed to the pranks of an emperor. The e may rather be pLaced in the
cat gory of inconsequential aristocratic pastimes, of which Anna Com-
nena complained. She lamented that the investigation of lofty subjects
was forsaken by noblemen in favor of dice games and similar impious
entertainments (An. C. 3 :218.14-17). But if popular elements cannot be
pecifically identified in the games played by the nobility, they can per-
haps in the adoption of pea ant costume by members of the court as al-
luded to by Choniates (see above). Popular features are even more easily
identifiable in the literary tastes of Comneni.
POPULAR ELEMENTS IN LITERATURE
Byzantine literature was traditionally \vritten in Hellenistic Greek
(koine), which educated Byzantines mastered in the early years of their
27. See Y. V. Duval, "Des Lupercales de Constantinople aux Lupercah.>s de
Rome," Revue des Ctudes latinI'S 55 (19n), 222-70.
28. Chr. Mityl. no. 136. He also describes (no. 1), the horrible crush of the
crowd during St. Thomas's festival.

schooling. Kaine represented a rigid linguistic ideal, incorporating an-

tique grammatical vocabulary, and literary conceits. Before
the twelfth century, elements of vernacular vocabulary and granunar were
found in Byzantine chronicles, but the vernacular language was still un-
acceptable in a sophisticated Literary context. In fact the popular idiom
remained so far removed from literary expression that Anna Comnena,
when including in her writings a mocking-song chanted by the populace
of Constantinople, thought it necessary to translate it into koine. This
condescending attitude toward the vernacular did change, however. In
the twelfth century, vernacular even became a literary vehicle.
Poetry perhaps most markedly shows vernacular innovations. Works
of three author in the common idiom survive from the twelfth century:
four poems by Theodore Prodromos, a didactic poem by an author
caBed Spaneas in some manuscripts, and the Verses Wrilten in Jail by Mi-
chael Glykas. Despite the unresolved questions associated with these
works the vulgar verses ascribed to Prodromos or Ptocho-Prodromos
in manuscript lemmas, for instance, may not actuaUy have been written
by him a few conclusion may be deduced from them. First, vernacu-
lar wa no longer unbridgeably separated from koine; both koine and the
vernacular could be encompassed in the oeuvre of a single author.
Glykas also, for instance, compo ed letters in the traditional literary lan-
guage still used by the educated people of the twelfth century. As for
Prodromos, vulgar lexical and grammatical elements may be discovered
even in his "das ical"verses, for which he i best known. Second, though
the authors of vulgar poems did not belong to the upper nobility, they
may have been connected with that class; certainly they constantly ad-
dressed it. Glykas polemicized with Manuel I, while Spaneas and Pro-
dromos wrote for the highest members of the ari tocracy, eithe.r preach-
ing morality or begging grants. One may surmise that the Comnenian
court did not eschew the fashion for vernacular literature.
Concurrently as vernacuJar vocabulary was being introduced into
29. H . G. Beck, Geschichtederbyzalltil/ischel/ Volkslileralur (Munich, 1971),27.

Also see W. J. Aerts, Anna's Mirror, Attic(is/ic) or Antiquariall? (Athens, 1976), 5.
On " tylistic ".. in Byzantine liter-ature, I. Sevcenko, "Levels of Style in Byzantine
Literature," JOB 3111 (1981), 289- 312.
30. J. Grosdidier de Maton , Courallis arcllQ;'sa"ts et populaires dans la langue et
IItlfrahlre (Athen , 1976), 4 - 6, has pointed out that Byzantine "demotic" Litera -
ture was addressed to the nobility, in contrast to its use in the West, where ver-
nacular Literature was first addressed to the masses . He also notes the "hyper-
demotism" of Ptocho-Prodromos, whose language was close to slang, stressing
the artificiality of Byzantine vernacular literature in the twelfth century .
(,opy' ql"too 'T a t.

literature, metrical structure was changing. The distinction between

long

and hort syllable on which ancient meter had been based disap-
peared from everyday speech before the foundation of Constantinople.
Early hymnographic verses already depended for their rhythm on the
alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. But tonic metrical struc-
ture was known in Byzantine poetry no earlier than the tenth century,
the date to which the first experiments with fifteen -syllable, so-called
political line have been ascribed. 1 Like the vernacular idiom, political
verse was ambiguously received in literary cirdes. Purists refused to ac-
knowledge it as a legitimate meter, regarding it as suitable, with a sim-
plified vocabulary, only for a didactic functjon. 1 Members of the Com-
neoian aristocracy, in contrast, evidently found the fifteen-syllable verse
quite attractive. Tzetzes complained that his noble customers expected
his poems to be written in political verse. ~ Almost half of the lines in
Prodromos's historical poems were in this meter. Thus, political meter,
representing a break from rarified, traditional literary forms, seems to
have been readily accepted at the Cornnenian court.
This new acceptance of popular elements into the literary milieu of
the twelfth century was perhaps related to the social shifts of the age.
One is tempted to suggest that the urbanization of society contributed
to the broadening of Literary culture, and comments made by twelfth-
century writers can be as supporting such a hypothesis. John Tze-
tzes, a philologist and admirer of ancient culture, wrote mockingly that
everybody in his day was engaged in producing poems: women, tod-
31. The earliest examples of this verse form so far identified come from the
beginning of the tenth century, if they are in fact contemporary with the events
des(] ibed in them . I. ~v~enko, "Poems on the Death of Leo VI and Con tantine
Vil in the Madrid Manuscript of Skylitzes," DOP 23- 24 (1969- 70), 222 - 25.
W. Horandner, His/. Ged . 128- 31 and esp. n. 295, and Traditionellc WId populiire
Ziige in der Profalldichhmg der Komllel/ellzeit (Athens, 1976), 7f., connects the ori-
gin of political verse with popular acclamations and church chants. M. 1. Jeffreys,
"Byzantine Metrics: Non-Literary Strata," lOB 3111 (1981), 323- 29, al 0 assumes
that political verse at a vernacular and oral level was already widespread before
900, when it was accepted by intellectual and social elites in Constantinople. Un-
fortunately, such a suggestion remains hypothetical. J. Koder, "Der Funfzehn-
silber am kaiserlichen Hof um das Jahr 500," BS 33 (1972), 219, to the contrary,
denies that fifteen -syllable verse could develop directly from folksong. On
the evolution of political verse, sec V. Tiftixoglu, "Digenis, das 'Sophrosyne'-
Gedicht de Meliteniotes und der byzantinische ,F unfzehnsilber," BZ 67 (1974),
46 - 58.
32. M. J. Jeffreys, "The Nature and Origins of the Political Vcrs ," DOP 28
(1974), 166.
33. Jeffreys, "The Nature and Origins," 173- 75.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

86 CHANGE IN BYZANTI E CULTURE
ell r , artisans, and Yen th wiv of barbarian . 34 Prodromo follow d

zetze : in his eulogy to I aac, Alexio I' on, he depicted Philosophy
carping at Ares, the god of war, for successfully wooing to his service the
able t men of the land, leaving to her only amateurs and craftsmen .
While the e author undoubtedly exaggerated the popularity of literary
pur uits among the p ople, it may well be that a wid r urban interest
carried the spoken idiom into the previou Iy arcane ph re of Byzantine
lit rature.
That this literary inn vation wa a sociated with a cular, urban so-
i ty perhap explains a reaction against the a similation of vernacular
element in hagiographic literature. In contrast to the monastic writing
of the fourth to ixth centurie , which were commonly enlivened with
v macular element , the churchmen of the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turi tended to take a purl t tack . . The destruction of the vita of St. Pa-
raskeve, ordered b Patriarch Nicholas TV Mouzalon in the mid-twelfth
century (Re . patr. 3: no. 1032) on the grounds that it wa compiJed by a
pea ant in a vulgar (idiotikos), appear typical of the struggle
again t a demotic hagiograph . Th church's con ervative respon e her
rve to underlin the radical implication of the vemacularization of
lit rature.
POPULAR F ATURES I RELIGIOUS LIFE
While the church s omed the vernacular, it did not remain un-
tou hed by the major ocial developments of the period. In fact, because
mona tic life is relatively well d umented by the urviving typika, cul-
tural changes may be better ob erved in the religiou pher of activity
than in any other. Most notably, there was a marked tend ncy toward
atomization, with it concomitant emphasis on individuali m and, in
80m in tances, pro ocation of indiscipline. From the beginnings of Byzan-
tine mona ticism two primary form of asceti community co-existed:
th lavra, in which hermits w re loosely affiliated, meting together on
Sundays and feast days, and the koinobion, in which monk led a more
communal life under th authority of the abbot (hegoumenos). Often
these two types of mona tic life were conjoined, with brethren progress-
34. John Tzetze , Historiamm varinrum chiliades, ed. Th. (Leipzig,

1826),517.
15. B. Kurtz, "Uned ierte Texte au der Zeit des Johannes Kom-
" BZ 16 (1907), 116.
36. la m~taphra avaH rcndu un des genres r ligi u les plus popu-
\aires, I'hagiographie, p difficilemenl bl au e prit non form~s a la
culture cla jque," Gro didi r d Maton , Courallts archai"sants, 9.
C pyrgr ed I
,
ing from the community to a neighboring hermitage, According to Chris-

todoulos (MM 6:61.8-9), the monks were simultaneously divided and
united by this system. :rJ As mentioned in Chapter 1, notable advocates of
communal discipline in Byzantium were St. Theodore of the Studios in
the ninth century and St. Athanasios of Athos, who in the tenth century
introduced the cenobitic life to the Holy Mountain despite the strident
opposition of the resident hermits. During the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies, however, monasticism in Byzantium developed differently not
only from that of earlier periods, but also from that in the contemporary
West. Western monasteries tended to be transformed into coherent com-
munities bound by the strict discipline of the monastic orders, The
Cluniacs, then the Cistercians, were powerful reforming organizations
that imposed an institutional unity on communities otherwise isolated
by political boundaries, Perhaps because of the more unified nature of
the empire, such monastic links were unnecessary, In any case, in By-
zantium there was an opposite move toward both greater individual in-
dependence within the establishment and greater freedom of the monas-
tery within the wider community. Theodore Balsamon, patriarch of
Antioch, made this East/West comparison in a striking if somewhat ex-
aggerated forIll. He noted that at his time, at the end of the twelfth cen-
tury, few true koinobia survived. The monks did not lead a common life;
only in some women's convents were common meals and c{)uunon dor-
mitories preserved . Monks ate and slept in their own separate cells. In
contrast, Latin monks received their food as a community in the refec-
tory and took their rest together in common quarters (PG 138.176C-D).
The Byzantine monastery usually included both elements of com-
munal organization and individualism on various levels. The Monastery
of Monnt Galesios in the eleventh century was cenobitic. Gregory, who
wrote the vita of its founder, Lazarus, regarded this type of monastic
community as a broad, easy, "imperial highway" to salvation (AASS
NovembTis IU, 5678). But even there the brethren were urged to stay as
much as possible inside their cells in order, as Gregory put it, to e cape
quarrels and scandals (562F - 563A); sometimes they even ate in their cells
(535C, 551F). The cells were not intended to be comfortable: Lazarus or-
dered tables taken out of the cells (5S2A- B); even icons and candle were
not to be used in them (549A - B). Lazarus forbade his monks to have
keys to their cells (53OC) a rule that suggests that private locks existed
37. D. Papachryssanthou, "La vie monastique dans la campagne byzantine

du VIW au IX' siede," Byz. 43 (1973), 158-80; J. M. Sansterre, "Une laur a Rome
au IX' siecJe," Byz. 44 (1974),514-17.

in other monastic cODununities. Moreover, [.anrus's monks, especially

the craftsmen, were pelll1itted to work for themselves and earn a private
income, at least at an early stage of the monastery's history (566A). Later,
despite Lazarus's many monks attempted to retain their pri-
vate property in some form. The most popular excuse was a pious one:
the need for personal alms giving. Side by side with this semi-cenobitic
community, a completely individualistic form of salvation was practiced:
Laza.r us himself and his disciples dwelt on columns. This style of
life was regarded as the most praiseworthy and the most difficult; hence,
through the status that this . practice conferred upon him, the holy
stylite Lazarus dominated the community. He dictated the rules, indoc-
trinated the monks on theological problems, and monitored their mor-
als. As he came to the verge of death, the brethren panicked for fear that
the father would die without writing a typikon that would compensate
for their loss of their founder. Yet they were afraid to remind the old man
of his inescapable destiny. When they found him dead on the top of his
column, the monastery possessed nothing but a draft copy of a rule
written by one of the monk , without even Lazarus's signature. But mi-
raculously, when the corpse was brought into the church by the lament-
ing cODununity, the dead man opened his eyes and immediately an inge-
ni.ous monk, Cyril by name, put a reed pen into Lazarus's right hand
and guided it so that the holy man might sign the document (585B-5878).
Thus, even in death, the will of the ascetic stylite was imposed on the
koinobion.
The differences between Eastern and Western monasticism were
embodied in the monastic buildings of the age (figs. 12- 13). The plan of
St. Chrysostomos on Cyprus, founded in the late eleventh century, was
typical of Byzantine koillobia. The main church (katholiko,,) of the monas-
tery, with a secondary chapel (parekklesiorl) organically appended to it,
was the focus of the small, irregular complex. The secondary buildings
are for the most part of later date, but their mud-brick or mortared-
rubble predecessor on the site probably were very similar in plan and
arrangement: a range of individual cells, a kitchen, and storage rooms
organized in a somewhat disorderly fashion. The whole was enclosed
for protection by a wall. Out ide the precincts were the retreats for the
hermits and an ossuary for the deceased monks' bones. The scale of the
undertaking is very small; little detailed architectural planning was re-
quired, especially for the domestic buildings. Apparently additions were
made to the structures as they were required by an increase in the size of
the cenobitic family. This spatial informality provides some insight into
the flexibility of the monastic mode in Byzantium. In contrast, the Mon-

a t ry of Cluny n repr s nt the rigid organization of mona tic exi tence

in the reformed French orders of the mid-eleventh century. Not only is
th re material evidence of communal eating and leeping, but the rela-
tion between structures much more controlled: church, dorter, re-
fectory, chapterhouse are all bound cogently together by the of
the cloister. Movement i contained and determin d . Even the neat an-
gularity of the complex hints at the linear preci ion of the !if that was
sought, if not always attained, in a Western monast ry. It cale also im-
plie it pretensions.
The casualness of the Byzantine monastic plan i revealed, too, in
monastic Hteratu.re. The vita of the late-tenth-<:entury saint Nikon the
Metanoeite ("You should repent") reveals that in hi monastery the
monks' cells opened not only into a monastic courtyard, but aI 0 down
orne tone steps into the town square (agora). J8 The tendency toward
atomization in Byzantine mona ticism allowed the ancient custom of extra-
ccJesiastical communion to continue. According to hi tenth-century
vita, Luke the Younger the archbi hop of Corinth. The hagiog-
rapher noted that Luke appeared "not empty-hand d," but arrying
some vegetables from hi garden for the aT hbi hop and hi archons.
Luke asked the bishop a fundamental question: how could hermits par-
tak of divine communion if they had neither a church (synQxis) nor a
priest? In response, the archbi hop described in detail how the ritual of
communion could be celebrated by a monk on his own: the vessel with
holy br ad was to be put on a clean pallet or bench; it wa to be carefully
covered; specific p aIm were to be sung; genufl ction were to be
made; instead of water, a cup of wine was to be drunk. The archbi hop
also provided advice as to how th holy particles might afely be pre-
rved for the next service (PC 111.453D-457A).
Unity within the Byzantine monastery was also disrupted by the in-
equality of the monks. Although a monk's position in the institution's
hi rarchy ostenSibly depended on hi function, it wa often fundamen-
tally affected by his former po ition in secular sodet and by his mate-
rial contribution to the hou e. Monks and nuns of ari tocralic origin
might have not only their own uite of rooms within the monastery, but
also their own servants. in the monastery founded by St. Chri todoulos
th re were in addition to misthioi (hired workers) al hypourgoi, young
men who were specifically prohibited from itting in the refectory and
drinking wine (MM 6: 86.26- 27). The typikon of th Heliou-Bomon Mon-
astery expressly prohibited monk from having either laves or hypour-
38. Ed. S. Lampros, Nf'oS H e/leltomnemolt 3 (1906). 218.20- 23.
Copyr grted fT1

goi, stating that everyone was obliged to serve both himself and others.
But there were to this principle: should a magnate, accus-
tomed to luxury, wish to nter th monastery, he would be allowed to
have a monk-llypourgos, especially if this aristocratic brother was likely
to be beneficial to the foundation through his status or his grants. Simi-
larly, while egalitarianism was emphasized in the typikolt of the Panto-
bator Monastery, there were again special cases. "If there is a person
essential to the monastery, the necessity of things requires per-
sons capable of rendering the services that he renders, he can be treated
with a certain leniency, for he is of aristocratic origin or has a sophisti-
cated breeding; it is up to the hegOlwlt?IIos to endow him with some privi-
leges, bearing in mind the benefit to the monastery." ~ Certainly such
privileges were awarded. Constantine Paphnoutios, who made a grant
to the Monastery of St. John on Patmos in 1197, was given in e change
certain benefit : in addition to clothing and food, the monastery as-
signed him a servant and promised not to overburden him with menial
chores (MM 6: 134f.). Provisions were made for the granddaughters of
Em pre s Eirene Doukaina in the typikon of the Virgin Kecharitomene.
Since the girl were to lu ury and unable to endure monas-
tic abstinence the formula is very similar to that found in the Iypikotl of
the HeLiou-Bomon Monastery-their participation in the ascetic life would
be restricted to their confes ion to the spiritual father. The noble nuns
would sing hymns and pray alon . They were to have separate cells and
would be served by two maids, free or unfree (MM 5:366.1-2). A noble
lady would be allowed only one maid (336.27 - 35). Also significant is the
fact that Byzantine monks possessed and could bequeath their own
belongings.
Aggravating this privatization of Byzantine mona ticism was the ab-
sence of institutional links among communities. Byzantium did not have
monastic orders, albeit the rules of a famous foundation like the Studios
Monastery in Con tantinople might serve as models for new founda-
tions. Although monastic republics, uch as that on Atho e isted, they,
I
too, were splintered rather than unified the power of the Athonite pro-
los, nominaUy the supreme power in the coalition, remained restricted.
Indeed, ',egownenoi of the larger Athonite monasteries enjoyed more real
respect and power than th protos.
Monastic individualism was epitomized by the activity and work of
Sym on the Theologian, a monk and lregolIInenos in Constantinople at
39 . Typika, cd. A. Dmitrievskij, vol. 1 (Kiev, 1895), 749.16- 17; 742.31 - 743.9.
40. Gautier, ute Typicon du Pantocrator," 61.525- 29.
(,opy' qrtoo 'T a '"

t.he beginning of the eleventh century. Symeon was bom in Paphlagonia

to a well-to-do family; as a boy he was sent to the capital, where his
uncle was a courtier of Emperor Basilll. If Symeon's disciple and hagiog-
rapher Niketas Stephatos i to be believed, the uncle was able to have
him promoted to the senate at the age of fourteen. The youngenator
soon fell under the speJl of Symeon Eulabes, a monk of the Studios, who
became his spiritual father and teacher. After six years of imperial ser-
vice, Symeon left the world and entered monastic life at the Studios. But
the neophyte did not find peace there; the brethren of the Studios dis-
approved of his all too pious behavior. He moved to the Monastery of St.
Mamas, where he was appointed hegoumenos. Symeon demanded un-
conditional obedience. Some indication of his severity is provided by an
anecdote: Symeon's favorite disciple, Arsenios, was unfortunate enough
to be caught ca ting a disapproving glance at the fried pigeons that had
been prepared for an influential guest of the Itegoumenos. In indignation,
Symeon pushed one of the birds at Arsenios. As disobedience was a
greater in than the eating of flesh , Ar enios, his eyes full of tears, began
to chew. Before he had swallowed the first bite, however, the hegoumenos
cried, "Stop, and spit it out! You are a glutton; all these pigeons are not
enough to satiate you!" Symeon's stringent rule finally in tigated a riot
in the monastery. While Symeon was delivering a sermon, suddenly
about thirty monks tore off their clothing and started shouting men-
acingly at the hegoumenos; thereafter, they broke through the bars of the
gate and fled to the patriarch, who, however, sided with Syrneon. He
would have bani hed the rebels, had not Symeon asked forgivene s for
them. Symeon came into conflict with the high-ranking clergy, led
by Stephan of Nikomedia, over the veneration of the late Symeon Eu-
labes, in whose honor Symeon had established a feast day at St. Mamas's.
Stephan achieved his ends: Symeon Eulabes' cult was abolished, his
icons destroyed, and Symeon the Theologian exiled to a small town near
Chrysopolis. Though acquitted with the help of the nobility of the capi-
tal, Symeon did not return to Constantinople, but rather founded a
small community at the site of the ruined ellkterion (chapel) of St. Ma-
rina. That the monks were not regarded as a welcome addition to the
rural society in which they found themselves is indicated by another de-
tail from his vita: the local peasants met Symeon with considerable hos-
tility; they threw stones at him, swore at him, and tried to intimidate
him and his monks. They called Symeon a hypocrite and a deceiver; a
certain Damianos even struck him. Symeon died at St. Marina probably
in 1022.
Symeon's teaching was consistently individualistic. Not good deeds,

92 CHANGE IN BYZANTlNE CULTURE
charity, church services, or sacraments could automatically assure salva-

tion. The only effective means was ultimate obedience or seJf-abasement
before Almighty God, the internal enthusiasm that results in seeing the
divine light. For Symeon, the believer stood alone before God in the uni-
verse, before the emperor in ociety, and before the spiritual father in
the monastery. In fact, theJ'e is a sense in Symeon's work that communal
or brotherly concerns were distracting, as is apparent from his hymns,
in which he wrote, "How senseles to save everyone, if you yourself find
no salvation! How to free your fellow man from the jaws of
wild beasts, if you then faU victim to them! How enseless to puB a per-
son from a well, only to faU into it youlseLf!" <I Such aUusionsreflect
something of Symeon's attitudes toward his fellows. But he was even
more explicit about. family and friends such relations he regarded as
and deceiving ..u This is a clear expre sion of an ideal isolation.
Symeon's search for individual salvation may be seen as a reaction again t
tenth-century institutionalization and order. It was quite natural that
he tried to ubstitute the emotional and piritual exhilaration of self-
discipline for the cold organization of the Byzantine church. It was just
as natural for the establishment to oppose this form of indi-
vidualism, whereby people related directly to God. The hierarchy at-
tacked Symeon exactly where . theology was most personalized, in
the " heretical" veneration of his friend and mona tic master, Symeon
Eulabes.
This monastic tendency toward individualism was evidently accom-
panied by a breakdown of discipline. Eustathios of Thessaloniki cen-
sured monks who succumbed to cular temptations, accusing them of
sacrificing their hair and nothing else. Except for their tonsure, he in-
isted, they remained laymen trading, breeding cattle, and toiling in
vineyards. The ItegoumolOs lectured his monks on good husbandry rather
than on divine theology. Monks were illiterate and hypocriticaJ; they
mingled with the mob, swore .i n the marketplace, and slept with women.
Instead of veiling their faces to escape daily affairs as in the past, monks
leered at anything that might be considered obscene (exs. 11- 12).43 In
41. Symeon the Theologian, Hymllt:s, ed. J. Koder (Paris, 1969- 73), nos.
41.173, 49.41 - 42, 49.55- 56.
42. Symeon the Theologian, Chapitres tlre%giqllcs, gnostiqucs e/ pro/illItes, ed.
J. Darrouze (pari, 1957), 111.13; Hymnes, nos. 22.117- 21, 56.7- 12; CaMchescs, ed.
B. (Paris, 1%3- 65), no. 4.284 - 90.
43. A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizanlij kij publicist XII v. Evstafij Solunskij," VV 28
(1968), 67f.

Popular and Aristocratic Cultmal Trend 93
keeping with this characterization was Psello 's de cription of a monk

he knew. This man, by nam Elias, besides being a glutton, wa a con-
of Constantinople' bawdyhouses. At the time Elias was
educated, well traveled, and philosophically indin d . According to
P ello , he combined service to the Muses scholarly intere t with
the wor hip of the Charite , i.e., appreciation for the fine art . He was a
monk of the "new fashion.""
The changing perception of the holy man at 0 reflected the progres-
privatization of society in the empire. Holy h fmits, who through
their denial of the material world obtained piritual illumination, tradi-
tionally were of considerable id ological and political importan e in By-
zantium. As the e individual were free from ve ted in and were
as weJJ divinely inspired, their opinions and prophesie were taken very
seriou ly by the ruling elit , who sought their favor and their company.'
Betor Alexios Comnenus a cended the throne, he took the monk Ioan-
nikios with him on his campaigns, not only for spiritual consolation, but
al 0 for important military (An. C. 1 :31.2- 11). The evolu-
tion of the image of the "fool for Christ' sake," from St. Symeon of the
fifth century to 51. Andrew, who e vita was written by a certain i-
kephoro in the tenth century, manifests the institutionalization of the
holy man within Byzantine ociety. A J. Grosdidier de Maton suggests,
Andrew's "madness" wa Ie aggressive than that of hi ancient para-
gon; he was, for example, oppo d to the cruelty of th Con tantinopoH-
tan mob. Andrew was rather a morali t and a prophet than an actual
saios, or fool. was an "asocial being," Andrew avoided
candalizing the public and e p dally the church. Moreov r, in order to
mitigate the impr ion of Andrew's strange behavior, appear-
anc , and dres , the hagiographer ikephoro introduced a econd
holy figure, Andrew' dis iple Epiphanios, a hand ome youth of noble
origin who had never disrupt d hi ties with the establishm nt but who
non theless was highly rewarded for his piety.""
By the twelfth century, the attitude of Byzantine oci ty toward the
holy man had changed once again. It was sharply differentiated: while
intellectuals and courtier rej cted the veneration of the saloi - dirty her-
mit in iron chain their popularity in the streets and marketplaces
44. J. . Ljubarskij, Miclrai/ Psel/. LiblOs/' i tvorlestw (M ow, 197 ,74- 79.
45. P. Brown. Society and the Holy ill Late Atltiquity (Berkel y and Los An-
g Ie , 19 2), 143-51, 268f.
46. J. Grosdidier de Maton "Le themes d ' edification dan la i 'd' Andree
Salos," TM 4 (1970), 304- 9.
Copyr grled fT1

94 CHA GE I BYZANTINE CULTURE
grewY In a I tter addr d to a certain maker in Philippopolis,

Tzetze complained that any disgusting and thrice-a cur d wretch (like
hi addres ee) could be honored in Constantinople a a aint above the
a and the martyrs. It to hang bells from one's penis, fetter
on ' fe t with chain , or hang [ope around one' neck. Society women
adorned their private not with icon of aints, but with leg irons
of the damned villain (Tzetzes, Ep. 151.9- 152.5). While vidently
p pular with many, the holy man wa b intellectual. Eu-
tathio of The alonOO' vim of St. Philotheos appear to be entirely at
variance with the ideal creat d by 5 meon the Theologian. While Eu-
statN s admitted that the olitary life, in which "ev ry man cares only
about him eli" was one way to alvation, such "e cap from the market-
plac " was not the only or ven the most honorable road to everlasting
life. Eustathios believed that flour life is an arena in which God is the
umpire [agonothetes}" and that tho e who struggl d in olitude were ob-
rved only by "the emp ror God." on-asc tics had to fight
"the enemy in front of of eyes." Therefore, a righteous man
II h uld not feel hame befor the hermit; I think," wr te Eustathio ,
" ven that he urpasse him in his deeds." For the hermit ran "on the
even ground of the stadium where no hurdle is erected," while one who
truggled "in the streets of the world" had to contend with caltrops and
tumbling blocks; thus hi victory was an even greater adornment. Al-
though certainly the sun i beautiful while it is under the earth where no
'one can see it, how much more beautifuJ is it wh n it ri e and makes
thing splendid? (Eust. OptISC. 148.37- 87). Eustathio denied the efficacy
of .. even more directly when he explained that Philotheos did
n t d plete hi fie h or emaciate himself for the ak of a holy appear-
an . Rather, "the earth and the wealth produced by the earth and by
oth r means of life anctjfi d by God made him rich in everything that is
on earth. So he would take of the exce sive load of life and give it
to the poor, and in 0 doing, he prepared him elf for the divine and righ-
t ou la play on words: theian and eutheianJ path" (147.76- 89). Nicholas
of Methone, the pious author of the tweLfth-century vita of St. Meletios
of Myoupolis, howed an equal skepticism of (fal ) a ceticism. Two
monk, Stephen and Th odo io , wrote the hagiographer, wer seduced
by th desire for human glory and assumed a mock a elic life . When
Steph n was brought befor the mperor, he tried to attack the true saint
Meletio . U ing a hi weapon "the poverty of spirit," he presented
47. P. Magdalino, "The Byzantine Holy Man in the Twelfth Century," The
Byzontine Sai"t (Birmingham, 1981), 51-66.
C pyrgr ed I
himself a a simple hermit, illiterate and unaware of sophisticated mo-

nastic doctrine. 411 The literati not only mocked the fanatic and debunked
his pretensions, they also tended to disdain hagiography as a literary
genre. Twelfth-century hagiographic writing is remarkably meager,
while derisory commentary is surprisingly rich.
The tendency reflected in the loosening of strictures on monastic life
may have affected the secular church as well. Church decoration shows
evidence of secular influence, though perhap not to the degree found in
the lconocla t period, when scenes of hunting and horse racing were
said to be depicted in place of holy images in the sanctuaries of the capi-
tal city. The inlaid stone floor (opus sectile) of the main church (katholikon)
of the Pantokrator Monastery, dating to the first half of the twelfth cen-
tury, was elaborated with specifically secular scenes including the four
seasons, signs of the zodiac, and the hunt (Fig. 14)"~ Secular images are
also found in the province . In addition to the flora and fauna tradition-
ally used in architectural ornament, reused pagan sculpture as well as
the zodiac and mythological beasts appear, for instance, among the low
relief plaques on the fa~ade of the Little Metropolis in Athens (Fig. 15).
Further, in the twelfth century complaints about the neglect ot Christian
ritual seem to have become more frequent. A metropolitan of Athens
visiting The saloniki tated with astonishment that the public temples of
the city stood empty. ~1 As mentioned above, Zonaras was indignant at
the tranfo.rJnation of the anniversaries of holy martyrs into indecent
feasts. These complaints of impieties and weaknesses in the church and
monastery smack of secularism. But perhaps they should rather be read
as the penetration of religious in titutions by habits of daily life. The
forms of spirituality were popula.rized.
Neglect of the e tablished church appears to have been just one re-
sult of a new self-concern. Another was the development o.f private de-
votional patterns. Pietism was reflected in the increasing popularity of
relics. Christopher of Mytilene's description of a relic collector indicates
48. Ed . V. VasiJ'evskij, PPSb 17 (1886), 15.32- 16.16.

49. P.Schweinfurth, uDer Mo""ikfussboden der komnenischen Pantokra-
torkirche in Istanbul." JOl/rnal des Deutschen arclliiologischen lnstituts 69 (1954),
489- 500; A. H. S. Mcgaw, "Notes on Recent Work of the Byzantine Institute in
Istanbul," DOP 17 (1963), 333-64.
so. Laskarina Bouras ascribes the church and its decoration to the peTiod of
the episcopate of Michael Choniates, metropolitan of Athen between 1182 and
1205, in part because of his great interest in the classical past.
51. P. Wirth, "Das religiose Leben in Thessalonjke unter dem Episkopat des
Eus tathio im Urteil der Zeitgenossen," Oslkirclrliche Siudien 9 (1960), 293f.

not only how avidly holy items were sought, but also in what disdain the
practice was held by the well educated: he ce.nsm ed the foolishness of
the monk Andrew, who consumed with a passion for relics. An-
drew had managed to collect ten hands of the martyr Prokopios, fifteen
jaws of St. Theodora, eight. legs of St. Nestor, four heads of St. George,
five breasts of St. Barbara, twelve forearms of St. Demetrios, and twenty
hips of St. Panteleimon. Christopher remarked on the monk's ardent
gullibility, which led him to transform a herm.it into a hydra, a martyred
virgin into a bitch with innumerable nipples, and a holy warrior into an
octopus. Christopher went on sarcastically to offer Andrew further relics
for his collection Enoch's thumb, Elias the Tishbite's buttocks, and a
piece of Gabriel's wing in the pious hope of being counted among An-
drew's friends and benefactors (Chr. My til. no. 114). While this image of
a monk obsessed with may Jack psychological depth, such bitter
wit and sarcasm on the part of the observer is rare in Byzantine literature.
The popular veneration of r lies al 0 affected the highest levels of s0-
ciety. Manuel.I met the tone of Christ's unction at the Boukoleon harbor
of the Great Palace when it was brought from Ephesus to Constantinople
and carried it on his own shoulders to the Chapel of the Virgin of
Pharos. This was less a penance than an identification with Joseph of
Arimathea, at least according to an inscription reportedly on the slab:
Our lord, Emperor Manuel reenacts the re olve of the Disciple as he
bears on his shoulders that stone upon which the Lord's body was
placed and prepared for buriaJ in a winding sheet. He lifts it up an-
nouncing in advance his own burial, that in death he may be buried
together with the Crucified One and may arise together with our buried
Lord ... .
This passage also indicate that relics were believed to endow proximity
to the Godhead.
Images associated with relics also proliferated. Icons of the Mandy-
lion, miraculous image of the Virgin, and other similar objects of per-
sonal devotion. multiplied. Sl The introduction of altar cloths with full-
length images of the dead Christ (epitaphia) recently connected with
the Turin Shroud ha been ascribed to the late eleventh century.
52. C. Mango, "Notes on Byzantine Monuments," DOP 23- 24 (1969 - 70),

2n- 7S.
53. A. Grabar, La Sainte Face de La6n: Ie Mandylion dans rart orthodoxt' (Prague,
193 1), esp. 22f.
54. H . Belting, "An Image and Its Function in the Liturgy: The Man of Sor-
rows in Byzantium," DOP 34- 35 (1980 - 81), 1- 16.
within the church, the icon generally became increasingly accessible and
immediate. Images of veneration (proskynetaria), though known already
in monuments of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, were given
greater prominence in the church's decorative scheme, emphasizing the
intercessory capacity of the Virgin and of popular saints (Fig. 16).55 Pro-
cessional icons, too, such as the paired twelfth-century panels from the
Enkleistra of Neophytos and Lagoudera in Cyprus, became more com-
mon (Fig. 17). Relics and images are characteristically associated with
popular spirituality. .
Religious iconography also displayed what might be called popular
features during this period. Christological and Mariological scenes from
the annual cycle of church feasts, as well as liturgical images, became
more elaborate. For instance, from the late eleventh and early twelfth
centuries, apocryphal subplots appeared in images more regularly. The
story of Jephonias the Jew, for example, who had his hands cut off by an
angel after attempting to upset Mary's bier, was introduced in an image
of the Death of the Virgin (Koimesis) (Fig. 18); the disgraced personifica-
tion of Synagogue was shown being pushed away from the cross of the
Crucifixion by one angel while another brings forward Ekklesia bearing
a chalice to catch Christ's blood. ~ In the sanctuary, on the wall of the
apse, holy bishops were represented moving toward the euchari tic ele-
ments in the center (Fig. 19). The host was rendered as the infant Christ
prepared for sacrifice. This new interest in storytelling, this new con-
cern with didactic elaboration, reflected a taste for literalism that be-
speaks popularization.
Style in both manuscript illumination and monumental art also
changed remarkably in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The volup-
tuously modeled, pa tel-colored figures set in illusionistic space of the
Paris Psalter and Leo Bible and the majestic naturalism of the apsidal Vir-
gin of St. Sophia in Constantinople cannot be said to be typical of late-
ninth- and tenth-century art, but they indicate what court artists might
55. G. Babic, "La decoration en fresques des cJ6tures de choeur," Zbornik za
Likovne Umetnosti 11 (1975), 3 - 49.
56. E.g., L. Rothkrug, "Popular Religion and Holy Shrines," Religion and the
Prople, ed. J. Obelkevich (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1979), 20 - 86.
57. A. W. Epstein, "Frescoes of the Mavriotisa Monastery near Kastoria:
Evidence of Millenarianism and Anti-Semitism in the Wake of the First Cru-
sade," Gesta 21 (1982), 21 - 29.
58. G. Babic, "Les discu sions christologiques et Ie decor de byzan-
tines au XlI" siecle. Les eveches officiant devant I'Hetimasie el devant )' Amnos,"
Friihmittelalterliclte Studien 2 (1968), 368 - 86.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

a hiev (figs. 20- 21). In contrast, images of the eleventh century are
commonly populated with severe figures, unaccompanied by muses and
per onifications or elaborate stage props. The sumptuous illumination
of the Go pel lectionary, Oionysiou 587, ascribed to the mid-eleventh
c ntury, is typical of the painting style of this period (Fig. 22). 100 On (01.
116r is an elaborately framed image of St. Symeon the Stylite with his
hands raised in a schematic gesture of prayer. He is abbreviated as a bust
atop his handsome Corinthian column. Not only does Symeon not have
a body, but his arranged male and female attendants
equaUy to lack physical substance despite the fact that they are
shown fuJI-figure. They stand as if weightless on symbolic steps leading
upward to the holy man. This appearance of insubstantiality is not the
result of the artist's inability to model, the ubtle modeling of the fig-
ures' flesh proves. Rather, the painter's concern was with the unam-
biguou expression of relation between Symeon and his three sup-
pLicants the one on either side of his column and the viewer before
him. Indeed, the viewer is dramatically confronted by the figures; the
gold ground and the single ground line of the frame eliminate recession
into separate pictorial space. This more abstract mode has been character-
ized a "as etk." "' However, from the eleventh century on, there is an in-
creased emphasis on vibrant jewellike color as weU as on gold. Moreove:r,
in manuscript i1lumination and .in monumental art elaborate, brilliant or-
nament became abundant (Fig. 23). All this belies the hypothesi that a
n w ascetic atmosphere pervaded the artists' ateliers of the empire.
Rather, this change of style from classicizing illusionism to opulent ab-
traction might possibly be interpreted as a shift to a more popular, less
sophisticated visual mode of expression. It is commonly assumed that
il the artistic attempt to recreate on a two-dimensional plane
the three of our visual perception by means of artificial de-
vices such as perspective or shading is easily understood because of its
familiarity. But illusionism depends on many pace-creating accessories,
such as land cape setting, architectural props, and unn cessary figure
59. For a sketch of the general stybstic evolution of Byzantine art during the
period of the Macedonian dynasty, see V. Lvarev, s toria tiella pittl/ra bizalltilla
([urin, 1967), 124- 36. Also see K. Weitzmann, Gei:;tige Grrllldlagcll ulld Wese" der
Makedollisdlt:1I RCllaissallc' (Cologne, 1962), translated as "The Character and in-
tellectual Origins of th Macedonian Renaissance," stlldiL>S ill Cla~ f' ical alld Byzall-
t i /I ' Malluscript J/lUlI/illatioll. ed . H . Kessler (Chkago, 1971). 176 - 223.
60. S. M. Pelekanides et aI. , Tire Trellsures of MOImt Atlros 1 (Athens. 1980),
434 - 36.
61. K. W 'itzmann. "BYz.1ntinc Miniature and Icon Painting in the Eleventh
entury," reprinted in his Stud it'S, 271 - 313.

that actually divert the viewer's attention from the principal subject. The
difficulty of identifying scenes in the villas of Pompeii and the ease of
recognizing images in a Byzantine church is due at least in part to the
relative simplicity with which the idea was conveyed in the latter. The ab-
straction of the eleventh century was in fact the clarification of the stage
space as well as of the figures that occupy it. The subject became increas-
ingly accessible; moreover, the work was elaborated with intricate, highly
colored ornamentation, the appeal of which is universal. All this pro-
vides a parallel to the introdution of vernacular elements in poetry.
THE" ARISTOCRATIZATION" OF CULTURE
THE BYZANTINE FAMILY

The crystallization of the nudear family that had taken place by the
ninth century (see Chapter 1) drastically changed the social role of
women. Still during the Iconoclast dispute women were active in public
affairs, participating fully in the struggle over the veneration of icons. It
was not fortuitous that the effort to restore images was furthered by two
women, the empresses Ellene and Theodora. The vita of Anthony the
Younger preserves a precious detail that demonstrates that women's ac-
tivity was not limited to religious disputes: when the Arab fleet, in about
825, attacked Attaleia, the governor of the city summoned to the walls
not only men, but also young women dressed in male clothing.'" Social
development in the tenth century, however, led to women's confinement
within the narrow circle of the family; the change in the hagiographic
image of the woman reflected these social shifts. As E. PatJagean has
shown, the type of holy woman who, for the sake of salvation, donned
masculine garb and broke the rules governing female behavior disap-
peared by the ninth century. This variety of holiness was replaced by the
image of th ideal spouse, like Maria the Younger or Thomais of Lesbos,
who patiently and piously endured the cruelty, jealousy, or indifference
OJ
of an unworthy hu band.
The traditional picture of the Byzantine patriarchal, nuclear family
was drawn by Kekaumenos: the family was a world unto it elf, sur-
rounded by an invisible wall to separate it from outsiders. Anyone who
was not a dose relation, even a friend, once within the family circle
62. Ed. A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus, PPSb 57 (1907), 199.1 - 4.

63. E. PatIagean, Structures socia/es, jamil/e, cilretie'llC It Byumce IV' - Xl"' siec/e
(London, 1981), part 11, 620- 23.


might seduce the women, overhear household secrets, and generally

disrupt familiaJ order. A good wife, he continued, was half of life, the
promise of good fortune. The author enjoined spouses to be faithful,
condemning even the second marriage of a widower. Child rearing was
also taken very seriously. Kekaumeno expected children to regard the
patriarch of the family with awe and respect, though this regard was to
be inspired by benevolent guidance rather than by birch rods. Daugh-
64
ters, of course, were to be concealed from the eyes of unrelated men.
This confinement of women, wives as well as daughters, was also al-
luded to in other contexts. For instance, in describing an earthquake of
1063, Attaleiates remarked that women, who normally kept themselves
to the interior parts of the house re erved especially for them, forgot aU
shame and ran outdoors when the tremors began (Attal. 88.13 - 15).
Anna Comnena also indicated that women venturing out of doors care-
fully veiled their faces (An. C. 1: 78.29).
A comparison of Byzantine laws on divorce with those of Western
Rome again indicates the importance of the nuclear family in the East. In
Rome divorce in accordance with the wish of either party was still al-
lowed in the ninth century. In Byzantilllll, the ancient practice of free
divorce had been abolished by the eighth century. The independence of
the property of the spous s, acknowledged in the Justinianic code, gave
way to the notion of familial property, formed of the dowry and the pre-
nuptial gift, as an whole. 6!> Only after the husband's death
was property divided. It had to be shared equally by the wife and the
children. The concept of primogeniture was unknown. The importance
of the nuclear family is further evident in donors' panels. From imperial
dedicatory portraits, such as those of Constantine X Doukas, his wife
Eudokia, and one of their sons in the Barberini Psalter, to images of 10caJ
notables like the magistros Nikephoros Kasnitzes, his wife, and son in
the Church of St. Nicholas Ka in Kastoria in northern Greece, the
parent and, most commonly, one or two children are carefully depicted
(Fig. 24). b 1
While the family remained important in Byzantium throughout the
64. G. G. Litavrin in Kek. 99-101.

65. KRitzer, Formen, Ritell lind re/igioses Brauclrtum der Elll.'SChliessulIg ill dell
chriS"tliche1l Kircllen des ersten Jahrtauserrds (Munster, 1961), ]04.
66. A. Guljaev, Predbrat.nyj dar v rimskom prave i v pamjaillilulch viul1Itijskogo
Ulkonodatel'stva (Tartu, 1891),132, 142f.
67. J. Spatharakis, The Portrait in BYUllllille lIlumirwted Manuscripts (Leiden,
1976), 26- 36; S. Pelekanides, Kastoria 1 1953), pl. 62.
COPY r gt'tea 'T a <..

Popular and . Cultural Trend 101
Middle Ages,68 the traditional family tructure seems to have be n modi-

fi d in th late eleventh and twelfth centuries. The narrow limits of the
nuclear family were to include blood relation . Tnis hilt in do-
mestic structure from the nuclear family to the extend d family may be
d tected in the actions and attitudes of the ruling dynasty. A men-
tioned above, in the seventh century uncles and cou in were regarded
by the emperor as his rival and potential enemies. Their mutilation and
blinding became almot bligatory. Some vestige of the attitude re-
mained later, for instance, in the word of John 0 ukas, who r com-
mended that Emperor Nik phoros 1Il take the G orgian princes Maria
a his wife because, as an alien, she had no relation to bother the
ba i/eu (An. C. 1: 107.25- 26). In contra t, Nikephoros's succe or, Alex-
io I, was guided by oppo ite principles, regarding hi lineage and kin-
ship r lations as the main supp rt of his throne.
Reflecting thi 100 ening of traditional internal family tructures
wa the again-increased prominence of women. While the family re-
mained patriarchal, women began playing a more vi ible role, at lea t
among the elite."" A compari on of late-ele enth- and twelfth-c ntury
ari tocratic ladies with their pr decessors manife ts th trend in Comne-
man sod ty. Empr ss Zo , though historically significant (along with
h riter, Theodora) a th la t in the line of the Ma donian dyna ty,
wa politically a pathetic figur , more concerned with unguents, oint-
m nts, and the marriage bed than with the affair of tat (E . 13). Zoe's
f male contemporarie , as de cr'bed by the chroniclers, at 0 remained
figure of the gynaeceum, not of the larger society. By c ntra 1. from the
late el venth century on, there app ared in th palace a erie of ener-
getic, educated, politicall a tute worn n. Anna wa officially
r ognized as co-ruler with h r on, Emperor Ale 10 l. Again, Eirene
o ukaina, Alexios l's wife, not only followed her hu nd in h ' military
xpeditions, but overtly intrigued again t her son, John II ( x. 14).
Anna Comnena, Alexios l' daught r, was a writer, patron of the arts,
and center of a political and literary circle 0Ppo ed to her nephew Man-
L The sebastokratorissa Eirene, the widow of Androniko , the second
on of John II, sponsored many scholars and writer '. Like Anna Com-
68. On the development of the marriage l.a w, ee H . Hunger, " ChIistlkhe

und ichtchIi tJjch im byzantini hen Eherechl," Osterreicl,i 'dlcs Archiv fu r
Kirchl.'nrecilt 18, Heft 3 (1967), reprinted in his ByulIItillischl.' Grundlagenforscllllllg
(London, 1973), part 11 , 305- 25.
69. A. Laiou, "The Rol of Women in Byzantine Society," ,08 3I1l (1981),
242, 251 - 54.
Copyr grted fT1
nena, she stood in opposition to her brother-in-law Manuel I. On her be-

half Prodromos or P eudo-Prodromos wrote the long poem (which in-
terestingly includes numerou vernacular expressions) addressed to
Manuel I ( x. 15). In this work Eirene was portrayed audaciously accus-
ing the emperor of unjustly persecuting her. Maria Comnena, Manuel ['s
daughter, together with her husband, the ca.esar John (Renier of Montfer-
rat) led the aristocrats' plot of 1181, which ended in an armed skirmish
on the streets of Constantinople. At the end of the twelfth century, Eu-
phrosyne, Alexio [[[ Angelos's wife, governed state affairs; everybody
in search of imperial favor turned to her. Although she was banished
from the capital after being accused of infidelity, she later returned to
vindicate herself and to reacquire her former position.
A new concern with lineage (see below) and the modified status of
women may have helped undermine the nuclear family; certainly a weak-
ening of that institution in the twelfth century was obvious in the open-
ness with which adultery was committed. Manuel I, who lived with his
own niece Theodora, set an example. His Hai on with Theodora was so
well e tabHsh d that his wife, Empress Bertha of Sulzbach (called Eirene
in Byzantine sources), completely di regarded at court; her power
was restricted to charitabl deeds and to the education of her daughter.
Though Theodora was married to the ebastos Nikephoros Chalouphes,
her child by Manuel, nam dAle ios, was recognized as the emperor's
son and indeed received a title, sebastokratoT, appropriate to that station.
Manuel's cousin Andronikos [ gave his natural daughter Eirene in mar-
riage to Alexios, and it was even assumed for some time that Alexios
would succeed Andronikos to the throne. The amorous relations of An-
dronikos were also well known. The affairs of Manuel I and of Androni-
kos were not simple infidelities. Whit their legal marriages had been
arranged according to political, e onomic, or genealogical considera-
tion , their mistresses were determined only by passion. Indeed, lovers
were also often close .relations. This 'public flouting of both moral codes
and canon strictures on incest reveals the socia) tendencies of the era
even more than do the acts themselves.
SEARCH FOR LEGITIMACY: THE

IMPORTANCE OF LINEAGE
With the shift in the structure of society toward the extended family,
lineage became increasingly important in determining an individual's
status and power. The use of patronymics was an external sign of this
new concern. Although patronymks occasionally appear in the sources
(,opy' ql"too 'T a '"

Popular and Aristocratic Cultural Tr nds 103
from the late ninth century, they become commonplace only after 1000.
Patronymics did not consi tently indicate patrilinear . equence. A man
could assume his mother' name or that of his mother' mother, as well
a that of his father. The widespread adoption of patronymics, in any
ca e, corresponds with the emergent ties between the individual and the
xtended family. The glorie and honors of one generation began to be
assumed by another.
Similarly, interest in g nealogy grew. The statu of the individual be-
carne increaSingly tied to the historic position of his forebears. Con-
tan tine Manas es' eulogy of Nikephoros Comnenu , grandson of the
caesar Nikephoros Bryennio ,a veritable apotheosis of nobility, included
an elaborate genealogy.70 The writer was not content simply to allude to
the aristocratic an estry of the deceased, but rather insisted that his hero
was descended from kings. These kings were not the ons of impious
god like the wretched Pelops or Kekrops, but in fact cions of two noble

familie ,the Comneni and the Doukai, who, in mixing their heroic blood,
created a house renowned for its intelligence, power, and martial capac-
ity. This fetish for lineage is rej cted by Michael Italiko , who mocked
his contemporaries' preoccupation with genealogical investigations (Mich.
Ital. 148.18-24), and by Euthymios Tornikes, who cen ured those whose
conceit was based solely on high birth .'! While the military ari tocracy
wa proud of its fabricated genealogies, the civil nobility used patro-
nymics to extol its own moral virtues, names such as Eugenianoi ("of
nobl birth") and Eirenikoi ("peace lovers").
The concern with lineage can also be seen in the monuments. After
the year 1028 the Church of the Holy Apostles the gr at Constantinian
martyrium rebuilt by }u tinian in the sixth century and refurbished by
Basil I in the late ninth century was no longer u ed by Byzantine em-
per r as their final , communal re ting place; n rather, private dynastic
chapels became increasingly popular. Perhaps the be t documented of
family mausolea i the Heroon, a funerary church dedicated ap-
propriately to the military archangel St. Michael and constructed be-
tween the sanctuaries of the Pantokrator and the Eleou a as part of the
large monastery found d by John [J Comnenus and hi wife Eirene
70. E. Kurtz, " Fessalonikijskogo iKon tantina Manas i monodii

na konanu iki(ora Komnina," VV 17 (1910 [1911)), 305- 8.
71. J.Darrouzes, "L disc ur d'Euthyme Tornikes," REB 25 (1968),
96.1 -2 .
72. P. Grierson, "The Tomb and Obit of the B zantin mperors 337-
1042)," DOP 16 (1962), 21ff.
Copyrq~
sometime after 1118 (Fig. 25). 73 In this chapel prayer

w re said not only f r th immediate family, but also for distant relatives
and trusted servitors. The Pantokrator was the most prominent of the
tw lfth-century family burial chapels, but the practice of adding ubsidi-
ary space for funerary commemorations had become increasingly com-
mon in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.'4 This architectural expres-
sion of the importance of self and family might also reflect an increa ing
concem with obtaining a place in paradise, a concern often associated
with worldly insecurity.
THE CREATION OF AN ARISTOCRATIC IDEAL

The new empha is on lineage and extended family ties was due to
the emergence of the military aristocracy as the ruling elite of Byzan-
tium. In the less concrete sphere of ideology the new power of the aris-
tocracy was even more influential. The concept of nobility and the at-
tributes of noble character were greatly elevat d. At the same time, there
was a modification of the imperiaJ ideal.
By contrasting the attitudes of writers from the earlier and later parts
of the period IInder consideration, one can trace the evolution of nobility
in Byzantium. The traditional neglect of the aristocracy characterizing
Agapetos and the StTategikon of Maurikios 75 continued into the eleventh
century. For instance, Kekaumenos considered nobility in terms of moral
excellence rather than as a quality of blood or of family origins. He
tended to contrast the common fellow not to an but rather to a
well-to-do, high-ranking official. But there were signs of change at the
same time. Kekaumenos's contemporary P ello dr w a mor complex
picture of the aristocrat. To be ure, Psellos did not consid r birth as the
primary determinant in human fate and behavior. He approved of Con-
IX's appointing high functionaries without reference to family.
Mor over, he questioned the fairne of repleni hing the enate only
with tho e of noble birth. He asked whether only should be admit-
ted to the palace who were of famous stock but remarkable only for their
brainlessness and arrogance. P ello consistently identified nobility with
73. Megaw, "Note on Rec nt Work," 335f.; P. Gautier, "L' obituaire du Typi-
kon du Pantokrator," REB 27 (1969),247.
74. G. Babic, Les chapeI/es anneres des iglises byzantines (Paris, 1969).
75 . Das Strategikon des Maurikios, ed. G. T. Denni (Vienna, 1981), 70.36, re-
quired of the general only piety and justice; a origin w re not m n-
tioned . See G . Ostrogorsky' comment, "Observation on the Ari tocracy in By-
zantium," DOP 25 (1971),41. On Agapeto , P. Henry In, "A Mirror for Justinian:
The Ekthesis of Agapetus " GRBS 8 (1967), 307f.
C pyrgr ed I
virtue and talent, though he implicitly recognized the value of good

16
breeding. He was indignant that people of inferior backgrounds could
worm their way into power and censured the excessive vertical mobility
of his society. He stressed that the nobility in the flourishing states of
antiquity were distinguished from men whose origins were obscure. "In
our state," he complained, "this excellent practice has been contemptu-
ously abandoned, and nobility counts for nothing." In Byzantium, he
continued, many administrators were ex-slaves bought from barbarians;
the high offices of state were entrusted not to men of the stamp of Peri-
kles or Themistokles, but to worthless rascals like Spartacus (Ps. Cllron.
2 :35, no. 134.14-17). Apparently PseUos felt an aristocratic presence was
needed in society: he was confused by the social opennes of Byzan-
tium. Whlle Psellos was somewhat ambiguous in his appreciation of the
nobility, for his contemporary Attaleiates aristoc.ratic birth was of un-
questionable value. In contrast to Psellos, Attaleiates assumed that noble
11
ancestry implied virtue, at least of a military nature: he feigned a dis-
tinguished genealogy for his hero, Nikephoros Botaneiates, relating him
not only to the Phokas family of the tenth century, but even to the Ro-
man Fabii, who were noble both in blood and in action. For all his praise
of nobility, it should be noted that Attaleiates was himself of simple ori-
gin and of civil occupation; he was not writing to aggrandjze his own
class, but rather reflected in his work a significant ideological shift.
Psellos's and, more notably, Attaleiates's writings show the new re-
spect for the hereditary aristocracy that was attendant on the shift to the
extended family. Literature also documents the development of a martial
ideal for the nobility that must be related on one hand to the concern
regarding lineage and on the other hand to the "feudalizing'" tendencies
of the society. Characteristically, the noble general became the hero of
historical narrative. In Attaleiates, the military hero Nikephoro Botanei-
ales became the emperor; military deeds were only the means by which
he obtained the "imperial summit." In Skylitzes, Katakalon Kekaume-
nos, a general without pretensions to the throne, was the hero, over-
shadowing even imperial figures. The historian related in detail Kekau-
menos's successful ruse in the defense of Messina and his victories over
the Russians and against Aplesphares (Abu-I-Uswar). When the Byzan-
tine commanders refused to accept Katakalon's astute advice they were
76. A, P. Kazhdan, "K voprosu 0 social'nych vozzrenijach Kekavmena," VV

36 (1974), 166; Socia/'nyj sostav, 30-33.
77. A. P. Kazhdan, "Social' nye vozzrenija Michaila Attaliata," ZRVI 17
(1976), 5- 14.

defeated by the Turks and Pechenegs. He figured prominently in the

mutiny against Michael VI; had he been less modest, according to Sky-
litzes, Katakalon would have been enthroned instead of Isaac Com-
nenus. Skylitzes' chronicle ends with two episodes of apparently equal
significance for the author: Katakalon Kekaumenos's promotion to the
position of kouropaiates on August 31, 1057, and Isaac Comnenus's coro-
nation on th following day. 7lI
A concern with the military aristocracy is even more evident in the
Memoirs of Nikephoros Bryennio . In his presentation, history develops
not as a result of a tions of emperors in relation to their adversaries and
functionaries, but rather a the outcome of aristocratic rivalries among
the great families the Doukai, Comneni, and Bryennioi. Bryennios's
noble were primarily military figures; their activities were consistently
described as "valiant," "courageous," and "glorious." They were es-
teemed even by their adversaries: Alexios Comnenus, for instance, ad-
mired the strength and height of the usurper Nikephoros Bryennios (the
author's grandfather or father), and Comnenus's victory was the greater
for being won from a strong, brave general who possessed the soul of a
hero (Bryen. 281.10-14). Further, Bryennios wrote respectfully of a nllm-
ber of noblemen, including Argyros ("noble and wealthy"), George Palaeo-
logus ("valiant"), Alexios Charon ("reasonable, strong, and courageous"),
and John Tarchaneiotes ("an experienced warrior"). ?'> In contrast, eu-
nuchs and servitors were despised: Nikephoritzes was "wretched";
John Protovestiarios was "swaggering and cowardly." The work of Nike-
phoros Bryennios is probably the most aristocratically biased Byzantine
history of this period; it presented the noble warrior in a fully general-
ized and idealized form. The Bryennios, himself a great seigneur,
was, in all, the ideologue of the Comnenian military aristocracy.
Theodore Proruomos, one of the most eminent Byzantine writers,
belonged to a djfferent ocial milieu . Though his family was not entirely
destitute, his life, so he continuaUy wrote, was wretched and dismal by
comparison with those of his distinguished acquaintances. He per-
petually moaned about his poverty, but his complaints should probably
not be taken at face value. Prodromos owned a house in Constantinople
and a suburban property and lands, including a vineyard. He may also
78. ). Shepard, "Scylitzes on Armenia in the 1040's and the Role of CataGllon
ecaumenos," Rl!Ul/e des etl/des armellit'l/lles 11 (1975-76), 269 - 311; A. P. Kazhdan,
review of Skylitzes' 5.Yllopsis historinrulll. Istoriko-filologilcskij iI/mal, 1975, no. 1,
206- 12.
79. On the aristocratic bias of Bryennios, A . earile, "Hyle /Zistorias del cesare
Niceforo Briennio," Al!Ul/m 43 (1969),246- 4 .

I
hav had servants or sla s. Thu , while not an ari tocrat Prodromo
had a comfortable oda) position as a mall property owner; petty land-
own r , in fact, provided the main constituency for Comnenian dy-
na ty. Prodromos should have had a career in the army, as typical for a
man of his social status, but ill health forced him to tak up scholarship
and writing (Hist. Ged. no. 38.11-40). Nevertheles , he envied the sol-
dier of John n for fighting their emperor's battles while he could only
tay at home and pray for victory (no. 17.5- 10). But Pr dromo put hi
literary talents at the di po al of the Comneni, producing pe ches and
p m for sp cial occa ion such as births, . funerals, and
military victorie ; the of pieces were not onl emperors (al-
though Prodromo delivered fr quent encomiums of John II) but al 0
noble warriors and noble ladies, primarily of the Comnenian dan. The
"ari tocratic panegyric" became a particularly popular genre from the
end of the ele enth century Prodromos had been by Nicho-
la KaUikles as mi- fficial encomiast of the dyna ty. It i often as umed
that such rhetoric wa vain and idle, but in fa tit fuJfilled an important
so ia1 task. Along with uch works as Bryennios' Memoirs it helped
intr duce a new concept of aristocratic lineage and behavior. Indeed,
Prodromos was fa cinated by very thing connected with warfare. He
glorifi d warrior far more eloquently than was requir d by mere con-
vention: the two sons of Nik phoros Bryennios were both excellent
riders, hunters, and soldi r ; Stephen Kontostephanos was famous for
hi military skill; AIexios Phorbenos was a tall and mighty soldier; Alex-
io Kontostephanos had an excellent sword; Manuel Anema was a wise
g neral, the "great tow r of the Rhomaioi." Then there wa the family of
the sebastokrator Androniko , broth r of Manuel I: Andronikos himself
wa a great hero and gen ral, an e ceUent rider, a n bl hunt r, a man
with magnificent a1 mor and splendid hor es. In a po m on the birth of
Andronikos's son Alexio Prodromos expatiated upon the id al educa-
I
tion of a young ari to rat: he hould become a keen ball player, a fine
hunter, and a first-elas mark man. He had to be trained for battle so
that he would acquire the ski11 and strength to lay barbarians (no.
44 .74- 1,171-78).
Prodromos did not admir warlikeness alone; h also had a very
high regard for wealth. H dreamed of ha ing num rous ervant to
care for his hor e , to him fo d and wine, to dr s him in ilk gar-
m nt . H r eled in de cribing the inexhau tible riche of the infant
Al io (no. 44.15 - 55): his doth were titched in gold and decorated
with emeralds and preciou tone, he had great e tate ng a com-
fortable income, owned high-roofed houses, a throng of .ervants, a
Copyrq~
crowd of grooms. Prodromos held noble birth, too, in the highest es-
teem. Again, his attitude was well illustrated in his poem on the birth of
Alexios. Any family rej at the birth of a child, but how much greater
is the celebration when the child i born to a noble family! So speaks Pro-
dromos at the tart of the poem; he concludes in the same vein, with the
hope that Alexios may grow up to find a wife worthy of his noble line.
The self-confidence of a member of the imperial family was perhaps best
represented in the poem, ascr.i bed to Prodromos, in the form of a plea
from exile addressed to Manuel I by the sebastokratorissa Eirene, widow
of the sebastokrator Andronikos (Ex. IS).*' Prodromos provided this noble-
woman, in. exiJe {or plotting against her brother-in-law, a spirit and inde-
pendence rarely matched in medieval literature.
Like Prodromos, John Zonaras was not himself a noble but took no-
bility very seriously. His comprehensive chronicle begins with the crea-
tion of the world and continues through the same period treated by
Bryennios's Memoirs and a little beyond, to Alexios I's reign. By sifting
Zonara 's original contributions out from the bulk of his historiographic
borrowings, one can reconstruct a consistent political point of view for
the chronicler. Zonara ,r estrained in his appreciation of the military
aristocracy but idealized the civil nobility. He accused Basil II of too little
esteeming clever people distinguished by their good birth and education
(Zon. 3 :561.11 - 14). His opinion concerning Alexio I was even more
critical: "The emperor did not sufficiently respect or care for the mem-
bers of the senate; rather he attempted to humiliate them" (3: 766.17 - 19).
Zonaras was a mouthpiece for the higher echelons of the state bureau-
cracy;81 his attitude toward the Comnenian dynasty was consequently
critical, although he, like Bryennio , unreservedly accepted the impor-
tance of noble blood and treated the humble citizenry with aristo ratic
disdain. He was also an outspoken defender of wealthy members of the
society concellled with protecting their property. He explained the elev-
enth canon of the Council of Chalcedon accordingly, emphasizing that
rich and poo.r must be judged alike in court; a poor man's debt must be
paid in accordance with the law (PC 137.429C). Apparently Zonaras felt
that too often a judicial sympathy for poverty cheated the rich out of
their rightful returns; he was evidently at odds with the ethical norms of
the tenth centu.ry.
More generally, it appears that nobility was praised by people from
so. s. D. Pa padimilriu, " Ho Prodromos lou Markianou kodikos," V V 10

(1 903), 155- 63.
81. F. H. Tinncfeld, Katt>goriell der Kaiserkritik in der byzantinisclJeIJ Histo-
riograplrie (Munich, 1971), 144f.
Copy r gl"tea 'T a '-

very different social strata for e ample, a teacher, 'os of Thes-

saloniki, or a private citizen, Niketas Eugenianos, or an aristocrat, Nike-
phoros Comnenus. The glorification of the military aspect of aristo-
cratic life was also mirrored in the games played by the ruling elite.
Military competitions and tourneys were introduced, partially under
Western influence, just at this time. An attempt by Nikephoros Phokas
to conduct a military competition at the end of the tenth century created
panic in Constantinople (Skyl. 276.94-98). Ln contrast, Byzantine noble-
men and even emperors in the twelfth century ,readily participated
in tourneys with Crusader knights, occasionally even suffering severe
wounds. Niketas Choniates offered a description of a tourney arranged
82
in Antioch after Manuel I's solemn entry into the city in 1159 (108f.). Two
detachments were arrayed against each other for "fighting with ironless
spears." The Byzantine troop consisted of those imperial relatives e pe-
dally capable of "brandishing pikes." Manuel himself entered the lists,
grinning a little as usual and grasping his spear. He wore a fashionable
cloak pinned at the right shoulder so that his hand remained free, and
his "fair-maned horse" (an allusion to Iliad 5.323) was adorned with gold
trappings that vied with his noble rider's array. The emperor ordered
that every one of his companions be clad as beautifully as possible.
Prince Geraldus (Reynald of Chatillon) came to meet him riding a stal-
tio,n "whiter than snow" and wearing a long chiton split in two from the
waist down and a tiara-shaped felt cap embellished with gold. The
knights followed, all as mighty as Ares and tremendously tall. Then the
contenders in this bloodless fight engaged in battle, "and you could see
this brassless Ares tumbling on his neck and shoulders or thrown from
his saddle like a ball; one fell on his belly, another on his back, and an-
other turned round and fled headlong." Some were pale with fear and
tried to cover themselves with their shields, some rejoiced seeing an ad-
versary frightened. They rode merrily whistling at a full gallop, their
pennants flapping. "If someone wished to express this pompously, the
sight reminded one of Ares' intercourse with Aphrodite or the coming
together of Enyo [the goddess of war) and the Charites so diversified
looked this mixed-up game." Other games, such as polo, that required
83
adroitne 5, strength, and skill, were also popular. Archery, too, and
82. On Byzantine "tournaments," Koukoltles, Vie et civilisation 3 (Athens,

1949), 144 - 47.
83. Byzantine polo is attested to by Kinnamos and Nikephoros Chryso-
berges: Koukoules, Vie et civilisation 3, 139 - 42. The game was known earlier in
Byzantium. John Tzimiskes liked riding exercises involving ball-play. Sky\.
313.37- 41.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

horsemanship became mandatory in the upbringing of a young aristo-

crat (Hist. Ged. no. 44.69-81).
Related to the martial interests of the Comneni was a new concern
with blood sports.!j4 Hunting was always important in Byzantine life,
though tenth-century authors were particularly reserved in their appre-
ciation of th chase. AJthough Basil l's physical prowess is often lauded
in th life of the emperor ascribed to Constantine VIT, discussions of
hunting are absent. In this account even Basil's death is blamed on a gas-
tric disorder, rather than to the freak hunting accident recorded in other
sources (Theoph. Cont. 352.1-2; contrast with Ex. 17). Leo the Deacon
suggested that hunting brought nothing but harm to Romanos IT
(Leo Diac. 30.22- 23). One can guess, but not prove, that this hostility
wa siIllply an Orthodox reaction to the hereticaJ Iconoclast emperors'
love of hunting. By contrast, in the twelfth century the hunt was a fre-
quent and important scene in Byzantine literature; Constantine Manas-
ses and Constantine Pantechnes even wrote tTeatises exclusively de-
vot d to the subject (Ex. 18).8.5 Hunting became a part of the imperial
image: Prodromos, for example, regarded the emperor as a perfect
hunter, pursuing his adversaries like game."" This complemented a new
vision of the emperor as the archetypal warrior.
IMAGE OF THE IDEAL RULER
The most visible characte.ristics of the new aristocracy eem to have
been elevated into a social ideal. This remodeling of an ideal type is best
exemplified in the per on of the emperor, the embodiment of Byzantine
ideology. When the Comneni, members of the Byzantine military aris-
tocracy, took possession of the throne, they ty pified the new imperial
virtues. The traditional conception of the emperor (basileus) originated
with Agapetos in the sixth century and with Emperor Justin IT's speech
to his successor Tiberios in 574, which was preserved independently by
Theophylaktos Simokatta and several other contemporary authors; Simo-
84. Koukoules, Vie et civilisation - (Athen , 1952), 387- 423, provides a
wealth of refer n ees, unfortunately not chronologica lly ordered .
85. L. Sternbach, " Anale ta Mana sea," Eos 7, no. 2 (1901), 180- 94; E. Kurtz,
"E~c dwa neizdannych proizvede nija Konstantina Manassi," VV 12 (1906),
79 - 88; E. MiIJ r, " Description d'une chasse a I'once par un ecrivain byzantin du
XII" sieele de n . c.," AlIIlIIaire de {'Association pour I'cllcourngement des etudes
grecques en Frallee 6 (1872), 47- 52.
86. Hist. Ged. 95. On the hunt in Byzantium in the twelfth century, see
Ph. Koukoules, "Kynegetika ek tes epoches ton Komneno n kai ton Palaiolo-
gon," EEBS 9 (1932), 3-33; V. P. Darkevit, S~'t!tskoe isku5stliO Viznnti; (Moscow,
1975),207- 11 .
Copy r gt'tea 'T a <.

katta's version was eventually revised by such chroniclers as Theopha-

ne in the ninth century and Zonaras in the twelfth.87 The main tenets of
this concept were further developed in the ninth and tenth centuries,
-
when there appeared three works all connected in one way or another
with Basil I the Hortatory Chapters attributed to Basil himself, the fu-
neral speech dedicated to Basil and his wife by their son Leo VI, and
Basil's biography written by his grandson Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
All these writings stressed the Christian principles of imperial power:
the emperor was believed to be chosen by God; he obtained divine suc-
cor by means of his love and imitation of God. The list of imperial virtues
depended heavily upon classical ethics and included righteousness, phi-
lanthropy, generosity, chastity, love of truth, and intelligence. Neither
martial deeds nor noble origins were included among the es ential quali-
ties. Quite the contrary, the Hortatory Chapters eulogized the emperor
not as a warrior but as a peacemaker (PC l07.XLV B) and commanded,
"Do not brag about the nobility of the body, nor be scornful of humble-
ness; neither honor beauty nor turn aside from ugliness, but look at the
beauty of the soul and be loving of the sou]" (XXV B- C). Further, it ad-
monished, "Do not respect and admit those who are noble by dint of
their body, but those who are dear by dint of their spirit." The author
explained that horses' nobility consists in magnificent stature, dogs' in
their hunting abilities, while human nobility was determined by the vir-
tues of the soul (UI A- B). Leo VI preferred not to discuss his father's
origins; he touched on them only so that he not be accused of ignorance.
He mentioned a semi-official, quite legendary account of Basil's descent
from the Armenian Ar acids and the Persian Artaxerxes, but he put the
greatest emphasis on the personal virtues of his hero, not on his family.
The humble man, he said, was embellished by his deeds, whereas the
nobleman. of necessity had to assume glory from his ancestry. 1I8 In Con-
stantine Porphyrogenitus's biography, his grandfather's personal mili-
tary achievement were never mentioned; rather, he vaguely confumed
that Basil extended the frontiers of the empire through his labor, his
manliness, and his lofty spirit (Theoph. Cont. 265.5-7) and most warmly
described Basil's successfuJ administration of the state, not his command
on the battlefield. The only military episode depicted in any detail was
87. V. E. VaJ'denberg, "Ret' Justina II k Tiveriju," Izvestija Akademii lIauk

SSSR. Otdelenie gumanilarnycll nauk. 1928, no. 2, 111- 40; I. S. Cifurov, "Feofan-
kompiljator FeofiJakta Simokaty," ADSV 10 (1973), 205; A. Cameron, " An Em-
peror's Abdication," BS 37 (1976), 161 - 67.
88. A. Vogt and L Hausherr. " Oraison funebre de . I" par son fils Leon
VI Ie Sage," Orierltalia christiana periodica 26 (1932), 42.21 - 26; 42.29-30.

the crossing of the Euphrates, when the emperor carried a load three
times heavier than that of the ordinary soldier (269.1-15). Constantine,
too, spoke of Basil's Arsacid ance try, albeit late in the narrative, but
otherwise ignored the topiC of noble origins.
By the end of the tenth century, chivalric virtues began to infiltrate
the traditional image of the ideal emperor. Reshaping the imperial ideal
began with literary portrayals of Nikephoros Phokas such as are found
in the epigrams of John Geometres or in the history of Leo the Deacon;
th new image may have been drawn from popular, oral sources or from
works created for the Phokas family. Even the chivalric portrayal of
Nikephoros Phokas was still suffused with monastic piety; the image
had by no means been fully secularized and militarized.
Late-tenth-century descriptions of Nikephoros Phokas placed a sin-
gular emphasis on knightly virtues. The prevailing picture of imperial
was fundamentally non-military both before and after Nike-
phoros Phokas's reign. In the middle of the eleventh century John Mauro-
pous contrasted the reckless bellicosity of the barbarians and of the rebel
89
Leo Tornikes to the triumphant piety of the emperor. Nor was there
room for martial prowes in the imperial portraits drawn by Chri top her
of Mytilene. Kekaumenos, too, prese.r ved the essential elements of a tra-
ditional imperial image: the pious emperor as God's elect (Kek. 274.9),
the .fatheJ' of his subjects (284.8- 10), and the just judge of his people
(284.17-19, 274.11-13). Kekalllnenos's written admonitions to the em-
peror contained no mention of the ruler's personal participation in battle.
While the emperor had to care for the soldiers (stratiotai), the fleet, and
the army because they reflected imperial glory and represented the
trength of the palace, the author did not demand a display of military
courage on the part of the emperor himself. For Kekaurnenos the foUl'
es ential qualities of the ruler were fortitude, justice, chastity, and rea-
on, but with some qualifications. Fortitude referred not to military
courage, but to spiritual perseverance. Nor were fortitude and reason
considered absolute virtues, since they could be put to evil use.
Military attributes, previously associated exclusively with Nikepho-
ros Phokas, began to reappear at the end of the eleventh century in the
writings of historians and publicists. Attaleiates dedicated his .
work to the praise of Nikephoros Botaneiates. Besides the traditional im-
perial virtues, Attaleiate gave Nikephoros two new ones: noble birth
and military prowess. The historian insisted that everyone loved the
89. J. Lefort, "Rhetorique et poHtiquc: trois discour de Jean Mauropous en

1047," TM 6 (1976), 285-93.

I
new ruler for his nobility and for his martial glory; hi courag was tan-
tamount to his noble origins. These virtues nobility and courage-
were constantly associated in the author's mind (Attal. 56.1-5, 185.16-
20, 302.15).
Somewhat later than Attaleiates, Theophylaktos Hephai tos, the fu-
ture Bulgarian archbishop, wrote a didactic work addressed to his pupil
Constantine Oouka , the pre umptive heir to Alexios I' throne. This au-
thor, too, required in his good emperor both military and traditional
moral virtues: "Do not think that the servant of Ares, lionlike men, will
bring you a crown of gold and a cloak of purple unless they see you
donned in armor and directing the battle." 90 Thus, Theophylaktos and
AttaJeiate shared a common conception of the warrior emperor.
This warrior emperor type took on monumental proportions in the
writings of Eustathios of Thessaloniki. This author sketched Manuel I
as an ideal knight who scorned danger and took greater pride in his
wound than in the glitter of his diadem, toiled with his soldiers hewing
stones and bearing them on hi shoulders to build fortres e, lept little,
was abstinent in eating, liked to exercise, endured readily extremes of
91
cold and heat, and excelled all in steadfastness. Eustathio was echoed
by Prodromos, according to whom ManueJ, for the of his subjects,
lived day and night in his aIlllOr, withstanding thirst, cold, and rain
(Hist. Ged. no. 30.33-35). Kinnamos also emphasized Manuel's personal
bravery and his chivalrous readiness to aid his brothers-in-arms. 92 Man-
s emed to embody the ideal Theophylaktos had anticipated. But the
increasingly military charact rization of the emperor wa not simply a
response to the political circumstance of the empire. Byzan-
tium throughout its ry had had to cope with external p but
it wa only &om the end of the eleventh century that the warrior em-
peror emerged as an ideal type.
Militarization of th imperial image evidently had a parallel in state
ritual. The Late Roman cust m of proclaiming an mperor by raising
him on a shield was probably revived around the middle of the eleventh
century. This ritual, a mark of the bond between a ruler and his antly,
90. PG 126.268B-C. In Theophylaktos's treatise there ar two further new

point . The election of the emperor is presented not as an act of divine choice,
but a a r suit of a consent of the people (273B); the author also s uggests that the
e mper r ought to seek the support of his friends (276B).
91. A. P. Kazhdan, "Viza ntijskij publicist XlI v. Ev tafij Solunskij," VV 28
(1968),64.
92. M. M. Friedenberg, "Trud loanna Kinnama kak istoriteskij istocnik,"
VV 16 (1959), SO.
Copyr grled fT'I

seems to have been conunon in late antiquity, from the fourth to ixth
centuries. After Phokas's usurpation of 602, however, it disappeared.'))
The fact that Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the middle of the tenth
century mentioned this ceremony as a Khazar tradition 4.t indicates that it
had fallen into disuse in Byzantium. Revival of the custom is first clearly
indicated in Psellos's writing. According to Psellos, the rebellious Bul-
gars in 1040 proclaimed P ter Deljan ruler by raising him on a shield (Ps.
Chroll. 1 :77, no. 40.21-22). In a more thoroughly Byzantine miHeu, the
usurper Leo Tornikes was raised on a shield in 1047 (2: 18, no. 104.4- 5).
In the twelfth century the description of the ruler raised on the shield
even appeared as part of a Byzantine romance, .Rodanthe and Dosikles by
Prodromos (chap. 5, v. 109-11). 05 Akropolites in the thirteenth celltury
treated Theodore Laskaris' elevation on a shield as a commonplace. %It
is not clear, however, when between the middle of the eleventh and
middle of the thirteenth c.e ntury this ritual became customary.
Thi ritual was al 0 well known in painting. The theme was often
exploited by Byzantine miniaturists, particularly in connection with cor-
onation of the kings of the Old Testament. The oldest representation of
this kind is the image of Hezekiah in the Chludov Psalter, a manuscript
usually dated to the ninth century. Two other illuminations showing the
same subject occur in tenth-century manuscripts; the theme became
much more common during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.Y7 It is
93. The Book of Ceremo"ies noted that Nikephoros Phokas was raised up in
%3 when the soldi rs proclajmed him emperor, but it is unclear whether a shield
was involved in the episod . O. Treilinger, Die ostromische Ka;ser- /lml Reclrtsidee
/ladr i/rrer Gestnl/ung ;/11 hOfiscirell ZewnOlr;ell (jena, 1938; reprint: Darmstadt,
1956), 23, suggest that ikephoros could have been raised up on a shield.
G . Ostrogorsky, Zur byzalltillischen Geschiclrte (Darmstadt, 1973), 149, also admits
this pOSSibility, although he regards this act not as a coronation but as a spon-
taneous expression of the soldiers' prolluncilllllento. Others doubt that in 963 the
ceremony of raising on a shield took place at a1l : Aik. Christophjlopoulou,
Eklogc. QlUlgorclIsi.'i /a1; stl'psis tou Uyulntinoll IIl/toKr%ros (Athens, 1956), 105f.;
. Walters, "Raising on a Shield in Byzantine leono raphy," REB 33 (1975), 159.
94. Constantine Porphyrog nitus, De adm;n;strando imperio, ed. Gy. Morav-
e ik and R. J. H . Jenkins, (Washington, D.C., 1967), chap. 38.52-53.
95. Erotic; saiptores Graeci, ed. R. Hercher, vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1859), 356.
6. G . Ostrogorsky, Zur byulIIti,,;sclrm Gescllic1rte, 150, suggests that the
ceremony was introduced into Byzantium under West rn influence. In contrast,
1. Dujtev, Proua.mrija Vlirclru bill ars/wto sred"ovek01';e (Sofia, 1945), 30, assumes
that this custom existed continuously from Roman times .
97. This is evident from the stem ma produced by Walters, "Raising on a
Shield," 174.

found, for example, in the Barberi ni Psalter (Fig. 26), a Book of Kings
(Vat. gr. 333), and twice in the Madrid Skylitzes. 98 Raising an emperor on
a shield seems to be depicted also on two marble roundels usually dated
to the twelfth century."" The popularity of this theme in art may be re-
lated to the reemergence of the imperial ceremony.
But the new image of the warrior emperor had an even broader im-
pact on imperial icQnography. Manuel 1 had his palace at Blachernae
decorated with images of his own battles as well as of famous ancient
ones (Ben. Tud. 53, exs. 19-20). The emperor evidently appeared also in
a military attitude on luxury objects: an anonymous poet of the twelfth
century d escribes a golden bowl decorated "in the habitual manner"
with Manuel I pursuing the defeated king of the Persians and an innu-
merable ho t of Seljuks. 1(1) At the end of the twelfth century the courtier
and rhetorician John Kamateros, in a speech addressed to Andronikos I,
spoke about a "custom that existed in the society of Rhomaioi [Kama-
teros admitted that he did not know whether such a law had been ac-
cepted by any other people) according to which defeated barbarians, cit-
ie bringing their tribute, and hunting motives were presented not only
in public places but even on the emperors' crowns." Kamateros under-
tood that all these scenes were meant to glorify the ruler (Fontes 2:
244.21-245.107). Again, on the ivory casket at Troyes, dating probably to
the eleventh century, the armed basileus is represented as victorious over
his enemies; on other sides he is depicted in a boar-and-lion hunt. lUI
Similar images are found on silver vessels. 10'l The effigy of the emperor in
military dress also appears on coins, first in the mid-eleventh century.
Constantine IX produced mi[iaresia with the emperor in armor on the re-
verse, holding a cross in his right hand and his left hand on the hilt
of his sheathed sword. The gold coins of Isaac 1 (1057-59) reveal an
even more radical break with the traditional imperial image: the emperor
98. J. Lassus, L'illustration du Lillre des Rois (Paris, 1973), fig. 25 (fol. 15v),
fig. 83 (fol. 44), fig. 99 (fol. 89v), fig. 101 (fol. 95); Cirae Estopai'ian, Skyllitz.es Ma-
tritensis, fols . lOv, 230.
99. H. Peirce and R. Tyler, "A Marble Emperor-RoundeJ of the Xllth Cen-
tury," DOP 2 (1941), 3- 9.
100. S. Lampro , "Ho Markianos Kodix 524," Ncos Hl'lIenomnemlm 8 (1911),
172, translated into English by C. Mango, Tile Art of ti,e Byzantine Empire (En-
glewood Cliffs, N .J., 1972),228.
101. W. F. Volbach, "Profane Silber- und Elfenbeinarbeiten aus Byzanz,"
Actes du XIV' Congres illternatimwi d'etudes byzantines 1 (Buchares t, 1974), 367f.
102. Darkevit, Suetskoe iskusstoo Vizalltii, 139- 54. The ethnic origin of some
of the silver bowls published by Darkevit still remains a matter of djspute.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

was presented grasping the scabbard with his left hand and holding
a sword against his shoulder with his right. I(JJ Just this type of image
prompted contemporaries to accu e Isaac of suggesting through his
coinage that he obtained his authority not from God, but through the
sword (Attal. 60.3-4 and especially Sky!. Cont. 103.3-4); such censures
no doubt contributed to the suppression of the martial effigy of the em-
peror on coins of the twelfth century. The Comnenian emperors, how-
ever, continued to indicate their military concerns on their currency. 11M
Instead of utilizing military portrait , the Comneni depended on the de-
piction of the great military saints. Alexios I introduced St. Demetrios,
John II used 5t. George, Manuel I employed 5t. Theodore. 105
The new fascination with the military image was not limited to the
emperor and the aristocracy. John Mauropous testifies to the existence of
a non-aristocratic cuJt of St. Theodore in Euchaita, where Mauropous
served as metropolitan. He explained that Euchaita's Theodore was dis-
tinct from another, one mounted on horseback; he was a common re-
cruit, not a general. As this saint was not an arrogant figure, "the poor,
the common, and the infantrymen" came from aU around to pay their
tribute to him. In small provincial chapels as well as in metropolitan
l
()6
foundations, military saints gained prominence. In Cappadocia in the

eleventh century the pious scratched their praye,r.s more often on images
of holy knights than on any others, with the exception of representa-
tions of Christ or the Virgin. Portraits of the great early Christian mar-
tyrs continued to be conspicuously positioned in the heavenly hierarchy
of saint , but now representations of them as knights on horseback be-
came increasingly common. In the small Church of Asinou in Cyprus
(Fig. 27), the late-twelfth-century illlage of the magnificently mounted
St. George, with his splendid shield and cloak, dominates the interior of
the narthex. This pictorial interest in chivalric ideals has a literary paral-
lel in the romantic epic.
103. P. Grierson, Catalogue of tire Bywntine Coi,rs in the Dllmbarto" Oaks Collec-
lion, vol. 3, no. 2 (Washington, D.C.. 1973), pl. LIX, no .7al - 7b3; pI. LXIU,
no. 1.2-2-5. On coin no. 3,2-3, Isaac I is represented with a sword and a civil in -
signillm, the sphaira. .
104. The effigy of an emperor in a military caftan with a sword and a cross
appear . ometimes on the coin of Alexios I: M. Hendy. Coinage and MOlley ill tlte
Byzantine Empire, 1081 - 1261 (Washington, D.C., 1969), 2, no . 13.
lOS. M. Hendy, Coinage, 437.
106. John Mauropous, " Quae in codice Vaticano graeco 676 supersunt," ed.
P. de Lagarde, AblJandlungen der IIistorisdl - philologiSt'he~1 Klasse der kOniglidlen
Gesellscllaft der Wissenschaften zu G6ltingell 28, no. 1 (1881 (1882, 208.17-28.

Popular and Aristocratic Cultural Trends 1.17
EPITOME OF ARISTOCRACY: DIGENIS AKRITAS

One of the most important literary productions of this period is a
c.hivalric epic, Digenis Akrilas. Summarizing the aspirations of the aris-
tocracy in its narrative detail, it attested the appeal of the military no-
bility by its widespread, long-lasting popularity. The origins of the work
are not fully understood. According to Beck, the epic consists of two
quite separate parts: the song of the Arab emir Musur and the romance
of Digenis. 1()7 The song of the emir, created just before 944, preserves evi-
dence of the historical ituation on the eastern frontiers of the empire at
the beginning of the tenth century. The romance of Digenis is, in all
probability, a product of the eleventh or twelfth century.
The romance provides a special insight into the mentality of the Byz-
antine military aristocracy. The hero, Digenis (literally, "of twofold ori-
gin"), was the off pring of the Arab emir of the song and a Chr.i stian
noblewoman. By the age of twelve he displayed the skill and bravery of
an experienced hunter, rather on the model of the young David. H con-
tended successfully not only with nature, but also with brigands and
robbers. In all, Digenis precociously certified his noble birth through
noble actions. Digenis proved his manhood by winning an aristocratic
wife worthy of himself against great odds, overcoming virtually invin-
cible foes in great battles. Even his moral weaknesses, a violent temper
and lust for a forsaken maiden or for a beautiful Amazon adversary, be-
spoke the nobility of his nature (exs. 21-22).
Through his spectacular acts and virile reputation, Digenis attracted
the attention of the emperor. Just as in earlier centuries the Byzantine
basile us would be moved by the sanctity of a famous holy man to visit
him, so now the ruler came to Digenis because of the hero's aristocratic
valor and virtue. Again, Digenis took the place of the ascetic prophet by
lecturing the emperor on imperial duties. The banality of these instruc-
tions to love his subjects, pity the poor, deliver from injustice the op-
pressed, and scatter the heretics is less important than the relationship
that this didactic episode implies: the aristocracy had established .i ts
power relative to the throne. Digenis, furthermore, received appropri-
ately aristocratic recompense for the military services he promised his
lord: he was given status in the form of entitlements, economic security
in the form of hereditary land tenure, and power in the form of control
over the frontiers. HI!
107. H. G. Beck, Ges IIiciltc, 71. Also see .Oikonomid 5, "L"Epopec' de

Digenis et la frontiere orientaJe de Byzanee aux X' et XI ' sicc\es," TM 7 (1979),377.
108. E. Trapp, "Hatte das Digenisepos urspriinglich eine antikaiserliche
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

118 CHA GE IN BYZANTI E CULTURE
The epic equally contains the dearest literary vision of the ideal of
aristocratic leisure: Digenis' palace provided a life of physical and cul-
tural refinement (E . 23). The four-squared mansion of ashlar was em-
bellished with stately colulIlns, the ceiling was adorned with mosaics,
th pavem nt was bright with inlaid pebbles. The palace had a chapel
dedicated, naturally, to a warrior , St. Theodore. The setting is remi-
. of the suburban estate of Blachernae enlarged and redecorated
under the Comneni, a luxurious, fortified pleasure palace whose de-
lig hts particularly fascinated th Crusaders (exs. 19- 20). This move of
the Comnenian emperors from the old Great Palace in the heart of the
city to a new, emi-rural ca tIe-villa accorded with the radical social
change wrought by the dynasty. In the same sort of paradisial environ-
ment, Digenis plays the cithara and Eudokia, his wife, sings more sweetly
than nightingales and Sirens, or dances on a silk carpet. These literary
images are strikingly similar to the repre entations of courtJy pleasures
on twelfth-century silver vessels discovered in Berezovo and in other
. n sites. Among the reliefs is one showing acrobats, musicians,
and dancers enframing the portrait of an empress.10'l Such festivity is
brought to mind. too, by the enamel dancers accompanying Constantine
IX and the empres es Zoe and Theodora on the crown now in Budapest
(Fig. 28). Grabar considers the images on the so-called crown of Hungary
unique in Byzantium and turns to Moslem art for parallels. 110 Consider-
ing not only the Berezovo ve sel, but also Byzantine secular material
that, though lost, is alluded to in literary sources, we may suppose the e
enamel scenes from court life were probably not so unusual as has been
as umed. Digenis's pastimes were archetypally aristocratic: feasting,
hunting, and, more unusually, bathing in his garden pool pavilion, all in
the company of his noble friends. Digenis's demise was soon followed
by that of his faithful spouse. The couple was mourned by their friends
and their weaJth was piou ly distributed to the poor; they were buried in
Tendenz?" Byul1Itina 3 (1971), 203-11, questions the anti-imperial tendency of

the epic. In contrast, A . Pertu i, "Tra storia e leggenda: akritai e ghazi suUa fron-
tiera orientale di Bisanzio," Actes du XlV' Omgres illtcrllJltiollai d'etudes byZillltines
1 (Bucharest, 1974), 263 - 67, that the hero of the epic was critical of im-
perial power.
109. Darkevi~, SlJdskoe iskusstvo Vizallti;, 159- 87. The figures of actors and
dancers are also found on ivory caskets. The assumption that all these images
were copied from oriental sources seems unneces ary; e.g., Volbach, "Profane
Silber- und ELfenbeinarbeiten," 368.
110. A. Grabar, " Les sucres des arts orientaux a 1a cour byzantine sous les
Macedoniens," Mallelmer /a"rbuel, der bi/delllier, KUllst 2 (1951), 42 - 47.

a. great porphyry tomb the stone was usually reserved for the imperial
family that could be seen for miles around. Even in death, Digenis
epitomized aristocratic aspirations.
The reemergence of urban life, with its attendant revival of the prov-
I
inces in Byzantium during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, contrib-
uted to the decentralizing tendencies of the state. This is reflected in the
culture by the introduction of popular elements, especially in art, litera-
ture, and communal pastimes. Concurrently, with the shift toward feu-
dalization, the status of the bureaucracy of the centralized state declined.
The virtues of the new military aristocracy became socially dominant,
permeating even the image of the emperor.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

THE PURSUIT OF KNO LEDGE
The Byzantine attitude toward learning can best be appreciated not

through comparison with antiquity, but through the contrasts between
the East and the West noted by contemporary writers. Latin author
dwelt on the Byzantines' heretical opinions and on their lack of martial
prowess. I While the Greek disdained Westerners for their barbaric hab-
its and ignorance, they were equally annoyed by the Latins' contempt
for the cultural achievements of the Rhomaioi. Niketas Choniates com-
plained, "They ridicule us as scribes and scriveners, who ostentatiously
carry reed pens and inkwells, and hold books in their hands" (Nik.
Chon. 594.90- 91). Choniates remarked bitterly that the NOIman general
Alduin mocked Emperor Isaac for having secluded himself from the heat
of battle and dedicating himself to "the smoke of letters" (an allusion to
Euripides, Hippolytos 954) and for having spent his youth visiting his
teachers and training his hands in the use of the pen and the writing
tablet. The only blows he suffered were those of his professor's cudgel;
none came from struggles with wa.riors (365.70- 77). It would seem that
literacy was more common among Byzantines than among Westerners,
although literacy was much reduced in the empire during the seventh
and eighth centuries. The revival of urban life around 1000, however,
provided considerable stimulus for the development of the Byzantine
educational system and for the spread of knowledge.
1. A. D. V. den Brincken, Die" ationes Chrislionorum Orientalium" in Ver-

stiindnis der lateinischen Historiogrrlphie (Cologne and Vienna. 1973). 30- 76. esp. 51.

The Pursuit of Knowledge 121
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS
The organization and program of elementary and secondary educa-
tion was not radically tran formed in Byzantium during the eleventh
and twelfth centuries. The curriculum remained es entially unchanged:
its foundations were grammar and rhetoric; its goal was the mastery
of the Hellenistic Greek language (koine) and the das i . A earlier,
schooling remained in the hand of private teacher , and lessons, al-
though sometimes free, took place in the teacher' house. Some general
structure may have b en self-imposed. Students and teacher in Con-
2
stantinople seem to have formed guildlike association that established

particular norms of behavior and celebrated special feasts; the proces-
sion of costumed students by Chri topher of Mytilene was
held on such an occasion ( ee Chapter 3). State involvement in basic edu-
cation was minimal. Alexio . I founded a Constantinopolitan orphanage
in which provision for the children's education was made, but such un -
3
dertakings were rare. There wa ,however, one important development
within the lower schools Constantinople's monopoly on edu-
cation does seem to have been eroded during the el v nth and twelfth
centuries by the general economic and cultural resurgence in the prov-
ine s. In any case, the private choo] directed by Eustathios in Thessalo-
niki was so popular that pupils were sent there ven from the capital
(Eu t. Opuse. 66.26-27).
While primary and econdary chooling remained omewhat static,
the introduction of institutions of higher learning wa a fundamental in-
novation in the educational sy tem. Recent investigation have shown
as improbable the widely held opinion that already in the ninth and
tenth centuries an imperial university and patriarchal academy existed
in Byzantium.' In fact, it was only in 1046-47 that a small, private law
2. P. Speck, Die /aliserliclle Ulliversitiil 0011 KOlIslanlinopel (Munich, 1974),
36- 50.
3. D. J. Constanteios, Byznntine Philmlfllropy and Social Welfare (New Bruns-
wick, N.J., 1968), 244.
4. H. G. Beck, "Bildung und Theologie im fruhmittelalterlichen Byzanz,"
Polychronion. Festschrift Franz DOiger, ed. P. Wirth (Heidelberg, 1966), 69-81 (re-
published in his Ideen und Rea/Wilen in Byzanz, part 3, [London, 1972J); P. Lemerle,
Le premier humanisme Ilyznntin (Pari , 1971), 184f. For the traditional view on the
. of the higher paJace chool in th ninth century, F. Dvornik, "Photius'
in Teaching and Diplomacy," BS 34 (1973),211 -18.
Copyrq~
122 CHANGE 1 BYZANTI E CULTURE
cho I in Constantinopl wa tran formed into a institution by an

diet promulgated by Con tan tine IX and drafted, in all probability, by
th s
holar John Mauropous. Th initiative came from a circle of intel-
I ctuals a socia ted with Con tantine Leichoude, who had t mporarily
gained the onfidence of the emperor.
Thi "Museum of Legi lation," created by Constantine IX, was con-
s ientiously controlled by th tate. It was directed by the "guard of the
law" (I/omophylax), a high official who was paid in gold, silk garments,
and food. Life tenure upp dly came with th position, but in reality
the dir ctor's job was pre adou . Con tantine IX' edict outlined the
grounds for dismis al: ignoranc ,negligence, un ociability, and e en di -
re ard (or the law j f. A pr text for di charging a tlomophylax could be
readily discovered in the un table politics of Byzantine 0 iety. Concrete
d tail of the institution' lif ar ratingly few. The chooloccupied
the large building complex of the monastery of St. George of Mangana
and po se sed a special library. While its curriculum i not documented,
the program of tudie rnu t hav included, among other things, Roman
law and Latin, a that language was required for the rna tery of Roman
I gal terminology. There wa no tuition. The legi lator p cific.ally pro-
hibited the bribing of the nomophylax by tudent, although he regarded
po t-graduation donations a de irable and as having a certain ethical
valu in addition to contributing to the tatu . Th in titution's
graduates received certificate te tifying to their legal training as well as
to th ir eloquence if they aspired to the bench or to their calligraphic
kill if they chose a notarial career.
While a law school ems to have flourished in the leventh century,
the tate of higher edu ation in other disciplines is difficult to ascertain.
Traditionally it has been thought that a philo ophieal d partment or
chool wa also inaugurated by Constantjn IX, but thi has b en ques-
tioned. " orne reform appears to have be n made regard-
5. A. 5ala(', Nowl/a cOl/stilutio saec. XI medii (Prague, 1954); E. (:crnousov,

Stral/;ca iz kul't"rnoj islorii Vizantii (Kharkov, 1913); J. M. H , Churell alld
Leaming ill tile Byzantine Empire, 867 -1185 (London, 1937), 51-72. Concerning the
dat , J. Lefort, "Rhetorique et politique: trois discoUI de Jean Mauropous en
1047," TM 6 (1976), 279f. On Mauropous, A. Karpozelos, Symoo/e sle melete 1011
biOI( Tali tau ergou tou loanllt' MauroJXldos (loannina, 1982).
6. G. Weis , Ostrolllisc/,e Beamle illl Spiegel der SCI/riften des Michael Pse/los
(Munich, 1973), 68- 76. How ver, competition between law tudents and "the
lover of olemn knowledg "( tudents of philosophy and rhetoric) desc.ribed by
PseJlo in his encomium on XiphiLino indicates that cont mporaries regarded
both institutions as equal (Satha , MB 4 :433.4-6). AI 0 cc W. Wolska-Conus,
"Le ecoles de Psellos et de XiphiJin sou Constantin IX Monomaquc," TM 6
Copyr t 1'1 I
ing this branch of knowledge; Constantine IX introduced the office of

the consul (hypatos) of . This official's function was to super-
vise all state instruction in the capital. He was paid by the treasury and
charged with the distribution of salaries to those teachers under his con-
trol. The administrative structure of the schools overseen by the hypatos
of philosophers is not dear. The most important institutions of eleventh-
century Constantinople were located in ChaLkoprateia, in the churches
of St. Peter, St. Theodore in Sphorakios, and the Forty Martyrs. It can-
not be said, however, whether these schools were branches of a central
theological or philosophical institution, or semi-independent bodies.
The eleventh century witnessed changes not only in institutions of
higher education, but also in teaching techniques. Because intellectual
activity in the tenth century was eclectic, education seems to have been
somewhat impersonal; were concerned with "objective" fact
rather than with dynamic thought. But in the following century, as tech-
niques of inquiry be('ame increasingly emphasized, there was new scope
for originality as well as for dialogue, debate, and demagoguery. Experi-
ments were made in teaching grammar through prose and poetry com-
position exercises (the "new" schedography) instead of through simple
7
memorization; such innovations were, however, widely criticized. In-
struction put more emphasis on discussion and on individual exercises,
less on rote learning. Some sense of student-faculty interchange in the
eleventh century can be gleaned from PselJos's writings. In a funeral
speech for his mother, Psellos interjected a description of his own ac-
tivity as a means not only of satisfying himself, but also of providing his
audience an opportunity to sip .from the cup of his knowledge. This
knowledge included theory Psellos probably meant theology as well
as history and literature. "I speak to some of my disciple about Homer,
Menander, and Archilochos, about Orpheus and Mousaios, as well as
women authors such as the SibylJai, the poetess Sappho, Theano, and
the wise lady of Egypt [perhaps Hypatia the mathematician)" (Sathas,
ME 5: 60.22-25). He explained to his students "the Trojan antiquities"
and the meaning of words such as nectar or ambrosia used by ancient
(1976), 242.; M. j. Kyriakis, ' The University: Origin and Early Phases in Con-
stantinople," Byz . 41 (1971), 170f.; P. Lemerle, C;lIq tludes Sllr Ie Xl' siecie byza ntill
(Pari , 19n), 215 - 27.
7. On schedography, R. Browning, "11 cod ice Marciano gr. XJ.31 e la sched-
ografia bizantina," in his Studies on Byzantine History, Literature alld Education
(London, 19n), part 16, 21 - 34. Also see A. Garzya, "Literarische und rheto-
rische Polemiken der Komenenenzeit," reprinted in his Storin e illterpretaziolle di
testi biulIItini (London, 1974), part 7, 2- 6.

writers. (In fact, a hort treatise by Psellos on ancient, primarily Athe-

nian, legal terminology along with an odd reference to Drigen has sur-
lI
vived. ) The students urged him to tell them about the cure of the body
and about the diagnosis of ailments, Psello continued; some even
dragged him "not by dint of words, but with their hands, to Italian
wisdom." This was not "Pythagorean philosophy, but the discipline that
contributed to the common weal and dealt with private and state ac-
tiones, with argumentation in court, with slavery and freedom, with
legal and illegal marriages, and with gifts and the profits derived there-
from, with the degrees of relationship, and with wills made by soldiers
and lay persons" (Sathas, MB 5: 61.7 - 18). To this long list of the subjects
he taught, PseUos added Greek mythology and its allegorical interpreta-
tion. Finally he proclaimed, without any of the traditional scruples of
medieval modesty, that his students "pull me and they tear me into
pieces, since they love only my tongue and my soul, who e knowledge
surpassed that of other profes ors" (5: 62.2-5). Psellos clearly enjoyed
his role in the intellectual limelight. "I am prepared to answer all your
questions," Psellos told his students, "and I have opened doors to the
sciences and all the arts.'" He listed himself among tho e who embel-
lished Constantinople with scholarship and radiated the glory of educa-
tion over the whole oikoumene (Sathas, MB 5:491.26-27, 492.1-8; also
see 256.2-4). He wa proud that the emperor counted him among the
most knowledgeable masters of both philosophy and rhetoric. l~
The real relationship between students and their professors was by
no means as ideal as Psellos intimated in his mother's funeral oration.
Psellos himself gave a very different view of academia in a series of short
literary sketches. In these he presented his audience as an idle and un-
grateful crowd that played truant whenever possible. "I neglect every-
thing and dedicate myself completely to my care about you," PseJJos ad-
monished his students. "} am vigilant until the smaJl hours, prolonging
my day with my books, again and again this is my habit. I read not to
have some profit for myself, but in order to collect from my volumes
ome ideas to enrich your mind." And what was the reward for such dili-
8. R. Anastasi, "Sugli sCIitti giuridici di PseLlos," Siclliorum Gymnasium 28

(1975),169-91 .
9. The discourse To Students Who Did Not Come to Scllool Because It Was R1li/l-
i1lg, ed. M. J. Kyriakis, "Student Life in Eleventh-Century Constantinople," By-
zantina 7 (1975), 383.72- 74.
10. Satha , MB 5: 417.25 27. About Psellos as a teacher, see P. V. Bezo-
brazov, Vizantijskij pisatel' i gosudarstlXllnyj dejatel' Michail Psell (Moscow, 1890),
122-81; Lemerle, Cillq etudes, 212-21.
COPY r gt'tea 'T a ""

gence? If it rained, the haU was empty. Whereas earlier students of phi-
losophy had had to travel from Europe to Asia for the fruit of scholar-
ship if they sought philosophical wisdom they had to go to Egypt and
for astronomical knowledge they went to Chaldea his audience was
lucky enough to po sess in him the center of the universe, "the second
ether." But nonetheless, they were stopped by any condensation in the
air, by the appearance of clouds, or even by too hot a sun! The students
came late, and they thought less of their studies than of the Hippo-
drome, the stage, or money. "li you should go to any other place, how
fast are your legs, how efficient you are in squeezing in .... But if you
decide to visit the mouseiofl you move like a caterpillar, utterly overbur-
dened and with a confounded head. Your eyelids faU down and cover
your eyes, as if they are contraptions of lead." II
The pleasures of an academic life were more wistfully expressed in
Nicholas Mesarites' description of the school at the Church of the Holy
Apostles, one of the best-known institutions in the city (Nic. Mesar.
916- 18). A sense of well-being and beauty pervades his rendering of the
trees, gardens, fountains, and porticos of the academy. But he seemed
to take the greatest delight in the intellectual activities that were being
pursued in this idyllic setting. Students of grammar, rhetoric, and logic
roamed the porticos reading their notes, memorizing te ts, or calculat-
ing on their fingers. Adults as welJ as youths met there to di cuss scien-
tific problems. Physicians also gathered to consider the nature of pulse
or fever. Even c.hurch chants were taught in the e halls. Me arites com-
pared the noi e of discussion in the porticos to the sound of birds on a
lakeshore. But disputes occurred here too. Evidently when a student or
professor was incapable of proving his thesis by argument, he resorted
to cursing. Unresolved arguments were settled by Patrian:h John X
Kamateros, who was presented by Mesarites as expert in grammar and
physics. The church seems to have remained the ultimate judge.
The emphasis on debate in education and in intellectual discourse is
alluded to in other sources. Psellos chastised two of his disciples for ar-
guing: their disputes were too noisy; "Greek law and the rule of phi-
losophers" required the tranquil and quiet deliberation of a problem.
"Do not mimic the birds," he wrote, "to which Homer compared the
Trojan camp." More significant is another of PseUos's statements: he
caUed his students to peace, since they had a common task; 12 LemerIe
suggests that this common task was polemics against another school of
11. Pseudo-Psellos, De operatione daemonum, ed. J. F. Boissonade (Nurem-
berg, 1838; reprint : Amsterdam, 1964), 143.9 - 26.
12. Pseudo- Psello , De operationI' daemOlIll m, 131 - 35.
COPY r gt'tea 'T a <..

126 CHANGE I BYZANTI E CULTURE
philosophy. 13 Anna Comn na commented that de pit his bad grammar,

John Italo could reduc opponents to silence and despair through
irrefutable discour e and powerful argument (An. C. 2: 35.18-36.12).
Mor over, according to Con tantine Manasses, students participated in
"contests" under th dir ction of a state dignitary (Iogothete)
in the pre ence of the emperor." Doubtless the internal dynamics of de-
bate at 1 a t occasionally gave ri to argument of dubiou orthodoxy,
whether religious or politi I; this exer i e of the intellect too readily led
it proponent into po ition unacceptable to th controlling powers of
church and state. A i ty who e . tability depended on the omipotenee
of the mperor and, th or ticaU , of God, could not long tolerate train-
ing mind to que tion. Th r action of the imperium to the academy was
ferocious, if not always or successful. 15 It is best traced through
th car ers of academic .
ACADEMIC POLITICS
Michael PseUo wa appointed the first hypatos of The
fir t nomophylax was John Xiphilinos. Both were oung int Il ctuals from
an urban milieu, Xiphilino from Trebizond, P ello fr m Constanti-
nople. Psel10 's reJative h d thought to make him a tradesman, but his
mother had insisted that after elementary s hool he continue his educa-
tion. He tudied with Mauropou poet, rhetorician, and future metro-
politan o.f Euchaita as did Xiphilinos. With their appointment to high
positions in the state bureaucracy they surpa sed, in a professional
n e, the achievement of their fonner master. In one of hi letters,
Mauropou disclosed both his re pect for his former pupil and his bit-
terne their ucc . s. He r called their lofty ideals and sharp
wit, their love of beauty and respect for scholar hip. But while he prom-
i d them hi continued upp rt and collaboration, Mauropous aero ed
P 110 of neglecting their friend hip after seizing the professorial throne
(Satha I MB 5: 15). 16
The prestige engendered by these positions wa enjoyed by Psellos
and Xiphilinos for but a . hort peTiod. Around 1050 a certain Ophrydas
13. LemeTle, Cinq etude, 216.
14. K. Homa, "Eine un di rt Rede des Konstantin Manasses," Wiener Shl-
dim 28 (1906), 181.264-65.
15. R. Browning, "Enlight nment and Repre sion in Byzantium in the Elev-
enth and Twelfth Centuri ," and Present 69 (1975), 10, r printed in his Stud-
ies on Byzantine History, part 15.
16. Weiss, Ostr6mische Beamte, 70f., dates the letter to before 1042, but in a1\
probability it was written later: Ja. N. Ljubarskij, MicJrail Psell. Ulnost' j tvort.estvo
(Mo cow, 1978), 43f.
Copyr t 1'1 I
The Pur uit of Knowledge 127
brought charges of heresy against Xiphilinos. Ps Uos inunediately went

to his colleague's defense, Xiphilino , the man of education,
an expert in graJIUhar, poetry, rhetoric, and law, with the ignorant
Ophrydas, who "moved hi tongue like a mill tone" (Sathas, MB 5:
185.15). But the intellectual lost. First Xiphilinos and then Psellos was
forced to adopt the mona tic habit. While the fonner nomophylax accepted
vows without resistance and eventually became patriarch, P ellos ub-
nutted only unwillingl to ton ure, remaining uncommitted to the spiri-
tuallife. At the first opportunity he returned to court t be orne the tutor
of th future emperor Micha I VD.
Thi incident reflect the fragility of the higher ducational struc-
tur 5 in Constantinople. Th offices of nomophylax and hypatos of phi-
losophers had little autonomy; the insecurity of thes po ition5 was ag-
gravated by an inherent, if ometimes onJy Latent, antagonism between
intellectuals and the theocentric monarchy. These intrinsic tensions
wer revealed at the end of the eleventh century, after the military aris-
tocracy led by the Comneni eized imperial power. At that time, John
Italo . occupied the office of hypatos of philosoph rs, having been ap-
pOinted under the Douka dynasty. Among his pupil were represen-
tativ of the highest echelons of Constantinopolitan officialdom, in-
cluding Serblias, Solomon, and other . Anna Comnena described John
as a hort, sturdy man with a broad chest and a large h ad (Ex. 24). He
wore a rounded beard; his flaring nostrils revealed a fierce temper; he
argued with his fists as well as with his words. ' Born in Italy, ltalos had
a pronounced Latin accent; his failure to master the Gr ek idiom was to
th culturally biased Constantinopolitans a mark of vulgarity. But while
he stumbled over grammar, having not "sipp d the nectar" of rhetoric,
he had no equal in philo ophy and dialectic. Despite, or rather becau e
of, his mental acuity, It.a los in his hun was brought before the ecclesias-
tical tribunal, condemned, and anathematized.
This took place in 1082, just after the Comneni ascended to power,
and marked a basic shift in attitude toward higher education that may
welJ have been related to the changed priorities of the new ruling clique.
Th ducational' of Con tantine IX had furthered the inter-
ests of the urban upper class of Constantinople; the purpo e of these
new in titu had been to train a bureaucratic elite for state and eccle-
17. An. C. 2 : 33- 37; P. Stephanou. Jean Ita/os, phi/~phl! et humaniste (Rome,
1949); P. Joannou, Die IIIuminationslehre des Michael Psellos und Joannes Ita/os (Ettal,
1956),9-31; R. Browning," nJightenment and ," 11 - 15; J. Gouj}Jard,
"La r ligion des philosophe ," TM 6 (1976), 306-15; L. C1u a The Trial of John
I
Ita los and the Crisis of Intellectual Values in Byzantium (Munich, 1981).
Copyrq~
siastical administration. But with the military aristocracy's rise to power,

these schools lost what little support they had had. ltalos was succeeded
by Theodore of Smyrna, but soon after the office of hypatos of philoso-
phers was suppressed altogether. John Italos's condemnation seems to
have been a part of Alexios I's program to put education more firmly un-
der church control. To this end he introduced three new ecclesiastical
offices: teacher (didaslcalos) of the Gospels, teacher of the Apostle, and
teacher of the Psalter. The church was entrusted not only with the guid-
ance of Constantinopolitan intellectuals but also, according to Alexios's
edict of 1107, with their "protection." The didaslcaloi were, in fact, com-
missioned to inform the patriarch of any heretic.al or treasonous idea
being publicly expressed, so that lar authorities might intervene if
necessary. IS
These three didaslcaloi of the Church of St. Sophia formed a special
board within the ecclesiastical hierarchy and were subject to the pa-
triarch. Classes were held in several schools, including some, like that at
the Chalkoprateia and in the Church of St. Peter, that had been in use in
the eleventh century. The didaslcaloi lectured their students primarily on
the Psalms, the Gospels, and Paul's Epistles. They did not, however, ig-
nore the teaching of secular sciences. Michael Italikos, who was one
of the most popular instructors in Constantinople during the second
quarter of the twelfth century, held in tum the posts of didaslcalos of the
Psalter, didaslcalos of the Apostle, and finally didaslcalos of the Gospels, or
"univerul teacher." But ltalikos's inte.rests were not limited to the ex-
egesis of the Holy Scriptures; ltaJikos taught rhetoric and philosophy,
mathematics, and related diSCiplines. He was devoted, in his own words,
to lithe material essence," as expressed in mechanics, optics, catoptrics
(the study of the refraction of light from mirror surfaces), metrics, gravi-
tational theory, and medicine. 19 Indeed, many literati and scholars in the
twelfth century were patriarchal didaslcaloi, among them Eustathios of
Thessaloniki, Nikephoros Basilakes, Michael the Rhetor, and Nikepho-
ros Chrysoberges.
Rhetoric also continued to be part of the curriculum of higher educa-
tion. For the purpose of rhetorical training, the emperor appointed a
master of rhetoric. The man holding this position was a secular official
and member of the senate who acted as a court representative to the pa-
triarchal school. Among his official obligations were biannual public ap-
18. J. Darrollres, Recherches sur les ophphikia de I'Eglise byumtine (Paris,

1970),72-75; I. S. tirurov, "Novye rukopisnye svedenija 0 vizantijskom obrazo-
vanii," VV 31 (1971), 241.
19. P. Gautier in Mich. Ital. 16- 26.

pearances: at the Feast of Light (Epiphany) on January 6, he presented

an encomium on the basileus and n l.azarus' aturday he eulogized the
patriarch (exs. 25- 26) . These public presentations were important ve-
hicles of state propaganda. Like the preambles of imperial chrysobulls,
th y displayed the official conception of the imperium; in them were of-
fered images of the id aI emperor. The ruler' poli ies were vindicated
and his victories, real or imaginary, over his enemie , dome tic or for-
eign, were duly prai ed.
D spite the extended juri diction of the church, tensions continued
between the tate and the intell ctuals. The patriarchal like the
educational apparatus before it, spawned heresy. In 1156, Michael the
Rhetor, ma ter of rhetoric, and Nikephoros Basilake , didaskillos of the
Apo tie, were accus d of heresy, discharged, and bani hed. 20 Another
tack tried: the office of hypatos of philosophers was revived hortly
after the scandal, but it was held by a clergyman. In th mid-si ties,
Michael, the nephew (?) of the metropolitan of Anchialos and himself
previously a high eccle ia tical dignitary, was appointed to the post. In
hi inauguraJ address, Michael stated that hi primary ta k was not the
t aching of philo ophy, but the suppression of rationalist idea ; 21 this
was the purpose for which the office of hypatos of philosophers, after a
long vacancy, had again been occupied. Michael built a plendid career
on this platfonn; in 1170 he a cended the patriarchal throne.
Constantinople was an important focus of intellectual activity at the
end of the twelfth century. Even in the We tit wa f garded as a consid-
erable center of univer ity life. The orcerer and po t Klingsor, a hero of
the Wartburg War, a poem writt n in Germany around 1300, mentioned
the Byzantine capital along with Paris and Baghdad a an educational
nexu .Z2 Hi description referred to Constantinopl before the Latin
Conquest of 1204. It cannot be said, however, that even then the city's
ystem of higher school wa a univer ity in the W st rn sen e of the
word, that is, a free, elf-governing corporation. It private teachers
n
we supervised by the church and state. The schools were expected to
20. J. Lefort, "Prooimion de Michel neveu d e I'archcveque de Thessalo-
niqu , didascale de I'Evangil ," TM 4 (1970), 376; A. GaJ'zya, "Un leUre du milieu
du XII- siecle: Nic~phore Basilakes," Storia e interpretazione, part ,613- 15.
21. R. Browning, "A New Source of Byzantine-Hungarian Relation in the
Twelfth C ntury," Ballmn Studies 2 (1961), 189.69-84; . in $ludit.'S on
BYZJlntine History, part 4.
22. Der Wartburgkrieg, ed. K. Simrock (StuttgaIt, 1 58), 131, no. 102.
23. Weiss, OstromiscJle Beamte, 72, is certainly correct in stre sing that the
modem distinction between pubJi and private teacher cannot be applied to
el v nth-century Byzantium .
C pyr rled I
propagate official ideology, police the loyalty of the population, and pro-
duc efficient lawyer, administrators, and bureaucrats (Ex. 27). Further-
more the schools were bound to an entrenched curriculum burdened
with archaic textbooks and a dead language. The system was further
weakened by its structural instability. Schools were created, then dosed;
professorial chairs were established, eliminated, then reestablished; lec-
tures were transferred from one place to another. Despite these many
impediments, the higher schools remained c nters of some ideological
diversity. The concentration of intellectuals, both professors and ardent,
meddlesome student youth, the increased interest in the natural sci-
ence , particularly mechanics, optics, and medicine, and the introduc-
tion of debate as an important vehicle of education aU contributed to the
growth of heterodoxy in Byzantium.
INTELLECTUALS IN SOCIETY
The Byzantine intelligentsia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries
fomled a particular social stratum associated with the higher schools as
well as with s holarly and literary circles outside academia. It is com-
monly thought that a homogeneous group of intellectuals closely con-
nected with the ruling class of the empire alway existed in Byzantium. <
But this assumption of ubiquitous unifOI mity mu t disappear when the
inteUectual circles of different periods are compared. As mentioned ear-
lier, at the beginning of the ninth century monastic figures like The-
ophanes or Theodore of the Studios both of whom, like many of their
contemporaries, were from their youth active in the monastic move-
ment dominated the literary life of the Byzantine Empire. From the
middle of the ninth century, however, a new intellectual type prevailed;
these men were for the most part laymen, though some eventually took
places within the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Even the hagiographic com-
pilations of the tenth century were produced primarily by secular au-
thor. From the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century,
the ruling elite was intimately involved in intellectual affairs. Among the
most distinguished writers of this period were two emperors, two lay
administrators who eventually occupied the patriarchal throne, a series
of high -ranking dignitaries, several bishops, deacons, and, with the
single e ception of George Hamartolos, no monks at all.
The literati of the eleventh century were still part and parcel of the
ruling group. Only in the lat eleventh and in the twelfth century did the
24 . H. . Beck, Das literarisclze Sc1wffell der Byzantiner (Vienna, 1974), 12f.;

Dos /lyzalltinisdll! Jallrtau selld (M unich, 1978), 123; see objections in A. Kazhdan.
"Der Mens -h in der byzantinischen Literaturgeschichte," JOB 28 (1979), Ufo
(,opy' qrtoo 'T a t.

literati begin to emerge as a separate professional stratum. Their profes-

sion was certainly neither a secure nor necessarily a financially reward-
ing one, as is shown in the commonplace contrast in twelfth-century Iit-
eratur of thetarving intellectual ( ophos) and the well-to-do leather-
worker, stonemason, or similar craftsman. Prodromos, for example, in a
poem addressed to Princess Anna Doukaina, openly envied the security
of a shoemaker or shepherd:
o my queen, how . ble is for me the of craftsman that
would provide me with sufficient means to exi t. I wish I could cut
hides into hairy portions and make good boots for my own feet. I wish I
could be the keeper of a rich herd or milk numerous kinei by . 0 doing I
would be satiated with cream and tasty meat. '"
"Poor" professionals like Theodore Prodromos and John Tzetzes in fact
earned their living by flattering powerful patrons. There were also the
successful teachers of the higher schools whose activities were fre-
quently rewarded by appointment to pOSitions within the church hie.rar-
chy. Michael Halikos, who became the metropolitan of Philippopolis,
and Eustathios, who was appointed to the archiepiscopate of Thessa-
\oniki, were among the many intellectuals given ecclesiastical appoint-
ments. These men recognized the insecurity of their position, as is per-
hap best seen in Eustathios's letter to PatTiarch Michael Ill, in which the
talented publicist acknowledged his dependence on the rain of favo.rs
26
poured upon him by his generous benefactor.
Despite the precariousness of their positions, Byzantine intellectuals
by no means led an unpleasant life. They formed clo e-knit circles on the
periphery of the higher schools or of the court. One such clique, includ-
ing Mauropous, Psellos, John Xiphilinos, and Constantine Leichoudes,
had a considerable impact on the development of the Byzantine educa-
tional system. Despite their differences in temperament and their occa-
sional disagreements, PseUos, Mauropous, and Leichoudes continued
to share the same opinions; only Xiphilinos abandoned his youthful
view and became the ideological opponent of his former f~riends. Psel-
los's correspondence mentions another circle of intellectuals, composed
of high-ranking dignitaries such as Choirosphaktes, Aristenos, and oth-
ers, who were united "by their zeal for wisdom and reason" (Satha , MB
5: 452.18-19). Th members of this circle repre ented a second genera-
tion of intellectuals, for whom PseUos was a rna ter. Members of the
highest nobility, such as the caesar John Doukas or the nephews of Pa-
25 . Hist. Ged. no. 83.68-74. Also see Poeme prodr.76.70-77.
26. P. Wirth, "Zur Biographie des Eustathios von Thessalonike," Byz. 36
(1966), 262 - 82. Now in his Ellstatilimra (Amsterdam, 1980), 11 - 33.
C.OPY (jrted 'T a '-

132 CHANGE IN BYZANTl E CULTURE
triarch Keroullarios, were also acquainted with Psellos through their

love of science. During the twelfth century, various literati would associ-
ate with literary patrons, especially noblewomen, to whom they dedi-
cated their poetic and scholarly works. In this milieu friendship (philia)
became a social ideal.
The new appreciation of friendship contrasts with the ambiguity,
distance, and even suspicion with which associates were regarded by
Kekaumenos or in monastic literature. PseUos was a prime example of
this new attitude toward philia: hi correspondence wa full of expres-
sions of care for his friend .Z7 In a letter addressed to the theme judge of
Thrakesion, he wrote with a tinge of humor: "You know that many are
pestering me with their petitions. I cannot gues why: either because
everyone likes me or because 1 love everyone" (Scripta min. 2:153 .8- 10).
In contra t, Patriarch KeroulJario did not like anybody not his rela-
tives, tho who had lived with him, his neighbors, nor even those who
felt great re pect toward him (Scripta min. 1:318.8-14). Friendship, further-
more, had its code of behavior. Psellos complained in a Jetter to Aris-
teno : IFWhere are the great features of our mutual friendship and kind
disposition the respectful treatment, the clasping of hands, the ki ses
on the face, on the breast, and on the hands and even ... but not a syl-
lable, not a sound more about that" (2: 173f.). PseUo was by no mean
the only scholar to expres . feeling for the intellectual community of
which he was a part. Michaelltalikos exuded satisfaction in a letter to a
younger colleague, his "golden nephew," inviting him to the "intellec-
tual feast" he arranged daily for his friends. There he served them philo-
ophical venison, physiological hare, Median peacock, odic partridge,
and musical swan courses untasted by either the inhabitants of Sybaris
or by Aristippus, the most effeminate of philosophers. Pythagorases and
Platos served as cupbearers, Ari totle and all the Peripatetics were the
chief cooks, and members of the ancient and new academies waited
upon the guests. For de sert Michael promised the extravagances of the
Stoics and Pyrrhon's Skepticism (Mich. Hal. 156-58). Even more poig-
nantly, Gregory Antiocho , who studied under Nicholas Kataphloron
(d. 1160), a master of .r hetoric, as well as with Kataphloron's successor,
ichoJas Hagiotheodorites, remembered the years of his education as a
sojourn in a sweet orchard, fill d with wonderful trees of knowledge.
Consuming the fTuit of this paradise, he imbibed knowledge and wi -
dom. He shared the e pleasures with his friends, Euthymios Malakes,
27. F. Tinnefeld, "'Freundschaft' in den Brieren des Michael Psellos. The-

one und Wirklichkcit," JOB 22 (1973), 151- 68; Ljubarskij, Mielloil Psell, 117- 22 .

The Pm suit of Knowledge 133
Michael Choniates, and Eutathios of ThessalonikL the nephew of Nich-

olasKataphloron. Gregory left this garden of delights books and schol-
arly discourse for imperial service, but lamented his destiny in his let-
ters to Eustathios: "You dwell in heaven, while I must crawl on earth." 2!l
THE ASSIMILATION OF
THE CLASSICAL TRADITION
BYZANTIUM AND THE AUTHORS OF ANTIQUITY

The emergence of a class of professional intellectual was a1 0 re-
lated to a new attitude toward Byzantium's classical inheritance. As dis-
cus ed in Chapter 1, the tenth century can be caJled encyclopedic for its
reference works, lexicons, and florilegia. This was a time of concern for
the maintenance of the dassical tradition,2"' and the transmission of texts
became exceedingly important. The Bibliotlleke of Photios marked the
beginning of this period; other compilations included KephaJas" An-
thology, Daphnopates' collection of John Chrysostom' fragments, the
Geoponika, an agricultural manual derived from antiquity, and the Souda,
a dictionary of sorts. Epitomatory activity thrived in Con tantine Por-
phyrogenitus's intellectual milieu. Once collected, texts were recopied in
minuscuJe seript; thus andent works were preserved. But concern with
the collection and transmission of classical culture does not necessarily
imply a Byzantine mastery of the ancient heritage. This seems to have
followed only lat.er, in the eleventh and twelfth centurie .
The course of the Byzantines' understanding of the cia sics has not
yet been completely traced. Nevertheless, its main features are identified
28. Escor. Y-D-lO, fol. 402; quoted, A. P. Kazhdan, "Grigorij Antioch, " VV
26 (1965), SO.
29. See 'L emerle, u premier IlIImanisme, 267 - 300, esp. 299f., on the limita-
tions of tenth-century encydopedism. See also N. G. Wilson, Scholars () Byum-
tium (Baltimore, 1983), 89 - 147.
30. A. Dain, US manuserits (Paris, 1949), 122; "La transmi sion de . texte lit
teraires dassiques d Photius it Constantin Porphyrogenete," DOP 8 (1954),
41-46; us manllscrit$, 2d ed. (Paris, 1964), 126f.; J. Lrigoin, Histoire du tex/e de Pi,,
dare (Paris, 1962), 123(,; "Survic du rcnouveau de la . re antique it Con-
tantinople (IX' siecle)," Cllhiersde civilisatioll mMiih!aleS (1962),287 - 302; A. Diller,
" The Age of Some Early Greek Classical Manuscripts," Serta TllrynialJa (Urbana,
1974), 524; G. Zuntz, All Inquiry into the Transmissioll of tile Plays of Euripides (Cam-
bridge, 1965), 262.
(,opy' (jl"ted 'T a ...

134 CHA GE I BYZANTINE CULTURE
in Browning's study of th fat of Homer in Byzantium. J 1 The oldest

complete copy of the /liad i dated to the beginning of the tenth century;
that of the Odys ey to the mid-tenth century. The early manuscripts are
u ually accompanied by H Ileni tic cholia or corom ntaries, which pro-
vided ub tanee for th compilers of Byzantine Ie icon in the tenth cen-
tur . Original Byzantine exege i on Homer began only in the eleventh
century. Its foundation w r laid by Niketa , the older contemporary of
P 110 . iketas ought to r veal the "secret beauty" of the epic by e -
plaining it ad entur a moral parable : Are ' binding b came a ym-
bol of rea on' victory r pa ion; Odys eu ' e cap from Circe' is-
land and hi return to hi homeland represent the mortal eeking the
heavenly Jerusalem.
Homeric criticism becam more profound and varied in the twelfth
century.32 Though Eu tathio of Thes aloniki was familiar with ancient
commentarie , now 10 t, hi e egesis was often th fruit of his own con-
id ration. He did n t re tIi t himself to the inte rpretation of difficult
words and grammaticaJ con tructions; rather he attempted to under-
tand Homeric hero in t rm of contemporary linguistic u age, ethnog-
raph I political in titution , and cultural life. AI 0 included in his e pla-
nations of the te t ar p pular folkloric elements dwarf- in ngland
(I" /ika) who u d arrow tiny a needles, inhabitant of Taurika, prob-
ably the Kievan Ru , who made wooden book out of bo es. John
, Allegories as w 11 hi Verses on tile Theme of tile Iliad r present a
further exploitation of Homeric material Tzetze , following ancient tra-
dition, developed typ s of allegory in his interpretation of Homeric
pic . In his own word th e three modes were el m ntary, psychologi-
caJ, and pragmatic. Elem ntary (i. ., "conn cted with th el ments")
wa the interpretation of mythological per on a phy icat forces, as cos-
mic and meteorological 1 ment ( .g., Zeus a air or ether); p ychologi-
cal allegory involved th planation of mythological p r on as the
. or function of the p yche ( .g., Zeus a ); and the prag-
matic or historical all gor pre ented the god as men and women, as
king and queens, a vi.llain and whores. But behind thi cholarly
arne of learned cla ici m were om contemporary aUu ion . For in-
31. R. Browning, " Hom r in Byzantium. " Viator 6 (1975), 25f.

32. A. VasilikopouJou -loannidou, He anagemlesis tOil grammatol1 Ialta tOil 12
(/iol1a cis to Byzmrtiol/ leai 110 Homeros (Athens, 1971-72).
33. u tathio , C rumenlar;; ad Homer; lIiadem 372.22 - 24, 632.52- 1, cd. M.
van d e r alk, vol. 1 (Leide n, 1971), 588.24 - 26; vol. 2 (Leiden, 197 ), 272.6-12.
34. H. Hunger, " Allegorische Mythendeutung in der Antike und bei
Johanne Tzetze ," lOB 3 (1954), 46.
Copyr t 1'1 I
stance, Paris-Alexander was described as a youth brought up according

to the pr scribed program for a Byzantine prince: riding, javelin throw-
ing, archery, baU playing, "and all other training befitting an emperor."
Most notably, the- ancient hero was also described by Tzetzes as well
versed in rhet.oric and even as having authored a book. 35 More com-
plicated is the passage in Tzetzes' Allegories of the Odyssey in which he
identified the Cimmerians as a tribe living close to the auroscythians
(Byzantine terminology for the Russians) and the Sea of Maeotis. He
that they were ethnically closely related to the Italians. Further,
they supposedly dwelt in a region where the sun never shone and where
there was a strange lake, Siacha, in which even leaves would sink. This
ethnographic detail was apparently very important to Tzetzes; he re-
turned to it, even mentioning the fabulous lake, both in his Histories and
in his vita of the Sicilian St. Lucia. 7 In light of the fact that Tzetz s was
writing his Allegories during the period apprOXimately between 1146-60,
just at the time that the Normans built against the Byzantine Empire a
broad alliance that included the prince of Kiev, his emphasis on histor-
ical Russo-Norman connections makes good political sense. It was not
an arbitrary, arcane observation, but rather an explanation for a contem-
porary political reality. Thus both Eustathios and Tzetzes tried to inter-
pret ancient writings in relation to their own times, modernizing the text
to make it more easily understandable and extracting from it explana-
tions of contemporary habits. These popularizations of Homer may also
bespeak a wider literary audience for the classics.
The treatment of other classical texts developed similarly. The trage-
dies may have been available in the tenth century, but the Byzantines
quoted them then only fTom the excerpts included in Stobaeus and other
ancient floriJegia, not from the originaJs. 18 In contrast, in the eleventh
century a treatise on tragedy was written; furthermore, Euripides was
attentively read by the indefatigable Psellos, perhaps for the first time
since George Pisides at the beginning of the seventh century. In the
35. P. Matranga, Anecdota gracea (Rome, 1850),9.235- 40.
36. H. Hunger, "Johannes Tzetzes, AUegorien zur Odyssee Buch 1- 12," 8Z
49 (1956), 297f.
37. Tzetzes, Hist. 835- 52; Vita St . Lueiac, ed . A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus,
Varia Graeea sacra (St. Petersburg, 19(9), 82.
38. A. Tuilier, Recherches critiques sur Ja tradition du ta te d'Euripide (paris,
1968), 132.
39. R. Browning, "A Byzantine Treatise on Tragedy," Acta Universitatis Caro-
linae philosophica et Ilistorica 1 (1963), 67f., republished in his Studies on Byzantine
History, part 11; A. Colonna, " Michaelis PseUi de Euripide et Georgio Pisida judi-
cium," Stud; bizantin; e t/l-wllen;ci 7 (1953), 16- 21.

,
twelfth century the tragedians and Aristophanes were studied and com-
mented upon by both Tzetzes and Eustathios. Plato wa transcribed in
the ninth century, but he was not studied until the eleventh, when
Psellos read and popularized his work.'" Aristotle's writings were pub-
lished in Constantinople about 850, but through the tenth century they
were referred to only incidentaJly.J From the eleventh century onward,
however, serious commentators on Aristotle proliferated: George Anepo-
nymos, Psellos, John Italos, Michael of Ephesus, Eustratios of Nicaea,
Theodore Prodromos, and Tzetze . Interest in Neoplatonism also re-
vived at this time. l
There was a fundamental change in attitude toward ancient culture
from the ninth to twelfth centurie . The corpu of cia sicalliterature was
gathered and transcribed in the ninth and tenth centuries; in the elev-
enth and twelfth centurie , the process of assimilation and reflection be-
gan. But there are further distinctions to be made in the history of Byz-
antine classicism. Ninth- and tenth-century scholars studied classical
texts with curiosity, but also with distance. They u ed pagan antiquity
as a foil for their own times. That Byzantine writers strove for an objec-
tive distance from the past wa shown in a criticism leveJed by Arethas
of Caesarea, a collector of ancient texts himself, at Choirosphaktes for
amhiguou ly interweaving the myths of the Hellenic world with contem-
porary reality.C3 Even the biographer of Emperor Basil I, whether it was
Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself or somebody else at court, consis-
40. M. Sicher!, "Platonismus und TelCtiiberlieferung," JOB 15 (1966), 202- 5.

41. For a list of commentator on Aristotle, D. Harlfinger, Die Textgeschichte
der Pseudo-Aristotelischnl Schrift Peri Dtomon grDmmon (Amsterdam, 1971), 43f.
Photio probably used Aristotle in the Amphilochia: Lemerle, Le premier human-
i me, 201. Arethas evidently owned some of Aristotle's manuscripts: ibid . 217f.
Also see P. H. Huby, "The of Aristotle's Writing and the Places
Where Copies of His Work Existed," Classica et medwevalw 30 (1969 (1974,
241 - 57.
42. L. G. We terink, "Exzerpte aus Peoklos Enneaden-Kommentar bei Psel-
los," BZ 52 (1959),9; M. Sieherl, "Michael P Uos und JambLichos de mysteriis,"
-"
BZ 53 (1960), 12, 18. On Proklos's tradition, see H. G. Beck, "Uberlieferungsge-
schichte der byzantinischen Uteratur," Geschichte der Textaberlieferu"g I (Zuri.ch,
1961), 457.
43. Arethas, ScriptD minora, ed. L. G. Westerink, vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1968), 204.
According to Arethas, Homer's work are the products of a enile author (297,
342). In his letters Theodore Daphnopates, an author of the tenth century, IIsed
Greek mythology as a mine of allegories primarily for exual pleasures: Theo-
dore Daphnopates, Correspondance (paris, 1978), nos. 12.16, 17.12, 18.6-8. In
Niketas Magistros's letters, mythological figures populate a world quite distinct
from that of humanity: Niketas Magistros, Lettres d'un exile (Paris, 1973).
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

tently contrasted his hero to the personalitie of ancient myth or hi -

tory. For instance, Basil did not n ed a half-man like Chiron to bring him
up, a Achilles had, nor did h have a Lycurgus or a Solon to hand him
his laws; yet eventually the emperor established a tribunal more majestic
than that of the Areopagus or H liaia. Similarly, Theodo io the Deacon,
in a poem written around 963 describing the capture of Cr te, aIJuded to
cia ical personages only to contrast their insignificance with the impor-
tance of contemporary figures. In his opinion, Homer praised worthles
event , the generals he depicted were ciphers, the annie involved in the
Trojan War were small and unimportant ....
The work of Leo the Deacon, which dates from the nd of the tenth
century, marks a change in attitude toward ancient hero. Leo was not
ashamed to compare hi beloved Nikephoros Phoka to Herakles or
John Tzimiskes to Tydeus (Leo. Diac. 48.17-18, 58.11-12). Similarly,
Anna Comnena compared her father both to Herakle and to Alexander
of Macedon;45 her Alexiad, mor over, in its title if not in its conception,
was modeled on the Wad. Tzetze wa proud of th fact that though he
had had to s 11 his library, h had memoriz d its te t . In fact, his classi-
cal quotation are frequently so far from the original that they are mani-
fe tly cited from memory. His intimacy with antiquity is best reflected in
correspondence, which he annotated with a long erie of epigrams,
creating a previously unexampled literary form. In the e epistles, which
are addressed both to real and to fictitious people, Tzetz treated per-
sonal concern and contemporary problems along with details of Hellenic
culture. For example, h de cribed his stay in an apartment badly in
n ed of repair. The tenant in the rooms above wa a prie t who, in addi-
tion to having too many children, kept swine; they rained dirt and urine
down on the poor writer. This prosaic fact, however, is framed by a se-
ri s of da sicaJ images; for instance, the prie t, ac ording to Tzetzes,
had fewer children than Priam us or Danaos or Egypt (heros of ancient
myths), but they were more numerous than tho e of Niobe or Amphion;
the children and the swine are contra ted with th cavalry of Xerxes: the
of Xerxes dried up stream ,wherea Tzetze 'cohabitant brought
forth navigable river (Tzetze , Ep. 33.3-16). He al a sketched acquaint-
ance , barbarian invasion , and diplomatic envoy , enliv ning his im-
44. On the Jjfe of Basil I, 1. Seveenko, "Storia lett raria," LA civi/tn bizantilUl
dill IX al XII sec% (Bari, 1978); on Th odo ios the Deacon, . Criscuolo, "Aspettl
letterari, s tilistid del poema Halosis te Kretes di Teodosio Dia ono," Atti dell'Ac-
CtJdemia Pontaniana 2 (1979),71 - .
45. Herakles: An. C. 1: 16.6, 36.14; 2: 24.18; 3: 110.24; Alexander: 2: 105.2- 3;
3: 217.21-22. See Ja. N. Ljubarskij in Anna Komllina . Alcksiada (Mo cow, 1965),44.
C pyrqrted I
'38
ages ' hr,ou .,g h. com.p arisons w i .:h. m.y thi.c al .h.erlOS, ,e vents from antiq'uiy~
or la~n.ci.en't :ha.b'its~ T f!Sc- . _~p'igrams as. a 'whoIe fo' .m .he so caUed. .His fo~
Ties, an imm.cnse :poe:m wi. h.out any' . ~,ofce,abl.e s,tru.ctu~e' , in w :"'c h. 'Tze--
t~e'S tr-eate ev erytnin.g from. history an,d gle ograp,h y . 0 myt:h:s and :mo.n-
ume ts~ He seems 'to ha.ve slmply enj~y ~.d th.e q ee' r ; ' : "'ng:.oi - stange
"nam .'. 0.0,
~~ I.
' .. t . e "inth ,a nd e .fu centuri.es, t:h en., the' c'- assicai. :p ast i ad been .
l."-ega ded as a1!lurlng b ~t al~e . ~ B," the e]e ent an . . tvletfth centurj,es this
ambi.g.u lty s ~ -ms to h.a.ve ~~~ .n. am ~H.orated". Ind<ed,. 'n. _' h 'e :e ,cen."tur~
Byzan in.e id,e':n: .mfica_,m ,o:n 'w i h t .e' eUe '"c past: became firmly root,ed~
.' ... . . .' .. I "I I '
THE BYZAN INE R ADI G OF
I " l '. . . . .' " '. . ".
>.,
_, . _ : .' ~:_. ,',. ','i' ..... ....: .'.. . ''- '''1 . . . , . .1. : ." , ... : : .. ,~ .... , ... , .1... I,: _" .. :. 1 ,~
C:LA.S:S . CAL L.:.ATU ... '

T.h .a.t w .~ ll- - du.'cat cd. B:yzEln:t' n. ~s ' ~.sp _.c"' any of t 'e e-i-e've nth.a:nd w ,elf't'h
centuries, 'w ire thoro,' -ghly ao~uainted wi . ~. c as -i ca' Ii:-,e 'atur-e "s. W'Ie-U.
:knOlw~n. .. But w ha. explains ' h.is .f ascination w ith. a :p'a st c. .lure? 'Beck s -g . .. i
.ges s' that th":s ,a nf'q'u aianism " as cl. s ~Jy' rela-te d to t ,e repnE!;ssi ve politi-
cal ort odo~ of t h.IE empire~ .:'. hfch. i~ndu.'c~d a. -ca,c uum ~ . tw - -' n : -'~.ali:ty
and cr,e'a ti : e a-ctiity- nclassi.cism. W's s safe a~n.d oo:ns =q.ue .- t .:y po'p"ula ....
Su pport for' such. a. h.esis may' c:-. ~ .ouDd ,m n 'w or,i s, uc '. a Timotheos.r
or' A,bout .Demons w'h ich use1d to be ascribed. to p'"e- ,os.. 7 T 'e piece '. : as,
j I.
writte ' ~'n the fo'- .... .of a. ,d ~ .cusjn between 'M IO' ':"-iie '-' ds.,.. 1m.o / hOls an.d .
Thrax, wh,o met :". ~ Byzant =u m (te., u Co ns :.: . ; ". .'1'. . l., Pr,e ssed 'b y'
Timoihleo:s,. Thrax d,e scribed the p actices of t '[ e Euchites, "' eretilc'" 'w h,o
in.d ulged in eat,i . g e.xct'e m.e t/.. in. :incest, in the sa,cr ~ fi.ce of ne'wlJO'm in-'
fants t and in. ,d.'e'vii w,o:rship'., '. corlveT ~ atio.n. 'w as ... ought to . . e n,d I . . ,.
on.y by the thr ' 'a t of rai '. . In ts .'. arm, i s lan.gua,ge I .a~n.d. i: s' co:ncerns, 4
T'":11l'of.heos .ee ~ .IS a ''!en to the . --. t ure .. :a't p':--od'u ced ~t. .h,e Id .-a)ogu,e form
was de .~ . . ,e d from works of' L uc ian a n Pia.:o 'w hic'h the By.z;an"tlnes. l
m:u .c h ad.mirled; th ~ ~ ,ub'ect rna' t ~ r s . an.' to the sixth rat~er thaj to'
th.e , lev, in th or 't hle twel 't oentury~ The ..... ", tes~ th '~ G 'l ost ICS~..arn,d the
. _a........
v g'e .. ..' U
~ -ULIJa'b
I ~
.. a nt
. t-- 1 ... . n
V t- e-', B. ". .'t..'o:. ' ]h
' -'" I'e!'d ' '(:!
1 "I~ "e'"
. .
t-
' .
o'0" "n"" e- d'- 1:" I1'-I-h.. .e
....
" - IIl:IIX , .a...a
: ~ &~, a'n
Y a
' '~. a...t .... ~
, . . . . . . . . . . U I'~'
roni ms. T:motheos i_.n .d Thr,ax~re 'p ac,e i an epoeh - ein. pa.ga ~sm
w'a'S S:_-r a. U.ve .-ss e' an:d w hle n a revival . . f th,e' 'exae,. . . . es, of th,e' Dio'n y" iac
.. Y[[!lt l. . ~ mlg"
il9 '
.. ..': ,, :, '~/ .. .t f:!til"' . e
.
.... ~ .
:. of" 11"'~1 '. r ;, .. d'.
. lIl:II,v.......... lIl:IIc. ..e
. ~ ,.'
. .
:, ~~' . . ,. II!.-A II!.- 1_
_.
. 6., H:,. G., Beck,.. Byzant.inist,fk

,., (Berlin" 1977), 17~ '9.
, " .. C . Man.go Byzantine Litem.tur :t a.s ItJ D,~ tcrrtin:g Mf rOir (0" ' 0 '. 975)/ if' .
10~ 13.. ., Gauli r', I.JL ': -. .,- m.onibus,' uos 'udo- sUos/ R'- B 38 (1980) . 05 ~
94.. ". n"'. s P:senosi's a:u th.or, hip ao . 1\-d . : s .... ' work, t o . . .. lvi, ~ :fth c ntury" H .e I .'
su.,ggests . at .. '. ay "Iave be '. w .~ ... en by

o ':""i '. las 0. '. '. :. t -on-.
aTepll1an 3a~ ~o bl aBTOpCKl.'1 M npa OM

Notwithstanding the fact that the Timotheos i not the only piece of
B zantine literature that might be cited to support Beck' upposition,
his explanation of the empha i Byzantines placed on cla ical literature
has weaknesses. Beck him elf has recognized in Byzantine political ide-
o logy an ambivalence whereby both resistance to autocracy and domi-
nation by autocracy were legitimated. The orthodo y of political thought
in Byzantium must not be xaggerated; cons quently, concern with an-
tiquity must not be treated imply as a sign of in I alienation.
Rather it may be suggested that Byzantine dependenc on antiquity de-
v loped out of a need to find ecurity within an ble oci ty by
creating the illusion of cultural continuity with the Hellenic past. The
r pr entation of and Thrax (or Achille or Alexander) as
contemporaries was not an inconsequential pa time play d to fill a 0-
cial vacuum, but an attempt to e tablish constancy amid the insecurities
of Byzantine life. Furtherillore, Byzantine imitative lit rature did not
a oid vital contemporary questions, but used traditional themes, classi-
cal image ,quotations, and antique expression to comment up n social
and ideolOgical phenom na in the Byzantine world . Their art was in a
ns an art of allusion.411 Once this is accepted, critique of Byzantine
soci ty become apparent in man Byzantine work . In War of the Cat and
Mice (Katomyomachia), a parody by Theodore Prodromo , the under-
ground exi tence of the mice by the au thor may r fl ct the Byz-
antine ' sen e of political oppression. Herbert Hung r ev n proposed
that the king of the mic , Kreillos, represented a typical Constantino-
politan demagogue and u urper (Ex. 28).9 Antiquity was bound even
more tightly in contemporary issues in Timarioll, a dialogue written pos-
ibly b Ni hoi a Kallikl ,a poet and physician at the court of Alexios I,
or by another person u ing the nom de plume Lucian (Ex. 29). 511 C rtainly
it wa from Lucian that the author cribbed the plot of hi narrative,
which involves the hero's journey to the underworld. But th etting (the
fair at Thessaloniki), the people of HeU (including P 1I0s and John
48. A. Garzya, "Topik und Tendenz in der byzantinischen Literature,"

Am:dger der plrilologisd,-historiscl,ell Klasse der Osterreicilischen Akndemie der Wissen -
ellattell 113, no. 15 (1976), 307. Beck also acknowledge that there are traces of
'al criticism in Byza ntine literature: Das iryumtinisclle Jallrtausend, 136- 42.
49. H. Hunger, Die byzallfilliscile Katz-Miiuse-Krieg (Graz, 1968), 55-65.
SO. R. Romano, Pseudo-Luciano, Timarione ( aplcs, 1974), 13- 31; R. Ro-
mano, "Sulla pos ibile attribuzionc del 'Timarione' p udo-Iudaneo a Nicola
Callicle," Giomale ila/ial1o di filologia 4 (1973),309 - 15. H. Hung r admits the po -
ty of Prodromos's a of the Timarioll : Die hochsprachliche profane
Literatllr der Byumfiner 2 (Munich , 1978), 154.
Copyr rt fTla al
Italo ), and the event that brought about their downfall wer all drawn
from contemporary Byzantine life. ~l
The allusive commentary on current affairs that the literary fiction of
th empire masked with antiquated vocabulary and traditional
wa thoroughly unde,r tood and appreciated by its r ader . The sophi -
ticated knowledge of the clas icalliterary tradition among the educated
allowed an author scope for exploiting even subtle modifications of form
and sub tance. S2 Though often 10 t on modern readers, uch manipula-
tion of the familiar texts of antiquit might weU rouse emotions or sug-
politically . v id a to contemporarie . Of even in me-
di at Byzantium such aUu ions would have had a limit d audience;
only a small minority would have been able to savor these scholarly in-
nuendos. But the inherent liti m of this mode of expre ion mu t have
contributed to its aead mic attraction.
Clas ic.al culture did not remain monolithically intact in its transmis-
ion to th Middle Ag s. Th Byzantine fundamentally modified classi-
ci m to conform to their pel.uiiar cultural effort for stability. Instead of
analyzing the of character through individuals' reactions
to event, the Byzantine wer oncemed with the id al re ponses of
prototypical or symbolic figur . For instance, Christ's Passion (Chri tos
Paschon) is similar in forlU to Greek tragedy.53 Thi work, moreover, de-
pends heavily on line from Euripides and include also quote from
A schylus and from Lykophron. However, the of the Byzan-
tine pie e differs radically from that of ancient tragedy and e pecially of
Euripides: in Christos Paschon the protagoni t, the Virgin Mary, reacted
pa sively to the dramatic e cnts announced to her by a eries of mes-
Shift from rrow to joy occurred as disjoint d reaction to the
51 . Even in highly d .rivati e erotic romance, images drawn from the con-
temporary scene are employed time after time: A. P. Kazhdan, "Bemerkungen
zu Niketas Eugeniano ," JOB 16 (1%7), 101 - 17; H, Hunger, Antiker und VyZJ1n-
tiniscller Roman (Heidelberg, 19 1),
52. A. Garzya, "Topik und Tendenz," 306f. H. Hunger ha noted both th
antinomy of strict imitatio and the rich diversity of detail in Byzantine literature
nd the ten ion between imitation and originality: Byzantinisclle GruTidlagen-
forschung (London, 1973), part 15, 33.
53. On the dating of th Christos Pasdwn, A. Tunier, Gregoire de Naziance, La
passion dll Chr; t (pari, 1%9), 72f.; J. Grosdidier de Maton , " A prop d ' un
&lition r .e nte du Christos paschon," TM 5 (1973), 363- 72; more generally, H .
Hunger, " Die byza Uteratur der Komn nenzeit, " Anzeiger dcr phi-
lologisch-historischen KJasse der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wis en clulften IDS,
no. 3 (1968), 63-65; S. Av rince ," izantijskje eksp rimenty tanrovoj fOlmoj
trag <iii." Problemy poetiki i i torii literatury (Saransk, 1973), 255-70.
C pyr qrted r1 I
narrative of the Lord's pa ion the foreboding of Juda 's betrayal, the
f ar of crucifixion , the lamentation over the body after the depo ilion,
and the joy of the resurr ction. The outward form of emotion rather
than the dynamic of action and passions were d scribed. Antique liter-
ary devices were absorbed into a purely medieval mode of expression.
ART AND ANTIQUITY

The process of collection and a imilation of th classical inheritance
. a vid nt in art a it is in literature. Here again cla ical canon were
adapt d to the contemporary cultural concerns.
The late ninth and tenth centuries were a fertile period in the Byzan-
tine figural arts that perhaps arose from the renewed int rest in religious
unage after Iconoclam. The cholarly concern for ancient texts appar-
ently resulted in a of Late Antique images repr enting a variety
<>f ubjects, which included author' portrait and narrative equences.)'
Of the few surviving fourth- through sixth-century illuminated manu-
cripts, everal have miniature rendered in an illu ioni tic style. That is,
the artist attempted to captm for his audi n e the appearance of real-
ity, a specific tune and place by using certain pictorial devices. Th e
onv nti n include lin ar and aerial perspective, which impose depth
on a flat picture plane by ugge ting recession either through the dimi-
nution of objects or through a change in atmospheric color from fore-
ground to backgrollnd. Volume is suggested in th figure by modeling
them with highlight and hadows, as though they moved from shade
brightness. Frames might also be used to indicate that t enclosed
pace was di tinct from that occupied by the viewer. Certain masters e -
p ially of the mid-t nth century assumed the stylistic habit of the ear-
lier illuminators. Ther are orne e tremely camp tent manu cript illu-
minations rendered in thi clas icizing style full-page windows into
pace, filled with voluminou , light-contoured figure, uch a the author
portrait of the Stavronikita Gospel and scene from the life of David in
the Paris Psalter (Fig. 29). Apparently at the same time that antiquarian
54. R. S. ormack, "Painting After Iconoda -m," in Icof/oclasm, cd . A . Bry ~r

and J. Hetlin (Bil'J'ilingham, 1977), 147-64.
55. The idea of a revivaJ of classicism is rna I clearly defined by K. Weitz-
mann, Geistigc Grundlagcn und WeseTl dcr MakedOTliscJlen Renaissance
1962); "Das klassische Erbe in d r Kunst Konstanlinop 1 ," Antike und nClle KUllst
3 (1954), 54f. Al 0 see . Kitzinger, "The Hellenisti H ritag in Byzantine Art,"
DOP 17 (1%3), 95f.
56. K. Weitzmann, Die byuwtilliscllc Buclmlfllerei de ' 9, II/Id 10. /allfhullderts
(Berlin, 1935). 23f.; H. Buchthal. Till! Milriaturcs of the Paris Psalter (London. 1 38).
COPY grted m
stylistic features began being used, classicizing iconographic elements

were also introduced into Christian images. 5 ' The stance of Christ re-
leasing Adam from Hades may have been remodeled on that of He.r akles
dragging Cerberus from the netherworld. The boy removing a thorn
from his foot (spinarius), a well-known topos from antiquity, appears to
have been metamorphosed into one of the witnesses of Christ's Entry
into Jerusalem. Male and female personifications of cities, rivers, and
the like proliferate. The well-known Joshua Roll is replete with them
(Fig. 30).
All these innovations, both iconographic and stylistic, reflect a re-
markable interest in clas ical prototypes. But questions may be raised
about the artistic integrity of these compo ite images (Fig. 31). Oassiciz-
ing details and cia conventions are put together in such a way
that they tOJ In a peculiarly unclassicizing whole; there is something es-
sentially eclectic in the classicizing images of the tenth century. More-
over, the traditional equation between naturalism or illusionism and ar-
tistic sophistication or quality has affected our view of Byzantine art. We
need to be less biased and more critical. It is widely assumed that the
Paris Psalter is a great work of art, but while there are masterpieces
among the miniatures of the Paris Psalter, there are also compositions
such as the Reception of David, in which the attempt to render a con-
vincing depiction of reality i an utter failure . Both figures and space
59
are disjointed. More importantly, the introduction of foreign features

sometimes affects the significance of the image. Intrusions from the clas-
sical past may add to the decorativenes of the painting or even to its
political content, but they do not always contribute to its religious mean-
ing personification and antique topo;, with their pagan connotations,
may well be distracting. One might even suggest that the classicizing
style, with its inherent concern with the manipulation of the eye of the
beholder, is fundamentally anthropocentric and thus potentially disrup-
tive to a Christian, theocentric image and less appropriate for monu-
mental, communal religious works. In fact, the apparent predominance
of a h ighly classicizing style in the mid-tenth century may be related to
the almost complete absence of contemporary monumental decorations.
Although a nllmber of churches with mosaic and fresco decorations sur-
57. I<. Weitzmann, Greek MytholoKY ill ByulIItille Art (Princeton, 1951); "The
Survival of Mythological Representatjons in Early Christian and Byzantine Art
and Their Impact on Christian Jconograph ," DOP 14 (1960), 43-68.
58. K. Weitzmann, The Joshua Roll, Work 0 tile MJlcedollia" Renaissallce (Prince-
ton , 1948).
59. H. Buchthal, Paris Psalter, esp. 23.

The Pursui,t of' Kn,o w:],edge -AI'
t.3"
viv,e ,rr-om ,t h,e :la'te mn't h a'n,d early t,e'd ,t h c,e'ntur ~esj l't :is - ely held 'tha't'
, :0 m,oonmen'tal. em, in ,at 'ty'- e " that' ~ '" cont-e'mpora ,', ' manu,-'
~' mages
scr ~,pts fiO Indeedl' ,~t, :seems ,a-s fhoug'h r,ela,tlvely' few :ma.j-or .foun,d iltioin s
w,~ re constl'u,cted d" 'f ,mg ,t h,,' :m iddl,e d,lE!ca,d,es ,o f t- 'e' ten't h loon,tul)7' (see
' bel,olw~ p,", 198),., ,N: ,e .rtheless, the -, ,exa' pIe , - "", "!,d te ' t"-ce "ltury"w~ 'I , 1
p,ail'ntin,g _'ha,t may fIll this, la,c una cl,ari le:s o-ur po -'n,t ,a bou:t: cIa,:, -", : j ,
style',., N10 w ,t ha,-th,e ,fr'escos 0' the "" ew' Ch,u rc' ~ of To:k ab KiU;se in 'G,or-eme'
Valley, Ca,p 'p 'adocia, hav'e bee,n cleB_n ,e d, -they' can,be r ~ cognized ,f or what
,t h,ey' are': ,6o'philstica 'e dt, high~,uali.t _," W 'O', ks '- ,t: with stro, g m,etro ,I,
:pol ~ ta'nco "D ' ' " (Fig; 32) ,.,,61 'T h,e' c]assilcizing figu:re s"tyle' of th,ese
ire ,Qols is c],o se:l y re]a't ed, to su,c h wor.:ks as -'h,e Leo Bible . Yet. th,e masie'r 0'
th,e ,N ew' Ch,u rch, 8v'o id,ed, in, ~odu,cing into :his ,imagl' ~ ,s la.o,y ' ,o f 'th, ,o the'r c
c-
e"em,e n 'S, of o(}rnte'm poI"alY c]as;silclZ ~n,g::. . . "inia't ures, ,s,u ch a

perspectiv,e devices o'r persoln"',' "cations . Apparent ,f ; messen'tial, ,pro'p s
,an,d figur " . . ' w 'r'e e'-" ! r~tlina'ted, :i - 'o lr d'E!It., that the ,C hris, ological :n arra, ives
'p rese ' ted ~ ":'1 'e se p'.,:" . ti gs," ight 'b e ,as egib'Ie as :poss,~ . l,e' ,a nd th,e reby
'1'
betb!r :se ~, . e ' th,e ir fun,c tion as ch,o rch nih This evid,e 'n ,oe ,oo'nfiIRts I. ... , .. . ' , ...
,t he' illlpression made by 1. ~xury codilc,e,s a d iv'o ry boxes fua't in th,e Illid,...
ten,th cen,w 'ry artisti.c 'patronage was domina ied 'by 'he' C,o nsmntn 'D"-'
po.li.tan, elite,. 'B'u t i also s, ~ggests ,t'M ,t a, SllIl1.P' iiied" an-ti-iIlu,siloms,_ c _rea,t'-
me1n t of bll~ge8 'w as, 'r-egard,e d as, ,m ore appro'p riate' for -the l,e n,d e ,ing lo,f
'C h -s,toIogi,caI truthsi:m Ii i 'co'm mu '. al :setting~
In oo:n-tras't to th'e oon'tr.i.vl' ~ d, s' y'~,e chara,cte,r,iS'tic of som, ~ 't enth, '~_ n,t ury'
manuscripts" sty' e in the 0,'1owin,g centuI}' seem ~ a. em'body' 'val-u,es. of' a
bros,d,er' 'C hr,ig _ian, cul,t ur,e: th,e reali'_Y' r =' dered W '8 S no '"~ :n s'tura ~ bU'I: di-,
'v,m,e; th'e' a,c tions,:r epresen, ed 'were no ' . isto lea 'b ut,u v'e sal... '- ,he ani ~ ,t I.
0 ,0 longe'r s,'trove to excite ,the' -vie'w'er"s :interest 'tlltOU,g h, il' 'us,~, onis, ti,c con,..,
'v,en-tio,ns,; ra-th,er :he a't temp .d _'10 presen't- ~ s- c],ea'rly' as 'possibl.e' t-h,e ,d,o,g ,
ma,tic ,t ruths h,e W '8 S ,depicting" P'hy.siical spac,e of':r-ece _in,g -:Ianes ,a n,ld, a,t,-,
mos,p ,h e .ic~ azure w 'as repla,c ed, by ,a, -t,r,a'n:scen,d ,le" t spa,ce of ,t he g.old
grou'n d' : 0 r ' by "h
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,i.:rolm :s,h.a,dows WI ,mckering hlg:hlig~ ts w'ere r,'plao~d bly au;ste~ ~ ima . =-:5-
lo,f h'u manity, abstra,ct' in.. 'h,e clar.ity of' thei d,ebne,~ _,tion (fi,g~. ,33 all,d 23) 'F
Th
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1
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art of' th,e 'te ~ .I ,' ,ee'n . ury ca 'b es . . . . . u d,e stoo, an,d, ,a,p 'p ' ecia c,e d f m ,
, a" Be ~'pt ir'u ' , ~" afo - , f Id '--o ,m ivol~y ' "' g- , de:l --'x ~' w,o rks in, 't he
E. " ,,_~g" " J 'H

'rf\
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'~ '8,'-aI,;; ' ,- . , -g-'~f ' "_'Jl~:':
ob11a-:rn,i'u. .'.:
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uV ,'_. SoU' ' i'~' d : 'J111
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. -' ~t , !'na'
II:.LI ., ~R" i ,;' - - __
scenza, Ma I , . " . ,a B:isanzio/ t Corso dl cultura' sul,ratte Rave,n --'Q',r e ,f' ~ iZa~tt,t i'''t!, 2,9
(1982,), ,31..,
'6 ],. A,~ W~ Eps-t m M""d:s ,and ,Cave ' ,in: Bymn,ti'n . Cappadocin (Durh.amll'
l,
~ C ., . 983)..
aT p an 3aw,lAw, bllA aBTOpCKl.'1 M npaBOM

144 CHANGE IN BYZANTlNE CULTURE
minor arts the art of the e.l eventh and twelfth centuries is most fully
appreciated on a monumental scale in the mosaics and frescos of great
foundations of the period. This is not a fortuitous shift. The works of the
classicizing illuminators, like those of the classicizing write.rs, had a lim-
ited audience. The monumental art of the eleventh and tweJfth centuries
was adapted stylistically to a broader community of viewer .
The esoteric style of the mid-tenth-century minor arts was short
lived. This is not to say that the artists and patrons of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries rejected the artistic inheritance of antiquity; on the
contrary, that legacy was absorbed . A new balance between abstraction
and naturalism was exploited in the vaults of the great churches and on
the illuminated manuscript pages of the period. The mosaic programs of
Hosios Loukas, the Nea Moni, and Oaphni were all rendered in a dis-
tinctive tyle, but they nevertheless all represented variations of a syn-
thesis of dogmatic abstraction and humanistic illusionism. 2 The isolated
figures of the narrative Biblical sc.e nes are flattened by outline and by the
geometric treatment of drapery segments. They are set against a shim-
mering gold ground that defies temporal or topographic localization. Yet
the proportions of these figures are consistent with life. Their actions
have the clarity and stereotypicality of ancient drama.
The dose ties that of the eleventh and twelfth centuries had
to the classical past may perhaps best be demonstrated by contrasting a
Byzantine image with a contemporary Romanesque one of the same
subject the Pentecost of A inou and that of Vezelay (figs. 34-35).
Vezelay was a great FreJlch pilgrimage church;6l Asinou was a small
Cypriote monastery. Both are, however, decorated with works of high
quality of around the year 1100. The figures of Vezelay are superhuman
vessels of ecstatic inspiration, pure expressions of divine will. They are
not men. Moreover, the whole image is splendidly anti-rational. The
relative size of the participants, the relationships between the figures
and the spa e they inhabit, even the framing element, which is a series
of pendant scenes, have nothing to do with nature. The Apostles of the
Byzantine work, in contrast, are rendered as organically integrated fig-
ures. They are individualized men, each with his own hairstyle and
beard, each with his own mission. The physical integrity of the figures is
62. E. Diez and O . Demus, Byzantine Mosaics in Greece, Daphni and Hosios
Louklls (Cambridge, Mass., 1931).
63. A. Katzenellenbogen, "The Central Tympanum of Vezelay. Its Encyclo-
pedic Meaning and It Relation to the First Crusade," ABull 26 (1944), 141-51;
C. Beutler, " Das Tympanon zu Vezelay: Program, Planwechsel und Datierung/'
Wallra/- Richart.z /ahrbuch 29 (1%7), 7- 30.
Cooyr gtltec rra

parall led in the organization of the compo ition. Th painting is emi-

nently legible the relation between the source of inspiration and the
inspired is not only comprehensible, but it also p rfec,tly complements
the odd space of the barrel vault in which it is set. The image is funda-
mentally rational. And it is this rationality of Byzantine art, a much as
any formal continuity, that ties it to antiquity.
LAW
It is hard to imagine thing more remote from each other than art
and literature on one hand and the law on the other: the first two deal
with the loftiest emanations of human spirit, the latter with the boring
rules of everyday behavior. evertheless, th eleventh- and twelfth-
century Byzantine approach to the law reveals, in m ny aspects, th
same trends and tendenci s that were typical of the development of art
and literature: jurisprudence moved from the pre rvati n and compila-
tion of ancient tradition toward commenting on and as imilating them.
A discu sed in Chapter 1, in the ninth and tenth centuries offidal or
s mi-officiallegal compilations were produced that impo d an order on
the inherited corpus of Roman law. The most comprehen ive of them
were the Basilikn (Imperial Books) by Leo VI, who compiled Justinian's Di-
ge ts, Code, Institution.s, and Novels and arranged the material ac ording
to ubject. The BasiUkn remained the major source of Jaw for the follow-
ing centuries; it was constantly studied and comment d upon. Around
1100 a certain judge named Patzes is ued the so-called Tipoukeitos (What
Is Plnced Where?), a subject index to the Basilika. More reflective of new
ociaJ development was a change in the nature of the scholia. The
cholia to the Basilika written in the tenth century, mostly at the court of
VII, con isted of e cerpts from the work of the jurist of
the sixth and seventh centurie or fTom the so-called Kalene (the Chain),
c mpiled by an anonymou writer between 570 and 612. In ontrast, the
juri ts of the eleventh and twelfth centuries wrote their own glosses to
the Basilika. For example, John Nomophylax reproached the authors of
th Basilika for their err rs in translatlon from Latin to Gre k and gave
preference to Justinian's legislative corpus. Sometime commentators in-
dicated that the rules of the Ba ilika were obsolet . Thu Basilika 60: 46.1,
following Justinian's Digest 48 : 14.1,1, prohibited an on from curry-
ing the demos's favor in order to obtain promotion to the po ition of
strategos or of priest. The choHast indicated that thi ruling contradicted
the principles of Byzantine law, according to which n t the demos but
only the emperor the right to appoint officials. In the mid-
eleventh century a legal colJection was produced that included not only
Copyr grtoo I
the an nymou Great Synopsis of the Ba ilikn but al 0 a regi ter of the im-
periallaw of the tenth century. Thi compilation i found in everal edi-
ti n by diff r nt auth r , of which reflect considerable care and
cholar hip in th ir textual r vision of the emper r' riginal dicts.
Furth r, veral monograph were i sued that treated specific legal
problem . There are only two rec rded legal deci i n a cribed to the
tenth century: a certain . Kosmas dealt with problems of land
divi ion and with th right of paroikoi on their allotment. In contrast,
from the eleventh century onward, a number of juridical treati e ap-
peared, treating a wide variety of ubjects ranging from the difference
b tw n pr m ditat d and accidental murder to the regulation of agree-
m nts, debt, and th parate property of a on under the guardian hip
of hi father. me of were anonymou; orne pr rYe the
name of their author , including Gorge Phoben ,Garida, and Eu-
Rh maio . A new of the eleventh century wa juridical
textbook . Michael P ello' c ntribution, a deliberation on legal tenni-
nol gy written in ver e, is of limited ignificance. More important to a
study of the p ri d i The Practical Synopsis, written by th professional
judge and hi t rian Michael Attaleiate . M Thi work, dedicated to "the
mo t pow rful aut krator Michael [Vill," i a historical urvey of the law
ning with th Roman "when there no imperial mon-
arch, but very y ar two c nsul were elected by the enate, that i by
the mo t noble archon f Rome, and by the whole demos, in order to ad-
mini ter both civil and military affair " (Zepo ,Ju 7: 415.20-24). The
la t legi lati n taken into con ideration by Attaleiate i the " . Ba-
ically Attaleiate wa concerned with anci nt R man law. He even
started his work with th traditional tatem nt that "all human being
are either or fr e p r on ," adding that free persons have no mas-
ter above th m (Zepo , Jus 7: 418.1-2), a principle that overtly contra-
dict d the m dieval reality of odal dependency. Further, n after
1034, an an nymou tudent of the judge Eu tathio Rh maio pub-
64. or a urvey of legal work leventh and tw Ifth centurie , se
P. Pi I r in Hung r, Die profal1e Literatur 2, 461 - 72. n the regi
of th imp rial edict, ee . G. Svoronos, La Syllopsis major des Basiliques et ses
appendices (Pari, 1964), 173, who onn ct th CT ation of v ral v r ion of it
with the activity of the law hool in the mid-eleventh century. Hi ugge tion i
hypothetical. W. Wolska-Conu , ilL' 01 d droit t I'en ignement du droit a
Byzan au Xl ' i I : Xiphilin et P ello ," TM 7 (1979), 13- 53, in contra t, at-
tribut certain I gal wor (the cholia to the Ba ilikn b John omophyla,
Meditatio de poctis l1udi , etc.) to John Xiphilino . On th Ir ali e of P ello
and Attaleiate , L. W nger, Die Que/len de romi Irell Reclrt (Vienna, 1953),
710- 13.
C-opyrlqntac 'T a I.;.,

147
, . ,s'hl',e d, t 'hI' Ie Pei'

' .ra, O'l' i'n...,
'lactlce", ,a, unl,q ule' co"1l
~1 ~
ectlon,
-
0 f'~ ,cases 0; by
" ," 't h
~
,[,!
jU,ld,ge and, r,eoo,r;ded in his :notes (~ypo,m 'nema;ta) ,., 65 It ,0 0 - tainc '- a,bo,u - 275
decisions made 'by E,l lsta'lliio,s during his lo ng car'eer- his ti,t 'ie" variously
pro,tos,patharios:,j! pat.rikios:., and nmgrstros, re,fleets the' d'ura' j,on, o.f ~ lS, Judi...,
lcial profess,il{m, and is a remarka'ble SOUl,t e for understan,d ing bot, " ,t h,'
social s't ru,c ture of the' 8",z antin,e' Emp,iire' ,a nd i~~s legal 'p:ract~ce" 'Se,w tal
't im,e s Eustath ~ as had ,t o exa ~ 'I-ne cases, in vol'vi~g th,e' nobi,e' falluly' 10.1' ';: [,'
S:k1er'o t :F'o r mstance, la, gro,u'p of' 'v,ilia,geEs brough,t: 9,u i'l against the' p,ro-'- ~ - - -
tospatharfos Roman,o.s. Slderos.r ,alle,g~ng ~'ha't' :m, oo,m,pllicity w,i,~h the ,Eoca],
"]'u d"'ge'I h
,',
o ...
.' ..:...
I .. : ',: : . ' 'h'ad
,,:"', \ ' d. t'h e'm 'Jl.
' rtliI""ice ...... se'
I~UJl. 1
1l..U ~] a,.hel
..:', ,]1., ', . . . ,_.: ' . y
'l . '[ ','-. '"r. proper!
I, '-., .' , .... to
" 'hi~m E
' UCl!'t' at"'I!.....i:-s'. pu,ti',"
~.:I [..1 . "I II! I.' ' . 0 1 ....: ~uu ~ ,"~'
the bur-d,e n, 'o,t :p:roo.f 'o n, the peasan, s . .If _'h,e y ,oo,u),d :n ot ,d,emon:stra,-_ ' ,that
they' had ac,c eded to the trans,f,e'' ,o f pr-oper~y 'u nder ,p ressure', :S kleros
wo Id 'b e all'o w,e d 't o pay the price 't '- at h,e prolm~ sed the . etum fOr I, '! '..
their la:n d, an,d in a-d,diti,o n iin,terest fro:m the :perj.od, o,f' th,e:ir a,greement., If',
:h,ow'ever/ thle y Illanaged to :p'I-ov'e tn8),t thei ~ 'cess:,on, 'W,o,s unw,ruing., ,t h,e
transfer 'w oul.d, 'be' :i nv,alidarted,., Again, certain monks, ,charged :Skler-ols
with, unla,w ,f U[y I:, .. .1 : ". a piece' of la'n,d tba'_, be].on,ged to, ,the'I r mo,n as
1,
't cr,YI and a p,r,ies' ~ a,cc se " Skl,er,o.s o.f having :s .ruck h-m 'wi-t' ~ ,8 w,h ip',.,
M'aria" Skleros":s ,da,u,ghler, was r,eco:rd,ed,,as dema'n,d in,g' :paym'ent' fro'm a
ce ta 'n ;'m pove'I s ,,e d pa',tr.ikivs Pani'b eriols Wh.o '~ as, in,d,e'b-ted, ,t o her',., I '
t'h e e'n ,d , sh,e' r ~ c,~iv,e,d, th,e M,onas't,e'r y of 'S.' _., Mamas in, :lieu of mon,ey'~ T,h,e
- .t ica,c ies ,of judgm,e t ,a re dep'i,ct'e d in a , oih ,e r case:
,A bis,h op died., and. t:h.e ,spa;tha:romna'idatos w'h o 'w as his netghbor [and as,
a~, n~' 'Ie
'-, :c..,!
""g~" ....' h'~b~' o'.\I"li'' ..".." . 's"se' '., :s'-.o
. ~ .~ 0 I'.
I1,.,.:bts.
:.."m:-.,e' '.I;'r ~ill'[I, o
''n
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o'p,~,r~
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p
-"~' '''iO~p -~ e:
: ,," ,' :.: ~ ~
~ r-""',
hr'~
1 .aln
"'"',-~ ,"'Dp.\-~'
1Iio~,L, eu,
th h
: " .. o
'!(;' , .. , ' . '. ' ; , .il'.:oon'
.. 1l ,and e)i'~ t..
bn- o'p- ' sl'a~ ,'
,~ , r~~. 'WlI' vesc~ , sea
. ' .' )'I!...,:il ~ ' _ .i:.h
~~,'i"II'.:.JL.'Led
..... "'...{)
~< ~ '. l'''-
I:.W - ,It
O;J[ 1Iio' -' [',ere
'ril:.h
( ~ ~ 'b. ~'sh
e' !I '. ~ ~ '~~s ; ~
~ , ~'
for glo kt He fou-nd a bag,.,'W h,e n eventually :he was asked" he' brough", ,.-t
back em,pty. Ihe slaves, :h oweve , :infor.rtlil d [o.fficials] i'h at the bag had l
'b-ee -, ." , 0 f'; go:~1..JI

I'~" Th . tros: a .,~d~ ',"' u~ge
: ~ 'Us,' t ~h,- ,e 1ntlgls: ...I [. .ustatJ} li,os"'J attlJl~,
~ :L ~ ........,,.,1:
him and, said in ' :foUowlng w,ay 'to ' h,e .spat,haroka"d,idQfo.s~: "~WhY' did,
1'ou e -ter ,alone 'w", . ' " s,l aes a ",d search lor .', . 11'" He I1eto,rte.d: "'I
bro' .gat w ha,t I had .ro. .. .,n ' Since ' hiE!' < aves ins~ " ted 'i na,t ' he ~. ad! stolen,
t'he gol . . 'the bag.!, th,e magist,ros d cid,ed thB.,t 'tn,e' sia,v,@s ,hould
, . o8.' h The ,'pat.h'a:,.,dbnd,idatos , ..: . say. ng , nal s,la S", ac- I
,cor-ding to Ia'W:1 ar ' 'n.ot, pe'r nn,t ted t,o ,S,W'eali'.. ~,;rl ,a:m not ICQlnd.e,m ned/' ... .
.. . , .' Th: ',. ;.is' , .. . . : UYau . a '" .. an,d ,.,~th
'th.e'm ' ... searChed fo ' :gold ' yoo ,t rustd '. he'm .. ' 'ta in,g '
.,. d. in ,Z ep06, lu,s 5 Q'n r, S' e G ,'Weiss" 1JH, ... Rich'~ In

65,. , . ~. In - I '
s't antinape'l. Eus' athilos Rhomaias, und se", 'e Ko' ' ege'll/" lOB ,2 2 (19"73), 1.17~,43;:
'D ,. SimOI\;, RechtsJi nd-u.n:g a:m Ibyzardj'n:isch'en~ , , ,ichsgri'chJ (. ,-:rankfuf ' a ~ . <,'. 1973);:'S,., jl
'V , :I . ,, ~' Fe,ira . I So,urce' for .' _' ,.ce :His,' .cory OlE 'fB,yz:anti'he Aristooa' SOCl,etly
:in 'th,e' F'irst ,HidE of , ~ e Xl h Ce1n tury/' ,Near Easfern N'u:mismatics, lc ~,nogrQphy an'd
History., Sfudies' in' MO'NO,' ,of G., M'.il'es (Beirutl 974)" 279'~,,84 . ,c.
aT p~afl 3a~ ~ bl~ aBTopCK M npaBOM

c
.
4
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. .. . 'C :H .A .N G,E, IN B,Y',Z AN'T'I N"E CU'LTU'RE
'
't h i'og .. 'S'"InceyOluI h,.av'
" " '.1. ":""
e a .' . d
. . . . . . ,"
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,r, ,', . ~ . . . .
I'.
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'
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I c~':propriel 0 cS:I' you n.vie to accep , their oa' h "tha, 'YOU have taken 'm Ol ~
,gold and not" on'- y this amout.., . 'Ia'- , '. YOU! ' '.' '- bisroln~d.oing' I .
and, . " it" you w,o uld not' h , '1 ' .' nte'f 'd. ., ith slaves i :to ,a n, alien ho ' .'
and '." ckd ~ .. 'l '.- 't ing ,."" S " d cidt\, ,-' I,@ slaves s.wor .' in}
oa'~h
1' : -" '. ' d'_ J,'h e" ,s,
~" , ~'ln -. pa fL-
numAUnw, ,t.,.. ~'i'd. ~hn
1, .
,,j;,... , w
"- -:,a
. s,
" ..--,,;JI-.,---'-,-d
~onLU;: , n. .','l-and p-.. -"",v.-', b:,a-:- ,c. ,.fi, . IU . . --'t
'I ... t'l... . . ' iI
.''., ''.' .os, 1

(Ze . U'S 5-.'- .' 30
. ...... - - , - , , -
-' 1- 5-)-..
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,
T,he ,Peira p're.serV'es n,o t o:nly' th" U:v ~'ng' unag~ of I. '.' 'gal p'I,a,c - ice In th,e eJ~v'
I ~n' th, c.-:ntury 'b ut ver[iI~ cul~r 'QSa;ges as 'w e ' . For examp' "~'I' 'w 'bile B,U,-
s'tal-hios w,as ju,d, _.ng ,t h,e' ,ea ce 0 " two offi -' -lSI 0 " - e ,o f W ' - ',0 -- was '~ Ie pr-o
to.spa' hario,.1 L ~ 0 " pnl:fotJ' tarias of' ,t h,. gen:ikDn!' the '.""" -' 0 I
1:
s' ta'te~, th,e' tw,o ,a,dversar.ies "~"" ,: " a't,ed,w,ords,," 'W hil,e on .~' ,o f ,t he de-
'"'
fen,d an Sf abu.e w,as relatively mild, ': -eo, called his opponent at siw indler
,a n,d a son o,f ',a b,l t,ch,(6,1. : 6) 'E vid,e n't t th,e :5 cretary' ,o,f thle!' tr:ibuna - .'. :nOlt : E
-:h rink f,r o,m ]}ecord~'ng: vu' gar ' .' '" .' ...... . '.'
From the leleve . f c;e'n tury' 0 'w,a rd, canon ' aw~, like secul.,
at,t e':ntlv.ely ,studiled,~ Around 1.090, th,_. lawy,er' Th,e odore '8 estes comp -'- ed
a :n,e w V -rsion of 'h,e . omocanon :in , ,,,urteen C'naprer: I 'ea - -fully inc 'uld ing,
,-': I Ie'" J,." '.. I' .. c- o ..dJ . ; ,.i.'L
UI le G""---,' '..":...... '. . ,'I . ,,'
.. -,-
l' -. ,e'
. .'.-a' "nlI. ll , I'!l.}',lI.,
l""iII"IililL"'
a~ ""n

'" an "- 'bI - ,'I'I .. ~ .
':... , a:;b
. I .' I '. I. '
v ia,te d , fO,l111 , 16(" La,w yers Q1f t ie' "twe '. -, I' C tul)' .' . . . 'l ie d .... " . ma'"n c .
't,e xts of',mno,n law, t'h ,e' :so-ca -'i ed .ur, of "he . . . postle ,. a . ' 't '-',e ,c anons of 't" "' e
c,h U~ - con'n eil! ,a,s., 'well. , -.: ,....... n n., ',: . .. .' ~' o'b ~ ll " ,., : ch:urch
'ws 'w e ~',a ta,c ked and I1efu,ted"" h ' tollooln ,t empo'r ,__ '~ secu~ 'I > - C
,
,- I.'
lar I.egitsla,t ion ,and to Iclas -,'" etl w ,tings, by' --,en 'uch a - A' lexilo;s ,A..:risten,OiS'i' C
John ,Zo,naras., ,a nd " '. .:.. '.', Balsam,o'n~ ,'.. "e' 'w as ,- Iso a mo'v,e by can,-
onists ,to e,x,_Joi't ,t h,e ex .'geses of lec,cle,sias"tic :re,gula,tions for _'h ~ir own,,-_ 0-
"ticac- nd -;; U' ~, ,.' .', -,g ,t - -am,e i), .- :'al..l' ',' . "," .' ".'~ Zo, " ~ ~,- s .... '.. "a 1-' ,1-,- '1,
a. ,iO
.~ ldAO'1'~omll a o
'01-"'""
' , .'. f'
c. . ':.'h. a
,~, "'"" .ana' -a dem' n " .' .g ," . ' _. tw An
" - n~ v ,', a' -l"ti"!'I"a -I"C', pnw
l
, v '' 'e-, ~'I .. '~'.I' " . -, .. - ' . - .11- I .- , ." I ~ i;;I!' I ., . .. -,~ ,. I " j '
.' . :hile' 'BaJ.samOIO, v-oic; d th,.~' poli,t ~ cal. ~. osil' -i ;" - o.f th,e ,em'per,o f', suppo,r ting
th,e nnperial ~ el'ogati.: '..:5 o.f the 'CQ'm n'e nia , d:ynas: y'. 'Law, _'h,e~n'f also
:s '~ ems t,o eX'hi'bit th,e typical in,_' ~gratio:n, 0' inherited, ' tr,a,diti.on~. ,a n,d , co,n-
't em,p o'E":r y con, " rn,e, ()i,E th,e el,ev _nth,an,d , twel th cen,turie:s.
Z
By :" "A' ". TI '. ESC"" E .. C
'. . , ..... " - . ' '. . '. . .,-.... , . " ...... '-I . ' , . ... - ,'I. ,...... . - .I"
,c', . -, t 'trEil,di:' ~' . .In , B,y za:n 't in - sc olar, : ' ~',:p' a I'd .' rt
In ,assunUa,.mg tth. 8 .-
apparent-:y also' ass'u 'm ed .,o:m ,e thing' o.f its ra'- -io . alism~ P~rhaps th,e best
,. .'I
, le'.c'-t .""- . . . .' -
B .
. .
" - . - . .d--.I-,' ,.c'.'' ,a'r. e
te
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I. " 'd' ," . a're-'-a.s
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I' ..
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... . . '. t
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t . . .
.
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. I:y OP'PO .lte

'. Her '.' ': sCience
.' ,e. . u.,_1U
....1 th. leoJLogy'
1 1.'-" 1: . . , " . ce d math",e I' '" ~ ~ Ie'S}, new'
'" In I'' .....
stud "'Ie,s, w 'e e a,d ,d ed tOI t "'e' recel le d '. . . o,f '- ass",cal .'of'ks,., A tle'x,'t
,
66 H 'i G ~ Beck,t KJrche, :u:nd t,hfiJl ri~he' Li tera;tu'r im Bym:n.fi'n,ischen R ,ich ( . . . u'"
nicb~ 1.959).#, 1:46,"
aT pl.1an. 3a~1Il~ blll1 aBTopCKlIlM npaBOM

149
,aSCIi ., d 'to P on til ,r oUt u:m a,t h ', ' , a,tical,"" ,discipUnes" ,a it me ic:;-
geo"1 .etry" :lolgic'l ,an,d music, was. p,r odu,c ed, in the eleve ' th ,centu'l1'~
. Psellosi's t~e'atises D 'D , algebraic
symbols, an,d, th,e' mystical significan,, :' of
:n u'" 'I'be '~s. also , : '~: o,w ed t,h is t" orough adapta'ti,o n ,o f la ntiqu,e, oft,e n ,""', ' eo-
'pla:tonic" id:eas to conte' 'p o,raIY Chri ,:tian .""" '., ', ."ct"ve ~ .til To ,t , ,.":8 ,e nd he
suggested,th~ee a,pp:tica ~ iio ~ So for mafh,emat",cs:::fu.sit, practica;:second, a~
stra,c t, as a medi,u m, connecti'n g t " e w'orl' , s' of sense' ,a " r-easo:n,; third"
'h' I'O,g ,t,.C.....'m1
tL,eo ,as a ,means o'f", Ic.ontemp'I, &,JJ1lg
" ' 11.., d
tJlle i ne.>'
,'" lV, , :'U['thl er '>
"'F' (th: ~Ug"h
in,dir '~ c, :) ,e vid,e ',ce 0. By,z antin'e' ', matics. may be d,e,:r iv,ed from visi- I',
tor:s.l' d,e scri pti,ons of Co' ' s:tl:ln in.o p,le'., , ",.~ ona~do of ' ,iss,,., w:h,o 't r,av'e led ,t o
the capital a ound 1200, me ,sev,e ra' mat ',' ,e'm af'cians w:h.o ins:'ru,cied him
,m, dev.is:i n,g al,ge"h r,a"c :p'f.ob,Iems.,'69 On,e' important rna ova-'
t 'o,n ,a lso occUlTed: ,he trod:u ction, 'o f . . ,""ra,bie' n 'Inera'ls in the' tw,e lfth ,;i
century~ :Excepit' for zero' tary' O"~ II. te.n th, l, t:h,!:se' appe'a l ~'n, a OO'f1tme
. ok,of _.~" U id :in. '.h . . man'u scri,p t Vin.d o -',. ,XXXI, 13,.,'10 ........ ' ... !: e t 'e', .e essays, 'I
and ad'o ptions d,o ,D,o 't sh,o'w ' a ,gJle'a t ,a.eat of 0 .iginal'ty ,0 '1 so'phis ' ie'aito.n,
thley imply a, familiarity' wl'th cla,ssi.cal ,m e't ho . . s of :P ' o'ble so 'ving, a.s,
we,D, as a, :modifica"tion. o.f ,t he s.u'b ject t.o suit ,co .temporary' medie'val,
.
" r'e~ ~ pg
_,,1_, . . _. w. __ 0'''' n' 'S'
V~ 1 11, . : [- ' .
T,h,e new ,aca,demi,c i '~ter-est ,~n, ma .'h,ema, ics h,ad its cou:n:t.erpart in, la,
',eviv'e - "'n'rere,s ' ., . . ,al,e em'y an,d ast ology~ Whi e th,e' tenth, century did,
not, co . trl
,"- .
, ~ bu , , t,' e very m ,u ,c'h', to astro.n.oml.cao
: ." : ]' --,
.' '1 "'k n,o w'1'e d'g:e, Sch0 , ar . of" th
-,.,'-' . ", .- ~
, e- -'-'" I"" .. -: . ': -'-,- '-,' ' : ' .. - -: . ~ ,- "'.' ,. -1"- : -' -', ,,' _: .J: ," I' ... [ 1'-' . 1- '. '. 'l' ~ ' '. '-',
e],e 'v enth century a,e,ive].y ' s,_u,di:. d bot ' th,e 1;10 n ,cient .as ', r-cnomie'a l tradi-
"t"I.on ,t ln,d. mel.eva,
' II .' 111l as t rollO'
11 SY'. 'T'b:e- ~: t'" t~ G',r> ' 'k'i, a~ ,...
;fc c.-~{,m.men,f,a:ry 0,f' t 'h'" Ie grat, '~',
tro,n omer Theon '.'.'a tr,an,scribed "n 007~8l and a con.c:ise summary' 0,1
He'phais:tio:n's fourth,...,een"tury ast:rolo,gj,cal s ' 'rvey 'w,as wn t ',eln ,:i n th,e elev,~'
e'n:t'h centu:ry~ '1 ,
h,e Bly zan, iRes l how~'v'er, 'weJ1e' nOI. :res' ric' I ~d, '0 th,e ' '.
G:r eek,astr,o no,:m'ica 't r,a ,d 'tion; ,t hey also approp'r"'ated .. . . ~ SO,'UfC ~ S;; An
67 J L H "'b erg}' G'~esch

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c ., '. . h'" te der M ", tit'Il'e""Q,t-"',lk, ,und, N
- : -I - -
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'. - '
.' s,- nschafi
- - '.-
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,.A' lfer-
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tu "'" (. .,. U .lUt"

" ~m. ';,.,,;1-., '9"~~)' AL. F"'" ' ,','~ "'~' - '.' .,' " ,: '1 ' " , ",.' 'I'B:y,z,a>~ 't',,'
L;J' !' "W'., , or a, ,g ene'r ao, survey, '" '. \f10 g'e',
I ," ,C ,,,,,,", '" "
~ne ~o e , (eel" ';I
CMR., 0:1. 4, part 2" 27l-",;-7 ' ';: and .' ':s J'iByzanz,. ein M"'ttler, ,a.1!l-ch, "in Mea t ,E!-
maf - ,ZWlSch'e n. Q,s:t' undoWe~l.,~'; . ~ eitrii,g zur G' schichte der' Arith:m ~tik';I' ed"
Ko.. 'Vo , .:I ( . . '~." . ich" 19"78)-;, 35 ~53 .,
68., N,., ,5'.l].l1off" ,I , > i. . Tradi,tion. in. Byza:n z 'u ud ihl' , Forneben bet
N"" o ~,il'us. 'Von.:K
,,: ikJ
' " '" D'" ns J(', uzanus~I'UJ,
u,es"r.. b'l"dum (M" . ' 81I1Z., 19'. ,6'4 ',' <);I '23 ~ ; 00'
, ' ,.
69,., 'V;G,g I1
.
' ")"8, 2 :n.tln, '.

S elnoe', ,.i" .273"
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P o. . .
' Me, " '
"70. . '. ,. anne:ryI " ,. : ,mo.n~es .esen..' .q.u :S . . . 0 . , OUSi!', ..... :." .' ~ ..... ' .'
t "p'
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aIS' ,i
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" 't, zonlS , . ",e'u.;d'U
. l.""" , ' A .. ' ",05
",,-t:E ' ", t".,corum
.e,. CSnta '" ' ~ I,
'i!pldJmae Iq""",i\f
ua",'~' uor
",,'- 2~
(Le ',pzi.g", 1'974l, :xxv., Por ge .', ," : remarks. on .yza,n,- 'ine a,s:' ,tOlogy of' ', he eleve ,~,tb i
,a nd twle' ' Ih cen! , .... F., BollI' Sternglaube uti'd' Sternd'eu.hnlg (eip'zig 92,6).;1' 33 l l
,a nd sp., A. Tilton." ,N'L 'astI\onomi'e' byzanf'-:. (du V' a u XV~ siecle),.';' Byz,. 5'1.
( 98 ) 6.- '0 '1'2
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. .""UL I' R
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an o,O,Y .,,,m o1l.lS SCi,'h,0 la,:;:t '. 0 "f' a G '," -r'ee,'k:,". man,u scrlp_ ~ ,t --,r o d 'u ced";, m ',_,
10~""~ d- ,'-~ r~ 'w criti-,, -
, ,
. . ] ;(,,!,O;'m
c" ,ru " pa'r-~1;'Oo-'-.ns 'b': etw
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- -' :"l';e-" m' ,~,.y a
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iI"'iI -,
m"fS., ,AnD h.,r ano:n,ym,o,-~ -_ '- yzan.-, ~'n,e a ~troln.omer, wh,o&e' tra'c t w'as :pub~,
lishe'd,:i n.,t ' e 10705, :n ,o '" o:n1y 'uS,- d, t:- ," 'w ,o rk, lo~f a, certain Haba.sh .~' ],-Hasib,
(t1~ 850) but also,,a'ppUed, ' rigonolllCtrical methods in. his calcu1a io'n s fo'l '
,,hie firs,'t tim,e "n B .zantlu'm"
,AI , 'h' ,em'y ,alSo.
,',e .~ ' t.llv'e'd' Th' e '0 ,_-d"est' ,I -'~'ch~ = :nu,,.ca]' rna -~ 'U,sCtl..P I M
t h' ' ", ,2- OIl
~. ~arc, ~;,', C ,i '
da't es fro:m ,t he te'n th 'or.' eleventh century,., PseJlos a,d .'d ressed, to Patr"a:r ch
Mic ' ale' e oo1la ios ,i l tr'ea-tise o. . ow' ,t o ' I .... " e' ,go,1d " . .'. : b.a,s~: m,e tals.,., I ' '. .
',10 , Ie ' .' treat Ise by a ce ".~n ' .' .' seems, ,o f ~a.ter' da~ /~2
' II I'
By th,e tw,e lfth centuty' an. interet :i n as'trol,o gy w'a s q,ui.te' fashiD:na,~~le,,,
~ n.' II had t-he - ad'"~ c p"If-- onu -~ '~ ',ntly -- - p r-- '-" se
' -, ~'~' n ""n-~ ted '1,i -~ 'th' ~ 0
-' O' ~ 'Dr
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monas,t ~,c ChU'f C"' j {h,e :P an.-t o:k r,i l,t cr (Fil,g:" 14).,:M an'u:e- r's 'p'I,eoc-cupatio,n wi 'h,
s 'r-01.og was, ,50 pas 010 a, e" la't ' ~e' "''' .s crif c': ed fO'~' it by a number of
pe.opie, " ' duding' G, ykasl B'n d. .. . 'n na '. . . . . . na. . John .K ama' 'Ie'ros d'e di-
ca,- ..d. to :Man'u,el [ a :.' ';' .: trea't ise 0 . t' 'e t "'-'elve s,;',g ns of ,t he zodiac, the
.. 'e,a.v e,nly 'bodi., S'!' an,d, -terr ,:c.tial db;,'w :i1banc. s s,u ,Cb as ,e,a rthquak,es; :i "
noted, which c'o ns, ,'11- '0 -8, were plOp'",;'0' . ~: loT ' -,,'. ;'t -", camp -'g 5 an,d
w ,ch 0 ,:' es fore to I,d dlrou,g h,ts" ci. . ., . . ar, revolt/ or a sca:rci"t:y o.f '. ~'nle ,., 73,
Des'pi.te' its prop,:h,etic w'_ akness ~s, '. '.". .,: .' _.... Juonlopoly' . .In, ,. s:. fon,om~
cal kn.ow~,edge a;s . ~ : . iits ser,iou:s in.v-esti,ga,t io,n ,, 'W riters, like p'se'llos an
............. a ICo.mn,e.n a th,e :m ot: part:. e .' ge ' 't" . ,e'~ ' r"'d [, of ,a stl ,g y -ith
1-. .1 .
re' 'Ie re " 'oe:s ,t o 't h,e' Iocca 'jona -.Iucce>::e. of 't:r .n .o'mer.s, w 'h .o se' :k u,o,w le ge
..'. ' as:'uficient:,to predict t .. e' ma . em,e.n,' of ce'le:stial ... ' (E'x" 30). I .
Thou,g h ,t "e 'prevaIlent medie a] view sa .':. ~:h,e 'w,orl,d ~ ".s, trip . :Ia:yered,., I ..
with h,e'a'v,e n, a'b ov'e I ' . ell below;- a d, e ~rth. iln t -,e :m '' .' dIe, SDrrle ,a.n ,c i.e ~t
:"dea ' C'0- 'n ee. . g the ~ve' se w-'e-'- e re'- - "'ne"'- 0'" .. a,the-' - re-"' at:q'u ', 'e" -' Ph

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t-h'1- '-s, sam'e 1,'"d' ea w ',as ,d": 'evellope
0 11 d~ 'Ibry S_:y,meo '--e' S '~,h ,'. M~ :,I:,or,eo v'e r M ., h,ae1. [
~~, ~,J.e ,ta'1- j
ikOSIS, ,e noo -:i'um on Manu,e'l t comparing the emper,Q[' -to tb.e sun as -the
f-'oeus, 0." th ".' -esej1' even :s'u gg,e's ts th. a' 't ie a 'C'.le.n t ooncep Ion
' Ie' un ., 0:f',a, '", h ~-
H~,ocentric .system w'a s 'm o, , . 0 ' :somle" 'By,z antilles (Mie -. I' Ital.. 178.,2F - ,30) .
' .....lI~; lI ..
. twmOS S . se' f" t- s s " u', e pmts agal . to t'h
'I' 'l 'e',a p .... en'l' "f'.ac"li'ty .' '.'I h I'
' . W'
hi, ' . .. ,. ' I ,, -
I
I
.,n "s :n a'l,ch,e:lny, F" Sh,., Ta.y:lo-r'" /; A SUIV' 'Y' of G,: . ek . . ' 1-
72. F,o . dev - op
ch ' my/' .lour,nal of.Hel'l'en:ic Sfudis 5.0 ( 930)" 112foJ 122t :H:un.ger hochsprachIiche j . '.'
profane Life,m tuf 2\f ,279 - 82 i
73, J Ka'i' at-erQsl' . -isag-'g:e' . ias t e L" Wejl ~ 1 (Lei,p,zm:g" .'908); M ,. .A,~ c
,'.
Sangin4! ,i .fJ,a,m.bi,Oes.ka.-~ a poema ' oa , ~ . 110 :bu;ge ,Z odiaka." po . I .
:miceskoj' :r ukopisi .lzves:.tija'- .- '. nauk S' S-RiP' $@T.' ,r 2Jl, nos,. 5- 6 ( ,927)'J' N
'
425 - 32; H'u ng'e r D,te' hochs,pmch-1.icn'e ,pr-o/a' Li'terutu:1"' :,. . 'I 2,4.__ - 43., J
aT plIlafl, 3a~1Il~ blli1 aBTopCKlIlM npaBOM

The Pursuit of Knowledge lSI
Byzantines appropriated the past for their own use. ' The spherical im-
ag of the universe is preserved in a Byzantine textbook known only
from later manuscripts and therefore dated only vaguely to after the
eighth century. There the cosmos was presented as an egg: the earth
formed the yolk, the air was the thin membrane surrounding the yolk,
the sky was the albumen or white, and the heavenly spheres were analo-
gous to the shell. 7S AstTOlogical observations also led to the elaborate de-
scription of the cosmos as an internally coherent unit. The earth and
heaven were thought to be bound up by causal links, by the "threads of
cosmic sympathy," that provided a basis for the belief that constellations
and meteorological events such as great storms were reliable predictors
of human destinies and political events. 76
Byzantine geography presents a similar pattern of development. In-
terest in the physical structure of the world both inside and outside the
political frontiers of the Roman Empire was evident in the fourth to
sixth centuries, as reflected both in detailed descriptions of pilgrimages
and in sober accoun by merchants, such as the Expositio totius mundi et
gentium of the mid-fourth century, citing the principal harbors and the
wares that might be purchased in them. Perhaps mo t famous is the
sixth-century cosmological and geographic treatise by Kosmas lndiko-
pleustes, the Christian Topography, based in part on Kosrnas's personal
observations during his travels and in part on administrative and eccle-
siasticallists of provinces and towns in the empire. This intere t in geog-
raphy disappeared after the sixth century, at roughly the same time that
urban life declined. Theophanes' indifference toward geography and to-
ponyms is typical of that epoch of contracted horizons. 71 The short itin-
erary of Epiphanios Hagiopolites, dated to the eighth or perhaps the
ninth century, concerning the route from Cyprus via Tyre to Jerusalem
and beyond that to Egypt hardly attests a wide or sophisticated interest
in geography. But a change in attitude toward the subject became evi-
dent in the tenth or perhaps already in the second half of the ninth cen-
74. On this text, see P. Wirth, "Zur Kentnisse heliosatellitischer Planetar-

theonen im griechischen Mittelalter," Historische Zeitschrift 212 (1971 ), 36M.
75. A. Delatte, "Un manuel byz;mtin de cosmologie et. geographie," Aca-
demie belgique, Bulletin de la classe des lettres 18 (1932), 189- 222.
76. On the cosmic sympathy between heaven and earth, M. A. ~angin, "0
roli greeeskich astrologireskich rukipisej v istorii znanij," /zvestija Akademii nauk,
Otdelenie gllmanitarnych nauk 5 (1930), 309.
71. I. ti~urov, " Feofan lspovednik kompiljator Prokopija," VV 37 (1976),
64-67.
Copyr gtltec rra

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tury/-: ~ ff -,'ing 'w ith 'h e collection ,o f ' .~ 1 geo~1 : . "' t,e",'--s" ,~s:p .-
ciaU,y ',h,ose ,o,f 'S trabo a'D,d Ptole ' y,., 't hie' ,au,t h'm s' , ~p' of Byzan -jDe scho '"a
,o:n S-tr.abo is, still ,dis,p 'll,t ed; ,th ~ Y' hav'e been 8,ttribu"ted to' ':." 10 ' JO I,
..' "'le' as ,o f CaesareQ . In any' C8JSe"

_', 1 ..... '.. W,: '9 fre,q uently used, by Byzan,-
tin'e his,',o r,ian's ,of ' ~"hl~1 'tenth I', ~ 'itU'l-y:~18 Cloncu'r.l"en't],y~ ancien, ,' ~~ ogJ ~ P "I ;"C
lists,'w e' e e ' .ployed for. : + " , t 'a rw' P'U'f ,po.ses,j' 'b y COl . I . .
,
S an
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obsolet,e ,a n,d antiquatt : info'rmatioo. The ,e : n,ed B:y zan'fin ; " ~',. Ie ~ol
lo .'.' ' ;. ,g cen,t uries .... , an,d Ic ommen, - ,d 'o n, anci'\1!n,t g".-)gra,p,h er,s;, th,u s",
ma 'li"il y~ q"u
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geographic excurs,u se:s s'u,c h as 't'h 'Oise' 'b y Mi.chael Glykas o:n, ,t h,e' :natu)}e 'o f
r "'
:, 'ers .
on
.'."". Indi
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t~,on o'yzan"t:in,e travels to r-emote cou' 'tries ,su,c h, laJ:S ,egypt" In,d ia 1 or
E,hio'pia (Scripta 'm;in., 2, 10..,,2,-5-; a so see Sa:thas" MB 5 ,: 372.22 ~, 2.4).., In co
Tzetzes ,an,d in, many histo:ri,caJ. writin,gs, geogl'8,phic notes 'wer-e bas:: d,
o'n , looln t:empolar:r ,observa,tion,s ra :her tha.n , being crIbbed, ,fr-om an'ci.en.t
'" ,t le raty "r,a ,d iti,Q,n s,., Thu .', T,zetze.s. explained ,t hat Lake Maeof . . .as ' am,e d
n
'/Ka . 'w hich meant' lithe ,city of fiis,h"1 in, "he tScytbian ,Ian,. .
'I .' ... /'
guag'e r an,d ind,e ed 't he wo d, seems. to be of Peeh,e -,eg ori8lrl," '~ I 1177 ,a
certain John Pho' lls, we t on a p'"' gJimagle ,t o :Pale.stine", In :h '' s report' ,h,e
desc:r,Ub~ d Antioch as ,a sp~. len,did ci~, t e 'bnI' lanoe' ,o f w'h ~ch" howev,e r/ , ~~~. !
L ,-
ILa d 00- ~ - 't a:fUs
"~en ~ , -.. - h ~d
~:,e . 'O,,"ji
-''''',f~ ~lm
,-, ! ,- - ec'I
and IV
i '' I "" ". '~
e' 'b !!ilil"ba-
... ' . 1ii.:liin "".'1'
.n:i. and' .. i'" H'!I
I .... a, -Ii::!'
~. o":,me'n
= .,-
tion ,e d v'a riou;s si.te;, m, ,he vicinity' An'll , includ~'ng: ,- e :8 .' .."e 0 ' c'
Kastalia /,'-'h e' "'~',famous 9u,b urb of'D,a:p hn,e',u th,E!'Black Mountain, S,k ope],os"
and ,t e Orontes ( "G, 13a. 9,28,f.,). 'T,he' r'est of the .~ ,e:scriptio,n :is scan _y, .in-
VOI
, .',. g I''!1.' ,_'t"le" :"more
~ Vl'! -[,_' .' ,_' th an 'a,'1-16t."
.,'- ,: ' ',no"
- of 't-,ow ~ ~. -r
.:j:: 't'fu --t': '~',il. ' 'l;~
' ~' IO;("!l-:ilI.
,. "-IU,U::; ..... d
: ..'h so. ' ...c.,.:
~ ,~ ,.' ~,,-;a' ' ull1ed
<. i:'l,,t 1Il:i'li" i:'l' D
,Zc~-: .- an,d then l the city' of B.lrut" a ' r,g ~ on,e'" .'-'ltb a n,u m,ero!us,'POIP'U-
~'t,
latio,D, SUrfloun,d ,e d b:y many mea.dows, ,a nd, embeIUsh,e d bly a pretty' '. a .-
oo:r. ; ; ; F'u rth ,f ' is Sido,n an,ld its fa- ou:s ha --bor 'Dldy-'us (932.C'- 'D ),., N
'
:Mixe,d, :i n, with this. ,catalogu,e were also refe1rence's, to t ,,e Bib ":!caJ e ents
.a.ssocia,t ed, with, :specifJlC' s:i.tes"" TraveI.o,g u,es.,,. "too", became p '. pular . '. "t ,e
tw,e l-t"1 c,e n,t ur,Y" Nlch,o'- as 'I ouzalon 'W . te of hj , "p JO Cyprus &0111
Constanthl.olpl~'", ,a trip so fo .tunate that it: only ' .:k -e'n , day's with th,e
he],p '0. ,t'h ,e 'Tr ~'nitY':
7! A . Dine: cerpts hom, SUla bo and St ~p'h , us in By : "tine C

i' I' i! , - I ~O' . "1,-
ci,e,s, /';' TmWM'c,tions ,of fIre ,A mericQ n: Ph,ilalosical Ass'Ocia~tmn 8.1 (1950), ,2 ,1 ~ . . 3.,
79. K. Dieterich;- ,Byzan,tin:iscne QUJe.llen, zur ,lA'nder- un V'6,lkerkuna ' (
'1912)I XLI..
80 See' Gy,. M,oraV'csik~ B,:,",zanti7totuFicica 2 ' " 1.9,58), l .~ ,': .,

The Father adjusted the ropes,

The Son guided the tiller,
The Holy Spirit breathed, sending the air wind,
And so I sailed right to Cyprus."
Le s elevated are Nicholas Mesarites' descriptions of his travels: the
poor huts of Neakome were built not of stone but of osier covered with
clay; the inn in the castellion of the lord George where he and his com-
panions found a "fireplace, beds, blankets, bread, wine, meat, and dried
fish" was unfortunately filled with such dense smoke that their eye suf-
fered. He commented, too, that the small town of Pylae (literally, "gate ")
was the "entrance to our paradise. planted in the East," for there m r-
chants searched the beach for companions to go to Nicaea, shouting
"noisier than roosters." He also mentioned a caravan of mules loaded
with dried fish in baskets bound to Nicaea from Neakome and sketched
his journey from Nicaea to Constantinople via Nikomedia.82
Constantine Manasses described in a poem entitled Hodoiporikon
(Guidebook) his trip from Constantinople to Jerusalem. He went not a
pious pilgrim, but as a political agent. He accompanied the Byzantine
diplomat John Kontostephanos, who was sent to prepare the wedding of
Manuel [ to a relative of Baldwin III of Jerusalem. When Constantine
was ordered on the mission, he recounted that he was so shocked, his
soul was so mortified, his heart so frozen that he burst into tears. Thi
detail refiects the Byzantine attitude toward traveling the essential fear
of being transfelled from home to an alien setting. Manasses provided a
list of the places through which he passed: Nicaea. lkonion, Cilicia, and
Antioch. In connection with Antioch he mentioned, as did John , Phokas,
"the beauty of Daphne" and "Kastalia, abundant with water." Further
on he listed Sidon, Tyre, the harbors of Beirut, and Ptolemais. But in ad-
dition to place names Manasses repeatedly provided personal observa-
tions. For example, on the banks of the Jordan, he was disappointed by
the impression made by the famous river:
I saw water mixed with mud,
Not dear at all, not good for drinking,
81. S. Doanidou, "H paraitesis Nikolaou tou Mouzalonos apo te archi-

episkopes Kyprou," Hcllmi/ar 7 (1934), 119.260- 63.
82. Ed. A. Heisenberg, QueUm und Studicn zur spatbyumtillischen Gcsci,ic/,te
(London, 1973), part 2, section 2, 45.8- 11. 40.15-20, 39.6-25, 45.21 - 25; part 2,
section 3, 19f.
83. K. Homa, "Das Hodoiporikon des Konstantin Manasses," BZ 13 (1904),
327.64 - 74.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

154'1
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.t move' ' In: d.oI:e n.' ,, .' ~
'You mi,gh."" say' ,t hat th,e S' :,r eam of the river had fall ' , ~ . sI ".. ' ~ .",,84
:H i-, perception ,of th,e' van-e'y' of Je i,m o' w',a " e' . al Yperson"a ::
The' heat -of" ,', e $'u:n 'w 'as sO' bur,nin.g:
Tha:'., i t 'pelne'~ra' ed 'e v',n in t.o th . ',rain,.
SIo,'. 'ly, ,t he o,b s . ' . . eri's pemonal pe'I specfve found a p,( ,ce . ex't, to a . tt. .
quarian, . r,a"dition on .:he 'w ritten, pa"ge.
:"yzil' ' ..11:,e a so 'v e me,d into ,a, '. t d:Y' of ,'" ,ell' u:a nte I~ist I . ,
in su,c h o'bse'lrvatio,n i :. '. ee" 'n ,Att'a1eiat,e, ' de . aip' itO" 0 " Cons,'an':' "e lX's
me'nageriie", wh"Ch, i ,clud,e a g:' affe (kam ' l(Jpa~dalis) a 'd ,~I'" 'e ,ep', ant.
The llatter ha legs f 'k e .". e p" at of Atlas; t 'e ;'0" .. ts of its legs. 'w 'e-re so
tigh.', that ,he anima ,h ad to res: by I'ea "ing aga~n.s ., a 'tf'ee. ~1 ,h,e el~. p,hil'ntfs
ear;s, which were ,as, a ' ,g,e as a "'00180 '. " .' , -shiel' move,d cons:t ant y, a&-- I
se':r ,e d, Ata ,eia",es,~, ror ,fe,a r of mosq, -.i.toes;: ~'o " :1 : 0 'f!' wer'e' ,t o 'h ave fu ~ I
its w ,a,y ' in:to the' 'b e,a s"s ,earl t:h,e e],e phant wo'u ld ha e ~ .. erlSh,e d f' elm tel'-'
,r or'" An in, ,e'r~st in, ,the ma't= :ria' 'w,orl~ ,cantin'u,led to' 'be' com,p ',e':m: .nted
Wl" "'."h' f'0" .'. 'I' '0' T'le e'Il e'm e"n,t
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pr," ssio,n o'n con,t emporaries that "'" wa . ti. 'e d also "n t ' e eie'. e ' h,~, I
o", ln tury edii . ",o:n, 0, . ,""morth,=os o.f Gaza's book On Quadruped A :tdm'Q',ls . .
,w ,/"tt' n in ab "t 500 ,o n, t 'e exo' ,ie bea:s ts ,t n .',t lil '<d, '' n , n,d '' a,~, Arab ~ a'f
E,g ypt" and L ' ya i '... ,' ', "c'h this not-e was a d"d ed::' i'i#'l n our ' ime, bO .h the's e l ,
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a,:m arvel to,' - h,e people :I n th,, the',ater (Hippo .~ ,'. " " .) of 'C onsta " m,o'ple',.,""'~
No ' 0 . ~.y' 'w'as ' '. a . U.ll:. c].os,ely' scru:inized" b, ' also a eri. .',cal, ChrisI'""
tianized in, ,e rest i " Aris,.;otl.e w'as 1" ~ vi-v,ed! ,a:n ,d ca,u s .~ s of :n atur,al ph,e n,o m,-
,e~nia, w'e re ,e'x plo:r ed aJ.U " ,d isc , ssed,", P'se 10s,"s writings contain,e d a, n,u m ~ e'r
of these ,e'x posi,t"o:n ' ... Why' ,does, f nni ,',g ma.ke the bod,y ' 000 ,e'r, th,o u,g h,
'mo'~ ~' o:n ~s' . 'u:p posed to' cr,e ate wal1ftth? Because, explaL' ed ,'sello:s} fe- 'n ,-'
ning: ,emo. .'e's, t 'e' a" ~, .,.. at1l1ed by f e' bod,y ' .' llom, "'.'ts viti .i,t y'. Proof: in,
baths,f. w'h ,e1re all ,t'h,e aj :i '. h, t ,f annin,g' does nat p~od , ce 'oooln,es,s (Scr(pta
m . 2' 2''31. 8'" 2'S) A , ',' : ki ... '", h " -.;;; .
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damp a ' ~d falls, b ."ck, to ,e'a rt'h as ,a"'n, or ~ ' a~ll ,h,e .'. ,. ', "'s ligh , and ,for.ms
it .' ~elf into. 'm eteo .s, and 'a lling . tars (Sc,ripta mi'n. .2: 222.25 - ,223.'18)., Wh:y
is [ig)l:t nin,g s~ ~~n, before' -th'unde,r is h,','ar,d,? 'B ," ca,use t'h,e eye 'b ulges ,a,., ,d
tb,e ea ~ s' o :~ ,0 .... ~ "," 0 Set: i PselJ:o ."s,[0 0 ' temporary ga.v'e a~. oth,er an,- I
84,~ H 'Q,t ,n a, "'':H odoipo , "ko' , n 3,28,.,87 ~, 8 .., F,o,[ ' th,e ciations that f:o]]ow in ' he
tet~ 333,.289 ~ 93'1 333,.283~ 84,.
85. .. . . Haup' , .I c.xc : ta ex Tim,ortbei Gazaei libris d,e anima '"'bus/'t Hermes 3,
( 8(9), 15,10- 3.
arepll1an 3a~ ~e blV, a rOpCKII1M npaBOM

156 C HA~' NG
: ," r- ' E_~,. N' 'BI: I'Y ZA" NI' ' ': 'T
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'- e - -
(Ke'k"., '244f.). Th,e':n, a cha'n,g,e CO,l lt,e ,s . In t ~,e tw'e lt ce'R ' . 1:.';' " edicine'
'm i,gh,t be' tre'a't ed satiri,call.y, an,d,it I s..,m,etimes,:hard,"t,o ,dl ~ tin,gui ' ~ : h wh,o
, ..... m 'o re laughed a't ' ,t hle' verbo an . prete tious . .... I oC" t ~.: e ga ~'
rulous vi,c tm ,., ]he' au't ho ,o f ,, . Ti'nnzrion . idicu . , , ,t h,e' :f am,o us :med~ical,
,a uth,o rit",e s, of an"tiquit,Y as weI) as'I ];S med",eval con,b~lm' . 'H "p'po"" ':.1, " . :
,crat-es :i s Pi~ ' sented, cla,d, in a, funn:y Ar,a,b co\s -,.~ me; Galen is ,d,es crib ". d ~S
hiding .i '~,-~, 1}em ~ te '.' .... ' ,1 has, "i y ' I" ., ' g'.'" gaps ,+ .' h"s boo,k O,n VariOus
Kinds of .' ~,ever; ;,-. le odo e' 0 ' .' . .' ~ 15, c ."catured as a holy healer a:s, II, . l
~'., . C'Ltr ~ -~.. '.

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,I'
,o f',a n unsldU,ed dentit: { ~~ "-e ' : '. ' I p'. ,222),.,

Twelfth'-c,e n't ury' ,,.,utnor-s ~ ]90 contr,21:s ted, ri,d iculo'u's doc 0['8, t I',e ,ob-
, of 'h it ,mockery" w ,i.' 'h ,g ood, 'physicians". Prod.r-om.o ~ t H,t ,t he end of
, I s sa'fi, .; ,add e,s sed 't wo p 'aise-w'o :hy . .... ". ., p~()vidi ' g' th,e'~' names~
oln e was hi ., .' .' e fri,end MiIC..ha,el 'Lizix, .h" ,o ther 'w as " :ich,g, . S KaUik ,es,"",
poet ,a n,d ph:yslj,cian at th,e imp . ialc-ou.rI;,., . . ",',' TO " nike ~ we .~ -te've . ," u ~
th' ~ ~ft, :r-e,j ecting ,t h,= image' 0' .'-thl='. octor,;...ex ~ cu.' ; o~n, " rl co,,'traB;t ~ , ~ ~., ca ~ = : .
l,e ss,,b an,d ,of th ~' ex ~ cuLti,oln,er 'w ,it h th,e :p,hilantbJiopic',on,e of _.h e' ph:ysici- .' :
' : ~'h, C" . ... ha d thew', ',', ,a nd le,J s' w''.th '; 'mimed pa~n" to~ I'
' "' 1'

I ' :
aP"l:iI'O' s at ... the
',I '~ . sk '.<~'~'1 ',~ . ~ i.'UL!t e.- ...... .... . e
': '& Y~:..:'I: I- on'1'0O"" . . ,' '" wh
: '- : .,' ,'. ~ 0 ',I,
e ' and <,.."Oir :11: . "'. ,;-1 . . I,; : ' ~ :':,1 '. _.. : , . : , .: .... [~-,:
:f u], tOOl181in ,oper,atmg on ,~ eolp:i.e . 87' 'Unfo,rtuna,tely, ,few or,igii'naI

tex't: ~ have ,s,D rvlv, d, ,f rom th,e ~;_., 'a d. T,h,er-e r main only 'S ym 'o tb's l
.
't re,at8e' on t-h,e ld ietary ,a,d, ',," a id, d",,' . ,a a "et of'
fuo ~ s't ~ffS'T DatlIDBste The Care of Pr-e,gnant'Women a:nd l'nfa'fl.:ts", . .'" . . I ..
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M~'u.,~'h 'l 'm'o're

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is, ,t he description of 'the ~"' s,p'l . fa,cill ties, ' ' ... ,d i 10'- D"sl ' u ..... at,"' on
carte fOI' t.l e ' . ' .. , Monaste~ ' This 'm onate . . . hOi ""tal ';'1 .,d ,-' ,' -' .'
8,' ., 'G". I~de8tai ~" Le' sa'tire Luclanec' hi.' di ..' ooof-o' r-o :~O< , <Q/;- A ,.urn 2
(l94\'7)~, 17.... , J'~ Dar,\Onzes,. Geo:r ~ es ~~f mmitr;ia To,rnik ,. I ,t f.. ," d,is-o.ul"S .
1970).1 1641,..t 225,.'13- ,l4, 29.l.,27 - 28. 'O n 'th,e " i:m'(J:rfv.H see afbOVl~ n ,. j
88,. M.,-'E ~ 'Brunet.~ Symeon S'eth;- . d ~ l",en,tpere,u:r M"~'chel DD\U'CQS- (Bar, I .' . "
dleaux,t 196,9);' G,. G., L~ta" rin" u 'izafjs, ij m ,e d:',c" ]d ji ' tat XI--"X[\{' 'V V,. /f' VV'
31 .. ,971.)1 :256 . . >or _su:r v yof . . ' 'tr ra - . of ,t tl' . run'-' ,~'. rough .- ,w,elf"h,cen- I
tur,i .S'I :s e 0 ,., 'Temkin." ,;,iB ,. z :n.tin ' " . . , dkin ':: '.. ,a dif 0 ' , ,.' ' -.' 1 ici : ' /, DO'P ,- ~'
I
1,6 {1962 ,)! 95<- 1'15<; Hun,ger'~ D,ie h . , . n.~ ' Lt "',mture' 2," 305- 10., I" . .
89., 'p~ Gutir, yp'"loo . du . . .' ~"~t Sauvle u' ~ PaJr1J;tocratur/ 1 ,R,E',B 2 (197 1" c# ','.
8-12,;; , c. S., 'C ode .' S , '~ "I P,i):n toct,a,' or, .. . . " . I dtca], '. I. ,n i 'rl:f .'h , ."','-t' .
Cen,' ~ '~ ~ry A." .'. in. Go(nsta , ..... 1' ,Bu,ll ~ Ii'n of ,fhe HI .' ,ry- 0 ' - " . d'j c "" 1 ' '/

I
fifty beds, some of them with special functions: ten in the surgical ward,
eight in a ward for severe diseases, and twelve in the women's ward.
Every bed was provided with a carpet, a felt mattress, a pillow, a coverlet,
and two blankets for the winter. Special mattresses with holes cut in the
center were supplied to immobile patients. The patients were provided
with mandatory hospital apparel, including shirts (chitones) and coats
(llimatia). Their own clothing was washed and rehll'lIed upon their re-
covery. Linen was examined every year; worn pieces were mended or
given to the poor. Two doctors, three interns, and two attendants were
assigned to each men's ward; two doctors, one woman physician, six
nurses, and two or three female attendants served in the women's ward.
There were also doctors and surgeons for outpatient care. Doctors' sala-
rie were paid both in cash and in kind (i.e., in wheat, barley, hay, and so
forth) according to rank and position. While the doctors and assistants
got monthly bonuses, for fear of their despoiling the hospital's dispens-
ary they were allowed neither to have a private practice nor to see high
officials. The hospital had a special school for doctors' children. The hos-
pital of the Pantokrator was certainly the largest in Byzantium; similar
rules for smaller institutions do exist. Such organizational developments
indicate an exploratory practicality bordering on innovation, even if
within a very limited sphere.
The practice of post-mortem autopsy in Byzantium marks the greater
sophistication of medicine in Byzantium than in the contemporary West.
Scientific dissection of corpses is attested to by two Byzantine writers of
the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In drawing an analogy between a
spiritual healer and a physical one, Symeon the Theologian noted ap-
probatively that doctors both in the past and in the present investigated
illnesses by cutting open corpses "in order to study the tructure of the
body, and by so doing they would under tand the internal construction
of living men and endeavor to cure the sickness concealed within." '01(1
Again, George Tornikes commented on the practice of dissection in his

eulogy of Anna Comnena. Anna was herself interested in medical top-
ics; she vividly de cribed the activities of the doctors at her father's
(1942), 392-410. The hospital may have included a leprosery: A. PhiJipsborn,

"Hiera nosos und die Spezialanstalt des Pantokrator-Krankenhauses," Byz . 33
(1963), 227 - 30; also see A. PhHipsbom, "Oer Fortschrift in der Entwicklung des
byzantinischen Krankenhauswesens," BZ 54 (1%1), 356f.; E. Jeanselme and
L. Oeconomos, us oeuvres d'assisla"ce et les Iiopitaux byzantins au site/e des Com -
nines (Anvers, 1921), 6-20.
90. Traites theologiques et ethiques, ed. J. Darrollzes, vol. 2 (Paris, 1967),
138.267 - 140.274.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

deathb d . Tornikes specifically praised surgeons who dissected human

bodies. He described how they separated every organ from its neighbor
in order to s rutinize its position, form, and parts and to understand its
function in relahon to other organs. This study, observed Tornikes, al-
lowed a doctor to appreciate ho\ a particular organ was affected or even
91
destroyed when other sections of the body were diseased.
INTIMATlO 5 OF RATIONALISM:
THEOLOGY AND IDEOLOGY
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries a professional class of intellec-
tuals began emerging, and interest in ancient literature and science grew
broader and more intense. These developments contributed to rational
skepticism toward inheri doctrines, both theological and political-
particularly because, as Orthodo y was a prerequisite for office, theol-
ogy and government were in fact functionally as well as theoretically re-
lated. Intellectual often applied their 'in logic to sensitive subjects
outside the bounds of politically insignificant, academic areas. Herein
lay the grounds for tension between intellectuals and the establishment.
As mentioned above, even PseJlos, a relatively conservative scholar, had
accusations of heterodo y directed against him. He was a rationalist, op-
posed to occultism and ma,gic, demonology and superstitions, astrology
and prophecy. He went further, believing that the mind was capable of
grasping truth through rea on well as through revelation. [n his de-
bate with Keroullarios, Ps 1I0s d fend d cientifjc investigation of the
co mos. 9~ He cautiously avoided, however, any suggestion that logic
might be ri orously applied to theological issues. While he might have
allowed an theological syllogism, Psello recognized that God
existed above nature and beyond logic. Despite Psellos's circumspection,
he lost his academic position becau e of the religious irregularities of his
thought.
Those with less self-restraint suffered even more serious conse-
quences. After Psellos's di grace, John Italos beca"1e Itypatos of phi-
losophers. Though John is commonly referred to as PseUos's pupil and
did, in fact, attend his lectures, he had from the beginning fundamental
disagreements with his profe or. His uccession to Psellos's chair inter-
91 . Georges et Demetrios Tomikes, Lenres et disCXJurs, ed . J. Darrouzeo (Paris,

1970),225.12 - 19.
92. B. Tatakis, La philosophic byzantinc (paris, 1949), 179f.; G. KarahaJios,
" Michael Psellos on Man and His Beginnings," The Greek Orthodox Tlleological Re-
view 18 (1973), SO, considers Psellos's anthropology " a by-product of his time and
place."

rupted rather than continued an academic tradition. His appointment

generated a controversy among his contemporaries, and it remains,-
though for different in current scholarly litera-
ture. Discrepancies in modern evaluations of John Italos may result from
the partisan nature of the sources. On one side are the accusations lev-
eled against him in 1082, which doubtlessly exaggerated the heretical
ten.e t of his doctrine. On the other ide are his own preserved works,
most probably representing only his most benign writings, in which
originality of thought and divergency of opinion is minimal. The charges
against John were serious. First, in his passion for antique philosophy,
he supposedly regarded ancient thinkers more highly than he did the
Church Fathers, elaborating their pagan opinion~ concerning the soul
and the material universe. Second, he was accused of beHeving that
secular science possessed a truth in its own right. Third, it was sug-
ge ted that he employed logic in an attempt to understand the mysteries
of the incarnation and divine hypostasis. Fourth, he reportedly scorned
the miracles of Christ and the saints as contrary to nature. Fifth, it was
said that he as umed that ideas and matter were eternal form being
created by the action of the one on the other, rather than by the will of
God. FinaUy, he wa denounced as having denied the immortality of the
soul and the resurrection of the body. ~ However weak the foundations
for these charges were, it is clear that John Italos was applying logic-
presumably of a Neoplatonic stripe to theology in a manner unaccept-
able to his more conservative contemporaries.
ltalos's pupils were also accused of heresy. Among them was Eu-
tTalios of Nicaea, a talented commentator on Aristotle, whose works
were known in Latin translations even to Thomas Aquinas. He was a
didaskalos and an official court theologian, ultimately appointed metro-
politan of Nicaea. Nevertheless, in the Council of 1117 he was accused of
heresy. Despite his renunciation of his works, his plea that his attackers
based t.heir accusations on tolen preliminary drafts, and the pport of
Emperor Alexios I, Eustratios, who had earlier denounced Italos, was in
his turn convicted of heresy. 9.I Like his master, Eustrati05 built his thesis
not on quotations from the Holy Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the
canons of the church councils, but on the principle of logic. He went so
93. J. GouiUard, "Le synodicon de I'Orthodoxie," TM 2 (1967),57- 61, 188-

202. Anna Comnena and the author of the Timarioll al 0 felt trong animosity
toward Italus. See above, n . 17.
94. P. Joannou, "Der Nominalismus und die Psychologie
Ch . " BZ 47 (1954), 347f.; "Eustrate de Nicee. Trois piecesinedjtes de son pro-
c s (1117)," REB 10 (1952- 53), 24- 27; "Le sort des eveques heretiques reeon-
cities," S.IIZ. 28 (1958), 2.

far as to suggest that Christ based his discourses on Aristotelian syl-

95
10gisms. His theological method led him to deny the co-eternity of
Christ and God the Father, according to Niketas Seides .... Rationalism
and the theological problems it engendered were not exclusively the do-
main of the intelle<:tual elite. Nilos of Calabria, for instance, emphasized
that he was poorly read and lacked doctrinal sophistication. Under the
influence of ltalos, who supposedly was his teacher, and more particu-
larly of Eustratios, Nilos feU into adoptionist heresy, overemphasizing
the human nature of Christ, and intimating that man might obtain di-
vinity, as did Christ, through grace. Nilos was condemned at the end of
97
the eleventh century.

In the middle of the twelfth century another theological controversy
was initiated by Nikephoros Basilakes and Michael the Rhetor over litur-
gical formulas ting the conseclated elements Christ's blood
and body as being offered to God by Himself, since the Trinity was
perceived as a unity of ph,ys;s (nature), even though divided into three
Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These two rationalists regarded
the rendering of Christ simultaneously as victim, officjant, and receiver
as self-contradictory. This position was further elaborated by Soterichos
Panteugenes, a deacon of St. Sophia and later patriarch-elect of Antioch,
who touched on a number of essential dogmatic problems in a Platonic
dialogue. This text, regarded as even by Soterichos's opponents,
is unfortunately lost. The author's views are accessible only through the
writings of his attackers, most notably Nicholas of Methone, who sub-
stituted abuse for argument in his discussion of Soterichos's opinions. '18
It is clear, in any case, that Soterichos differentiates the Father and the
Son: through the Crucifixion the Son (as distinct from the Father) offers
a sacrifice to the Father (as distinct from the Son). From this distinction
arises Soterichos's doctrine of humanity's double-staged salvation, first
through the physical incorporation of the Logos-Son, the second by
95. Joannou, "Der Nominalismus," 373.

96. J. Darrouzes, Documents intdits d'ecclt!s;ologie Uyznntine (Paris, 1966),
306- 8. On Eustratios, see P. Joannou, " Die Definition des seins bei Eustratios
von Nikaia," 8Z 47 (1954), 358-65; K. Giocacinis, " Eustratius of Nicaea's De-
fense of the Doctrine of Ideas," Franciscan Studies 24 (1964), 159- 204.
97. GouiUard, "I.e synodicon," 202 - 6. On theological disputes of the sec-
ond hall of the eleventh century, see S. Sa laville , "Philosophie et theologie ou
episodes scholastiques a Byzance de 1059 a 1117," EO 29 (1930), 132-56.
98. On Nicholas, A. Angelou, "Nicholas of Methone: The Life and Works of
a Twelfth-Century Bishop," in Byznntium and theC/assical Tradition, ed. M. Mullett
and R. Scott (BilOungham, 1981), 143-48.
Cooyr gtltec rra

The Pursui.t o.f lC'nowled,ge' 161
,means o.f' th,e :self-ofierin,g (p,ro.sagog,e) ,tD the " a'th,~lr,., If' , : :L ,to 'be'
beli,eved" Sot,1! ich,D,S, exchang~d the, not-,Oft of the recon,cilia,tio,n, (ka,tal-
,~ge) 'o f mankind wi,~h God '_ hrou,g;h, ,divinl~' g"B,e _,' fO,r the noli,o n of an ex
chang'_, (.a1l,ftdlagti) of' subs,t anc,e' (B':ilil,., eal.. 388,~3,-4) ~ ,-,h,e ,m,o.~- -aI -~' -came
a 'p artn.e ' of' God.., ,a n lde'a that: "- "'.,' ,,'- , i -'fu "a't,e d Nich,o[as, (.L~goi' dyO'
29' ~,4 -5')., :Fina y, Sot,eri,chos ch,aU,e'n g,ed, trans, ,bs,:a:n.tia,t i,oD, the te'n ,a l
d(l,g nta of th,e Eu,c haris ,;: he ',' ", e,n:Uy ,- gar-ded, the _- artakiri,g ,o,f th,e h,o st
simpl:y' as 't he 'r eena,c,t m,eln ,t of ,t-h,e' Last S' ,,' per',.,99 Sote iC'h os wa,s C'O,I il'- '
,d, 'e mne
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fam' passlivel'yE , ~ . . . '.,.-.. . ' to, Verses Wrj't,ten:i'n ,a'i'I',;- a ,oo,mp ai~~ t co:m,posed,
:iin th,e ve'm a,cu1ar and ,ad,d r,_:ssed to ' 'h,e e,m pe'r or, h,e 'w rolte ,il. trea:tlse' ,o n
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It may'w,e:1 h,ave 'bee - ~ a-r -iaU:y ,i - re'actio:n,to -'h,e .". ",:he'r.'etical de ,.,elop-
M ,'C ,n ts .ha ,eertatn :p ro,gramrfrlaf'c eM -,g,e,s 'were ,e'f i'ecte - i , -'h,e 5cnctu:-ry'
d,e cora,t ion, 0 ' '8 yzan'i in'E!' cl:lUlches . In a, numbe ,o f ~ ccl~sia;stical fOl1:nda,-
1 l
[,
- ~"ms decOla't ed" ,t h,e ' ,t e ,t w'e.1ft .'. c,e ' hlty, "", cl . d'i , g :8 t. Pa. te Ie " .. D'n , at:
Ner zi, St.. G " ,. a't' ." ~ ., . " , th,e Virgi EIeou:sa, ,t t, Ve1luEL" an,d St,
Nicb,o:Jas ,a,t :PrUe'p" all :i n :Maced,o:nia'J' and t " th,e' Church of ,t he Archan,gle l
in :Kato Le,fkara .in,'C'yprus, 'the , nfa_,- ,t Christ is ,r-ep,r-esent,ed, a- p'repared,
for :s acrifice ,o n 't he 'w'all o.f the' apee duec . :y be -. :" -d .-'h e at ., Iir' (F:". :~ 19)~ lot
1M' " .... oc;ent:Lalt~b of' God 'w 'a s,depkted,[itle'r ,all.y as, the' snbs;ta'n,ce of 't e'
hos,t~ Thus, th,e Ort- Od.o,X, 'posl,tion 'o:n -' ,an8'ubst- ntia't"O'R W ~S drat , ~ - ~,-,
c'ally':rende' oed in t ~ 'e fi:.:., _Fa orname,n't ,o f the C' .urch,", These images co'm'~'
pi-eme'n t: not, Qln ly !h,e cen'i-r,al eu,charis-tic -'turgy, bu,- also ,t'h e rite '0 '
pro,t h,e,s is :m,w'wch,,t he :special].y' plre'par ~- br"a - :is :9 - 'bj-ect,"d, '0 ' ~ . his-'
l
tOT,ical passi'on, be'iore '18 'use as, hos,t "',.. -t .e service" '~nl As p' ev" ausiY'
99 F'O! the ref' Y' by Nicholas o.t' M,e noneJ' B:ib.l.. eccl, 355~,4-,'6,; also ,'" ,. ,dyo
1

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) .
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,...II -- 'I' t-
,a nlines, a'u X'[I ' '. ". . "' 'Le~ , 'eve -'~ '-,S .... t dvan-t I." .... , . :t '.' ..... , t,
l" Amn,os/'~' Fruhmi't ' elalterl':iche Sf.udien~ 2 (1968)1, 368,- 86. The ,ch:urch ,a'_ Ka,to
'Lefka -a is un'p ublished.,
'102,. R,. Bo,m ,e" _,' us
.co,m:mentai'res ,by,%4nti'ns ,de I d:ivin" Li,t,u:r:g,ie ,au Xl ~' au . . . . . V '
sikle (Paris, 1966)-;, 22,7;: R., :F. Taft" The' G:'r-eat EtI;;tr~nJct!+ A History of Gifts' Q~Hd' ,Oth
Pteanaphoriod Rites of the ,Li,fu~ o{,St,. JOO:" Ch rysos tom:'. . atkan City,., 1977).
MaT p an 3a~lI1~ bl a TOPCKlItM npa 0

162 CHANGE IN BYZANTI E CULTURE
pointed out, church dogma was made increasingly explicit in the figural
decoration of the church in reaction perhaps not only to theological con-
troversy, but al 0 the ri e of popular r ligiosity in the twelfth century. Ill)
Even the tentative theological rationalism of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries stimulated a series of fundamental logical questions that chaJ-
lenged a faith grounded solely in tradition. But this variety of heresy
was peculiar to intellectual ; it was rarely found outside the academic
elite. Another form of heresy, dualism, was more widespread. This pro-
longation of the Paulician and Bogomil heresies infected all classes in By-
zantium from the educated physician Basil, burned at the stake by
Alexios I, to the anonymous soldiers and peasants in the Balkans and
Asia Minor. 1001 Two important points of distinction ben-veen these later
appearances of dualism and their earlier occurrences have been sug-
gested, though on little evidence: that it had a more urban character in
the eleventh and twelfth centuries and that Bogomil "perfect" were
concentrated in certain mona teries. l ~
I06
In 1140, a special council condemned the Enthusiasts and Bogomils.
The basic tenets of the heresy were found in the writings of Constantine
Chrysomalos, who according to his attacker claimed that government
official worshiped the devil in their obedience to the earthly archoll. He
also denied the vatidity of the liturgy, proposing that individual salvation
was not dependent on the sacraments. The Council of 1143 condemned
two Cappadocian bishops; 107 they were accused of preaching pure as-
ceticism, calling on their pari hioners to abstain from intercourse, meat,
mHk, fish, and wine for three years. They evidently insisted that tonsure
was the prerequisite for paradise. They rejected the cult of icons; they
denied the occurrence of miracles; they allowed women to participate as
deaconesses in the liturgy. The suppression of heresy obviously took a
103. R. Browning, "Enlightenment and Repression," 19, counted twenty-

fiv trials against heretic intellectuals during Comnenian rule.
104. M . Loos, Dualist Heresy ill tlze Middle A es (prague, 1974); G. Ficker, Die
PI"mdagiagiten (Leipzig, 1908); D. Obolensky, Tlze B080lllil5 (Cambridge, 1948);
D. Angelov, "Der Bogomilismus au1 dem Gebit:'te des byzantinischen Reiches,"
Godis"ik tiD Sofijskija lllliversitel . Istoriko-filologiteski fakultel 44 (1947 - 48), 1- 60; %
(1949-50), 1- 45; M. Loos, "Certains aspects du bogomiLisme byzantin des Xl et
XII' siMe '," BS 28 (1967), 38-53. D. Gress-Wright, "Eogomilism in Constan-
tinople, " Byz. 47 (1977), 163-85.
105. E. Werner, "Geschich\(' des mittelalteTlichen Dualismus: neue Fakten
und aile Konzeptionen," Zeitschrift fur Gesdlicl!tswisselJsc"a!f 23 (1975), 542.
106. Reg. paIr. 3, no. 1007.
107. Re . paIr. 3, nos. 1011. 1012, 1014.
Copyr grtCd 'T'

great deal of time; even at the beginning of the thirteenth century,

Bogomils were prominent in Philippopolis and some other places. l Oll
The Byzantine church actively attacked both the rational and dual-
istic heresies, employing compendia, treati es, and even monumental
art to clarify the history of heretical error and to defend established
religious doctrine. The mo t prominent protagonist of Orthodoxy dur-
ing the reign of Alexios I was Euthymios Zigabenos. In his voluminous
book, Doctrinal Panoply, he first briefly reviewed patristic teachings on
God, creation, and salvation, then presented the history of heresies and
their refutation from early Christian times. His purview included th
Armenians, Monophy ites, Paulicians, Bogomils, and Moslems. The
book also contained contributions from other theologians such as John
Phournos. It was, however, original neither in its form nor in its content,
drawing entirely on earlier f10rilegia and anthologi s.
A number of polemicist followed Zigabenos. '00 Among them were
Niketas Seides and Niketas of Heradea , who attacked Eustratio of Ni-
caea, and Nicholas of Methone, who denounced Soterichos. Nicholas,
Manuell's theological advisor, also investigated the ancient roots of me-
dieval heresy. He censured ProkJos's philosophy, which had seduced
Psellos and his followers. Those pagan philosophers who defended the
etem.ity of matter were also denounced, as their assumptions had been
revived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Nicholas was not con-
I1O
cerned with developing a comprehensive theology, but in protecting the

Orthodox inheritance from rationalist (i.e., "pagan") critiques.
RATIONALISM AND THE IMPERIAL IDEAL

Questioning ecclesiastical dogma was tantamount to questioning the
political ideology of the state; hence, conversely, icholas of Methone's
theological position was tied to his political program. Nicholas pro-
moted imperial power in the hope that Emperor Manuel would unite the
10 . B. Primov, "Bulgari, gltrci i. lalinci v Plovdiv prez U04- 1205 g. Roljata
na bogomilite," lzvestija /la Bulgarskoto istoricesko druiestvo 22 - 24 (1948), 155f.;
sec A. P. Kazhdan, "Novye materialy 0 bogomilach (?) v Vizantii XII v.,"
Byz. Bulg. 2 (1966),275 - 77.
109. J. Darrouzes, "Noles de la Ulle rature et de critique, I: Niceta d ' Her-
acle ho tou Serron," REB 18 (1960), now in his Litterature et histoire des textes by-
umti"s (London, 1972), part 6, 179- 84.
110. J.StigLmayr, "Die 'Streitschrift des Prokopius von Gaza' gegen den
Neuplatoniker ProkJos," BZ 8 (1899),263-301. See also G. Podskalsky, "Nikolaos
von Methone und die Proklosrenaissance in Byzanz," Oriel/tolia Cllristia/la Peri-
odica 42 (1976), 509- 23.
COPY r gt'tea 'T a '-

church (Logo; dyo 8). He was outraged that Soterichos dared to publish
hi "barbarian" theories just at a time when the empire was threatened
by barbarian invasion (Logo; dyo 44, 70, 72). And certainly church doc-
trine was not the only subject of rationalist reappraisal in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries. The imperium also was scrutinized. Byzantines
never formulated a theoretical alternative to the monarchy, but criticism
of the emperor was an int graJ part of Byzantine political ideology (exs.
32-34). I II This criticism, for the most part, took the form of proposing
ideal imperial types that, in contra t with a present rule, might wel1 im-
ply a negative assessment. Such an ideal might be derived from a past
model, like Constantine the Great in Theophane , or a near contempo-
rary, like Basil the Mac.eClonian in the milieu of Constantine VII. Often
the pTevious emperor wa idealized: Nikephoros 111 by Attaleiate , Alex-
ios I by Anna Comnena, Manuel I by Kinnamos. But in the eleventh cen-
tury, another mode of acceptable criticism was introduced: the denun-
ciation of the office of emperor, or of emperors as a caste.
Psellos provides the best example of such criticism. According to
him, emperors were addicted to flattery and could not tolerate fTee
speech (Ps. Chron. 2: 147, no. 18.5- 10; see also 1: 153, no. 74.21 - 23); they
were guided not by the common weal but by their own will (2:59, no.
179.8- 11). While some emperors were good at the beginning of their reign
and others at the end, none was good throughout his whole rule (1: 130,
no. 27.1 - 4; 131, no. 27.31 - 32). The evil of some emperors was generated
by their own character; in others it grew from their dependence on
worthless counselors (1 : 58, no. 11.3- 5; 2: 52, no. 163.7- 10). The evil in-
herent in imperial power inevitably led to the corruption of the phy ical
and moral health of him who wielded it. In his ell ronograp!t;a , Psellos
wrote as though emperors were predestined to failure a failure not
marked simply by unfulfilled promi es and unrealized good intentions,
but also by physical decay. Dropsy, gout, and ill humors worked upon the
rulers' features-they appeared as corpses before they were dead. Psel-
los's indignation at imperial pretension betrays his skepticism regarding
a divineJy cho e.n basi/ellS emperors were not content with their exter-
nal signs of power, the crown and the purple, but sought to elevate
themselves above humanity; they assumed divine benediction (J :153,
no. 74.15- 21; 2:83, no. 1.7- 10).
Psellos was not the only one to emphasize the emperor's human
111 . F. TinnefeJd, KDtegorie der Kniserkritik ill der byUllllillischen Historiograpllie

(Munich, 1971); P. Magdalino, " of Twelfth-Century Byzantine KDiser-
kritik," Speculum 58 (1983), 326- 46.

frailties. John Zonaras, for instance, also questioned the possible exis-
tence of an ideal, paradigmatic emperor (Zon. 3: 767.12-19). Once nor-
mal weaknesses were ascribed to the emperor, a demand for limitations
on hi autocratic powers naturally followed. A medieval society was re-
mote from constitutional restrictions, imperial autocracy might be mod-
erated only through ethics and education, advisors and critics. Masters
of rhetoric, indeed, composed not only official panegyrics but also cri-
tiques aimed at the emperor. Attempts were made particularly by the ec-
de ia tical hi rarchy to modify the imperial po ition on theological and
even on political issues. Ecclesiastics stubbornly opposed Alexios I in an
attempt to protect the church's right to dispose of its own property. Il2
John Oxeites, patriarch of Antioch, dared to censure Ale ios's entire po-
litical program. l1) An anonymous churchman, perhap Niketas, metro-
politan of Ankara, demanded that the emperor must be instructed by
the bishops, not the bishops by the emperor. II. Further, he insisted that
the prelates' power was above that of the secular ruler. m He prai ed Pa-
triarch Polyeuktos, who opposed emperors, and condemned the em-
peror who insisted that those resisting his power committed sacrilege
(254.U-1S; 240.4-5). Finally, he quoted John of Damascus: "King are
not to legislate in the church" (248.15-16). Where Photios had devel-
oped a theory of state control by two equal powers emperor and pa-
triarch the anonymous writer of the late eleventh century proposed
the creation of a council of metropolitans and high civil dignitaries to
guide the emperor for the benefit of the empire (212.30-214.6).
Criticism. was implicit even in laudatory speeches. Eustathio . of
Thessaloniki, a panegyrist and partisan of Manuel I, on several occa-
sions criticized the emperor's action. Around 1166, Eustathios insisted
that the capital was crying through his lips for lack of water and demanded
that the emperor see to its needs or else endanger its citizens. In many
instances, Eustathios called upon Manuel to abandon aggressive mili-
tary policies, denouncing war as a bloodthirsty evil. To dig pits for en-
emy cavalry, to poison wells, to sow alien fields with salt, and to scatter
iron caltrops over foreign hills he called despicable acts; he suggested it
would be more noble to build defensive fortr sses. Eustathios even de-
112. A. A. Glabinas, He epi Alexiou KomllclwlI (1081 - 1118) per; lIieroll skellol/,
keime/ion lea; hagioll eikOIlOl1 eris (Thes alonikL 1972).
113. P. Gautier, "Diatribes de Jean I'Oxite contre Alexis I.... Comnene," REB
28 (1970),5 - 55.
114. Darrouzes, Documents itlMits, 38- 42 .
115. Darrouzes, Docllments inedit ,214.5- .
Copyr gtltec rra

""'" G . BY~'.' 'A NTI'NE C" U". L' TU""'RE
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,g ui:s -. 't'- emselves from, "th,e ir l'barbaric"" ne:ig'hbo,:rs ~ The con'ce' tual ,a s
'w",-ll as. poli.tical relat "onship betw'e en B'yzan"tiu'm and "th, ~ ' 0 -_ hel' :medi.eval
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'm .' .II
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(1968), 71f.,
.~ li~ j'., Da, IOUzeS, ,uLes d . .' 'm en' .s byzan ~ ;ns du. :X1 ' sj.'ech~: su't :Ia, ptimau:te
romain,e'l R,c'B ,23 1 (1965).;1 791- ,82,a
i"I

BYZANTIUM AND
ALIEN CULTURES
TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES TOWARD " BARBARIANS"

Medieval society was essentially conservative. Cultural patterns and
social perception , like political ideology and the economy, evolved
slowly. The Byzantines' perception of the contemporary world was thor-
oughly conditioned by the past. In fact, traditional modes of thought
not only were uncritically retained over long periods of time, they also
tended to be self-reinforcing. For instance, one culture's contact with
and knowledge of another is a great stimulus to change. But in Byzan-
tium one of the strongest inherited prejudices was directed against alien
culture . The Romans regarded themselves as the bulwark of civiliza-
tion. Their Eastern Christian descendants, still calling themselves Rho-
maio; Romans persisted in believing that their empire was universal,
the only true power in the oikoumene (exs. 35 - 36).1 As mentioned earlier,
they bruited Constantinople by representing their capital as the New
Jerusalem as well as the New Rome; Constantinople was the Royal City
2
or Queen of Cities. As the new "chosen" people with the special pro-
tection of God, their . . was to enjoy and to promote the now-
Christianized culture of antiquity.' Theoretically, the basileus was the
1. The universal empire provided the ideological base of official propaganda

throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1141 John U Comn nus wrote
to Innocent II proposing the reestablishment of a united Roman Empire under
the secular authOrity of the emperor and the spirituaJ authority of the pope,
C.O trogorsky, History of the Byznlllille Slate (New Brunswick, .J., 1969),385.
2. E. Fenster, Laudes COllstalllillopolitallae (Munich, 1968), 326, indicates that
this epithet was particularly common in the twelfth century.
3. E. van Ivanka, Rhomaerreiclr und Gottesoolk (Munich, 1968), esp. chap. 1;
A. Toynbee, Constantine Porphyrogenit11s and His World (London, 1973), 346.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

only possible heir to the empire of the augusti. He properly the "lord
of the entire world" (SkyI:123.88- 89). The reality of the diminished size
of the empire was never admitted the Basili/(a, for example, included
rulings relevant to Egypt, North Africa, Scythia, Syria, and Illyriout't,
regions long lost to Byzantine power.'
In the popular imagination as reflected in the Alexander Romance, re-
gions beyond the borders of the empire were the breeding ground of
monsters and myths. Their populations were unnatural either in their
actions or in their appearances. There were Amazons, the fabled warrior
virgins; kings whose transportable palaces were drawn by elephants;
unicorns so large that thirteen. hundred men were unable to move one of
their carcasse; as well as men with dogs' muzzles, birds with human
faces, and giant centaurs. Hagiographic sources reflect the same imagi-
native tendencies. According to the Greek vita of St. Makarios of Rome,
monks passing beyond the frontiers of Persia encountered strange feline
beasts, unicorns, tailless apes, men who lived under stones, and fero-
cious androgynes who wore arrows on their heads instead of wreaths. 6
Such flights of fancy were rarely found in more sophisticated sources.

In these works, ignorance was not robed in rich imaginings, but rather it
was simply and prosaically revealed in out-of-date knowledge. Nomen-
clature, for instance, was woefully anachronistic. Strabo's terms were
tran nutted from generation to generation without revision. The names
of the tn'bes of antiquity . Scythians, Paeonians, Celts, Ethiopian -
were applied indiscriminately and archaistically to contemporary peoples .
Thus, the Turks were called Persians; the Hungarians, Turks; Normans,
Franks; French, Germans; and all the people living to the northwest, in-
4. A. P. Kazhdan, "Vasilild kak istoriteskij istomik," VV 14 (1958), 61. Bul-

garia , lost in the seventh century, was always regarded as a usurped part of Byz-
antine . V. TApkova-Zaimova, "L'id ~ imperiale a Byzance et Ie tradition
etatique bulgare," Byuzntina 3 (1971), 289(.
5. This aspect of the Alexander Romance has been neglected in favor of the
tracing of the hi tory of the text. Even the geographical data has been considered
a means of e tablishing source . F. Pfister, "Stuilien zur Sagengeographie,"
in his Kleine Schriften zum Alexallderroman (Meisenheim am Glan, 1976), 112-
18. The earliest e tant manusCJipt of the Greek Alexander Romance of Pseudo-
(ca. 200 B.C.), date to the eleventh century (Par. gr. 1711): K. Mit-
sakis, Der byulntinische Alcxanderroman fUlcn dem Codex Vindob . theal. gr. 244
(Munich, 1967), 6f.
6. A. Vassiliev, Anecdota graero-byzantina (Moscow, 1893). 135- 65; see also
J. TrumpE, "Zwei Handschriften einer Kurzfassung der griechischen Vita Macarii
Romani," AB 88 (1970), 23- 26.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

Byzantium and A1ien Cultures 169
duding Bulgarian, Pecheneg , Polovt y, and Rus, wer Scythians. 1
Ev n Tzetzes, who was self-con ciou Iy Georgian, attempted to link cur-

rent populations with archaic ethnic names. He associated the Rus with
the ancient Taurians, for example. 8 Even when new teuns were adopted,
they were not obviously consist ntly applied to the proper population.
Tzetzes lumps the Abasges, Iberians, and Alans togeth r as a single
people (Tzetzes, Hist. 190.588- 90). Similarly, th Ge rgian princes
Maria was consistently ref rred to in Byzantine ource a an AJan. 9
Though Byzantine for the most part were ignorant about foreigners
and basically uninterested in becoming better acquainted with them,
more extreme negative r action are not uncommon . The degr of d ri-
ion to which non-Greek-sp aking peoples were ubj cted by cultured
Byzantines is best xemplified by Theophylakto ,a ophi ticated Con-
stantinopolitan sent in about 1090 by the patriarch to oversee
the Slavic diocese of Ohrid. 10 This city had been the capital and cultural
nexus of western Bulgaria until its reconquest by Basil n. The arch-
bi hop repeatedly denounc d his flock as mindles mon t rs and toads,
slaves and barbarians reeking of How absurd that they
dared to mock Zeus's bird, the imperial eagle! Theophylakto lamented
hi exile among aliens and his loss of the comrade hip of hi intellectual
equals (PC 126.508B, 30BA, 5410, 544B, 396B- C). More generally, the
Byzantine simply attribut d tereotypical vices to foreigner: the Scy-
thian were cruel, the Armenian perfidious, and the Arabs treach-
erous. II iketas Choniate , for instance, denounc d the Latins as gee dy,
illiterate (literally, as ha ing an " uncultivated eye"), gluttonous, and vio-
lent their hand were alway ready to pullout their sword over noth-
ing (Nik. Chon. 602.5- 7). He pre ented them a given to driveling and
to gross expres ion of ganc (164.60-61 et passim). Even the false
7. V. Tapkova-Zaimova, " Quelque remarques sur Jes nom ethnique chez

auteurs byzantins," Studien zur Geschichte und Philosophic des Altertums (Am-
m, 1968), 4OOf.
8. Tzetzes, Hist . 463.872- 76. On his origins, sec P. Gauti r, "La cu rieu e as-
c ndan e de Jean Tzetzes," REB 28 (1970), 209.
9. Jo . Ivanov, Blllgarski starini iz Makcdollija (Sofia, 1931; reprint: 1970), 567f.;
Nik phoros Basilakes, Encomio di Adriano Cornnmo, ed. A. Garzya (Naples, 1965),
34.203.
10. For his biography, e P. Gautier's prefa ce to hi edjtion , Theopl'ylacte
d'Adlrida: Discollrs, traites, poe ies (Th saloniki, 1980).
11. ust. Opuse. 75.2- 4. A. P. Kazhdan, Armjanc v so tave gospodstvlljll~cgo
klima V imperii v Xl-Xli vv. (Erevan, 1975), 141 ; V. Christides, "Saracens'
Prodosia in Byzantine Source ," Byz. 40 (1970), 5- 13.

Copyrgrtcd I
170 CHA GE IN BYZANTINE CULTURE
etymologies of ethnic nam d arly howed this prejudic . Tzetzes, for

exa mple, associated Taurian with oxen, which in Gre k . tauroi. 12
CONTACT WITH ALIEN CULTURES:

THE FRONTIER ZONE
pite their ethnic pride, the Byzantine did not r prese nt a uni-
fi d "nation." The tribal di r ity so typical of the Late Roman Empire
largely disappeared after va t territories were lost to the Arabs in the
nth c ntury. everthel , Byzantium did have everal frontier
zone with mixed popuJation with varied beliefs and divergent cultural
traditions. The po ition and importance of these area changed with
fluctuations in political circumstances. In the eleventh entury there
were three major zone . Th a tern frontier ector that tre tched from
hald a along the Euphrates to northern Syria induded Arab a nd Syr-
ian in the south and Armenian in the north. Much of thi area was lost
to B zantium in the la t decade of ele enth century. With th re on-
qu t of the Comnen i, Turks were al a brought within the boundaries
{B zantium . The c nd fr n r zone encom pas d northern Bal-
kan . Ba UH' annexation of the Bulgarian Empire in the earl eleventh
ntury carried into the Byzantin fold everal groups of outhern Slavs,
primarily the Bulgarian .\3 In the 1040 the Pechenegs appeared within
the fro ntiers of the empire and received allotments in Bulgaria. I. South-
e rn Italy formed the third zone, where native Latin- and Greek-speaking
populations mixed with G rmanic tribes, most notably the Lombards.
By 1071, Apulia and Calabria were conquered by the NOI man and p r-
manently 10 t to the empire.
h borderland w r the mo t vulnerable part. of the empire in
r sp ct no t only to {oreign attack, but also to internal d isaffection . The
rmans became invol ed in outhern Italy, fo r in lance, at the instiga-
tion o f the in urrectionary leader Meles early in th eleven th century."
Th Armenian principalitie at 0 given to revolt. Political leaders
12. See note 8. On a t mology of the name of the Arab , V. Christides,

"Th arne Arabes, Sarakenoi, etc., and Their False Byzantine Etymologies," BZ
65 (1972). 330.
13. D. Angelov, Obrazuvane"a bulgarskata Ilarodnosl (Sofia, 1971), 351-78.
14. P. Diaconu. Us Petchenegue all Bas-Danube 1970). On the date
of the fir t Pecheneg ttl em nt in Byzantium. ee A. P. Kazhdan, "Once More
about the 'Alleged' Ru o-Byzantine Treaty (ca. 1047) and the Pecheneg Crossing
of th Danube." lOB 26 (1977), 65-77; J. Lefort, " Rh torique el politiqu . Trois
di 'cour . Jean Mauropou 1047," TM 6 (1976), 271.
15. F. Chalandon. Histoire de 10 dominatioll ornlllnde en lIalie et e1/ Sicile 1
(Pa ri , 1907), 42 - 58.
C pyr qrled r1 I
Byzantium and Alien Cultures 171
periodically attempted to create kingdoms for them elves by claiming

territ rie beyond the easy reach of the capital. For example, Richard the
Lion Hearted's conquest of Cyprus in 1192 came in the aft rmath of the
eizure of the island by a certain Isaac Comnenus. ' 6 The empire attempted
to counteract the centrifugal tendencies toward independence by main-
taining a centralized bureaucracy and a considerable military force. But
it had other mean at its di posaJ for social control. Alien nobility was
ab orbed into the military or, I frequently, into th civil apparah1s of
th mpire. Foreign hieftain were awarded land grants, often far from
th ir original terri tori om Bulgarian noble were settled in AI-
menia, for in tanc . The al 0 received titles and military command in
for religious orthodoxy and loyalty to the throne. At a lower so-
ial level, the Byzantine systematically resettled ethnic groups as a
mean of preventing urge for independence (exs. 37-38). AImenians
were ettled in Philippopolis; Alexios I resettled defeated tribe of Peche-
negs in the district of Moglena. Some of those Turks who, according to
Euthymios Malakes, "by tribes and clans" shifted their allegiance to the
Byzantines and accepted "happy erfdom" under the emp ror evidently
re eiv d land around (Ex. 39).17 Ther th y e tabU hed a
On w P ria" (Fontes 1:77.30-79.6).
The church was another effective tool of acculturation. Re-hellen-
izing the reconquered area of th Balkan penin ula ems to have be-
gun with the imposition of the Greek liturgy. ls In southern Italy, the By-
zantine ' attempts to control Apulian as well as Calabrian dioceses mark
1q
the importance of ecde ia tics a ag nts of state power. An individual
e ample of how the tate might u e the church to ad anc its interests i
provided by a certain Nikephoro. ikephoros, pr bably a h Ilenized

Arm nian, was sent to the the me of Charsianon in 1001, i.e., imme-
diat I after David KouropaJate , prince of Taiq, had di d and his prince-
dom was annexed by BasiIll. Nikephoro worked in the province near
th n wly annexed land and contributed to the e pan ion of Christjan-
16. W. H. Rudt de Collenberg, "L'empereur Isaac de Chypre et sa {ille

(1155 - 1207)," Byz. 38 (1968), 123- 79.
17. On Turkish settlements in Byzantine Asia Minor, H . Ahrweiler, ''L'his-
tair et la geographic dc la r gion de Smyrne," TM 1 (1965), 22. Also see Eu-
thymjo Malakes, "Dyo enkomia tikoi logoi eis ton autokratora Manuell Kom-
n non," Tlteologia 19 (1941-48), 541.
18. A. W. Ep tein, "The Political Content of the Bema Fre cae of St. Soph ia
in Ohrid," JOB 29 (1980), 315-29.
19. A. GuiJIou, "L'Itali byzan tin du I ied . Etat d que tion ," in
E. Bertaux, L'art dans I'Italie meridionale, aggiomamell/o del/'opera, ed. A. Prandi,
vol. 4 (Rome, 1978), 11 - 13.
Copyr rt fTla al
172 CHANGE IN BYZA TI E CULTURE
ity for thirty-i year. A a reward, his retirement within the church
was provided for: in 1037 h wa ttled on Athos; he received the privi-
lege of eating at Protos The kti to 's table, or, if he preferred, he would
be served in his own cell from the protos's kitchen . His servant was fed
with the brethren. After th death of the protos (who wa of Armenian
tock), Nikephoros would be bequeathed an estate. 20
Th e attempt to integrat the borderlands were never entirel suc-
c s fuI. Both the settled populations of these frontier zones and the
newly introduced aliens maintain d their ethnic identity.ll Large part of
Bulgaria retained their Slavic languages, their own churche , and even
their own literary cultu,re de pite Byzantium's efforts to subsume the
new territory. SimIlarly, the Italians and the Armenians remained reli-
giously and linguistically distinct from their Greek overlord , continu-
ing to harbor a desire for political independence. While the aristocracies
of a ubject people might be hellenized and lose their cultural associa-
tions with their tribes of origin, the mass of people tubbornly main-
tained their traditional custom .
CONTACT WITH AUE CULTURES: THE CE TER

In Byzantium, the opportunitie for exposure to foreign habit were
vari d. The military probably r pre ented th ingJe great st instjtu-
tional invitation to cultural although such integration
was neither high-level nor very effective. But certainly within the army
members of different ethnic groups were brought together. Further,
th groups included not only p oples within the border of Byzan-
tium, but also mercenary troops from aU over Europe. Mo lem chroni-
cI rs recorded Greeks, Ru , Khazar , Alans, Uze , Pecheneg , Geor-
gian , Armenians, and Franks within the rank of Romanos lV's anny. n
20. Actes d' Esphigmenou (Pari, 1973), no. 2. On this affair, ee A. P. Kazh-
dan, liE figm nskaja gramota 1037 g. i dejatel'nost' Feoktista," Vestnik ErevaT/-
skogo universiteta, 1974, no. 3,236- 38.
21. la . Ferluga, "Quelque problemes de politiqu byzantine de colonjsa-
tion au XI" ieete dan Ba " Byz. forsch. 7 (1979), 5sf. On the problem of
bord rland, ee H. Ahrw iJ r, "La fronti re et Ie frontieres de Byzance en Ori-
ent," Actes du XIV' Congres international d'etudes Oyzantine5 1 (Bucharest, 1974),
2 -30, with comments by Z. V. Udal'cova, A. P. Kazhdan, R. M. Bartikian,
A. Pertusi, . Oikonomide , O. 231-313. ]. F. HaJdon and H . Ken-
n d ,"Th Arab-Byzantine Frontier in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries: Military
Organization and Society in lh Bord rland ," ZRVl1 9 (1980), 116, a1 0 empha-
iz that frontier region were djffer nt in character from the central territories
of th . empire.
22. . Cahen, " La campagne d Mantzikert d'apres Ie ources musul-
C pyr qrted r1 I
In a contemporary Greek history, further ethnic division were recog-

nized Macedonian , Cappadocian , Bulgarians, and Varangian (Skyl.
Cont. 125.5-7). Turks abandoned Islam to serve in John II's army; Ibn
Cubair counted forty thousand Turkish horsemen riding in the ranks of
the impe.rial forces at the time of Andronikos J.2.l Some insight into the
variety of nations found among the specifically mercenary corps may be
provided by eleventh-century chrysobulls exempting certain monas-
teries from the billeting of foreign troops (Ex. 40). In the chrysobull of
1060, only Varangians, Ru , Saracens, and Franks were listed. In that of
1079, Bulgarians and Koulpingoi (?) were added. Later English and Ger-
mans (Nemitzoi) appeared, and finally in the chry obuU of 1088 also the
Alans and Abasges. ' Apparently throughout the eleventh century, the
2
Byzantine army became increasingly ethnic.ally diverse.25

Within this multiracial body, different groups eem to have been
dominant at different times. Under BasiJ 11, Rus warriors were promi-
nent among the mercenaries. 21\ By the middle of the eleventh century this
position had to be shared with the Scandinavians (Varangians), Arabs,
Franks (Normans), and Bulgarian . v The Sicilian Norma were most
successful in obtaining high positions with the army.2!! Herve, known as
manes," Byz. 9 (1934), 629.

23. W. Hecht, Die byzantinisclre Aussenpolitik zur Zeit der letzten Komnene,, -
kaiser (N u tadtl 1967), 32f. On the SeLjuks in the army of John U, H . A.
Gibb, The Damascus Clrronicle of the Crusades (London, 1932), 249.
24. A. P. Kazhdan and B. L. Fonkic, "Novoe izdanie aktov Lavry i ego
znatenie dlja vizantinovedenija," VV 34 (l973), 49.
25. The Iberian are also mentioned: Eust. Esp. 88.23. Iberians in iron coats
(chain mail) are de clibed by Nicholas Mesaritcs as supporters of the usurper
John the Fat in 1200: A. Heisenberg, Nikolaos Mesarites. Die PalastrerKJlution des
Joha"nes Komnenos (Wtirzburg, 1907), 33.3- 5.
26. G. G . Litavrin, "Psell 0 pritinach poslednego pochoda russkich na
KonstantinopoJ' v 1043 g.," VV 27 (1%7), 75f.; J. Shepard, "Some Problems of
Rus o-Byzantine Relations c. 860- c. 1050," Slavonic and East European Rroiew 52
(1974), 10- 33.
27. A. Poppe, "La derni ' re expedition Russe contre Constantinople," BS 32
(1971), 21 - 29. J. Shepard, ''The English and Byzantium: A Study of Their Rol.e in
the Byzantine Army in the Later Xlth Century," Traditio 29 (1973),53- 92; 5. 816n-
dal, Tire Vara"gians af Byznntium (Cambridge, 1978); P. Tivtev, "Za utastieto na
bulgari vUv vizantijskata . prez perioda na vizantijskoto igo," Istoriceski
pregled 19 (1963),81 - 89.
28. R. Janin, "Le Francs au service de ' Byzantine ," 0 29 (1930), no.
'157.61 72; Marquis de la Force, "Le con seille r latins du basil us Alexis Com-
nene," Byz. 11 (1936), 153 - 65.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

Frankopoulos (" on of the Frank"), wa appointed ommander (strate-

tates) of the Orient, mad a magistros, and grant d e tate in Armenia-
kon; eventually he wa e cut d by Constantine X. Robert Crespin was
ac u ed of attempted mutiny by Romanos IV, but Michael Vll brought
him back from exile and mad him commander of the "Frankish" mer-
cenarie ; Crespin wa ucce ded a commander by Rou I de Bailleul,
who betrayed his Byzantine lord and attempted to carv out a prince-
dom for him elf in L ca nia and Galatia. German wer important in
th and 1080 ; Anna Comnena recognized their long tradition of
ervic among th rank of th Rhomaioi (An. C. 2:92.5- 7). Finally, dur-
ing th twelfth century the Scandinavian and Anglo-Sa on are men-
tion d mo t frequentl asking fortune in Byzantium, espe-
cially the latter, who had 10 t their inheritance to the Normans in 1066;
tim and again they ar referr d to by the Byzantines a "the barbarians
aring the double-edged word on their shoulder ." The prominence of
Latin , too, within the B zan tine army lends om credibility to William
of Tyre' comment that Manuel I di dained the coddled, effeminate
Gr eks and depend d only on Latins in difficult military ituations (PL
201.8570). Others made much th am obs rvation though with a dif-
f r nt bia . Odo of Deui! c mmented that the B zantin would have
10 t their empir had it not defended by hir d knight from foreign
countTie ; 2') more sympathetically, Benjamin of Tudela ob erved that the
were not warlike and ther (ore hired soldier from other nations
t fight th it battle (Ben. Tud. 13).
Latin e pan ion in the late eleventh and twelfth centuries brought
th Byzantin into vital onlact with Westerner . Th ormans under
Rob rt Gui ard conquered Dyrrachium and invaded mainland Greece.
heir occupation was short lived, but orne Norman followers of Guis-
card and . son Bohemond may well have r mained in Byzantine ser-
vi v n wh n the main force returned to Italy: after the recapture of
ria, Ale io I off red the defeat d knights either free retreat or ac-
ceptance into the .i mp rial rvice (An. C. 2: 43.11 - 20). The Crusades
again introduced Western Europeans to the Byzantin population. Cer-
tainly, the arrival of th cru ding hordes worn n, children, and mili-
tant churchmen, a well a knight was traumatic for the empire (An .
. 2:207.2 -20 .6).
L s nurn rous than m rcenarie or Crusader, but at lea t as influ-
ential, were the merchant of the Mediterranean ba in who lived and
trad d in the major urban ent r of the empire. During the eleventh
29. OdD of Deuil, Dr profectio"e Lildavici Vll ill Orientem, cd. and trans!' V. G .
Berry ( ew York, 1948), 8.
Copyrgt I
and twelfth centuries in the West trade grew enormously. The great cen-
ters of cloth production were established and banking enclaves began to
emerge. Western European commercial growth had a significant impact
on Byzantium. The flow of goods in commerce and people in pilgrimage
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries resulted in the increased visi-
bility of foreigners in the cities and even the towns of Byzantium, as is
clear from the description of the annual fair of Thessaloniki discussed in
Chapter 2. Concessions of trading privileges were greatly sought after.
In the eighth and ninth centuries trade wa developed predominantly
on the frontiers. The Bulgarians were very active traders with the em-
pire; the denial of their trading privileges was even a pretext for war in
894. From the tenth century on, trade with Kievan Rus acquired special
importance, and a series of Russo-Byzantine treaties were concluded,
the latest-known being signed in 1046.)(J Rus had their own quarter,. their
own church, even a cult of their own saint, St. Leontij, in Constanti-
nople. Their affinity with the Byzantines is reflected in the Russian pil-
31
grims' descriptions of the New Rome, and by their establi hment of one
of the most influential. monasteries on Athos St. PanteJeimon.12
Culturally more intractable were the mercantile states both to the
east and west that sought trading rights within the cities along the prin-
cipal trade rout s. The Arabs had special quarters for their merchants
in small towns as well as in major centers such as Thessaloniki and
Constantinople. Archaeological evidence suggests, for instance, that a
mosque existed in the Middle Ages in Athens.3.l A large mosque was
opened for Moslem worship in the capital in 1027.3< A description pre-
served from 1189 remarked on the great number of worshipers who
gathered there. 11
30. R. Browning, ByZilntiulII and Bulgaria . A Comparative Study across an Early

Medieval Frontier (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1975), 58-59; I. Sorlin, ilLes traites
de Byzance avec la Russie au X' siede," Caltiers du lIIonde russe et 50vietiqlle 2
(1961),313-60,447- 75; A. S. Sacharov, Dip/omatija drevnej Rusi (Moscow, 1980).
31. Antonij, "Kniga palomnik," PPSb 17, no . 3 (1899), 29f. On Leontij, A. I.
Jacimirskij, "Novye dannye 0 Chozdenii archiepiskopa Antonija v Car'grad,"
Izvestija Oldelenija Russkoga Jazyka i Siovesl/ost; 4, no. 1 (1899), 245 - 49.
32. On St. Panteleimon, see V. Moin, "Russkie na Afone i ru sko-vizantijskie
otnoSenija v XI-XII vv.," BS 9 (1947), 55- 85; 11 (1950), 32-60, and P. Lemerle's
introduction to Actes de Saint-PanteMemon (Paris, 1982),8- 10.
33. G. C. Miles, " Byzantium and the Arabs: Relation in Crete and the
Aegean Area," DOP 18 (1964), 19f.
34. N. Mednikov, "Palestina ot zavoevanija ee arabami do krestovych po-
chodov," PPSb 17, no . 2 (1903), 859. Abulfeda, Annales muslerniei, ed. 10. 4l. Rei-
ske, vol. 3 (Copenhagen, 1794), 131.
35. Baha ud-Dfn, Tire Life of Saladin (London, 1897), 198f.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

176
Best kno'WD, of' tn,e,se comm,e rcial enclla . e. within, Blyza:n,~_ ium, how,..
eve" w,e re th,ose es'ta,bliflh,e d 'b y 'the' Latins, m ,os,'t :nob),bl.y .:' ItaHans,,,
,A lthough Ic nnt,e mpor "ty' i,g u es may 'be' le"a,S8erat,ed/~ ,t he La ~: 'n, co:m mu,-
m"H'."'eo
:': C'" - ,~ - t ~,~ O',~ 0, 'P
,',~,: I,i_ ons,Ian, m ,:
mO
" ' Ie.' lIl,;Se:Il
"'" - -'~f'" 'Ieill.-~,
W - ~ef"V O':"li'ab' ~B S~, ,L'L': ~ ~ f" "
Vi ' ~ ,J ~ .' ,Il'~:, , I U 1' ~a,HUIOcii 0 " .,Ies'sa ,g -
Th ~ - - ~ I ~ PD - I" 0'
',1 1..,::.. ~U
'UAJ I" "V[:' 'n
- ";:;1 ' '&..,.;.d~ S't;vty'I,.. &t..o ~ sa~'n~'.l.:d' ,Tl..ta,
i "~ : , .S: ,l in ,t h
...., " '~' .. ~~..
' 'e' ~;kl" I('E. .''g.:' 'iC!,tI,. _,'se-n'
'r " ~A 2
U.,l~, ::.c .' _,'~,-' -'b'.~~ .
':')' ,A U'
. '_ ,[
m
'O'
,\L;I" ' : ,',~ ~' ''''J ~ ~' ojo :::" ,: .. ~.) Wi, ' ,,..
:F,araj ,calcuIa;ted the"'umber o,f j', : me~Cha, ..' ,'. :' the c,a:p'ital ,a s"ll, J ,'1[. 1.'1
excess ,o,f ,t'hiirt,Y -t'h,o'u,sand,.,3i' Accordmg t'o Wster,n d "', S" twe1 n ty'
th,o u,s an,d . e.n,e tia'n ,s flie d, ' 'h e Co:n ;s tanlin,()po]"" t . 'n, hos,tiUties of fhe 11605;
supposedly 'm o e tha [ Ie :'. f ousand Ve" ,e tians .'Iere arrested in B,y zan,
tinm, :m, 1.1'72,. -, 'T h,e' Ge , .' ." annal- ,o,f C'afaro r la,t e more .... ' fi,g'-
, ~r.es" numb~ ,ring hie' Pi ~ ans and, . ." in t ~,e' uro:y,a] c+,t y'" as one th,o u-, ' I . , ..
:s and an,d,'t m ' :hund " d r, .s ~ 'ively (M'G'H ' S'S .. ', ':33.)..ha . the n . mber'
0, f;' , . ' . ith,e empe . W '8 S S . ,gn]''f ~cant- ,'n " "t'hl e' ed!V, '1: e1 ~ and
n th ' l~ft'~:'h
l t'YIe'., ~ .
ce'nturie~s , ojo 5, :p Iau:sitbl ,';: the exten't' of their' lc ultural im'pac't ,o:n h,eir b.o sts is,
I.ss, e8sily' meas, ,ed,., i
, . ~ ese 'ta)+"a n merca,' le com " '., ',' ~ties, rec-e . . e ' " .' ' ssio:n s in,fe/t um
:f or InUi"tary ,an,d, nava ,as ~' :istance ,far iate'[ ,t, an " R ~~s~ F'= t Venice ob~
't amed,,a :f ay'o red,peaj, oj o,n , 'w ,i ,t'h ,'. ,privi .'.'g,e of ':bout" ' 082 ( :. ,exaC ' . :.:,e is ', C ,
" no . . t, pJ}oven
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't oms and . p'rio ' ided a Iqu_ ay and, s@'. ' 'l,a l ". I.' I .. ,': '.', in Co:ns,t an'tl-
:n ople. 39 SloW'ly" pr,i vil .ges., 0 ' ~ t :! .... _,rt' w >- ~ -~ oOln c _', ~ .~ d, to' c -h " 'r ' I tali' .~ - c ,t .. l
ies"., Th,e iI' commu'nitile s certainly' :h ad the +'f o,w ,n Latin...ri'l e 's an,c inar ', s.,, '"
Sc' . ,.. [ . ,g'e nerally as.S'UDlle' 't hat ' .,e,se co . . .' :h ad a ,a ipp:I -'n,g' effec,t
o'n t'h,e 'B yzanfin e ,ee,o I',amy, b'u t by .'. ;, ,d lo ing: th~y ten,d to i'm ,. 05e' D'n .:h 'e
and "tw ~1f h ,ren,wries
[, 'I econoillic pers., '., ~ve' '0, " '.
,e en,l . ,c eo't ury; W h h e '1've
' . le n J' 1 "'Iet '" aln , an,' dG .'_...1 - ...1 exe'r ,CJJ;se
.'. '-enoese' btueru, .' d' 'p O,'~.'ILI'H ,- II
cal an,d , ec,o nomj,c' .", . [. '.,'.. of Co,n " an,t in,o pie ,t'h roug'h ,t h,eir ronnol of
,t'h ,e :Strai'ts,. In 'h e .,' ,eve,n 't h an,d , tw'e:Jfth" . "n,'t unlE!,S ,t h'e Stralt ~.' . w le re s,'. ill
un,d ec ,t h,e impe~iunts control. During that:;sam,e' pe ',',od, ltaltsn, ira,d ,e ,a n,d
36;; W,. Hecht, ,Die byzan.f,iniJdre A'u5Se,npoU 'ik, 35;: C. Brand;, Byzanti'um CDtl,-
fron:t ~he Wes . (Ca ~~ Mass,.,J' '1968)11' 6' ,hat ' his figure canno' be j ,. '.
1 " . ,', I
.......
I~ uD1
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"" c., 42
~ I ,~' ,
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I
1,77
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..... "I'" tary

'mil ' ~
aSSIstance ,!: .... iI ,,-
was '. .neic!iu ", . em'e "a}' ,t t u
l : i01 .,'L
.i ,e B
.:'y ,Z " 't.,.ines ~ 'b
' e
,Alexios I's ,p'nvUege 0 about 108,2 and tho ..', f at fOI- 'lowed '. ': ,ot: .' :"i.':.'er 1
fu.' . n.-'da
I I'
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-:'-r. 1U .' ~a ,"
.
ft ' ' .. , ... I '.' . I, il ., I ", I Q. .-. -
to have' p,ro.fited .f rom comm.er-c ~ al f 'la.tions 'wi ~'h Italian commun.es 'by
.' '.' l'l.ng
se.. i .. . .... ., pm d. D'c e.'. as
... . grain.
. . .' ,. .,m....eat, '., - a. , ,d....' , _.
[ . . . ..' .' C-"
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c hants w'e_ ~ m.o'[I ~ ' h ,o stll _' t owaro We'Stl~ rn.ers, alth.o . gh. tb.eR' loolm peti....
tlon E W ,BS, n .O. Y'et d" ama,g tn,g or ev~n l'dangl,r ,ous., I'm :permJl.aVOl " l l f' fS :8h0' ' n . tlo
these aliens .il.d gh.t ,e'xacerba'te t he enmity of. t ' ..... "m:p erolr's subj. C -'S,I' '[bu t I.
probab'y discrepa~ncie,s
in. CU.s.tom. an,d . cree1d. did .more to, cause' :m 'u rual
intolera . oe'. 'I'tl.e :frultfuInE!'s s of Ital.o Bly.Zan tin e' .:' .rerC' ' an,ge W ,8 S t ' ow...
eve r d''eIlcate
.- "' '. .)'.ya~an(~e
'b' '1"
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d. ~ A..' s,l.gm. f''llcant
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un.d . f ' Andronikos I

'. "',
. . . . 0' .:. S
BI R E-,A K 'DO I'W
. " . -
, M E" '0" F",' T,' HE
:,[O
" '. '_. . ". - " - .... :... I . .... _ .' ,' __ ~ ' '' , ' .
T' RAD ITII O ,: : "N ' "A " 'B AR"R"I''E,_ '~ RS:-
1'"::"'11'"' I', : ~'.'.,'" ,:.. 1 1 . t. :_.: ........ ".. .. '1 :,...... : :: .... , .
lh.e incr,e ased social tary.l and comme.rcia]. co .' ta,ct -, betw,e e'n 5y'- j ' ." .. , ,',
,
zant1.um
-,.-
an,d" aIi-e,
..
-,
n cuI-,
" . ~. :.tuI\ ,~S ,;d"ur "ng t'.- . ' e.,.event
',' - --. - '1'
-- ,hl. century
,- - seem..t'D h
., ave
,-,' " -,-I ---- .. I -----,-. I', , ' . . ." " " . .... ,".. .....
led ,to thl@. re,akdo,w n of'some of the tradi io .at ba :ier, dividing By.zan'-
.. . society' .fro,m t h,e ,c ultures ey,o:n .d its,borde s ~ P,e 'clp:S ':. J:~' mos,t tan- I
.gilbl,e eV.i[d,enc ~ of his 'cha'n,ge in. la.t. i . ud...~s toward ab,e'n s is, in . . a,' . ~age
prac.ice. l fh,e. t,e tl.t h c;e~n.tury Constan.tine VD had p 0 '1 'b it ed '~ arr ~ ~, ~ .'
betw .' I.. . .'
... _ . " d . f' "
,.. ..... een. .B.iy,zall.t ne pr .c'e sses ,a n ._.orelgn ru e rs., exce .tl.on ,- ' .. ere
- I .. ' ..
.. " . .. '. . . ' ", ' . ... I' , ,,' : . . ..' I" 1"1 ,'.. :!II' .... ' . l . . : ... ' ", ....',,'I
:m ad ,o nly und.e r d.uress."., In 9.27 t h,e Byza'ntm. ~s w ,-.re forc .~ d. 00 sign a. 1
pe,ac.e -treaty' 'WIt~ "h '8uIg;a r.l..a an W IU. .l th

L ~ CJl1!... .II.~ B' .' u'1
..garlan. czar " as ',0 Ieee . Ie' Ii
Maria, Rlo manos [ '. . nosts grandda . ghte 'i as ":s w -fe . :En 989' "the b tl
per"'a fa ~ly 'w as a.g ain ,ob !s'e d to dispatcb. ODie of "ts m =mbers", t h.e 'u n-
wining P.r.m.ee,l s Anna" Basilll"s sister;- to 'V ladimir' of Kie'v in return for
his tnUi.t ary assis,ta'n ceF I ' th,e ,n uld dle 0 :-. t' 12' same century,. Theo. . hano,
.- .' .. ,t- 'h
anD '. ~ .
,--[. er pnncess" was,.maIT.l.ed. . t'
:0 "h I - .. G--' . .... . .- :.
. ' '0"tt:, . '111'
1,. I.e~ e.rnlan empe,r or . '.' 10 Jl .'"'
.. " . C-': .-:-- . . . - ,'! . "1 1' '- ... ..... '.', T
" - h .. ,C.-
~g
[ ' . . c
t 'h e .a
: ~l. [ ~ :r.anth
!I; '~~"
,1,. __
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~1 ';~"!II' IIr.~ i .' "h.a
11!'17 IL',' ~ I amperor~
~ ,!.:,',:.:'.-.:. :....] ., c.
. - :':- _ ~ ,''1.....
S',', '-I"" soug. .. I Ii:... ..t. . t''_ ' 01
-L.L., S-p,-" o~'', :uC! Q fI-om
. 'e~'1i2 ' ' '-~.
Q ',-::i, W
" '....,~
11, th'
[_ :m
"-::,~
I', ','
the empir ,., Mar.ia-Martha, t'h,e' so~all.ed Alan, a. Georgian p' .-~ncess w ". 0
was t'h;i:lii 'II',iI,Ha 10. '_. . '

-'. ... . ~ ;_ I .:' ' : ' ;. ":.' .llI~~1 I~' -", o rulars', I was
', .' 1. , '" ...... :. .". t-."'h,. a an'
,: . ~: " '_ :. :I I:unn
. . . ,... l :.y': l!V~ap"l' ,~ : I ~A,~ ,I L !Il 42
. Porp" y ,o,~ni.tus,,. De admin'" ,ndo' i'm rio,.

.a vcsik.and R,~ I" H ,. Jenkms (Washin.g,to n, D,.C.,i" 19(7);. ,chap,. 13,,101- 94. :_~ ~ I oo.m.~
, ary 't o 1' 1 vol.. ". f '96 ) ,. 6,7'~ . . ' .. sue' marr.ia.ges had 'be _.n. occasionally l
COnd()D .. d. ' ....... s .' . . a1 of ' . . ...' .,"." .. ' predecessors:: D Ooolen ...,!he B,yzant.in . 1 .
r '....m I*t ,n M~Um'll :J', ',L, n

'l,..,(I" \ .nrn.;.d
" .~
,1'1II ,,,"'J.:~~~h,n
l' ll7'-
7 "l .:'~ ..); i 19
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'- '6'-"';' A..'- --,,'
~
G. O'U -' l.M
~ V-'J. ~ ,
J. ..... i"'iv ,;:lI'..;~ i1' i-;""n IIUt~ d'l!-j "'ii,. ."
"';1.'1 . !!I1:, " ...
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19
.
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0/ '.
"II 2 Th
~, u ~, " .
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;
e re'w ere, .
"; .,.'. , . '.' . ,e...... .' .,n.ga .. ' ,
.I~e. sUC 'h
~
' . .. . S., I.
42'1 L :No~'~ B, . [ . ' .' 0 viizmtij.s :m ,. . P Marfe-Mar.n /~

~''''''d' - - t ~ - -.
.-..-"",..lL "",:W - ~tj.'!Ii;'.rl " (Thill
' .'.... II '8)' 1AI'::::
V1~1l, 1 :n.V~lA;'i)A~e ,e. ",UY ':."
[ I: ~
' 61,:;1. .-.~ ~, ~ .' eI .......

178 CHANGE IN BYZANT INE CULTURE
From the end of the eleventh and through the twelfth century for-
eign dynastic alliances became gradually more common. Although it
never took place, the wedding of Constantine Doukas to Robert Guis-
card's daughter had been arranged; a dose relative of Nikephoros m was
betrothed to a Hungarian king or magnate; 4J John U's wife, Eirene-
Piriska, was a Hungarian princess; their son Manuel I married Bertha of
Sulzbach, sister-in-law of the German king Conrad Ill; Manuell's second
wife was Maria of Antioch, a.Latin princess; his heir, Alexios n, married
Agnes-Anna, a daughter of the French king. Conversely, numerous
women with imperial connections were betrothed to Latin nobles from
the middle of the twelfth century to its dose. Manuell's daughter Maria
married Ranier of Montferrat, the emperor's niece Theodora wedded
Henry of Austria, another ni c was given to Baldwin III of Jerusalem, a
third niece married Stephen Arpad, and a fourth niece went to William
V1ll of Montpellier (Ex. 41) ..... John, Manuel's nephew, had two daughters
who married the Latin lords Amory of Jerusalem and Bohemond m of
Antioch. The Angeloi dynasty continued this new trend. Isaac n chose
as his second wife Margaret of Hungary and betrothed two of his daugh-
ters to the foreign princes Tancred of Sicily and Roger of Apulia. One
can easily attest a shift in attitude toward foreign alliances by comparing
Grumel's geneaJogkal tables for the Macedonian (867-1056) and the
Comnenian (1081-1185) dynasties. Of the fifteen marriages noted on
4
the first chart, only two represent the alliances of Byzantine princesses
with foreign ruler . The second table includes twenty-six marriages, of
which eight are between Byzantine princesses and foreign lords (31 per-
cent) and six are between Byzantine princes and foreign ladies (23 per-
cent). Even if Grumel's data are incomplete, a radical change of Byzan-
tine policy is evident. Not only had marriage become a fundamental
instrument of Byzantine djplomacy, but many of the prejudices against
aJien cultures had been mollified.
More complex and less successful was the attempt of the empire to
43. H . Bibicou, "Une page d'histoire diplomatique de Byzance au XI.' siede,"
Byz . 29- 30 (1959 - 60), 43f.; A. P. KaLhdan, "Iz istorii viLantino-vengerskich
sv jazej vo vtoroj polovine XI v.," Acta A/ltiqlla Academiae scielltiarum Hungaricac 10
(1962) 163 - 66.
44. K. J. Heilig, 'Ostrom und das Deutsche Reich um die Mitte des 12. Jahr-
hunderts," KilisertulII und Herzogsgewalt j", Zeitalt r Friedrichs I (Stuttgart, 1973),
229 - 71; V. LauIent, "Le sceau de llu.>odora Comnene, reine latine de Jerusalem,"
Academic ROil lIIa iflc. Blllleti" de 10 seetioll izistoriqllc 23 (1943), 208- 14; W. Hecht,
"Zur Geschichte der 'Kaiserin' von Montpellier Eudoxia Komn na," REB 26
(1968),161 - 69.
45. V. Crumel, W c"ronologie (Paris, 1958).

a t it net of title over W tern princes. In th mid-eleventh century

yen the title magistros seems to have been attractive to We terners. The
V nenan doge Domenico Contarini had thi titl, and the influential
orman commander Herve requested it, only to have it disdainfully
denied by Michael VI (Sky!. 484.41-47). The value of Byzantine titles
oon depreciated. The next doge, Domenico Silvo, recei ed a higher
title, that of protoproedros, and Alexios I's privilege for V nice of about
1082 adorned the Yen tian doge with the new title intro-
due d for the highe t members of th emperor's family. At the same
time, the patriarch of Grado b came hypertimoi. By the later eleventh
century, the attractivene of Byzantine titles began to fade. Occasion-
ally th y were rei cted by We tern lords . The Norman prince Robert
Gui card wouJd not accept the tiUe of kouTopaiates offered to hi on, and
Rous el de BaJlieuJ did not aUow the same title to be bestowed upon him
by Michael VlI ....
Foreign nobles did, however, actively enter the ranks of the Byzan-
tin aristocracy. These new members of the ruling elit were sometime
ruit d from conquered peoples: for instance, th de cendant of the
la t Bulgarian czar, Ivan Vladi lav, intermarried with the Comnenus and
Doukas families. More ommonly they came from indep nd nt neigh-
boring tates. Rus noble who ought refuge in Byzantium were occa-
ion ally granted land and took their place in the rank of th ari tocracy
(e .42 _ 46). 47 Numerically more significant in the empire were the noble
families of Armenian origin; during the Comnenian period, however,
fewer Armenians than before were introduced into the Byzantine elite,
ps because by that time they had their own princedoms in Cilicia.
here they could follow their own branch of Christian cr ed rather than
the Orthodo Chalc danian one foisted on them by th emperor. Georgia
aJ 0 contributed to the of the empir . 4'J The famHie of the
lberoi, lberitzes, and lberopouloi were known in Byzantium; descen-
dant of the powerful ruler Liparit IV of Trialeti wer Byzantine func-
tionarie in the twelfth c ntucy. Other important familie , the Tornikes,
Pakourianoi, Vihkatzes, and Apuhaps, are identified in the sources as
46. -
R. Guilland, "Etude sur 1 administrative de I'empire byzantin.
Le curopalate," Byumtina 2 (1970), 220.
47. A. P. Kazhdan, "Slavjane v gospodst uju tego kJas a Vizan-
. imperii v XI - XU vv.," Slavjane i Rossija (Moscow, 1972), 32.
48. Kazhdan, Armjane, 146- 56.
49. Aristakes de Lastivert, Recit des mall/curs de III nation armenienne (Brus-
els, 1973), 27.
SO. A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantija i Uparity," VizAntinOtlt!dteskie etjudy, 91f.
Copyr grted fT'I

either Armenian or Iberian; in all probability they originated among the

Georgian or Armenian followers of the Cha1cedonian Creed. Among the
Westerners, only the Normans managed to secure for themselves a sig-
nificant niche within the ruling class of Byzantium. By the twelfth cen-
tury s veral Norman families, including the Rogerioi, the Petraliphas,
and the Raul, had allied them elves with the Comneni through mar-
riage. They became great landowners, obtained high titles (caesar and
even sebastokrator), and served as trusted military leaders. Even Turks
and Arabs were represented in the ranks of the Byzantine nobility. Alex-
ios I, for example, favored a Turkish slave who was appointed as a grand
domestikos by John U. Thi slave's son, the protostrator Alexios Axouch,
who married John II's granddaughter, was one of the wealthiest mag-
nates in the empire. His off pring, John Comnenus the Fat, even at-
tempted to seize the imperial throne in 1200. The noble family of the Tat-
ikioi, founded by a servant of Alexios l, wa of Turkish or Arab origin.
The Chalouphes also may have been of Turkish or Arab origin; the
Samouch (Camuha) and Prosouch (Borsuq) certainly were Turkish. Fi-
nally, Gautier has suggested that the aristocratic family of Kamytzes was
founded by a Turk who had defected to Alexios I. SI Certainly all the e
noble scions of "barbarian" tribes were converted to Orthodoxy and
hellenized before they took their places within the Byzantine social
hierarchy.
The increasing prominence of foreigners in the ruling elite stimu-
lated some reaction among native Byzantines. There was considerable
resentment over the devaluation of Byzantine titles by their appropria-
tion by outsiders. Kekaumenos (278.8 - 284.7), though himself of heIle-
niz d Alinenian lock, insisted that no barbarian, with perhaps the ex-
ception of those of royal blood, should ever be granted an important
title. P eUos, too, was filled with indignation at the barbarian slaves,
contemptible "Spartacuses," who presumed to wield power and influ-
ence in Byzantium (Ps. Chrotl. 2:35, no. 134.4- 17). Niketas Choniates
was di gusted by the sp ctade of pompous, half-civilized manikins re-
ceiving imperial gifts and taxes that- the emperor's tnt subjects had to
sub idize through their labor (Nik. Chon. 209.45- 47). Despite such lam-
entations, however, the growing number of foreign aristocrats in Byzan-
tine society demonstrated an impressive c.a pacity for as . imilaHon.
EFFECTS OF FOREIGN 1 FLUENCE

The numbers of aliens coming into contact with Byzantium and their
increasing status in the society were bound to influence the host culture.
5] . P. Gautier, "Le synode de Blachemes (fin 1094)," REB 29 (1971),259.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Most influences that can be detected were superficial: chivalric games

became more common among the aristocracy; clothing styles may also
have been affected. The Iberian wide-brim felt hat became fashionable
among Byzantine aristocrats in the twelfth century. Breeche became
popular probably under Latin influence. The turban is increasingly
found depicted in donor panels in the twelfth century, indicating adop-
tion of the Eastern custom (Fig. 36). S2 The visual arts also show external
influence. In the eleventh century, for instance, pseudo-Kufic decora-
tion. derived from the Arab use of script in both the minor and monu-
mental arts, became commonplace not only in wall painting from Cap-
padocia to southern Italy. but also in brick decoration, particularly in
Hellas (figs. 37-38).)3 Mango and others have suggested that Armenjan
church plans were used as models for the Byzantine churches in Con-
stantinople. Athos. and elsewhere. But even where foreign ornament
made its decorative appearance or where an Armenian-looking plan was
used in a Byzantine setting, the impact of outside traditions had very
little substantive effect on Byzantine art. Secular architecture may have
been more fundamentally affected by Ea tern modes. Manuel I' so-
called Persian House in the Great Palace evidently had a muqarnas (sta-
lactite) roof S5 of the sort that still survives in Roger fi's Cappella Palatina
in Palermo . a form of construction that had its origins in Islamic archi-
tecture. So little survives of ecular architecture, however. that it is im-
possible to draw broad conclusions.
Related to the new Byzantine fascination with foreign decorative
and architectural ieahues was an interest in foreign literature. The influ-
ence of Greek literature on the West in the twelfth century is a iamiHar
theme. Scientific knowledge collected by the Byzantines was slowly dif-
fused through Europe. A number of Greek manuscripts were translated
in Sicily. For example, Abelard of Bath apparently tran lated Ptolemy
and the Institutio pllysica of Proklos, Aristippus the so-called fourth book
of Aristotle's Meteorology, while Burgundion of Pisa, who frequently vis-
52. The mention of Light turbans is found in earlier narrative sources:

C. Mango, "Discontinuity wlth the Classical Pa t in Byzantium," ByZlJlltiul1l alld
the Cia.ssicJlI Tradition , ed. M. Mullett and R. Scott (Birmingham, 1981), 5U.
53. R. Ettinghausen, "Kufcsque in Byzantine Greece, the Latin West and
the Muslim World," A Colloquium ill Memory of George Carpenter Miles (New York,
1976).28- 47.
54. C. Mango, "Le monuments de I'architecture du Xl'>sieele et leur sig-
nification historique et sociale," TM 6 (1976) 25] - 65; ByZimtine Architecture (New
York, 1975), 231.
55. R. Guilland, Etudes de topographic de COllstantillople byzalltine 1 (Berlin,
1969),159f.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

182
. -, d~ B-'I yzantlum",
lte -, '. pmd oee.d a, Lat" , In t-:r a:n sa '1 t"- on Of'" ' ,j,Ul.e
:L t"
5eCJ.on .' '.-
on Vllnt, 1
c ~ ~ture' from th,e Geoponika. It 'w-oul,d ,., ,howe'V'e r, b ' ~- 'w~on.g to suppos~-'
th "eO t"6
-, ,8,t-, SCl, l ':,C b r va't'",o n, m.ov'ed-. ,o.n1:,y :tn
ose, " o'n 'e' d "c"lon~ Th
-.- lre ' e :r apllty
,-l d~ " -
w ' th wille id,ea '_ ,o oncernl ,g: - a u' 'e c"'" ru . -ted cal'n 'be' ,",; . ,_. gi 'e d f' ,o m (h,e'
h yste:r '" a. ,t-ha't' .sprlead, across f ",e' Mediterra-ne,a n ba -. '~ n jus:t befor,e- 186,. As~
'tronomers ,for cas:- t'ha'_o,n d\,e fiftee'n ' 'h,or six:Ileen'th of S ," pt ~ mber of that
'UP,
IJ ~',
a', sevle n 'p.,'- anets 'w Oo' ,d u.n ite U ' d,e-r he .si.~
c-'
a . of t e Bal ~ ' .,eel causmp: 10
ca tastro'p,:h .-..,S on ,earth. La. in, chro:nu~ le'r s Ii ~ ' Ia'te: fhat S:p anis:h" Sicilian, a.n ,ld,
Greek as.tro~.o'gelsl ,as 'w ei .,as J~ws an.d Sar,a.cen-s , sent ~ter.s h rough.out
,t he' 'w'Or~,d w 8rnin.g of' the co,m in,g disaster" Nike'tas Chonia-tes ,oo,m -'
7
I
mented- 'W. t - '. ..' ...' I, . , .dlSda . In '()n h ! .ow te' ' emperor an d . t h:, e CDnl-'
't esans of c: o ~ sta - f ~ .'p le PI' ~pared f'o ~' the - 'oioc-a . st by d "gging' hOI s' in I
'l 'h gruund I'ik.e ants or by I\em.ovi -',g 'w ind,o wpa "e'S from t'h,eir houses
.(,220,.,23- 221,.43)" 'Le -s dra,ma,tica lYI Arabic cur-es we~e q u,lo ted.by' Symeon
Seth. in :h is ditea:r y book,.
'Byzan in, s be', ~pn takin.g an, i tcr t ' in :0 .0:-. -scien'tifi,c ,for-e'i.gn 'wo~:ks
also., S-ymeon .eth, again! ,.. od,e' ed,h "s f,ab1ie St'ephan:it-es and 'chnela't,es o'n
"' h
-I~~
e A -~'b
. . ,~ ra. -I~~'IC
"'b '~- -k
lI ~OO - Nt
~_ v ..... l"l--
:t a; um' ,D"lmna-11-::. ThO.
'" s 'w ark', oon,c ern,e d . p,' " 11 Wl"1
llmarlJi,y' .'"Jl.l
1....
t h-,e s,1'y ,). ac"k a IS .Step,:, ' h
anltes an,'d
,C' .. oleI d
' ates, an . t' h.'e,r ~ 'n.-tr ~ ,g u,e s a,g amst t'hi: lei
ojo .. ,
c le dulous and cowardly IG ,g L,"' ,o n an' his ~e -a~n,e S,,' i supposedly ,a,
para .le .for '(h,e' insfrucfon of 'B,y zantine' co ~' b;~sans. SB, ,A t fu,l!' E!in ,d o ' ' th, C
eJ,e'v 'en.th, 'cen . :ury~ Micba,e l -, n,dr-eopoul.os., per,ha, ' 8 like ..... ' .' 10m on --, o f
the' easte .n -' .0' d,e' ' provin,ces of he le mpir,e'.i' t ,a.nsla, ,e. .i n 0 .... ..', th,e 80-
cal ,e d Book of :the: Phi'lo.- -'opher S:yntipasJ' ,a. col]ection. of oriental mo.ra izin,g
1
tales ,,59' Again, Ar,a ". a d, .Arm.en.i~ .n , el,e ments are notioea ble in, the D'~-,
gen's, .-.. : "tas epic .' weI ~ 'W ':'le ,Arab sO' . r~es had p'r-e'v"ously be ' n 'u,s ~ d
a. most exc 'U S vie' y to fill sc . .f {j,c ,and ph'Hol op itc g:aps. in, ,t he B,y 'za -,
, t~ ',es,' mo -led,ge 0 "- th,e ir' ow cu tural, inhe i-ta:nce l specif,e a ly' orie_,' ta'
I
gemes,and s'u,bj.ec -s in.'b~'re' sted the' 'Byza ' ti . 'e:s ,.' . the e ,e ve . t'h and.'t w'e' fth
ce - htries" Certaird.y! sciie' tific an,d , descr,l tiv'e' wo :k s l lre "hie' Arab V;iu,ti-
cum,. a -... al'n ual f . r tra elers writte1n,'b _ t'h,e' geag IB,:pher A,b,u Jatar Ah .. 'ad
36." K., Vogel, ,u By.zan't 'n- ~ Sch:~'nce'llf CMH1 vol. . " :par '~ 2, 2.73~. 281 , 286;,
Ch.~ :H 'askinslj The' Renaissance of ;t.he TWel{fh Qn;tu ry ,( . .' .'hr, ge'" 1'93-9)~ 2.9 ~.302~
57., :Rog'e, of H:o v'eden., Ch~onical' 4 V'ols,~, ,ed., W,. Stu.bbs I',0:n'1 1868,- 71}"
vol, 2.'/ 290,~9 , ; B , ' . abbas, 'p :@!r()'burgens,~s, Gesta H'e,nric.i .11 ft' R,rcaridi II 2
volls.,,, ed~ W'. Stubbs ,( .on : on ,864), vol... . 324:~, 28,., ,A lso see Rigorou.s", ';'; Gesta,
l
Philippi A'ugusf~, ',. Re.1:-ue:i'l d' :; histarin's .des' G,a:u.les -:,t de In fra:nre 1.7' (Pa:r.'S", 1.8,78)"
22.. On th> ori n- al in ~ U ....~ on . ,yza tine astlionomy,. see above Chapter ,4
and :n.~ 71..
38. ' S:t,ephan i,tes und lch:nela',tes (9.' nc'ldllo~.ml' 19(2).
5>71'iJi ., V".' E'.rnc).:te~
:x. dt ,;!, 'liM'lCI~elll '" , ,z.' apfl~l
' b _"'" ~ '. .;A-;n,dreopu].l. l'I"b, t , '.,Syn ilpa," 1'1 ,". . _r. ,;AAUweml;
:[..",..:r '"''"
n'auk.~!! :ser'" 8" ] , , no., ] (1'91.2).,
aT plIIan 3a 1II~ bllA aSTOpCKl.'1M npa OM

ibn Ibrahim ibn Gubair (d. 1009), were translated during this period. 60
But mythological tales seem to have enjoyed the most lively interest.
While folklore was gathered on the eastern frontiers, hagiographic
material came from the western borderlands. Despite Theophylaktos's
disdainful attitude toward his Slavic flock, this archbishop of Ohrid com-
posed a eulogy in honor of the Bulgarian Christian martyrs of Tiberio-
polis. M Further, in his vila of St. Clement of Ohrid, Theophylakto docu-
mented the highly developed Slavic culture flourishing in the region .62
Later, in the third quarter of the twelfth century, George Skylitzes, who
served (or a time as governor of Serdica-Sofia, compiled the vita of an-
other Bulgarian saint, John of Rila. He also wrote a canon for John of
Rila's memorial services. b3
Although the most detectable foreign influences are superficial,
more practical or substantive .reactions to the presence of foreigners may
aJso be identified. For instance, the Byzantines seem to be increasingly
aware of the advantages of knowing foreign languages. Tzetzes insisted
that he was capable of greeting Latins, "Persians," Alans, Rus, Arabs,
"Scythians," and Jews aU in their own languages (Ex. 47). Whether he
was able to converse with them further is another question. It does
seem, however, that bilingual Byzantines of high rank became increa -
ingly numerous. Attaleiates mentioned the magistros Peter LibeUisios, an
"Assyrian" of Antioch who had had both a Byzantine and a Sarac~n
education (Attal. 110.22-23). Gregory PahJavuni, an Armenian poly-
math of the mid-eleventh century, mastered the refinement of both the
Armenian and the Greek cultures. Anna Comnena remarked that a cer-
tain Adralestos, quite probably a Greek, knew the "Celtic" language
(An. C. 3:117.25-26).
Although a concern with alien tongues may have emerged in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, language remained perhaps the greatest
single impediment to real cultural interchange and mutual understand-
ing. The linguistic problems faced by the Byzantines, even at the court of
the emperors, are seen in an episode recorded by iketas Choniates. For
a reception of Western envoys, Manuel I employed a certain Isaac Aaron
60. Vogel, "Byzantine Science," 290.

61. G. G. Litavrin, Solganja i Viumhja l' Xl - XII vv. (Moscow, 1960), 369f.
62. Doubts concerning Theophylaktos's authors hip are rejected by A. Mile v,
" Za avtor tvo na prostrannoto Klimentovo zitie," lwestija na Illstitut ZJ1 blll-
garskilta literatura 5 (1957), 405- 34.
63. B. St. Angelov, " ovi vesti .za kniiovnoto delo na Georgi SkiJica,"
Literatuma misul 12, no. 2 (1968), 113-18; "Un canon de St. Jean de Rila de
Georges SkylHzes," By?. Bulg. 3 (1969) , 171 - 85.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

as an interpreter. He was a Corinthian who had leamed "Latin" (prob-

ably vernacular Italian) while in Norman captivity. Apparently assum-
ing that no one would understand him, Isaac Aaron gave malicious, self-
serving advice to the envoys. His scheme evidently failed only because
Empress Bertha, being of We tern origin, realized the culprit's intentions
and brought his treacherous behavior to the attention of the basileus
(Nik. Chon. 146f.).
Still, a growing liberalism may be discerned in the Byzantines' atti-
tudes toward foreigners. The strength lent to the empire by alien forces
was on occasion appreciated by the Greeks. Eustathios of Thessaloniki,
for instance, applauded the foreign troops in the Byzantine arilly. No
realm, he said, remained that had not contributed' noblest fruit to
Manuel l's retinue. Elsewhere he remarked that every known race had
commingled with the Rhomaioi and made a second homeland in By-
zantium. Migrants who had previously dwelt in Byzantium as slaves
dreaming of escape and vengeance on their lords were now transformed
into loyal warriors (Fontes 1:81.5-11; Eust. Opuse. 200.11-20, 33-37,
45 - 4.7). These were the "pearls" that Manuel collected from all the world
to adorn the imperial crown. ~ Close and objective observation of aliens
in eleventh- and twelfth-century accounts also indicates this change of
attitude. Best known, perhap , is the brilliant depiction of Robert Guis-
card rendered by Anna Comnena so much more detailed a picture
than any presented by contemporary Western writers (An. C. 2:59.26-
60.10). Even Choniates, whose experience with the Latins through the
capture of Thessaloniki in 1185 and the sack of Constantinople by the
Fourth Crusade disposed him ill toward Westerners, thought undiffer-
entiated hatred of those barbarians rather stupid, a stupidity worthy
only of a mob incapable of distinguishing a friend from an enemy (Nik.
Chon. 552.81-82). He was even able to identify in Latins a few positive

characteristics, notably piety and courageousness (598.88-89, 644.33-
35); he sympathized with those Crusaders who perished in Palestine for
the love of Christ (395.53- 56); he admired Frederick I Barbarossa's noble
origins and obedience to God, comparing him even to the Apostle Paul
(416.24 - 45, 413.57- 58). He also lauded other Latin lords: Baldwin, who
died bravely at Myriokephalon (181.7-13); Conrad of Montferrat, who
was handsome, sagacious, and manJy (201.93- 95, 382.62- 67, 395.56);
Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch (116.58-59); and Peter of Bra-
deux (601.85-86, 623.55-56, 641.50-52). Further, Choniates recognized
64 . Fontes 1: 94.22 - 25; see A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantijski; publicist XII ve.ka

Ev tafij Solunskij," VV 28 (1968),64.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T' r

'Byzan"till'I11 and .A lien eu 'h lres, 185
t ba.t 'h e Byzantine .. ~ ' a,d to share with th.e armies of the Secon,d C: . sade'
the,blaIne' .for the ,skirmish,es be'tw,ee'n them,, ~
llie :n ,e w s _nsibiJity for' .he dis. in.ctiv,e trai:ts ,ort ~'n,ld ~vidual io-r-eigner.s.
.fo,u n.d .m lil't-eratuFe' has. some pllr:aU.e ls :in "th.e figur.a l arts ~ Wh.e .~ ,a liens a re
portr.a yed ,as s,u ch _h.e y may' be r-end'e r,e d with. a surpr.isin.g: . ' .... '.' ......' ,. ,y,
refl.ectm.g the .artisfs sens ~ti .~..i.ty' not nnly to distinct C' .' .... ,a nd do,'; I' ." I .
Lng 'b ut a 'So' t o c-hara.cter.istic features., For i:n stance, th.e E:f -i.opian i.n. . ...
see- 'e wi r 5 c. , esto'f ' in. the M.enologi,on of Sa j . U w:hich. ,d laJ.: to j
a.bo. t 000#. ~.~ow ~ a ,carefu . c :linea. io,n 0 : ' blackhysiognomy' (jg~ : )9) .
'B '1'. -''k
'l lac
I ":'1 '.~'..'] ar.t!i
~'_. a'.Ifl lso
,'=-1 :" .1 .... ,: d-epl
: ~. ,.. ...c;..."d'1 ."n
I.:. L,~. '. t-l!...a Pe'n'
..~I[L ~. : . . . .'t., a.. 'ong - "' i:.t- oi-hor
.. t...ooo '- l.: ~ .pe'
( ... 1!'\ o'n'l"'f'lC"
I.- : ~ II .:.-. . .
:.-."0 : .. : ... a ~ -. ~ [.: :; . '_'~~ ' ~
"tion:s of h,e na._iolns to' w'hich .h.e apostles we,r ~ s -_ nt/' th.o u.g h.:h.ler e e thni,c
fear ures, are mor ' schemca _"caLy' f"'8~ ' d .. ~ "'u rther, m. politicaU.y sen-
81. ive' con.tex'ts an.,artist Ini.g ht C'ar.i.catur,~' . . oppon.e:n 't, as seem tal ha'v,e
been :h'e case' with the . abs" 67' It appealS hat t .'e BY'zacn:tin,es w'cre cog-
nizan't,o.f .ra.cial differl. n~e, a:n.d cou1d trea t t h,e:m posi:f v'e 'Y' or ne.g at've y
as cir,c umstances required . . In ,all,. it seems .h at by thle tW'e lf 'h c" ':ntury
th~ . .B'_. '....zantine '. . '0 '.1.'Id .'. . ..'h~a d b~'. ee : :su. illy .~ ' d T''h
rna dl" .fi"e" lu M:'ban
'e" jjI'IL " ns,',"
w .,re dHlerentiate d a .:d. .,. ". ", uajzed; .'h.e y ha posi .ve as w eI as
n '~gfative ,char,a.c ._ ristics,.. They 'm ig'h i eY -n be ,c onsidered 'u se ':. t o' t'h e
empi .,e as 'warrio:rs :m,crchants, and diploma'. s .
l
U l .'B
i.. '.:' R'EA-C
" 'H A B LE BA R'R"[ ''R'5:
I'.' '. . " .... -' . : '. . . '. . ) .., ' '. . .... : :. . I :. .. ,..: .
Wh~le the n h.eri;t.ed prejiu dices of Byzanti . m s.ee: '0 ' 'aJ've be "._.-'
.'hak,in 'b y ,t h,e' economic an,d.:m ilitary rea "iliesof' the elefv enth and t . elfth
cen tun.e s, t. . e .' . 'p act of alile n cui tulle ..n t. . ,e' oll d ,e'm p':'re S . auld ..'.0 ' _' be
over-estimated., 'S,hifts that t,o ok plac ~' :i o.th .,e upp er "e,ac' .'es of 'h ie socie y
d.o n.at se ~:m to ha.ve .f undamental y :infl"u.e - ce . 't he b'r,o ader . h.y ,hms olf
tile in By.z ant" u m,, m ,o ng: the p~p'u ace' "the t ,adii"tio'nal wOiJd.d v'" ~ 'W " as
-' nafrected 'b y th,e' '. . ..... 'w roug' t by c" :cums, sn.ces'0 :0 . tch."~' state
65.. I ~ I... U.s .'. ':'. VIZan:tijskij' pistdli! N'f J;fa' Akom'ined' iz Chon (Bt~ p'_ .ers-
burg'l 1814);, S1f.; .A. lP~ Kazhdan;- uEce :raz 0 Kinname :i . :iki.te Cbo.niab~'.t .BS 24 /I
(19631, 25 t f
'66,. J" Devisse;. The .lftUlge o/,t,h'e Black in Wes t'ern Art 2 ( . , ew Yo k" 'l9?9) I' '. 6,.
F'a l the' leda.t 'ng of the M O.o.hlglDn /, :s '. ;'. A ," C'u l ' ~~ ... Ps tel' 0' . 'Sa 'U HJ 1' 1 .Art~
llenetQ~ 3D . l977}~9'- 1."9.; .3 (1918),,9-15.. Fo,r' the Pen: '. C<lst G abar, l, .'. U ." sche
; ron,o.g raphiqu ~. d . ~a "en tecbte./'P' .L:for.t d'e ltl: fi'"n d: , l' A:ntiq:u;'t''' ( . a ~ 'iSil' . I... '.' I
61 ~: ,-2.7.,
,67 V.. .. . . . '. . i ,I . . .. : . a " . Ar,a.bs :in By.zan inc JU.uminations./'" L . . u-'
sean 83,(1970), 16,7- 8l.
68" PaUmal oppune.n.s mi,g ht .a1so be ca "ca ", .~d.. e most '. e ~.'. ,ex-
ample ' '8, t he,vol'ume of :forged min.utes I',rod.u,cc. by P. otios of t h,e' ch. reh CO " '- ,
,e.'i- ,-n
. W 'h" 'h P . ch I atll',.OS :u,. ;, ca ..., ca'h lr,t_::U:
'.i 'lie - ~~ a.tna~ _ .. gnc
....J : PG
"".1.. ~~.
i::.'" l'lr"
~....: A
.' ..... ~ O
~ ~
aT pl.'1 an 3aWM W. blll1 a TOPCKlo'1 M npa OM

bureaucracy and military nobility. Perhaps this conservatism is best re-

flected in Byzantine theology. Because religion was an essential part of
ev ryday life in the Middl Ages and because religious concerns are so
well documented during that period, discussions on doctrine may be
scrutinized for evidence of cultural biases . In other word , theological
debates have an important ideological dimension. Such a consideration
of the cultural content of religious differences must, however, be set
against a background of the issues of the controversies and the nature of
the adversaries.
In relation to the Arab East, Byzantium's theological position was
well defined: 0.9 God by any other name was not God. In the early twelfth
century, Manuel I attempt d to defuse religious ho tility directed to-
ward the "heathen" Arab in order to foster military rapprochement. To
this end he modifications in the oath of abjuration admin-
istered to converting to Christianity so they need not anathe-
matize AJlah, a God who, according to the Prophet Muhammed, "nei-
ther had borne nor had been born." Manuel went so far as to defend the
Prophet' God as being th same omrupotent power worshiped by the
hristian . After a long and bitter debate with the clergy of the Great
Churc.h , led by Eustathio of ki, a compromise olution was
found. A long as the conv rt anathematized Muhammed, his teaching,
70
and his followers, he need not renounce his God. Despite such shifts of
attitude among the secular and ecclesiastical elite, anti-Moslem feeling
probably was as virulent among the Byzantine clergy and laity at large as
it was in Euthymios Zigabeno . 71 Zigabenos began his Doctrinal Panoply,
a rabid polemic in refutation of Islam, with a mocking biography of the
"pseudo-prophet Moameth," whom he presented a an orphan who
served and eventual1y mauied a widow. After he had taken possession
of all her belongings, Muhammed often went to Palestine to trade; there
69. J. Meyendorff, "Byzantine Views of Islam," DOP 18 (1964), 113- 32;

A. Th. Khoury, Polemique byzantine contre /'Islam (V III'-XlJI' s.) (Leiden, 1972).
For an anthology of sourc ,A. Ducellier, Le miroire de rJslalll . Musu/man d Clrre-
tiens d'Orienl au Moyen Age (Pa 1971), esp. chap. 4. Until the eleventh century
the Byzan tine attitude toward I Jam was ba cd on the traditionaJ antithesis
between the New Rome and the barbarian world. It was overtly aggressive.
S. Vryonis, " Byzantine At1itudes towards Islam during the Late Middle Ages,"
GRBS 12 (1971), 264f. Also ee Nikephoros n Phokas's letter of 967: C. E. von
Crunebaum, Is/am and Medil!LlOi Hellenism (London, 1976),53- 59.
70. H . C. Beck, Kirche u"d theologisclre Literatllr im ByzanlilliscllL~n Reiclr (Mu-
nich, 1959),622; M. Darrollzes, "To.mos i"edit de 1.l.80 contre Mahomet, " REB 30
(1972), 187-97.
71. On Zigabenos, see hapteT 4.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

he met Jews, Arians, and Nestorian (PC 130.1333B). Thus from the very
beginning, Zigabenos attempted to create the impression that Muham-
med's tenets were nothing but distortions of Jewish and Christian creeds.
When Muhammed's wife complained that her husband turned out to
be not only poor, but also sickly, he managed to convince one of his
friends, a heretical monk banished for his wrong beliefs (kakopistia), to
r veal to the indignant woman that her spouse's iIlne s was by no means
a common one, but rather a malady resulting from visions of the arch-
angel Gabriel, God's envoy to major prophets. The woman believed the
fiction, changed her mind about her husband, and proclaimed to other
women that she was married to a great prophet. "In this way," wrote
Zigabenos, "the gossip spread from feminine talk to the men and ac-
quired the image of certainty." Zigabeno refuted the principles of Islam
as misinterpretations of Christian teaching, "full of hair- plitting and
marvel-mongering," and borrowings from the Old and New Testa-
ments. "He presents Maria as Moses and Aaron's sister, who delivered
Christ under a date palm and lost her spirit because of the sufferings (of
childbirth). And he presents Christ as speaking to her from her belly
and ordering her to shake the palm and to eat some of its fruit" (1348C).
Among the moral precepts of Islam, it was marriage practice that most
arou ed the indignation of the Byzantine polemici t: "He legislated that
everyone could take four wives and a thousand concubines, as many as
he could feed" (1349C). For the apologist of Byzantine monogamy, this
was a swinish or canine lewdness. The idea of a holy war against the
Christians was labeled by 2igabenos "a murderous tendency of a mur-
derous prophet of a murderous people" (13S2A). Further, he rejected
both the Moslem prohibition on drinking wine and the Moslem picture
of the universe.
The theological questions raised in dealing with non-Orthodox
Christians were much more complex and consequently much more in-
dicative of Byzantine ways of thinking. Historians have traditionally
focused on the dramatic events of 1054 as the culmination of East/West
theological controversies. In that year, the emissary of the pope, Car-
dinal Humbert, disappointed at the progress of negotiations in Constan-
tinople, placed a bull excommunicating Patriarch Keroullarios on the al-
tar of Saint Sophia; Keroullarios in his tum excommllnicated the legat
of the pope along with his companions (Ex. 48). This exchange lent a
new bitterness to anti-Roman polemics, though denunciations of the
Latin church had been commonplace since the days of Patriarch Photios.
The Byzantines' list of Latin heresies was a long one. It included using
unleavened bread for the Eucharist, fasting on Saturdays, shaving the
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

face, prohibiting marriage among the lower clergy, rejecting the venera-
tion of images, holding that only three languages Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew were appropriate for the liturgy (TrilinguaJism), and, perhaps
most important, adding "and from the Son" (Filioque) to the Creed. Butn
evidently the dispute of 1054 eemed less momentous to contemporaries
than it has to historians.7 Psellos did not even mention it in the Chro-
3
nographia, although he praised Keroullarios for his attacks on the false

70
doctrines of the Latins in his funeral oration for the patriarch. It did,
however, stimulate theological interchange between Eastern and West-
ern Christendom.
In 1112 Peter Gros olanus, archbishop of Milan, came to Constan-
tinople. 75 He met two of Byzantium's most conservative theologians, John
Phournos, the protos of Mount Ganos, and the rhetorician Niketas Seides,
in the of Alexios I to discu East/West differences. Theodore of
Smyrna, the hypatos of philosophers, may also have been present. The
debate ended amicably, with Phournos rhetorically inviting Grossolanus
to move permanently to Byzantium (Bibl. eecl. 1 :46.27-47.6). According
to Seides, the debate had centered on only three sub tantive differ-
7
ence : fasting on Saturday, unleavened bread, and the Filioque. In his
discu sion of the events, Th ophylaktos of Ohrid narrowed the range of
critical issues even further, to the Filioque alone (PC 125.225A).
The Nicene Creed, as formulated by the ecumenical council of Con-
stantinople in 381, contained the phrase "11 believe1 in the Holy Spirit
... who proceeds from the Father." The addition "and from the Son" is
first documented in 796 in the proc,e edings of a local synod held in Fre-
jus. The innovation does not seem to have been introduced into the
72. Reg . patr. 3, n.o . 870-72. KeroulJaries develeped the sam range .of
ideas in other works, particularly a collectien cenventionally entitJed Panoply
against the lAtins: A. Michel, Humbert und Kerullarios 2 (Paderborn, 1930), 208 81.
73. P. Lemerle, "L'orthodoxie byzantine et I'oecum~nisme m~dievale," Bul-
letin de I'Association G. Bude, ser. 4, ne. 2 (1%5), 228- 46; republished in his Essais
sur Ie monde byzantin (London, 1980), part 8.
74. S. Runciman, The Easten! Schism (Oxford, 1955), 64.
75. V. Grumel, "Autour de ve age de Pierre Grossolano," EO 32 (1933),
22-33. J. Darrouzes, "Les documents byzantins du XU' siede sur la primaute
Romaine," REB 23 (1965), 51 - 59.
76. Cencerning unleavened bread, Ja. Pelikan, Ti,e C/,,;stiall Tradition, vol. 2:
The Spirit of EI1stern Christendom (600 - 1700) (Chicago and Lendon, 1974), 177:
"Azymes became so important in the controversy as the justification for the 'real
. ' ... Azymes becam both a useful pretext for the political and per-
enal conflict and at the arne time an appropriate fer the religieus
and doctrinal differences."
Cooyr gtltec rra

mas at Rome until the early eleventh century, although the legi timacy
of the doctrine was recognized much earlier.n The Byzantines objected
to this Western adulteration of sacred tradition. Bishop Anselm of Havel-
berg visited Constantinople at least twice, in 1136 and 1154, for debates
with Basil of Ohrid, metropolitan of Thessaloniki, and then with iketas
of Nikomedia.?1I Basil defended the official Byzantine position on the
Filioque, unleavened bread, and the theory of papal supremacy both in
his discussions with Anselm and in his letter to Pope Hadrian IV. '" But
there is some evidence of a softening in the Byzantine position. Accord-
ing to Anselm, Niketas of Nikomedia was prepared to compromi e
by suggesting the formula, "through the Son," rather than "from the
Son." iII> Furthermore, in the middle of the twelfth century, Niketas of
Maronea, metropoHtan of Thessalooiki, seemed prepared to accept the
Latin wording. Niketas, Bessarion of Nicaea said much later, fought for
donkey's shade, for he allowed the Filioque but at the same time regarded
the addition to the Creed as unnecessary (PC 161.329A). In other words,
Niketas's position was a political rather than a theological one, as he im-
plied in the preamble of the dialogues he wrote "to olve the contradic-
tion that arose between us and the Latin ." Rl His theology smack of the
rationalism of the late twelfth century, admitting the possibility of ac-
cepting notion either not found in the Holy Scriptures or even those
used by the heretic Latins. Niketas went so far as to r cognize the hier-
archical structure of the Trinity and quoted the Latin a saying that he
was not going to introduce two principles, but rather he assumed that
everything proceeded from the One, from the Father, while the Son
played an intermediate role, linked directly to the Father and acting as
the intervening medium between the Father and the Holy Spirit. In this
connection Niketas employed several similes, one of which reveals the
earthlyes ence of the Fi/ioque dispute. The Latin was made to ask rhetori-
77. For a general discus ion of the Filioque, Pelikan, Tile Christiall Tradition 2,
183- 98.
78. J. Dra eke, "Bishop Anselm von Havelberg und 'ne Gesandschaft -
reisen nach Byzanz," Zei/sclrrift /urKirc/rellgt'Schic/lte 21 (1901), 167 85; N. Ru sell,
"An elm o f HaveJberg and the Union of Churches," Sobornost, vol. 1, part 2
(1979-80),19 - 4l.
79. J. Schmidt, Des Basilills aus Acllrida, Erzbischo!s von Thessalonicll , bisher IIn-
edierte Dialoge (Munich, ]90] ),16- 23.
80. H. G. Beck, Kirc1le und tllt!ologische Literatur, 313f.
81. PC 139.169A; on him see C. Giorgetti, "Un teo logo greeo del xn sec.
precurore della riuniiicazione fra Rorna e Costantinopoli: Niceta di Maronea.
arcive covo di TessaJonica," AIII/Uario 1968 della Biblioteca Civica di Massa (Lucca,
1969), no. 117.
CODyr gt'tCd 'T'

1:90
ca~ly 'f th.e :r elationshp 'b eit ween the bas '"ie.us.". t arc:~ :/. ,a n . st,raliates " 'm~
p'ied a ,d iarchy. Of course it ,does, nOit, ,a s th,e' stra,fiotes obefys both. the' ,e m....
lPeror an,d. th ~ taxia~ch. : the ,e' -:pe' or, th,e
w:h ile th~' taxiarch. i;s s'ubject .,0
'!li'V'lI)'"a'och rematn . th'e s'ource o~Jr actlO
~ . :" "', I, :'. " I .-.: nan ' an
_'
JI. ' ~ auth
- - or l~' 't-...y. : f'or
.". I' ':',- ... ,t";, _ .
. ~ ~. : : '1.,:_ sln" W"'...tes :82
,:,, : ,' ',- I ' '~_:', ,' . . '.1 1'1" '. '. I, :." I~I
ell .-:J;. lr l~" I ~1.~. lI!
N'k e .-as, apparently a,c cepted., for th,e' . ak,e perha.p s of a 'p 'o' itical so'u tio "';
th to. 0f'~: h"I.erarc lea
.' . e Octld~.e n t aI pe,:rtJepllo, .. stru
..Ctu . l le:s, as sanctl -,. .Ied'- . , b
- y
pseu.d.o,. . Doln.ysios., .Niiketa.s 0.__: ... aro.neia w,a.s not alone ~'n h ~ s pro,... La "'n
reli.giou.s feeln,g.s: ~i1s .yo .n,ger COin . '.' m.p o.rary Niketas 'C hon iates d'-d. no
:r egard th.e 'L atins as, :h.e re'--ics ..;&3
The' ,dialog . es ,of N."ke:. s of Maron.eia scm .' indica.. iio,n. 10.f
'w 'h y' the' q . estion ,o f the Filioque' bec ame "he. center o.f ,a hea-ted con ,r-o,..
vle~y in By.zan. ium" .he . ~a re o.f t -e Tr"nity' ha.,d 'b een the focus of co ~
t rove s.y' in the 'C hristan ch.urC'h s-nce :its found at io.' ~ Interpretat"'ons of
th e intene.Jat ions .'. ":ps .of t ',e -'h ree :m ,e mbers .of the Godh.e ad :for.m 'ed. -'h e'
.substaa.ce ,of :her,esies fro:m Aria ~ ism ,0 Iconoc asm. ~ . " The ,e -pha.ss 'on l
-
:su'b,t le ,d .'e finition in . se theo 'ogilcal debates, inc~.u.' in.g 'l'h e FiUoqu~e
q'uest"' '. . 'as, ap:pe.ared obscm'a nt 8t to some' modem "isto' ~ans. Ear :y
sch o]a .s con'a !m ,e d - t:. By . . tium t ended. 't,., . ,e ride th ,e, culture .fo Ie-X-
:p e,:n ding so m 'u c,h inteU.ectu.al energy" o ~. :su c. t 'i8ing ~ssues,.. Beginl' ~ .g
.1" n~ '_t- h' e. ':0 _ !Ii - - -
n'",~ .n
~ - - t' h-- - - -
- I e- - ---- --
- '1.11- -- - s - ----- t- - - - - d -- - - - -
- 'h"- 'I .
c e'n ~ ury/ ' -J. ,se PJ.lOliJJ.e m . 'w ere : r-ea._'e~ _ :m o re serlO u S:-,Y -
'I - -
'
d ,o ctrinal co'frav,e'r~ .'es 't end.l c:d to 'be rega.rd~ r ' . S' . . bolic " .__.gc-,s. of
s:pec'"li c port ica' co.nee.r ns., C'e rta -'nly t" e F'i'lioque re:p'f~sented a pow,e r
,struggl.e between. tb.e Greeks ,a:n.d Latins concerning ps'pal prcroga -"ves
". reg ard to doct ~ ~ . ~e ,.85 But it :mi.g ht be further S'u,g gested tha -' t hese' dsl""
pu ,e'S re '" ect,e1d. ,differ-e -,ces .i n .fun,d ament al cultural v .a u s~ The La n
82. _.'.. .' :F,e,s,'~a, di Maronea. e :1. SUOI _:ia]o,glli suUs :proce,ssio1ne d.e'Uo
~~Niceta.
Spirito Sa.n to,/ Bessa:rion.t; :ser., 3.A'i 9; no., 11.9 (1."91.2); 101 ~28-33.
83 ~ H,' us ' s t:errns such as, homopisttOi ,
(, .: . Con.. 66..25 70~ 20) ,. fau.fop #
. .
i'sfoi
(.238 . 8)1 <0 ' homodoxon ( :'1'6. 94) .a nd,. as a matter o.f fact~ "snores th '~ ' d.ispUb~!'.s,
a.g ains,' the' La' ins.,
,84" H ...A.,. Wolfson;- The Phi'Wso,phy o/' the Ch:u:rch .f a:thers (Cambridge , Mass,..,
;i1~:h .30
]~ OL:A'\ .'S.'f'." , 'J' M:"ey,
''"........ I., ."; '.
. e.n d; 'O' f:u, U"'1 . ~P7n
Y, ,,~rht."e' ''''' - - T .'" ,.~~og'y
t.,"' ...... l ~ ~ . ,1ew I~ . . v: '1 '. (
:1.,0(1'. .9 7AI)' t 18'
~ k, ,.. ..':I:. 3',"
~ -'-
r
85" Re.c-ent his'w ,riograph"y ,emp:has~Zle,s. ' ~h,e :[poUti.c~d subs;Jan,ce' of :reUgious
confli,c t. E,~g .." .M:~ Ja .. 5:10 ' , onmov (S""u~umav)j! hl'L e schlsme de '. "ReCke . .'.
z:n;.
" t . enm: tioina~es:
"" , ~
a.. lila: ~
tU.mle:re
.. Jii....l' ,dJ: 1.ml!:rxt.sm~ ,.:6 (1' ,., l'l58)
?\ )~ , t 64 - ' - 68 ' : .'; .R'u nCllman. ! "1I"'L..... 'r:'i
J..fU: &Q'S,:ern t
h-' lsm:~,
::.c
S ,. "'~II'S''.- ~~ .;: . . G 'B : e~.1
1'
..,.'1..
... ..
.
:m a.rUiuUCn .."U.
ueT' K
,;i'."..1 , i\~
!.rcn;engeBmz' c ' te:/ '.' d. ...... At::
~;~~, " h v..... .' piJ! .f H ':: ,''~ G
.' ,II'
ck.~ , t a ." vot 3 part .' (, j'reilbur-g and B 's J,. 1966)" 46,,- 76;
1, . Bohm@r'". ~D'as
:SC'hisu~ta von ] OS4 im Lieb, e der by.z antiniscbe- :" . fran "s . -deu t : . en - : ~ . e-
A . ,.. (Le
.. ung,
h . .- ' .f
If C - . .. . t~ '- d ...'. . ..
~.p.ten.. e.r or .fnare.,
...St SCf,LJ "l.. ,. K ."' ZeUlf'.
"., ,. t'.uQ.
"
_ f
....t: .
m ,~ -" ' .' ~ l ,ll:n)' "3''17' 3''6"",
~ 1pJg" . 7U:1 .l i ' ' - ' -, .',
'_~. J
O .' ur,ewlicz, " S' -'C,dsma ;L. "
wschod . '(..W
~ "'~"' . fUQ' . ,a:rsa.w ln6 .: ) A
~ . ~.' ~g' " 0ppos.l"lng appfooa.c .-." In W.'iIL.."'
-'n. t ': ..' ..
I ...L
I.-J1C~i "
:he IIE~ls;tem sc.hism is consrdelced 'to be a purie: y' P' .". . , " '. and. t'he 0')0 g[lcal.
l
"
probl,em" is,- pres n.tedl by p~ Shena d Th ,,Greek lEast and' th .Lati'n West (London., l
'1959')" 48~ 87'.

dogma suggested a sequentiaJ order of descending power. This concep-

tion of the relationship among the members of the coequal and coeval
Trinity mit rored the feudal mediation of power. The Greeks held that the
Son and Holy Spirit both proceeded directly from the Father; this per-
ception seems modeled on the autocratic structure of the Byzantine
state. The comments made by Byzantine theologians on the matter lend
credence to this parallel between the nature of power in a culture and its
religiOUS dogma. Michael Keroullarios wrote: "0 Latin, cease and desist
from saying that there are many principles and many causes, and ac-
knowledge that the Father is the one cause." M At the beginning of the
twelfth century, John Phournos wrote explicitly that the Byzantines be-
lieved in monarchy and not in diarchy (Bibl. eed. 1 :40.7-9; 46.1-2). To
John, the Father appeared not as one of the Persons, but rather as a
source of the Trinity and as the pledge of its unity.
While basic cultural differences between the East and the We t made
the religious schism between them ultimately unbridgeable, there we.r e
congl'Uences in their ways of thinking. Most notably, an emergent ratio-
nalism is apparent in the arguments of both the Latins and the Greeks.
The conservative reaction to the more daring Byzantine thinkers sug-
gests that . ' . and its tenets might have been a cribed to Western
influence. Nicholas of Methone charged Soterichos with heretically
accepting "the doctrines of alien tribes." Sotericho was further de-
nounced as having smitten the church with the dogmas of alien peoples,
like stones from a sling (Logo; dyo 2.16-17). Nicholas further alluded to
Soterichos's foreign connections when he associated the destruction of
the hated theologian with Manuel's predicted victories over the barbar-
ians (44.27- 45.1; also see 72.6- 9). Unfortunately, as Soterichos's dia-
logue is lost, it is impossible to determine to what degree his rationalism
might be connected with Latin scholasticism.
There is also some evidence that Byzantine theologicaJ debate was
affected by Western controversie . In the West in the 1160s, Gerhoh of
Reichersberg repudiated the teachings of Gilbert de la Porree, who held
that Divine Nature was a concept of the human mind and that only the
Persons were real. Demetrios of Lampe, a Byzantine diplomat in Eu-
rope, wrote a treatise, now lost, concerning thjs debate, relating that
there were Latins who regarded Christ as both equal and unequal to the
Father. This treatise seems to have given impetus to Byzantine theologi-
cal discussions, particularly those of the Council of Constantinople of
86. Panoplia, ed. A. Michel, in HIII1Jbert WId Kerullarios 2,62.1; quoted in Peli-
kan, The Christinn Tradition 2, 197.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

192 I, C'H AN"G" ""E
[,,~
. . '
" : , , ',.
.
', :,
. '-
"
.
I" N
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'B YZANTIN'E
,
'.',
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,' -': 1.':.' _, _,'. _' '. [ ':', C _ L'T'U 'RE
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111 c...c.
,.I" OU, W 'h:M;U,
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d- o,n
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- ta-. tJon,
-'. ,o'",e f th- G ':os:pe1- ',', ' -., "n'"M-'',Y F'
' ~a ...
ther is gre,a t'e r than, 1"'" (lohn 1 '-,::: 28) ~ Th,os _, explana'tions this text ,tha't' 0,'
held that:Ch , ~s.t' 'w ,a,s,,I/Iess,n' fu ~' 'n ,t'he,Fa,th:c ,r se,of his 'capa,cilty, t,o as-
sume human ,f or,01 in (h,e incama,t ion a - d to ,C l?S- Her with, h,. manit .' "
''Y~,i, ~, 10
'LI>~ --' ",un", d "~ .," .,.-' orth"""..l
IU' be ., . ,I\.N,Q X, W hil
, ,',' ,e- th
' ,' OSIe'. "th' at. em,
- p ,lL laslZe: " d', h,e' 'd' ';' e m
_ 'I VID. ,;. _CI,:
Christ ,a nd the' coequa ~ty of , F'ath ~ r ,an,d th,e Lo,gos an,d,ins,- s'ted,on
co'n ven'fdo'n a lathe -' :Ia -'ub 't an't" ,-.[ ,'. .,'. ,o f C~ -, ist to, 'h uman"'t y 'w 'elle
fo,u ,d to 'be :h et,e,r od,ox,., ' 7
'T h,e tw'e lfth, ,t:e'n ,t ury 'Wile;;, :n ,o , just a peri,o d,,o,f schi;s,m 'I' b'u t also on'l! 0'
revived ,th, Q,iog cal, oon,_ acts ~ I:t was by' :n.o ,m,ea 5, fortuitous ,t ha't John of
Damascus was ' ", 'c ov'e re. 'by the' Wes;t' in the tw,e,[fth century, 'or 't ha't
:n um,e..,ous 't ransla'to,rs 0 Gr'ook appe'. ..' I a'. 'h at 't 'm e, :i o,clu,d l g . . . '..'.' ,o f 1
Ber,gamo", Ja,cob the ". lelRetian.. B, rgunld i'Dn of' ' 'sa, an,d ,a th,ets,.>' The,se
co tact -' we -, .[ ot 'U' ited . .1sphl'f',ca't ed, th ~,.llogian " ., Duars,jc' h ,=~ ';sies
in ,th,e 'W",s,t' ,Inay :ha.ve ,' ..en , ~timu[a,~ ~ - by' ,a,dhe1 re,n'ts, in, !h,e B:yzantine
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,
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"'n B,y zanti.u:m " Furth,e rt , 'W et'eJn h'er." ti .,s 'W I ' k ,o wn, 'b y th,e Gr,ee,k ,
ord CR~ t'har: (l ,tera -'f!'- lithe pure'f').., ,'" -,: ['es, f ' m Byza 't, ium .
w ,e re rec,~,
'0,8 ' 'i zed as, .aving: play'e d a . +': .. polr tant r,o ,e 'm,,t h'e Cat-h': [. :m ovle m'e:n 't: for
'IIlSilnCe"
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t ,e . ' U1SIIlLOP . I,q , 'ta ..". , .. 'w 'o. appear,e ', as ,e
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su:p reme, aut'h ,o n,' . .' a't: ,t he ass.embl . 0 " ' .' '.' . " . ' eld " . the tow~n of' S "",
= e -.',d e' C'a raman,in 1:6'7:i" ,ame :f rom 'C onotan +'no'ple~ Som,e (l- 't he .:--'ys-'
te,r ious u,se ,_,n ch'u rches of ,A sia./ ' - hich th,e, E'u ropea - Cathars consid-
=red~ as m,o d_='I s, W ' =r ~, lloc8' 11 ted"In P',!h,-il'" ,C)"d e,'II,P'hila" BU'1-I'g,a:n a, a-_d'- ,D"a -'mafla ~ c
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, :n,e cted with 'the,5, avic ,ibe o,f t'h,e' M,elmgot in,,t h,e' p .l.o,ponnese),.'
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'he01 o,gi'caI, dis" t~'nctilo:ns" , but:
the :Eas.t and t - ." 'W est ga .,e . "'se not 0 ," y' '0 C
a SCI 't o .. '0 ,-' - II . a' . : . in,,"': , . a ,d 'r e t - . ,:,
t',ou, g'ht~ The 'W estern ch ich was a lPoten't :p o' -'0 ". 'b ody'" ~,th ,e,al :,-. "
,87~
On th,e Council of ',.,,66, p~ eta"" en, '[)'a s KO'liIzU v'-, n Konsta , no .' 1
1166 'Ond die', .. . 'i /t B:Z' 481'955)1' 339 6~l.. . '.. aJsol A,i , .'. . .' I~H 1
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power, a well-organized bureaucracy, and a considerable degree of inde-

pendence. In the East, in contrast, the patriarch was inevitably in the
shadow of the emperor. The Orthodox church never adopted the appa-
ratus of the secular state. Further, it seems that the Roman church tended
to compensate for its widespread assumption of secular functions by
emphasizing its priestly nature and by insisting on its separation from
the laity. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries celibacy was forced
upon the clergy of the West; in the East only monks and bi hops had to
remain unman ied. 90 The clergy in the West reserved the eucharistic
wine for themselves from the twelfth century, a custom challenged dur-
ing the Reformation. In the East, the laity continued to receive both ele-
ments of the sacrament. The church in the West appropriated the seven
sacraments as the principal means to salvation. Such doctrine was intro-
duced under Western influence in the ast only in the thirteenth cen-
tury.91Even more obvious an instrument of church control over the gates
of heaven was the indulgence, whereby the sinner could redeem his sins
and insure a place in paradise by paying the price required by the tem-
poral church. While the efficacy of good works and the prayers of others
was certainly recognized by the Orthodox, indulgences were unheard
of. The Western, quantitative attitude towa.r d judgment was also r -
flected in the concept of purgatory as a place of account settling;92such a
region is absent from the Byzantine vision of the hereafter. Perhap the
most fundamental of the Western church's means of self-segregation was
its insistence on Latin as the sole vehicle of liturgy in areas under its ju-
risdiction. Vernacular language was anathema. Language and not the
rood screen separated the officiating priest from his people. The Ortho-
dox church, in contrast, accepted translation of sacred texts as a neces-
. ary adjunct of conver ion. The liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and
St. Basil are found in Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Old Church
Slavonic, and other languages. While the Byzantines may well have re-
garded Greek as the best of liturgical languages, given as they were to
cultural snobbery, they never embedded their p.rejudice in dogma. Fi-
nally, the Latin sense of political preeminence was embodied in the con-
90. B. Kotting, Der Z6libat in df!T aften Kirche (Munster, 1968).
91. On Eastern ecclesiastical doctrine, K . Onasch, Einfuhrung in die Konlcs-
sionskunde der orthodoxen Kirchen (Berlin, 1961); J. Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology
(New York, 1974).
92. J. Le Goff, LA tlaissance du Purgatoire (Paris, 1981), argues that purgatory
was an idea generated in the twelfth century in connection with the radical
changes in jurisprudence (esp. p. 285f.). In rontrast, A. GUTevic, Problemy sred-
navekovoj narodnoj kul'tury (Moscow, 1981), assumes that the general pattern of
purgatory can be discovered even in some early medieval visions.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

194 CHANGE I BYZANTINE CULTURE
cepts of the univer I chur h and of papal primacy: Christendom was to

be over en from the throne of St. Peter. lnde d, this conception of pa-
pal power is the spiritual and W tern equivalent of th ecular and East-
m ideology of imperium. ot su rprisingly, the Orthodo church had a
different view of eccl sia tical authority. It enjoined a pentarchy, the rule
of the five patriarch of the church, the bishops of Rome, Constanti-
nople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jeru alem. 9J
The We tern church' tendency to as ert it power b separating it-
t{ from th people and ritualizing acce s to the divine ha a physical
corr pondent. The great reUgiou edifices of the el venth and twelfth
centuri in the We t impo e a c rtain anonymity on the worshiper as
w U a inspire aw in the individual. The very ize of the e monuments
dwarf the laity into insignificance (Fig. 40). Even with the richness of
th ir original liturgical f\!lui hing reconstructed .i n on's imagination,
the e tructures are not intimate personal spaces. Similarly, Roman-
que decoration i larg ale, it bold, simplified form p rfectly suited
to it characteristic medium, tone. A viewer may fe I horror and pity,
ven amu ment and r vul ion mixed with an admiration of craft, when
onfronting Romanesqueloi t r culpture or a great portal uch as that
at Vezelay (Fig. 35). St. Bernard make this point in hi famous denun-
ciation of images:
But in the doister, und ' r the eye of the Brethren who r ad th re, what
profit is there in thos ridicuJous monsters, in that marvelou and de-
formed (omeline s, that comely deformity? . . . In short, so many and
marvelous ar th vari ti of diverse shapes on every hand, that we
are more tempt d to read in the marble than in our books .... (PL
182.914- 16
The marY lous mon ' rr siti of the We t e press a faith in unknowable,
uprarational power. God i above nature and cannot be r nd red a hu-
man, but only as ec tatic cr ative pow r. In contrast, God i more ac-
in a Byzantine chur h . Th ca le of the 'e monuments i diminu-
tive, even when ly patronized. In contrast to the great, broad
rtl thms of the many-bayed Romanesque basilica, the varied vault of a
entralized Byzantin chur h reach a crescendo not too far abov the
wor ruper. ot ool i th space intimate, but th diver ity of its cur-
vilinear planes and the irregularity of it part make its proportion
more human (figs. 16 and 41). The screen (temp/on) between the con-
gregation and the officiant ined low a physi a1 but not a visual
93. H. M. Biedermann, "Zur Frage der Synod in d r orthodo en The-

010 ie," Ostkirc1!liclle SllIdien 16 (1967), 12Jf. ; . Papoulidis, "La place de I'em-
pereur a Byzance pendant Ie ' ondle oecumenique," Byzanti/lQ 3 (1971), 130.
Copyr grtoo I
Byzantium and Alien CuJtUles 195
94
barrier between the laity and the sacraments. The imagery of the deco-
rative program is recognizably rational, representing an unraveling of
the divine . Pantokrator, the Almighty, depicted usually
a a bust in a great medallion in the central dome, "leaning and gazing
out a though from the rim of heaven" (Nic. Mesar. 69). God is super-
human but still clearly the prototype of our own image. Below in the real
patia) hierarchy of the church are the ordered rank of the piritual
lite: the Virgin, prophets, apostle , and familiar . . The style of
the icon, like their arrang ment, is reassuringly under tandable. Al-
though idealized through ab tra tion, the figure in Byzantine art are
r c gnizably human in their proportions, expressions, and interactions
(Fig. 33). Jeons never appeal to base emotions. Secular art might be criti-
ciz d in Byzantium, but there wa nothing in Eastern religiou images to
in pire such spectacular denunciations as Bernard of Clairvaux's.
What do these differenc in religion show about their respective
cultures? There were, to be ure, different relation between the .
believer and God in the a t and in the We t. Latin tended toward the
in titutionalization of piritual life, jus t as they tended toward s trong
communal structures in th ir material and political xi tence. This in-
titutionalization in th church ultimately became oppre lve, just as did
outmoded political and ocial forms of organization . Old modes were
shattered and restructured under the Prate tantism of the Reformation
and the Catholicism of the Counter-Reformation. The absence of vi"cula
within religious life in the Ea t perhaps meant greater individualism.'"
But be au e of this relative fie ibility of the state religion to accommo-
d ate the individual, the r action to traditional practic ,whe n it came in
t fourteenth century, both less dramatic and 1 eff ctive than
that in the West.
By the twelfth c ntury there wa a rift between the orthodoxies of

Ea t and the We t, though not so sharp as it se m d during the con-
ional disputes of the nineteenth century. Efforts were mad to close
94. C. Mango, "On the History o( the Templon and th Martyrion of St. Ar-
temio at Constantinople," ZograJ 10 (1979),40- 43; A. W. Ep tein, "The MiddJe
Byzantin Sanctuary Barrier: T mplon reen or }ol/rnal of Ihe Bril-
ish Ardweologica/ Associatioll 134 (19 1), 1-28.
95. On the acces of the individual to God in Orthodo ty, V. Lo -
k , "The Problem of the Vision Face to Face and Byzantine Pa tri ti Tradition,"
Tile Greek rthodax Tlreola ical Review 17 (1971), 253f.; Vision de Diell ( umatel,
1%2), 118 - 25; Tile Mystical Theology of tire Eastern Olurc;11 (London. 1957); In the
'mage atlli Likenc s of God ( w York, 1974). Also see M. Lot-Borodine, La deifica-
tion de rllolllllle scion La doc/rim! des Peres grecs (paris, 1970). 177- 2.
COPY grted m
the gap, but typically these exercises were undertaken by the emperors
and their minions. Political purposes molded the theology of these men,
or at least so it seemed to their more conservative contemporaries. But as
the cultural differences lying behind the religious ones remained un-
changed, these attempts at reconciliation came to nought. In religion, as
in other areas of society, the influence of foreign cultures was largeJy felt
only by an intellectual and political elite at the core of the empire and,
through direct contact, by the provincials at its periphery. Despite the
economic and political pressures on the Byzantines to become integrated
into the European system in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the tra-
ditional prejudices against foreigners persisted. This residual disdain to-
ward other cultures is nowhere more clearly articulated than in the con-
servative position maintained by Eastern Christian theologians.

AN IN L I TERATURE AND ART
ARTIST, AUDIENCE, AND OBJECT

A modified position of man in literature and art also reflects funda-
mental changes in Byzantine society from the seventh through the
twelfth centuries. As in so many other areas o( Byzantine culture, this is
not a revolutionary development; it evolves from the conservative to the
Less conservative. Nevertheless, the shift provides a rare, intimate in-
sight into the consciousness of the individual in Byzantium, as ob-
viously embodied in the works of exceptional writers and artists. But the
subtle changes of attitude found in the best literature and art of the pe-
riod are not expre sions of the genius of their creators. The art-
ists' perceptions were affected by shifts in their relationships to both
their subject and their audiences.
The literary audience may have significantly expanded during the
twelfth century. WOTks seem to have been written to establish reputa-
tions as well as to please patrons. A treatise by Michael Choniates, met-
ropolitan of Athens, rhetor and epistolographer, not only reflects the
ambiguous attitude an artist might have toward his public, but al 0 indi-
cates something of the nature of his constituency. Michael put forward
two perspectives on the artist's obligations to his audience. According
to the first the artist should present his work for the judgment of the
thousand-eyed throng that will applaud its perfection or ensure its in-
eptitude (Mich. Akom. 1: 12.16-17). Those who refrain from public dis-
plays of their creations will, lacking stimuli, lose their ability to mold
masterpieces (13.12-13). But Michael actually prefers the second, oppos-
ing, position. Public exhibition of one's work is without purpos . Genu-
ine wisdom is never inspired by vain applause. Would nOisy praise draw
from a swan a more beautiful song? Would eulogies increase the strength
of the lion? Similarly, human genius is not stimulated by praise or
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

198 CHANGE I BYZA TINE CULTURE
criticism , but ari es from virtue and a knowledge of good (21.16-22;

22.9- 11).
While the literary udienc of the twelfth century may have ex-
pandedomewhat, it mu t have r mained small in relation to the popu-
lation. Such consideration a the cost of book production and the
of education kept the reacting public a select few. I Any conclu-
sion drawn about the natur of from change in liter-
ature alone leaves op n a ba ic question: doe hift r pre ent a de-
elopment within an exclu ive, elite group or does it evidence a broader
ultural phenomenon? Th consideration of a e ond m dium art, par-
ticularly monumental art . mig ht provide a measure for the fir t. Th
number of patrons of religiou painting throughout th empire was rela-
tiv ly larg . Not only emperors and lords, archbishops and abbots built
and d corated churche , but at 0 minor provincial official, local holy
m e n, and even conglomerat s of pea ant founded and frescoed ecde-
sia tical structure . 2 Perhap more importantly, monumental religious
art that was produced on behalf of patro n of whatever social order often
had a br ad audience. The work of the court historian and poets are
fundamentally elitist; the monumental paintings of mona teries and
con gregational churche are les o. One observation i , con equently,
worth making. A la rge number of luxury manuscripts, including the fa-
m ou Jo hua Roll (Vat. Palat. gr. 431), the Paris (Pari . gr. 139), and
the Leo Bible (Vat. Reg. gr. 1), may be dated to the middl of the tenth
century, but very few major monuments with figural programs eem to
have been con tructed during that period. In the eleventh century, how-
er, numerous large d corated buildings appear d both in the prov-
inces and in the capital; new or refurbished work such a St. Mary Peri-
blepto , 55. Kosmas and Damian, and St. George of the Mangana in
Can tantinopie and Ho io Louka in Phoki ,th Nea Moni on Chios,
St. Sophia in Ohrid, and Daphni near Athens in the province . This ap-
parent change of arti tic emphasi from th minor to monumental arts
may, the n, be related to a broadening of the audie nce for art imilar to
that for lite rature.
1. On the book a ' a luxury object, K. Treu, " Griechi che ch re ibem otizen
al Quelle fur politisch e, ozial und kulturelle Verhaltnis e ihrer Zeit," Byz.
Bulg. 2 (1966), 139; . G. " Books and Read er in Byza ntium," Byzantirle
Books and Bookmell (Wa rungton, D .C. , 1975), 3.
2. O n monasterie built by or w ith the h elp of peasants, . A. SkabaJa-
novi , Vizantijskoe gosudnTstvo i cerkov' u Xl veke (51. Petersburg. 1 84), 433(. Also
A . Guillou, "L'organi ation de I'ltalie byza ntine aut~u r de 1050: de
la m tropole aux egU es privee ," Le istiluziOlli ecclesiastidle della "Societas Chris-
tiana" de; seeo/; Xl - Xll (MiJan , 1977), 314- 15.
Copyrgt I
Man in Literature and Art 199
If literature and art reflect a change in the relationship between artist

and audience, they also embody a shift in attitude toward the object.
Writers continue to subscribe to the Neoplatonic, pseudo-Dionysian
concept of the image as a means of access to its divine prototype. This
theory of images had been formulated and thoroughly inculcated among
the Orthodox during the Iconoclastic controversy. J There was, however,
an increasing interest in the relationship between the image and its
phy ical model. The e two distinct interpretations of the generation of
an image were reconciled easily by PseUos. The fIrst mode was intellec-
tual and interpretive; it revealed the symbolic content of the image
(Scripta min. 2.208.5-19). The second mode of perception was direct sen-
sation. Psello wrote,") am a great connoisseur of icons, one of which
(an image of the Virgin and Child) particularly ravishes me; as a bolt of
lightning, it strikes me with its beauty, depriving me of strength and
rea on .... I do not know," he continued, "whether or not the image
reveals the identity of its supersubstantial original; I behold, neverthe-
less, that the layering of paints reproduces the nature of flesh" (Scripta
min. 2.220.19-221.13).
Michael Choniates showed a similar appreciation of physical reality
in reviving Zeuxis's ancient formula for artistic production: the gifted
sculptor fashioned the image of an ideal woman from the best features of
local beauties. Through careful selection from nature, the artist con-
trived perfection (Mich. Akom. 1: 171.17 - 23). While this notion of crea-
tion was obviously a topos drawn from antiquity, its revi.val in Michael's
work must reflect something of his own attitude toward artistry. That
Byzantine writers drew parallels between the visual media and literature
is perhaps most touchingly demonstrated in St. Neophytos's preface to
his ascetic canons, in which he compares his words to the painter's pig-
ments being built up to form the image of God:
You. brethren, in my desire for you to be ascetics by practice and by
word, .r emember the work-loving painters who, desiring to complete
the drawn image, not sparing colors but laying these on thinly, en-
lighten the image, even binding in the colors. And r, according to the
similarity of the e [things). [find) many between colors
and from the festal signs. from the catechi m, from the
letters, from penance, and from the constitution of the typikon. So in
place of pigments, presenting a depiction by means of the canons, in
3. J. Meyendorff, Byzantine Tlleology (London, 1974), 42 - 53; L. Bernard,

"The Theology of Images," Iconoclilsm, ed. A. Bryer and J. Henin (BiJmingham,
1975), 7-13; L. Ouspensky, Theology of the leon (Crestwood, N. Y., 1978).
4. . V. ByCkov. Vizantijskilja estetikil (Moscow, 1977),35-41.
CODyr grtCd 'T'

this manner we ascend anew with the aid and grace of Christ to the
beautiful archetype through the image of God, from whom we will not
be separated.
And again in the vitae of 55. Christopher and Makarios of Sicily, written
by Orestes, patriarch of Jerusalem (968-1005/6), the art of painting was
used as a simile for mona tic lite: "Painters, while they are compiling
images on icons, look intently at ancient models. The brethren acted in
the me way: when they would create the beauty of virtue in them-
selves,they gazed at St. Christopher." 6
An eloquent suggestion of the artists' interest in real models is
found in the anonymous biography of the Peloponnesian saint Nikon
the Metanoeite. This holy man died during Basil II's reign, but his vita
appears to have been written a couple of generations later. 7 The story
goes that a certain John Malakenos, member of the Constantinopolitan
senate, desired an icon of the deceased Nikon. He commissioned a
killed painter to make the icon, but since the arti t had never met
Nikon, John had to describe the aint's appearance. Despite his efforts,
the painter could not produce a satisfactory image. "Even though he
was highly experienced in his vocation, he was unable to make with pr -
cise similarity the image of the man, whom he had never seen, only on
the basis of a desC"Tiption." He was frustrated in his e.fforts until aided by
a miracle: a monk entered his house and asked the cause of his distre s.
After the artist explained his problem, the monk declared, "Look at me,
brother. I quite resemble the man whom you are to depict." The artist
looked at his guest, and indeed, he was amazed by the identity of the
monk's face and John's description. He rushed to his panel to draw the
features of the thrice-ble sed, but when he stopped for a moment and
look d around, the monk had vanished. 8 There was, then, evidently a
new interest in natural reality, as is reflected in elaborate description and
in the effort to find a concrete means of conveying impressions. 9
Not only did the treatment of the object in literature change; subject
matter did also. Hagiography, the leading literary genre in the ninth and
5. J. P. Tsiknopoullos, ed., Kypriaka typika, Pegai leai meletai tes Kypriakcs histo-

rIDs 1969), 94 .
6. His/oria and LAudes SS. SabaI.' 1.'/ Macarii, ed. G. Cozza-Luzi (Rome, 1893),
84.29- 36. See also C. Van de Vorst, "La vic de S. Evarist, higoumene a Con-
stantinople," AB 41 (1923), 295.7- 9; 296.3 - 6.
7. Vita of S. Nikon, ed. S. Lampro , Nros Hellenonlllemon 3 (1906), 189.27- 31.
8. Vita of S. ikon 179f.
9. The resemblance between a real saint and her icon is also emphasized in
the Life of Eirene of Chrysobalantos: AASS Julii VI, 629A-630D.

tenth centuries, 10 t its vitality from the econd hall of the leventh cen-
tury. The last great example of eleventh-century hagiography is the vita
of St. Lazarus of Mount Gale ios (d. 1054), compiled by his pupil, the
kellarites Gregory. 10 It consi t of a set of short fabliaux full of in ight into
monastic lifo The vita was designed to demonstrate the
triumph of piety over demons and crooks, but it imultaneously pre-
ents the variegated character of the many brethren at th ir chores. It
a1 0 reflect upon their naive beliefs and uper tition .
Ossification of hagiography ets in de pile th fact that literary fig-
ur such as Psello I Nicholas Kataskepenos, Prodromo ,Nichola of
M th ne, Eustathio of The saloniki, and John Tzetze worked in the
genre. II Kataskepenos's vita of Cyril Phileote , written soon after the
saint' death at the beginning of the twelfth century, is typical. Every fact
in the biography is presented amid numerous . . quotations: sche-
matization queezed all the life out of the essay. Moreover, hagiography
wa scorned under the Comneni (see Chapter 3). Leontios of Jerusalem
s ms to have been the onJy twelfth-century saint contemporary
vita ha survived in Greek (apart from Greek monastic saints of Nonnan
southern Italy). Similarly, hymnography declined somewhat in quality
in the twelfth century. Few hymns were written; tho e that wer ,includ-
ing some by John Mauropous, I2 tended to lack expre ivene . This may
be explained partially by the fact that the liturgy was "canonized"
in the eleventh century: IJ further ornament wa evidently considered
unnecessary.
While hagiography and hymnography grew effective as genres,
romance became increasingly popular. Byzantine writers of the twelfth
century d veloped their theme in accordance with antique tradition,
10. On this life, 1. ~v~enko, "Constantinople Viewed from the Ea tern

in the Middle Byzantine Period," Haroard Ukrainian Studies 3-4, part 2
(1979-80), 723-26, now in hi Ideology. Letters and CU/tlll'C in the Byzantine World
(London, 1982), part 6.
11. A urvey i found in H. G. Beck, Kirchc und theologisclle Literatur im Byzall-
tinischen Reich (Munich, 1959), 587- 91, 638- 41. To add to h are the newly
pubJi h d E. Sargologos, La Vic de Saint Cyrillc Ie PiliMote moine byzalltill (Brussels,
1964), and P. Joannou, Demonologie populnire demonologie critique au XI' siCdc. lA
vie inedite de S. Auxence par Michel Psellos (Wiesbaden, 19n). Th life of Leontio
of J rusalem was compo ed b Theodosios of Patmo at the beginning of the
thirt enth century: W. Hecht, "D r Bios des Patriarch n Leontio von Jerusalem
al zur Geschichte Andronikos' I. Komneno ," BZ 61 (1968), 40-43.
12. On Mauropous, A. Symbole Ie melete tou biou kai tou ergou
tou JoalltiC Mauropodos (Joannina, 19 2).
13. H . J. Schulz, Die byzantinische Liturg;e (Freiburg i. 6., 1964), 131.
COPY grted m
unlike their Western counterparts, to whom myth and legend were

much more important. Ancient erotic romances had long been read in
Byzantillm and had been cautiously interpreted as allegories of the
soul's longing for God. 14 In the twelfth century, however, contemporary
romances began to be written in greater numbers. But the evolution of
the Byzantine romance in the twelfth century is difficult to trace in de-
tail, as no precise chronological sequence can be established. One of the
earliest of these romances seems to have been Eumathios Makrembo-
lites' prose tale Hysmine and Hysminias. ~\ Prodromos's Rodanthe and Dosi-
kles and the romances of Niketas Eugenianos and Constantine Manasses
probably came later. The romancelike plot of Nikephoros Bryennios's
Memoirs might, in fact, have been the first of the series. Although
Memoirs (written in the ftest quarter of the twelfth century) was pre-
sented as a history of the late eleventh century, it was cast externally in
the f01'111 of a conventional Greek romance. The marriage of the future
emperor Alexios Comnenus and Eirene Doukaina forms the core of the
tale. After overcoming many obstacles set in their way by their families,
"the comeliest youth wedded the comeliest girl" (Bryen. 223.5). Thus
even an aristocratic chronicle was part of the developing genre. A new
sensuousness, too, if not eroticism, appeared in Byzantine literature,
corresponding to the new popularity of literary romance . For instance,
What Did Pasiphae Say When the Bull Fell in Love with Her is a progymnasma
written, surprisingly, by an anonymous cleric at St. Sophia. 16
The plot of Prodromos's Rodanthe and Dosikles depended in part on
the ancient novel by the third-century Heliodorus of Emesa and in part
on Makrembolites. When Dosikles met the beautiful Rodanthe, she was
already betrothed to another man, and he.r parents did not wish to break
their promise to him. Here again, as in Nikephoros Bryennios's tale,
family obstacles formed the pivot of the romance. Dosikles kidnaped his
beloved and fled with her from Abydus to Rhodes, only to be captured
there by pirates. The pirate ship on which Rodanthe was carried away
14. S. V. Poljakova, 1z ;stor;; v;zol1tijskogo romana (Mo cow, 1979), 36- 55. The
date of Philip the Philosopher, who composed an allegorical interpretation of
Heliodorus's Aithiopikn, are disputed. B. Lavagnini, "Filippo-Filagato e iJ ro-
manzo di Eliodoro," EEBS 39- 40 (1972- 73), 457- 63, identifies him with Phi-
lagathos, the Greek writer of the twelfth century from southern Italy. H. Hun-
ger, Die Jux:lIsprachliche profane Literatllr der BYZil ntiller 2 (Munich, 1978), 121 , dates
him to the fifth century.
15. S. V. Poljakova, "0 chronologi~e skoj posledovatel'nosti romanov Evma-
tija Makremvolita i Feodora Prodroma," VV 32 (1971), 104 - 8; Hunge r, Die
hochsprachliche profalle Literatur 2, 137-42.
16. H . G . Beck, Das IlyZilntinische /ahrtausend (Munich, 1978), 146.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Man "... Lib~ra,ture' ,a nd Art
ca.p :sized:,: s.b [e' was .e.sc le d fr-om the wr-ecka.ge to, w'hich she c1.ung ool:y l
t o['be loa.d .into slave,r y' in Cypms. ~. Dos' e,s in the :m,e'a nt ime was to 'be o.f-
-re. ed.. a;s a sa,c r :. ce to
o -
. .. '. .
'. -' th . .'
but
. ~~ :e . , . . ~. ~ ~ , w ,as :s __ ve _. -_. _
.'
d by.. ,a..nur.,
i r..
- f
.. -.i
' ., a.cIe;o H'-.e
" ',,'
. ar.rllV .,'.
., _.d''. m " . " " .. . , , .. -.".. - - -I - . - . -. - - - - -,.- . -,-
[C y.p rus., .f oun.d Rodan.'he,. but:h.e r 'Owner; Myr -[la, 'w ho,had fall.e n in :lo,ve
W .l'-th - ... .'.0 ild
0'--cS' -' ..-,_.e e"IUS
I ' f t r,at-e - d-. .'h is a.'H'. -. e ,p t to .ftee 'h' e M
.... I" . .. I' .'
. ~'y a . .In }J
' . ..,~.
ea:lousYI ~ l
~ ~- ! . . .' . ... . '. '.' - . , .' - '. I.'
.1
- , . iI
" l" "1' '. . - .. - - ] ,'. . .
n - e' d Rodanthe I ' bu,- ..miraculou' . 's ,ly :. ' , .

..lI::;.... , ~~,'I::J!',O .~.: a: n
P - ~o ~so
. . ' .iI; .. - . -' . 'aO",
~ -' 0'a ..~'n ' ~ , .... ..
. .:.: . - - --' c 1
~ -
~ ' ,,", '. ~
:h erb an,d ,c ured he .. While all t his was ha,p 'p enin.gJ.' h .e De].phic ar ,a.c .e,ad .
l
vised th. lovers' .f athers t,o traw,1. to Cyp . Si: th,e re th,el" de vered -the .' .
.f-l' im n. -''hI" el, .' tr s' and'~. arra'n ge - -d' a gma.
1 - 11 we dd'
.
~.- ln. g ,. .A
ial:
"1 :.- 6 m . otbl .e r B'
-
.y,zan.t .m. ,. e ro- i, .
'm ances, th[e actio,n in Rodan,the and .Dosikles' occurs '-n a two -dhnen sio,na1.
spa.c e. . Throu.g hout tb.e ,g enr .., even wh .e n real p,la.ce~s :p~ovide th.e .. 'ta.ge'
f:or even,.is_,. t 'h. e h .a ve .n o d'IS
... . - t' "J" I '
tIn " ct" . ve c arad.. -er. IF"or lns,t aIle,e., M..'
" .. I' ..
1
I ... ...... '
' . akrJ'
-.' ,e m!b-[. 0
,'.' ' ,'I'" ~ ... '.' '" . . . . , . , . -'I', I" :.1'-' I
i
- -, ,,-. -~ .. -.... . ... : . : - ", -.-=- ..- . -: ',.,_
'li~t.es romance be ~ ~ glns WI"'{h

-I '-:.- a d escr.l.ptl.on '" --, 0 f' I-h"'t I.e c ' y [ -ury E' lA' L.Omnl ,. W.lLL' 1!...::-"'ih , c
j
wrot,-e t"e
-.,-
-'h a.u tb[.o r" IS ra.1
- ... . - "
tIl'.e r .'l.ove y . sln'ce llt IS sunoun ed~ b~ y th
'. .- .', I I
11-'
. . :
,_ e ,se,a., a.n d-
. . . . . . . . -'.
_. ~ [' . ." , '.'

1

I'
. -", .... -
" I' .. " , ,',', I I . ." .' - - .... , , '. I" I.. .,~ .
.~vers t]ow along and me'ad,ows bloom an.d it ,a.bourn.d s 'with v.ari.o u,s plea~'
sures,,. T.h [e ci,t y is a so' vety pious'.t ev[en m,o r,e' han th.e gold.e n Ath.e ns it
15 a per fe
. 1
._ ' ,.. -~ ct altar a pe-r f-ect
. .
'.' ----:
.
--- saCll"If:,-l"C:e
.
. ..
.. . . .; a .. pre-
.
'.
,. . "se .. '.- n t to
-
. ....,
.
. '. the
.
. i. 80 -......ods'
. :. - .~.',ji, 1' ;1... Th
" ...
'_'~.-~. f ,fill
...... ,i . ~ e~_ I'!i s
.' '.'
I. . .
.' . " . .. . '.' .... '. '. 1 " '.' tIj ,,.
._"c.
. I'
.
I .'
co nv,e ntilona as w,. U.: th ., story'is a :m,echanical :sequ.enc,e 10' ep ode,s;. ad~
ve- n
..
.
~ I I' 'r- .- s m i raCI-d iS' d-a...-n-
-
.,t
-u ..
-'. -
.
-'IS' a
'
.. ,. . n d''- -. 0
..' -
._. - , n-n -: I,. t--h-
.
_, ,
,...a
.' .
t_C -. -'
'-
- - . ~'
-
d,,' a
'WIr ..
-
,-
s-
. r
'''.
#"
e
._-
. a
,dil
.J "
., _.
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l
y '. ,
~ ,- .'..e",d-. t-,0-
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-- e
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- .
. -
-' . , tf."'"', . '.. "
- . - y .. , . ., . . , .
-
b
-- e a
- -., d
.. '
. -'
d- -
-
as s. b t ,a,c ted from.l because n,o thmg affected _h.e ehara.c -_ ls,:m.any ' . ay'.
T -h;Ie, h [e re a " d . a 'e' .lt'II-t ok': y' r,erut i. ,ered' 1,", F ~:rom th-e m,omen._ 'ith
i' ... ~ - .,ey 8fe rn- '.
fJ-:am- ,00
. , '1 W-: I-lb
... - 10 : 'v":a. '0 .. _ . _ ..-'n,e-.- an
I i' ..' [ ' o -'...- 0- .', -,h- e.~-. 0[--" [c-'.-h am
... .. "~ S"
I . .-' -e'- '0 .-. ~['C~u-'rt:'!
'" C, ' I..
-'
_. _.. - . 1 - - . Q ' .
W "'.' I'"t-..bin
:.--. ;.bi ll .i S con'v en.lona t- ~ '1-', SC'h ,e me,..h i.o wever,,,nr' h ... .. e)f",L "ll.Il.- cent' u~ry c'On-
- "'I
oems and'... prlo b.. [e ms were represent,e d_." S_- o.me d.-I,e ta ' S come 00 . . ' li'
. ~l~- e, .fo -
I ex
.... .l '.' - .. - ,'.' ..... ' . . .~ '- .~ . .~ , -: .I -: .' 1 . . . . . ,~ . . . . . . . . . .-. : 1'-' .......... 1 '~ :-:-!II 1--:1 .
. '1-' .... ro_...d~l,a.mas,

P- '.' s. ..d- - .p- ~ u,o-.n. o-f~' a.- ..n-ava ~--~I-' 'b
. - a -1 .:;'e~ B ---"!J'ax[ ,--.. . ,e5.. o' ,-.. n-e, 0. . -:-- - ' t-"h l
amp.e, 'e -sa .1,.
.' e H'
j .
'.
co, . .m man .. d-.- 'e_. , ',. O'l-' ' [e . re-d;.I c,our,a.g~Ous d - ~ -~ " '[t 0 ..a, t--.ta
.' lver,s ~ ,LA
. . .t .. t- h' ,e-, enemy ... . - ... .1';1 . -. .. - . -
- .... -- '. . .+
.I,&0m . 10 . ~
. l L 1
.A nd. th,e dl'v e s wh om. I have m.entioned a.b ove,

'Th~y sw,a m. unde the shi.ps M .-_ h .J~,eir h.a mmers
An,d th.ey damag,ed. th,e . '.'. 'u n -emeath~,
And many pe 'shed. wij.t-ho'U t hope,.'1'-
'T h - '1'" s- 'p- ~O:bably.-' '1l"\atl""'*eo 'a.-- -1"'(- s a,d 'u~ 'y- . de: l n 'B'- 'y.' ~a
.... . 'U' g'e ' -n"t- t'! um' 1.9 CFurt' he . - ~'" - I
i
c
~ ,i ., : u ., . &,'. _. _. ,_.... ' . , J/.~ . . . ~,I ,,-, tr.ii;II' t
I,' .. ",.
,c
.t . .. - ', ~ . . I, _. . ' .: ,L . '.'\'.. I' ,II ~"
. ' , . .
social mIlieu -, rese.n ted m..Prod.r omols 's rODla [ces 'was, th.e sam.e ,as th .t
e. -' -o'"ze
[ er,J-' - dl n hi-;r;;[Ii~ pOQms
..... '. a-nd~ . sp - eche~ a e - w. ',~'o .II~ ~e
~ '~. ~ ~/1;<;;:i; UJ~ ) i B r.ennlO - '1 ,. - ,I'M
.' ..~' --mOlTS.,
-.'. 'II!", . . . , ' , ...
T.h e h.e ros were :n ob,l ,e' an,d - .~ ~. " 'ary. Dosild'~ ;Sf .fatheT' was, ti.,n.ed a. gJ _a.t
5,tra,teg()s, a ~~ d : : " himse' f was de scribed a hav~g been b,rough .: up'
.
. 7',. E':r otki scrip,tore-s Gmeci.; ,ed~ .R., :Herche'l ';- vol 2, (Lei'pzig;- 1859), 1.6-1..1-,5.,
18,~ '. '. ' ,'" sc,ri,ptvrre.s 2/ 370 chap 6. 3,- 35 .. 1
10 H- Hi" un-~ g,er-- -1,18-r-yr."7I~ n ,ji,n~sc-,l..e

.'' ; . . , :.Il1 :
'II
.- nn.6-,?H A
'iilo'~""hma .. ' '; 'Mt;.J,j-Hi!~ ~i:!:
.: , .: .'
'.'
.'.' f,.fJr
'0 ~'~ ""~1i"'1fft " , "
1
..

'~ ,Il. ,, 1Ii _ .. iiOl
.i". .[,I ~. 's;II'-- , , ,~I- . 1'11, IU.V~~iIi~ liI ' II ; I I., ~L.-'I" II!
_ .'
H ,
W.~ Kraus: (Vie nna; Cologne', and Graz t 1972. , 1Mf'..

in battles. The "basi/tus" Bryaxes offered a warrior's moral code: victory

never quenches a true soldier's thirst for new conquests; internal quar-
rels must be avoided; the enemy's stratagems must be guarded against,
although a genuine knight would not' stoop to military trickery;
flight from a battlefield is unimaginable - it is better to be bravely slain
than to escape in a cowardly manner, only to live miserably in shame
and derision. Bryaxes even spoke of a just war and prohibited his sol-
diers from plundering.;w
Historiography was transformed. During the ninth and tenth cen-
turies, history was largely a matter of compiling events from the begin-
ning of time to the present. Theophane , the greatest historian after the
murky gap of the eighth century, continued Synkellos's chronicle, which
began with Adam and chronicled the main occurrences in Byzantine his-
tory year by year from 284 to 813. The events recorded within annual
entries were often connected to each other randomly; the chronological
sequence was assumed to have deteJOlined the inner order of the story;
earthquakes and births of monsters were duly inserted into the story of
wars and religious' . This dry, factual recording predominantly
of remote events was ultimately superseded by narratives of the person-
ally experienced, recent past. The first of personal histories was
the Chronographia of Quite probably PseHos began writing a con-
ventional chronicle covering the period from Romulus to Basil II's reign.
As he came close to the date of his birth (1018), however, he changed his
style. The Chronographia, which strangely enough has no traditional
proem (perhaps Psellos meant it to be attached to the earlier chronicle),
was freely structured not according to the stream of time but around
major characters: Psellos aimed not to reveal the sequence of political
and military happenings but to create images of heroes. Even though em-
perors and empresses occupy central positions in his narrative, Psellos
was detailed and eloquent in his descriptions of lesser personages as
well. 21
The close connection between the narrated past and the experienced
present was exposed in an exceptional letter written by Psellos to a cer-
tain Macbeta.rios, droungarios of the vig/a (guards). "I compiled my Chro-
"ographia," wrote PseUos, "and mentioned there noble men, among
20. Braxes'speech, Erotic; scriptores 2, 357- 66, chap. 5.115- 414.

21. On the OITonographiD. Ja. . Ljubarskij, Michnil Psell. Limost' i tvortestuo
(Moscow, 1978), 175-229. Also R. Anastasi, "Sulla Chronographia di PseUo," Stud;
di filologiD biumtina 1 (1979),27- 36; St. Linner, " Literary Echoes in PseUus' Chro-
nograplliD," 8yz. 51 (1981), 225- 31.
Cooyr gtltec rra

r
Man,i'n Litera;tl1 fe ,a nd Art l 205,
w'h ,Q,m yo,u ,'ve' got fitst pla,ce" as ,a man of lofty mind ,a nd ,o f lo pen speech"
and, as my fr,i.e'n,d . 'But y 'GU a're offen,dl'ng 'm'e',. 'What' shou -,dl I ,d,o ~ OW,?
I
'S
. . h
"
. o:u-. ld
. _ '.
.~. 1-'
"
w n. '":t-,. , 5''- ', 0'. m: .et'h
:" ", _' '_'_'
' ' .. ,g-....' ,d .: ~a-r.'e-n
- '"m
_' _ _ ",
,-~I't~, C
_JJ!.1,I ~4L, . i;t --fa: m"-Iy:.' 0 '0'' ,,IL ,~ ,I"'iU ' :f:r l",iCI'n
.1 1 ~ _ . I, : ..
,:.1 1~i:.1!, a
', 'sh .'t""p
:...d u .. , ~: ,.;" . d_ _ ii;I! .,
- " - .. "
p'}.ed,se' but y'ou. must stop y'o ur ,a ssaults" {'Sa tha S,l' ,M,B' 5 : ,352, . ',~ 1,- 14 an,d,
2-5-2,9l~ We have tb,e means 0,ji . d,g in,g Psel ,o(s"'s sinc ~ rity': Mach,e1 ta't.ios :i:s
not :m ,e n,t ioln ed in ,t he bext of the Ch:ron(Jgr:aphia ~ H'''s. name was deleted;:
apparen'it. y ,h,e d '.' n'Oti-: cease' In
. ' .'!"'dl '. ,h". lS ,o,uu.''e'ns ~ s to . .t:h- e au:t. Of',., I,
h-I
:Par,ado . ~callyj Pse] 'o s's 'w ork, does :n,o t seem, t,o have influm,c ed :his
near ,oonte,m '- or,u ",e.s Zo ' ar,a s an,d ,:Sk.ylitzes" In,,fae , Sky' itzes p,rocllaim, ~ d
,h imself t o 'b e r ,h ~ o'phan,es,' .su'ccesso.r Lik'e 'T heop .anes, Skylitzes r,~'
c,o rd,e d ,t he 'batt!1es" ea th'q uak,es, and pla,g u,e s tha,_ beset By,zan"ti~ ~ m.,
Only at: ,t he end o.f th,e' His:to,ical Synltps:i's, {tid . .e compose sev'eraJ 'ex'"
,cur.s,u ses ,o n 'v,ario. s ,topics in,elu.din,g, fo,r ins't.a:n,ce, 'the ethn.ograph,y' ,o f I'
the Pec'h en,e,g s, and the Seljiu ks,. T,h,e 6,gur ~ s of his narra,ti.v'e ar-e' in an'y '
case' ,t wo-dim,e.nsional; ,t h,e y are presented 11a Iy as, eiith,e~r good or ba.ld ,.,
Z . o. ,n 'a"pal,S''s' H;,c;t.n,l.'ltt'l E',rn';,t.l'l;-:iifle-' 'w"'alC2! m
" ..- . , _ 1__ A-Q . } .: . r "~ ~ . IJL-H . . U II "'I . - ' ' O. ,l ,iCI, a'm"b'tl:'O"U e a'n d
.. ' .g .. . ~"_. ,, ~ ." .. " . _ ,~, .. ~. 'm''0' reo 'l eam
-; _' .. ~ ' '.-;:11 I',
' .. "ed' ''lL'''h''~'n'
0'" ," ," " ,_,-,' ': . .'. ~ .' ', . . [ " ::: ~ : .g .
5:k,y:litzes' work,. ,eov'e ring th,e world,ls devel.opmen't fro,m the CIie'atiion, 't o
: ,.,-~:8 A,"D'~ ,>i' 'W ]'th- -_ 'm 'e ous, I'e'e
11 II f ;ences, to a:n ,C.' le ' t.. au:t'tIIO.r,S;: . .,
J.t, ,] acs,, 'k h[,Q'W- "1
ev'et, a, 'a itica'l. . fr,a mew'o r:k . BU'l th,e ,annalistic app':roa.'ch, ,t o h~sl""
tory' ,o f ,t h,e chr,o niclers wh,o wrote af'ter' PseUos 'w as ,already ontm'o ded".,22
,'te 'Zo'n a as n ,"t "'e twelfth ce'nturyl' 'universal,chronicl~ s. w,e re ,no ,l o'D,gel'
,a seriOIUS genre 'but ,a ,literary' pastun,e ~ 'E v'en"ts were Ye,r.sifi,e d, as in, Co,n ,-
s'tan m,e . . . . . . anas;ses,i Hfs:torictd Syno,psis ,or i 'h,ey were inte,t lnin,g ied wi, 'h l
....l.ilU
'U ,...lact ~ c or t-: h
,-, -'.-,I. 1
- eo'I-:oO"iii"l. . a~ I .:
',~,_, :,~ o,"" . , ,', . : . S,-t ,as "'n ,M" h 'I G '"'.' '. ,'yka'
,~'_'lc~ae" < :S i :Qfi!!'Ii, C
' hit"nM;,
. ;""li".
i:'J' Eve "n
: ......... , . Jl.lt~ :~ '1IJ.,.
'fua. ly P'sellosts "new his'w ryn was ae,c epted, by 'By,za "e his"to'r " . ' S 0 '-' ! ',
th,e tw,e:l fth,cen't ury,.

.A. ,.". :m
~, '.' "'J. 't era,t ur,e , a . , eVO!1' 11
u tlon,:ln
.. '.
art took ..:' pi.~ a
ee' 'W "I, -','
'h ' n a ' ,lt4a' "",,', t . 'v 'eI'Y'na ' l
:ro'w s'p _ctrum, ,of form,al poss",billties,., 'T he' CQ,n:ten:t" or icon,o g,a,:p:h y of'
:m.o'Rum,ental '"mages w'a s car,e'fuU,y clrcu~mscr.i'bed 'b y raditio.n., Ne'v er:..,
th,eiess, pain'n ng :-,o es seem ~o, offer at le,a st c .- 'e :p ara els to' cote' . . , ,
poraneo ! s d'e . e ,o p'm en,ts in ,l ite,l 'ature ~ For ins't an,ce, secu 'at' t'h ,e1m e L as
discussed :m,Cha'p ter ,3 , 'beca:m 'e" iln,crea.sin,gly :p - ominen.t' ~ U'n forluna,-lely,
because of ~'he' viciss,t udes of history, VlrtuaU:y :n ,o -_'h in,g re,m ains o.f' th ~
f ,.' ~CO " a '~ d
mosaic}s ,t h,a,t 'o.ne '' d , c -', rat, d, pala,c es and pu,b tic'
'b uildin,gs"., ,Allth'ough ,rom, the writte'n :50'urces itt a .. pears t "at th'e" fig,UI,aJ
ela,oo, ,at"on of' secular s,t ru,c rures 'became ~'mportant., ,e,s . eeia :y in 't he
tw'e lfth ce tury~ :i t goes w,i,t h,o ut saying fha,~ ,t h,e' e richE-tent of .. . . .' ..
22- Th,e :influence Q,, 'I h,e city' a .. 'als o.f Constantinople' ca:n. be tra,ced i -~, Byz-'
.: .. " h"'sto ~,cal 'writing:un'til. Sky'litzes:: '.~ Sc'lue~nerl Studien zu den. BradreQ' Cn:rg.-,
nib: (M:unich~, 196'7),,, 123f.;: Die ,byzan.fi"ni6ch'en Klei: .' .' . :lken 2 (Vienna, 1977),t 4S".

foundations both arti tically and architecturally remained a always a

c nlTal object of patronag . 2J C n equently. we mu t dep nd on tradi-
tional form of church dec ration and religious art to pr vide the stylis-
he and iconographic r fl ctions of sociaJ change in Byzantium. The
changing relationship betwen the artist. his audience, and his object
modified the fOlm and subject matter of both art and literature in the
I v nth and twelfth centurie . The e modifications may be mo t dearly
di cerned by analysi of thr e overlapping of change: from
th ideal to the ordinary, from th imper onal to the and from
the ab tract or conventional to the natural.
FROM THE IDEAL TO THE ORDINARY

The didactic literature of the ninth and tenth centuri s was predomi-
nantly characterized by two images that of the emperor and that of
th holy man. They present d for imitation the extraordinary ideal, al-
though that ideal wa un btainable. The stereotypical renderings of
were meant as unambiguous portrayal of good and evil. There
wa no sympathy fOT the ev ryday emotions and probl ms of the aver-
age human being. Ideal behavior was repre nted in remot and unap-
proachable types. While pr may ha e impres d its audience with the
moral sup riority of h ros. it did not invit emulation. Even in
hagi graphy, which upp edl provided a model for living, figures
were . uperhlllnan in their proportions. The writer taught hi reader
only how to be an ideal hermit or an ideal king. Three princely mirrors of
thi period are connected with th per on of Basil I, a Thracian peasant
of Armenian stock who wOlmed his way to imp rial power a typical
figur of Byzantine society of the ninth century. One of them is falsely
a cribed to Basil him If, another i the funeral sp ch in his honor pro-
du ed by his educated and ue es or, Leo VI, and the third is Basil's
biography written b grandson Constantine VII or by one of Con-
s aides.
Although the genre of princeJy mirrors did not vani h Theophy-
1 kt of Ohrid addr d hi treati e on the qualitie of the id al ruler to
the apparent from the eleventh century on. the addr s ee of di-
da tic admonition changed: attenti n wa paid to th nouns of behav-
ior f ordinary people. 5 m on the Theologian. the fir t in a of
ocial instructors, work d still within the fram work of tradition; in his
nnon he addres d monk and dwelt primarily on the topic of salva-
23. P. Magdalino and R. Nelson. 'The Empe ror in Byza ntine Art of the
Tw Ifth cntury." Byz . Forsell. 8 (1982). 123-81.
Copyr grtoo I

tion. But the' ty of his moral inculcations wa 0 exceptional and

the principles of human demeanor as it was presented by Symeon so
clo ely re embled the admonitions of secular hi junior that we
may regard Syme~n a the founder of a new approach. Symeon's moral
doctrine stressed the individual way of salvation and the rejection of
such social ties as the family and friendship; he required also a complete
s If-subjugation to God and on the earth to one's spiritual father.
A generation later appeared Kekalllnenos's Advice and Admonitions
and Symeon Seth's Stephanites and Ichnelates, upposedly directed at
courtly courtesans, and at the beginning of the twelfth century the
anonymous versified Didactic Admonitions, known cOIIUltonly as Spaneas
(th meaning of this title is unclear), written for a yet-unidentified By-
zantine aristocrat. The e works were by no means radically innovative in
th ir fOJ In or in their content, but their attention to the problems of in-
dividual behavior provides some evidence of a change in social con-
sciousness. The Spanens perhap rno t directly addres d lay per ons,
admonishing them to appreciate wisdom and wealth , to be indulgent
with fTiends, relations, and paupers. The basic philosophy was the
simpl mectieval wheel-of-fortune one be kind to the poor, for soon
you may be counted among them. But virtue here does seem to have
taken on a new dimension . It was no longer simply a matter of proper
actions: virtue, for the anonymous author of the treatise, seems to have
been quated with learning, though in a prosaic, pragmatic manner.
Learning cannot be taken away from you; learning might allow you to
r olve a difficult problem and thereby bring you acclaim. 2-4 Indeed,
much of the advice provided in the Spaneas wa banal: be merciful to
your own adversaries, but puni h those who injure someone else; praise
hon ty, but never flatter; avoid e cessive drinking as it upsets the
ach, makes the soul gloomy and the body puny; abstain from raucous
laughter. Byzantine reality is better seen in the Spaneas's advice to de-
nounce others: those who hear bla phemyor lander of the emperor and
do not inform the authorities should be punished. Further, the Spaneas
ad vis d its readers not to be critical but rather to praise people in the
hope of acquiring friends. 23 Human relations as conceived in the Spaneas
are informed by caution and ritual, not by frankness and feeling. Cer-
tainly the relationship between the individual and God was till much
24. W. Wagner, Cnrmina graeca medii aroi (Leipzig, 1874), 8.172- 77; E. Le-
grand, Bibliotheque grecque vulgaire 1 (Paris, 1869), 4.106- 11.
25. Wagner, Carmirla 4.76 - 78, 12.270; Legrand, Bibliotlteque 1, 1.15 - 21,
5.138- 39.
Copyr grted fT1

more important than that between people, and the emperor was revered
a the living image of God. Nevertheless, the Spaneas indicates that hu-
16
man behavior had become a subject worthy of Literary consideration by

the eleventh century.
Kekaumenos's Advice and Admonitions advanced the humanizing ten-
dencies of eleventh-century literature. The etiquette of this treatise is in-
distinguishable from that of other moralizing works, but in contrast to
theirs, its stereotypical admonitions seem to have been infotlned by the
author's experience. The work certainly did treat the emperor and the
patriarch, but in fact it primarily considered the laity courtiers, civil
servants, military leaders, and provincial landlords. Kekaumenos re-
peatedly warned such figures of perils that continually threatened them.
If conver ation tum to the imperial couple, be silent Ie t you be accused
of defamation (Kek. 122.24-30). Avoid revelries and drunken conversa-
tions, for it is better to be regarded as unsociable then to be denounced
for slander (124.14- 20). Beware of intimacy social or physical with
women (226.27-29). Take nobody into your confidence (230.4- 6; also
see 226.22-23).
Kekaumenos's attitude toward friendship was very cautious. For- z7
eigners can never be friend ; their background makes them incompatible

(242.22- 28). Never act as a guarantor, even for a friend (218.17-]8). If a
friend arrives in your hometown, never invite him to stay with you, lest
he mock your domestic habits or try to seduce your wife (202.14- 204.1).
Have friends, certainly, but never get too involved. Aiter all, he re-
minded his readers, many have lost their property or even their lives be-
cau e of friends. He even admonished, " Beware more of friends than of
enemies" (Kek. 306.11-12) and dearly took his own advice: "1 never
wanted a companion; I never sat at a table with an equal unless I was
forced to" (242.12-14). In any case, a man in trouble will find himself
without friends (242.22).
Kekaumenos was not, however, entirely isolated. He lived not only
for himself, but also for his family. In contrast to loose connections with
friends, the author advocated the closest of ties with inunediate family
26. Wagner, Carll/ina 4.65- 66; Legrand, Bibliotlteque 1, 1.12- 14. On the Span-
taS, H. C. Beck, Geschichte der byZJIntinischen VolJcsliteratur (Munich, 1971), 105- 8;
N. PapatriantaphyUou-Theodoride, ' ''Spaneas' kai ' Logoi didaktikoi' tou Pha-
Ii rou," Hellenika 28 (1975),92 - 101.
27. Kek. 208.21 - 28,218.21 - .22. Kekaumeno often use the word "friends"
(pllitoi) to deSignate vassals (242.7- 9), subordinates (298.21), or allies (166.20-
21). These " {riends" are not, however, to be trusted (270.14 - 15, 306.7- 11).
Cooyr gtltec rra

I
members. For its protection, the family was segregated from society and
highly disciplined. :z3 He insisted that children must love and respect
parents (244.23-246.12). He worried continuously about familial honor
(220.5- 11, 226.24- 25, 228.29-30, 244.3- 4). "Do not forget your rela-
tives," he admonished his readers (222.32). "Pray, lest your son, your
son-in-law, or brother becomes your enemy" (220.5; see also 244.1).
All in all, Kekaumenos's concern for the family was conventional.
Equally traditional was his conception of the individual's position in re-
lation to God and to the emperor: all stand submissively before both di-
vine and secular authority. But the intensity of Kekaumenos's emphasis
on the individualistic self-isolation, on the escape from the dangerous
world, on the rejection of trustless and unfaithful humanity for the sake
of the safe microcosm of the nuclear family was determined by both the
author's personality and the social tendencies of the period. As literary
pieces Kekaumenos's Advice and Admonitions and Symeon's sermons are
of a significantly higher literary level than other works of the genre: side
by side with trite indoctrinations they include short stories and edifying
episodes; Kekaumenos was very fond of tricks and ruses that, in his pre-
sentation, resembled the stories told by his contemporary, the historian
Skylitzes. The shaping of characters, however, remained traditionally
flat life was considered to be an interplay of good and evil, clever and
dull people, and there was no place for hesitation and inner evolution.
The interest in human behavior reflected in literary works had some
correspondent in the visual arts, especially in manuscript illumination.
Gospels and lectionaries illustrated with narrative scenes from the life of
Christ became increasingly popular in the second half of the eleventh
century.19 It has been established that the rich cycles of the eleventh- and
twelfth-century Octateuchs were contemporary inventions rather than
revivals of now-lost Late Antique archetypes.)(! Illustrated copies of the
popular seventh-century treatise on monastic life by John Klimakos pro-
28. Kek. 226.7-8. "Do not be cruel in your house. but let aU those who live
within be in awe of you" (Kek. 240.15-16).
29. K. Weitzmann, "The Narrative and Liturgical Gospel nIustrations," New
Testament Manuscript Studies, ed. M. Parvis and A. Wikgren (Chicago, 1950),
151 - 74, reprinted in his Studies in Oassical and Byzantine Manuscript lIIumiruttion,
ed. H. Kessler (Chicago, 1971),247-70; "Byzantine Miniature and Icon Painting
in the Eleventh Century," Proceedings of the XlIlth International Congress of By-
zantine Studies. Oxford. 1966 (Oxford, 1967), 207- 24, reprinted in his Studies,
271 -313.
30. J. Lowden. "The Vatopedi Octateuch and Its Source," Abstracts of the
Sixth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, Oberlin , Ohio (Oberlin, 1980), 22- 23.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

210
. ~ fe a"ted ~ n fee 'e e1lt-'. e,e n . ' Y (Fig'" 42).,3'1 n ,CD S;.'. a:~ .. ts bega:n ',0 be
enframed 'by scenes .from ,t heir' 'lv,es an.d of .' h,eir' pos.'th.u mIOus :m ira,d es.,
ve n a his ory, ohn Sky. l ' ze - ,chronicle, was ela'bora.t.e Y' ilIu:st -aed in if
'h
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w :: l''dl a 1,a n SOCle . y., 'T - hi. s sa . e
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h.e os, W. ~ Fe ~ te e,oi_ ypical. :p~rso:nifilca" "'ons of virtues ,a:n d vices,.. Dra'w n
3 -. J,. ' .. Ma tin, T1J'" ll1 ust1tl'f,j'on .of th _..Heavttd:y- lAdder or 'John Cl':tlnncus (. . ". c :-
.o n, 195 ..,
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(964~60 966])1 .245 ~ 512.,
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aT plIIan 3a 1II~ bllA aSTOpCKl.'1M npa OM

as either good or bad, the e figures lacked the depth and ambiguity f
p ri nee. The two-dimensional nature of the characters was foster d
by social separation: the subjects were drawn from the p Ii tical and
piritual elit s f the ociety emp ror , patriarch, or saints with, re-
spectively, foreign ries, heretical opponents, or dem nic per-
secutors. Perhaps because of the popularizing tendencies of the culture,
as well as because of its new mat riati m and intimation of rationality,
writer from the eleventh century onward concerned th ms Ive more
with humanity and its setting. For instance, the prominent merchant f
Seth's Steplwnites OIld lehne/ates defined life's es entials in terms of his
economic independence, of ucce in his undertakings, and of the r c-
ognition of that success by his contemporarie . Give alms and avoid dis-
J6
a ters that was the formula for a comfortable life. Familiar everyday
sentiments, his pre criptions for happine seem particularly appr pri-
at for a m rchant. Thus S th not only concerned him elf with worldly
character but al 0 attributed to them attitudes entirely fitting th ir
tate.
P ello perhap b t di played the e new attitudes toward subj ct
matter. His sensuosity and his appreciation of material life led him to
write of the charms of a beautiful landscape (Scripta min. 2:219.2-12; ee
also his ekphrasis of Olympus, Sathas, MB 4: 442.13 -443. 27). He went 0
far a to e pr s hi d light in the physical loveliness that God could
cr at out of dust (Sathas, MB 5: 76.26-28). F r P ello ,th oul and the
b dy rival d each oth r in beauty, each having its ingular delight. H
even argued that pe pIe, having originated in matter, should not disdain
corporeal things (Sathas, MB 4:308.12-309.9). Further, he criticized
those II treme philosophers" who dedicated their entire attention to
the disembodied spirit, discounting entirely the physical form. And in
fact P ello devoted considerable attention to the d cripti n of
hi character.
His lengthy p rtrait f hi daughter Stylian is typi al: h r head wa
neith r t large nor t 0 malJ; her face was round; her eyebrow were
not too arched or t I ng; her beautiful eye shone like stars, wer very
large and a HttJ slant d, re embling buds planted near her n e; her
y lids w re as fine a p megranate peel; her no e delicate with
pi a ingty pr portioned nostrils; her mouth was framed by lip as bril-
liant a preciou stones catching the ray of the un; her e mly mile
e po ed snow-white teeth that re embled parI and gLitter d like crys-
tal; her ch eks' color was that of a rose that withered neither in the
winter nor in the fall; her e quisite neck wa the hue of ivory; her curling
36. L.-O. S(berg, Stepilallites lind relit/elates (St ekholm, 1962), 151.4 - 152.5.
CODyr grted 'T'a

hair feU in golden locks down to her ankles. The rest of Styliane's body
wa . treated somewhat more briefly. She had beautifuUy proportioned
hands, pure as newly carved iVOry, and tapering fingers; she had well-
developed breasts, a narrow, tightly belted waist, and hips like the Aph-
rodite of Knidos; finally, she had shapely knees and legs and comely
ankles (Sathas, MB 5:68.26- 72.17).
The naturalness of PseJJos's physiognomies should not be exagger-
ated. P ellos's own conception of beauty wa nominally derived from
antique canon of proportion and harmon of part, but most elements
in his description are, in fact, strikingly similar to medieval artists'
conception of the human figure. Comparing Styliane's description with
the portrait bust of Empre . Zoe in the south tribune of St. Sophia in
Constantinople (Fig. 43). one may recognize the same exaggerated con-
cern with the subject's eyes, the ame ense of geometric precision, the
same dear definition of the various parts of the physiognomy. Further,
in both the mosaic and the literary images, as even in contemporary nar-
rative scenes, the figures are frozen in time. unmoving.
Though Psellos may not actuaUy have been looking at Styliane when
he wrote his canonical description of her, she is no more idealized than
the literary heroines of most ages. Some of his male figures. also. are
conventionally idealized. Certainly this is lrue of his portrayal of Basil 11
in the Chronographia:
His eyes were light-blue and fie.ry. his eyebrow did not su llenly over-
hang hi eyes nor did theye tend in a straight line. like a woman's but
rather they were well-arched and indicative of his pride. Hi . eyes were
n jther deep-set (algn of knavishness) nor were they too prominent (a
ign. of frivolity). but they hone with a brilliance that was manly."
In these instances. it is not the originality of the description that
is significant, but rather its prominence in the narrative. Psellos was
actuaUy more naturalistic in his portrayals of sickness and deformity.
where he finally evaded the limitations of physical stereotypes. The
. eriously ill Constantine Leichoudes was marked by "the signs of
death" his temples grew sunken, his nose pinched. his eyes hollow.
his breath short and erratic (Sathas, MB 4:417.23-25). Romanos m.
too, was transformed by He resembled a dead man: his face
was swoUen, his breathing fast, his hair falling out (Ps. ehron. 1 :50.
no. 25.3-9).
Mor important than Psello 's interest in his subjects' physical ap-
37. Ps . Olrol/. 1: 22. no. 35.2- 15. Translated by E. R. A. Sewter (Baltimore,

1952). 27.
Cooyr gtltec rra

Man ~. - Utera,ture' an,d,,A rt 213
:p earan,ce was ,.-'is a,t tle'm :p lt to exp,l o,re in,di.-':~,id,ual 'p o. ~ . s~ Pe':r hs'p s ,i
his i -~ ch,na,te, ra,tionalism an,'d :" ~Sl respect. for h - m, ~~,ty led hh,l~t tal s,mo'r,"
,co,m pl ::x concept of' char,Rcte ~ :I n any ca _e; ," d[e' :" ',ela"t" ons of pe s - n,~
,ali'i y w,ere' olf ie '. ,m ,o re subtIle' ,t ha - his p:hySrI,cal .' ."...... . .~' :, fo,r ' ,at :h is
S't'e-- '- ,- '0'- ..IlL,. -.. -'llO,
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.
'. -, C-'~
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.
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~ , le:'liIil!c2 , gg I,",u
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-... - :-. I '. ~ s-'to
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Pse'U,o,s ,even io've ~ted ' -is her-o ~ w"l .' con:tra.di.ctory fea.tu:r so; a n ',,1. .'
,e xam'p]e ..... s'u [c h cha.r a,ct,e1riza't ,o:n ~ s' :h is ,d ep'iction of' John, Or,p,h anotr .
p,h os :m, the Chrol1iogfrlph:in:'i' At _'h,e onset, PseU.os s:ta ,=d ,~ha-t '''som,e o,f
John,'~ , d,~ eds a l :~ prai ~ ew,o,rthy/' aJ,-th,o , g.h, n,t- , ere are at' ,e r' t ""'n ,gs ,a,b out
h- 'I"'I~' ]'1"' thO,' a,t c~'!i1o'n-~""'0' It
.. ~ , ...
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'_ . -, !lillo.'
. ' ~'. 'Cll'i,th' g''( ~ '; "Or'a
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th ,' e'x,e cuti,o n of' his d'u,tj" s; he Wlent 'tIOI : xt:r, ~~'mes of ind'u.s.'t ry i ', th,e '. er
I .!'" . - , , a
:Corm I.
' n-'~C
__ ~ . o~. hi ""s o 'b':~li'l" ~ a-- ,t"o"~''" S ..... "0' L'
ID '- f"
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t "me" a[cc'or,d ~ n,g~' t [D P:seUos, he 'w a,s a h,eavy . .

.' ,'.,:' drink,er' i),n d at .. ,., [0 0, -'. ~ ' .. - ,-
th,_ ; .,le'" des,p l't e "I ,is. . . ' : oca.tio,n . ,h e cared,:n ,o, 'hin,g ,f or ,d .' ce ' t ...... ,
I: ,-
hav,i,o r,.,, "e persecu,ted, t'h o\s e w'h o li.ved e" pecta.b Yi, who p:- seed th..if
,t im,e in,t .,e ,ex,e rc.' ..... of' virtu,e', or 'W 'I o, nrich,- d, 'h,eK' mm,d wi 'h, clas ~i.cal
ire,Enning,. Th,~ s .~' m[ons-trou,g, _ra"'te, w'[ere worse' in, ,oom'bina,_ 'ol,n,. . ohn W I_- S
mOle' ve'ng,~ful ,and sus.pic",ou.s . - . h,[e'n he had, had a. few glasses of 'w ine:::
Uhe' w[o uld car,efuJ ,:.' w 'a'tCh, "'ow ea,'c h ,o f ,h is, 'b oon lc om,p. a:~' 'Ion,s- 'behav,ed,~
. ,
Afterwards, as if ,M ,d rCaug "t t ,',Ie'm, ~d,. . han~ ed':f h,e w'o'u_d, :submit
:1
t-h ' .e,m , to - q,u,es:t-,.,. l,o nln,glf ,an,~d"exam n,e 'WLlta,t. ,t h,ey L,n',a,'d sal:. ~d
j ,
an,'", d dI,o :n , In . th" _., ,e n
drunk,e,n momlen s,., So that: ,they came ,to dread . 'im drunk ,e ven more
,than,,th,~y ,drea,d,e'.~. him,sobet/~' .'
The' :".. ", g'es, ,o f empero, ,S and, lempJ'lelsses conj,ur-ed, 'u,:P' 'n ,the ChroHO-
, dgr, ' Ii" P
~ftL-t:t'I
i, ~Hrn: '~,'_,i;J:
'- oDs""e",, D
~~IO' . I"''-the ~ e" ep 1ic g. ....a'n
--r-- t"'h . I.
': d~ eu"I", o,.14. t-.'h ,,'e' p',. c:!'
". " .' ~
"'" ' . , 1oiCiud
., ", ','.'.',
1 '.'''
n ':tq
0-' ... a , '. . a '_ ,_
',
ue h-ero ", ',~~' ',,1 :. ,
,0 f ' II.~:'~ t h an,'.d" ten't ' 'cen,'t ury ,''h-, I , :tlOftl'" s nor' tJ:lJJe
I' -
;l . .s," :p 't" r,l tua'I'', gr,i Ul,d.~ ,@ur' 0]~'
'the' a :, :yrs, ,m id, W 'O'D ,-- ',ort. :'1 5 o,f the ' a, "' ,o gJaphi,c tr,a ditio ,; 'i
lemerge as 'belli:. .. able b,uman, , gs~ T,h,o .~ . t the a ', ~ 'X, oif I . . '. p _' e I , ... " ,
'w erl@ 1Id em, t.ho:l,ogized fhrou,g'h ,i i, detailed ,a,cCQnnt' of th,eir- w .

F,o r ins,t ~ :nee" Cons'tan,t~'n,e IX :M,o noma,c'h os was portray'e d las Ia n 'm ade
. ". " ":p lp a':- ,f M ,d un'balan,ced,,, B,u,t t'h ,o . ,'. I same . ,.' '. ... .; ..,-
'h lr,e" jio viar t ,- , laccess ~ 'H,t ," w 'ln ma ', lZln,g (d:iscu;_:_ d :i n 'U ', I'S-U
I
[d ~ 'tan fo" ,a B~y.zan.tme ' . .' him ,a sYl1lp thetic t . :,a,t m'e,n 't :f rom
,P,se os, 'w 'h o re,f ,' ained, f,ro,m :passin,g jud,gm,e nt [o n :h im" The w '"t .- r"s-
v8,g,uen,' sa in , ~ . , ~sse:ssmlent of -th,e' empe n ' ,ap'peared -to .' ,ch :~~ ~r,a,ct, ~:, ,is-'
'tic of ,a, :n cw; [e.s . . m,p'ly ju. gm[e,'ntaI at,t itude 't ow,a rd hum n",t ~ . ,C o '
s't an tme ., 1"
s w [ea <', ..' may .. a . e t........ IUt:en, ~p .. sed,'I''t,o -, e re,a,"d ers:i ,JrIUJL' ....:...l,: __ ...
LIUJle I
h
~ '~
38,~ :SI" ,Ch~on~

',:: 59~61; R~ In.kins ,j"'The;~ ass,:i~a:, Backg,ound, of th ~ Sci",.
to -,8, pos-t Theophan ,,m/" DO,P 8 (1.9,54), '15-~
Mar p~an ! 3a~~~ blLl1 aBTopcK M npaBoM

but displaying the emperor's sensibilities contributed to a deeper appre-

ciation of the tasks of the empire. J'I
PselJos's characterizations of more lowly personage were no more
stereotypical than those of. the elite. We find vivid descriptions of this
sort particularly in PseLlos's correspondence; for example, the monk
Elias appears in about a dozen different letters (exs. 11-12). Elias seems
to have been a parasitic friend of the author's; he was, in any case, rather
unflatteringly presented by the author as a glutton and philanderer,
a man who knew the locations of all the brothels in Constantinople;
PseUos tolerated him for his joviality and homespun wisdom. He could
be immensely entertaining, embroidering in a mo t shocking manner ac-
counts of his travels or of hi theatrical appearances. PseLlos remarked
that he was flabbergasted that such a bla phemous pe.r son was not swal-
lowed by a sea monster.<0
Nikephoros Bryennios and even more so his wife, Anna Cornnena,
continued PseLlos's pursuit of character. Anna's book on her father be-
41
longs to the tradition of encomiastic imperiaJ portraits. Alexios Com-

nenus was endowed with aU the qualities of a perfect ruler. He pours out
his "imperial sweat" for the sake of the Roman people, a traditional topos
of imp rial panegyrics. He po sessed military courage, reason, and
keen insight. He knew how to endure illness and how to reverse defeat.
Anna typified her father's character with a single word the mesotes, the
middle way, harmony. Similarly, her favorite female characters were
highly idealized. Anna's mother, Eir ne Doukaina, was mild, loving, so-
licitous. Maria the Alan, like PselJos's daughter in his above-mentioned
description, was presented as a construction of separate, perfect parts.
She was tall and slender as a cypress, her skin was white as snow, her
eyebrows were golden, and her eyes were brilliant blue. Neither Phi-
was nor ApeUes could have chiseled a statue of such beauty (An. C.
1: 107.28-108.9).
As in Psellos's work, stereotypical heros were given some depth
through recounting their weakest as well as their strongest moments.
Alexios occasionally appeared depressed by the innumerable calamities
of the state, by his own failures, or by a stricken conscience. In over-
coming his weaknesses, of course, Alexios emerged as greater than
those simple paradigms of strength such as Katakalon Kekaumenos in
Skylitzes or Nikephoros Botaneiates in Attaleiates' History. Perhaps
39. Ljubarskij, Miehoil Psell, 204- 29.

40. Ljubarskij, Michnil Psell, 76-79 .
41. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur 1, 394 - 409.

' '
L '
'.-
" ,
~
,", an m,~_lteratur,
M , .. " dArt
e ,a n" " ',;, '. .. - 'I
- -- L.
- -
I' .
- ..
.
2.15
mOl,e' imp() '. n 1y, t 'e' v,"Uain's of h,e r nana,tive w'ere,-ndow'ed wi.th,d,eprt'h
olf character ,'v'e n, 'wh':n, ~'hey were' S'-I ,o wn 'w ith virtually' ,n o red,ee'ming'
fe,a, UTi' ~~ S:
_ _ ~ :: as ~ m,e
_ ~ tio
_ ~ ,', n,~d ~', e~"
_ ~ ~ r,
_ ~ ~ ,Q
""" 'r' R"~ o,-.-'b
~~, -,' 'eIt,- G ', . ,':s',.;"Iiard " u .a
, .. -. h,n "- i-a,~f....'iI~.. e:d:, ,~. e-~.~- em :- ' -" . . :1 . t
.
:h
p'i re' in :'h ,e [0805"",was, desc ~, ibed as a'n , ad,v ersary wlo rth'y 'o,f A],e'Xl'os, ~,
Anna,I's :n arr,a.tiv'e 'w 'as, a so e -' iv,e1n ed by {h,e en,ern,y"s, plots,. ,A t, on,e :p oint}'
for insta,n ,ce, Robert G'u iscard's son Boh,em,ond,,e'vad, ;d ca,p ture 'by t ~ ,e By-
za -.. ~' ~,e'.s, by rei,gn-ng: dea 'h, (Ex,., 4:9) ~ "To :ma e' ,ms d,eception, :real~stl'c" h,e
~, a,d, 't he stinking carcass 0 '" a cock paced 'i ... h' s coffin alon,g side him~g,
Bahe' ,on,d/s,"'ng,enu ~'ty' was ma'tched,b,y ' his gli .~ .:.d,,f or pow'eF, 'w 'ea.lth" and
,,i' 'i -,a ry S . (lees!;,, Significant-y, ,A nna at' , ~ :m:pted to p,r-ovid,'e' eve.n :her- ". '. ~
l~ W s- W
-::io'~-n~ "'.',: : .....~l''. ..h
~ m --[o..~ ___ l. . ~ ..:.: th-e
t[''ve~- s~' :lI:or
~. .I-~.I~:- --r gct"OlI1S
:~: '1_' ,':':i" _
_I" ~il' '--=. B'. o,',. hemo'nd~ 's lii"'!o't::ro""ouiil::iness. :" ........
y .' i_, of t-'_h o
I,' : -, : " ',,'. ;'1,: .. I: ~. . IY ~. I..-- .. ci' .,. ~ " ~ '.,~:
':"h ro'n e of 'By-:a f 'l l s,'t,e'm me f'r,o-m, his [a,c k of :p osse'ssions in ItaEy',"
E ,e ve'n th,. ., an,d ..'. ,el '~ h~ce 't ury' p'a inting a~:SQ shows M nc e'asing' inte'r~
'es:,t:' ":, , th :' e P'h
I " YS1C '.' al,~ .'." , '. ~ D U ~ I"~: g t- h ~" e ,'l~ a,bE! 'n :l'.n. th 's rI~'y '-,e'n ,-:,'h- , ,a nd~, e,ar -y c, .. , "
,e leventh ce1n ,m 'ies, mo'n umen:t a art 'w as characfer,j-ficaU;y abstr,ac ' ~ ~ w'o-
d '.'
~nllenStOn, aJ fl'
~ ~ ,Jgur, es ,oc'Cuple . ~ a. equao~'11,Y' t1 ~~ ,at pllctuJle' 'p.'1ll,ane . A . . , . ,-ta' - 'n-~' ,ed ' I,
,a -~ ',ys,is 0 " o.>e' ex() - ple . us s ffic'e': the P' eachin,g of Joh the Hapt'"' ,t
'!
:m , t,h,e Old
,~._. r
.~,,' " Ch
"1
~" urch -I, 0f ' ToIe'all. Ki1ise, GOr,-.me, 'paIn,' ,ed In Ie ,e'arl.y' te th
...... 1 ___ . . . . . -: .... _', ..... '~' ~ .. th : ', ~ I ~ __ . __ - . _ ~ _ -, .~._ ., . --'J ~ ..., '._"
,e m't ory (F,g. 44)., This 'm age a-p'p ears, as 'p a .t of a dense' Chris'wfugiccd,
narraf"v'e set: in sequen tied. :re,gjs:b:~'r5 :i n th,e 'b arrel . .a,tilt ,o,f th,e' na.v'e T,h e' ih
sea _,e '0 , the figures w,as limi-t'ed by the he ~g' t of' t ,e' re,gister an. th,e'la,ck
,o,f d,ep-th of -the sta,ge spac,e " In c,o ntradicfon ,t o -the' commo me ~ ."...... '
oo':n,ven.t ~,on, tha't: ,di,cta,t,e's 'h at' :size' correspo:n ,d ,to socia - sta'm e,", John was,
,d ,e:p icted a8 sma.llle,f ' than .h,e peop,I,e' to w,h.om he preaches beea,1 se' he oc-'
CU,p .'!l" ,es th ..' , ,e ,s am,e p"] ane ,as th ." e ,a.n ,ge,I 0.,fib .~ e p.revlous seen,e . Th e d ep th -m
1" .,,' ,'. . . . : _.~
,~
t';-'" ," .1 .--:- ", . . .- , '.' . . -: - . ,.-: ' ',' .. ,::- I : '1 .'.:' ("" 11 . 1' ..... : :-. '. I (' ...... ,~
0'
'p:l i 'd 'by' -the o'ver ~ ltppm,g 0 - .' ~ "e 't'hree, 'g,u es o , ohnl's au' ence' is e",:i, ~ ~ ;' ,-
nated by the plaoEe'm e-rrtt 0 " th,e ~ ~, fi . e ,e'gs,., Further, 'b ot,i t John an,d, his l
,au,~ d-len,
' r e' a,c' :', sub,"':stance ~ ,I h' k-
.. !eU" p h . IYSiI,ca 'f'-'orms a e- g,e nera -zed and' --tg; ,i '.' - '1Iy
Sl-
.",i .. p" Jifi'"
.. ,... 1 :., - ad '
I 'IIir .', ~I.I .' 1if'iI.
V II '
p o
B '
V a'
,-~ ~
.~ . e' -
e '
l o- '
n
"- -'.. .,..I!1I .. , g''a't-' e d ~. \ 0 ' v ~alls
',' .1 . S'dirv
~ '~,o a " s
' h
~
1: ....1 . 1 .. ( . ... .
1 iOa'ds ,
In ' d .
.,.:. . : ,...
'
V }'"d " ua :1
1 s a'r
. ~ .. :,. : I~ " .. '.": [~" ...;;lll ' ", '., '.' '. , . 1. .1'
ilO,
... I~
not ,distinguish,ed, by' 'h,eiir features ,t, ',ey all hav'e very' arg,e ey'es and
e,'1:o'ng;a't'e,d n,oses -,bu '. _'_~ O:UJLY . . ..'~ 'very :mlnlmal '. '. 1" Y'b.e 'Y ,~d':S an dh ~ Jur-s'
' t,1 y,Je : . Th ,_I,' ! . ' __
'pa'tt _ ms of 'W _ i _ , ~ ' :hi,gtdignts on, t ' -,e ,d rap -ry' do not model. -the figux-es,
bu,t sim,p ly d,eoo' ate a d flatten, th,em ~ 'T,h,e limited, paletb:!< - gr,ay an,d ,
gr'ay ~'On w 'l"'''"h
I:."::: ' I :'-'cr-/~Ii:.r ' 'Le '[., aal'
...... -~'t'h CO'li ...
...... ~ or!:,-cii;f I''.'.'S~' s~ o~ '- o-'. mo ,~;CIn ou,c- "'n -ii ~ va'
1. \ .. :" ~: "'~" ..... l~' u '. ::- ' '.....
:~ I ~~ a t l,~,r
h 00
I.~'.:~~I, ...,:..... '~. ~ .~ .;, '~'_Fd '-~ '.~:' ,I ... I. :... ... ~')
,C-O'~ ,t jbutes ,t o ,' h,e' ,e Hmina,H.o,n o.f spa,ce',., The ,gr.ay groun,d ,:is n'o ~,ess on the'
s,u rfa,ce than, 'h 'e' ,d ,u ll ochJl!e',. ,A sunilar a't titude 't owal,d , :spa,ce ,is O,u nd in
th,e oth'e r :p \a intings an,d mosaics of the la't'e' nin't n and e,arly' -ten't h, cen''-'
, ... . ~ ., 0
42 ,- .- -hi- - d H ~H
-' ,~-
.' . D" '
b - h
- 0'-'L' i.,~
_..~ d I " e,
Ko
.,- ,n. t~ ;5, 'e pISO e', ' ~ . unger, '.le I.yzan,bn.I;Sc . " " te, atu -, er . . . mne'"
.- -, ,~ .~ ,. $ ,- - ~ ~,~ -~ ~ ~
0' .. '0~ " , - -' .' , -- ~, -, ,~~ ~ ~' ,- '
... ' N ' A,

'i llzeiger del" ph:i l'ologiSch-h:ist'Qr,isch n KJ'as:s'e der' Osterreichi'scnen: Akade,tnie
,
de,r W'lssensch'aften: '. .' ,I' no. ,3 (1968)} ,6510'
aT pl.'1aJl ! 3a~l.'1LU bllA a TOPCKli1M npa OM

tuei s, including St. Sophia in Thessaloniki, Hosio 5t phanos in Ka-

storia, and 5t. Pietro in Otranto. When monumental art became promi-
nent again in the early eleventh century, image were hematicallyand
flatJy r ndered, as shown in uch monuments as the Panagia ton Chal-
keon in Thessaloniki, Ho ios Loukas in Phokis, or Direkli Kilise in
Cappadocia.
In th later eleventh century, the artistic treatment of figures in both
monum ntal and small-seal works altered. The m deling of the e fig-
ur s more dramatic. Even mor noticeably, the figures began to
have the appearance of movement, though till in a carefully choreo-
graphed manner, and to int Tact. One may perceive this change by com-
paring the mid-eleventh-century file df apostles in Proskomide in the apse
of St. Sophia in Ohrid with the disciples of the Communion in the Holy
in Perachorio on Cyprus, from the second half of the twelfth
C ntury (figs. 45-46). In the later fresco, the are clustered;
th y relate to one another a w II as to the Godhead. There is even a
S ns of double file, one moving toward Christ, the other moving be-
hind the fir t, away from Him. It is tempting to relat this new sense of
human interaction not only to an increased appreciation of physical real-
ity, but to a concurrent dev lopment of broad r ocial ties.
In later twelfth-c ntury literature, the intere t in naturali tic detail
characteristic of Psello 's and Anna Comnena's writing e panded into
a patial and social dimen ion. This is particularly dear in the works
of Eustathios of The saloniki. Initially, Eustathio appears an unlikely
ource of literary innovati n: a high-ranking functionary of the patri-
archat and later a metropolitan, Eustathios was an ffkial orator and
pr acher. Most of hi surviving work con ist of el'lnon (/ogoi) on tem-
poral and spiritual subj t; hi few attempts at poetry are of indifferent
quality.04 hough his rhetoric is often conventional, Eustathio had a
lively literary imagination. He conjured up concrete images not only of
the individual, but also of specific social groups. His de cription of the
fall of Thessaloniki to the Norman at the end of the twelfth century is
43. A. Grabar, uLe murales dans Ie choeur de Sainte-Sophie
d'Ochrid ," CA 15 (1965), 257f.; A. H. S. Megaw, "The Church of the Holy Apo -
tl at Perachorio, Cypru , and it Fre roes," DOP 16 (1962), 277-348.
44. P. Wirth, "Ein unbekannter Demetrio hymno
von Thes alonike," BZ 52 (1959),320, now in hi Eu tathiana (Amster-
dam, 1980), 47; see also hi Untersuchungen zur byum tin ischen Rheforikdes Xll. Jahr-
hundert mit besonderer Berucksichtigung der Schritten des Erzbi hots Eustatlrios lIOn
(Munich, 19(0); T. Hedberg, " Das lntere se des Eustathios fur die
Verhaitni e und die Sprache iner eigenen Zeit," Eranos 44 (1946), 208- 18; A. P.
Kazhdan, "Vizantijskij publicist XlI v. Ev tafij Solunskij," VV 29 (1%8), 188-90.
Copyr grtoo I
extremely evocative, offering vivid portrayals of the suffering of an en-

tire city. He gave this depiction unusual intensity by focusing on detail
(Ex. SO). In the midst of describing the horrors of massacre and enslave-
ment, Eu tathios turned to the city's dogs. Mo t of these had been
slaughtered by the Norman , but those that survived crawled fawning
and whining to their new Latin overlords, growling only at their fonner
Byzantine Eustathios concluded that "even dogs IInderstood
the full measure of the disaster" (Eust. Esp. 113.6-9). In this feeling for
concrete detail, Eustathios continued the literary tradition established
by Psellos. In fact, 'E ustathios's love of minutiae reveals an even greater
fondne s for life on his part he saw and recorded the deep shadow
thrown by his weary teacher resting on a fallen column by the road and
as well the joyous dance of an audacious mouse that had managed to
steal the author's wine (Eust. Opuse. 111.78-91 and 313.57-69). Further-
more, Eustathios delighted in describing the physical pleasures of life,
such as feasts and good fellowship. He wrote with enthusiasm of lavish
meals he had enjoyed and of delicacies he had sent to friends (Eust.
Opuse. 311.42-54 and 311.81 - 90, 3U.20- 28) . He depicted in a lively
manner the festivities that he had attended for instance, the celebra-
tion of Alexios Il's wedding to Agnes of France, for which the Hippo-
d rome was filled with wooden tables, the stables were converted to
kitchens, and the cisterns flowed with sweet wine. 4~ At the same time,
Eu . ca tigated asceticism and the illiterate and idle monks who
wallowed in their bodily needs. He also criticized those who substituted
strict observance for virtue. He exclaimed at the end of a diatribe
against hypoc.ritical fasting, "It would be better to fill the mouth with
meat and be called flesh-eating, than to be filled with evil and be known
as man-eating." Eustathio's sarcasm and sense of detail are most
pointedly applied to men he disliked. David Comnenus, governor of
Thessaloniki, was "little in his qualities, but great in his unfi
(Eust. Esp. 8.32). During the siege of the city, this commander neither
mounted a horse nor grasped a sword, but rode on a mule through the
sl1eets of the hard-pres ed city in an odd foreign costume trousers,
boots, and a Georgian felt hat to protect himself from the sun. His
foolish behavior matched his preposterous appearance: David did noth-
45. A. P. Kazhdan, "Neizdannye soCinenija Evstafija Solunskogo v Esku-

rial ru Y-lJ-IO," Polycllronion. Festschrift Franz DOlgcr, cd. P. Wirth (Hei-
delberg, 1966), 343.
46. Escor. Y-U-lO, fol. 40v; quoted, A. P. Kazhdan, "Vizantijskij publicist,"
ISO. On Eustathios's pamphlet, Notes /episkepsis] on the monastic life, Beck, Kirche
und theologiscJre Literatur, 635.
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

ing to better the pr canou .. of hi dty, leaving unattended a

leaking ci tern, inferior catapult , and a dearth of arrow for the defend-
ing rchers. At the sam tim, David bragged of hi victorie in reality
th capture of a poor fo t oldier and the seizure of a h Imet and a parr of
hor es in dispatches to th capital (Eust. Esp. 82.6-12, 74.29-76.5,
68.20- 32). When finally th NOJlnans captured the city, David fled im-
m diately to the citad I without ever touching a weapon or confronting
a NOlman (102.3-10). Eustathio 's David e hibited th general features
of Byzantine officialdom, but the detail in which he was rendered lent
him a realism un in Byzantine Literature.
u tathio was of the be t-educated cholar of his time, an ex-
c Hent representativ of th elf-conscious, intell ctual lite of twel1th-
c ntury Byzantine ociety. Like PselJos, Eu tathio had the highest re-
gard for friendship, maintaining ties with hi pupil and friends.
Included within the circle of hi intimates were Gr gory Antiochos and
the brothers Michael and ik ta Choniates. Eustathio' influen e on
hi is evident in their quotation from hi work and in their
imitation of his lit rary tyl. iketa retold many epi ode from Eu-
narrative of the capture of Thessaloniki in hi own history; An-
ti cho' de cription of hi provincial environment in hi letters to Eu-
tathio the poor quality of imported and local produce that he had to
endure and the strenuou ne of hi work, which him to fall
a I p over his beloved book . have the same concr tene of detail that
mark Eustathios's own wnting.'7
Nichola Mesarite, an orator and church leader on th thre hold of
th thirteenth century, al 0 wrote in graphic images. The particular char-
act r of Me arites' literary tyle can r adily be appr ciat d through con-
tra t with the work of om of hi contemporaries. On of hi pieces, a
p ch celebrating the su ppr . of John Comnenu the Fa rebellion
in 1200, is es entiaJly diff rent from the other urviving writing on the
am theme. In piec by ikephor s Chrysob rges, iketas Choni-
ate , and Euthymio Tomikes, John is presented in a conventional,
highly abstract manner (exs. 51 - 52). Tornike depict d the usurper as an
un plea ant, obese Per ian who never gave up hi ori ntal habits; he was
ap lik in his action, arb Uious slave attracting a fooli h following, a
47. J. Darrouzes, " Deu I ttre de GregOire Antiocho eCIit s de Bulgarie

veT 1173," BS 23 (1%2), 279; B c r. Y-U-lO, fol. 400v; quoted, A. P. Kazhdan,
"Grig rij Antioch," VV 26 (1965),94 .
. A. P. Kazhdan, " ikifor Chri overg i Nikolaj Me arit," VV 30 (1969),
106- 12.
C pyr qrted r1 I
,Ma: - ~- L
, ' i'
-, -,'
',', 'n ,m , '" te'r a,t ure an ', A
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,219
be,h ,e'a ded Empe -,0C' 'e an m.ons:t;e~',., ,Accordi -g to Ch,o'nila,tes, John, w ,as, IS,
ba,g pac'k ed with,fl,e'sh; ,hi~,' 'bulk rle quired a " ' " " , ,dIa ' n by " ~ " ~s--ht, h,orses;
:h e' wa ', a b 'azen calf 'worshi,p ed by' an un"t ,inking mas'S (N'ik" (~:hon~
Orat. 104,., 12~, 27, wl,t,h ,an a1 USlon to Exod" 32 :8)., T "e ,a ut or i s;is;ted~ha,
it w'o,u ld be,,e asier f,ol[' a ca.m ,e to go -hrou,g h "h,e ey .~ of a ne ,d th,a n .for I,
this h: many'' ;"'b bed [:megap,leuros a n,eolo,gis,:m,] o:x'" "10 :m,a,s'~e'r ,-'he le':m pire j
(:" 0"5 ~ 2"" -' 8'"~ W "'t' ' ,l ln, ace'11USJ.on

. '."
,. - - o M
'I
, a tt'..h 1
...
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..
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. ,
",, ;,0 WEO . .

'--'',,e --n
,
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the' ,elie ' e ima"ge" .an,d r 'etor'cal ttJPoi' of e'vil: uJ u:st. as a migh.ty' cedar of
Leban,o:n,J' 0 , 'Lo'r d, John, feU 'w'h ,e'n h,e 'w as s'i ruck by f 'O Ul' ,axes, "a, bin _o,f
the' Vara:n gia'n,,g uar,d s' :poleaxes],;: " ke the Emped'oc'~ean ,m ons ' ,e tt h,~ '.' :, f-'
~shed by your swol,'ds" ." ' 50' f~hryso 'e ' c- "',ges aUudec d also to the class,ea' fable
~ " whilch 'Iankeys busy' a'trent,." ting ' 0 .~~,ect a,k""ng 'w ,e'r e' 'Surrou ',died a "d
captured 'by' .~ unters (S,.10 '~, 6. 5).. T,h,e similarity of ' "e"", "'ages in th,ese
t"h:.
" r ,e-e ' o,r"'ks'"U;, 5trllng~
. '. . .' ." " :- : "."
'"k'" '".
'T" Ie a ,th,OF;S s'," ' ", 0 f' h
: ":-. . . . . . I"
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an Em,p edoc),e'a n mOllst.e of monkeys'J' of _h,e fooUs,h CI'OW'd d' AI 'holu gh, I'
glimpse:s of' actual ev " ~ nis ,a:f! , loc,cas,:ionaUy afforded,,, these ,acc:ounts ,ar-e
d,e '- 'lliv,e d o,f ,co,n ,crete l ,grap,h ilC'ren,d erings 0' ' time an,d pla.'ce.
,Me:sari,t,=',s' ,',~ ~ scrip ion of Jo:h' t'h,! Eat's :r,"vol' d".'c~'e; ed ,'" ',' ,',e : ly'
:f rom ,t hese t ,aditiona11y ',' Iet oricaI, rea ,m,e'n ts o,f a, poii.' 'ilc'al event., 'W,h:"Ie'
N-",',":)"'k"'ep ho
'~. ,os ' "' :' soerges,;', 'b N'I"'ketas ' C- '" . h '
~',lonlatt!'sJ ani"d Euth,~:ym1.0S '.' ''T''' ""oml~k '" ,es.
:p ro;v"d'
"~ __ ~
, 'a,c ts 0 f'th
le d',. t.h-i,e f- I
'' ',e occa,slDn.r
..
'. M_,es;arl'Pte,.', ~ ,,-aCCDu'n .' '" nves':".
r.
ted' '_ 'hi , ~ s ;~ ,'n
0 . _ . . o. ~ _. 0.. _, .,-, -,-
1
-.-, .,--,
'w i,t , ' the imm,e diacy ot reality'. He ,m ,e'n ,t ion,e1d s:p e,cific peop,l,e' involved in
,th.e a:ctions,and gave 'e't h'n "',c nam'e s an,d r~~ated '_ opograp,ruc inM'rmatio", ~
"
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C,~I ar8cters w,e'r e VlVl, ,Y ', eplC ~e '",~ ,a ,a gr,a n ' 0 , Ie a.e, moo: ,, ,0 a, ,.c:agg ~
c'
t
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sh, ,e eps'k', ln ' ' " ,'" an d f' ay'e d s,', ' if'",t attempte , d~ to ' cu,t d
,I, ",~' own t. 'h'ie Imper,l a I' '. '
crown, ',:,'h 8ln,gJn, ~ g ', e ow' t h i 1' ' th-:, e sp ' le'n d"'d
.'f ' ,C,,po.!.a '~ l ,~'~, ,',','J
C''h'ur-ch' \ 0 ,"f S S'. op,'h
' ~'".' t: .. :c. ,,' '"ia;
:m int :laborers ' ~th 'h e "r sooty v'sa.ges,; dusty feet, ,,,n,d stailn,e d tu:niC5
p,f od,u ,c ed th, .~ golden,stream t'ha,t sp'r "ad throu,g hout, t ." e ,e:' "p'ire" 501 Mes '~
ri.tes w,as a1ive' to the 5tra , ge j' ,,. xta:p.ositions t' 'at Ie offers, 'he ,c arfu],ob-
serv'-, ~,; his p'"' pl.e have la, palpa'ble :re'la lity en,tire:i! a'bse ' t'in 10' n: <es' ,or
'C h,o nia'tes/' (ilfoo' ',"sh Cro'wd~r" Siimila : y" :M,esarites:' portrai , of ,t'h ~ vill,a in,
:h as ,far more' 8,u ,b stan,ce ,~ 'an t 'e' fa ' ", t ,fla't an ,iher-o of hiS, co ~ te'm 'p o- I
ra ~ ,2 5"., ,-,"e saw' J,'0' ,'h ~

'~n .at t ',e' ,', eak,' .' 0 ,:' f' t h"e' mu:t iny' ,. ln ,. a speCl~ f''IC' "'
setting, ,. t--h ,e
tl',i,c iliniu'm 'o,f Justinian :in th,' Grea" ,Pala.ce: of he ' yz -:'~ f"i'-,e e"~ ~ p ,- ---"., In,
49,. J., .,' ',' S~ , " S ,', sc(lu'r s,d' -ut' yme " orni~es,'~" 1(,'.13 .26 1
" (1968)., 66~ 19'- ,
/I 1
'''In 6
,~, ,,, : 111,"' ,8".. . ] Ig.
',:''7 4 .",~ ' ~. ~' ','~' g. ~ ,,~ 1,
50", :Nikepho:ro5 Chryso'be'rges s Ad An:gelos omHones ,t:res', ,e d M"Treu (Bresla:u.,

l 1
, 892)1' ' 1~~.,

51,. A. Heisenberg, ,Niko,IQ(Js Mesaril ,s, Die P'n'lastrevol:ution Ides: Johnn:nes Kom-
nenos' (Wiirzburg /, 1.907), 22." ,g,~, 26! ,25,,32,- ,34.,

220 CHANG,E N' B'Y Z,A NTI""" i, C ' L," U .', E,
defianc~ ~ ,o,f '-h,-~ ' ,can,-,' -' of 'O,y.zantI- '_' i,oo- ,0 gra -, 'hYI' :h e portray =d ,t -e
US'U f,p er fro:m th,lf 're,ar,; he n,ot,ed J-, " ,':8 bla,ek" wiry' -'air, b,'s ,a't sh,ouil.de,rs"
tb,e :t1eshy na,p e of -is D,- ck a ,d." .-_'ted, th,e im ~=r, a'_ -t' r-on'e ,s, n ' app:y
b'u rd,e (27 ~ ' , ,~3)., A 'p'p ' a,c 1 "'- ,g ,t h -, ' 'e'a t' ,f powerI M ,-, - [fit , ~ 'a - ,d
i
! ;c
-' at the rebel 'w 'a 'ex it,D S, ,e d, w'P,th hl - "-,'. :s mped over his .- a,b by
ches't'" a'n ,d , -'hat 'h ,e ' "'as,'unable,,t o answ,' r,the 'l'u le 'tl ,' ns p " t to (28~ ' ~ ", "'e ,-
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was anrea,d y d,efea,-t,e d" , :" -;" " : '"' , elf '" - the ',' -' . .,,' of ' ' - utas . The
'u . s,u rp _,r sat ,o:n, th,e~- oor; ',I e ,-- ad ", '" asid'e' -' is " ~per.ial - , bu,t -",',ill I'
w ,o re the' c own.,",e inhaled 'ois"'ly a -d pe.rs:p ,' 'red heavily" :m'~pping'

himself con't in'u ou;s),y ' lb, a to,. ,el ( .: 1 ~ 18).., In ._ esarle . " . r.itings, '. E
"' :n,o,n ,e 0""f- 'h- .'.' coni'"iem'pO,r,arl.I, ..',. w 'o rk--~ l' J'0 h-Jcn ' F-,a,;.!~, sept
In, '" h- et w 'a ~ '1
j -- ,t an I c
UD'p leasan - tangiblitYF
" P'E"R-" SON-'II A-' L TO

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The Id eve:l opmen't' of a new Una,t o ,a ism in 1 t;era,t ure and ,a.r t w,as, ii
' m-
'tertwin,ed w ~-th ,t h,e' goo'wing prommen,c~ ' 'Q1f th,:, artist's personali. y' in hils
w 'o,r k'i' ........ , an,d ' itera,t u ~ aSisum,ed ,- ,greate:: e~ -,oronaJ-:-o ,~te :t, . 'r in,g:
,t he ':"I,lth and ten't h ,ce .'. ,. ' ies,i' :'he au.tho, .s..i' m 'n tion -'0 .... ,.. . e -, e", p .. ,"
'p"llace' 'the-, na' a -1"'[ "

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"ph'as - -, - he ob''J"ect"'Vlty 0 -' 't'h- e"' ~o' d'uc:tl"ons andI dep" "c~ed'i -h e'msel ' e 85
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i:!iCieme t-'a h-'I.a . . . 't... .... A'nI, ,a. . "d-a\;:
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,:i:f;,t : d,0 - . their :p erso,n a .s ~ paraf :n ,from '-'h,e ir :s'u,bjects" 'Sim larlYf :n e'lth,e r
f '. _ a tl-t: :n "o r' {h,e, pa,t:r-on fi,g tt 'ed v'ery' pr-o . :, ~'~e ' tty .- t'-ile p 'r , .,g rams o,f
ninth,- and tenf -cen,'tury ch,urche,s~
Th'i: si nt8,t ion, chang_,ed" Es'~cial ',y" in t ' ,e' ,-~- ,elfth cen -= ' '.: ~ . , m s - m ,r"~' l,
c
_g . 0 sign th,e ir"work _ 'T,h _,~ do,r _' A, . . ' . 8, w'h , painted f :, eel, ..
1 ,i '
':. " be'. ,a, of' th,e ' ist,r a .. f S-'" N o:ph,~ tos , ' . n,:,'t o,nly
si,g n,ed, his w,o r .:, there bu, :m ay' aJ .o I av,e' .f't ,a... ,ed",ca't,.~I,,.. insc ,j,p rt i,o n, ~~,t c
't h,e Ch --1"1: - of the Vir:~ 'I to a L , .. ' ,. r8,, '-' Certain),y' -the S,l y-:'},e 1 '
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,53, D,., .' I' ,>nna. '<fa i' . . , A ,G:rdd' (.Ni~osia,j1 1978)J"
6,~ ' '1; C'~ ..... . go and ~ ~ . i SJ' c . . . ,. Ii'';' er,Dl''ta,ge' of St" ,-. . 'e ophyto c' ,. nd 1.1.
~ -
Wa I.. . .~ aintinpt:' DO,P ,20 (1966)., 1221',.

".:n 1n
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of pain,,~ in,g :jjn, ,the 'two ch'ur,ches., :i~ , so :sbllilar' 'that it :may wen 'be 'by' ,t b,e
santle hand,", .,', nfortun,ate,Yj ,t ' 'e' artis,tic pe1tsonality of 'o:n,e of th,e :m ,o s't: fa-'
:m ,o ,u s Byzan,.'in . ,o f the ,. ' . . . " E'u a .." " .' : 'j :p o .' ' . t , .
S, :m,ct; ,a s nO WOl'k , 9, . "ves ,t hat ~'I .'.:-.' ' t be' ascI'"bed to 'hiul w",t h a-ny c' r~
I
'tain,t y'. Eve .'. ,t h,e now'~' ost ima,g e :'n th,e Ch ". n: . of' ,t 'h 'e' 'Holy A ~. ostle:s, :i n,
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Const':<:.
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'D la vid,,-': Neve'r theless i , l "e ery fact t "' at :N icholas, could assume 'b at ,a
'p ain,t er d,ep'. " bhns .~if pro:m in,:= ,n,ly :i n ,mosai,c in,d ca't,_ s ,th,. ch,a n,ge ~n
the' artist's a'Hi-tad,., in,,the m -'e'I Ith century' . .
m
,Pat rans, whose :p srti,ci.pati.on, in .' rustic , '. r-odu,c ,ion 'was, :m u,c h, ' -- ,o:re
mtimate' ~ , the : ' .... ,ges than i . 's,today; became in,cre,a:singiy' pr,o:m"-,
ne'n t' ""n ,t he ,elev,t ntb and twelft'h cen:turie's " ,'.~ v-en, "nd ". "d . als ' , a r-ela'-'
, tiv,.~ 'l,y' :Iow social sta't us begl'R, t,o ,a,p pear c ' o.rtrayed, ,in, ,th,e na ., th,e' 0,'
ch,u rch,es, ,t'ha . th,e'y' ha,d, subsi,dized,. 'The p'r"'est N~kepho,ros., ,an,d , 't h,e ~y'
:m .a n,Bas,i j" ,f ur ins-taoo=', 'W'=f.='depild -' ,mth, ~ , con,en of ,th.= rock,-c " c :u rc",
1o," Karanlllk ,." ,:".. in Ca'p ' . a,d.ocia :i - "to-e ,of fhe"~ I~ .'. 'D th c;e~n,'tu1J'
(F.~g,~ ,4,7);' -two pro,v,i n,cial, mtl;gis"troi (a 'f"t1,e ,d,efia,ted ~n v,siu'" by the en,d , .~. f
the' el,e venth, century a ' ,d un. . ,d at co'o t ,~ . t'h,e" ;w,e l r :'b);, both, rulm,e d
.u..1..,'_.'h,0 '[109" W ~ f~ ' 'f _'.,f1 ~ -.~ nbL
,'-N"'.::-1 ='
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. d' Wl'.'_,. h' ,i.'Y1....Il ,e l'. t f','aml.ut:S "'11 __,
In th
-.' .-,ell''.' r,;. s,p. ec't~l'v'e E
,C:hme" 'es :i n,Asin,o u,:i n cyprus (11.05 /6) an,d ,,E(as't or,i a 'i n Macedo,:n ia ( .16Osl
70,s). ~ :Perbaps most n,o w'rio ' 'S 'w,as .'he case'0 '" St. Neo:p,'- ytos,. w:h,o :i '. ,the
I
late twe' fih ee,n'tury had himself por ay'e d a - leas - tw'"ee',;' 'b t " e,rha,'c;s
e.v ':n t-,I ~ .' tim .S 'm, ,th, ~ ' d,ec-o,r,i:l,t.io:n, of' :his nkleis' ra n< ,ar' P:ap,h ,os on
Cyprus, . , +,g ,~ 48) On,e of these po 'raits'f an, "mag,e dle':p icting' Neop ':ytorS E
to' h,eave'D by,t 'e' archn,ge" s~ i . 'u niq . e "" ",t h . bEl . (,F'i g,.,
4,9)", :,",-'o'r-eov'er" I , i .' . had ,e'n ,a-' '-a' ,g ed his. roc'k Ott't, ,c hur,c h in
8u,c h a w ,a y ,tha 'by . . . IS; ' excav,a ted passage' conn,ecti -g 's etr-eat 't o i' :
.h,e 'v,8 ult of the c' ' ape'l. he .h,. ,sj,cally a'p:pe,a r . ,e~,t to c ' ist ",.; 't c'
selene' lo,f ,t h,e ,A scension,..'.-.

~Ser-part[ait.ule is ,:v'e n, m.o,~.:: .~ ~ident :in Uteratur~ . Thl_,o ~~Of\ _' Pro. .,
. '., ... 'tfj po
. " ", " :',''....i''8'!'; '0'if' h'lo!"m
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.. '. o~ 'D em,u s,,' ,I t , i- ss. 'Watche'rl ;, Ein ElkJ3rungsver.s:uc'h ,/f' 10,S 28
iioi
(19QG), ,24'1,- 45.,

55". G" de JCf.l'ha'nio~ 'Une nou'vel,le pl'lw:i'nc de ,rart byzantfn: ~' le-s' ~81" .. " pu,p .. -
tres .ae''Cappadoce, 'vol.. p ' ', 2 (Paris" '193,2,. 397',- 99,; A,. and J. StyUanou" ,i;iDonors /I jI
,a'" d 'I ' nsaip' ' '.. '. . S ' pp '. , .... . S , " ,' . in.
." . .. ." ~ain,ted
'Ch .' , ' , . 0-f' C '. 'Yplrus~, JAB (j, : 9 - ('}' 9'.t::Wln 1
,....I 9'7-,,;)1; A, " "W'" E'pstem
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I':; ,. ns., I .
A.B'uU 62 (1980)1" 198,~99"

56 "' 1." ,go an'd, 'H
~. '," 'M "","=aw" ISoi" k
' in I 'I" h ' r ,m.l' age 0"f', ,S' ~ ,'' . .,, tc'OS'I ;;' '1...40
' .'.1, ::200
. ;'0 ,'"."

bald as a pestle, but at the same time his beard had grown enol mously,
blooming like Alkino 's orchard (an allusion to Odyss. 7.112- 16; PC
133. 1251B-1252B). In Prodromos's writings, the author's sensibilities dic-
tated the subject matter (Ex. 53). Sometimes his observations were amlls-
ing: he mocked a dentist who to deliver him from a toothache;
the dentist slit Prodromo 's gums, attached to his tooth a tool large
enough to extract an elephant's tusk, and broke the tooth in half. Pro-
dromos called him an executioner rather than a doctor; though small as
one of Demokritos's he looked like an ogre to his wretched pa-
tient. 7 But. Prodromos could also write with intense feeling. In his
monody on Stephen Skylitzes, metropolitan of Trebizond, Prodromos
gave a moving account of his reunion with his old friend Stephen, who
returned to Const.antinople from his see 0 desperately ill that Pro-
dromos at first did not recognize him on his litter. Realizing who it was,
Prodromos cried, "your beautiful soul has cast away its former chal Oling
body and attired itself in a new one!" and began to sob. Stephen, barely
able to speak, told Prodromos of his "arduous Iliad," and finaJJy of his
ret1lrn to the Queen of Cities to be healed by the best physicians avail-
able or to die among friends in the motherland. Prodromos's person-
ality shows through in his writings. Moreover, he perceived reality in
.light of hjs personal experience. He even humorously suggested that the
emperors had won their victories in order to provide him the oppor-
tunity to traverse the world in afety.{<)
A perva ive sense of personal involvement, a in Prodromo 's work,
was also found in other authors' writings. Prodromos's contemporary
Michael Italiko began to describe his pet pa'rtridge in a traditional man-
ner by classifying the sped . But he broke off hi objective analysis
with an exclamation: "Who cares about aU these zoological detail ? My
own poor partridge is dead!" (Mich. Ital. 103); he then gave vent to his
feelings in relating the sad tale of the bird's demise. But it was Psellos
who best demonstrated how high an author's ego might aspire. He
57. S. D. Papadimitriu, Feodor Prod rom (Odessa, 1905), 268-70; G. Podesta,
"Le satire Ludanesche di Teodoro PTodromo, " Aroum 21 (1947),12- 25.
58. E. Legrand, "Poesies de Theodore Prodrome publiees d'apres
la copie d' Alfonse I' Athenien, " Revue des ttl/des grccques 4 (1891), 72.
59. L. Petit, "Monodie de Theodore Prodrome sur Etienne Skylitzes metro-
politain de Trebizonde," lRAIK 8, no. 1- 2 (1902), 13.211 - 34.
60. Hist. Ged. 305, no. 18. ote also his words addressed to John H: "You,
the emperor, were starved for my sak , for the sake of a slave, you weTe starved
and I fattened, you were frozen and I lived in warmth, you dwelled in the open
and I under a roof. The mighty Comnenus would toil, while wretched and
humble Prodromos lived lux uriously" (315.185- 91).
Cooyr gtltec rra

boa ted of his eloquence (Scripta min. 2: 81.18-20, 160.3), of his promi-
nence among the literati (289.3-6), and of the extent of his fame. Celts,
Arabs, Ethiopians, and Persians aU admired him (Sathas, MB 5: 508.11 -
19). A similar vanity was also evident in his historical narratives. PseUos
lacked earlier historians' pretense of objectivity; he not only put himself
in the Chronographia as an active participant in the events he described,
but he also voiced his opinions in his incidental discussions of religion,
philosophy, ethics, and the l.ike. Psellos probably aggrandized his role in
cont mporary affairs. While he held important if not powerful po iHons
in the courts of Constantine IX and Isaac 1, he is unlikely to have been so
intimate an advisor to the emperors as he claimed. But his presenting
himself as an integral part of his history reflects an unprecedented self-
consciousne s among Byzantine writers in his time.
Psellos's most paradoxical self-revelation occurs in his biography of
St. Auxentios, a Constantinopolitan holy man of the fifth century. Not
only has PseUos's text been preserved , 61 but the Metaphrastian vita, the
source of his information, has also survived; consequently, it is possible
to recognize Psellos's additions and corrections to the text. Psellos com-
pared himself to his hero they were both, for instance, very fond of
music and consistently remodeled features of both Auxentios and of
his companions according to his own self-image and the images of his
friends. One of Auxentios's associates became the phylax of imperial
epistle , like Leichoudes in real life; another was a teacher who ascended
the patriarchical throne, as had Xiphilinos; and a third lived on a rock
(petra) an allusion to John Mauropous, the fourth member of Psellos's
eleventh-century intellectual clique, who was a monk in the monastery
at Petra. Further, Auxentios was given traits that Psellos imagined him-
self as possessing. Auxentios, a modest preacher and wonder worker,
wa transformed into a counselor of emperors, an economist of genius
who saved Constantinople's trade from a depression, a refor mer and
philosopher whose ideas were remarkably similar to those held by the
author. Even ome expressions used in the Chronographia to describe
events in Psellos's own career were introduced into the life. But such
self-indulgence was not limited to the v ita of St. Auxentios. In hjs en-
comium on 5ymeon Metaphrastes, also, Psellos drew parallels between
himself and his subject. I.n another encomium, on John Xiphilinos, he
expressed his fear that his audience might blame him for indulging in
self-appraisal while writing of another man: "I am afraid that they will
61. Ed . P. Joannou, Di monologie poplllnire demonologie critique all Xl' siecle

(Wiesbaden, 1971).
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

call me selfish [philautosJ. But I just cannot help returning to myself time
and again" (Sathas, MB 4: 430: 22- 26).
Nicholas Mesarites was active in the events of his day. During the
revolt of John the Fat, Nicholas helped protect the Church of the Virgin
of the Pharos, where he served as skeuophylax, from the depredations of
the usurper' partisans; he later composed a narrative of the occasion and
of his involvement. He explained that he wrote the story because at the
time of the usurpation his throat was so sore from his exertion that he
1il
could not tell his friends what had happened.
Through a comparison of Nicholas's description of the Church of the
Holy Apostles with that of Constantine of Rhodes written in the middle
of the tenth century, the new personalization of subject matter becomes
obvious (exs. 54 - 57). poem schematically described the
church .f rom the top down, then, by a simple enumeration of a few feast
scenes in the order in which they occurred in Christ's life briefly alluded
to the building's elaborate decoration. In contrast, Nicholas sketched an
impres ion of the great martyrium, its idyllic etting, and its splendid
ornament
in the order of his own wanderings. The same Christological
images that Constantine saw a flat emblems of truth Nicholas described
as emotionally charged fragment of time. He not only saw Lazarus's
body brought out of its tomb by Christ, he even smelled its rotting flesh
(Ex. 56).63 This autho.r was itnposing his own temporal perspective on
the world around him.
The empathetic quality of Nicholas's description of the mosaics of
the Holy Apostles is, in fact, al 0 found in contemporary painting. From
the mid-eleventh century onward, artists began to increase the expres-
siveness of their figures. The angels of the Annunciation in 55. Marina
e Cristina in Carpignano in Byzantine-held southern Italy (959) and in
St. George at Kurbinovo in Macedonia (1191) stand at opposite ends of
the range of this development (figs. 50-51).64 Both Gabriels were de-
picted as moving rapidly forward, garment waving, and as making
similar gestures toward a Virgin. Yet the earlier rendering is
stiff in contrast to the later work and lacks its ecstatic emotional content.
The intensity of the twelfth-century fresco is not simply a matter of elon-
62. A. Heisenberg, Nikolaos MtStJritts. Die Pa/astrroolution, 19.24-20.10. .

63. ie. Mesar. 908.6. Also see A. W. Epstein, "The Rebuilding and Re-
decoration of the Holy in Constantinople: A Recon ideration," GRBS
23 (1982), 79- 92.
64. A. Medea, G/i affreschi nella CTipte ermitiche Puglits; (Rome, 1939), 109- 18;
L. Kurbinovo. Us fresqlles de Saint-Georges et /a ~inture by-
ZAntine du xn' siecle (Bmssels, 1975).

proportions and activ drapery; it depend equaUy on tark tonal

contrast and increasingly acid hues. In scenes where pity might be
arous d in the audience, g . ture also became more e pre sive. For in-
stanc (figs. 52-53), the simple symmetry of the Crucifixion in most
early tenth-century renderings, like that in the chapel. of K1hc;lar Kilise in
Cappadoda, was supplanted by a denser, more emotionally charged ar-
rangement, uch as that in the late-eleventh- or early-tw lfth-century
65
Mavriotissa Monastery near Kastoria in Macedonia . Lamentation and
its eff cts on the are dear the Virgin swoon , John eradle
hi h ad in his hand, Longino is awe truck, the ravag d Christ hangs
limp and dead on the ero s. The men's brows are knit and the women's
face are streaked with tears. The emotional a wen a the theological
truth of the icon concerns the artist, his patron, and their audience.
The stylistic innovation that evolved from the leventh all the way
through the twelfth centurie culminat,e d in the ambitious chronicle
(Chronike diegesis) of Niketa Choniates.lI<> This grand overview, covering
nearly one hundred year of Byzantine history, wa long in the writ-
ing; Niketas finished it only at the beginning of the thirteenth century,
shortly after the faU of Constantinople in 1204. But it had been begun
much earlier, during Niketas's early maturity. Like P ello' Chrono-
graphia, Niketas' hi tory wa enlivened with complex portraits of his
contemporaries. P ello tended to belittle his charaet r , interpreting
their behavior as a sum of ridiculous traits such as buffoonery, brag-
gad io, lust, and so on. Choniates, in contra t, 1 vated his heros,
inve ting them with intense emotions while yet not transforming them
into flat personification of passion; internal contradictions ndow Cho-
niat s's hero with their vitality. The principaJ character of the fir t part
of the chronide w re the cousins Manuel and Andronik Comnenus.
Manuel, the younger on of John 11, was still a youth when he became
emperor; Andronikos pent his entire life craving the imp rial thron ,
but managed to obtain it only in old age. Choniate de ribed the foibles
of Manuel's character: during peacetime he eemed con emed only with
plea UTe, devoting him elf to feasts and to music, but at times of crisi
he immediately put asid th e diversions (206.60 - 66). H ould be lewd
65. de Jerphanion, Un nouvelle province, vol. 1, part 1, 224. A. W. P tein,

"F of the Mona tery near Ka toria: Evidence of Millena-
and Anti-Semitism in the Wake of the First Crusade," Gesta 21 (19 2),
21 - 29.
66, On J. L. van iketas Chcniafes. ErllJuterulIgen xu den
Reden und Brie/en nebst einer Biographie (Berlin, 1971), 1-60; A. P. Kazhdan, Ul pro-
duxione intellettuale a Bisanz,io (Naple , 1983), 91- 128.
Copyr gr!::x
(54.67 - 70), he had a quick temper (113.75-78, 17'1.59-60, 217.37 - 38), he

indulged in astrology (154.49-55, 169.85- 95); but simultaneously he
could be extremely generous (59.13-16), he was eloquent (210.73- 74),
he was e ceptional1y strong and very brave (92.36-38,93.56-57, 175.44-
48), and he was loyal to his friends (95.19-22). Choniates related with
great admiration how late in his life the emperor still endured great
hardships on behalf of his ubjects, leaving the comforts of the palace in
order pe.r sonally to raise the Turkish siege of Klaudiopolis. To this end he
hastened to the city, with little baggage to slow his progress, taking nei-
ther a cot nor a mattress; he marched at night, his way lit by torches,
through Bithynian gorges and forests (197.14-26). While Choniates re-
peatedly criticized Manuel's political policies, he never failed to excuse
the emperor's failures. As if sllmmarizing hi judgment of Manuel,
Choniates wTote, "who could blame him who fought for the empire and
vigorously engaged our ilants, even if his efforts were not suc-
cessful?"' The author sympat.hized with Manuel despite the emperor's
vices and the obvious failure of his policies.
Choniates's attitude toward Andronikos was quite different, but his
presentation of the emperor's character remains three-dimensional. He
utterly damned the usurper's cruelty, depravity, mendacity, injustice, and
cowardice: "He was more than anyone fond of power. Because he so pas-
Sionately craved the imperial throne, he paved his way [to power) with
inhuman behavior, surpassing all tyrants that ever lived" (321.17-19).
Here was a monster of cosmic cale. Nevertheless, even Andronikos was
depicted as having positive if not redeeming features in his character.
He was well educated (229.54; see also 245.73-74), he was a gifted mili-
tary engineer (281.72- 73), he seemed affable (330.75- 77), and h mod-
est in his consumption of food. Moreover, Choniates' final description
of the savage reprisals taken by the Constantinopolitan mob on Andro-
nikos is marked by a sincere commiseration for the man's patiently endur-
ing terrible tortures (349f.). Androniko was a tyrant, but, in the end, he
was also a man subject to human pa sion , desires, and uffering.
While Choniates in his Chrollicie was as clo ely observant as Psellos,
his subjectivity was djfferent. Choniates never pre ented himself as the
hero of historical events, although as a high court official he may well
have participated in much that he described. Nor is his work an apol-
ogy; on the contrary, Choniates often appeared in the Chr01lide amid
67. Nik. hon . 100.43- 45. F. H. Tinnefeld, Kalegoriell de, Kniserkrilik ill der
byUWlillisc/lell Historiograpllie (Munich, 1971 ), 160- 63, has ascribed to Choniates a
one-sided, negative opinion of Manuel!.
Cooyr gtltec rra

moral or political failure. For instance, he witnessed Alexio 's compul-

sory monastic vows after this natural son of Manuel I had been charged
with conspiracy (Nik. Chon. 425.71-72); he accompanied Manuel Ka-
mytzes in an abortive expedition against the German Crusaders of Fred-
erick Barbaro sa (408.4); hi attempt to persuade the mob at the meeting
of January 25, 1204, not to overthrow the dynasty of the Angeloi wa
unsuccessful (562.41-53); he was dismissed by Alexios V from his post
of logothete (565.13-15). Remarkably, the occasion of which Choniates
most proud was a private rather than a public one his unallned
re cue of a Greek girl from the hands of a Crusader (590f.). Choniate '
personality is not so deliberately and positively presented as Psellos's is
in the latter' Chronographia; rather, Choniates' character is revealed indi-
rectly. His love of his birthplace, his predilections and tastes are all dis-
cernible. Choniate ' native Chonae was constantly in the narrative, and
the events that took place there or in its surroundings were given dis-
proportionate attention in the Chronicle. In addition to his native Mean-
der Valley, Choniates often mentioned Philippopolis, where he had held
the post of governor. Not only is there a geographic bias in the Chronicle;
there is also a professional one. Choniates focused especially on judges,
particularly the so-called judges of the velum. He was indignant that
semi-civilized barbarians who had not yet learned proper Greek were
given judicial positions, while those trained in the law took years to ob-
tain their posts (Nik. Chon. 204.12-15). Judges of the velum are ubiq-
uitous in the work, either dishonoring their office as did the sycophants
of Andronikos, or martyred to their calling, like those judges of the
velum who were disgraced for their attempted defense of Alexios U's
mother (265.3 - 13). Those judges who supported Andronikos I, Choni-
ate suggested, should not judge, but rather should be judged (267.50-
52). From lemmas to his speeches, Choniates is known to have been a
judge of the velum; hence, while Choniates seldom discussed his own
career directly, his many considerations of the men of this office in the
Chronicle again indicate the subjectivity of his writing.
Choniates' own experience is reflected most subtly in his changing
attitudes toward age. In the earliest section ' o.f the Cllrollic/e, the author,
who was then still a young man, wrote very positively about youth. For
him, Manuel, the young emperor, combined maturity's rea on with the
joyou countenance of youth (50.71-76). Constantine Doukas's youth
-'irnilarly promised a noble future (193.62 - 64). Choniates wrote sympa-
thetically of Theodore Angelos and Mamalas, youthfuJ victims of An-
dronikos I (288.64-65; 311.75-76). In the e first parts of the O,ronic/e,
old age was treated contemptuously. Andronikos l, whom Choniates
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

loathed, epitomized the of old age: he wa senile and de-

crepit, sucpas ing Tithono and .K ronos in the number of his years
(283.16). There are no less than fourteen allusions to Andronikos's aged-
ne s in the Chronicle. Similarly, Choniate had no sympathy for John
Konto tephanos, who reach d the threshold of old age, contrasting hi
weakness to the "mature [euelix, literally, "of good tature"] and manly"
strength of Alexios Comnenus, who was blinded on Andronikos's order
(369.79-82). Even the people rebelled against the power of old men:
when the aged and balding John Douka attempted to obtain the crown,
the people cried out that they did not want to have another old man a
ruler; with gray-haired Andronikos they had had their fill of old ghosts
on the brink of the grave (345.91-93). John Doukas futilel protested
that he had not lost his brains because of old age (385.17). Choniates'
bias toward youth in these initial chapters is all the more noteworthy as
it stands in such contrast with the traditional great respect for the aged
in Byzantium.
By the end of the Chroniclt: the author's attihlde toward age had changed;
as Choniates grew older, he eemed to become increasingly critical of
flamboyant youth. The rebellious pseudo-Alexios wa censured as a pre-
tentious adolescent (421.40-41; see also 422.84 - 87). Choniates wrote
with disdain of the young man who replaced Theodore Kastamonites as
the emperor's favorite; this interloper was a child still in need of a tutor,
an infant who ascended to the helm of the administration a soon as he
was out of swaddling cloth s (439.70-78). It seemed to the author that
young men were everywhere, always incompetent, as commanders and
counselors (467.90-112; 474.95-104; 503.51-53; 509.6-7, 14-16; 529.19;
539.15-19; 550.42-43; 626.74 - 71). He even suggested that instability of
reason was typical of the young (435.55).
As might be expected, condemnation of old age disappeared in the
later sections of the Chronicle. Choniates mentioned the happy old age of
the seventy-year-old Kilij Ar Ian n and the later misery brought upon
him by his own children (367.26-27, 413.38-40). He commiserated with
Patriarch Niketas n Mountanes (1186-89), whom Isaac n had discharged
as senile (405.31 - 32). If old men were subjected to Choniates' spite, it
pompousne s (e.g., in Enrico Dandolo, 538.72-75) or buffoonery
(e.g., in Ba Hake, 44.9.58) rather than venerabJ age that the author
mocked. Choniates' view naturally changed as he him elf aged. What is
noteworth in the Chronicle is that it genre was flexible enough by the
late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries to show this personal change.
But it is Byzantium's social anxiety, even more than the author's per-
Cooyr gtltec rra

onality, that the Chronicle incorporates. The en ibility was certainly

68
structured by the traditional duality inherent in Chri tianit liJe i

good' as it was created by God and is bad to the extent that it has
be n corrupted by evil. But a pe imism absent from th works of Psel-
los pervades Choniates' writings. Both Psellos and Choniate wrote dur-
ing politically difficuJt period . Yet P ello 's Cllronographia till maintains
the c nc it of Roman power and the assurance that the imperium wouJd
in the end conquer all. Choniate introduced a new persp clive in Byz-
antin literature; his was a tragic perception of reality. Strangel , Choni-
ate ' pe imism did not harden into mi anthropy with the horrors and
humiliations of the fall of Con tantinople to the Latins in 1204. In tead,
the author showed in adver ity a consistent tolerance toward his fellow
human beings. He never 10 t his feeling for the value of human life. In
fact, the central theme of Choniates' Chronicle i . the ocietal di ease that
pr gressively infected the empire's population, from the mob of Con-
tantinople to the emperor in the Great Palace. Although Choniates'
b ok was begun long before the collapse of the empire, th anxiety that
pervades the text eems to anticipate Byzantium' dis lution. This is
th ultimate artistry of Choniates' narrative.
Choniates' per onal ploration of the world implied a new self-

snes on the part of the artist and an emergent intere t in hu-
man phenomena on the part of hi audience. The individual perspective
Choniate expres ed provide an unusual insight not only into his own
and into the circumstances he described, it al 0 reflects a
change in the function of historiography. This work wa not an idealized
a count of the imperial pa t, to be retold with minor variation in the
future; it was a ivid depiction of human tran i nee. Other eleventh-
and tw lith-century author di pia ed imiJar attitud . Ev n the ecde-
ia tical art of the period, in it e pre sive style and pi torial emich-
m nt, hows the artists' new elf-concern, though in a mor generalized
way. This literary and artistic d velopment wa intricately intertwined
with the modified material and cultural circumstanc of Byzantium in
. For, discu sion of the tragic qualit of Choniat 'writing ", A. P. Kazh-
dan, "'KorabJ' v burnom more: K voprosu 0 sootno~nii obraznoj i lemy i isto-
rite ki h vzgljadov dvu h vizan kich pi atelcj," lz i-torii kuf'lury sredl/ich ve.kov
i Vozroidenija (Mo cow, 1 76), 3- 16. or a contrast between a tern a nd Western
attitude as embodied in history writing, see A. P. Kazhdan, "R bert de Klari i
jkita Choniat," Evropa v srr!dllie veka: I!KOIlOmika, politika , kul'tura (Mo cow, 1972),
294 - 99.
Gopyr gt'ted a
the eleventh and twelfth Q nturies. Once realized, this new anthropo-
centric awareness was not quickly relinqui hed. Even the economic and
political disruption of the Latin Conquest of 1204 did not eliminate this
new sensibility, although what "renaissance" might have occurred with-
out the brutal dismemberment of the empire i a matter best left to
counter-factual historians.
(,opy' ql'too 'T a t-

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y "
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an.d M Il !' ft " 5., Tw,o p o ' ': :8 n eed. to be clar. ~ fl.ed 'n.this ,oo,n nection .,
Filst, 'w hile we argue f ' at 'B y'z antine soc",ety underw,e1n.t cha~nge w.i:t hin.
his. perod, we do not deny' Ic ont inuity. N 'o doubt 'pe ,e n ' ". fea't o ee, I.
w'e re typi.cal '0. B:yzan"tiu ~" throug' out t l' e' millennium of' its e'xitste'n.ce,.
,:"'-"d~'.' .1n
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- ,- "l .; .eratux-eJ' were conSCIO ~~My

anu iI f' m G
d, ~e.rlv,e d,' .,:r.o: '_. r-e~c'k' o'r .'R,'0'" ' '.', an at;Ii ~. i "11 j , .... Ii
uity" Such co' , "I ", , i"ty' is 'certai ' 'y worthy' of :S "ud'Y'b ut i ~ s' ',' at:t h.e s.ubject
lo f this '/'," ' . Our le:m:phasis on chan.g e may be 'b iased, but euc h is. ,8 :n a.t u.-
Fa reaction
". .. ~ ' te
to 'h'l
,-.- d-.,eep1-.y Ingram.
.~ ,', "
." ( .- ... .. - .. e d". assu,m .p t . o . th a B.y.z antln.e cUI.t ure
~". , .' I " . .' -1 ',_ '-'1- I' ,.,', ',' ',' '" :-.... ~.' . . ;' IJ ,.-,
1
. - ~ .. - . .' . . . . j , '-'1 ~ 1--: -! . I -I. ~ . -:
'w as static; if ' ot s' s---na t .

Se,clon.d . "t: . e chan.g es . . 'e hav'e cODsid'e r,e d 'w er e not inc . ntal and
"
ha:p:h aza . d; "t . ey fo'r med a [ Io herent pa -te . -hat" enca,m ~' ass - d variOlu s
fields o.f h.u man a.c " iivity~ from. h'U'mble a.g,i.cultura an,d cra.ft production
tlo th,e ICIe,a.ti.o,n ,o f great monu mle. ts and the refor.mu a.tion of 'w ays 10.f
thinking.. Th,e :rev.i.v,a l o.f urba . life :p rovided a se ' t ~n.g f.or :many in.i e,n.ec-
mal sh "ftst indu' Eng' he e " erg,e' -ce of educa.tiona :institu iOlR 5 an,d t h.!
gr'D wt'h ,o f . chola s "':p an,d science,. 'w"lh an ,a.tt,enda~n:' _:incil:p.j,e'n 't skep lt i-
cis:m .. The strictures. of id._ al 'b ehavi,o r 'w _re r .~ Iaxed, and t:h ,e com.p'llexityof l
',
hI.uman.
I .
na t,_ ,re w~ S~ 'o~ ons)

I : .. .
~ , ,"d'-
. ere-d~. W .l -h~..g--rea.... r 11 .... r-es t'_b~, y paIR
" .. , "f "I ' ... "
" ,' . . So a.n._.
. ..
d w .r tj't
. ....... , f , ( .-... . . .... '.. I . . . .. .......
t'" e
- . . -
t' e
, .. ' ... -: ,. ' ... .. . . . . ' ... . .- '. ' _ I
e.r,s . On. th.e ev.ild~nce o.f ar an.d. i : rature, it a'pip ears tha. 1ta.', --rei hu. . I I'
IDanity wer-e les'S ofte.n than befor-e as,s umed. t,o '-. in. oppositi.on to on~
.-: ..
,
- . .-. -,
,I
' ,
ano h. _f a.n d, ..more O..fte treate._,. as In., e~hvln.e an . comp.. . , .. ~
.- - : .,
, I ,
d .. -.
.
,-
,
" d ' . .,
d
. -.-' ''. .
]
-, 1
.. -..
,. ,
.: - ':
, .'
-: 1- ,.
. ' ,.
. .'.
:: . ... .,. - .... , . . . .
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t . .
",.'.
. "
,-
.
.- .....-
..
:-
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- ",-1
,
......... -
. .. .. I .
,-: .. -
..
.
.,'
' , .. .
. '. ' .
A,gain, "there ,e an b :~ no q.ue~sion as. to h.e r-em.e n.d .Ous :influ.e 'n .ce exert,e d
b,y' ancien tEa' jt-o ns in this cultur,a r-eas'"e -8m.en'l, b,u t the ,c-a:ss:ical. tra-
.-
'
dltl.on.,

did .. .no t act 'o n .m

"I ,t ,
- . -. .
- en matter" W
' ' II!
-.
'I'
, ,
e W'.I Sh to emp,.'hasize
..
,
- .. ..
'. th at t h e By~
. _
......
. ' _ _
. .
__ __
...
r -
1
- ,
..
_ .. ,.
. ,
_'
t - I. . ... -

.. ......
_
'
I
. .
.. 1
',.
..
..1 ..
. 1. "
zan.tines 'u sed a.n't ~,qmty' n the esta . js.hment.of ,~h.eir own values,. TIl.us,
' : 2~
23 " ' , I ' ...... .
a. t ltud.~ s toward 'th, ~ . a' st w'ere I .
,_. _. iIf'11-!IiOI
II;; d ~n
' Iq
' __ J' "'i:l'
.,,1 ....~. ;;:"!ira"H
t"..o ~. '_,' '__
: "' I~;if"!!, m
" .'a'
.. " . .- _ 'r
. t 1Io '11'.lIJ!"d"
'__.l.U.JJ, ,_' _."a' 'l'll. ~
i:!!' i . . ~' y l~, "_ 0'" ,If'" CW
p.ontI'i'iliI~'r m" o..'_' d'.' ee'
~ ~., Ila.U r~~'l1
.',...." ' ........ Ig jl e x;"'p
'_'.' ' ~ , :r.;D~IICJI"O"
I ', ,ii. ~~ . _I ..'n
",' . '"
~ !
fr,o m, th,e' ,i n r,o duction of' 'v,erna,cu' ar ~'n:~lo . ~he rarified r,e'aLit of B:y,z antine'
. ' ~ rature' "to the' 'prar"cera '"'0 . ' of s'teatite pp'l yla,et,e r"es ;me ge . >,' lh, I
ar ~:s' 'Jocr,a '. ~ c mod,e s "fro ' 'l 'h e' in:troduct ,o n, ,o f c' :"v, I ' i,e . . . tlo "he
v'e n,e ra': on of ".I "'g, tIy" ' al,r t,y rsl " fha't, '! slf ' ,'ction:s may appe,a'f arf~
flew ,10 th,', ,en,ti.ca.1 schola'r. Our ap'p f , c ~ a,ti,o n, of' sUlch, dev ,lo'p ments"
how'e ver, can, o,n ly' be b ' DUg' ,t i . to forn ', 'by' t 'l eir 50m,e'w hat arbitrary
~'s . ~, atio,n ,
Th 8, Byzantin,e' :parad,ox,n,~ eds, clari 'lca'tion . Th,~' cha:n ges,orf th,e' ele'v'-
c" n," h cen,t ury m',us,t' be seen a,gaiinst th, ~ , 'ba,ckgronn,d, of' 'h . ,cen,t r,aHzat1.on
and ,codifi,ca,ti,o n Q,f ,t he' ten't h a ceo' ".','~ in w:hic~ _; lor b ,itter 'r W ' ,r l
'l 'h e
'm ,periaJ con ~' at 'C'oo.stantmo'p1e o've . he ng Y IdOl :'.' 'I,re 1 h'u man
'1' "1
a,c ti . ":,y.. I ' 'brief" 'p rf ,e v :"1 ." d. Bot'h the urban d,e :le' 'OP' lentsl 'n "t'h ~ .
I;
p ,ovinCie.s, and growth ort lui-,fundal, es.ta,, ~ 5 ', p,riV8't'e 'pow,~,r in,
I.'
:[ll...e
.11 ' ,1""""",
iI"'"a1lt'
...,I,li,tu'r ;las u .'
. ..P;;,. d','e'r ....~on
' ..' ;Qi:4~l e ' r'a "H!""o'""'n;', ,t'hre'.' . 'a
I, IQ,Ii,Y. ~ ,Iiol::.w;; irn',,-,,'
,..... n ad:.... p:'e:"., ' if""-P:S',t "'V, T"h,D
r'-:l",'a l a;;n".' to ,I~" c'-:L.! _ ,: / " '" 'U
' - 'i"\_,
" ' ; ; I,
ban pop,ulace and th,e' ,a-ris.i'ocra'ts, un,e'x,pectedly and, (from a 'Westleim ,

... '... ' , " ')1 para,d ,oxically, . "'en! :. 'i ~" ,t h'e' ideology of .. ' . 'w as a~'
sa .'t ed ro,m , 'm lo en'tire' Y' difte1 f ",n'_ social 'posi,tions . 'W hile' :l.t woul,d be'
'Idling to spe'ak,lof a :societ,y' #',I:plf eg: ~ a:n t with revolu:t wIR,!," it is 'p as
_ !!'!!I _ _ _
."1 ." . 'to sugglest "tha't:B'y ,za ti,u m,'m,th .eleventh a ,d 't wle lfth ce . 'hi ",e,s.,was
ripe' for ,chan,g ,',., O,ne ,o.f ,t h,t!, facto'r s ,fomen't ig:cha ',;,ge " .' the emp'-re was
h .f\
i,
I," b' ~,'akd
.
_ ow,~, '"n o
~ (" '~ e In...
~, t'h lU:n""'W .''!'iK
a.'n, :t'. 'I'.'
1,_' ~' sol"''3It
. g ,' ....
lO
'" ' I" . o'n :" 'b y jl.he a'ril!"'n@"~'n
' ....... ....a
J&,U'O U., ,...~ 1
'"' . :, "' 1. , . ',II,
0' ,th,e :imperial. ~ urt' :i n,,t'h,e .. :n ,t h, cen't ur y,., Th,e Byzan"'" . 'bec811 te more r
closely :rela.t-ed, to 't h,e tl Wes. '~e . a ' ,d Eas ." r,n n,e ighbors /, ,a lthuu,g b,"'h,eir :m,-
't eaction freque'R,:ly took "th,e oo'r.m, of' ,r eli,gious dis'p,u.'ta,t i,o n,., T,hese .. . 5..
'pu"tes" howe ..,er negB,ti[v,e' . ,eff'ec _QI . the d, stiny' of the ~ ,m'pir'e :ma.y
i '.
ha've 'b ee I' " ha've 'p '. fVed 'u s e.fu, .for hilsto ,i ans,, 'h ey heI:p''u s grasp ,t h,e bas"c
differ,e n,ces 'behveen :n,eig' bOI~'fI;g . . : ..... \ '" ,t h,e' ,:, id,d1-e ,A ,g,es. Certainly
'8yzanJ.u:m,'w a'5 'b y n,o :m eans, a'n, 'n legra't ed soc"e' y . . n,o r was th,e West in
I
an.y' way uni'fl,e d . . . ;eerthe.less-,;, ,at n mbe ,o f .,~ iffer-en,ces,between th,e :E ast
.. tb,e' 'West eme~rg' ',I aI,t'ho1u,g'h genl~~ Uz '. tio,o'S, can, IEil . ' ays, . ' q'ues.
Ma op anl 3a~ ~e bl~ a Tope npaBOM

233
="' on,e d Din the basis of specJificaUy local :in ves;t "g:at ~ . 'ns,", Th.e fo1lowing
pO~'n'ts seem.bJ be th.e :m,ost :significan.'~ :: B .' '. - OC :. y W'~ S -;~.~ . ~ .. ~ , ,j I, .' .
Vi;d~ uaI" l" C'tl~:C-,, 0['

. ,J!! ' '" ~I, a"-m~"7Ad
... ;;;:Ii'IU' : . UA.: ' , and
" 1', ','~ th n "c,J",,-g
:~,~ ~,:", . . a.': more''.' :1"'mport
l ,iIi:!i;r f'':=amiill'l y p~. lml......,yed
;t;l; ': ,- .. ' .."' '.nt'
ll '.' '1'
role in th ~, East t '. "i ln, In, th'e West:" F'u d ~ er', oib,e r sodal micr-Ois,t l u,ctures
,re'm am,ed embryo,nic" Blyzan.tin, ~ ' soeicty, ~, id,n,o t '.~ VOl 'v ~ a stabl ~ ,j;. I,
cal . 't 'l; cto .'e" '" t a;,t h,e r retain,e a:.' e: ab e ' ' :'. '" " . Con:se l 'I '
q,u e -. dy, ,t h,e ' . ,'"D,g (;' ass, no,t ,acm. ve ,t he .... , '" '~Y.f' le ven aln kl,ea , un:"l Ii-
,t ha't existed in ,t h'e :m ,edi-e'v,al 'W'~ sf'.. Th ~ :rol~ of the st .. :tel' ,a nd of 't il . ,-;,m ,-
per,o r ,as ,t h,e poH,tica] embod;o.m,e'n t o,' th,e' ,sta't'e'i 'was,"mm,e'la"ura -ly gl ~' ~ 'te
"
~
n '8.'y'z ant um Th II - ". po -'e r ' f.~ t . e s ate w
'I . ' ... - : .. ,." .
1I
~
'I '
..... ,'I ' "
~ ~ 'a
. " ' . , ,.....
- n"
~ s, .~ e~ ~v'.e~ 'r~ c.: ,~ a~ 11, ~ - dbI~ YI" ,~..d: ,e~ p-~ '~ ~ -
'. ' . , " :'- ,' '1-' .. , ;. ' ~.. " .. '~ .~. (79
'D ' ~':"- I. ':, .. ,
d,e nt ,g rou'p s ,o r institutions in ,h,~ East so much as it w ,as in th,e .'e -'t.
W,h~ '_ caus "' d, th, . ra,dical diffe,re,n,ces?' Wer-e '_ h,e y inh'"'rited, r~ ~ . :", - j,v' :~. :y
ir'D,m . tble G'r eooOrien'tal ,a n' La't"" part o f he Rama, . Emp"re?' We~ 'cl
,t'h,ey aea,t ed ,d:u rin,g: th,e gr a't :m igr,ation,s of ,th,e ,ear'y , . ' ." ,Ag,es? ,O r
.. as a ,~o.:mm,on h,erltag,e' tra "s.form,~ d in ditter _nt ways? This voluml"'
d,o es not p,r ~.t ~ n,d to off er' answe,rg to 'h ese 'b,asic . I.:, ":" a tho~ "' h, pe~
ha,ps it :is no inappropriate ~'or us to,end 'w i h,th,em,.

I
Copyrighted rlaterial
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,-, E P'RAKTEKON' 'EN'DOW' NG TH '

'8 'Y ZA,N TI ':' 'E lNV'E,N'T"O R'y F:R OM
'G,RA,ND DOMESTIK'OS A,N :ORO" ,I K,OS 'D'O'UK,AS W,IT A,N -' STJ'tT'E I '
II- .; ..
TH "E-: 'D- '~I'S[."'""1i"'
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Another en'c ase aU,o -~,en.t' 'w i Ih a fw'l d AriooleJ a CQ'n se ,o,t' ,the' ,arlo. Olyn . ,'C 1,t h,os. A
~-' I
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,' /I~ : p. p-,. r--............,;;nlail-,al,
~ _.1 .u.L'~, j' '~ '"
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" 'm-- -.... ..J'; ';I'i; [a m. -...l;n~ 'lI'iLi " :a 's ;t:i;q-ull'v a'.IC:,
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l-,-n. .. '.
1ltI,I1!1.1ti;:ll 'Y',' I ': I ~ . ',,' . , . ,
b
-' e- -
'tw'een ,889 ,and 1,280 sq'uare' met-en1,. Seeds fOil' :sow~g fou an t'llis e ' '.. :
whe'at", 260 mwJoi' modio,s her,e as ,a,:m ,easure of. 'volu:m,e conv,e n,t ionaliy de.f"ned as
'.. :'. poun~d~ Sl;:
40 1 ba-~ -I;e:YJ 150 , . < I niOWiJO' A i'";: 'b ' ~eans'J 5 ,.... A"" :seed
- ;mvtdO~1 - ~~ so,'f'fl_ ax, .' 5 mo~d" fO'., .. ., . '\/ iOk es
,o f wit,lett" buffalo 't wo and on'e' yoke o.f' oxen are found there and, given ove't [ 0
,AI
. 00"Jron
.~..' - - dko
.. '.
...-s l , . t wo p--,ows
, .... , I' ."1- . ' .". .,.','
w "' t h
',.' . -~ a ]-]- the
' '. '.- . - a ,ess .., '..' A
: '." , .' .
'..' s'- ,.fa r as,

. ," '. - - s-]aves
. . ' . . . . ',' ---~ - are - -- con . .- .- " " ( " :.. ',,' ... I .'. '1 ',~
,cemed, non,e, since t'he . . . have aI ' died out . .' '. Pa:roilwi [depend.ent pe'a sa:n ts] on
the e,s, a'te' o.f Baris,:: ~ .' G'e or,g e 'T:sikos 'h as his w 'f@ Anna . his son, John.; an
al' otmen't , one ox, tl'ktemon (" he :poo, ., ,9,1: ca":e,gory' 0 . peasant . ~ the ellev ---.. th
-
,e, tUrylj!' I ',I L l~'
::..,. ta"
- one NOmlSnltl .. ;'[ go-1
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a 'h ... ., ...d- . I '
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. '. '.
. ' [.0 ,.f" ox ,n~ 1' a mar-e ~ , .,r I' .. . . . ,. . , ," . . . . '. . "
11' f
- liS
tax ., ".h " , nom;r'.swmta, -, ., , ....Ct......,
frenanns,-ha:-.s lilS
L ,'" .',Iit.... A'
'W l)r' k 11'
t : nna,., ,a, yoe ,o xen ],j!' L
, '., , . . , . c. _,t t,- e' [COWS

1 1 one m 'II _'J . d ,
0
;,.
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: :l!ourte e,n !k -: ,. .~" tax"
l1
nom:isma',ta and te . mil:iares'w [8,silver' stil ,a t ,t hat '- ime w,o rlh ,'. ,. twe,l fth 'Of ,8,
no-mlsma' ~
11'1 '.
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The [ _mae'l ites,occu.pied the' w'hol,e country a . ,d p.- undr d aU the' p'lac ,S the - :,.,
I . fa '.. ~, .. , :s,t .' dc,,the inhabitan:ts not' on Y' those who d,w ,e:,'I: :'"n, ~ownsl' bu,t
aT pL1an 3a~l.1~ bl aBTOpCKl.'1 npaBOM

236 Appendix
I
also those who found their abode in the mountains. What a terrible tragedy one
could observe; what a plight became manife t! Many Christians at that time ate
the fle h of their beloved children the teeth of parent did not feel di gust at
doing what the Jews who were charged with the murder of Christ had dared to
commit. Children also the flesh of unlucky parents, and brothers their
brother ' Even wives were not safe from this evil; even they would .f ill the
stomachs of their husba . The famine wa severe; nature assaulted and de-
voured itself. Such was the great impiety that the sun could see in this region.
His/aria et laudt'S 55. Saba~ et Macarii, ed . G . Cozza-Luzi (Rome, 1893), 13, para . (writ-
ten at the beginning of the eleventh century).
Ex . 3:
THE FAIR IN THESSALONIKI IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY
The festival of St . Demetrios has [in The saloniki] the same significance as the
Panath naia in Athens and the Panionia in Miletus. It is the most considerable
panegyris [meaning both "festival" and "fair") among the inhabitants of Mace-
donia . Not only would the local population a semble there, but people from
everywhere and of every sort would anive. Greek come from every place, as
well as the neighboring tribes of Mysian [Bulgarians) who live as far as the
Danube and the land of the Scythians, and the inhabitants of Campania, Ital-
ians, Spaniard and Portuguese, and Celt from beyond the Alp. To put it pre-
cisely, the shor s of the Ocean ent uppliants and beholders to the martyr, so
greal wa hi glory through the whole of Europe.
I for one, originating from remote Cappadocia, had until now no personal
e perience of the event and knew about it only from hearsay. So I desired to be a
spectator of this Ight and see everything without exception. With this purpose I
climbed a hill located nearby and, sitting there, could observe the panegyris with
ease. It. looked like this: tents of merchants were pitched in two Lines facing one
another. The lines ran a long distance, leaving between them a broad lane that
allowed for the rush of the crowd .... Other tents were set up off this lane. They
fOIIIled line , but not very long one , as if they were the short legs of a
crouching reptile. . . .
Loo.k ing down from my hill I sawall kinds "of fabric and thread" [a quota-
tion from Heliod . 10.25), of men's and women's garb produced both in Boeotia
and in the Peloponnese and carried on commercial ships from Italy to Greece.
Also Phoenicia sent many an object; Egypt, Spain, and the Pillars of Herakles
produced the bt.'St implements. Merchants brought all these things directly from
their countries to old Macedonia and Th . salonlkL But the Black Sea sent its pro-
duce first to Byzantium (Constantinople1 and therefTOm it was brought here and
adorned the panegyris. Numbers of horses and mules carried their load from
there .
Pseudo-Lucian. TimJlrion, ~d . R. Roman o (Naples, 19'74), 54f.
Ex . 4:
DESCRIPTION OF A LAZY MERCHA T
While aU merchant ... ru h to a panegyris in order to trade and make a profit,
he alone among them all . .. remains sitting before his house, watching them
(,opy' (jl"ted 'T a

Texts 237
by going full speed to the pancgyris. He not only remains lazy and indolent,
but wastes his time with carousing and harlots; he does not run to the market,
but tarries day after day .... Or he does arrive at the pancgyris with the other
merchant , but they, having brought with them [sufficient) gold, begin dealing
right away, and they buy products in order to make a profit, whereas our man,
who did not bring any (money), run about in search (of omeone) from whom
to borrow, so that he also might participate in trade. But either before he finds
someone to lend him (money) or immediately after, the panegyris is over and he
. no profit. ... Sometimes he arrives with money, but instead of dealing effi-
ciently from the very beginning he roams around the tent of the tavem keepers,
cooks, and other petty traders in victuals and tastes here and there, eats and
drinks, and squanders his gold in drunken revels and . . . Or he
wanders around the whole panegyris visiting both acquaintances and tho e he
has never met, from his place or from foreign ones. He observes how they are
dOing, but he himself does not buy or sell .... While other people, looking for
profit, do not pay attention to robbers or the other difficulties of a long trip, he
would be frightened; and even though they [i.e., other merchants] ask him to
travel together (with them] and promise to protect him against every danger, he
prefers not to follow them, not to join them in enterprise at the panegyris .

Symeon the Theologian, Traites thtologi'lut:;; et ethiqu ,ed . /. Darrouzes, vol. 2 (Paris,
1967), 386-88.
Ex. 5:
JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN BYZANTIUM AND THE DISTANCES
BETWEEN THEM
o Jews live in the city [Constantinople), for they have been placed behind an
of the sea. An ann of the Sea of Marmora shuts them in on the one and
they are unable to go out except by way of the sea, when they want to do busi-
ness with the inhabitants. In the Jewish quarter there are about 2,000 Rabbanite
Jews and about 500 Karajtes, and a fence divides them. Amongst the scholars are
several wise men, at their head being the chief rabbi R. Abtalion, R. Obadiah,
R. Aaron Bechor Shoro, R. Joseph Shir-Guru, and R. Eliakim, the warden. And
amongst them there are artificers in siJk and many rich merchants. No Jew there
is allowed to rid on horseback. The one exception is R. Solomon Hamitsri, who
is the king's (Manuel I's1 physician, and tluough whom the Jews enjoy consider-
able alleviation of their . For their condition very low, and there i
much hatred against them, which is fostered by the tanners, who throw out their
dirty water in the streets before the doors of the Jewish houses and defile the
Jews' quarter [the Ghetto). So the Greeks hate the Jews, good and bad alike, and
subject them to great oppression, and beat them in the treets, and in every way
treat them with rigor. Yet the Jews are rich and good, kindly and charitable, and
bear their lot with cheerfulness. The district inhabited by the Jews i called Pera.
From Con tantinople it is two days' voyage to Rhodosto with a community
of Israelites of about 400, at their head being R. Moses, R. Abijah, and R. Jacob.
From there it is two days to KalJipolis [Gallipoli), where there are about 200 Jews,
at their head being R. Elijah Kapur, R. Shabbattai Zutro, and R. Isaak Megas,
which means "great" in Greek. And from here it is two days to Kales. Here there
are about lifty Jews, at their head being R. Jacob and R. Judah . From here it is
C.OPY (jl"ted 'T a

23
I
. - 8~
',,'
. ,
. . I
...

~A
.
" :p'pe" ,...
' dJx
~
tw'o days'!' journey 'to th.e island. of MytDen.e; and tn,ere are Jewis'h congre.ga:io'ns
:i o. ten loca6. jas on the "... .. Thence it is, three days," V'oyag'E! to ". '',liand, of
'Cbms. where the e ". e l
, abOlll't .' . Jew's'J! ~ . c1 ..... .. :gR., ' .' 'H:e man and . . .. .-
:t- 'h aI ..I, ,et!'e 0 ;';' he
IJ.'" ,I:...t''.r'I ,'.' : 'o,m _ Two daiV\t
Ji' :!.!.' . ~kliOis
i
",' ill :fr
~:,,"
:.1/ ,. ,g-rnI!l'U ': ',', 'w
-',hl"i""'
':' h :::m'!:li;'
~ :
': II.'!!;'lli' ~ Ii obtam
_,,1.' ': ,
U;~l i' ,~ .! ~
Q. . ,:.., ~: '
' .ifli i ,..... ~ .._ ," IQ.' .' ,': . :' '("~ '.~,~ .
'OIl.e ,t o the island o.f'Sa , . . " .' ' .300 J1e w.s" a't, the'r . ,e;a d be ~ 'ng: . Sh,e - 1
. R~ Obad~ h, and R~ Jo t .. bo. ~. a'n y ongrega ans 0 " Je -. ,s.

'1:"
'Fro'm Sarno! ," .- ,s' thre. :. days to, Rhod .s., .I:h .,r E tbere ,are ,a.bou.t 400 '.' e ' s, t ih eir I
.h ead being' :R. "". '. R. Hannanel, and. R I
. 19(7), 14.,
Ex 6- .
,
',. . iii . . " iii
.A . HJIGH EST TITL,E S OF THE T:E i, TH: A:N'D 18L:E.VE "1 TH CE:N 'T'U :RI:ES
,
C'aesar .Nobelissimus, :K ouropala.t es,
(possibly b I .- :n.ot :n ecessari y Ie,la: ,"ves)
Ma.gistr1JS 1(lV!agister')
Anthypatos I(I'-ProconsUl U)
Pa.froo.os
B~ .H IGH:E,SY T'.ITLE5- O.F TH:E. T'W'E'LFTH Clr. T'UR.Y

: . basto-kr,a:t or
(em.perO'~'s sibtin:p )l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . -!impero.r-"r--"""'Em.p ress
'-
De,s ',ot Sebas'tokra:m.r emper,o r's da.lllg .-'.ter _ _ Ca.esar .s
(heir to the t J[one) (emperoF':s.son.)
p' ~tosebast,. .. 'p

-
."
. , . ..
..
(em pel or 's nephews)
x . 7:
'W ILLIAM OF 'T'V:RE D .N M .A .N UEL, [l'S lP'O . ICY O:WA 'DI
'W hen 'La -d Ma .. el ' ",ed, hat ' ost .m.pe' 0 ' 0 "ndef'ble" .' '.1 . ~. be.. ".
was suo:: .:.' d '. d a.cCrording'lo'both.his 'w it ,and th . 'law by' his young :SOl'll
.AleQos'l 'w 'h o .... hardly r,e ached. his thirteenth year., . " .' Durin,S the reign in
aTepll1an 3a~ ~o bl aBTOpCKl.'1 M npa OM

Texts 239
God of the former beloved emperor, the Latin people found favor with him due
to the emperor' trustfulness and vigor. He even disdained his Greek manikins,
who were soft and effeminate, and, being a man of great generosity and incom-
parable activity, gave important assignments only to Latins, taking into consid-
eration their fealty and strength. Because they prospered under his rule and
enjoyed his generous liberality, the noble and ignoble of the whole universe
eagerly collected around him, as around a great benefactor. As they accom-
plished their service quite well, he was induced more and more to appreciate our
people, and promoted all of them to higher ranks. Therefore the Greek nobility,
and especially his relative ,a well as the re t of the populace, acquired an in-
satiable hatred toward our men.
PG 201.857f.
Ex. 8:
THE EMPEROR'S CONTROL OF THE ARMY
On the day dedicated to the memory of Prokopios the Martyr [J uly 6, 11671, Kon-
tostephanos arranged the army in battle array and he himself donned armor and
took up weapons of all sorts. He commanded that the other (commanders) fol-
low his example, led out their detachments and arrayed them in the best possible
way. He took under his command the central part of the phalanx, thedght wing
he gave to Andronikos Lapardas, while other taxiarchs headed the left wing. It
was the strategos who appointed them. Other phalanxes were also arrayed, but
set a little apart from both wings, in order to be at hand when the time came to
succor the toiling troops.
While Andronikos (KontostephanosJ was arranging and positioning his
troops in such a way, someone arrived from the emperor [Manuel] carrying with
him an imperial epistle. In . epistle, it was ordered that IAndronikos) with-
hold from battle on this day and postpone it until another the date for the
postponed battle was indicated in the letter. The strategos took the paper, but put
it into his bosom. He himself did not pay any attention to its contents, nor did he
reveal the order to the lord who accompanied him; he diverted them from the
point (and it was praiseworthy) by talk about different subjects. The reason for
[the emperor's] prohibition was the fact that [for him) this day was ominous and
absolutely unpropitious for martial events. So it was that the emperor made de-
cisions concerning the most important actions (which in fact must be deter-
mined by God's will) on the basis of a constellation or the disposition or motion
of the stars, and he obeyed astronomers' words as if they were God's tablets.
Nik. Chon. 153f.
Ex. 9:
THEODORE BALSAMON ON FORTUNETELLING
Nouml.'llia [literally, "new moons") are the first day of the month. Jews and
Hellenes used to celebrate them and to pray while genuflecting so that the rest of
the month would be happy. God said about them through the prophet: "Your
New Moons and your Sabbaths my soul hated" [Isaiah 1 : 13- 14) .... However,
Copyr gt'tCd 'T'

..
2,.\t'O
,.
.. , ' -
..A ppen..d lX.
',',
-
l
- .
.,' -
-
. '. .
_ .
'-,
-the d.em onic' habl' of .k in lin,g bonfires and sea .ching :f or goodl om ' n's has ben
p,t eserved to t'h e days ,o,f Patriarch. Mlehae" [11.70- 7.8 ' I t if) '. , ., . : ' hypat-os' of phi,-
:ioso'phe.r,s:r ev'en, :i n ' ~he' [Qu.een, 0 " CI,',les,. On, the' evening of June .23 men ,
'women .... ould ga,,h ,e on the' bea,c bis o.f' the sea or in ,e er ain hOlls .' $ and they
r
'w oiu ld dr,e,s s th,e firs't. .bo,n :l gir~, as ., ride'~ . . r hav'ng supp ' and dance "'n ,a
Bacchic fn!nzy~ mav', g i' , . circ'le,s,and sh ~ utingof they wo:uld pOUf' sea 'wate'r:i'n D ' a
braz n vess' ,~, 'w ith, ,a, narro " 0' "'t ' . I' <0 ~ them '.'
',' i, cast there . :Bome ob-
Ject,. They 'would 'begin. to . uestion the ,girl a,bou.t goo.d. ,t hin,gs an : about" "1-
'" onesl' as :" s'h e had acqUired :from Sa.' an the .pow.' li' of ':reUin,g th ~ ' fu.ture .
She 'w,o uld 'take' ,at' random,from ,h e' 'V esse' "an obj,ed;' [fllom ,'mong: 'hose,'f a't itald
b " . C .9;, ' ." and mak,e' ,a, ,. ' .. oOn, while th,e crazy owner' he,ld 'the thin'g ,and,
Ilisten,e d to his p,r:oc'l aim,e d fu.ture'l w ', " t ,. '.' ". " . "g'. t '. T fOrtu ,at, 10 .'
hJ~ 'm omi ',g" they would go ' :0 the sea.s,horel' d nCi[[l'.,, :i n chorus ,a.nd accom'p a..,
, " . b. tth ' g:" -' . a ' ' 'g ,:cuope " up' sea 'W~lte ' in abun.dan.c-e t,h ey would '.~ our i ' ,
o . Mo -',over, dunn,a , the whoie mg-h,t f -ey' would bu:m, , ~ ay-:-:'.~-
on tn'e ll d.wel1+n",s, ~ L~ I. I.
s.'ta,CkSI ' ~ 'Ump

over the'm~ and. prophesize good 0- 'ba.'. luck as tho~gh th,e y w'ev@
possessed. by d.e'm ,o ns. --, ~ eY' deoolabl!d wi.th gilded ~ob .s, ,a nd S'~" . . fa'b lics th,e
house, in w'hl'Ch they did, the ,fOrtlllneteUing', a[o,n g 'M ,t h th,e co-urtyall , and , b. ',
paths; and th,e:y' woul d, mao: e wrea "hs, o,f'leaves to ,glorifYr la'. it 'w rns .a:utl th,' " a,-
, an d'wellliin,g with ,n them,.
,PG: 13,7 . 740lB,~7 . ,.
Ex,. .',0"
T:H,E,A llRlCAl G,AM:ES AT 'TH,E PALAC ' 0 , :, ""' C'" '. R o' ~ (1200)
Thew ', ., " t,<o,k, pla,ce Jus:' b ,fo L :, t., b fat e -i -,law, ' peror [
~'
:UI]I . . ha,d,:n.o des,b,e to a'tten.d h.or ... ,rae ' :r ' '.. ' t 'Ul, ' new,~y mal["ed roup'~,e u,r ged,and
de, ft, d ,d ,game',~ The ~mper,or tried b) a'p pease' con.tr,a dictory .' 'es" ,s: h , 'W ' t"
:0. '. 'U'l:\, '., to ' 11 ', Q '.' 'a t PaJa,c-e nor to th,e s'ta,diu:m [th,e Hippodrome' but ralher or-'
d,efl~ ' th,e ' ra'oes, :m ov ,d 't o the . a1ace of Bla,cbe':m ae ,a nd q,uickly or,ganiz:ed a pe'r-
fa,n nance 'flere'. ",e 'bellows, of U'le ma-ny-,fl u-,d organs, :[0c,a:ted, in ,the paia,ce
,c ounyar,dl 'w e,r e used as 'tu:mpos-ts [0- tlit,e' racing' chario '5]" ,a nd a certajn en ~
nuch l,e1t us omit :h is name '.,as disguis.dl as ,t ' . e h of -he cUy,. :He 'w 'a s a I." .[.
r":ch m " OC1:Up'ying an :b n.portan : off ce and was . . .', d. a'm ong: ' h~ ,~ . pe ,ial
'. .' . A wi, - r-,w o:rk,was d.~V] ed that in. the ,em ' cular is c- ' . dl a 'w oo : ,' ~ n I
',onk y l and,i.t was '0 0 VI -d wi "k a ho ' .' . .' . wov1

r, e-n with gol, '. 'T he' els ." ep'arch
ma'o.euv1ere ~ it to 'th .~ . :imp ovis d theater., I ' a ppear,e d as though ,h e w lere cer:e-'
mO:[lially 'r iding a hOorse', W hi1 a 1 the time he ,a,dvoitly ','us,hed 'i 'h ,e horseJl's le,gs,
:fonY'a ,-' ,a:n d n ! g'- d ~ S '. I ',' a.l ,' ,. hat he chcan.ged his, mask like th oan ",e t: t
actors,; a,n d navin,S , alcJe-n off the .. par' h"'s 'Vlestments h,e appe,a:red. as a m'Qpparius
1 e st 'r '. I ' for ,-' .. ' - 01 se" a,ce ~ ]. Those,who -" ret ~ 'nddl to be' con'tend@rs,'w 'e re ,n ot
peop ,e' ,o f 't . e -, ..' k ' to of tbe (,ammon. stI~eets'i bu "young: nobles who had just
,v own. '~heir' firs,'t b ., a:r ds" ,'he ,e mp ~ror' and the em,press,;! Ute'i r distinguished rela'-'
,ives" and, the,u '.-: pe ,~...1e'v retinu ' w .:re spectators ,f d "lit~'s ,t h,e atrica] and,la.ugh: :"..
c"
,ca.uS[n.g: ga'me. ,N 'o body e:'S . was, '.' 'owed .' . '. As "he m,omeni: (C ctm,e for 'th ,c nn,-
t, . ers to r.a.ce . ' h,e' eu:n uch disguised as ,a, rnappar,i:us: came to t'he ,c-ente'r" :s,h aw'e.
his, ar .':s, naJked 't o the 'e,1lbows,,; , . .. . ut , , .... " .' . sUve Icap on his, he,ad,,, Thrice ,.I
2'4.:-
"
....
.
. yo,ung te - , to coo ten ct and '

calle ' , ' ho
'W -. ~. .- 'b
tood
- ~ S"I' -:...e-
-, '
he "I
. . .. ,
hind him, and, 'who .... , .... a brUUa'n't .

:5, beel when th "s m n 'b '. 'nt f-01:'W,a;rd ' :0 gi'v e f .S
,. ~
I ,; ' I II!!
T' , .,
, ....: . ,i '
Ch
"'" nn,. ' ,;;;;ruo'
..
II:'f'liill", ,.,
EX'., 11:'
:M IC , " "L PSE ', ,OS ON TrE .
', -' ,. : ' ' .' E'L' lAS" 'L' 'E'TTER TO A .
0- .'. K
."
. l, " .....
.
.... . --: ", I"'" _
. "
: . I.
-'
..
-
. "': _ , .
" .. '
.- _ . '.
.
"
.
': ",
U:N ':K . . . . ,OW,N ,A D'D RESS "E

This mo,n k Elia,s des' ~~d '," :,e ,is, namesa Je, ( -~ ,.' S t @Ti -' , ~ l" woo,ca'r-ed I. .
in,g ' Or "',". e,rlty, neilher toO p~sse'Ss i' , 8:or' toO think abou.t ,earthly th ~'n,gs", bu.'l toO
tran.:'nd an
prae,tical. virtu,e ' and, aU lnte'D,octual ornament and, tra,vlersi~g be
'. ion aC!' .... ---.JII '1..
~r;,lUi,',
g I!.I~ . IU ..... Gnd' and
iJI~IC:,I"Il.U '1," :.. to .IIJl li JVV,r -i;n I~ ne'
' '"_
I. _ ~ .: ._. : .. Jldr,'b ors ,.:;'n
:," "a1!...l~ 1....-
t'ni.nrir -- .1/." u ::r .&hlS
1l...,.... d.aC!'I' ~d
._'IU-_'. UI_ ~
,I "I e' ' and__ .. _;.__ ~'.,- '_ .':~"_ riI ~',I ~ .I I:_: ~~I.',. ~: _ : .~
longed ,exceed ~ '-_gly~ t 't he a '. 'body" f at heavy' ' at . ,

t , l" th ,: wei,g' .'." ' .. llast~, M,ld. him,. .c<ven, thDUg 'h e :fre . ue ,tly f'o ok, "t,he :6rst"
s,t,e p/ ;l pulled him, down and, drew , -im, 'b ack. TWICe Cl'nd, luany :more' times he
made the "" .. h ' t n: ' .-'s 'ty dragge ' him down.;: n ''t n,e . 'w 'a s '. , to
" : ea~y to , him nO'I ' did. "he, stay on ,art'h bring ,im satis:f ti,o ol' ,I" r '
not 'b y .:"i .:' Jf (in sue . a c ;S ', his ,t roubl "'wou1d, ". av ' been l. . is un . '. 3tli1,b le)
'b ut h,e had,:~ is mother, w:h o laid,her ex,pecta,tio:ns u,p -n. ,1m., a'n d he had also' .
companions'hl,P' of bis ':Ia,tives,. I,',' '. ~", , h .. .". . ',nt' ,for long iIi. s" ... .'
no:rthw,a~: d" SOiDlHl' .(m,e,s, 'obe, south; he d ' .. . ..' ," I self bertwee he,Orient' . 1- ,
'the' I[)cck'h:o.' not in ,o rder 't o, " ..'amin. wha't 'lll,' . distance is
j . 8, and I ", . ' .
.. -nlei' nor' to unde'''~ 'tand n.o,w th,e famous Ocean. s,u rroun ds, " :IE! c,ontine.n.t', nor
t,o in'Vi s,ti.g~ ., .,w 'h ich,,' thiop,i ans dwe'~. in the East and w'~iiCh:in he Wes' . Bu,t,his
g,oal w,as 't o conte 'to , , 'Ie-' or .,.' your bays "." some ,goods fl'OiDil aib-road., Hi] ,
w ,ay' of ~ .' is [tha't o,i ,a] va,grant;: ,a s a, matter of fa,c-t, can, ca' , :d : ph" ,o sop,h ical
' I'
since P:lam .is said. 'W ha ." e pas.ed CharybdIs t ,I_'tee 't: es and, 'l ha:I' many . 1_ i,
have' ClOSS ~ .' ~ the, strait' of' Sic'"Y'., Pia;to", however met the two ' land
, ':' " t . L a n pruB,ting ("om h i s h Yi' ,h e woul,d. hav' ,been, sold 'i nlo, slavery
. ' it '.. " fo. ' '." of; fegina,~ ":ho ' . ' im,i :Slia;s,met " '. olf a
diHel!en,t' . ,d,." :r a 'he " like' the ,-, -6JeiloCW' :18 'w'h o e( -tertained Od.y :8 eus, 50 tba,t
w'b n :he,came' back., had som . cymba:sin rus hands and Ids, 'tl1l"'ned
to li~e an ' ~ ,. . ,cro,w d '0 'his, Fell' ~ v'e,g, startled danCing
.E. ,I 1'.,'2',I
o!
- .
'.
' . : . !t.
'C H EL 0 , . . T ' '-- . . . '....... ',

PSE'L ,~IO .~ . ""-" S ~ 'L ETTER, 'T 'IO THE lU"D'C E
O :F 'T ' ' E T:H M ,', OF O'P SI 0
'rb ~re is a:s -,a~e of God ,a nd [,a share] o.f another' onei of'Mammon [in '., '.1. .. ] .
Il-:>'I' n~e souls, serve Goo" ,a.n ,d '. hose 5,. bjiect to ill '.' '. . natun! SQtVG . .. UlIDOn,.,
TIloere w,as n ~ t until :r ecentiy ,a hird :s brut ,the, ,.... . 'EUas :intr,. . d,u,o d, ),ti'l
:sm,ce he . '... ' not Fend;i! to IG od 'w'n t " God's 0' ', Mammon 'w '- _at is Mam,-
but,gives to both parts a, fl,tting:s,h a" ,: to God his . ,. . ". bah .'.t, Otur' 'h oly
mDn~'s,~,
anchofl but to' Mam'mon/,,- th the force ,o,f his so,n l and the limbs,olf . 'i s So _ c , , _ 'i ,
Mar p~an ! 3a~~~ blLl1 aBTopcK M npaBoM

-,
242 A .'p: ' : ' ,d
.: .' P'
. , _.,
.-. .. "-"
'.'
.. ,
to ", out tha.t: .>bile praising [God. h.e fomica.t es :'n.hi " :min.d, and. aft1er a w h.o le
,,t:
day [0 :(' Ucentiousness;. he begins to, a,c', with pie~y. Forlhw:f '~ he' :s h,eds e- ,s,an . . ,
,i> ediate,'y r p is 0 '. . is pas ~ o'ns~ ';' .' ..
. I ' ' . . and ' . lO W' . cn y two
abodes th brothel ,a:n . the :m onasINY.
Sc,,.,ipla ;m'i'u., 2,: 1261,.
f 'x', 1.3:
DESCRIP'IION' 'O F T'H E E PR.ESS .Z OE (102. '~50)
'The' tasks that 'w omen :n.or.m:naUy :per.fo.t.tn .-..ad :no app -a] 'W ' .- a:reve ' .t~ , .Zoe ~
hands n,ever' '... ' themse:- ves wi.' .'.~ 1 a. djjsta ~.,. :n or did eV'e r work at a '00, . 0 '
,a y a th,e l' fe ;: ,~ "in,e' oecupa mn~ " more' s ' = r" B " ng~ she aft . .. '. d. scorn..for t he
: 8.'U tiful df ,SS..S of '. "r':ra " . thou"g b c annot t n ' h th r ' .s,h e was sO' n. Sn,gen.t
in the pr im,e _f HEe,. C ertainl .::in her 0,1 ,. a.g e shelost aU de,si lie t,o ,char.nl!~ Her' one l
and [only can -ern. at t -"'s ,- ~, ,e 'l ' ','he thing on w,' i,e- s ' .s,pe t .~ h .~ as
I
:
!Ii.k'...,. .. ,"d"."; ..';~ ,o. . p

a ....' .iCJI., 0'
" 'll"li'!ia1 '.'. . . . ,'s.. , ~le
. .[.
.a:"' I~ .n;"
.!Ii. ;;;II .." "p
~' ,.. ,. C!! I .'. . " ;.
. . . .' s
,.r ~r--'
...... . :U
I,.'L,t~
~ 'p'.'il"iPcna
".r"'a.I. '....
, .II. ....
n
.... f' '.
U 'n'- .0,-
'.,":'11'
I0Il. _n
.. , ,-I,t-,e...
'01 '-.' ,.'!.Q ' .~
'OIne' s' .own :p -iv'a t,e
:wou ,d ." . VI' t", ol1le .': .'. . .......... p '. '. d .
. . ' ... w ,a s n.o
mnre' :impress,i,. ,e than t h,e workshop.s :in. t :,e .mar ['et wh-e.re ,th[e, . '5 In;-, ,a' -... t he j
an
b,laCksmiths to,iiI for' round the roo. 'w'ere, ' urru~g b . ' , ":er.s,.. ,,' has.t .of' lb'.m.
f
-.8ch of h.e r servants ha.d. a particular' task ',0 -: erfo.rnl: one was ala. ,ted the dlu. y'
I
of . '.. : hie perfumes, ,a noth" r of' mIXing' them 'w hile a third. ha.d . some oth.el' l
. ,o f Ul,e same ' '. In win.ter, of' . . . t'h,'se opeI .t ions were d.emonst-..a . y
of .sO ', lie bene' it~ as the ,g t,eat h,e at ft,QI'-- Hllie' . ' -, .. ': : t w ,a - th , . . .a ir, bu.t
in the summer--ttme t ',I,e o,thers found. the ', empera.fure :n e,a'r ,h,e 'br,aziers at' ,os'o
unbear.a, -:I.e , .ZOe he" ~ I however.~ s,u noundd. 'by .. w I b - dygua ,f the: ' ..
"'lI'
C'.~sr w'a s a.p p . ~. tly' 'U .. 'fleeted by t' e ;scare ' ." ~g he,a t .. :1" falc both '.. ,a nd her '1
'a.[ Y 'p a'll"l;P' a " ', .' ,.' , ';"A ',,' . . '!Ij;.!l1
Ex, 1-4:
DESC .. IPT 0 ' . .. 0' . -' A' NI' ' .. A. DA
'. '.' .'.
A.'. 'S""S" 'N""A"
',-"',
.. 1 .. .
, , '. . , " , ,'",., ",' . ,I'
" -,
. .
','
.
,
.In t'be pas,'., wme,:n. Anna Dala.ssena was sliD.looke u:p _.n. as a yo.unger woman.,.
e:h"" h a d' m. . , . '..... d' , "I!'..
~ . . I " h-. ,e_ a _-. on.
_ . ou~g' sholllldl@s" ' ~ t o the
y ."
'Y' . .
.
.~ ,~ , I'.J ' .
AJ~
.
~" n. 0: .1
...,..," . . , ' . A I1
d.
_ u. _ ~ I",
-
_ _ _ _ "
'iI d A'
' .
c h- - ., ,~d- .
h[,.r . a,o e allo,n ' :r eveale ,. .. nna.s lneren vllrlu,e an : . ~ r,a.Vl.t y,.nt, as
'l B ,"f"
'. was .saying" once' he bad. .J~lZed po,w er' :m y fa.' he~1" :r esenred for himself the
stru.g gl.e s and har . :ab . of' Waf w ;',' :sh,e,'became so bJ speak. an .. . . ..... . bu.. l
, I
h, :mca de h.eJ.' so . fJeign. and [;; ' ..... ,a slavle' .. ' and did . ~ hab?v\@f' ... 'c-{)mmanded ~
He , ' In--e
,"
v[:''- d'
-
:: ber' - ex
-.
" oe'
" . ed' Ing)' y and '
- '"
I .'
-
-
',..
-
on .'r f~'o:r a' d" .-,..... . .. ' w' as" ... .-,-. c
":' ~
- - "
: .
,',
.'. . .
, " ..-
,"
"
.
.,
. .
"
. '.
.,
.'
-
. [ '.
. ... .
. I : '
'
I I
"
. . . .' -.' .
. .
~. . -
H'on for' her) . His righ.' .. ; a'n d , ,.... ' '" ..'v led t o h .[' se .. ~ ". e;: 'his .~:ars liste1ned. to "er
b~d.din, g ,. In aU 'lhin,g~ b ~ W,as enm ' y s; bse .. :e t f :. factI' to' he~ ',' ,ishes,. l can
snm UIP' "lh.e whol . si'tuati.on. 'tll;US:. .-. as in . 11, ory theemp '.' urI but she had I ' al
powe'l'. Sh.e w,as the legisb.tol"', tb,e' compl.ete or,ganiz ' .. nd go . . . ,'. , . ~.
CQmfinll;ed. he.r arrangemen ts, wri', ,en ,a nd. un wri.t tlenJ the :fOrrll.er by his ,signa.-'
l.u the latt,: by his .' pok.n approval. Q'n e, :. ''.gb: . say ' ~hat he was indleed the
l
instrum :n't (yf . . :p awer: h. , W,as not" . . ,. 'p e '. '~. .Cor all .~ '. e decis ons .a nd ord ~-
nance of h' . m olll, T ' atis ' .Jm, not :m erely as, an obedient .son, but as. am. a't;o>
l
aTep an 3a~ ~e bl'" aSTOpCKlt1 M npaSOM

Texts 243
tentive listener to her instruction in the art of ruling. He was convinced that she
had attained perfection in everything and easily excelled all men of that genera-
tion in prudence and understanding of aifairs.
Anna Comnena, Tht- AlaiM, trans\. E. R. A. Sewter (Baltimore, 1969), 119-20.
Ex. 15:
PROUD PLEA OF AN IMPRlSONED NOBLEWOMAN
83 High and low J am coming against offense and derision,
The West and the East are full of my torments,
The islands and the sea have beheld my shame,
Those first of the Princes, then that of the Leukas.
A C.i uel dungeon waited for me in the Great Palace,
And now [have found another prison in the Blachemae . . ..
104 I know my appeals will leave your soul cold,
Streams of tears are senseless and moans useless;
Let your messenger, armed with a sword, appear
To commit the execution and free me, the ill-fated,
From aU anxiety and trouble, from tears and trials;
Grant me your mercy, such a small mercy....
217 Let the judge impartially scrutinize my case,
Let him pronounce the sentence in accordance with justice,
Let him condemn me, could he have me convicted!
I am a conspiratress and enemy but who is the witness?
I have been plotting against the emperor but who has ever heard [me)?
Let the slanderers speak publicly,
And if they prove their lie, let the Pantokrator
Smite me from Heaven with lightning ....
305 In the hearth of your wrath I was burned,
In the hearth of your fury you tried me,
But there is no base copper in my soul, only
Pure ilver. What are you searchjng further?
s. D. Papadimitriu, "Ho Prodromos tou Markianou Kodikos," VV 10 (1903), 155-63.
Ex. 16:
FROM AN EPITAPH FOR EMPEROR JOHN II
Beautiful purple garb swaddled me
and the symbols of supreme power
me from my tender boyhood.
The lu t for victory hot through my heart
and taught me fllSt to ride and to draw the bow,
then gave me the two edged sword
and trained me in the hunting labors-
to kill the bear by the stab of the spear,
to smite the leaping leopard with an arrow.
His'. Ged. no. 25.12-20.
Copyr grtCd 'T'

244 Appendix
Ex. 17:
MORTAL HUNTING ACCIDENT OF BASIL I
It was August and the Emperor Basil had gone out for the hunt, into Thraee,
to the neighborhood of Apameia and Melitia . Finding a herd of deer, he
gave chase with the senate and the huntsmen. They were all scatter d in every
direction in pursuit, when the emperor spuned after the leader of the he.rd,
whose size and sleekness made him conspiCUOUS. He was giving chase alone,
for his companions were tired; but the stag, seeing him isolated, turned in his
fljght, and. charged, trying to gore him; he threw his spear, but the stag's antlers
were in the way, and it glanced off useless to the ground. The emperor now,
fmding himself helpless. took to fljght; but the deer, pursuing, struck at him
with its antlers and carried him off. For the tips of the antlers having
under his belt, the stag lifted him from his horse and bore him away, and no one
knew this had happened. till they saw the riderless. Then Stylianos, caned
Zaoutzes, and Prokopios the protcvestiarios showed them all what had hap-
pened. They aU began running hither and thither, and just managed to catch a
gJimp e of the object of their search carried aloft by the beast. They gave chase
with all speed, but without succe s; for the stag. when the were well out-
distanced, stood panting and breathing hard, but when a rush brought them
nearer, straightway bounded off to a good distance. So they were at a loss, tin
some of the Hetaireia. as it is calJed, cut off the tag from in front before it was
aware, and scattering in the mountains, put it up again by shouting.
Then one of the Farghanese, managing to ride alongside the deer with a naked
sword in his hand. cut the hom-entangled belt through. The emperor fell to the
ground unconscious. When he came to himself he ordered the man who had
de.l ivered him from danger to be arrested and ordered the cause of such inso-
lence to be inve tigated . "For," said he, "it was to kin me, not to save, that he
str tc.hed out his sword."
Vita Euthymii Patriarch 0 Con tantinople. ed. and transl. P. Karlin-Hayter (Brussels.
1970). 3 - 4.
Ex. 18:
CONSTANTINE MANASSES 0 HUNTING
People invented the riding of horses and hunting not only for the sake of exer-
cise to strengthen their bodies, but also to provide delight to their hearts and
excitement to their senses. They are excellent actions. making men haJe and
healthy, extinguishing their every sicknes and raising them to life again. They
are also excellent for preparing men for warfare, they teach them to ride, to
purs ue. to hold a pattern, and tlot to spring forward out of Jjne. They teach
[men] how to move straight or left or right. how to give their hor es free rein and
how to urge them on with . loosened under flre. One could call them mod-
est exercises, recalling greater deeds. This battle is not man-slaying, this Ares is
ironless; his hands are not stained with gore and he does not grasp the murder-
ing spear. They are really excellent, and s em unpleasant and undesirable only
for those who do not love beauty.
E. Kurz. "E~ dva neizdannych Konstanlina Manassi," VV 12 (1906).
79.1 - 15.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

Texts 245
Ex. 19:
IMPERIAL PALACE OF BLACHERNAE
This King Emanuel (Manuel I) built a great palace for the seat of his government
upon the ea-coast, in addition to the palaces which his fathers had built, and he
caUed its name Blachemae. He overlaid its columns and with gold and sil-
ver and engraved thereon representations of battles before his day and of
own combats. He also set up a throne of precious tones and of gold, and a
golden crown was suspended by a golden chain over the throne, so arranged
that he might sit thereunder. It was inlaid with jewels of pricele s value, and at
night time no lights were required, for everyone could see by the light which the
stones gave forth. Countless other buildings are to be met with in the city.
The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudeia, trans!. Adler, 13.
Ex. 20:
IMPERIAL PALACE OF BLACHERNAE
In that place [in the comer of the city by the landwaUs and the Golden Hom) the
Palace of Blach mae, although haVing foundations laid on low ground,
eminence through excellent construction and elegance and, of its sur-
roundings on three sides, affords its inhabitant the triple pleasure of looking out
upon sea, fields, and city. Its exterior is of almost matchless beauty, but its inte-
rior anything that I can say about it. Throughout it. is decorated eLabo-
rately with gold and a great variety of colors, and the floor is marble, paved with
cunning workmanship; and I do not know whether the exquisite art or the ex-
ceedingly valuable tuffs endows it with the more beauty or value.
Odo of Deuil, De proftctiont Ludovici VIl in orimtt>m, transJ. V. C. Berry (1948; reprint:
1965), 65.
Ex . 21:
A GIRL SEDUCED AND FORSAKEN: EPIC OF DIGENIS AKRITAS
When I came to it [a spring in the waterless plains of Araby)
I heard moaning
Lamentations with weeping and many tears.
The mourner was a girl most beautiful. ...
She, when she saw me, up she jumped at once,
Wrapping herself about in decent order,
Wiped with h r linen the showers from her eyes.
And gladly thus began to to me: . . .
"My own country, young man, is Meferkeh.
You have heard of Haplorrabdes, the emir of aU,
He is my father, my mother Melanthia.
I loved a Roman to my own despite,
One whom my father held captive three years ....
And miserable I, occasion found,
Much .riches seized, went off with the deceiver ....
Copyr gtltoc rra

"'46
2 '... .
A.p pendix
s all. th,e way ' ..joicing in ea,ch ot, ,. .

'1..
We arrived a,t t his .ro\u nmin.'w'h ich ...,' '.. ' :B oo',
For' three days here repos,i ll,g ,a.n d 't hlee m:gh"ts l,
lov,e"s ch,a'nges ce ebrabng without fUI.. ~ i' ,i
If! Wh" . ."110

III
:""l.....,p .t ... ' : '.
III
," ' . e' t ., " " '. g" t:,
~"~
. 'III P1
!trW' I .,
'.
~ "" . I, - . ",
'i
I,
, ,
, .' :r ose 'u p' Sea"e't"[,Yj 51,'.ddl

",' ___"e '~_ 'l_e
h h:,0 , 'e,s'[
A n d
, too
. '
k" , t '. g old
.- : ' '
.
'i.' " ....d' .
,
a n '.'
"1 . ' .:
H . ''.
fill
: ".
..
h . ,.. " . .
mlW
'. e
,. , '.- . b
' e , ,~ .
' i' i i' ,i
H: " was gone from :sight wil'hou,t a, wurd iii .'
, a ' bereft 0 aU1, w',thou.t al hope;

F'O,I' to my :p aren'ts I dalle retum
I:,am aaham,e d of nei,ghlbouls and ,co'm . . , ;" .
Where to find, my " ito'I' I::k now :n.ot at ,a It 'i .. ,1Il'
All,laZemen,t' h,eJd. me' the.n ,a nd made m,e wonder

Seeing: the ,girts, mu,c h ,love lOT the' youn,g manl'
.. ' .~,' 0.': ILac
Wh ,lL .,d
'. P.' I'~nred
_' ......... ' c , .,:,' h
"~_ _'' ;' a . . W
..' . . .. ~_. _~ ~
In.O,itl',.,
~~
Partin,g ,frOln paren $1 tald g: 'we,1',th a'way~

Awful .: . j . the patl,h3ss ...' " I
'To wait :fOr' nothin,g bu "d,e ath und,ese'rved"..' . ~

And, w:h en,, too:k h ,e r up on m:y own :h,arse
And we set out 't o ,go to ,th,e Coppemune,s,
(That 'w as ,8 p}la,ce' nea ' ":'1' in Syna)
,k il le'w ' R,o t w:hat I wasil I 'was ,.,.. . .: ~
PassiLIan increasing u:', erly 'w i,t hin :m e;
So w'hen. wle' res;ed as "' or na,tural need,~
My eye" wlth,beauty' and,:m.y bands wi'l k ,fee' 'ng,
. . . . y mau.'th,:. 'W l~ th
M . ,~ ,1""0
~::....
se,s , an~ d', Wi,'t'",'h
~ wor d'' s my h " g:-
':,e ann,
,
,I .. '. . . to d' 0
. ' . " _ I:" a ~~ '1111 ~ f' ~ wJ1 . 55 ~ ct" ~ .
u '0 , JJa . Ie,'. ' ,a,.", lon
11
l
And eve~rY' dee '~ ] wan '., d. 'was dun '". an

By-a'wl. .ssness our' journey was". '
By Sa'lan;s help' and. :m y sou1.',5,:negligen,ci!,
Altho"S . the' woma .'. u. .'I opp .' .: ' my d .
("ailing on. God a'n , on h,e r ' aren'ts'" sou]s .
'The Adv,er, ary" C: '~a'm,pion of th,e dark,;
The foe ,a nd enemY' of aD 'Our' rac,e r
,M'a da me leady 't o, fa ~" ~ t 'G o ' Hi ';se: ' ~
,O,~genes: Akrites:j. eli,. and transL J,. ,MavrO,gorda;t,o (Oxford, 1956), 'I~3 - 59.,
ir:'y,
,~ ......
2:2'
1
of
,I.
A" ,'"I:I'R
, L
, p.O
IG ~I'R
. ~ ,A
, " . S . K'''~N
.,' . ,& , ': (",,'I ~ . A'LL. H'A
F'R:. O..'J:,Y, '" " 'G,'I'O
, , "'.I G :,. . '. p"
.' R.. A . 'H.:' ,'y" ... ) .
- - - - -- - " !.I " - -" - " " - - - - l!! "
Sa:r l ' in ' h,e m ,Q,m ing Lazarus ,g ot a'w ay ,frQ,m, 'I ner,e an.d ' co '.', the :road to,w ,a'r d,
Chonale (" . t (;o}.os 'a e .in. Asia Minor'~ ~ On 'rus way he m,et s01tne people'
from 'C'a ppad,OCta wh,o 'w ere' a~so ,going' 'to 'v islt ' ,b e' shrin,e of ' h,e ,A rcha:o g'e '
,Laza " ""
,. m ,a'0.0,u , , Hllse~f., and ,olne
. . ... s told. the
-, " : ~. ",".
'. d t'h, '" gr'DUp ~ h. er W ,8 S, among " , ,a
, .. " . . .,.. ," '[
'i
[" "~" - , " . ",. ,["","
i
. . ," ! .".... _., ' " I ._. . I I. . ,- , " .. -,. , , .
girl 'W , 0 w,a,s :m,oa:ning: and la'm e.nting gra'vely 'Wll,:'n Lazarus s 'w be . ,.. in-
quired ,a.bout the C8/,use 0,1' be' w'a ilin,g.f and he 'w,as, t cld by some' 'people' tha," SHe
:had been, ' an,d, led a,w ,ay 'from, he'l" na'tive :. and an ': ha', she, ha,d , 'ak,e n
aT pl.'1an 3a~ ~e bl a iOPCK M npa OM

2.4.7.
w],t h her a su.bstan,tial :s,u m of money on. the a.dvlce of the imp os: or ~ 'T,h e' dece V'l~r
, ad' "",
I La, 'Ire
... .','' h[Ol~r-- - 'i"\inDy
i1I'!ii
.It,ll .~ " 'o-,n- l adl
lU I ~, .. , .11,'e- -- , ~ -- ' d
... .....,. . I "]1,' - l"sa
"- pp I .,
" m
--'ea'--e-"d ,P ,u' ,S
. Q '',--- 'e '_',,- a' . 'a"'lll"inCJF
.. I,' "'. .... J ~'i~e n
" ' "o
.''''
,. Il
: ,,. .... " . If! "I"!, } . ." ',
only 'beca.u'ge' Q - -this &,. -d" , :. " 'q ,,'1- :: '. f , "_. f CaJ ' f b ~"'- g cU,- ',~a, '-,.' '- ry .,
:siluJe she W ,I lS ,a virgin" When lazaru:s ', aU this he' a,p p oached. :h er -~ .nd
CURve '< ~ d. 'wi'th hex ,a nd can.vinc~c- both her and-j with hel[ bel. he~[' com, ~ anions ,' j
, ,
'_ -;a'- he wouhi ta'ke' ca. ,," of ,r- unJ,th -'ya - "v,: --, at Chona , '. A -d '0 h -, did~ 'W hen
,n~y arr,lved a.' the' ci.ty" he fO ' d some 0' :,'h . - reiathr'e s and en -, uS:-'ed beT 'ro them
in ord -r to :I erurn ,-,' t,'O her na' lve p,l a,ce an.d ~o h.er- par,e1ilts. ,.,,,"wever, the' evil
spirit" the leal. foe, and adv,e -' ry of the goo '- , sa'w It',a'- Laz'a rus" ioo' 'O,g KU-
Christ"s gr,a,ce, not:'onl,y li,e':m am,ed undamca ged by his evil ,a:rrows,.r but alsO' guard,e d
' he girl. The,,cie'vil cou] - nO' ' 't olerat, thls de:f at and v, ntmed 't o ' . i p'- oy anotheI
'0-" ......'. ,"n' or
.. U I
..;'10....
-;[. ~~ to ' ~. '. "'''!:Iim
,I..~ ~1 ~I oIi""'
'1 ~.f~ ~JlIl-.as'
"-.~1'h
"'jJ' j" 11'
U, 'fIi ll'a'
"""lv.,. :."I~ " ..
n -'"," ~ . : .. ,t o'')"'1 d' ~ ',.-, 'h ' - '1'1,;~!lt.
-- ,,'h' ~ - d , I..
n>'I",-i<,
.. .-..I . '. . . . . .-,
cam,e or 'Laza ' s st'o od :in. a come'r of 't h,e' pa:r]or and prayed to lb . ' Lo~d." and ,a f ' 'f
tha,t lay down il1 . " ri,g ht o'n '~'he srPt The ev"] s,p iri , sent to bim ft, certain
'w ,oman" in the' s-ha,p " of a, :n.un, who S' arted. ,to in.cl,-.. Lazarus to shame': .- i -'l e '-
course., lie, however! ,as,if he w,ele escap'.ng a. ,fwe'j' :nstantt].y .." u'p ' and 'wUhou.'t a
'w ord,lef't, th,e p.ia,c e'., When he eaRl'e' to anal ~er 'pla,ce; h _ . " ,on. God, bes: ' ech.-
in,g lllll1. to re'l,ea~e him from ,tt@ ", "' ... ' .' a'r ts 0' ~ evil ,a'n d tQI fur.nish, b"'m a
smooth road t,o ' I:U! . ' 'net
F'r om the Life of Sa! -,t Lazanu; of' 'Galesi.os, wriUen by a certa'"n Gr ,gory, his ' . I-.
in. ' .. , th e'ntuty,. ,A ASS , Nove~nb[", I ( '. 'r uss Is, 1910)~ ~ . -lA- C'.
23,: E~',"
THE p -". AC'E OF A "
" 0
.
'
.
'. " ..
Amid. this 'w ondrous pl.tlasa.n-t~ paradise'

'T he no' Je' :'orderer r,aised. a pleasa:n.t d'w,- Uing ,
Of goodly :siz,e" :four-sq-uare' of ,a sh are , . ,
W',t -, st -,tel:y roIumn:s ,over and ,ea -e':r:ne'nts;
'The ceilings 'wi"th :mosaic he aU ,a,domed.;
Of " .', 'm arb-es ' ~- as -.," . g 'M tb -their ,g leam;
' T'l-..
,I IIL,e : '. " h- ma,~
,-,e' ~e b -~ r,l g'h,' Ulllal!
'i "d- "t'h--, pe ,-_~b- 1
_~ . 'W I'. 'f
'- ,eSt
t- . '
W." "' . ",' '. e made,,t h 'eE!-v,at11' :d u:p p cham, -. ",rs,

Of goodly hel,g:h t,,. the v au]ts, aU 'V,a:r.iegated,.
., ,chambe'r5 crucifo,nrl; and, s,tra-ng,e pa,:itions,
"...... "'l . sm -.g marbI' 5 't 'r owing .... ' '. . (,.1 ligh'-:.,
Th,e arUs't ha,d , so 'beau.Ufled. '_ h,e' work
Tha' ,'woven -seemed 't o 00 w'n 't -here 'w,as, seen.
, ... " the' ston c:s,1 gay and rna y-flgw' d show,.
h ,e ,1 l,OOT of it be paved wit" ,onyx. >to . 'i
So fir,m].y' polished tho ~ 'e' who :: ---W' ' ~- ",g bt ,thjnk.
Wiate'l 'was there "111. ,ICy na,N .I',.
H ,e' -a "',d. out in Ute 'w" . gs, . . ~,,,- tt s': "'"
R,e clining-rooms" long~ 'w ond 0'08" go . ,e'n -:r-oo:~:@d
'W here ,the, -~ j,u mphs of all old in valo ll
,.
.. . shone, he' paint d fa'IT in ,gold m.osai-c;

B "g an wi,-b Sampson/'s ngh,t ag,a lns,'t -the g,e n tits"
:H,o w 'wi' h his ha . ds h, . :s tr,a-ng' 'Iy :r ent " [ion.,
t:fuw of .'b - ,gen .~" t, w - 'ill ' gat ,s, a'l-.-cd :
aT pL1aJl ~ 3a~lI\~ blL1 a TOPCKL1M npaBOM

,248
He bore on 't o " ,:~ 1, ' he' 'w as prlsoned.; I, .

=
lfi,e gentiles "...' himl ,an.d their dieSilruc.tiofl ';,

Lastly the, .. ' ' campl "'., (Jve,rth~o .. '
8,1' him .' ." , :m . day,. of :
'. hims If ,destroy-ed, h '"h'e' len,tiles,., c-,' II .
,D
- ,IVlOld' Dlium'
::: ".:I' OEhlJ. '!(~ 11...,... :5h~ : ow,eA~I 'WJl "'f:iwu
L ,-
' a 1'-I " J'
SUng o,nly' 'bearing::i n his h nd iln,d sto,n e,;

' . ' . G ' ilia,': ,.'. '1 --. , " gr-ea' 'J'
Dreadful 't o look,,a' mi,ght,Y in ~is (s,:, -'n rh,

P"[--o"'m:: h~~d~ ,IiIi:,o' .-: '. .'. ,', ~ , - ii-. ~ .....n~,p.Dd ,~ .. ':IJUI
' .. ' , ' ,J~g,.
...... . 'u .,' , ,Ii .'. . I~ ~
'Bea '. 'g' a j.a'. r '. ~, . '. :a wea . ,eY's . . . ~ am .

In hue , "., :~.ron by' the palnbM' s art.
:H,e pa:in,b~d 't oo the 'very m,ov'es, of' wa ,'.
Struck :r ig'h,t].y by . ,'h s'tmigh,t
lP'ell 'w ound.ed to ' n,'::ground .' ", ediat . ' ;;
:How ".. ," ru i g,. "",-ting phis '. . om"
Cu ttin ,g his hea " off' ha.d, the vid,o !y,.
An,d ,th,@.' tbe Ie ' 0," Saul, the meek one's ,flight/
Th ' 't ousand p,Iots and God , is veng1 an. . s,.
The' ' a' led wars f " : pa "nted of Achille _;:
Agamemnon the fair, the bal,e ,', flight"
F'eD,elope' tn'e " ise;, ' hie su~'tor,s, slain;,
Odysseus" wnndrous daring' ,o,f ~he' Kyklops'i
, slay.i ~,g the,-e :' C;' ~ ..... ., a,
A<. 'i1.I, '~
V'~1 . d
.,: ,... 'Ol!!' , ... ;
!!.I " J& Q. " ~ _, ~ 'p.:'hs_" I I 'lllou
'.'_' ~,. _. t': o. f' 'D 'a....~ '~~us
-- I '
A nd
'." :',
q--v '- d h. . er
,p ,a-:o'_,
''''''' 'nd ~ ke L .... -
- ~'hi'-
, u:__ ni;).;'
, ~ : I :: a ;,'. , ,I ller
- ..W.lSuom
,. -..04 - -- / ,
His com'~ ng t,o ' -" e 'Br,a hman ~, the,n 'w the Amazons"
,A nd . ' e'ats, o.f 'h,e 'w ,"se A'i@'xander"
'A d- ,'ILll ,os'. s, :m ore, :ma:rvels'
'n 'I
i OUl.l'lbu" 1,'.... 1- d- b
. . '- rave ,, r,.,
M~\ses :hls, Uliraclesi the plagues of :lEgypt,
Exodus of the J 'w s, un,gxateful m LmJl . l
,A nd 'G od's vexatio .. d ,. ',. ... S .': . ant's:p ,a y,: SI!' J
.J'osh ua son 0 f', .N'.,tm h" , ]8 ,gl '.O'U 5 u.:aJts.

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T,.. ~, s, and,Inuch,e:-se in those "tw,o d~ning'-ha'I' ;5
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W,' in the house 'w'as the )'-: or of ,he court~,
'd -
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- le rein he, built ,a ,g lori,ous 'wnr ".~ ,a, .' " mpL '
,I n ' .. name OlE Theoool!e' the sain'!' and, mMtY,f .
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aTep an 3a~ ~e bl'" aSTOpCKlt1 M npaSOM

Texts 249
very tart ranged him elf against the great Psellos. With fanatical zeal for dialec-
tie he caused daily commotions in public gathering as he poured out a continu-
ous stream of subtle argument; subtle propositions were foUowed in tum by
subtle reasons to support them .... When Psellos withdrew from Byzantium
after his ltalo promoted to the Chair of General Philosophy,
with the title, "Consul of the Philosophers." He devoted en rgies to the ex-
egesis of Aristotle and Plato. He gave the impre .sion of vast learning and it
that no other mortal was more capable of thorough research into the
mysteries of the peripatetic philosophers, and more particularly dialectic. In
other literary tudies competence was not so obvious: hi . knowledge of
grammar, for example, was defective and he had not "sipped the nectar" of
rhetoric. For that reason his language was devoid of haIillony and polish; his
style was austere, completely unadorned. His writings wore a frown and in gen-
eral reeked of bitt mes , full of dialectic aggression, and his tongue was loaded
with arguments, even more when he spoke in debate than when he wrote. So
powerful was he in discourse, so irrefutable, that his opponent was inevitably
reduced to impotent silence. He dug a pit on both sides of a question and cast
interlocutors into a well of difficulties; all opposition was stifled with a never-
ending string of questions, which confounded and obliterated thought, so
skilled was he in the art of dialectic. Once a man was engaged in argument with
him, it was to escape the man's labyrinths. In other ways, though, he
was remarkably uncultured and temper was his master. That temper, indeed,
vitiated and destroyed whatever virtue he had acquired from his studies; the fel-
low argued with his hands as much as his tongue; nor did he allow his adversary
merely to end in failure it was not enough for him to have closed his mouth
and condemned him to silence but at once his hand leapt to the other's beard
and hair while insult was heaped upon insult. The man was no more in control
of his hands than his tongue. This alone would prove how un uited he was to
the philosopher' life, for he struck his opponent; afterward anger deserted
him, the tears fell and he showed evident signs of repentance. In case the reader
may wish to know his physical appearance, I can say this: he had a large head, a
prominent forehead, a face that was expressive, freely-breathjng nostrils, a
rounded beard, broad chest and limbs well compacted; he was of rather more
than average height. His accent wa what one would expect from a Latin youth
who had come to our country and tudied Greek thoroughly but without mas-
te.r ing our idiom; ometimes he mutilated syllables. Neither his defective pro-
nunciation nor the clipping of sounds e caped the notice of most people and the
better educated accused him of vulgaIity. It was this that led him to string his
arguments together everywhere with dialectic They were by no
means exempt from faults of composition and there was in them a liberal sprin-
kling of solecisms.
Anna Cornnena, The Alaiad, trans!' Sewter, 175-77.
Ex. 25:
JOHN MAUROPOUS, SPEECH ON THE VICTORY OVER LEO
TORNIKES (1047)
o man, what an enOJ'lIlOUS die you are endeavoring to cast! You are about to
struggle over your sou) itself. The danger is horrible, the attempt fearful. You are
(,opy' (jrted 'T a

250 Appendix
falling among swords, you are leaping on the edge of a precipice, your narrow
path runs between life and death. Halt, 0 miserable man! Where are you dash-
ing? Stop, if you have any reason, avoid the steep and slippery road, avoid the
risk of falling, reject false expectations. Remember, the future is not secure, your
reckless affair is full of peril. Even your success will be shameful, albeit it could
seem pleasant. Your will be a usurpation, the act and the word itself
hated by all people both of the past and of the present. But if you fail, you'll be
finished, you'll be thrown down into the abyss of Hen. Everyone in his right
mind would prefer the humble but secure way rather than a vicious and deadly
ascent. Is it not pref rable to be in the rank and file without being hated by any-
body, rather than rule over all and be detested by everyone? But this foolish man
does not answer; he does not give his ear to anything. He is inflamed by his
passion, he is drunk with his hopes. He utters, "The die is cast." He doses his
eyes, and drawn by the force of his desire, he toward the yawning depth.
He take off the monk's habit, unnecessary and undeserved by him; he puts on
lay garments he, a dog that returned to his vomit [Provo 26 :11), he, Leo, the
Lion, who turns out to be a chameleon, accepting and changing various colors,
he, who is unable to retain only one, the last and inimitable color. He replaces
black by white (the [imperial) purple is lacking yet); he becomes bright after hav-
ing been gloomy. Nobody could e.xpect this: a former monk, he is now a lord,
longing for an even whiter ve tment, that of the emperor, to be laid upon him
and to distinguish him, contrary to all expectations.
John Mauropous, "Quae in codke Vaticano graeco 676 supersun!," ed. P. de Lagarde,
Abhandlungen der hislorischphilologischen K/as..~ der kiiniglichen GescllschDft der Wissen -
scholten zu Giiltir.gen 28, no. 1 (1881 (1882, 182, no. 186. #18-19.
Ex. 26:
EULOGY BY GEORGE TORNIKES FOR ISAAC II ANGELOS (1193)
o Emperor magnified by God, I had already desired to eulogize you and just at
that time I experienced the same thing as those who, for the sake of investiga-
tion, make the beams of their eyes match of the sun. They, howeve.r, are
unable to meet painlessly the brilliance of the sun and turn their faces aside. This
brilliance cannot be perceived directly because of its exceeding brightness, and
therefore they attempt to catch the sun, the leader of the stars, in water mirrors~
in this way it allows them to behold its halluless and kind visage. This way con-
fOJU1S to my intention: to behold you through the Light-bearing and shining wa-
ters of the river Jordan [an allusion to the Feast of Lights commemorating
Christ's Baptism), so that, 0 Sun King, your deeds and your rays were seen un-
diminished and the luster of your victories appeared in brightness. Let the good
Jordan be at this time for my speech what the dear air is for the eyes ....
Such is he, 0 my listeners, our master and emperor, the common good for
all, the much-compounded benefit, the union of virtues, the unity of all grace,
" the good gift from above" that "comes down" upon us from munificent God
Uames 1: 171. He has the full right to be called a genuine king, not.a false one, for
whom the marvelous Plato sought but was not to find, as he himself put it, ex-
pressly saying that he had never the model and archetype, but only the
image depicted, outlined and fOlllled. In this regard we are more fortunate and
successful than this wise man, since we have obtained in reality the king whom
Copy r gl"tea 'T a

Texts 251
he imagined in his dream, the king whose appearance is more delightful for his
subjects than all visions. Nobody will remain unsatisfied who ha the chance to
view his sweet face or to listen to his conversation; to perceive him i equal to the
of honey, for he actually urpas es in the pleasantnes . of his tongue the
melodious and "dear-voiced orator" of Homer (Nestor; niJ1d 1.2481, whom I pray
he will outdo in longevity.
Fontt'S 2: 255, 279.
Ex. 27:
MICHAEL, NEPHEW(?) OF THE METROPOLITAN OF A CHIALOS
ON THE TASK OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Let the Peripatus praise the almighty King. The Academy is to join it in this sac-
rifice, as well as the revived Lyceum and the majestic ancient Stoa. I beg you to
reject and e pel as aU that is rotten and unsound in your tenets and to
collect and embellish that which is skillful, refined and supportive of the truth in
order to refute falsehood and to undo idle talk. Let the smith's mallet hammer
the iron and transfolln it with heavy blows into a useful thing; let the bird pro-
vide the archer with feathers to be fixed in his arrow; let the serpent lend its flesh
to phy idans in order that, being attacked by its own blows, it becomes weak
and ineffective. This the emperor's newest invention, this is his tribunal
rooted in ancient rules, in antique institutions, and which, like the net of the
Holy Gospels (Matthew 13.471, is to be cast into the material sea and to gather of
every kind, in order to adopt in a proper way that which is pure and genuine,
wherea aU that i unpure and unholy ought to be spit upon as worthless and
dirty garbage.
R. Browning, Studies on Byzantille History, Literature and Education (London, 1977), part
4, 189.69-84.
Ex. 28:
CRITIQUE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT: THE WAR OF THE CAT AND
MICE
CHEESETHIEF (Tyrokkptl's 1
What does it mean? Do you dare to menace him
who dwells in heaven and who prodaimed to the immortal :
"I will hang the great chain down from the axis of the world
And puII all of you up with my mighty hand" [an allusion to Uiad
8.19 - 201?
LARDEREATER [Kreillosl
o well, I have menaced him a thousand times.
I talked to him about my life,
about my pitiable existence in a small corner,
in utter gloom and darkness.
I am trembling with fear and anxiety,
the poor knowing no pleasure .
.I weeping and bewailing in despair,
striking and scratching my chel'ks
Copyr gtltec rra

252 Appendix
and sweaIing against Zeus, the con ul of the Gods,

and I added to my groaning and anger
fearful threats full of danger.
H. Hunger, Dcr i1yz.antinische Katz Miiuse-Krieg (Graz. Vienna,
Cologne, 1968), 9Of., v . 88 - 102.
Ex. 29:
A SCE E IN HELL
After a short silence my good guide said: "0 stranger, I am baffled by your
boorishness and lack of knowledge of simpl things. I wonder whether you
know that all mice are the earth's litter and that theiT tribes appear at the time of
drought, when the earth gets cracks? As a matter of fact, it is more proper to
regard them as an underground population that has filled up the dwellings of
Hades rather than one that lives up there in the world. They do not come down
here from there, but they climb up from us, from the bottom of the world to the
surface. So do not be astoni hed that mice live among us and that they are so
tame and eat th same food a we do, sharing none of the apprehen ion of the
fi Id mouse. Can you see how manifest is their joy when they look at this old
man eating? They are e ulting; they move their jaws and lick their lips with their
tongues, as if they are more mfeited with fat than the old man himself." What
he -aid was the clear truth, a I could observe while scrutinizing the mice. "Do
you noti e ," he kept .aying, "that they are concerned with his beard and only
wait until he falls asleep? As soon a they hear him wheezing, as he does in
slumber, they'll come to lick hi beard, which has been washed by rich juice, and
to gulp a bellyful of all the crumbs stuck there. They live on that, and, as you ee,
they are well fed ."
PseudoLucian , Timarion, ed. Roma.no, 67.f .
Ex. 30:
AN A COMNENA ON THE PREDICTION OF A SOLAR ECLIPSE
AJexios saw through the Scythian fraud: their embas y wa an attempt to evade
the imminent peril. and, if they were granted a general amnesty, it would be a
for the underlying spark of evil to be kindled into a mighty conflagration.
He refused to hear the envoy. While these e.xchanges were taking place, a man
calJed Nikolaos, one of the under-secretari s, approached the emp ror and
gently whispered in his ear, "Just about this time, Sir, you can expect an eclipse
of the sun." The emperor wa compl tely sceptical about it, but the man swore
that he was not lying. With hi . usual quick apprehension, Alexios turned to the
Scyths, " The decision," he said, "C leave t.o God . If some sign should clearly be
given in the sky within a few hours, then you wiu know for ure that I have good
reason to reject your emba syas uspect, because your leaders are not really ne-
gotiating for peace; if there is no sign, then I shall be proved wrong in my suspi-
cions." Before two hours had gone by there was a solar eclipse; the whole disk of
the sun was blotted out as the moon passed before it [August t, 10871. At this the
Sc:yths were amazed. As f.or Alexios, he handed them over to Leo Nikerites with
in truction to escort them under strong guard as far as Constantinople.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

Texts '"
253
,
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,
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,A m, a C,o;mn ": ill" The I ""iad'I' ' /

Sewter/, '.,' ( :., err,u i d , , , .~ "'!i'Z m'Id,e""' ~
fizienmg de'r So... nen!6'nslerms wlahrend, des, Petschene,genkrie,ges , '" exios I Kom,-
I . .' '(1084 ,. n I,OB (1974)~ 19~,"I.", : "', . " 'Jh i ". . " " " "
Ex,. 31,:
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IC:u,cumbers anglouriR ]J' 'w'hich fOlulerly were caned botUe-g,ourds, [,sil;ya], ,a're' cold
and, :fluid ,a,cQJord 'o g toO the :seoond de,gree' , mIX't ure of oold a ' d fl'w d,'s 'vtrry'
and (J:ieaites bad, Jub:-es,. ,A mong tthe : ':,ne :s hould, . hODS: the sman
ones., TIl y ,8 ' d ,' ~ ,t ak,e n . ;"th ,3 , Be'v ,e re :f ever will ma " e
I' "," " ' 't em,-
:pera't"ure ,more m'~,at ad and SI,'"i"H'IIi, ; ,':"
~~.' LPlcanby 'I
nru"'l d,e r',. ',H~" ,o wle,ve.r, t, ~: eU"
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lates [the' e' ,acua' ion of] the,s'tQ'm ac " Th,e ol~d.e'r :i t is, ". w,aom1.er it ..... ,Cio.m,es" a:n d ,m
It is, :m or" n.utritiOtL ' 'than any ,oUv,e ,o it I,t, promotes di,gesHon ,clnd :perspiI:,Q ~OI1,t
, speciaU, :in' , 'bl , ' . .' ..,:U ,cures 5wuUen g"an.ds ,a nd 'hlmo,rs 'w :hen,
s :"" ued O've' :-them] an,d ,a' "ev*ates ,children/is,pain. d,n ring' t "e bing'., If used e '", s-
s~v'e 'l.yl '"t .: ' . ~ ', ., C8nses naU'S ,8, and l.oss ' . appeU '., In w ,a mlel" bellies i,ti' is
,frequerrt" Y' ""ans "~ r,med ,.'",:00 a li,g,ht ml,e'. 1
I Seth., Syntagma de' Q'li'mmlW",u:m facul,ttd,ib:uJi} ed ~ , . : ~ langbive , (Lej,pzig" lYe)"

I ,.,""
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THE, C,O> C ."'PT' 'O'F IM,P: ,R 1AI. P'O'W'E:R I ,. T .: :E TEN'T'H CE'<TU'" "CY'
The Almighty rs,h all ,co 'e l thee wlh his shield t ,a nd, thy 'Ctea,tor ,sha'"'", endllle
'with, un deutandt",";: He shaU db~ect thy 8, . . ~ pS; 8'nd, :6 ," :all '(I,S::ablis '". "ee 'u ". on ,a.
sure ' , '. 'I :'. . ,' "'. . Thy 'thr-Ollte :s,haU 'be, as the sun, be/J'o fle' Him, an.d .,''6, .' ySI . ' .
'be . toward t'hee; and, :n aught of hanu shaU ,touch th,ee" ,fOI H,." I , .
ch,o sen ' he :. and ", ' 00 apart rom thy mother's "\'Q,m bi and ha,t h ,gi. en, It ,",
th," e His,: . ,as ll.mt~ one , .. , .'. '" above aU llitCR and ha,f h set 'thee' as a l'wge j
, '
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,mountain, :" ~ ath,H,e ~:,ai:ed. ~" "Jee' u,p;, tha,ti' the " . may' [bring' to '. their gjfts
and,"thou .IIUt,Y1es,t''be adored of "h,em t a', d'weU upon " ea "'h~ :Bu:t Thou, '0 Lor,:
m,if~ ~ G' .0
':.:>, : ~' rul
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. I'" and ',j ,e u' ..... :i nclin d 't OI ... ' ", : ' I ppUcati,ons,., May Thy hand, ,COlYer Ji" ,
and may rule' ' ... '.. '.' ,o f tnl,t h, ,a nd may ',hy ig': t hand 8, ~ ',e bim;: may his
. . " b . ma , . " '..'. t: before tOI k. .p' thy . . " May foes "all beion bis . , ' 1 ' .. '
:fatJi!, aon d his ,e nemi,e s lick ' he' dust.. ~y ,t he' fdem of is :raoe 'be' shady .'. 'Ut I '.
aT pL1aJl ~ 3a~lI\~ blL1 a TOPCKL1M npaBOM

254 .A - , .
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of many 0 " .sPlrin.g" ,and. the :shad,o,w o,f ,his frui.t COiV,@r tn, 'kingly m,ountains,;: :f Ol'
bY' Th,e@ do- ' , ': . ruI . :~, g' .orif)rin,g Thee,fore'V,er' ,a nd ever.,
Constan,tine orpbyrogeitus.. ,De administmNdo im,-_- rio~ h',a ns '. R,. ," 'enkins, (Was'-,- -
i'ng,ton"" D. C." " 96,7), 4," ~
,
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K:E KA'U 'M : - : as,,O N FEA'L T'V TO THE EMP", -,' 0 ''-
If someoo,e ..volts ,a nd 'p roclaims himse' " em,perol"',., do not suppo,r t his i c'h ,eme"
bu,'I' s'tand, aj,QO from, ,h im'i .If you. ar'e ,able w' wage 'w ar lind assa.ult the' 'U:S<Ui',p e -,
=
.fJ;ght" -on behalf of t~he ,eim peIOf' and the 0 _ . '. peace,., If.' you ar'e ltnabi.e, s'l a "d
~. loof fmm him, ,as ha,-,e said aJlreQ, dy~ and tog, ther'wi.th your peopl,e seek a fm'~
'c-mas", 'W ~ te to ,t he em,p eror, andl try '_ 0 serve him to the ' '.' .-. st of your capaci.ty~ in
am,e . thB't you and, your' cm]dnr-, and your :p ,. op:ie' 'be' r .ward,e d,. [f you hav,e o
". nd, t,;, S 'jz,. : a ortr ~ SS,' .I,eiJ've every -rung ,a nd ,Hee' 't o the' emperor',. .If,~, howe'v,e t,
you do not dare to esca,p e because of your -, ollseoold,s stay with,'t a,e' rebe'l" 'bu ' :le-t
your :m ind,be tu'r ned to-ward th " ' p '" r:, ,a nd when an occasio'l l tomes, oo'm . i't
a,praiseworthy' d,e ed:, 'w h' -: In th,e cam,p of th,e rebel, ally wi,t h yo/urid 'a les,! [Ute~
any, 't~those W 'ft,O ,a ' ~ stro,n g',e r t a:n. ,the~ -o~d,'~';] : -"en you la,_ aUy] and, move' c
-: , [ .
to :s eize ,t he ,rebel" :Pres .,r ve ' ~ea ty 't o, th" .'m peror in, C:onslan.tiinoph~'" CI'nd you
'w on't fail in. your .' " . ',' .'... .., '" .'
1'-; ~ seeCh Y'DUL" my oeWived. ..'.' " , "- ho .... God ,ga",_ 'to mel 'tOI :side with hI'
le tn,.- ero ,a nd keep serving :hJm", since, the ,e m,p ,r or who has ,h is sea't in 'C'o ns:tan-
tinopl,e ,- --nst al.ways. 'w ,i n,.,
. ,,~',G -'G- -
~ I!! . _ I!!
'L
-' '1' .'
~_
I
(M
'. <.
I. ': .'
_ _ _ SCOW'/' 1- '7~,
_ _ " ~,-.', :.'
,. _ _ _ ;F ~III -,~
"li.tl'ii
_ _ ~~" 2- """,. .:
IIr- ...... ~' 3
AUo.. 12
""'J;;t:,g;
_ _ __ __ Ifl
Ex'. 34,,:
N '. E,'T AS 'e: O'~: lA" -5 ON ,:, E E , PE:R,O R
Ea,ch ni e'r :iSI exceedin,glly 'tinll'id and su;s,picio:us an.d enjoys, ,a,c ling r . . . . Thana,l os
[Dea,t hl i Chaos'i ,and. Hrebos [Da:rkn,ess), pruning eupa',fridai'j ruining: e'v,e ryone
w 'b o is high ,a nd :_ o'fty", ,casting dow,n, ,as vile :r e,f use 'the' g;ood counselor' and, cut-
_'Ilg off the' able' and useful 3,e lleraj . Earthly rulers sUnjp'l.y :rese':mble tall. pin.e trees
wi,t h leafy Cl'owns: th,09e' 6rs' brea,t hin-g th,e 'win.d be,g in to m.ove, the :n.eed ,es ,o f
their' 'b ranches and 'k ) ml1r,m ur;' rulers, in. ,t '" :sa:m ,e '>, y, tre'mb~,e -:h.e.n ' .' s
anyone' who :is distinguish,ed. 'by hiis 'w ealth,or who surpasses 0 hers in his,'p row'-
,ess. TIl,e ,crow,o,ed, prince cann,ot' ,slee'p and :remam iran.quU :il he' sees a man .- ho
veil ' if-'Ul'il as a sla
:1~ ;8, as L~ I
-
.ue' or as -loquen',
iI
~n; a SlngJllg , ,'teralLy~ 1-1 " . ,. r' 0 f t he' 0' .' [ " 0' /J' 1
'
,.... Us -,s,U] hi "d .or 'w ho 'has gt! '-, .- a ners,., " ., eg such a" as ind.u,cin,g I us
inso' mal' Oy~ --, umi .,g miT -hI' destroy ng : '. UTe" ,a:nd. caus,jm.,g' OO(f\,c e'm ., "I'tt.,.!
ruler abusesl and. b~am,esl cI'e abve :nature for' :heaving brought b')rth. other' peop.l,.
'w:h o are WI . "hy 'Of 'C-o' ' and, and no-' him ala ,'. to be fi~s," , u:pper.lnos,' :_,and
bees't ,a'm ong me, . Iii ' 'any, . ..' 'l aunch '-' .. : agai,.' .t pero ... ', .,ce' ,a n '. - 8r them,-
'i' I'
against " Godhead . _.' strang 'i ng ,al1 W ' .' 0 ,a good and, slaugh b.'!T, n,g
th,e m 8Ji ,a sacriflce., Bly so d.oin , th,~y' hOlpe' toO secu . ' l,w t, ." 'to ~. "vi,ce "'" th,et'
isolation,, ,'w ma'-], s,t at nro' r ' p, rh:r' a . if it W 'JI ' an 'ne", ,s tr, I. '_ JIDtm'en,t~ 't o e=<, 101'
I, 'Ir~ .
' tee people ,a s, :siaves" and. 't o treat ,t hose 'w 'bo are war "hy of command, as if ,t h,ey
w'e re hired, Set -s., 'D ue '_,0 ~ :PO'w 'eF' ' hey :lOte' pc ~cep j ~ n. an,d are, d _pr:i ved of'
'1- -
reason", and. in the[r wrong; thinking .' h ,ey" ror,get "he' pas't
. .ikOl . ,. 1.43,.. 3-64,.
aT p an ! 3aLlH1~ blL1 aBTopCK M npaBO

Texts, ,25S
Ll~ ,1
I
6;, U ,p v'es ......."uo d '!:!Ii
.~' PI. ""y v ' r
,,, ~ 'li"YiiIUl ,An,
~,.,:]:S']. ' O
- J "
'.~.:
.I.U ' t ,n;f
~""':' ,o ,'~,~, ,o
.: d
, r . , iii
.: f' ;''n
. ~' 's " y
~'.g ,. . . u~ ,~gL~
:~ "_, ;jo '_'
I.
V A" " . . 111 ,_' Y
"t'h,e' nltimB't e ca'u se of ,a1 these'," ac~l s, and llo" , ~ '~, ,ost all your subj; > :' ga,t h,e f
: and. come tc you". Gi .'",e ea'r I s,b e ~,her.d o.f' Chil lS , "" [sr.,a ', ~ I~ r"
le'a d t 's, amp'l e peopl , nk ' ,a, flock [ .,: alms, 79 =2].. ,P re iv . 'this, m:ultitud , ', hose
,a rray :i s 10 :r e'm arkable! whose, obedi.en.ce so v,o~,un.ta:ry! 'w 'h ose , ty is s , ',' , ,
:human and w'hose .' .', ' is, in'nate,. They ,am rus'h,e d her,e' ,.'p: .:tt' "aneous,l,., 'to tht,
:h oly Zion, "to this, fa , hful :m 'e ' r-opoUs 1 to your n.ew' J :fUsal :D1 t whose' ere .lurs
,an.d,buid,e rs 'were ,Go ' an.d Y'Olll. There,f,rom :shall go forth 'l he' ri, hteousness and
the, law' (Isaiah .: ,::3]" : ,',' that you. have 'b "autifuUy taught ,a nd indoctr:na:t ed an~ ,
't hat' eV,eD, e'arHer was, se' ,,.. h in ilLCti'O'I lS,. E'v ervone w':ho hca s d,we~l the'l'e mISses . ~ ,~'
the' ,c ity,., Godl is in bet midst [P;sa'bns ,45::6] '. She' is nut tempes,',..,tosse _'. He l
founded h,e r [psalms ,23,:: 2, like tb . eat' h upon ' fto ,d s a :"' ade' 00' 'b ,- l
'h older,s" a miraci,e ,ror' lis,' 'enexs, ,~, city that is raised, ,above the ,gooun,d;, almost' in
mid-,air, and bar'ely held, dow~n. by the sea and, even. less by th ~ ' la:nd,.
Today s'~', .' . ,yo" :S b,j "s ,and! ma', :s,,e1 '',11 ly m, , " ' ~es:',' 'hi" " " .
(l,f your :m igh,t: as it r, ally is. Sh, finds un]imit,e d spa ' '.' f , ' h()iU . ' nd:s, and thou-
sands.., for ,c row s uncounted and unmarIked.,j wh,o have $ .' 'rea.m ed a :i f ' ,'. " . .' .. ,' ,.
a 51,g . , ,f llODl the ends. of ~ . ,e 'w ar,,' to' dUB ~ plendi, ,and, we,1,.. se , n p,la,o ~ '~ "to tit ': c
(0,[ OU10 ' re,BI' in,g -si te' 0. ' ,t h,e who lie' oikou'umen .'., She acoommo : ales in hey,self in..;,
nU.11U!m ' le c' '. '" 'GauntI'" '.5:1' ' t j' S who! ..., e gave i t , y-O:Uf' han ' s, I Ie 'w'h o 1 .' .
by ' Rabl : pr-o ' . '" c ' s'u bdu d your pop1- to you /, 'tb ' 'p :o:pl '~u : '11' bo @
aU p . :~p:le I ,' od. ',' 91 : 5l~ exceedlng11y '":ien.' i iulli ",e the s: ars o:f t,h ' sky' ,a 'OO ' ' . e
. and, on. the, beach of the se,a", w,e,:l,ded '. o,geth,er f,rom,,aU ages and, strata,s IC OU ' ct .d
from d'"fferen ' :r anks and orders ,m,on18 ,a nd, ma:r ried personsi' p'n ,e st ' a:: .d
laYlne'~~:I' ma,gnates and the ra . and rille" civ"lia .S : . sokli,e '.:" nobles and, com,~
, nc " h', and': p' vu
I ,nrrIi,O
UlL 1l...::!I, ., ,
.' nt an h,'[u 'm '['l ~, 1
~lrii' ,p. ~nm'lln'". ," . " I tIn . I
.L,U t' be
, .. y' ~. II"
,Ii", . " , " , ,,', ,. ~ , ,", , ;J 'Y" , "
iLL ,,' . c ., ,' . . I .
honorab e and wort.' y servants of su.ch po : e.r an.d beco e en ,'.. . . hono '- I I .
abl e .... cca use 0,': :' . .' im,p erial hig'h:n,e ss ,a nd,,t h,e' :phi1Jan'.hroply ' R,ener01llS y :p oured
upon. everyone.,
"'"
.E~-~. 3C.
~ . o ,:~
DESC'R]PTIO , OF CONSA,~, I ~ OPLE,

The' cry "~ 'el ~' "' '. " .. and " . and :>'n ma,n pIa ,s. armd by t
d 'I '< . ess,J' ';0 ' , . W I. 'alt
rsh . ,ow the :Stree't s 'with build ~'n: ;s and eave th. 'S .
.,' .0 .. '. l
dirty, dar,' pIa,lces to' ,the' poor and t ,Q ' ,.... ;: ' b ' m:u rd , . ' '_ nd rob .. ~je . .
r-[lI'.'m'e c 'w , h"
. II~
'. h' 'I' O""'IV'
'\;;., ~ ,\I, _ ~. ~
d kn
, - .[,, ~
.~ ' lI"' , "" ~, 'Fir'iI'il.'
00 ''' e:
,.t .
"_1'
,I,
. . ' "v- . - .. -- . ~,
M-' . 1'0 '1- ," C
. , ,..
'.' .
c , I" , ~'
g 'r- '-'
Q..L '.' ,. '. .L&U,I/,u ," I" '. " . ",. I" , I, ,c , I . , '-.'" ,'~"; . "
live la'w'les '~ Y' in ' h '"s '. "ty, w'h L ' lit s a,s, :m any lords ,a '. rich men a:n d almost as
'. t ,;' .v "s ,. . s' .00 - 'm ', n.,. a cr.imina', :k n,o,ws ned'he'l' fe'at' no,:r.' SMm,e'; beC;},u .
, , '
crime is not pu-oi :h e : b " w -nd ~. vr . n:tire > comes t.o ,:"'g h ]'n ,ev'e ry ': spct
she eXl:~eds. ~ od .rati,o n; ".' .r, lus t as :sh.e s:utjp'a,sse,s O't'b e:r' 'l:i 'ies, in w,ealt1h,~, so ' . 0 .
.. ~ r
, : s',
d' : ~,I'Yli S' h'l .( ,.
I",
,D',o rp:: a'ss" ,'. Dm
r~ "',."
.... , . ~', ..
m
! ~ V",:l!'c: e
. [,.
,.:, _i1 . 1
Cd .:.. i.ur
. . .. , .. De 'n ... p ruJ,
"""loJ.
l'!
~hone A.~UU
.".l" , 'fl' tr--ans1,.
O:V~ '~. 'V 1I" .
,f: " D
D r,F.)","' I5,.
Mar pl.'1an 3awMw, billt aBTopcK~M npaBoM

256 Appendix
Ex. 37:
VLACHS 0 BYZA TINE TERRITORY: STORY FROM THE
REIG OF EMPEROR ALEXIOS I (1081-1118) AND PATRIARCH
NICHOLAS (1084 - 1111)
The devil entered the heart of the Vlach . They had with them their women,
who wore male attire as if th were faithful; they tended and served the
mona leries (on Mount Athos). They brought (koubalousi, modem Greek] to the
monks cheese, milk, and wool (mallia, modem Greek) and prepared dough at
the orders of the mona terie . To put it simply, they we.r e serfs [douloparoikoi) and
for the monks a beloved people. But it is hameful to tell and to listen to what
they have done .... (The devil) provoked holy old men. after the patriarch is-
. ued the order [to expel the Vlachs from Mount Athos), inducing them [to say]
that we hould die there and should be culpable for our lives .... Then one
could see a terrible thing that wa worthy of great lamentations: the hermit
(hesychasles) came weeping to those whom he instructed in the eremitic life, and
he told them word that the had taught him to say. And similarly the
hegollmenos [abbot) addressed his flock (saying] that from this time on we should
have neither life nor relaxation after the Vlachs and their herds were expelled,
and that the patriarch ha chained the whole mountain~ even the woods and the
water... . And so a whole throng of monks left with the Vlachs right to the
leader of the world [Satan). Souow filled OUf heart, since (it was apparent that) it
wa . not only the demon who enjoyed that [occa ion) but al 0 the monks. There
were three hundred Vlach !amelia [households) that the emperor [in his letter) to
the patriarch called kIltunai; he frequently thought over the ity of
ing on them the tithe (deknteia), but the administrator of the districts did not
support this, for they disliked overburdening the monasteries. . . . 0 miracu-
lous tory! They said that one heJinit of the region, a famous one fearful for de-
mon , left together with a certain Vlach, and that a very piou hegoumenos left
with a man who followed him, and as well other monasteries left as a whole
community with their beloved Vlach . It was to see the God-founded,
God-protected mona teries guarded only by Lame [kautzos, modem Greek] and
blind old brethren.
Ph . Meyer, Die Haupt urku ndt'n fu r die Geschichte der Athoskl6sler (Leipzig, 1894),163-65.
Ex. 38:
POLOVTSY AND VLACHS ON BYZANTI E TERRITORY:
ORDINANCE OF ANDRONIKOS I (1184)
The monks of the honorable Monastery of St. Athanasios on Mount Athos in-
formed. my imperial maje ty that the Curnans (Polovtsy] came up to the moun-
tainou pa tures [plonena) called .Pollzouchia that belonged to the monastery,
e tabli hing there folds for their animals and letting them graze . and
now they are refusing to pay the customary tithe [dckateiaJ for their animals. If
it is really so, my imperial majesty enjoin that tax collectors [praktore ] from
Moglena, on the basis of this ordinance [prostaris] of my imperial majesty en-
force them (the Curnans) to pay to the of St. Athanasios all the tithe,
as well as other proper it m I kephalaion). They should not dare, after the issue of
thi ordinance of my imperial , to commit omething of the same sort;
and they are not allowed to treat the Vlach and Bulgarians, who are not theirs,
Cooyr gtltec rra

Texts 257
as th ir dependent [oikeioi]; but th above-mentioned monastery is to exact

[payment from them] according to traditional norms. If they do not how a con-
ciliatory spirit, but keep doing wrong in some way or another, or exempting
[exkousseuein] the Vlachs and Bulgarians, according to their present illegal prac-
tice, the praktores willexpel them from the afore-mentioned planma even against
their will.
Laura I, no. 66.1-6.
Ex. 39:
TURKS IN THE BYZA TI EMPIRE
The autocrator, even f.rom afar, perceived a trange roar, and whereas aU others
wre puzzled and could not understand whence this strange nocturnal noise
cam , h alone recognized the roaring river and the P rsian armies
the tream. 0 efficient mind knowing with the of divination!
o military experience that even at night is not to be surpassed! 0 vigilant eye of
reason able to distinguish from afar what is hidden by darkness! For you, barbar-
ian , Hell is the only proper abode. Even though you are not ru hing thereto,
th emperor will send you there against your will. Your gold that you had col-
lected as tribute while ao ing the plains of Dorylaion has perish d, the numeT-
ou that your country had nourished have perished, your he.r d of
and cows and have perished and you have suffered misfortune, even your
m st important limbs are severed. Now you are more miserable than yourselves.
In great numbers, by tribes and by clans, you aU came of your own accord to the
Rhomaioi and exchanged th p of liberty for happy erfdom. And now
"the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall tie down with the kid"
(Isaiah, 11: 6).
Euthymios Malakes, Speech to Manuel I Comnenus, ed. K. Mpones, " Euthymiou tou
Malake metropolitou Neon Patron (Hypates) Dyo enkomia tikoi logoi, nyn to proton
ekdidomenoi eis ton autokratora Manouel I Komnenon (1143/80)," Theologia 19 (1941 -
541.15- 33.
Ex. 4():
AN XEMPTION FROM BILLETT! G FOREIGN TROOPS (1088)
Th whole of the above-mentjoned island [Patmos), a well as the monaste.ry
with all its properties, is granted exkousseia [exemption) from the billetting [mi-
tata) of all commanders, both Roman [Rlron/aioi) and foreign a that is the Rus,
Varangians, Koulpingoi [an enigmatic people identified with the Kolbiagi of the
Ru knja pravda), Inglinoi, Frangoi ( ormansJ, Nemitsoj [GelLilansJ, Bulgarians,
Saracen , Alans, Abasgoi, the Immortals, and all other Roman and foreigners.
A J' chrysobuJl for the Mona tery of 51. Christodoulos on the of Patmos.
MM 6:47.3-7.
Ex. 41 :
WESTER MARRIAGE ALLIANCES
In the year 1180 [this date is un ertain) in the eleventh indiction, Emperor Eman-
uel sent hi envoys, that is Comunianus (Chumnos?), Count Alexio Raynierj
Strambo and Baldwin Guercio, with his [the emperor's] niece, in order to marry
Copyr rt
258
Appendix
her to the brother of the king of Aragon. He, however, turned her down because
of his fear of the emperor of AJemania. Eventually they gave her to William, the
Good Man [lwmo bello) of the mountain Pezolano [Montpellier). The imperial en-
voys concluded and made a pact and agreement with the king of France [Louis
VII) that he would give his daughter to the son of Emanuel, the emperor of Con-
. They accomplished and finished the thing, and brought her on sev-
enteen galleys and two bussi, of which four galleys were rigged by WiUiam of
at his cost, and this WiUiam came to Pisa with those four galleys
and Chuminianus with one boat, and they entered Pisa on the fifth day of May
and were received with great honor by the oldiers and with great acclama-
tion and triumph by the whole population.
Bernardo Maragone, Annales Pisoni, ed. L. A. Muratori, RIlccolta degli storiei italiani,
vol. 6, part 2 (Bologna, 1930), 68f.
Ex. 42:
RUSSIANS IN BYZANTIUM: THE RUSSIAN CHRONICLE (lPATSKY
REDACTION)
The year 6670 (11621 .... In the same year, the sons of Yurij came to the imperial
city, Mstislav and Vasilko, with their mother, and they took with them the young
Vsevolod, the third brother. And the king (Emperor Manuel I] gave four towns
on the Danube to Vasilko and the district (volost'] Otskalan to Mstislav .

LLtopis po lpatskomu spislcll (5t. Petersburg, 1871),357.
Ex. 43:
RUSSIANS IN BYZANTIUM (FROM KINNAMOS)
At the same time, Vladislav, one of the principal persons in Russia, came as a
refugee to the Romans with his children and his wife and aU hi forces, and a
property along the Danube wa granted to him . Previously the emperor had
given it to the refugee Vasilika, the son of George, who had the principal place
among the chieftains in Ru sia.
Deeds'" John and Manuel COlllnnlUS, transl. C. M. Brand (New York, 1976), 178.
Ex. 44:
RUSSIANS IN BYZANTIUM: LEGEND OF A LEAD SEAL (ELEVENTH
OR TWELFTH CENTURY)
The seal of John Ro protovestes
ed . V. Laurent, LA collection C. Orghidall (paris, 1952), no. 69.
Ex. 45:
RUSSIANS IN BYZANTIUM: AN ANONYMOUS EPIGRAM
On the enkolpioll that has an honorable stone from Christ's tomb:
A particle of the tone that covered the Tomb, as the foundation stone and the
basis lof the enkolpion) is carried by Theodore Ros of regal kin .
S. lampros, " Ho Markianos Kodix 524," Nros Hellenomnemon 8 (1911), 153, no. 254.

Texts 259
Ex. 46:
RUSSIANS IN BYZANTIUM : JOHN TZETZES' LETTER TO THE
METROPOLITAN OF DRISTRA
I have received the reverend letter sent me by your Holiness, together with
your bounty, your most divine Grace, both the young slave who has now been
renamed from Vsevolod to Theodore, and that "bull-carved" or, if you like,
"Ru sian-carved," little box for containing ink, on which has been carved in re-
lief out of fishbone a quite unspeakable beauty surpassing the fabled handiwork
of Daedalus.
J. Shepard. transl.. "Tzetzes' Letters 10 Leo at Dristra," By: . Forsch . 6 (1979). 196.
Ex. 47:
TZETZES' LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE
One finds me Scythian among Scythians. Latin among Latins,
And among any other tribe a member of that folk.
When I embrace a Scythian I accost him in such a way:
"Good day, my lady, good day, my lord:
Salamalek alti, salamalek altugep [aJfi bag]," "
And also to Persians I peak in Persian:
"Good day, my brother, how are you? Where are you from , my friend?
Asan khais kuruparza khaneazar kharandasi (garu barsa? Xanta(n) ii(r)sar?
garindas]?"
To a Latin I speak in the Latin language:
"Welcome, my lord, welcome, my brother:
Bene venesti, domine, bene venesti, frater.
Wherefrom are you, from which theme do you come?
Unde e et de quale provincia venesti?
How have you come, brother, to this city?
Q[u]omodo, frater, venesti in istan civitatem?
On foot, on horse, by sea? Do you wish to stay?
Pezos, caballarius, per mare? Vis morare?"
To Alans I say in their tongue:
"Good day, my lord, my archontissa, where are you from?
Tapankhas mesfili khsina korthi kanda, and so on."
If an Alan lady has a priest as a boyfriend, she will hear such words:
"00 not be ashamed, my lady; let the priest marry you (to moullin sou].
To {arnetz kintzi mesfili kaitz tua saunge."
Arabs, since they are Arabs, J address in Arabic:
"Where do you dwell, where are you from, my lady? My lord, good day
to you.
Alentamor menende siti mule sepakha [ila ayna tamurru? min ayna anta? sitti!
mawlay! Sabah]." <
,And 1 welcome the Ros according to their habits:
"Be healthy, brother, sister. good day to you.
Sdraste, brate, sestritza," and I say, "dobra deni."
(fo Jews 1 say in a proper manner in Hebrew:
"You blind house devoted to magic, you mouth, a chasm engulfing flies, "
memakomene beth fagi beelzebul tirnaie,
Copyr gtltec rra

260 Appendix
You stony Jew. the Lord has come. lightning be upon your head .
Eber ergam, maran atha, bezek unto your khothar."
So I talk with all of them in a proper and befitting way;
I know the skill of the best management.
ed. H . Hunger. " Zum Epilog der Theogonie des Johannes Tzetzes," in his ByZDn-
tinisclre Grundlagenfor5Chung (London, 1973). par118, 304.
' Cy. Moravc;sik, BYZDntinotun;ica 2 (Berlin, 1958), 19.

' See B. Munkarcsi, "Beitrage zur Erklarung der 'barbarischen' Sprachreste in der
Theogonie des J. Tzetzes," KOrosicso",a-Archiuum 1, add. vol. 3 (1937), 267- 81 .
' transcribed by Irfan Shahid.
d Beelzebub is Lord of the Flies.
Ex. 48:
PATRIARCH MICHAEL KEROULLARIOS ON THE ERRORS OF THE
LATINS
You should know that the Romans are pierced not by a single arrow, that is.
by [the error of] unleavened bread that is known by everybody but also by
many and various [arrows.I. which are necessary to tum aside. This is what the
Judaized are doing: the charge impending upon them concerns not only un-
leavened bread, but also that they eat ffocated animals, shave themselves, cele-
brate Saturdays, eat abominable meats, that [Latin) monks eat meat [including)
pigs' fat and the whole skin that is close to the meat. and that they do not observe
the first week of Lent or the week of Ab tinence [the second week before Lent)
or the week of Cheese [the week preceding the strict Lenten fast]. They wilJ eat
meat on ThuISday and cheese and eggs on Friday. but will fast the whole day on
Saturday. Besides that, there are the following faults : the wrong and harmful ad-
dHion to the Holy Symbol of the following "The Holy Spirit, theli[e-giving
Lord. proceeds from both the Father and the Son," and during the holy liturgy
they proclaim . "One holy, Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of God the Father
by the Spirit." Further. they prohibit the marriages of prie ts, i.e., they do not
grant priesthood to those who have spouses, but demand that prie ts remain
celibate; two [brothers) might marry two sisters; at the moment of communion in
the liturgy the one who administered the liturgy eat the unleavened [particles)
and embrace the others; their bishops wear rings on their hands as if they have
taken churches as their wives and have to wear the pledge; [bishops] go to
war and stain their hands in blood and kill or be killed; and we are told that
while pertOi Oliog baptism they baptize by immersion only while proclaiming
the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and in addition ftll up the
mouth of the baptized with salt.
Epistle to Pct 'r, patriarch of Antioch in 1054, Acta et scripta quae de COlltTlTuersiis ecclesiae
Gral!Clle et wtinae saewio IIndecimo composita extallt, ed. C. Will (Leipzig. Marburg.
1861 ), 180- 82.
Ex . 49:
BOHEMOND'S CUN ING
Bohemond shuddered at the emperor's threilts. Without means of defense (for
he had neither an army on land nor a fleet at sea, and danger hung over him on
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Texts 261
both sides) he invented a plan, not very dignified, but amazingly crafty. First he
left the city of Antioch in the hands of his nephew Tancred, the son of the Mar-
quis Odo; then he spread rumors everywhere about himself: "Bohemond," it
was said, "is dead." While still alive he convinced the world that he had passed
away. Faster than the beating of a bird's wings the story was propagated in aU
quarters: "Bohemond," it proclaimed, "is a corpse." When he perceived that the
had gone far enough, a wooden coffin was made and a bireme prepared.
The coffm was placed on board and he, a still breathing "corpse," saiJed away
from Soudi, the port of Antioch, for Rome. He was being transported by sea as a
corpse. To outward appearance (the coffin and the behaviour of his companions)
he was a corpse. At each stop the barbarians tore out their hair and paraded their
mourning. But inside Bohemond, stretched out at fuU length, was a corpse only
thus far; in other respects he was alive, breathing air in and out through hidden
holes. That is how it was at the coastal places, but when the boat was out at sea,

they shared their food with him and gave him attention; then once more there
were the same dirges, the same tomfoolery. However, in order that the corpse
might appear to be in a state of rare putrefaction, they strangled or cut the throat
of a cock and put that in the coffin with him. By the fourth or fifth day at the
mo t, the horrible stench was obvious to anyone who could smell. Those who
had been deceived by the outward show thought the offensive odour emanated
from Bohemond's body, but Bohemond himself derived more pleasure than any-
one from his imaginary misfortune. For my part I wonder how on earth he en-
dured such a siege on hi . nose and still continued to live while being carried
along with his dead companion. But that has taught me how hard it is to check
all barbarians once they have set their hearts on something: there i nothing,
however objectionable, which they will not bear when they have made up their
minds once and for all to undergo self-inflicted suffering.
Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, transl. Sewter, 360- 67.
Ex. 50:
THE CAPTURE OF THESSALO (KJ BY THE NORMANS
What should I say about those who threw themselve down from the roofs of
houses in search of death when the great evil was already urrounding them?
They were unabl to fly up into the ether (how they djd desire that!) but suffered
from their weightiness and crashed to their deaths having fallen from a [great]
height. And what of tho e men and women who leaped into wells as into the
water of some Kokytos [River of Wailing) or Acheron the men being afraid of a
worse calamity and the women for the sake of their chastity [sell/notes; literally,
"dignity"}? There was nothing strange in this falling and failure [a pun in Greek:
emptosis te kai kntaptosis), since these people not only sought rocks to rend and
cover them, hills to roll down and hide them [Luke 23:30 and Revel. 6: 16), and
the itself to faU upon them, but also they imagined somehow that Chaos
and Tartarus would give them abode and refuge. Truly the notoriou Barathron
and other precipices are a trifle for those who long for their own ruin. O! the
stones that the barbarians were hurling against them did not permit them to lift
their head, but they covered and buried the wretched.
But woe to them that were with child at that time [Mk. 13: 17). Their beloved
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

262 Appendix
burden given them by nature itself hampered their flight, and they succumbed
to the nether world from feeblenes (an allusion to Odyssey 5.468) even before
they were slaughtered by the sword. No sorrowful was the destiny of the
mothers with whom their tender children were fleeing. In the beginning they
stayed together, bu.t as evil urged haste, the mothers unfortunately were win-
ning the race. Then they wouJd tum back, but could not find their beJoved
rivals, who had been murdered at the order of a certain Herodes, or they per-
ished too, being captu.red by th enemy, who hated tho e women who returned
not to satisfy his lust, but to bewail the la t course of their children. And fathers
fled away too, leaving their n wboms as orphans. Babie wept as if entreating
help, but their fathers ran on without turning their heads; in vain was nature
calling . ... Even if a parent managed to save his own life, the children perished,
being trampled and hed down, thus adding to the number of corpses of the
adults. In the same way the hairy ram would run away at the sight of wolves,
leaving behind his and th wolf no mercy upon them.
Eusl . E p. 118.3 - 33.
Ex. 51:
DESCRIPTIO OF THE INSURRECTION OF JOHN COMNENUS THE
FAT: PREFATORY REMARKSBYCHRYSOBERGES
This worthy oration, [written) according to Hellenic tradHions, that I am bring-
ing to be delivered to you, 0 my king all this rhetorical skilJ will be my cus-
tomary present to you. But which custom am I hinting at, 0 mo t gentle of em-
perors? When a certain person seized a .f ortre sin HeUas and tried, self-elected
and self-proclaimed, to hi tyranny, and eventually was expelled th re-
from, and a noble hero beheaded him with his brazen da.gger, the whole city
brought a reward to the hero for hi victory over the tyrant. Welt if an ordinary
warrior and private citizen got a reward, a.c cording to custom, after he had ac-
complished hi deed, what hould I say about the remuneration. befitting the
thrice-noble hero, the emperor? Take this verbal present, 0 my king, since you
are the tyrant killer and the noble hero who put down this attempt at capricious
usurpation . Even if it were your well-born cuirassiers and your steadfast spear-
men who toppled to the earth arbitrary action, you are to be prais d for your
pe.rfect administration and diligent deliberation, which you set against this con-
fused band of soldiers.
Nikephoros Chrysobe,rges. Ad Angrlos orlltiones Ires, ed . M. Treu (Breslau, 1892),
19- 26.
Ex. 52:
DESCRIPTIO OF THE lNSURRECTlON OF JOHN COMNENUS THE
FAT: PREFATORY REMARKS BY MESA RITES
The majority of who have a profound and inventive mind, 0 my listeners,
when they compose a story, combine truth and fiction according to their intelli-
gence, since they wish to be persuasive and at the same time to embellish their
narrative with elaboration and refinement; the unfitting and trustless source
presents these more frequently than a reliable record of a man
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

Texts 263
fond of truth. One who learned of events from hearsay and then ventured to
relate them is hardly capable of presenting them to his audience without distor-
tion in the same way that both the peculiarity (of the fOllnl and the blooming
gamut of colors characterizing the prototype will escape a painter who, while
producing an image on an icon, refuses to trace precisely the prototype and cop-
ies the hadows only, not the archetypal image.
I will tell you why and for what purpose I issue my story. Many of you, both
those who are acquainted with me and those who are not, know that ( am the
skeuophylax (guardianl of the holy vessels treasured in the most beautiful Shrine
at the Pharos of the Virgin named Oikokyra, the head of the household. I.t is built
within the Great Palace of the imperial majesty. Therefore the people asked me
often and constantly, when they met me in churches, in the streets and squares,
in avenues and alleys, to reveal to them everything from the very beginning of
the event that is, how John piratically assaulted the palace and entered there,
what he did until late in the evening and how, at last, this madman was Jaugh-
tered by having his head cut off. I grew weary of these innumerable que tions;
my throat was sore because I had shouted throughout the day it was July 31-
and I could barely wheeze and was deprived of my speaking ability. On that day
I had had to walk incessantly about the divine shrine even to repel those who
had tried to enter the holy place Jjke rabid, saw-toothed dogs looking for food.
Since my voice wa feeble and my throat ached, I decided to commit to paper
[charte] and ink all my observations in order to make them manife t to all inquir-
ers and listeners.
Nicholas Mesarites, Die Pa/astrt'OO/ution des loharml's KOlllnenos, ed . A. Heisenberg
(Wiinburg, 19(7), 19f.
Ex. 53:
A LYRIC POEM BY PRODROMOS
o my passions and desires, I nurtured you when you were small,
and in my heart you grew large.
I looked forward to your maturity and expected your gratitude;
but you only torment me; nothing can be more cruel.
E. Legrand, "Poesies inedites de Throdore PTodrome," RI?I'ue des etudes groo/ues 4
(1891),72. Translation by S. Pranklin.
Ex. 54:
DESCRIPTION OF THE RAISING OF LAZARUS IN THE HOLY
APOSTLES IN CONSTANTINOPLE
... and again, Lazarus, who had been laid in his grave and had rotted four days
long. decaying, his body whoUy changed, fully infested with wounds and worms,
bound hand and foot in gravecJothes and laid out, commanded by the life-bringing
word of Christ, leaping from the tomb like a gazeUe and thu returning once
more to mortal life, having escaped corruption.
Constantine of Rhodes, Desc,.iption of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantillopk
ed. E. Legrand, "Description des oeuvres d'art et de J'eglise des saints ap6tTes de
Constantinople," Rroue des ~tudes grl'Cques 9 (1896), 61 .834-43.
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

264 Appendix
Ex. 55:
DESCRIPTIO OF THE RAISING OF LAZARUS IN THE HOLY
APOSTLES IN CONSTANTINOPLE
Look at Martha and Mary, the . of the buried man, how on bent knees they
are bowed over the feet of Jesus, washing them with the tears of their grief for
their brother, and how they move their Teacher to weep with them for the be-
loved Lazarus, and bring Him who is the ource of all succor to common emo-
lion with them . The more vehement of the ister hold her head high, and by
the of her face alone, one might say, seeks to beseech the Lord, pre-
senting her request to the Savior chiefly by mean of her eyes and by the expres-
. of uffering and grief on her whole face. But the Savior is depicted with a
somewhat melancholy expression on face, and His whole posture has as-
sumed a very kingiy and commanding . The right hand rebukes both what
i ' seen, namely the tomb which holds the body of Lazarus, and what is per-
ceived by the mind, nameJy Hades, which four day . before had made haste to
swallow hi soul. His mouth, however, which little, to use the words of
Isaiah, so that hi voice was not heard in the streets, but which on the contrary
had power for great things, according to another writer for it. is written, "He
s pake, and it was done" called forth with a most divine voice to him who was
no longer able to hear, only these words, "'Lazarus, come forth ." And Hades,
trembling, as quickly as it could loosed the oul, which it had so eagerly swal-
lowed, and Lazarus' soul once more enters its body. and the corpse rises from
the tomb as from a bed and comes to Him who called him, bound in grave
clothes like some slave who against his master' wish has run off into the coun-
try, and with his whole body shackled with handcuffs and chains on the feet is
brought back and re tared to his owner. His entire body is bloated,
wholly unapproachable because of the decay which has set in upon the wasted
and putrefying body. The stone at the tomb, which covered Lazarus, has just
been rolled away,, and the tomb, from which he has now risen, is dark. The dis-
ciple cannot upport the stench which is given forth by the tomb and by laz-
arus; and hold their noses. They wish in curiosity to gaze upon him who is
risen. but they roll their eyes backward becaus of the heavy stench which com s
from him; they wish to praise with their lip and their tongues Him who
him up, but they must cover their mouths with their mantles; they desire to be
far from the place, but the strangeness of the miracle holds them and will not let
them go. The Apo ties are filled with amazement and full of astonishment. per-
ceiving how with a word alone He had just now raised from the tomb a man who
has a lready decayed . What manner of man can He be, they think to themselves.
who has wrought such wonder ; i'Really this is in truth." they say. " He who
once breathed the soul into Adam, and gave breath to the father of all, even
though as a man, He wipes away the tears of his eyelids. How indeed should
death and Hade obey Him, in the words of the prophet, all things did
not serve and obey Him?"
Nic. Mesar. 26.2- 8.
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Texts 265
Ex. 56:
THE SIXTH-CENTURY POET ROMANOS ON THE RAISING OF
LAZARUS
Prooimion: Thou hast come, 0 Lord, to the tomb of Lazarus
And Thou hast raised him up after four days among the de.a d,
After Thou has conquered Hade , 0 Powerful One.
Taking pity on the tears of Mary and Martha (John 9:21-25),
Thou hast said to them:
"He will be r urrected and he will rise up
Saying. 'Thou art the Life and .'"
Strophe 1: In considering the tomb and those in the tomb, we weep,
But we should not; for we do not know whence they have
come,
And where they are now, and who has them.
They have come from temporal life, released from its orrows;
They are at peace, waiting for the receiving of divine light.
The Lover of man has them in His charge, and He has
divested them of their temporal clothing
In order that He may clothe them with an eternal body.
Why, then, do we weep in vain? Why do we not trust Christ, a
He cries:
"He who believes in me shall not perish (John 9: 25),
Por even if he knows corruption, after that corruption,
He will be resurrected and he will rise up
Saying, 'Thou art the Life and the Resurrection"'?
Konlakin of Romanos, Byumtine Mt'lodis/, transl. M. Carpenter (Columbia, Missouri,
1970). 1.140.
Ex . 57:
MAUROPOUS EPIGRAM: ON LAZARUS
Such is the essence of the Writ: listen and behold.
There was a righteous man, Lazarus, a friend of Christ.
He died, and the earth and the tomb cove.red him.
His relatives wept as they were burying him;
They did not conceive how mighty is He who loved him.
So He came there. They cried
intensely, wailed and prostrated themselve ,
And they said that He had arrived too late.
Then He said: "You shall see my power."
So aid the demiurge, "Where is the tomb of my friend?"
"But look, he stinks, for it is the fourth dayl"
They answered, and looked at the Lord
As if He who produces life were a hypocrite.
When going there He groaned and wept,
And asked for grace from Heaven.
"You, the Almighty, who look from above, it is po sible for you:
Nearby is the witness. Would you command [it),
Copy r gt'tea 'T a

2,66 A
:,_',0, t'h-"e so:r:row' ~'w '"1r-

L . b, e~~, tI.
' anSrU d', ,I'.n,t,o' a ,u
t ,..... ]!'m.e~: :s;tl.va I.
1,',.. - .'
And H'e commanded li.t],. J'' Come fortn,U He cr',_d l,

And. br ,a lhed lifein.to th '. corpse,.
Tha,' _is w:ha.t Christ d.o es for his, :f, ",t ! -, " S'lt
H,e leads ' he dead 00.' " of the grave 't o ive, 0
An,d the' , ' .' -' man walks'l bound.'with gEarvec]ot.h e,s
And, :IS :fre '-., takes -to' :-" ,', off' a d roo,s.
The happy' [man w, rn., I suppo6e~ prepare a dinner
-
To entertain ms ,-_, --lov -, d benefac '-Qr"
-
Through whom he : ",VIE!:S .a.gain and "ds food."
aT plI1 an~ 3a 111 ~ bl aBlopCK M npaBOM

Index
[Prepared by Peter S. Stem]
Aaron, [saac 183- 84 Akakios, 'Photios's compatriot, 155

Abasges people, 169, 173, 257 Akropolites, George, 114
Abba, Rabbi, 238 Akropoloites family, 65
Abelard of Bath, lB1 Alan people, 1 9; in Byzantine military,
Ahijah, Rabbi. 237 172. 173, 257
Abtation, Rabbi, 237 Alchemy, 149, 150
Abu al-faraj, Grego ,176 A1duin (Norman general), 120
Abu Jafar Ahmad ibn brahim ibn Alexander of Macedon. 137
Cubair, In. 1 2-83 Alexallder Romance, 168
Abydus (town in Asia Minor on the Alexandria, b 194
He:J\espont), 202 Aiexiad (Anna Comnena), 137, 242 - 43.
Achilles, 137 248- 49. 260- 61
Adam, Byzantine ilThlge of. 142 A1exiopolis (Ncokastron; town in lhe
Administration. Stc Covernment, Balkans), 48
impt'rial Alexios (son of 5t>l>ustorafllr Andronikos ),
Adralestos, an (lfficial. 1.83. 107- 8
Adramytion (town in Asia Minor), 38. 55 Alexios J Comnenus, Emperor (1081 -
Adrianople (town in Thrace), 32, 47. 42 1118), 25, 26,30, 64. 67, 68, 86. !O1,
Adzlice and Admonition (Kekaumenos), 106. 108, 113, 139. ~ 202, 215. 228,
207.208-9 238, 252, 256; administrative reforms
Aegean, 11. 41.65 by, 67, 71; Anna C mncna's d escrip-
Aeschylus, 140 tion of, 214: attitude of, toward holy
Africa, North; Byzantine 10 . of, and men, 93; church opposition to pro-
claim 10, ~ 10, 168 gram ot, 165; educational r('forms of,
A apetos, 104. 110 128; and eunuchs, 70; foreign contacts
Agnes-Anna (wife of Alexios II), 178, 217 of, and role of non-Byzantines in gov-
Agriculture, 7- 8. 30- 31. 34; in seventh ernment and military under, 177. 179.
century, 7- 8; in eleventh and twelfth ISO. 188. 257; and her sy, 162, 163; as
centuries, 27- 31 , 38, 47- 48, :!Q; .. tate ideal emperor, 164: of emperor
regulation of. 1 - 21; technology of. under, 116; orphanage founded by.
27- 28, 5Q; on, 15 121; resettlement policy of. 171: urban
Ahrweiler, H . 6!i rebuilding policy of. 38, and weak-
Aimilianos, patriarch of Antioch (1074- ening of urban corporations, 51;
lO79/SO), sa Zonaras 's view of. 108
Cor:>Y<lgntea 'T ate> 10,

2 lnde
Alexio 11 omnenu, Emperor (1180- Ankara (town in Min r), 3Z

1183), 54. 102, 228; marriag of. 17 , Anna, Prin ( i t r of Sa il II), 1n
217 nniJ< ri of Aegina, 241
AI io III Angel Emperor (1195- Annunci tion, painting of, ill
1203), 102 Anselm of Havelberg, 1B9
I xi V Doukas. Emper T (1204), 227 Anthology (Kephala ), 133
Ihe 54, Z8 alltlrypatoi (a bureaucratic rank), 22
AI xio the t T, ~ Antioch (town in Syria), 109, 152, 153,
Ii n culture, B zantin ietyand, 2 1; administration f, ~ agricultural
167- ,237-38,256-62; breakdown production in, 47- 48; mic in, 41 ;
of traditiona l ball iers betw n, ]77- church rule from, 194; saints from, 2
and with the , 174 - Antioch , Gregory (113O?-1196), 28. :KL
77; and effect of foreign culture con- 4Z. 132, 133, 2lB
lacl, 1 -85; in frontier zone, 170- Antiquity, Byzantin attitude toward:
72; and mercenarie in B zantine and ancient hero, 137-38; author
military, 6Z. 68. 70, 172- 74. 1M; and of. 133-38; and Byzantine antiquari-
traditional attitude toward " barbar- ani m, 138- 52; and Byzantine art,
ian ," 167- 70; unbreachable barrirs 141-45; and creativity, l29
betw~n, 185- 96. Set also Foreign rs Antoniadi -Bibicou, H .. ~
AIJah, Byzantin view of, 1.86 Anthon the Younger, inl, 99
Allegories (fz tzes), 134, 135 Apameia (town in Thrace), 2... 244
alltlcngyon (collective taxation responsi- (an ient sculptor), ill
bililie ), 21 . 22 Api phare (Abu+U war), 105
A no (Bulgarian noble), ZH Qpokatlra~ is (clearing of woods), JOn
Alopekon O' trict, inv ntory f, 235 Apo tIes, in Byzantine painting, 144, 216
Altar ioth , 96 (fort in Thra e), 32
Amalfi (Italy), commune of, 52 Ap ud , Theod re, 220- 21
Amazon, Byzantine image of, 1 Apuhap family, 1..Z9
Saint, 3 Apulia (Italy), 170. 121
Amnia in Paphlagonia), 6 Aquinas, Thoma, int, 152
Am rium (t wn in A ia Minor), ~ Arab , B zantine oci ty and, 10, 154,
Amory, king of Jerusalem (1163 - 74). 1Z3. 170; artistic influence of. 181; and in-
Amphi (town in Greece), Soter, trodu tion of Arabi numeral, 149; in
church, ~ military, 173: in nobility, 180:
Anatolia, book production in, fl on, 223; cientific influen ce of, 149-
Anatolikon (th m ), 2 50; trade with, 175; vie~ of, l1!2
An hial (town on Black a), 129, 251 AT haeology, a hi torical ouree, , 2...
Andrew lhe Fool, Saint, 93 31-39
Andr w (m nk; coli I r of reli ), 96 Archiloch , 123
Androniko I omnenu, Emperor Archit lure, Byzantin , 1..6.. 39- 40,
(11 - 11 ), ~ 70, LL 102, 115; 194-95: effect of foreign influence
desCi iplion of, 225, 226, on, ill
227 - 28; dre of, 7 ; and ltalo- arclron (official), Z. 57, 62 - 63
B zantin trad , 177; Areopagu (tribu nal), 137
in army of. 173; torture of, 55. Aretha of esarea, 136, 152
AndroniJ<o (on f John II), Ar lid gTOUp of hurche (Pelopon-
101, 107, ne ), 39.
An ma , Manuel. 107 Argyro (a noble), 106
An ponym , George, 136 Arian m , 90
Angeloka tron (Iown in ia Min r), Ari ten , Alexio , 131, 132, 1
Theodore, 55, 227 Ari tippu , 132, ill
family, ~ 17 , 227 Ari tocTacy: civil, 65-67. 69-70; cia ifi-
Anglo-Sa on , in B zantinc military, 174 cati n and ranking in, 7- . 238;
Index 269
Digenis Akritas as epitome of. 116 - 19; of senatorial ranks. 69; on tax privi-
effects of foreign influence on, 181: legt's. 62; on urban politics. 51: on
and family, 99- 102; family names of. women. 100
63; foreigners as members of, 67. 68, Augustjne. Saint. 3
178- 80; ideal of the. 104 - 10; and im- Augustus. Emperor, 12
age of ideal ruler, 110-16; influence Auxentios, Saint, 223
on Byzantine culture, 99 - 119; mili- Avars. invasion by, ill
tary, 63- 65. 69- 7Q. 104 - 10; nature of, Avlon (Iown in SZ
62- 68: and plea of imprisoned noble- Axouch . Alexios, l80
woman, 243; role of eunuchs in, QL
role of lineage in, 102- 4; values of, Z Bailleul. Roussel de. 68, 70. 174,. l12
Aristophanes. 136 Baldwin m of Jerusalem (1143-63), ~
Aristotle, 15. 132; Byzanbne uses of. 136. 153. 178. ~
154, 159- 60, l1U Balkans, 162, 170; urban life in. 31 - 32,
Anrr'n"enia. 10. 25. 63. 170. 181; attempts to 34 35, 38-39
integrate. 172; and Byzantine view of Balsamon, Theodore, 87, 148; on car-
Allnenians, 169; and Annenians in nivals, 83; on fortunetelling. 239- 40
Byzantine military, 172; nobles from, Banking. Byzantine trade and, 175
in Byzantine aristocracy, 1BO Barbara, Saint, relics of, 96
Anll'Ylileniakon (theme), 2. 64, 68, 174 Barbarians. Byzantine attitudes toward.
Armenian h resy, 163 167 70, See also Alien cultures. Byz-
Arpad, Stephen, 178 antine society and; j"dit,ldua} peopl~
Arsadds (an Armenian dynasty), 111.112 by 'name
Arsenios (monk), 91 Barberini Psalter. 100. 115
Arta erxe . 111 Barter economy. 2.. 8-9, 42
Asia Minor: archaeology in. 1. 25n ; book Basil (heretic), l.62
production in. 41 - 42: as buffer, 10; Basi l (patron of art in Cappadocia), 221
conquest and loss of, 25, 72; heretics Basil I (" the Macedonian"). Emperor
in. 162; urban life in. 36- 39. See also (867-886), 17. 103; biography of.
individual tOUII/5 by nam!' 136- 37; hunting accident of, 244; and
Asinou (town in Cyprus), 116, 144 - 45. image of ideal ruler. 110. 111 , 164, 206;
221 legendary desnt of. 111-12; and
As trology, 149- SO. 182 usury, 22
Athanasios of Athos, Saint. 87, 155 Basil 11. Emperor (976 - 1025), 25.n. 67. 90.
Athens. 57, 197. 198; Acropolis, 34; agri- 169, 171, 177; annexation of Bulgarian
cultural production of. 47. 48; Byz.an- Empire by, 170; Menologion of, 185;
tine archaeological e-vidence in. 34; Psellos's portrait of. 212. 213; taxation
ceramics production of. 40; fair in. policy of. 17; Zonaras' view of. 108
236; Panagia Lykodemou, 39; St. John Basilakes, Nilcephoros, 128. 129, 160. 228
Mangoutis (church). :Y. basi1eus (image of. as emperor of world),
Athos. Mount. 14, 26. 90. 172, 175, 167-68
256; agricultural technology at, SO; Basililul (lmpt'rial Books; Leo VI). 16. 145~
cenobiiic life at. 7 46, 168
Attaleia (town in Asia Minor). 37, 31$. ba 'ilikil lon (imperial land lease), 65
49. 99 basilikon (imperial land), 16- 17
Attaleiales. Michael: o n agricultural pro- Basil or Ohrid. l89.
duction. 48: . d escribed by. Basil the Great. Saint, 12; liturgy of. 123
214; on concept of freedom . 59; Con- Basil the Monk, 62
stantine IX's menageri described by. Basil the Younger, 19 - 20
154; on image of ideal ruler, 112 - 13. Baths. public. and bathing habits .1
114; legal work by, 146; on linguis tic 79-80
ca pabilities of Byzantines. 183; on Beck. a c .. 117. 138- 39
n obility. 105; on fcience, 155; on size Beirut, 152, 153

270 Index
Benjamin of Tudela. zs. 174, 237-38. 245 from. 10; I.i v tock in, 22; rebel-
Ber wvo (Ru ian town on Ob River). lion 0(, in 1180s. 24. 31.. 32; and
11 ; Berewvo 11 saloniki fair. Bulgarian participation
Bernard of Oairvaux. Saint. 194. 125 in. 236; trade with. 125
Bertha o( Sulzba h . Em (Eirene. Bureaucracy. See Government. imperial
wife of Manu II). 102. 17 . 1M Burgundion o( Pisa. 181 -82, 192
Best Theodore. 148
BibliothtkL (Photio ). 133 Cadmeia (Thebes). 35
Bithynia (province in Minor). 55 Caesarea (town in Cappadocia). 19, 2Q
Blach mit family. 65 Caffaro. annals of, 176
Blacks. Byzantine depiction of. 1 Calabria (Italy), Norman capture f.
Black Sea. 41, 236 170. lZ1
Boeotia (Greece). landholding in. 57- 58 Campania. resident of. at The loniki
Bogomil here y. 162-63. 192 fair. 236
Boh mond of Taranto. prince o( Antioch Canon law. 148
(1098- 1104. d . 1111). 174. 1 d ath Capidava (town on Danube). archaeolOgi-
ru of. 215. 260-61 cal find at. 33 n
Boila Eu tathio 3Q Cappadocia (theme in Asia Minor), ~
Book of Crmnonies VU). ill 0 and Cappadocian in Byzantine mili-
Book 0/ Kings. ill tary. 173, 236. 246; cult of military
Book of Ihe Epardl (Leo VI). 22 c;aint in. 116; religiou art in. 1Bl.
Book of tire Philosopher Synlipas. 1 2 216,221. 225
Book production. 41 - 42. ~ Cappella Palatina (Palermo). UU
Botana (village near Synnada in Core of Pregnant WOlllell and Ill/ani The
Phrygia). ari tocracy from . 63 (Damna tes). 156
Nikephoro . See Nike- CarnivaJ. in Byzantine popular culture.
phoro III Botaneiates 82-8.1
Botaneiates family. 63 Carpignano (Italy). S. Marina e Chris-
Bouleuterion (city council). 50 tina. 224
Boura L.. 3nn Cathar 192
Bot H v. L A . 33n - 34n Celibacy: in Ea t and We t. compared.
Bread: con umption of. ,2; unleaven d . 193; as ideal, !, 246- 47
and Ea t-We t pra ti Celtic people. 51. 168. 2.23. 236
l.89 Cerami producti n of. 40- 4]
Bronze ca ting. 4l Cerberu Byzantine image of. 142
Browning. R . 134 Chalcedon (town on the Bo phorus). 2;
Brusa (town in Bith nia). 54. 55 Council of. 11lB
Bry nnio . ikephor . 103; char ct r Chalced nian Creed. 179, l8Q
depiction by. 214; m moies of. 106- 7. ChaJdea, ]25. 110
202, 203; on nobility. 106- 7. 11lB Chaliboure B2
Bryennio Nikephoro (usurper; an- ChaJkoprateia (Con tantinople), educa-
tor o f abo e). 106 tional in titution in. 12l. 12
Budapes t. 118 Chalouph , Nikephoro . lfl2
Building era 39-40 Chalouphe famil l8Q
Bulgaria. 3Il. 32. 39, 63.; agricultural pro- Change. vs. continuity: problem of. in
ducti n in. 28; annexation 0(. und r Byzantine ociety. xix. 231-33
Ba iJ II . 170; Byza ntine attempt to in- C hariot racing. B20
tegrat In; B zantine marriage to Cllnri tilrin (ronce ionary rights). 65
czar o f. 177; and Byzantine military Charon. Alexio 64, 106
participation b Bulgaes. 173, 257; Charon family. M
Byzantine term (or. 162; Cathar church Char ian on (theme). 1Z1
in. 192; evaluation of By7 antine rule Chasane Anna . and family (dependent
in, 32 n; e cavations in, 31-33; inv - peasant ), 235
Index 271
Chenarios family (dependent peasants). Chrysomalos, Constantine. 162

235 Chrysopopolis (town on Asian coast op-
Cherson (town in the Crimea), 4n, ~ 52 posite Constantinople), 91
Chicago. University of Chicago Library. Chrysostom. John, 2. 133. 191
Rockefeller M~Qrmjck ollection. Cilicia (Asia Minor). 153. 129
cod . 2400, New Testament, 42- Circus, declining role of. 3
Chios (Aegean island). Nea Moni. 144. Gstercian order, 87
198 Gty planning, .1
Chi ron (legendary person), 137 Classical tradition, Byzantine assimila-
Chivalry, 117-19, 181 tion of. 133- 66; and art of, 141 - 45;
Chliara (town in Asia Minor). 38 and authors of, 133- 38; and cia si-
Chliat. emir 0(. 68 cism as "safe" intellectual activity,
Chludov Psalter, 114 138 -41; and objectivity as goal of
Choirosphaktes, 131. 136 Byzantine sc.holarship, 136- 37; and
Choma (town in Asia Minor). 38 reading of literature of, 138-41
Chonae (town in Asia Minor), 38, 228, Clement of Ohrid. Saint. lB3
246.247 Clothing. See Dress. Byzantine
Choniates, Michael, 30. 31, 46. 133; Cloth production. 175
on artist and audience, .197- 98; on Ouniac order. 87. 88- 89
Athens in twelfth century, 4& on By- Code (justinian), 100, 145. 148
zantine bathing habits. 79; friendship Coins: and barter economy, ~ 8- 9; and
with Eustathios, 21 ; on image in art, abasement of coinage, 25-26; military
199; on medicine. 155; on political in- image of emperors on. 115 - 16
stitutions, SO. a 52, 53. 56 C%lli. 1.0
Choniates, Niketas, 48- 49. 66, 109, 184 - Commerce, 236- 37; and me.rcantile con-
85, 190; and age, changing attitudes to- tacts with West, 174- n ; state regu-
ward. 22:7-28; on Asia Minor towns, lation of. 21 -n Set a/.SQ Trade; Trans -
38; on astrology. 182; on Athens in portation
twelfth century. 48; attitude of toward Communication, 48- 50
foreigners, l BO, 184; on Byzantine Comnena, Anna. 49, 83, 84, 126, 127.
knowledge of foreign languages. 183; 137. 183; on astrology, 150; Bohemond
John Comnenus the Fat described by, described by. 215. 260- 61; charaet r
218 - 19; emotional content of writings description in writings of. 214 - J5.
of, 225 - 29; on emperor, 254; and 216; Anna Oalassena described bv, t
friendship with Eustathios, 218; Latins 242- 43; on Germans in Byzantine

viewed by, 120. 169; world view of, 229 military. 174; Robert Guiscard de-
Christ: Byzantine images of, 142. 225; scribed by. 184; on ideal emperor. 164;
theological debate on nature of, John ltalos described by. 248 - 49; liter-
160- 61 ary role of, 101 - 2; and medical prac-
Christian Topography (Indikopleustes . 151 tice. 157-58; and solar eclip5e predic-
Christodoulos, Saint, 30, 87. 89 tion, 252-53; on women's role, 100
Christopher, Saint. 200 Comnena, Maria (daughter of Manuel I),
Christopher of M tilene . 83. lU, 121, 102
210; on relic colk'Ctions. 95-% Comnenus, Andronikos (son of John II).
Christ's Passion (Chris/os PasdlOn ), simi- 101 , 107. lOS
larityof. to Greek tragedy. 140-41 Comnenus. David. 76-77. 217-1
Chronike dicgesis (Choniates). 225-29 Comnenus. Isaac (brother of Alexios I).
. (Psellos), 164. 188. 204-5. 59
225' naturalism and subjectivity in Comnenus, Isaac (son of Alexios I), 86
style of, 212 - 14. 223- 24 Comnenus, Isaac (emperor of Cyprus),
Chrysobergcs. Nikephoros . 128; John ill
Comnenus the Fat described by, CQmnenus, NikephorQs. 103, ]09
2111 - 19, 262 Comnenus family and dynasty, 25, 69,
(,opyrlqntoc. 'T ate Ie.,

272 Index
Comn nu family (cont inued) 191 - 92; Clafts produced in. 40- 46;
103, 106, 116, 118; doctrinal 'upport dress in. 75; in EastWest church rela-
for, 148; and education, 127 and tion 187, 189, 191 -92, 194; eco-
image of ideal ruler, J 10; nomic activities in, 22, 40-46, 48, 236;
politic of. 178, 179: NOnT'lIIan aUiance educational in titutions and 'i ntellec-
with, 180; Prodromos and. 107; sei- tual activity in, 121, 123, 129- 30. 149;
zure and consolidation of power by. fan of, xx, 24, 184, 229- 30; foreign en-
70, 127; Turks conquered 170; dav sin, 175, 176-77; Jews e duded
Zonaras' view of. 1 from , 237; ninth and tenth century reo
omnenus. John (called J. the Fat). revolt vival of, 11; origin of name, 1;. and re-
of, 1& 224, 262- 63; de- volt agairu t Andrornk L 55; saints
soiption of. 218_ 20 from, ~ ~ universal capital. 167;
Comunianl15 (imperial envoy). 257, 258 view of,255
Conrad ill, 17 Constantinople, m numents in: Blacher
onrad of Montferrat. 1M na . palace, 115,118,240- 41.245;
Contantine (brolher of Michael IV), Boukoleon Harbor, 96; Brazen Gate,
.58 13.; Forty Martyrs, Church of the.
Constantine 111. Leichoudes, patriarch 123; Great Palace. 11. 118, 181; Holy
(10 9-63), 122, 131, m 223 Church of the, 47, 4 . 103.
on tan tine V. Emperor (741 - 775), Z. 125. 221. 224. 263- 64; Kalenderhanc
11.12 Camii, 43, 44; Moukhroutas Palace,
Con tantine VII Porphyrogenitu , m- 220; Pantokrator Mona tery. 45, SO-
peror (913- 959), l2. 110, 111 - 12, 133. l, 90. 95, 103- 4, 150, 156- 57; 51.
136, ~ biography of 1 by, 206; George the Mangana, mona t ry. 122.
and c temony of raisjng emperor on 198; St. Mamas, 91, 147;
hi ld, 114; on imperial pow r, 253- St. Mary Periblepto . mona tery, 1 8;
~ juris prudence under, 145; and St. 'P eter, Church of. l23, 128; St.
military landholding, 19; prohibition Sophia. Church of, 43, 68, 97, 128.
of marriages to foreigner by, 177; 187. 202, 212. 219; 55, Kosmas and
work on government by, 15 Damian. church, SI. Theodore in
Con tantine vrn. Emperor (1025 - 28), Sphorakio_. church, 123; Studios
64.67 Monastery. 11.!li& 90; Virgjn of the
Con tantine IX Monornach05, Emperor Pharos, church, 96, 224
(1042 - 55), 44, 118, 154, 210; educa- Contarini, Domenico, lZ2
innovation under, 122, 123, Corinth, 38, 39; archaeological evidence
]27- 28; entertainment in court of, 83; in, ~ cerami production in, 40, 1;
eunuch in administration of. 67; me- glass manufactUring in. 42: ilk pro-
nag ri of, 154; military imag of m- d urnon in, 41
peror on coins of. 115; origin of d- Cosmology, 150-5]
mini trative appointees of, 104; Cotton. in Byzantine clothing, 'l!J.
P 1.'1105 and, 213- 14, 223 Council of 1117, 159
Con tan tine X Doukas, Emperor (1059 - Council of 1143, 162
m I. 100, 113, 174. 178, 227 Craft production, 39- 46 See also indi-
Con tantine of Rhodes , ill vidual crafts by IIDml!
Constantme the Great, Emperor (306- Crespin, Robert, 174
m.LlM Crete. capture of by Nikephoro Phokas.
Con tantinople. 38, 39,49. , 93, 102. 137
152. 153, 192; attacks on, 10, 24; cn- Crusade, 27, 174, 184. 185; Chorn
tralization of power in, 232; hUTCh a les's of, 227 - 28
con truction in, ; ehur hes in. d - Cumans (poloucian ), invasion of Bal-
igo and decor .of. lID... 198, 221 . 224; kans by, :Y
dty annals of, 2050; civil and military Curialcs (urban provincial elite), 6
aristocracy io. 63. 64, 65: Council of. Curium (town in yprus), 25n
Copyrlgl"led l'1a~r 31
Index 273
Cursus pllblicus (duty to ~rve) . 1B Desiderius (abbot of Monte Cassino). ~

Cypru 12. 27n. 29. 49. 151. 152.203; ce- Devres~. R., il!lt ~
ramics in. 41; conquest of. by 'Richard Diaconu. P.. 33n
the Lion Hearted. 171; religious art Didactic .Admonitions (Spaneas), 207-8
and architecture on. 88-89. 111. Didacticism. 206-10
216, 221

DidasJazloi (teachers, A1exios [ and.
Cyrenaica. conquest by Arabs of, ill 128. 129
Cyril (monk). 88 Didymu harbor (Sidon). 152
Cyril Phileotes. See PhiJeotes. Cyril. Diet. 28- 29, 80-82, 253;
Saint 80-81; in seventh century. 5
Czicus (town in Asia Minor). 47-48 Digrnis AkTilas. 117-19. 182; extracts
from. 245 - 46, 247-48
Dagarabe (town in Armeniakon theme). Digests (Justinian). 145
68. Dinogetia-Garvan (town on Danube). 3J
Dalas a (a village in the region of Diocletian. Emperor. 16
Melitene). 63 Dionysiou Monastery (Mount Athos).
Dala enOl. Anna. 64. 101. 242-43 Cod. 587. Go pel Lectionary. 98
Dalas~no Damiano . 63. 6!t Dipylon (Athen ). 34
Dalasse.nos. M Divorce. law regarding. 100
Dala senos. Theodore. M DoctrilUll Panoply (Zigabeno ). 163,
Dalassenos. Theophylaktos. 186-87
Dalassenos family, 43- 64 Dodekane~ Islands. 4ll.n
Dalmatia, Cathar church in. 192 Dokcia (Asia Minor), 63
Damnastes. medical treati~ by. 156 Dokeianos family. 61
Dandolo. Enrico. Doge of Venice (11 Domenico Silva (Doge of Venice. 1070-
1205). 228 84). 129
Daniells (a great landowner or ru ler in domilliul1l dirtdum. 1B
PeLoponne~). 12 Dorylaion (town in Asia Minor). 38. ~
Daniil (Russian pilgrim). 22 Doukaina. Anna. Princess. 131
Danube River, 48. :!12 Doukaina. Eirene, Empress, 90. 101 .
Daphne (suburb of Antioch). 152, 153 202. 2M
Daphni (church in Greece). 39. 133. Doukas. Andronikos. 235
144,198 Doukas. Constantin . See Constantine X
Daphnopates. Theodore. 133. 136 n Doukas
Dark Age, use of term. 4-5 Doukas. John Caesar. 68, 101, 131
David. depiction of. in Byzantine art. Doukas. John, Isaac IJ' unc.le, 228
141, 142. 221 Doukas family. 64, 103, 106. 127. 112
David KourpaJates. the prince of Taiq dOllicatl'1; (military districts). Zl
(961-1001). lZl Dragometia (or Dragovita; nearThes-
David of M ytilene. 3 saloniki). 192
Decentralization. BYlantine. 31-56; ar- Ores Byzantine, 74 - 80, 181, 242
chaeological and literary evidence of. droungarWs, title. 57. 70
31 - 39; art production as vidence of. Dualism. as heresy. 162
39-46; and urban economy and in- Dumbarton Oaks Collect on. Byzanttne
stitutions, 45-56 silver in. 46.
Deljan. Peter. ])4 dylUl/os. 21, 56, 5Z
Demetrianos of Cypru . a Dyrrachium (town on Adriatic coast).
Demetrios. Saint. 96. 116, 236 Norman victory at, 24. 174
Demetrios of Lampe. 1..21 D1ed!ovi lozja (location in Bulgaria). 22.n
Demography, Byzantine. 26- 27
Demokrito , 222 Edip~. solar. 252 -53
Dt!mosiarioi (peasants). 20 Economy. Byzantine; before eleventh
Demosion (the state land system). 16 - 17 century. ~ 8 - 9. 11; eleventh-twelfth

274 Index
Economy, Byzantine' (continued) Epiphanios (disciple of St. Andrew the

Ce'ntury revival of, 25-26, 31, 34, Pool), 93
46- 50 Epiro (Greece), 35
Edessa (town in northern Syria), 2 (mnre sionary rights) . .65
Edict of PriCe' (Diocletian), Zb. ergasteria (workshops), 22
Education, Byzantine, 121-33; and aca- Esphigmenou, Monastery of (Mount
demic politics, 126-30; church's role Alho ). 59
in, 128- 29; curriculum in, 121. 128- Estate', Byzantine, 56-62j and absentee
29; and guiJds of teachers and s tu- landowning, 57; and flu village'S, ~
dent , 121; and law school. 121-22, imperial control over, 59,- 60; and im-
and literacy, 120,198; and phiJosophy, perialdemesnelands, 16-18; and in-
122- 23; state involvement in, 121 - 23; ventory listing, example' of, 235; and
and teaching techniques, 123- 25; landowner classes, 18-20; Leo VI's
128- 29 regulation of, 16- 17; and private lord-
Egypt, 151. 152, 154, 236; Byzantine loss ship powers, 60-62.; shift in attitude
of, and claims to, 2, 10, 168; ceramic toward, 29-30; and re'Strictions on
finds in, 41 : mathematical studie'S transfer, 21 : and taxalion, 59, 62.
in, 125 Ethiopia, 152. 185, 22.1
Eirene (natutaJ daughteI of Androni- Euboea (island), 35.
xos I), 102 Euchaita (town in Asia Minor), 116, 126
Erene (widow of sdJastokrator Androni- Euchites (secta rians), 138
kosI, 101. 102, 108 Euclid,149
Eirene (witt:' of John If Comnenu ), Eudokia (wife of Constantine X Doukas),
103-4,178 100
Eirene, Empress (797 -802): cia sification Eudokia (wife of Oigenis), 118
of nobility by, 7- 8: in lconocla t dis- Eugenianos, Niketas, 109, 202
pute, 99 Eulake-s. Symeon, 91, 92
Eirene Doukaina, wiit:' of Alexias L 90, EuJalio (artist), 221
101, 202, 2O:l Eunuchs, role of, 6Z. 70, 240- 41
Elrene of Chrysobalantos, 200n Euphrate River. as frontier of Empire,
Ekdikos, Elias, 31 48-50. 1ZD
Eklogf (Leo rrl), 16 Euphrosyne (wife of Ale 'ios III Angelos),
Eliakim, Rabbi. 237 102
Elias, monastery of the Holy Prophet, ~ Euripides, 120, 135, 140
'Ella (monk), 93; Pse-llos's characteriza- Euripos, 51
tion of, 214. 241 - 42 Eurykomis (fictitious city in Makrem-
Ella : SpeJeotes, Saint, 80 bolites), 20J
Elias the l'ishbite, 241 Eustathios of Thessaloniki, 30. 47. 76-77.
the Younger, 3 94, 131, 133; on agricultural produ -
Elijah, Rabbi, 238 tion , 28. on breakdown of monas-
Eme'sa (town in northern Syria), 2 tic discipline, 92- 93; on Byzantine
Emperor, Byzantine: Byzantine view of, dres , 75-76, 76-77; and classical Iit-
206- 7, 213, 253-54; and image' of erature, 136; in debate over Islam, 186;
ideal ruler, 110-16, 163- 66, 206- 7: on diet, 81; education of, 218j as edu-
powers of, in ninth-tenth centurie -, cator, 121. 128; and foreigners, alli-
13- 15, 253- 54 tude toward, 184j hagiography by,
Enamel work, cloisonne, !is 201; on Homer, 152. 154; and image of
Encyclopedi m, 14-15 ideal emperor, 113; Manuel 1 criticized
English, in Byzantine military, 68, 113 by, 165-66; on mUnicipal government,
Enthu iast here y. 1h2 53; naturaH m in writing of, 216-1 ;
E,1(mogoge (Basil I), 22 nobility viewed by, 109; on political
Ephesus (iown in Asia Minor). 12 38, institutions in eleventh- twelfth cen-
40.96 turies, 50

lode 275
Eustathios Romaios (judge), 146- 48 Gabras, Theodore, 53-54

Euslratios of Nicaea, 136, 159-60. l.63 Galatia, 28. 68, 174
Euthymios, Patriarch, (907-912). 21 Galen, 156
Euthymios the Younger. ;:} Gallipoli, Jewish community in, 237
dromoll (peasants in postal ser- Garidas, Eustratos, 70, 146
vice). ]9 -20 Gautier. P., 180
rxkollsseia (tax privileges), 62 Genealogy. 103
Expositio totius mUlldi r t gmt ill III (on geog- genikon (treasury), Zl.
raphy). 1St Genoese, in Constantinople, 176
gens (clan), :!
Fabii (Roman family) , 105 Geography 151- 54
Family, 3- 4. ~ 12. 99- 102, 2Q2; Gcometres, John, 112
on extended, 102-3; and importance Gei1polliJca (fragments on agriculture), 15.
of Un . age, 102- 4; modification of atti- 133,1 2
tude toward, 101 George, Saint, 96, 116
Famines, 27. 235-36 George of Mytilene. 3.
farmer's LAw, 5-6, 10, 50. Georgians, 10; in Byzantine military.
Fanlling system . Sre Agriculture 172. lZ9.
Pasting, East-West differences on. 1B8 georgoi (peasants), 211
" Feudalization" in Byzantine society: GeraJdus, Prince (Reynald of Chatillon).
and changes in 69-70; 109
and changes in bureaucracy, 70- 73; Gerhoh of Reichensberg. l!ll
and emergence of seiglleurit-, ~ 61; Germans: in Byzantine frontier lone,
and nature of e tate, 56-62: and 170; in Byzantine military. 68, 174,
nature of nobility, 62 - 611 257; Byzantine use of tellll, 168; inva-
Filioque debate, 188. 189. 190 sion by, 10; politics of, 51
FI.o rescu, G. a.nd R., 33n Glass manufacturing. 42 -4-3
Folklore, 134 Glykas, Michael, 84. 150, 152, 161.
Foods, variety of. 81-82. Set also Diet 205
Foreigners: Byzantine attitude toward, Gnostics, 138
167- 70, 184 85: in Byzant;n military, Gareme Valley (Cappadoda), 143, 215;
67.68. 70, 172 - 74, 184. 257; in Byzan- Karanbk kilise. 121; K1h4;1ar

kilise. 225;
tine ruling elite, 179 - 80; policy oi Tokab Kilise, 143. 215
marriage with, 257- 58. See also Alien Governance, religious: in East and West,
cultures, Byzantine SOCiety and compared,
Fortunetelling, 239- 40 Government, imperial: agriculture and
Foss, c., JZ commerce regulated by, 18- 22; bu-
Fourth Crusade, 2!t reaucracy of, 7-8. 22-23, 65-68.
Frangoi. Sce Franks 70- 73, 104 - 5; land transfer regulated
Frankopoulo (Herve), 68. 70. 173-74. by, 62: literature on techniques of, 15;
1.Z9 and political in titutions, urban pro-
Franks, NOllnans, in Byzantine military, vincial, 50-56: reioll" of provincial
168, 172, 173, 257 and military administ-ration by, 71 - 72;
Frederick 1 Barbarossa (1152- 1190), taxation powers of. 59- 60. 62; theol-
1 .127 ogy and, 189- 90
Freedom, Byzant.ine concept or. 59 Grabar. A., 118
French people, Byzantine term for, 168 Grado, patriarch of, lZ!!
Friendship, Byzantine attitude toward , Greece, ~ ill. ~ & 77; agricultural pro-
208 duction of, Z'L 28;. book production
Frontier zones, By-mntine. 170- 72; and in, 42; church construction in, 39;
attempt to integrate borderlands, 170- NOllnan invasjon of, 174
72; church's role in acculturation of, Greek, Hellenistic (koifle), as vehicle of
171-72; internal disaffection in, 170-71 Byzantine lit rature, 83-84
(,opyrlqnttlC rrate Ie.,

276 lode
Gregory (author of vita of 7, Holy man, Byzantine idea of. "'" 93- 95.
201 206- 7
Gregory the Great, Pope (590- 604), U Holy SepuJcher. recon truction of, !M
Gr gory Nazianu , 20 , 14. 123. 125. 137. 152.251; B zan-
Gregory Pahlavuni, 1.83 tine tudy and reading of, 134- 35.
Grosdidi r d Maton, J., 93 136 0
Gro solanus, Peter, 188 Horatory Chapters (Ba HI), 111
Grumel, V., 17 Horse racing, 82
Guercio, Baldwin, 257 Ho io Loukas, monastery of
22.52. 121 J2, 144. 216
Guiscard, Robert, 174. 17 179; Ann Ho pitals, 156- 57
Comnena's description of. 1M.. 215 Humbert. Cardinal. 18Z
Gymno Theodore. 59 Hungary, 25. 1
Hunger, H . 139
Had Byzantine image of, 142, 252 Hun , of, 10
Hagjography. ~ 155. 210; decJin of Huntin.g , 110. 243-44
g nre of, 200- 201; e ample of, 246- Hymnography, 2Ol
47; foreign influence on, 183; nd s0- Hypatia (mathematician). 123
cial origjn of sain 2- 3 . See also indi- hypotos of philo phers, 123.
vidual by name 126, 129
Hagiotheodorite , John. 66 hypertimos (title). u of by non-
Ha iotheodorite, ichola, 132 112
/'1 - 78 Izypourgoi (mona tic servants). 9- 90
Hamartolo , George, 14. 130 Hysmint and Hysminias (Makr mbolite ),
Hamit ri, lomon. Rabbi. 237 202-3
Hannanel, Rabbi, 238
H ib. Haba h aJ-. 150 [beri ns, 169. l.8Q
H Ii ia (tribunaJ). 137 [beritze family. 119
of 202 lbero family, l..Z9
Heliopolis (Egyptian town near Cairo), .1 IberopouJ family. 1Z2
Heliou-Bomon . - 90 rhn Cubair. 173. 1 2-
Hell. 5 Hades rhn Hauqal, ZS
Heman. Elijah, Rabbi. 238 1.. 11 - 14, 141, 190, 199;
H nry of 178 tory of. 11 - 14; wom n' role in, 99
Hephaisti n 149 lconodule , 11 - 14
Hephaistos, Theophylakto . 5 Th Ideal ruler. image of. 110- 16. 163- 66.
phylakto of Ohrid 206- 7
Heradea PonUca (town in Min r, on Ideology, 158-63; of the Empire, 163- 66;
Black Sea). ~ and imperial with church,
H ra Iiu, mperor (610- 41). 10 165- 66
137, 142 Idri i (Arab geographer). !l9
Here 159. 162- 63. 192 Ignatio , Deacon. 11
H r ,210- 11. 214 - 15. 225-29 Ignatio Patriarch, 185 n
Hez kiah (Hebrew king). 114 Ikon ion (town in Min r). ~ 153
Hippocrates. 156 lIiad (H mer). 134. 137
Historical Epitome (Zonara ). 205 lIIyricum. 27. 168
Historicol Synopsis 205 Imperial family. title and rank of. 238.
Hi toricol yllopsis ( kylitze ), 205 5 also Emperor. B zantine
Histories (Tzern- ), 135 Imperial ideal, 163- 66. See also Emperor.
Hi tori graphy. Byzantin . 204 - 5: Byzantine
224- 29 India. 152. 154
History (AttaJeiate ). ill I Ko ma .151

HodoiporikOIl ( 153- 54 (ndi idual. of, 197
C-opyrlqntac 'T ate lei!

Index 277
Indulgences, 123 167 n; and rebuilding of cities i.n Asia

Inflation, and Byzantine economy, 26 Minor, 38; use of military saint on
[ngUnoi (English), 257 coins by, 116
lnheritan laws, 100 John of Damascus, 165, 192
Innocent II, Pope (1130 - 1143), 167n John of Pune, 82
Institutions (}u tinian). 145 John of Rila, 1B3
Institutio physica (prokJos), lB1 John Res, 258
intellig nt ia, Byzantine, 130-33. 158 - 63 John the omophyla , 145- 46
loannikio (monk), 93 John the OrphanOlrophos, 67, 213
loannikio the Cr at, 3 John the 106
Isaac I Comnenus, Emperor (1057 - 1059). John X, Kamal ros, Patriarch
115-16, 120, 223. (119 - 1206), 125
Isaac II Angelos, Emperor (1185-1195), Jordan River, 153 - 54
38, 2. 120; eulogy of Tomikes for, Joseph of Arimathea, 96
250-51; and foreign alliance through Joseph of TIlessaloniki (monk), II
marriage, 178 Judah, Rabbi, 237
Islam: architectural influence of, 181; Jurisprudence, 145-
Byzantine tntude toward, 186-87 Justin II, Emperor (565 - 578), 110
ltalikos, Michael, 103. 128, 131, 132, 155; Justinian !, Emperor (527-565), 16, 107,
co mological view of, 150- 51; per- 145- 46; Code, 100, 145, 148
sonal feeling! in writings of. 222 J 11, Emperor (685-695, 705-
Italo , J hn , 126, 136. 139- 40. 160; Anna 711) , Z
Comnena's description of, 248-49; as
hypatos of philo ophy, 127-28, 158- Kale. , Jewi h community in, 237
59, 248-49 lVIlita UN! Dimnah (Arabic book of par-
Italy, 51. 72, 182. 236; in fronti r zone, ables), 182
170, 172; trade with, 176- 77 Kallikles, Nicholas, . 107, 139- 40,
Iviron, Mona tery of (ML Athos), 26 156
Kallipolis (Callipoli), community
Jac b, Rabbi, 237 in,237
Jacob the Venetian. 192 Kalodoukes, ichola , 155
Jaroslavi h, V void, Prince (1078 - 1093), Kamatero , John, astronomer, 150
44 Kamateros, John, logoth te, 60. 82
Jephonia the Jew. 97 Kamal ro ,John, rhetorician, 115
Jericho (town in Pale tine), 154 Kamater family, 65.
Jerusalem, 151, 153. 19i Kampia (Creec ), St. ich I s in the
Jewish communities. 237 - 38 fields, 32
Joel. Rabbi, 238 Kamytzes, Manuel, 227

John (Manuel I' nephew), 178 Kamytzc family, 180
John Kouboukl siO.5, widow of, 5Z Kantakouzenos famil , 55

John Chrysostom, int, 2. 133, l23. Kapur, Elijah, Rabbi, 237
John [ Tzimisk {969 - 76). ~!!. 109 n. Karayannopoulo ,J., 36- 37
137 Kasnitzes, Nik phoro ', 100
John 11 Comnenus, mperor (1118-1143), Kassia (nun , poetess), 11
25, 45. 54, 64, 70. 101, 107. 225; a Iro- Kastalia River (n r Antioch), 152, 153
lOgical intcre t of, 150; and Byzan- Kastamonites, Theodore, 22B
tine fa hion, 78; epitaph for, 243; Kastoria (town in Macedonia), 36, 100,
foreign marriage of, 178; and hospital 174; art p tronage in, 221; church con-
in Pantokrator Monastery, 156; mer- struction in, ~ Hagios Steph nos,
cenari sin rmyof, 173; monastery 216; Mavriot! sa Mona tery, 225; 51.
found d by, 103- 4; non-Byzantine. in Kasnitze , 100
ari tocracy of, 180; of kastron (fortress), .2i
united Roman Empire propo ed by, Katak Ion. K kaumeno , 105- 6. ill
Copynqrted P'l r 31
278 lnde
Kataphloron , Nichola , 132, 133 th Magi fros. 146

Kataplrraktai (knight ), Z2 Mona tery of the Virgin
ichola. , 201 (Thrace). typikoll of. 47. 79-
Katt!1lt (Chain), 145 Koulpingi. people in Byzantine military.
kattpQllattS (military district ), 11 173. 257
Kato L fkara (town in Cypru ), Church kOllralor. a landholder. 52
of the Archang I , 161 /collropalaltS (tit! ). u of b n n-
30, 132; attitude toward Byzantines. 112
doctors, 155-56; attitude toward for- Kout ouvendis (Cyprus). St. Chry-
eign aristocra , 180; on autarch, tom mona tery.
46- 47: on craitsm n, 52; and de- Kron ,228
throning of Michael VI, 54; and diet, Kurbinovo (town in Macedo nia). t.
1; on fealty to emperor, 254; on ideal George, church. 161. 224
ruler, 112; Literature of, 207, Kyminan ,Eu tathio 70
208-9: on municipal go mment, 53; Kymnopelagi ia i land , 52
on nobility, 104; traditional famil d
picted by, 99-100 Lachanodrakon. Michael. U
K kaum na Katakalon. 5 Katakalon Lag udera (town on Cyprus), Virgin tou
Kenchreai (town near Corinth), 25.n Arakou (church). 97. 220-21
Kephala , Allthology of, 133 Lagoude Con tantin and Maria. 52
Khazars, in Byzannn military, 112 Landholding. See E tate
Ki v, 44, 175; Cave Language: church attitude toward, 188.
mona tyr'), 44; Prince of. 135 193; foreign langu ge , 183- 84; u of
Kill; Arslan II, 228 /coin/' for Byzantine literature, 83-
Kinnamo ,John, 47, 113, 1M Laodicaea (town in Phrygia),
Idasma (escheated land), 21 Laon (town in France), 53
Kl udiopoLi , iege of. 226 Lapardas. Androniko 54 - 55. 23
Kleloroiogion (PhiJoth ), 15 Larissa (town in Thessaly), 4Z
Klimak , John, 209 Latin, 120; in Byzantine military. 174;
Kling r, 129 Byzantine view of, 169. 1M. 260; co n-
Kn wi dge, pur uit of. 120- 66; and aca- qu t of Con tantinople by, 24, 129,
demi 121 -26; and aca- 229. 230; trade with, 176
demic politics, 126-30; and art and Laura mona Ii fonn , ~
antiquity. 141 -45; and of Lavra of SI. Athana ios (Mount Athos).
da ical tradition. 133-66; and au- 57.256
thor of antiquity. 133-38; impact of. Law. 16, 145- 48, 227; hools of, 121 - 22
on th I gy and ideology, 158-63; Saint: of, described.
and intellectuals in societ 130-33; 263-66
and I w. 145- 48; and the rationali t Lazaru of Mount Gale io Saint, ~
imperial ideal, 163- 66; and science. 7 - ,201. 246- 47
1 Learning, Byzantine attitude toward. 120.
/COill/, (Helleni tic Gre k). 83-84 5 also Education, B zantine
/COinobion ( n bitic mon tery) , U, Lemerie, Paul. 14, 123-25
- 7 Leo (imperial official). 1
Kolbiagi people. 257 Leo III. Emperor (717-741): a lconocl t,
AJexios, 107 11. 13; I gal r forms of, 1.6
Androniko 239 Leo VI. Emperor 2). 14, 15, 17, l2.
John. command r of 25n, 111. 206; legal codi.fication b , l.6.
th f) t. 228 145- 46; prohibition urban corporate
Konto t phano John (diplomat). 153 politi b , ~ regulation of trade
Stephen. 107 by. 22
(t wn in Asia Minor). Leonardo of 149
(al h mi t). 150 Leontjj. Saint. 175
,
Index 279
Leontio of Jeru lem, Saint, 2lll 244; geographi al writing of, 153- 54;
Leo the Deacon, 110, 112, 137 by. 205; romance by, 202
Libaniu , 9 Mana tir (town in Macedonia). ~
LibeUi io , Peter, 183 Mandylion, icon of, 96
Librarie , 3 Mangana, rural ry f, lZ. 122
Lib a,l54 Mango, c. , 18.1
Limburg , Staurothek, 4.5. Manuel I Emperor (1143-
Lin n, in Byzantine lothing, ZiJ. 1180), 25, 33n, 77, 84, 101, 102, 107,
Liparit IV, prince of Trlaleti (middle of lOS, 163- 64. ~ 191. 257; admini tra -
eleventh century), lZ9. tion of, 6.6. 70, 71 ; intere t
L' v, S., 32 of, 150, 161; and Blachemae Palace,
Litavrin, G., 5& l.!lL 245; bu inc ruling of. 52, 62;
Literacy, 120, N . Choniate ' ption of, 225- 26,
Little Commentary (Theon), 149 227; control of army b , 239; critid m
Liturgy, 16, m of, 165- 66; farnin in reign of, 27 n;
Liutprand of Cremona, Z5. and fore 174, 17 , 186. 237- 39,
Livestock, 5- 6, 28- 29 257 - 58; and imperial image, 113, 115,
Lizix, Michael, 156 116, 164; , family, and dyna -
Lombard , 1ZO tic politi of, 54, 55, 58, 102, 153, 17 ,
padi n (town in A ia Minor), , 5;l 257- 58; provincial urban rebuilding
Lollis I the Piau (Frankl h emperor, under, :rr. 38, 44; and worship of
814- 840), 13. reli , 96.
Loui VII (Fr n h king. 1137- Manzikert (town in Arm nia), H. 26.
Lovee (town in Bulgaria), 33 Margaret of Hungary, wife of lsaa 11, 17
Lucian, 138, 139 Maria (daughter of Manuel I), 54. 17
Luke the Stylite, 155 Maria-Marthe, the" Alan" (G rgian
Luke the Younger, 89, 155 prince ), 101, 169. 177, 214
L caonia (region in A ia Minor), Maria (granddaughter of 1
174 Lakapenos), 177
Lycurgu , 137 Maria of Anti h, 17
Lykophron, 140 Maria the Younger, aint, 99
Markiano and Martyrio , Saint , f a I
Macedonia, 63; art patronage in, 221 ; of, 83
Byzantine archaeological evidence in, Marmora , Sea of, 237
35- 36: and Macedonian in Byzan- Marriag : B zantine policy toward for-
tine military, 173; villag in entories 177- 7 ,257- ; dyna tic,
from, 26. 23S 177 - 78; family Hfe a.nd, 99- 102
Macedonian dynasty, 24, 17 Mathematics, 148-49
Machetario (droungarios of guard ), Maurice Maurikio , Emperor
204 - 5 15; Strategikoll of, 104
Madrid, Bibli teca adona!. 5- 3, n , 2, Mauropou , John , 112, 116, 126, 131 , 201,
Chronide of Sk litze , 115 223: Con tanlinopl de cribed b ,
Lake (Sea of Azov), 135, 152 255; and law hool, 122; on I aU! ru ,
magi Iros (title), 22, 62. lZ9. 265- 66; peeeh on vi tory v r Leo
Makari of Rome, aint, 168 Tomike by, 249 - 50
Makari of Sicily, aint, 200 Mavrioti sa Mona tery (Ka toria ), 225
Makrembolite , Eumathio , 202 - 3 Maximo the Coni or, Z
Makrembolit family. 65 Meander Vall , 227
Malakeno , John , 200 Medicine, 155-
Mal ke , Euthymio , 132, 171 , 257 Medikion of I.' tate), 30
Mamala, honiates's description of hi Mega , Isaac. Rabbi, 237
I.' ecution, 227 Melengyia (Cathar church), 192
Man , Z6. 103, 110, 126. Mele (a lord in . Ital ), 1ZO
280 Index
Meletio of Myoupolis, Saint, 80.. c:M. Monogamy, 181

M lingo tribe, 192 Monomacho See Con-
Nikephoro , 53 l)( Monomacho
M Litia (town in Thraee), 244 Monophy ite Ul. 163
Melytene, Byzantine conqu t of, 1Z Monreale (town in Sicily), ~
Menander, 5S.. 123 Monte Ca ino abbey, Italy, "
67, 68, 70, In -74, 1M. 257 Mo , Rabbi, 237
Mesarites, Nichola, 47, ~ desoiption Mo lem , 10; a her tic, 163. Su also
of 153; on insurrection of John m
th Fat, 262 - 63; on mosai in Church Mount Gal io. of, 87-88
of the Holy Apostles, 224; naturalism Mousaios, 123
in writing of, 218- 20; personal f l- M tislav (Ru ian prince), 258
ings in writing of, m Muhammed, Prophet, 186
M mbria (t wn in Balkan ), 32- D " Mu um of Legi lation" (law
(town in Sicily), Katakalon' de- Mu ur (Arab emir), 117
fense of, 105 Myeena (Gr ek site), 72
Metanoeite, Nikon, Saint, 155 Myrio/Jiblion (Photios), 15
Meteorology (Arist tI ), un Myriokephalon, Turk defeat of Byzan-
Patriarch (843-47), 11 at, 24, 1M
Mezek (town in Bulgaria), 33. (Bulgarian ), 236. See also
Michael !, Keroullario , Patriarch (1043- Bulgaria
58),46,150, 187, 188,191 , 260; and Mytilene of 238
P 110 , 131 - 32, 158
Michael VI. Emperor (1056-1057), 5.i. 67, Neakome (villag in Western Asia
6S. 106, 119 Minor), 153
Michael VIJ Doukas, Emperor (1034- (G rman ), 257
1042), SL 54, 67, 68, 127, 146, 174, 119 Neokastron (AJexiopolis; town in the Bal-
Michael of Ephe u , 136 kan ), 48
Michael the Rhetor, 128, 129, 160 Neophyto , Saint, 42, 199- 200. 2111
Milan, l88 Neoplatoni m, 136, 149, 159, m
236 Nerezi (site in Macedonia), St. Pan-
Military foree, Byzantine, 24, 203. 239; teleimon (church), 161
c1asse in. 18- 19; foreigner in. 67, Ne tor, Saint, 96, 185
68, 70, In -74, 184, 257; organization here y, 13.
of, ~ n; and writing on military Nicaea (town in Asia Minor), 38, 49. 153;
ience. 15. Su also Mercenari rebellion in, 54, 55
stratiota; Nicene Creed, 188-89
TIl; thioi (hired workers), 22, M Nichola (doT/le5ticos of the schola;, reign of

Moglena Pecheneg In, VUI), 61
171,256 Nicholas L My liko , Patriarch (901-907,
Moise of Bergamo, 192 912- 925), 'Z9
Mona ticism. 86-95; architecture, Nichola IV. Mouzalon, Patriarch (1147-
and architectural arrang m nts, 51), 27n, 86, 152- 53, 256
and breakdown of mona tic Nichola of Methon , 52, 94, 138 !!, 163,
d 92- 93; and community or- 201; charge Sotericho with h re y,
ganization. 11. 12. 14. 86-88; hier- 191; political thought of, 163- 64; in
archy within, 89- 90; individualistic theological debate, 160-61
!rand of. 14, 7- 92; lack of intr- Nikephoritze , 67, 106
community ti in, 90; and land- Nikephor ,Life of St. Andrew the Fool,
ownership, 29- 30, 57, 6Q; and per- 21
ception of holy man, 93- 95, 206-7; Nikephoro (a monk of Esphigmenou),
revival f. ninth- tenth centuri , 171 - 72
11 - 14; We tern and Byzantin com- Nikephoro patron, Cappadocia),
pared . 7 - ; women and, 90 221
,
I
Index 281
Nikephoros (provincial magistrate, St, Sophia (Church), 198, 216

221 Olympie.ion (Athens) .Y
(provincial magistrate, Olynthos, farm in Western Asia Minor,
Kastoria). 221 235
Nikephoros ( tratopnlarcht>5, reign of Olynthus (town in ceramics
c.onstantine IX). 62 production in. 40.
Ni.J<.ephoros, Patriarch, U (806- 815). 11 On coUection of fragments. 1.5
NiJ(ephoro 1. Emperor (802-811), 21 On Plots Against Empelors. collection of
Nikephoros II Phokas. Empero[ (963- fragments, 1.5
969). 14. 15, 18. 20, 75, 1{)9, 112. 114. On Quadruped AJlima/s (fimotheos of
186n G za). 154
Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Emperor On Vainglory (John Chrysostom). 2
(1078-1081), 69, lOt 178; Attaleiates' On Various ,Kind 0 Fever (Galen), 156
of. 214: as ideal ruler. 105. On Virtue and Vict". collection of frag-
112- 13, 164; proclaimed emperor, ments. 15
51, ~ Ophrydas, U6 - 2.7
Nikerites, Leo, 70, 252 Opsikion (theme), '1. 42, 240-41
Niketas of Psellos). 134 Oreste Patriarch of 'erusal m (986-
Ni~eta.s (gove.mor of Antioch). 6Z 1006), 200
Niketas n, Moutanes. Patriarch (1186- oriarioi officials). 1.8
89). 228 Origen. 124
Niketa of Amnia, Lift of P,h ilaretos Orpheus, 123
Niketas of Ankara. 68. 165 Otranto (town in Italy), San Pietro
Nlk tas of Heradea. W (church), 216
Niketa of Maroneia. 189, 190 Otto 11 (Gellnan emperor, 973-83), 75.
Niketas of Nikomedia, W 177
Nikomedia (town in Asia Minor). 38 Ouranos. Nikephoros. 15
Nikon the Metanoeite. Saint, 89, Oxeiles, John, 165
NiIO$. Bishop of Tama ia, 2Zn
ilos of Calabria, 160 Pachomius, 12
Nilos of 155 Pi\cuiullui Soar (Bulgaria). 13
Niquinta (Cathar bishop). 192 Paeonians, use of tern 168
nomell gt"nlile (family name), 4 Painting, Byzantine. 98-99; emotional
nomisma-sclidus (coinage). 2S content of, 724- 25; evolution of,
~OiIlOCQnOn in Fourtun Chapters (Theo- 215-16; and igning of works.
dore),I48 220-21
nomophyltlx ("guard of the law"), 122. Pakourianos, Smoot. 58
126-27 Pakourianos family. 179
NOIIJlans: in Byzantine military, 68. Pala d'Oro, enamels of, !is
173- 74. 257; Byzantine tellil for, I Palaeologus. George, 106
inva ion by and military victori.e 5 of, Pal m.O (town in Sicily). lB1
24.68. 135,216-17.261-62; in no- Pale tine, to. 152
bility. 180: in Southern Italy. 170-71 Panathenaia (Ath ns fair), 236
Novels (Justinian). 145 panegyris (fair), 236-37
Noviodunum-,I saccea (town on Danube). Panionia (Miletus fair), 236
3J Pantechnes (Constantinople). 110
Numismatics. & 8- 9, 25- 26. 115- 16 Panteieimon, Saint. 96
Pant ugenes. Soterichos: accused of
Obadiah, Rabbi (of Pera). '1:J7 heiesy. 1& ~ l21; in theological
Obadiah, Rabbi (of Samos). 238 debate, 160-61
Odo, Marqui ,261 Paphalagonia (province. Asia Minor), 49,
Odo of Deuil. ilL 49. Z2. 174. 245. 255 5t.91
Odyssey (Hooter). 134 Paphnoutios (GaJatian monk), 28
Ohrid (town in Macedonia). 36. 169. 183; Paphnoutios, 90
, GODY IQntec 'T Q q ,

I
282 Index
Paphos (town in yprus). of PhilQsophy. 122 - 23, 251 ; formal instru -

51. Neophytos. 220- 21 tion in. 122-23
Paraskeve. Saint. 86 PhilQtheos. Saint, 12. 94
Pariberios (debtor), 147 Phoenicians. 51. 236
Paris. Bibliotheque National gr. 139. Phokas. John, 44, 152. 153
Psalter. 97, 141. 142. 198 Phokas family. 105
Paroiiwi (dependent peasant ). ~ 56.57, Phokis (district in Central Greece). 39.
60.235 198.216
Patl'riiwn (Cave Monastery. Kiev), ~ Phorbenos. Alexios. 107
Patalagean. E . 2t 99 Photios, Patriarch (858-67. 877-86). 15,
Patmos (island of). 29. 90.257; monas- 152. 155. 185 n.. 187; Bibliv/heke Qf, 133;
tery of John the Baptist. 90, 225, 227 cQsmQlogical view Qf. 150; and theory
pa'rilcios (patricians, title). 22, 69. of state contro\' 165
Patronymics, use of, after 1000 .102- 3 Photios of ThessaJoniki. Saint, 15
Patz s (judge). 145 Phoundagiagitai. 192
Paul. Sain t. 1.&l PhQuratarios family. 65
Paulidan her sy, 1n2. .l& 192 Phoumos. John. 163, 188, ill
Paul of latms. Saint. 12 Phrygia (Asia Minor). 38
.P easantry. 8- 10, 2L 24; categori of, Pietism. 95-96
19- 20; dependent. 6. :&. 5Z.. & 235; Piety. as value, 7-8
saints originating from. 2_ 3 Pisa. 176
Ped\eneg Turks. 24. ~ 68. 106. 152. 170. Pisides. Ceorge. 135
171; Byzantine term for. 168; in mili- Plato. ~ 132. 136. 138.241
tary. 1Z2 Pliska (town in Bulgaria). 32
PeirQ (collection of legal 147- 48 Plow, types of. ~ lZ
Peloponnese, 39, !1 Poetry. Byzantine. 84. 85 - 86, 243.
Pe:ntarchy. Byzantine concept of. ~ 245-46.247-48.259-60,263.
Pera. J wish community of, 237 265- 66
Perachorio (town in Cyprus). Holy lKJIis. ;!, 55- 56
Apostles Church. 216 politeuomenoi. as members of elite. Z
Pergameno Stephen. 61 Political institutions. urban provincial .
.Pergamum (town in Asia Minor). J6n" 46,
7. 38. ~.u Political thought. 139. 158-63
!>erge (town in Asia Minor), 2 PQlovtsy tribe. 34. 169. 256-57
P rikles. 105 Polyeuktos, Patriarch (956-70), 165
Peristrerna Valley. Cappadocla. Direkli Pompeo. 99
Kilise. 216 PopulatiQn, trends in, 26.
Pemik (lOwn in Bulgaria). 3a PQrree. Cilbert de lao 191
Persians. 168. 223 Portareia.59
Personality. emergence of. in artistic Portuguese. at Thessaloniki fair. 236
expre ion. 220-30 Postal service, imperial. 19, 23
P teT. Saint. l2:i praktikn 26, 235
'Peter of B..acieux. 1.&l Preslav (town in Bulgaria). 32. ~
PetTa (town in Near East). 223 Prices. regulation Qf, 22
'Petraliphas family. 70, 1.8Q Prien (town in Asia Minor). 4D.
2M. Primogeniture. 100
Philadelphia (town In Asia Prodromos. Theodore. 52. 66, 68,
Minor), Cathar church in. 192 102, 136. 156; on aristocracy, 106- 8;
Phllaretos. Saint. 3. fl and Byzantine bathing habits. 80; on
PhUroles. Cyril, Saint, & 2111 diet, 81; hagiogTaphy by. 201 ; and im-
Philippopolis (town in Balkans). 38, ~ age of ideal emperor, 113, 114; on in-
49. 131. l63.. 171. 227 security of intellectuals. 131; poetry
Phllobenos. Ceorge 146 by, 84, 263; romance by. 202 - 3, 203-

1
,
fndex 283
~ self-depiction of 221 - 22; War 0 the Pylae (town in Asia Minor). 153
CDt and Mice, 139, 251 - 52 Pyrrhon, 132
proo:lros (title), 5Z Pythagoras. 132
ProkIos, ~ llU
Prokopios (courtier of Basill's), 244 Radolivo (village in Macedonia). 26
Prokopios the Martyr, 96, 239 Rationalism, in theology and ideology,
prosoriiarioi (category of peasantry), 2fi 158-66, 189. 191
Prosouch (Borsuq) family, 180 Raul family. 180
Protestantism, 195 Raymond of Poitiers. 184
Protimesis (preemptive rights), 21 Reformation. Protestant, 195
proto/amkellllrio5 (an office), 51 Relics. veneration of. 95. 96- 97
pr%plotdros (tiUe), 172 Religious life. Byu.ntine. 86- 99; iso-
protosebasto!l (title), 69. 1Z2 lation of, in seventh century. ~ and
sz.
protospothllTios (title), 22. 62 perception of holy man. ~ 93-95.
Provinces, 31- 56, 198, 232; archaeological 206- 7; pietism and worship of
and literary evidence for urban evolu- relics in, 95- 97; and religious il-
tion of. 31-39; arts and crafts. and ur- luminations, 97-99; and veneration
ban evolution in, 39- 46; ('conomy of images, 12-13. 96 - 97; worship
and institutions of. 46 - 56 practices in. 12-13. 16.. Scc also
Psellos. Michael, 30. 114, 122n, 131 . 134. Monasticism
139, 16a.l!:Y1.. 01; on agricultural pro- Renier of Montferrat, John. 102. 178
duction, 47. as alleged author of Reynald of Chatillon, 109
TimotJII.'os. 138; aristocrats described Rhetoric, 128- 29
by. 104-5; aUitude of, toward fellow Rhodes. 29. 202. 238
scholars. 132; on breakdown of mo- Rhodosto (town on Sea of 'Ma/lllora), 35.
nastic diSCipline. 93; character and 47. 237
personality description by. 211-12. Rhon/Ilioi (Eastern Christian descendants
213 - 14; and N. Choniates, compared, of the Romans). 74. 167
225. 226; classical training of, 126. 135. Rhomaios, Micha I, 146- 47
136; on court entertainment. 83; on Richard the Lion Hearted. King of
dress. Z5.; as educator and hyp% s of 'England (1189-99), 111
philosophy, 123- 27; on foreign influ- Robert of Auxerre. 70
ence in Byu.ntine Empire. 180; het- Rodanthe and Dosikles (Prodromo ), 114,
erodoxy accusations against. 158; 202-3, 203 - 4
humanistic concerns of. 210-14; on Roger 11, llU
ideal emperor. 164 65; on images, 199; Roger famiJy, 70. 180
ltalOS mentored by. 248- 49; ter- Roger of Apulia. son of Tancred (1192).
minology work by, 146; on mathemat- 178
ics. 149; on the monk Elias, 93. 241 - Romance. 201 - 3
42; naturalistic writing of. 216; per- Roman Empire. as name of Byzantine
sonal feelings in writings of. 222- 24; Empire. 1
personal history of. 204-5. 225; on Romania. as name of Byzantine Empire.
political institutions. 50;. scientific h 2Z.
and medical writings of, 150. 154. 156; Roman law, 6. 16, 145-46
worldview depicted by, 229. Empress Romanos, medical treatise by 156
Zoe described by, 242 Romanos I Lakapenos. Emperor (920-
Pseudo-Alexios. a usurper. 228 944). 14, 17, 21-22. 177
Pseudo-Dionysios. the Areopagite. 190. Romanos II , Emperor (959 - 963). 29, 110
199 Romanos IfI Argyros, Emperor
plod/oi (poorest peasant class). 2fi (1028-1034). 64. ill
Ptolemais (town in Egypt), 153 Romanos IV Diogenes, Emperor (1068-
Ptolemy, 150, 152, UU 1071). 172- 73, 174
Purgatory. 193n Rome, church rule from , 194: Vatican .

284 Index
Rom. ch urch rul from (continued) moJogical view - of, 150; humanis tic
Biblioteca Vaticana. gr. 1613, Meno- concerns of. 211; moralistic literature
logion of Basil U. 185; Joshua Roll, of, 207; scientific writings of. 154- 55
142. 198; Reg. gr. L Leo BibLe. 97. Sgouros. Leo. 48
143. 198 Shabtha, Rabbi. 238
Roussel de BaiUeut 68. 70. 174. 122 Shemaria. Rabbi. 238
Rules of the Apre;ties, 148 Shir-Guru, Joseph. Rabbi, 237
Rum. name given to Byzantine Empire. I Shoro, Aaron Becher. Rabbi. 237
Rumania. ex,c avalions in. Sibyllaj, 123
31,33 Sidly, 5, 27, 235-36
Rus (Russian) people. 258 - 59; in Byzan. Sickle. and agricultural technology. 28
tine aristocracy and military, 172, 173. Side (town in Asia Minor). 37
179, 257; Byzantine term for. ]69; in Sidon (town in Syria). 152. 153
Constantinople, quarter of .1'75; Silk production. 41. 42, 7
depiction of. 134. 135; trade 'With Silverwork,45 - 46
175. 177 imokatta. Theophylaktos, 110-11
Russo-By~ntine treaties, 175, 177 kiros, island of. 57
SkJeros, Romano . 147
Sabas the Younger, SO Sk1eros family. 147
St. Feli de Caraman (site of Cathar Skopje (town in Macedonia), M
assembly). 192 Skylitzes, George, 183
Sajnts: depiction of. 210; social origins Skylitzes. John, 68, 78; aristocracy de-
of, 2- 3 , Sec also Hagiography; and picted by, 105. 106; Chrotridr of, M.
individual saint.s Uy rUlIIrl! 210; as historian, 205. 209; Kekau-
sal,,; (fools for Christ's sake), 93- 94 menus described by, 214
Samos, Jewish community on, 238 Skylitzes, Stephen, 222
Samouch (Camaha) family, ISO Slavery, 9- 10
arona ' family, C; Slilvs. invasion by. ill
Sappho.123 Smyrna (town in Asia Minor). 37. 38
Saracens, in Byzantine military. 1'73. 257 Soapstone art, 45
Sardis (town in Asia Minor), 37. 40. 42 Social structure. Byzantin ' , 2 - 3. 12.
Scandinavians. in Byzantine military, 18 - 23, 78; aristocracy and elite in. Q.
173. 174 7-8, 69-70,233; bureaucracy in, 7- ,
Sc cncc. 1 70- 73; peasantry in. ~ 8. 56- 62; in
Scythe. and agricultural technology. seventh-eighth centuries, 3-4. - 8:
27 - 28 and statu!; of art patrons. 221. See a/5()
Scyt hians. 1 ,169 Aristocracy; Family; Government. im-
S/'/!aS/OIcra/OT (title), 69, ISO perial; Peasantry
5chaS/OS (title). 69 Sofia. 28. SrI! a/so Serdica
Scbtopolis (town in Thrace). 32. solemllia (rights to tax revenues). 65
Secularization, 201 - 6 Solomon (Constan tinopolitan official),
Seides, iketas. 160. 163, 188 127
Sci nCllr; emergence of, 23, 61 Solon, 137
Seljuk Turks. 24, 2 , 38. 42. 115 soma/cia (urban corporation). 51
Seleukia (town in Asia Minor), 38 Soterichos. See Panteugenes, Soterichos
Senator, number of. 69 Soublaion (town in Asia Minor). 38
Serbia, conqu ' st of. 25 Sauda (lexico n). 15. 133
Serblias (Constanlinopolitan official). 127 Space. in Byzantine painting, 215 - 16
Serblias family, 65 Spaneas. author ( ) of Didacti AdllloPlj-
Serdica (Sofia. 28, 47. 49, 183 liolls. or Spaneas, 207-8
Serres (town in Macl.'-donia), :1Z Spaniards. at Thessaloniki fair, 236
Servia (town in Macedonia). 35. 36 Sparta, 35. 40
Seth. Siml.'On, 1 l ' 2, 209, 253; cos- spalharws, as landholder. 57
(,opyrlqntoc. 'T ate Ie..

lndex 285
spatharolamdidatos, as landholder, 51 Taygetus Mountains (in the Pelopon-

Sports, royal and 109-10, nese), 58
181. 240-41, 243-44 Teaching techniques. 123- 25
Stained glass, 43 Technology, 27-28, 50
Stavroni1cita GosPels, 141 Tembroi (village), 20
Steatite art, 41i Terebinthos, isl.a nd of, .3fi
Stephanites and Jchlre1Rtes (S. Seth), 182, Theano. 123
m Theater, ;L 240-41
Stephan of Nikomedia, 91 Thebes (town in G,cece), 35, 38,
Stephatos, Niketas, 91 57-58, 155
Stephen (brother of Emperor It'O VI), 1A Themes (the1llRIa), 2. Zl.. 5t'e also individual
Stephen (monk), 94-95 themes by name
Stobaeu -, 135 ThemistokJes, lOS
Stoi . , 132 Theodora (niece of Manuel L wife of Bal-
Strabo, 152, 168 dwin III), 58.
Strambo, Alexios, Count, 257 Theodora (niece of Manuel L wile of Ni-
Strategikon (Maurikios), 104 kephoros Chalouphes). 102
stratiotai (military (OnSet ipts): landhold- Theodora (niece of Manuel L wife of
ing by, 18- 19: military ob1.igations of, Henry of Aus tria), 178
2; replacement of, with prof s ionals, Theodora (wife of Theophilus), Z
72: tatus and wealth, J..9... 5 also Mili- Theodora. Empre (1054 - 56), 13. 12.
tary force, Byzantine 101, 118
stratioliJal (military exchequer), Zl Theodora, Saint. 96
Stroimer (land-grant recipient), 6Q Theodore Stratelates. Saint. 116, 118
Stylia ne (pse.llos's daughter) , 211 - 12. Theodore of Edessa, Saint, :3
2H Theodore Ros. 258
Styppeiotes, Theodore. 66 TheodQre of Smyrna, hYfMtos of philoso-
SviJengrad district, 31 phers, 128, 156, lB8.
Sybaris, 132 Theodore of Sykeon. Saint. 2-3
Sybarites, po1.itics of, sa Theodore of the Studios, Saint. 11. 12..
Symeon (droungarioi under Alexios). 70 87, 130
Symeon of Mytilene, Saint, 2 Theodoios (monk). 94
Symeon ' Fool, Saint, 3 Theodosios Boradiotes, Patriarch (1179-
Symeon the Me taphrastes. J..6. 21. 223 83), .3fi
Symeon the Stylite, Saint, 98 Theodosios of Patmos (ha . iographer).
Symeon the Theologian, M.;u. 94. 157. 20ln
236-37; and monastic individllalism, Theodosios the Deacon, 137
90-92; moral teachings of. 206-7: on Thcoktistos, prolos of Mo unt Athas. U2
powers of nobility. 63; st ruck by rural Theology, 158- 63. 186- 96; and Byzantine
peasants. 91 view of Islam. 186-87; and Byzantine
yndl)tai (furnis hers of aid to local mili- view of non-Orthodox Christia.ns,
tary), 21 187-97: and Filioque in Byzantine
Synkell()~. 21M creed, 188. 1 9 . 190; and role of civil
Synopsis , Grenl. of Ihe Basilika. 146 government. 189- 90: and Trilin-
Syria , 10, 63. ~ 168, 110 gualism, lB8.
Theon, 149
Taktika (leo VI), 15, ~ TheQphanes (histori.an), 130, 15l. 204 .
Tancred of Antioch (1104-12). 261 205; on anti-monastic practices, 12;
Tancred of Sicily (1190-94). 178 and image of ideal ruler, 111, 1M; use
Tarchaneiotes, John. 106 of term liable by, 2
Tatikios family. 1BQ Theophanes Continuatus. U
Taurika (the Crimea). 134 Theophano. Princess. 177
Taxation, 2. 15. 18. 21. 29. 59, 65 Theophilos. Emperor (829 - 842), 2
Cor:>Y<lgntea 'T ate> 10.

286 Index
Theophylaktos of Ohrid, 49. 59, 113, weakening of urban rorpoTations. SL

169, 183, 206. on worship of hermits. 94
Theophylaktos Lakapenos, Patriarch Tzimiskes, John, 34n, 109n, 137
(933-56), 1!
ThessaJonikl, ~ 35, 36, 49, 53, 95. 139, Urban corporations (somateia). SO- 52
1 , 192; art and craft production in, Urban liCe. 231; archaeological and liter-
40, il; faiT in, 175, 236; governance of, ary evidence on, 31 - 39; arts and
76; orman conquest of. 24, 184, 216- crafts, and evolution of, 39 - 46; in
17,218, 261 - 62; Panagia ton Chal- Balkan and Asia Minor, compared ,
keon. 216; school of Eustathios in. 38 - 39; economy of. 46-SO; waning of,
121; St. Sophia, church, 216 seventh century, 2- 3
Thessaly (Balkans), 35 Usury, regulation of, 21 - 22
Thomais of 99 Uzes. in Byuntine military, 112
Thr ce, 35, 244
Thrakesion (theme), ~ 12, 17, 132 Varangians, in Byzantine m ilitary. 173,
Tiberio l Emperor (57 -582), 110 257
Tiberiopolis, martyrs of, 1&1 Vardar River (Macedonia). ~
Timarion, ~ 139- 40, 156 VasiJko (Russian prince). 258
Timothros, or About Demons (attrib. Psel- Veljusa (town in Macedonia), Virgin
los), 138-39 Eleousa, church, 161
Timolhe6s of Gaza, 154 Venke. 44. 52, 176
Tipoukeilos (Patzes), 145 Verria (town in Macedonia), 36
Tithonos, 228 Verses on the Them", of the Iliad (Tzet-zes),
Tlvtev, P. , 36 134
Torcello (town in Italy), ~ V~s Wr;tte'l in Jail (Glykas). 161
Torigny, Robert de, 35 Yezelay (France): La Madeleine, 144 - 45,
Tomikes, Euthymios, 103. 2]8-19 19j
Tornlkes, George, Senior, 156, 157-58 Viaticum (Ibn Gubair). 182
Tomikes, George, Junior, 38, 250-51 Vihkatzes family. 1Z2
Tomikes, Leo (usurper). 112, 114. 249- 50 Imperial goal of prr.>erving,
Tomikes family, 122 20-21
Towns, provincial. 23, 52 - 56 Virginity. as ideal, !
Trade, 48- 50; regulation of, 22, :;] - 52 Vlachs people, 256- 57
Transportation. 48- SO, 161 Vladimir S ujatosJavich, Prince of Kiev ,
Trebizond (town on Black Sea), 53, (980- 1015), 177
126, 222 Vladislav (Russian prince), 258
Trialeti (Georgia), m Vladislav, Ivan, 1Z2
Trinity, in theological debate between Vryonis, 5, .36
East and West, 188- 91 Vsevold Jaroslavich , Prince (107 - 93), ~
Troyes (town in France), 115
Tsikos. George (peasant), 235 Wages. regulation of, 22
Turin Shroud. 96 War 0 thl' Cat a"d Micl~ (Prodromus), 139,
Tverdlca (town in Bulgaria), JJ 251 - 52
Tydeus,137 Wartbur~ War, l29
TypikVlI (monastic rule), 80, 81. 86, 88, What Did Pasiphae Say Wllell tile Bull Fell jrr
, 90 Lout' with Ha (Anon .), 202
Tyr (town in 5 ria), 151 , 153 William II of Sicily (1166- 89), 44. 66
Tzetzc , John, 131; classical background William VIII of Montpellier, 178, 258
and writings of, 134 - 35. 136, 137- 38: William of Tyre, 70, 74, 238- 39
fordgn language knowledge of, 183, Women, ro le of, 99 - 102
259- 60; geographic writings of, 152; Wool. In Byuntine dothing. Zti
hagiography by. 201; as poet, 85-86; World view, Byuntine: Choniate and
vi w of foreigners, 1 9, 170. 259; and 'Pscllos on, 229

index 287
Worship practices, 12- 13, l2.,. See also Zeuxi ppos ware. 41
Religiou life, Byuntin Zichnae (town in Macedonia), U
Writing, minuscule script and. 11 Zigabenos, Euthymios. 163. 186-87
Zoe. Empress (1028 - 1050). ~ 101. liS.
Xero - family. 65 21 2. 242
Xiphilinos, John. U2n, 131. 146n, 223; as Zonaras, John, 77. 83.95. 205; on admin-
.f irst nomophy/ax. 126- 27 istrative reform. 71;. on aristocracy.
Xiphilinos family, 65 108; and image of ideal ruler. 111, 165;
on imperial taxation. 1 - 20; on
Yurij (Russian prince). 258 money and barter economy. 4Z
Zonaras family. 65
Zaoutzes Stylianos (courtier of Basil l's). Zutro. Shabbattai, Rabbi. 237
244

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The Tran formation of the Classical Heritage

Peter Brown, General Editor

I Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity, by Sabine G. MacCormack

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

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University of California Ltd.

Kazhdan. A.P. (Aleksandr Petrovich). 1922-

Printed in th United States of America

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1. BACKGROUND: FROM LATE ANTIOULTY TO THE

n. DECENTRAl.(ZATION AND "EElJIJAUZATION" OF THE

GODY IQntec 'T Q q ,

Popular Elements in Literature 83

Image of the Ideal Ruler 110

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FOLLOWING PAGE 136

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34. Cyprus, Asinou, Panagia Phorbiotissa, west barrel vault of the

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VOt Vizantijskie oterki

PRIMARY SOURCES AND COLLECTIONS

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LAvra Actes de LAvra, ed. P. Lemerle, A. Guillou, N. G.

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Reg. patr. V. Crumel, Lesregestes des actes du Patriarchal de

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This work is a collaborative effort by a historian and an art historian

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University and Charlotte Burk of the Photographic Archive at Dumbar-

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When little is known of a society, whether it is distanced from us by

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litical events the historians r corded in them. Similarly, by their style

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Three technical points must be mentioned. First, regarding the

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BACKGROUND: FROM LATE

RESTRUCTURING THE EMPIRE:

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(Stockholm, 1963), used by A. P. Rudakov, Oterki vizolltijskoj kul'tllry po danllym

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4. See the description of an urban mansion in Michael Attaleiates' lypiko1/

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5. A. L. Jakobson, Rannfsrednevekovye sel'skie poseienija /ugo-ZafXldnoj Tauri/o

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that slaves were ubiquitous, and John Chrysostom, in treatise On

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of the monastery as an in titution. The Byzantine monastery as estab-

14. On the Studios' economy,!it? A. P. Dobroklonskij, Prep. Feodor. ispoved-

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battles, defending Byzantine citjes and extending the empire's territo-

15. Brown, Society and tile Holy, 290f.