DOCSLIB.ORG

4 MAKING a NAME: REPUTATION and IMPERIAL FOUNDING and REFOUNDING in CONSTANTINOPLE Liz James

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
4 MAKING a NAME: REPUTATION and IMPERIAL FOUNDING and REFOUNDING in CONSTANTINOPLE Liz James 4 MAKING A NAME: REPUTATION AND IMPERIAL FOUNDING AND REFOUNDING IN CONSTANTINOPLE Liz James ow could the building of churches influ- to achieve political goals , to gain spiritual ben- Hence the reputation of an empress and how efits , to enhance their own positions and their could reputation play a part in the associations own families , perhaps in dynastic terms , and to made between empresses and churches ? Work accrue symbolic credit for themselves , as learned , on women patrons in the 1990s established that as pious , as virtuous. This symbolic credit could women’s patronage of the arts , like men’s , could then be transferred to other spheres , including be seen on two levels , the personal and the po- political power. A cycle developed in which it litical.1 In the case of the former , the reasons be- becomes apparent that the building of a church hind patronage were as individual and varied as could lead to a reputation for piety and virtue the patrons themselves. On the political level , and that in turn could lead to the ascription of however , women’s patronage was understood as more churches to the individual. Founding and having a more urgent purpose than men’s. The refounding therefore became one element in the political and symbolic benefits for men in terms establishment of reputation and the commemo- of the patriarchal power structures of the medi- ration of certain individuals ahead of others. Ma- eval and Byzantine worlds have been widely dis- tronage , to borrow Leslie Brubaker’s term , was cussed.2 In the case of female patrons , founding never simply art for art’s sake.3 buildings and paying for the arts offered a space Reputation in the context of founding and , for those disempowered to greater or lesser ex- more particularly , refounding buildings is a cen- tents by “the system” to assert their own political tral issue. It is well-known that a “good reputa- agenda. It became clear that cultural authority in tion” played an important role in establishing the Middle Ages and Byzantium functioned in a standing and authority in Imperial Rome and socially sanctioned way for women in particular Renaissance Italy , one that could be both gained My thanks to the unknown reader for some valuable thoughts and questions. 1 See , for example , J. H. McCash ( ed. ), The Cultural Patronage of Medieval Women , Athens , GA / London 1996 , esp. A. L. McClanan , The Empress Theodora and the Tradition of Women’s Patronage in the Early Byzantine Empire , pp. 50–72 ; L. Brubaker , Memories of Helena : Patterns in Imperial Female Matronage in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries , in : L. James ( ed. ), Women , Men and Eunuchs. Gender in Byzantium , London / New York 1997, pp. 52–75 ; B. Hill , Imperial Women in Byzantium 1025–1204. Power , Patronage and Ideology , Harlow 1999 ; L. Garland , Byzantine Empresses : Women and Power in Byzantium , London / New York 1999 ; L. James , Empresses and Power in Early Byzantium , Leicester 2001 , ch. 9. 2 R. Cormack , Writing in Gold , London 1985 , esp. ch. 5 , and R. Cormack , Patronage and New Programmes of Byzan- tine Iconography , in : 17th International Byzantine Congress , Major Papers , Washington , DC 1986 , pp. 609–638. 3 Brubaker , Memories of Helena ( cit. n. 1 ). Unauthenticated Download Date | 9/24/15 11:10 PM 64 Liz James and enhanced by patronage of the arts ; the same Theodora asfostering piety and bright with piety was true in Byzantium.4 The concept of “repu- respectively , and praised Theodora for nourish- tation” itself derived from Aristotle , one of the ing the destitute. For some Byzantine authors , most influential of philosophers in Byzantium , one claim to reputation for the good emperor and his definition of it against a background of was that he built churches , whilst bad emperors qualities of honour , magnificence and liberality , demolished them. The Iconophile Theophanes all perceived as qualities made manifest through claimed that Constantine the Great , Pulcheria , a patronage of the arts.5 These virtues were highly Justinian and Theodora , Justin II , Tiberios , and rated in Roman times , but they are just as rel- Irene , the mother of Constantine VI , all imperi- evant for Byzantium. They featured among the al figures he approves of , were all builders , whilst qualities of a good ruler , recast to some extent Justinian II ( castigated for demanding a prayer to incorporate philanthropy and piety. 6 Because from the patriarch to initiate the demolition of building was a large-scale , expensive , highly vis- a church ) and the iconoclast emperors , were all ible activity , an act of public display and a claim destroyers.8 to some form of public recognition , it was a sig- As a result , refounding and rebuilding had nificant act in Byzantium , whoever the patron. the potential to be as significant , and perhaps As such , it was a political action , as many emper- more significant , than building in the first in- ors recognised. Theodosios II is supposed to have stance. Refounding offered patrons a chance to banished his city prefect , Kyros , after the crowd associate themselves with the original patron. cheered that Constantine built , Kyros rebuilt , ig- That might allow them to inherit the lustre of noring the emperor altogether.7 the earlier founder or to be seen to out-do them Building a church was especially significant publicly , or , better , both. In the epigram on the for it established one’s piety in public and for church of St Polyeuktos , Anicia Juliana is hailed an emperor or empress , displayed the key impe- as refounder , in the footsteps of Eudokia the em- rial qualities of piety and philanthropia , whilst press , but as surpassing her.9 Once a reputation establishing intimacy with God. The epigram was established for honour , magnificence , piety , from St Polyeuktos hailed Anicia Juliana as pi- philanthropy and other virtues , then other ben- ous , righteous , a doer of good works ; that from efits inevitably accrued to the individual. Ani- Sts Sergios and Bacchos described Justinian and cia Juliana may well have wished to suggest her 4 The Pantheon being a case in point seeJ. Elsner , Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph , Oxford 1998 , pp. 69–70. For the Renaissance see J. Burke , Changing Patrons : Social Identity and the Visual Arts in Renaissance Florence , University Park , PA 2004 ; J. Nelson / R. Zeckhauser , The Patron’s Payoff : Conspicuous Commission in Italian Renaissance Art , Princeton 2008. 5 Aristotle , On rhetoric , 1 , 5 , 8 and 9 , for example : tr. J. H. Freese , Aristoteles , The Art of Rhetoric , London 1926. 6 For proper imperial behaviour see S. McCormack , Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity , Berkeley 1981 , pp. 263– 265 ; James , Empresses and Power ( cit. n. 1 ), ch. 2. 7 Chronicon Paschale , yr. 450 , ed. L. Dindorf , Chronicon Pascale , Bonn 1832 , tr. M. Whitby / M. Whitby , Chroni- con Pascale AD 284–632 , Liverpool 1989 ; John Malalas , Chronographia , ed. I. Thurn , Ioannis Malalae chrono- graphia , Berlin / New York 2000 , p. 282 , tr. E. Jeffreys / M. Jeffreys / R. Scott , The Chronicle of John Malalas , Melbourne 1986. 8 Theophanes , Chronographia , e.g. AM 5901 ( Pulcheria ), AM 6042 ( Justinian ), AM 6064 ( Justin II ), AM 6073 ( Ti- berios ) ; AM 6186 ( prayer for the demolition of a church ) ; AM 6259 ( Constantine V ), ed. C. de Boor , Theophanes , Chronographia , Leipzig 1883–5 , tr. C. Mango / R. Scott , The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor : Byzantine and Near Eastern History AD 284–813 , Oxford 1997. 9 Greek Anthology 1 , 10 , 1 and 7–10 , text and tr. W. R. Paton , The Greek Anthology , Cambridge , MA / London 1916. Unauthenticated Download Date | 9/24/15 11:10 PM 4 Making a Name 65 possession of appropriate imperial virtues. And their construction works.13 The fifth-century as reputations changed over time , so too did Theodosian empresses , Eudoxia , Eudokia and the founders and refounders of buildings. Not Pulcheria , were all keen builders and all earned all were as extreme as the case of St Polyeuktos various reputations for piety , linked in part with which was abandoned by the twelfth century , major construction projects : the Eudoxiana in not even warranting a refounding , but , as we Gaza for Eudoxia ; churches in the Holy Land shall see , several churches had founders who were for Eudokia ; churches in Constantinople for affected by refounders. Pulcheria.14 Their successor , Verina , was another For women , there was an added dimension empress whose reputation as pious and faithful , in both founding and refounding. In late antique beloved of God and as a new Helena derived , at and Byzantine society , women had no public least in part , from her church-building activi- roles.10 However , as Anicia Juliana’s St Polyeuktos ties.15 Even Justinian’s Theodora established a po- showed , in building a church , a woman gained tentially-lasting reputation for virtue through her access to a public space and was able to make a church building , for the inscription inside the legitimate statement and civic display of her pi- church of Sts Sergios and Bacchos talks of God- ety and , consequently , of her wealth and stand- crowned Theodora , whose mind is adorned with ing.11 This was particularly useful for empresses piety , whose constant toil lies in efforts to nourish whose access to the public world was also limit- the destitute , and both this church and Hagia ed. They , as much as , or even more than , emper- Sophia display her monogram prominently.16 It ors , could benefit from
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the D
    The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Marion Woodrow Kruse, III Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Anthony Kaldellis, Advisor; Benjamin Acosta-Hughes; Nathan Rosenstein Copyright by Marion Woodrow Kruse, III 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the use of Roman historical memory from the late fifth century through the middle of the sixth century AD. The collapse of Roman government in the western Roman empire in the late fifth century inspired a crisis of identity and political messaging in the eastern Roman empire of the same period. I argue that the Romans of the eastern empire, in particular those who lived in Constantinople and worked in or around the imperial administration, responded to the challenge posed by the loss of Rome by rewriting the history of the Roman empire. The new historical narratives that arose during this period were initially concerned with Roman identity and fixated on urban space (in particular the cities of Rome and Constantinople) and Roman mythistory. By the sixth century, however, the debate over Roman history had begun to infuse all levels of Roman political discourse and became a major component of the emperor Justinian’s imperial messaging and propaganda, especially in his Novels. The imperial history proposed by the Novels was aggressivley challenged by other writers of the period, creating a clear historical and political conflict over the role and import of Roman history as a model or justification for Roman politics in the sixth century.
    [Show full text]
  • BOOK 15 the Time of the Reign of Zeno to the Time of the Reign of Anastasios
    BOOK 15 The Time of the Reign of Zeno to the Time of the Reign of Anastasios 1. (377) After the reign of Leo the Younger, the most sacred Zeno reigned for 15 years. In the eighth month of his reign, he appointed Peter, the p!JrBmomr.ios of St Euphemia's in Chalkedon, as bishop and patriarch of Antioch the Great and sent him to Antioch. 2. After two years and ten months of his reign, he quarrelled with his mother-in-law, Verina, over a request she had made of him but which he had refused her, and so his mother-in-law, the lady Verina, began to plot against him. Terrified that he would be assassinated by someone in the palace, since his mother-in-law was living in the palace with him, he made a processusto Chalkedon and escaped from there using post-horses, and got away to Isauria even though he was emperor. (378) The empress Ariadne, who had also secretly fled from her mother, caught up with him in Isauria and remained with her husband. 3, After the emperor Zeno and Ariadne had fled, the lady Verina inunediately chose an emperor by crowning her brother Basiliscus. Basiliscus, the brother of Zeno's mother-in-law Verina, reigned for two years. When Verina had made Basiliscus emperor, she also named him as consul, together with Armatus who had been appointed by Basiliscus as AD476 senior lllc1q.ister mii1"tum prBesentalis. These two held the consulship. As soon as Basiliscus began to reign, he crowned his son, named Marcus, as emperor.
    [Show full text]
  • The Developmentof Early Imperial Dress from the Tetrachs to The
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. The Development of Early Imperial Dress from the Tetrarchs to the Herakleian Dynasty General Introduction The emperor, as head of state, was the most important and powerful individual in the land; his official portraits and to a lesser extent those of the empress were depicted throughout the realm. His image occurred most frequently on small items issued by government officials such as coins, market weights, seals, imperial standards, medallions displayed beside new consuls, and even on the inkwells of public officials. As a sign of their loyalty, his portrait sometimes appeared on the patches sown on his supporters’ garments, embossed on their shields and armour or even embellishing their jewelry. Among more expensive forms of art, the emperor’s portrait appeared in illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, and wall paintings such as murals and donor portraits. Several types of statues bore his likeness, including those worshiped as part of the imperial cult, examples erected by public 1 officials, and individual or family groupings placed in buildings, gardens and even harbours at the emperor’s personal expense.
    [Show full text]
  • Coins from the Early Islamic-Period Residential Quarter Northwest of Tel Lod
    ‘Atiqot 98, 2020 COINS FROM THE EARLY ISLAMIC-PERIOD RESIDENTIAL QUARTER NORTHWEST OF TEL LOD GABRIELA BIJOVSKY A hundred and sixty-three coins were discovered during excavations northwest of Tel Lod (see Haddad, this volume), 85 of them are described in the catalogue below.1 All the coins are bronze, with the exception of two billon dirhams (Nos. 75 and 77), three silver dirhams (Nos. 78, 79 and 81) and a lead Fatimid coin (No. 76). Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the identifiable coins by period. Most of the archaeological remains excavated at the site are dated to the Early Islamic period. Seemingly, the coins dating from the transitional Arab- Byzantine period to the Early Islamic period (Umayyad and Abbasid) constitute the bulk of the numismatic evidence at the site (about 47% of the identifiable coins). Fig. 1. Breakdown of the coins according to periods. 1 The coins were cleaned in the IAA laboratories, under the direction of Lena Kupperschmidt, and were photographed by Clara Amit of the IAA. The Islamic coins were identified by Ariel Berman and Robert Kool. 158 GABRIELA BIJOVSKY Twenty-three coins, 34% of the total identifiable coins, are dated to the fourth and fifth centuries CE. These, together with coin Nos. 1–6, which date from the Seleucid to the Roman periods, are residual and therefore, are not related to any archaeological stratum at the site. Worthy of mention among the early coins is coin No. 5, of Antoninus Pius, minted in Gaza in 154/155 CE. The Late Roman coin types are quite conventional and do not deserve further discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of St Anna's Cult in Byzantium
    ASPECTS OF ST ANNA’S CULT IN BYZANTIUM by EIRINI PANOU A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham January 2011 Acknowledgments It is said that a PhD is a lonely work. However, this thesis, like any other one, would not have become reality without the contribution of a number of individuals and institutions. First of all of my academical mother, Leslie Brubaker, whose constant support, guidance and encouragement accompanied me through all the years of research. Of the National Scholarship Foundation of Greece ( I.K.Y.) with its financial help for the greatest part of my postgraduate studies. Of my father George, my mother Angeliki and my bother Nick for their psychological and financial support, and of my friends in Greece (Lily Athanatou, Maria Sourlatzi, Kanela Oikonomaki, Maria Lemoni) for being by my side in all my years of absence. Special thanks should also be addressed to Mary Cunningham for her comments on an early draft of this thesis and for providing me with unpublished material of her work. I would like also to express my gratitude to Marka Tomic Djuric who allowed me to use unpublished photographic material from her doctoral thesis. Special thanks should also be addressed to Kanela Oikonomaki whose expertise in Medieval Greek smoothened the translation of a number of texts, my brother Nick Panou for polishing my English, and to my colleagues (Polyvios Konis, Frouke Schrijver and Vera Andriopoulou) and my friends in Birmingham (especially Jane Myhre Trejo and Ola Pawlik) for the wonderful time we have had all these years.
    [Show full text]
  • On Leontius' Origin and Career up Until the Year 481/482*
    Piotrkowskie Zeszyty Historyczne, t. 21 (2020), z. 3, s. 9-18 www.ihpt.pl/pzh DOI: 10.25951/4249 Mirosław J. Leszka https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2643-4520 Uniwersytet Łódzki e-mail: [email protected] On Leontius’ Origin and Career up until the Year 481/482* O pochodzeniu Leoncjusza i jego karierze do roku 482 Abstract This article discusses the usurper Leontius’ origin and career up until the year of 481/482. He was most likely born in a family belonging to the circles of provincial aristocracy, which enabled him to receive a good education. As for his ethnicity, contrary to a rather popular scholarly opinion that he was from Isauria, he might just as well have come from Syria (as Theophanes points out directly). Regarding his position as magister militum per Thracias, it seems that he could have held it in the years 478–482 (there is no certainty that he exer- cised this function in 484). He probably had known Illus before 481/482. Abstrakt Artykuł poświęcony jest pochodzeniu i karierze Leoncjusza (do roku 481/482). Urodził się on zapewne w rodzinie należącej do kręgów prowincjo- nalnej arystokracji, co umożliwiło mu odebranie dobrego wykształcenia. Co do pochodzenia etnicznego, to wbrew dość powszechnej w nauce opinii, że po- chodził z Izaurii, trzeba wskazać, że równie dobrze można uznać, że wywodził się z Syrii (o czym bezpośrednio mówi Teofanes). Co do pełnienia przez niego * The research project financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. Decision number: DEC-2018/31/B/HS3/03038. 10 Mirosław J. Leszka stanowiska magister militum per Thracias, to wydaje się, że mógł je sprawować w latach 478–482 (nie ma pewności, że był nim w 484 r.).
    [Show full text]
  • Kamila Twardowska the Church Foundations of Empress Pulcheria in Constantinople According to Theodore Lector’S ‘Church History’ and Other Contemporary Sources
    Kamila Twardowska The Church Foundations of Empress Pulcheria in Constantinople According to Theodore Lector’s ‘Church History’ and Other Contemporary Sources Res Gestae. Czasopismo Historyczne 5, 83-94 2017 RES GESTAE. CZASOPISMO HISTORYCZNE 2017 (5) ISSN 2450-4475 DOI 10.24917/24504475.5.6 Kamilla Twardowska Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie The Church Foundations of Empress Pulcheria in Constantinople According to Theodore Lector’s Church History and Other Contemporary Sources1 Abstract: This article aims to confirm the account from Theodore Lector with the other extant sources and the answer the question if the four churches in Constantinople (The Blachernae Church, Chalkoprateia, Hodegon, Church of St. Laurence, attributed to the empress Pulcheria in Theodore Lector’s work may be credited to her. Key words: Marian Churches, foundations, Pulcheria, Constantinople In a reference to the Notitia Dignitatum, Cyril Mango2 stated that there were 14 church buildings in the city of Constantinople in the year 425. Before long, however, the number of the churches would increase significantly, but it is not possible to determine the precise count and the specific founders because of the insufficient evidence in the sources. Nonetheless, it is obvious, as the author pointed out, that many of those, including such illustrious temples as the Church of the Virgin Mary at the Blachernae, the Chalkoprateia church, as well as the churches dedicated to St. Theodore, St. Laurence, St. Stephen, 1 The present article has been based on the paper delivered at the national academic confer- ence “The Church History by Theodore Lector – genre, tradition, text,” Kraków 1–2 June 2017, as part of the realization of the NCN grant “The preparation of the bilingual (in two versions: Greek-English and Greek-Polish) edition of the works Church History by John Diakronomenes and Theodore Lector, with introduction and historical commentary” (agreement no.
    [Show full text]
  • Basiliscus the Boy-Emperor , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 24:1 (1983:Spring) P.81
    CROKE, BRIAN, Basiliscus the Boy-Emperor , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 24:1 (1983:Spring) p.81 Basiliscus the Boy-Emperor Brian Croke OR THE FIFTH AND SIXTH centuries the Chronicle of Victor of F Tunnuna is a valuable source that deserves close inspection. What may not always be sufficiently appreciated, because Victor is most frequently referred to as an African bishop and because he wrote in Latin, is that he spent a good deal of his later life in Con­ stantinople. His Chronicle, which covers the years 444-567, was in fact written in Constantinople and is a generally well-informed source for events in the East during this period.1 Like so many other African bishops, Victor fell foul of his sover­ eign Justinian by defending the works condemned by the emperor in 543 in the so-called Three Chapters edict. This resulted in a trying period of internment for Victor in the Mandracion monastery near Carthage, then on the Balearic Islands, then Algimuritana, and finally with his episcopal colleague Theodore of Cebaruscitana in the prison of the Diocletianic fortress behind the governor's palace in Alexan­ dria (Chron. s.a. 555.2, p.204). In 556 after a twelve-day trial in the praetorium Victor and Theodore were transferred to the Tabennesiote monastery near Canopus, twelve miles east of Alexandria (556.2, p.204). Nine years later, at the request of Justinian himself, Victor and Theodore were summoned from Egypt. At the imperial court they stood their ground in the argument over the 'Three Chapters' with both Justinian and the patriarch Eutychius.
    [Show full text]
  • The Geopolitics on the Silk Road
    109 The Geopolitics on the Silk Road: Resurveying the Relationship of the Western Türks with Byzantium through Their Diplomatic Communications Li Qiang, Stefanos Kordosis* The geopolitics pertaining to the Silk Road network in the period from the 6th to the 7th cen- tury (the final, albeit important, period of Late Antiquity) was intertwined with highly strate- gic dimensions.1 The frequent arrival of hoards of nomadic peoples from inner Eurasia at the borders of the existing sedentary empires and their encounters and interactions formed the complicated political ecology of the period. These empires attempted to take advantage of the newly shaped situation arising after such great movements strategically, each in their own interest. How did they achieve their goals and what problems were they confronted with? In this paper, I will focus on the relations the Western Türks had with Byzantium and use it as an example in order to resurvey these complicated geopolitics. In the first part, attention will be given to the collection of Byzantine literature concerning the Western Türks. Then, on the basis of the sources, the four main exchanges of delegations between the Western Türks and Byzantium will be discussed, in which the important status of the 563 embassy – as it was the first Türk delegation sent to Byzantium – will be emphasized. The possible motives behind the dispatch of the delegations and the repercussions they had will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the diplomatic communication between the Western Türks and Byzantium, attention will be turned to the general picture of geopolitics along the Silk Road, claiming that the great empire of the West – similar to today’s superpowers – by means of their resources (mainly diplomacy) manipulated the geopolitics on the Silk Road, especially the nomadic people pursuing their own survival and interests, who were only treated as piec- es on a chessboard for keeping the balance with the rest of the superpowers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Byzantine Empire.Pdf
    1907 4. 29 & 30 BEDFORD STREET, LONDON . BIBLIOTECA AIEZAMANTULUI CULTURAL 66)/ NICOLAE BALCESCU" TEMPLE PRIMERS THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE bY N. JORGA Translated from the French by ALLEN H. POWLES, M.A. All rights reserved AUTHOR'S PREFACE THIs new history of Byzantium, notwithstanding its slender proportions, has been compiled from the original sources. Second-hand materials have only been used to compare the results obtained by the author with those which his pre- decessors have reached. The aim in. view has not been to present one more systematic chronology of Byzantine history, considered as a succession of tragic anecdotes standing out against a permanent background.I have followed the development of Byzantine life in all its length and breadth and wealth, and I have tried to give a series of pictures rather than the customary dry narrative. It may be found possibly that I have given insufficient information on the Slav and Italian neighbours and subjects of the empire.I have thought it my duty to adopt the point of view of the Byzantines themselves and to assign to each nation the place it occupied in the minds of the politicians and thoughtful men of Byzantium.This has been done in such a way as not to prejudicate the explanation of the Byzantine transformations. Much less use than usual has been made of the Oriental sources.These are for the most part late, and inaccuracy is the least of their defects.It is clear that our way of looking v vi AUTHOR'S PREFACE at and appreciatingeventsismuch morethat of the Byzantines than of the Arabs.In the case of these latter it is always necessary to adopt a liberal interpretation, to allow for a rhetoric foreign to our notions, and to correct not merely the explanation, but also the feelings which initiated it.We perpetually come across a superficial civilisation and a completely different race.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Coins Elementary Manual
    ^1 If5*« ^IP _\i * K -- ' t| Wk '^ ^. 1 Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google PROTAT BROTHERS, PRINTBRS, MACON (PRANCi) Digitized by Google ROMAN COINS ELEMENTARY MANUAL COMPILED BY CAV. FRANCESCO gNECCHI VICE-PRBSIDENT OF THE ITALIAN NUMISMATIC SOaETT, HONORARY MEMBER OF THE LONDON, BELGIAN AND SWISS NUMISMATIC SOCIBTIES. 2"^ EDITION RKVISRD, CORRECTED AND AMPLIFIED Translated by the Rev<> Alfred Watson HANDS MEMBF,R OP THE LONDON NUMISMATIC SOCIETT LONDON SPINK & SON 17 & l8 PICCADILLY W. — I & 2 GRACECHURCH ST. B.C. 1903 (ALL RIGHTS RF^ERVED) Digitized by Google Arc //-/7^. K.^ Digitized by Google ROMAN COINS ELEMENTARY MANUAL AUTHOR S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION In the month of July 1898 the Rev. A. W. Hands, with whom I had become acquainted through our common interests and stud- ieSy wrote to me asking whether it would be agreeable to me and reasonable to translate and publish in English my little manual of the Roman Coinage, and most kindly offering to assist me, if my knowledge of the English language was not sufficient. Feeling honoured by the request, and happy indeed to give any assistance I could in rendering this science popular in other coun- tries as well as my own, I suggested that it would he probably less trouble ii he would undertake the translation himselt; and it was with much pleasure and thankfulness that I found this proposal was accepted. It happened that the first edition of my Manual was then nearly exhausted, and by waiting a short time I should be able to offer to the English reader the translation of the second edition, which was being rapidly prepared with additions and improvements.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gender of Money: Byzantine Empresses on Coins (324–802)’ Gender & History, Vol.12 No
    Gender & History ISSN 0953–5233 Leslie Brubaker and Helen Tobler, ‘The Gender of Money: Byzantine Empresses on Coins (324–802)’ Gender & History, Vol.12 No. 3 November 2000, pp. 572–594. The Gender of Money: Byzantine Empresses on Coins (324–802) Leslie Brubaker and Helen Tobler Coins played different roles in the ancient and medieval worlds from those that they play in the economy today. In the late antique and early Byzantine world – that is, roughly between 300 and 800 – there were in a sense two currencies: gold coins and base metal (copper) coins. Both were minted and distributed by the state, but the gold solidi (in Latin) or nomismata (in Greek), introduced in 309, were by the end of the fifth century in practice used above all for the payment of tax and for major transactions such as land sales, while the copper coins (nummi, replaced in 498 by folles) were broadly the currency of market transactions.1 Another striking difference is that late antique and Byzantine coin types changed with great frequency: as an extreme example, Maria Alföldi catalogued over seven hundred different types for a single emperor, Constantine I the Great (306–37, sole ruler from 324).2 There are many reasons for this, but one of the most import- ant has to do with communication: centuries before the advent of the press, images on coins were a means to circulate information about the state. This is particularly true of the first three and a half centuries covered by this article. While the extent to which coins were used in daily exchange transactions is still uncertain, and was very variable, the frequency with which they appear in archaeological excavations of urban sites throughout the former eastern Roman empire until 658 indicates their wide diffusion.
    [Show full text]