A Pagan Relic in Byzantine Imperial Acclamations?
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CHAPTER TWO PHTHONOS: A PAGAN RELIC IN BYZANTINE IMPERIAL ACCLAMATIONS? Martin Hinterberger The spoken word is of eminent importance for most rituals. Ritual speech normally is highly formulaic and symbolic, whereas in the context of cere- monies words unfold an even greater power than in everyday communi- cation. For the full understanding of rituals and of the mindset underlying them, therefore, the analysis of the words used is essential. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the semantic shift that words of special signi- ficance for certain imperial rituals underwent, and to analyse the meaning of the rituals concerned, which was also changed as a consequence. More specifically, I am going to examine closely the concept of phthonos, which occurs in several imperial acclamations in similar ceremonial contexts.1 This concept is crucial for the understanding of the ritual connected to it. As a starting point of my enquiry I have chosen the imperial acclamation at the iconoclastic Council of Hieria (an Asiatic suburb of Constantinople, close to Chalcedon), because, as far as I know, this is the latest occurrence of the word phthonos in the context of an imperial acclamation. Later in my chapter, though, I will refer to earlier acclamations, and finally I will discuss the meaning of phthonos in the fourth and fifth centuries in gene- ral. The investigation of the meaning of phthonos in the context of impe- rial acclamations will also demonstrate how Byzantine attitudes about dangerous supernatural powers threatening the emperor and the empire itself are reflected in imperial ceremonies. 1 On acclamations in general, see Ch. Roueché, “Acclamations in the Later Roman Empire: New Evidence from Aphrodisias,” Journal of Roman Studies 74 (1984), 181–99; O. Treitinger, Die oströmische Kaiser- und Reichsidee nach ihrer Gestaltung im höfischen Zeremoniell. Vom oströmischen Staats- und Reichsgedanken (Jena, 1938; repr. Darmstadt, 1956), pp. 71–84. 52 martin hinterberger Phthonos in Church Councils Between the 10th of February and the 8th of August 754 a church council was convened at Hieria that condemned the veneration of icons. The horos, that was the decision of the council, was later incorporated—and thus, preserved—into the acts of the sixth session of the Second Council of Nicaea (787), which discussed it and declared it heretical. In 754, Emperor Constantine V who had summoned the Council of Hieria must have been present during its closure when the horos was read aloud, as attested by the fact that at the end of the text the emperor is addressed directly. Interestingly, the excerpt incorporated into the acts of Nicaea II con- tains not only the text of the horos, but also part of the minutes recorded in 754, which surround the horos. This part of the text describes a ritual that took place at the end of the council. After the final condemnation of anybody having beliefs other than those pronounced by the gathering of bishops, which constitutes the final part of the horos, there follows a short dialogue between, on the one hand, the emperors Constantine and his son Leo (born in 750, at that time still a four-year-old child, but since 751 nominally co-emperor) and the bishops, on the other. In this dialogue, the emperors urge the bishops to affirm once more that they all agree with the decision that they have just read aloud. The bishops confirm their unani- mous decision, before they turn to an acclamation of the emperors and the anathematization of three eminent defenders of icons. This final part of the excerpt from the minutes of the council held in 754 is incorporated into the acts of 787. Our interest focuses on the acclamation:2 πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη τῶν βασιλέων. εὐσεβῆ, κύριε, ζωὴν αὐτοῖς. Λέοντι καὶ Κωνσταντίνῳ αἰωνία ἡ μνήμη. ὑμεῖς ἡ εἰρήνη τῆς οἰκουμένης. φυλάξῃ ὑμᾶς ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν. τὸν Χριστὸν τιμᾶτε, αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς φυλάξει. τὴν ὀρθοδοξίαν ὑμεῖς ἐβεβαιώσατε. εὐσεβῆ, κύριε, ζωὴν αὐτοῖς. ἀπέστω φθόνος τῆς βασιλείας αὐτῶν. ὁ θεὸς φυλάξοι τὸ κράτος ὑμῶν. ὁ θεὸς τὴν βασιλείαν ὑμῶν εἰρηνεύσοι. ἡ ὑμετέρα ζωή, τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ζωή. ἐπουράνιε βασιλεῦ τοὺς ἐπιγείους φύλαξον. δι’ ὑμῶν ἡ οἰκουμενικὴ ἐκκλησία 2 G. D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio (Paris and Leipzig, 1901–1927), 13:352E–353C (I have corrected the orthography of the text according to the new edition which Erich Lamberz is currently preparing; cf. E. Lamberz, Concilium univer- sale Nicaenum secundum. Concilii actiones I–III, Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, Series secunda, volumen tertium, pars prima [Berlin and New York, 2008]. I am indebted to Erich Lamberz for sending me the respective part of his edition). For the Council of Hieria in general, see T. Krannich, Ch. Schubert, and C. Sode, Die ikonoklastische Synode von Hiereia 754, Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 15 (Tübingen, 2002). If not otherwise noted, all translations of Greek texts into English are mine..