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Portentous Dreams and Imperial Coups in Seventh-Century Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourse

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Portentous Dreams and Imperial Coups in Seventh-Century Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourse chapter 6 Dreaming of Treason: Portentous Dreams and Imperial Coups in Seventh-Century Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourse Ryan W. Strickler The 7th century is rightly known as a period of significant and transforma- tive crises.1 This is primarily related to the fact that the century witnessed two global empires brought to their knees, and the rise of a newly ascendant Islamic empire. However, it could just as easily be remembered as a century of coups d’état. Through most of the 7th century, in addition to external threats, the Byzantine Empire suffered from significant internal instability. The usurper Phocas set the tone from the beginning, seizing power from Maurice in 602 CE after slaughtering the emperor and his family. This act disrupted a fragile peace set in place by the former emperor with the Sassanids and caused enough dis- ruption for the Persians to capitalise and begin a conflict that would last the better part of three decades.2 A mere eight years into his reign, Phocas met his own end in a coup at the hands of the general Heraclius. After Heraclius’ death in 641, his own dynasty was plagued by bloody struggle between siblings vying for succession.3 For the Byzantine society, an emperor’s legitimacy as God’s regent on Earth was tied closely to his ability to guide the empire through the hardships of war and protect the ecumene from threats both foreign and domestic. The Byzantine emperor was the head of the state, and the state’s successes and misfortunes could be placed directly upon his shoulders. Considering the cosmic significance of the imperial office, one should not be surprised to see that the Byzantines understood the emperor to be chosen by God himself. Therefore, any attempt to overthrow an emperor immediately created a crisis of legitimacy for his would-be successor, who could poten- tially be accused of rebelling against God. Whether a coup was considered 1 I thank Bronwen Neil, Pauline Allen, David Olster, Natalie Mylonas, and the anonymous re- viewer whose comments have greatly improved this final version. 2 For a succinct account of these events, see Haldon 1990, 35–36. 3 Haldon 1990, 51–52. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004375710_008 Dreaming of Treason 119 usurpation against divine order, as in the case of Phocas, or God’s deliverance from tyranny, in the case of Heraclius, depended not only on the emperor’s performance, but also in large part on the ability of imperial partisans to es- tablish a narrative of legitimacy, or conversely, on their ability to delegitimise their political opponents. One way in which such narratives were constructed by seventh-century Byzantines was through the use of apocalyptic discourse. Persian victories in the wake of Phocas’ coup were portrayed by Heraclius’ partisans as sig- nals of divine disapproval and an unholy disruption of providential order.4 Phocas was stigmatised as an enemy of God, and Maurice was honoured as a martyr. Conversely, Heraclius’ ascent, itself a coup with no more legal stand- ing than Phocas’, was understood to be a restoration of that order, and was accompanied by an almost messianic hope. His contemporaries declared him to be a new Alexander the Great, and the poet George of Pisidia bestowed upon him the title κοσμορύστης, or “Deliverer of the Cosmos”.5 Maximus the Confessor, on the other hand, used apocalyptic rhetoric to critique imperial abuses, a tendency that would, in part, lead to Maximus being tried for treason by Constans II.6 Byzantine Jews, for their part, used apocalyptic literature to resist oppression at the hands of the Heraclian dynasty by portraying Heraclius as the anti-Messiah. Byzantines employed apocalyptic discourse by incorporating, among other things, prophecies, dreams, and visions, and to demonstrate that contempo- rary events were ordained, or at least foreseen, by God himself. This study ex- amines the way in which such phenomena were used by Byzantines from a variety of cultural backgrounds to delegitimise political adversaries and were used by partisans to promote the legitimacy of their patrons. Our focus will be limited to prophecies, dreams and visions found within three documents: the Historiae of Theophylact Simocatta, written immediately after Heraclius’ defeat of the Persians, the Jewish apocalypse known as the Sefer Zerubbabel, written in reaction to Heraclius’ anti-Jewish policies, and the Relatio Motionis, which records the trial in 655 of Maximus the Confessor in Constantinople. 4 For a detailed study of the Byzantine portrayals of the Persians, see Stoyanov 2011. 5 George of Pisidia, Heracliad, 1.65–79 (Pertusi 1959, 198). 6 Cf. the “ending” of Epistula 8 (Devreesse 1937). For a study of the relationship of this ending to the rest of Epistula 8, see Strickler 2016..
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