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Antonia Giannouli My Contribution to the Topic Addressed in This CHAPTER EIGHT CORONATION SPEECHES IN THE PALAIOLOGAN PERIOD? Antonia Giannouli My contribution to the topic addressed in this book focuses on a small cluster of Byzantine rhetorical texts, which are presumed to pertain to the imperial ceremony of coronation and the ensuing festivities. Initially, my aim was mainly to detect and evaluate any evidence they might yield to elucidate this relationship. But, as will become evident from what follows, such an examination is inextricably interwoven with questions of generic classification and terminology. In his history of Byzantine literature, Herbert Hunger pointed to the difficulty of presenting a clear picture of the practice of rhetoric— especially regarding epideictic rhetoric. Nonetheless, he proceeded to divide the hitherto known orations addressed to the emperor according to the traditional classification as transmitted in the work of Pseudo- Menander of Laodicea. Hence, he distinguished both imperial orations (basilikoi logoi) and advice literature (“mirror of princes”) from various occasional orations, such as those prompted by the birth, marriage, coro- nation or the ceremonial arrival of the emperor.1 Recent studies on Byzantine rhetoric literature have shown that Hunger’s own reservations concerning his suggested distinctions were justified. As a result, different approaches have been proposed, in order to evaluate this literature and do justice to its role in Byzantium. On the one hand, Dimiter Angelov has pointed out the active role of the late Byzantine panegyrists both as lobbyists and skilful advisers; he also pro- posed and developed a general approach to all imperial orations of the early Palaiologan period with regard to imperial ideology and political thought.2 On the other, Ida Toth and, more recently, Paolo Odorico have 1 H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner, 1, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft: Abteilung 12, Byzantinisches Handbuch 5 (Munich, 1978), pp. 92 and 145. On the classification, see ibid., pp. 120–32 (Enkomia, including imperial orations), pp. 145–57 (Sonstige Gelegenheitsreden) and pp. 157–65 (Fürsten spiegel). 2 D. Angelov, “Byzantine Imperial Panegyric as Advice Literature (1204–ca. 1350),” in Rhetoric in Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-fifth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, 204 antonia giannouli provided further insights into the twofold character of imperial orations: they pointed out that, while the content of these orations reveals a close connection with a long rhetorical tradition, the orations are not detached from their own contemporary world. On the contrary, they serve the con- crete objectives of their writers.3 It was on these grounds that Odorico rejected the anachronistic use of the term “mirror of princes”, first estab- lished in western literature, for the advice literature addressed to future or newly crowned Byzantine emperors.4 Keeping terminology in mind, let us turn our attention to the impe- rial orations in question, to which Hunger assigned the traditional term stephanōtikoi described by Pseudo-Menander in his treatise on epi- deictic speeches. As evidence for the existence of this literary group, Hunger briefly referred to three examples of imperial orations all dat- ing from the Palaiologan period.5 They were written by: a) Maximos Planoudes for Michael IX, b) John XIV Kalekas, patriarch of Constantinople, for John V Palaiologos, and c) John Argyropoulos for Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos. It is on these three orations, that this paper will primarily focus. On the “logos stephanōtikos” Before examining the content of these texts, it should first of all be noted that none of them has been transmitted with the designation stephanōtikos, nor do they merit it, at least in the sense in which Pseudo- ed. E. Jeffreys, Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies 11 (Aldershot, 2003), pp. 55–72, at pp. 65–72; D. Angelov, Imperial Ideology and Political Thought in Byzantium (1204–1330) (Cambridge, 2007). 3 P. Odorico, “Les miroirs des princes à Byzance. Une lecture horizontale,” in L’éducation au gouvernement et à la vie. La tradition des « règles de vie » de l’Antiquité au Moyen Âge, ed. P. Odorico, Autour de Byzance 1 (Paris, 2009), pp. 223–46. See also I. Toth, “Epideictic Eloquence in Late Byzantium: Imperial Orations in the Light of their Rhetorical Tradition and Contemporary Practice,” in Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, 2, Abstracts of Panel Papers (London, 2006), p. 135; I. Toth, “Rhetorical Theatron in Late Byzantium: the Example of Palaiologan Imperial Oration,” in Theatron. Rhetorische Kultur in Spätantike und Mittelalter, ed. M. Grünbart, Millennium Studien 13 (Berlin, 2007), pp. 429–49; I. Toth, “Imperial Orations in Late Byzantium,” unpublished doctoral disserta- tion, Wolfson College, (Oxford, 2003), pp. 169–83. 4 Odorico, “Les miroirs,” pp. 224–25 and 245–46. More specifically, he suggested that the orations should be studied in the context of the time and place of their composition, so that their particularities and not their similarities in relation to the literary tradition will be defined. 5 Hunger, Literatur, 1:151. .
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