Geoffrey Nathan

'Pothos tes Philoktistou': Anicia Juliana's Architectural Narratology

Constantinople in the year 500 CE had enjoyed almost two centuries of constant growth, improvement and adornment. By the end of the fifth century the city had pretensions of being a true rival to Rome in its wealth and in the expression of that wealth. The cultural narrative found in the urban topography had shown its mark clearly: it was a world-class capita) wherein the aristocracy and especially the imperia) family sought to exceed the works oftheir ancestors. The city was a canvas, by no means virginal, yet one upon which the elite hoped to leave their signature. The triumph of Christianity by the end of the fourth century, supposedly through the enactment of Theodosius I, offered the impetus and the form ofthat competitive activity. More practically, Theodosius' grandson, Theodosius II, built massive walls that had physically doubled the size of Constantinople. The New Rome was thus a half-empty city for much of the fifth century. So in the urbs and elsewhere commissioning public architecture, in particular Christian structures, became a legitimate expression of ancient noblesse oblige. The importance of using and redeploying classica) art and architecture in new ways was a key component of these building programs. 1 The emperor himself was of course the consummate patron of the arts, of building and of the genera! populace. It was from him that wealth and public benefits spun centrifugally in all directions. But if the emperor was at the centre, then the aristocracy of the Empire sought to wind its way inwards through the maze of power, prestige and politica) pitfalls. And as Craig Wright has recently noted in his magnificent book on the symbolic relationships among architecture, theology and music, mazes before the Renaissance were 'unicursal'; that is, they provided a single, even if intricate, course to their centres. 2 So, too, then did the aristocracy race along a single, often sinuous line towards power and prominence. The making of the post-classica) Christian landscape, as Annabel Wharton has argued, was really a representation ofa violent and competitive politica) struggle. 3 One aristocrat extraordinarily close to the centre was the patrician Anicia Juliana. 4 She had a formidable genealogy. Her father, Flavius , was one of the last legitimate emperors of the West. His family, moreover, was from that

1. Sce most recently and thoroughly, S. Bassett, The Urban Image of Late Antique Constantinople (Carnbridgc 2004). 2. C. Wright, The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music (Cambridgc Mass. 2001 ). 3. A.J. Wharton, Refiguring the Post Classica! City: Dura Europos, Jerash, Jerusalem and Raven na (Carnbridge 1995 ). 4. On her life and her status as patricia, sec .I.R. Martindale. ed .. 711eProsopography of the Later , vol. 2 (Cambridge 1980) 635-6.

Byzantine Narrative. Papers in Honour of Roger Scott. Edited by J. Burke et al. (Melbourne 2006). 434 Geo.ffrey Nathan hoary and most noble of noble gens, the Anicii. 5 Her mother's line was no less impressive: on both sides she descended from the Theodosian house. Hence, Anicia's great-grandfather had been Theodosius Il; her grandfather, Valentinian lil. As such, by the early sixth century, she was one of the last survivors of a dynasty that lasted longer than any other save the Julio-Claudians. The wealth of her bloodline was matched by her worldly wealth. As Anicia's building projects, literary commissions and egregious self-promotion all demonstrate, her resources during her life were apparently inexhaustible. She possessed a large and sumptuous house in the centra! Constantinianae district of the city. One scholar argued that she was, in fact, the wealthiest resident of the imperia! capita!, and certainly we know she possessed many houses with many servants. 6 lndeed, part of her wealth permitted the monastery of St Sabas, to which she left a large legacy, to endure considerable tribulations and to survive to today as one of the oldest continuously inhabited religious houses. 7 Admittedly, in her early days, Anicia had been a pawn in the politica! wranglings between East and West, between Roman and German. The Emperor had offered her hand in marriage as a peace offering to Theoderic in 478 8 and, though refused, she was later married to another Germanic military man, FI. Areobindus. But by the 490s she had clearly established herself as an independent and formidable figure. She bore the title patrikia in her own right, since her husband was never so honoured, and apparently used it to great effect. One of her first public acts was to secure the consulship for her son, Anicius Olybrius, in 491 - the first underage consul in almost fifty years. Her role in the practical polities of the Empire, both secular and religious, is also of some significance. When the people of the Eastern capita! revolted against the Emperor Anastasius in 512, they offered the crown to Areobindus and Anicia, although the former tled the city. 9 Significantly, the mob carne to the house of Anicia to present the diadem. As a means ofsettling the affair, Anicia's son was hastily wed to Irene, the niece of the Emperor. A popular prophecy

5. See A. Momigliano, 'Gli Anicii e la storiografta latina del VI sec. D. C.' RendLinc: Atti de/l'Accademia nazionale dei lincei, Rendiconti. Classe di scienze morali. storiche e filologiche 8, Serie 9, 11-12 (1956) 279-97; rp. Secondo contributo alla storia degli studi classici (Roma 1960) 231-53. See slightly more recently, C. Capizzi, •Anicia Giuliana (462 ca-530 ca): Richerche sulla sua famiglia e la sua vita' RSBN 5 ( 1968) 191-226. 6. On her wealth, see most rccently L. Brubaker, 'The I ïenna Dioskorides and Anicia Juliana' By=antine Garden Culture ed. A.R. Littlewood, H. Maguire & J. Wolschke• Bulmahn (Washington 2002) 189-214; cf. L. Brubaker, 'Memories of Helena: Patterns in Imperia! Female Matronage in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries' Wamen, Men, and Eunuchs: Gender in Byzantium ed. L. James (London 1997) 52-75. On her houschold: Cyril ofSkythopolis. lïta Sabae 69. 7. Cyr. Skyth., Vita Sabae 68-9. lndeed, so close was the relationship between Sabas and Anicia that at her death Anicia's eunuchs went to Sabas' monastery to become monks. 8. Malchus. frags. 15-17. 9. The Chron. Pasch. a. 517 indicates 517, hut see Marcellinus comes, 512 and Malal. (Dindorf 407); clearly the event occurrcd five years before.