southwards towards the sea and terminates in the vicinity of the
Sigma of Julian,[248] a crescentic portico verging on the harbour
of that name. It is an artificially constructed racecourse having
an external length of about a quarter of a mile, and a breadth of
nearly half that distance. This elongated space, straight on the north
and round at the opposite end, is contained within a corniced wall
decorated outside with engaged Corinthian columns, thirty feet in
height.[249] Owing to the declivity of the ground as it sinks towards
the shore, the circular portion of the architectural boundary is
supported on arcades which gradually diminish in altitude on each
side as they approach the centre of the inclosure.[250] Interiorly,
except at the straight end, a sloping series of marble benches[251]
runs continuously round the arena, the level of which is maintained
in the _sphendone_ or rounded part by the vaulted substructions based
on the incline of the hill.[252] The northern extremity is flanked
by a pair of towers, between which, on the ground level, lies the
Manganon,[253] offices for the accommodation of horses, chariots, and
charioteers. Above the Manganon is placed the Kathisma,[254] the name
given to the seat occupied in state by the Emperor, when viewing the
races. It is situated in a covered balcony or lodge fronted by a low
balustrade, and is surrounded by an ample space for the reception of
guards and attendant courtiers. In advance of the Kathisma, but on a
lower level, is a square platform sustained by marble columns called
the Stama, which is the station of a company of Imperial guards with
standard-bearers.[255] Behind the Kathisma is a suite of retiring
rooms, from whence a winding staircase[256] leads, by the gallery of
St. Stephen’s chapel, to the colonnades of Daphne. This is the royal
route to the Circus.[257] The whole of the edifice superimposed on the
Manganon is named the Palace of the Kathisma or of the Hippodrome.[258]
A narrow terrace constructed in masonry, about three feet high,
extends along the centre of the arena equidistant from all parts of
the peripheral boundary. This Spine, as it was called in the old Roman
nomenclature, but now renamed the Euripus,[259] serves to divide the
track of departure from that of return. It is adorned from end to end
with a range of monuments of great diversity. In the middle stands
an Egyptian obelisk, inscribed with the usual hieroglyphs, resting
on four balls sustained in turn by a square pedestal. An inscription
at the bottom of the pedestal, illustrated by diagrams, exhibits the
engineering methods adopted under the great Theodosius for the erection
of the monolith on its present site; higher up elaborate sculptures
show the Emperor in his seat presiding at the games.[260] Farther to
the south is a still loftier column of the same shape, covered with
brass plates, called the Colossus.[261] Intermediately is the brazen
pillar, ravished from the temple of Delphi, composed of the twisted
bodies of three serpents, whose heads formerly supported the golden
tripod dedicated to Apollo by the Grecian states in memory of the
defeat of the Persians at Plateia.[262] The names of the subscribing
communities can still be read engraved on the folds of the snakes.
Adjacent is a lofty pillar bearing the figure of a nymph with flowing
robes, who holds forth a mail-clad knight mounted on horseback with
one hand.[263] Near the south end is a fountain or bath with a central
statue, known as the Phial of the Hippodrome.[264] Contiguous is an
aedicule raised on four pillars, in which is displayed the laurelled
bust of the reigning Emperor.[265] Above the obelisk, on a column, is
a celebrated statue of Hercules Trihesperus by Lysippus; the hero of
colossal size, in a downcast mood seated on his lion’s hide.[266] There
are also several pyramids in various positions along the Spine as well
as numerous figures of famous charioteers interspersed among the other
ornaments.[267] To these are to be added the necessary furniture of
the Spine of a Roman Circus, viz., the narrow stages raised on a pair
of pillars at each end, the one supporting seven ovoid bodies, by the
removal or replacing of which the spectators at both extremities are
enabled to see how many laps of the course have been travelled over by
the chariots; the other, seven dolphins,[268] ornamental waterspouts
through which water is pumped into the Phial beneath.[269] At each
end of the Euripus are the usual triple cones,[270] figured with
various devices, the “goals” designed to make the turning-points of
the arena conspicuous. Over the Manganon, on each side external to the
Kathisma, are a pair of gilded horses removed by Theodosius II from
the Isle of Chios.[271] The Podium, or lower boundary of the marble
benches, is elevated about twelve feet above the floor of the arena
by a columnar wall;[272] at the upper limit of these seats a level
terrace or promenade is carried completely round the Circus. This walk
is crowded with statues in brass and stone, many of them inscribed with
their place of origin, from whence they have been carried off.[273] A
number of them are deserving of special mention: a bronze eagle with
expanded pinions rending a viper with its talons, and engraved with
mystic symbols beneath the wings, said to have been erected by the
arch-charlatan or illusionist, Apollonius Tyaneus, as a charm against
the serpents which infested Byzantium;[274] a group representing the
semi-piscine Scylla devouring the companions of Ulysses, who had
been engulfed by Charybdis;[275] the figure of a eunuch named Plato,
formerly a Grand Chamberlain, removed from a church notwithstanding a
prohibition cut on the breast: “May he who moves me be strangled”;[276]
a man driving an ass, set up by Augustus at Actium in memory of his
having met, the night before that battle, a wayfarer thus engaged,
who, on being questioned, replied, “I am named Victor, my ass is
Victoria, and I am going to Caesar’s camp;”[277] the infants Romulus
and Remus with their foster-mother the wolf;[278] a Helen of the
rarest beauty, her charms enhanced by the most captivating dress and
ornaments; a factitious basilisk crushing an asp between its teeth;
a hippopotamus, a man grappling with a lion, several sphinxes,[279]
a well-known hunchback in a comic attitude,[280] statues of emperors
on foot and on horseback, and various subjects from pagan mythology,
the whole representing the spoliation of more than a score of cities
looted in time of peace at the caprice of a despot.[281] Four handsome
arched gateways, two on each side, with containing towers,[282] give
the public access to the interior of the Hippodrome.[283] That on the
south-east is named the Gate of the Dead,[284] a term which originated
at the time when a special entry was reserved for removing the bodies
of those slain in the fatal, but now obsolete, combats of gladiators.
The Sphendone, however, is now frequently used for the execution of
offenders of rank, not always criminal, and this portal has still,
therefore, some practical right to its name.[285] When necessary, the
Circus can be covered with an awning as a protection against the sun or
bad weather.[286]
From the western arch of the Milion we enter the Mese, that is, the
Middle, Main, or High Street of the city, which traverses the whole
town from east to west with a southerly inclination between the
Augusteum and the Golden Gate. It is bounded in almost all of its
course by porticoes said to have been constructed by Eubulus, one
of the wealthy Romans who were induced to migrate by Constantine.
The same patrician gifted the city with two other colonnades which
extend for a considerable distance along the eastern portion of the
north and south shores.[287] The Mese proceeds at first between the
north of the Hippodrome and the Judicial or Royal Basilica with
the adjacent buildings already mentioned. Contiguous to the Royal
Porch is a life-size statue of an elephant with his keeper, erected
by Severus to commemorate the fact that the animal had killed a
money-changer, who was afterwards proved dishonest, to avenge the
death of his master.[288] Near the western flank of the Circus is the
Palace of Lausus, said to be one of those reared by Constantine to
allure some of the Roman magnates to reside permanently in his new
capital.[289] Subsequently, however, it was transformed into an inn
for the public entertainment of strangers.[290] In its vestibule and
galleries were collected many gems of Grecian statuary, but most of
these have been destroyed by the great fire which raged in this quarter
under Zeno.[291] Amongst them were the celebrated Venus of Cnidos in
white marble, a nude work of Praxiteles;[292] the Lindian Athene in
smaragdite; the Samian Hera of Lysippus; a chryselephantine, or ivory
and gold statue of Zeus by Phidias, which Pericles placed in the temple
at Olympia;[293] an allegorical figure of Time by Lysippus, having hair
on the frontal part of the head, but with the back bald; and also many
figures of animals, including a cameleopard.[294]
Proceeding onwards for about a quarter of a mile we pass on our
right the Argyropratia, that is, the abode of the silversmiths,[295]
and arrive at the Forum of Constantine, which presents itself as an
expansion of the Mese. This open space, the most signal ornament of
Constantinople, is called prescriptively the Forum; and sometimes,
from its finished marble floor, “The Pavement.” Two lofty arches of
white Proconnesian marble, opposed to each other from east to west,
are connected by curvilinear porticoes so as to inclose a circular
area.[296] From its centre rises a tall porphyry column bound at
intervals with brazen laurel wreaths. This pillar is surmounted by
a figure of Constantine with the attributes of the Sun-god, his
head resplendent with a halo of gilded rays.[297] The mystic Trojan
Palladium, furtively abstracted from Rome, is buried beneath the
monument, on the base of which an inscription piously invokes Christ
to become the guardian of the city.[298] The sculptural decorations of
this Forum are very numerous: the Fortune of the City, called Anthusa,
was originally set up here, and adored with bloodless sacrifices;[299]
a pair of great crosses inscribed with words of the Creed and Doxology
are erected on opposite sides; Constantine with his mother Helena, and
a pair of winged angels form a group about the one, whilst the sons of
the same emperor surround the other.[300] Here also may be seen Athene,
her neck encircled by snakes emanating from the Gorgon’s head fixed
in her aegis; Amphitrite distinguished by a crown of crab’s claws; a
dozen statues of porphyry ranged in one portico, and an equal number of
gilded sirens or sea-horses in the other; and lastly the bronze gates
bestowed by Trajan on the temple of Diana at Ephesus, embossed with
a series of subjects illustrating the theogonies of Greece and Rome.
These latter adorn the entrance to the original Senate-house which is
situated on the south side of the Forum.[301]
If we diverge from the Mese slightly to the north-east of the Pavement,
we shall enter a large square named the Strategium, from its forming
a parade-ground to the barracks of the Palatine troops.[302] Amongst
several monuments a Theban obelisk conspicuously occupies the middle
place,[303] but the most striking object is an equestrian figure of
Constantine with the pillar alongside it by which Constantinople
is officially declared to be a second Rome.[304] This locality is
associated in historic tradition with Alexander the Great, of whom it
contains a commemorative statue.[305] From hence he is said to have
started on his expedition against Darius after holding a final review
of his forces. On this account it was chosen by Severus as a permanent
site for military quarters.[306] The public prison is also located in
this square.[307]
Continuing our way beneath the piazzas of the Mese beyond the Forum
of Constantine we reach the district known as the Artopolia or public
bakeries which lie to the north of the main street. A strange group
of statuary, allegorizing the fecundity of nature, is collocated in
this region, viz., a many-headed figure in which the faces of a dozen
animals are seen in conjunction; amongst them are those of a lion, an
eagle, a peacock, a ram, a bull, a crow, a mouse, a hare, a cat, and
a weasel. This eccentric presentment is flanked by a pair of marble
Gorgons.[308] Adjacent we may also observe a paved area in which a
cross stands conspicuously on a pillar, another record of the hybrid
piety of Constantine.[309]
Farther on by a couple of furlongs is the great square of Taurus, also
called the Forum of Theodosius, through its being specially devoted to
memorials of that prince. It covers an oblong space, extending from
level ground on the south up the slope of the third hill, the summit
of which it includes in its northern limit.[310] This eminence, in
accordance with the conception of making Constantinople a counterpart
of Rome, is called the Capitol, and is occupied by an equivalent of
the Tabularium, that is, by a building which contains the Imperial
archives.[311] Similarly, this site has been chosen for an edifice
composed of halls and a lecture-theatre assigned to a faculty of thirty
professors appointed by government to direct the liberal studies of
the youth of the capital—in short, for the University, as we may call
it, of Constantinople.[312] The principal monument in Taurus is the
column of Theodosius I, the sculptural shaft of which illustrates in
an ascending spiral the Gothic victories of that Emperor.[313] But the
equestrian statue which originally crowned this pictured record of his
achievements, having been overthrown by an earthquake, has lately been
replaced by a figure of the unwarlike Anastasius.[314] To the north
of this column, on a tetrapyle or duplex arch, Theodosius the Less
presides over the titular Forum of his grandfather.[315] But in the
fading memory of the populace the figure of this Emperor is already
confounded with a horseman said to have been abstracted from Antioch,
whom some imagine to be Jesus Nava,[316] and others Bellerophon.[317]
Facing each other from east to west on opposite sides of the square
are arches supporting figures of those degenerate representatives of
the Theodosian dynasty, Arcadius and Honorius.[318] To the western of
these arches we may observe that an assortment of troublesome insects,
counterfeited in brass, have been carefully affixed—another charm
of Apollonius Tyaneus intended to protect the inhabitants against
such diminutive pests.[319] In this vicinity is also a palace, built
by Constantine, in which strangers from all parts are hospitably
entertained without expense or question.[320]
From the west side of Taurus we may perceive the great aqueduct
of Valens, which crosses the third valley, and is here conjoined
with the chief _Nymphaeum_, a decorative public hall built around a
fountain.[321] Several of these _Nymphaea_ exist in the city, and they
are often made use of for private entertainments, especially nuptial
festivals, by citizens who have not sufficient space for such purposes
in their own homes.[322] The water supply of the town is under the
care of a special Consul, and very stringent laws are in force to
prevent waste or injury to the structures necessary for its storage
and distribution.[323] With the exception, however, of that of Valens,
aerial aqueducts (so conspicuous at Rome) have not been carried near
to, or within, the walls of Constantinople; and subterranean pipes
of lead or earthenware are the usual means of conveying the precious
liquid from place to place.[324] The public cisterns are in themselves
a striking architectural feature of the city. Some of these are open
basins, but many of them possess vaulted roofs, upborne by hundreds of
columns whose capitals are sculptured in the varied styles of Byzantine
art.[325] Most of these receptacles for water are distinguished by
special names; thus, beneath the Sphendone of the Hippodrome, we have
the Cold cistern,[326] and near to the palace or _hospice_ of Lausus
the Philoxenus, or Travellers’ Friend.[327] By a law of Theodosius II,
the wharf dues, paid for the use of the various stairs on the Golden
Horn, are applied to the repair of the aqueducts, the supply of water
from which is free to the public.[328] In connection with the cisterns
a group of three storks in white marble is pointed out as a further
result of the fruitful visit of Apollonius Tyaneus to Byzantium; owing
to the district becoming infested by serpents, flocks of these birds
were attracted hither, and caused a terrible nuisance through having
contracted a habit of casting the dead bodies of the reptiles into the
water reservoirs; but the erection of this monument speedily achieved
their perpetual banishment from the city.[329]
If we step aside a short distance from Taurus, both on the north and
south sides, we shall in each case come upon an interesting monument.
1. On the far side of the Capitol, overlooking the Zeugma, on a marble
pillar, is a noted statue of Venus, which marks the site of the only
_lupanar_ permitted by Constantine to exist in his new capital.[330]
Around, each secluded within its curtained lattice, are a series
of bowers consecrated to the illicit, or rather mercenary, amours
of the town. The goddess, however, who presides here is credited
with a remarkable leaning towards chastity; for, it is believed,
that if a wife or maid suspected of incontinence be brought to this
statue, instead of denying her guilt, she will by an irresistible
impulse cast off her garments so as to give an ocular proof of her
shamelessness.[331] 2. To the south, elevated on four pillars, is a
lofty pyramid of bronze, the apex of which sustains a female figure
pivoted so as to turn with every breath of wind. The surfaces of the
pyramid are decorated with a set of much admired bas-reliefs; on one
side a sylvan scene peopled with birds depicted in flight or song; on
another a pastoral idyl representing shepherds piping to their flocks,
whilst the lambs are seen gambolling over the green; again, a marine
view with fishers casting their nets amid shoals of fish startled and
darting in all directions; lastly, a mimic battle in which mirthful
bands of Cupids assault each other with apples and pomegranates. This
elaborate vane, which is visible over a wide area, is known as the
_Anemodulion_, or Slave of the Winds.[332]
Beyond Taurus the Mese leads us to the _Philadelphium_, a spot
dedicated to brotherly love and embellished by a group representing
the three sons of Constantine in an affectionate attitude. The
monument commemorates the last meeting of these noble youths, who,
on hearing of the death of their father, encountered each other here
prior to assuming the government of their respective divisions of
the Empire.[333] Opposite is another group of the same princes, who
ultimately destroyed each other, erected by Constantine himself with
the usual accompaniment of a large gilt cross.[334] A few paces farther
on, our route is again interrupted by a square, the entrance to which
is marked by a Tetrapyle, or arch of four portals, executed in brass.
Above the first gateway is affixed a significant symbol, namely, a
modius or measure for wheat standing between a pair of severed hands.
It records the punishment by Valentinian I of an unjust dealer who
ignored his law that corn should be sold to the people with the measure
heaped up to overflowing.[335] The Forum on which the Tetrapyle opens
is called the _Amastrianum_, perhaps from a wanderer belonging to
Amastris in Paphlagonia, who was found dead on this spot.[336] It is
the usual place of public execution for the lower classes, whether
capital or by mutilation.[337] This square, which is close to the
streamlet Lycus,[338] is no exception to the rule that such open spaces
should be crowded with statues. Among them we may notice the Sun-god in
a marble chariot, a reclining Hercules, shells with birds resting on
the rim, and nearly a score of dragons.[339]
Yet two more open spaces on the Mese arrest our progress as we proceed
to the Golden Gate. The first is the Forum of the Ox, which contains a
colossal quadruped of that species brought hither from Pergamus.[340]
This is in reality a brazen furnace for the combustion of malefactors
condemned to perish by fire, and has the credit of having given some
martyrs to the Church, especially under the Emperor Julian.[341]
Farther on is the last square we shall find it necessary to view, the
Forum of Arcadius, founded by that prince.[342] Its distinguishing
monument is a column similar in every way to that in Taurus,[343]
but the silver statue which surmounts it is the figure of Arcadius
himself.[344] We are now on the top of the Xerolophos, and the
colonnades which lead hence to the walls of Theodosius are named the
_Porticus Troadenses_.[345] But about halfway to the present Imperial
portal we pass through the original Golden Gate,[346] a landmark
which has been spared in the course of the old walls of Constantine.
The extensive tract added by Theodosius II to the interior of the
city was formerly the camping ground of the seven bodies of Gothic
auxiliaries, and for that reason was divided into seven districts,
denoted numerically from south to north. The whole of this quarter is
now spoken of as the _Exokionion_, that is, the region outside the
Pillar, in allusion to a well-known statue of Constantine which marks
the border.[347] But, in order to particularize the smaller areas of
this quarter, some of the numbers are still found indispensable, and
we often hear of the Deuteron, Triton, Pempton, and Hebdomon. Adjacent
to the Golden Gate is situated the great monastery of St. John Studii,
which maintains a thousand monks.[348]
On entering the _Exokionion_ the Mese gives off a branch thoroughfare
which leads to the Gate of the Fountain, skirting on its way the church
of St. Mocius, a place of worship granted to the Arians by Theodosius
I when he established the Nicene faith at Constantinople.[349] By this
route also we arrive at a portico which adorns the interior of the
mural Sigma,[350] and contains a monument to Theodosius II erected by
his Grand Chamberlain, the infamous eunuch Chrysaphius.[351]
If we now retrace our steps to the Philadelphium and diverge thence
from the Mese in a north-westerly direction, we shall soon reach
the church of the Holy Apostles, the most imposing of the Christian
edifices founded by Constantine. It is contained within an open court
surrounded by cloisters, on which give the numerous offices required
for the guardians of the sacred precincts. This church is one of the
first of those constructed in the form of a cross.[352] Outside it is
covered with variegated marbles, and the roof is composed of tiles of
gilded brass. The interior is elaborately decorated with a panelled
ceiling and walls invested with trellis-work of an intricate pattern,
the whole being profusely gilded. Cenotaphs ranged in order are
consecrated to the honour and glory of the Twelve Apostles, and in the
midst of these is a porphyry sarcophagus wherein repose the remains of
Constantine himself and his mother. The building is in fact a _heroon_
or mausoleum designed to perpetuate the fulminating flattery of the
period by which Constantine was declared to be the “equal of the
Apostles.”[353] Subsequently, however, this religious pile was adopted
as the customary place of interment of the Imperial families, and many
tombs of royal personages are now to be seen scattered around. Amongst
them lie the sons of Constantine, Theodosius I and II, Arcadius,
Marcian, Pulcheria, Leo I, and Zeno.[354] On leaving this spot, if
we turn to the south for a short distance, we shall be enabled to
examine a tall column with a heavy capital elaborately sculptured in a
Byzantino-Corinthian style. An inscription on the pedestal testifies
to its having been erected by the Praefect Tatian to the memory of the
Emperor Marcian.[355]
The region of Sycae, built on the steep slope of the hill which rises
almost from the water’s edge to the north of the Golden Horn, is
considered to be an integral part of the city. It is particularly
associated with the brother of Arcadius, the enervated Honorius, who
ruled the Western Empire for more than thirty years, an effigy rather
than the reality of a king. Thus the Forum of Honorius constitutes
its market-place, and its public baths are also distinguished by the
name of the same prince. It possesses, moreover, a dock and a church
with gilded tiles, and is fortified in the usual way by a wall with
towers.[356]
[Illustration:
_Diagram of =CP.= in 6th century. Latitude 41° N._ (_Nearly level with
Naples and Madrid_)]
Rome was divided by Augustus into fourteen regions or parishes, to each
of which he appointed a body of public officers whose functions much
resembled those of a modern Vestry.[357] The municipal government of
the new Rome is an almost exact imitation of that instituted by the
founder of the Empire for the old capital. Here are the same number
of regions, named numerically and counted in order from east to west,
beginning at the end of the promontory. The last two of these, however,
are outside the wall of Constantine, that is to say, Blachernae on the
north-west and Sycae over the water. To each division is assigned a
_Curator_ or chief controller, a _Vernaculus_ or beadle, who performs
the duties of a public herald, five _Vicomagistri_, who form a night
patrol for the streets, and a considerable number of _Collegiati_, in
the tenth region as many as ninety, whose duty it is to rush to the
scene of fires with hatchets and water-buckets.[358] At night the main
thoroughfares are well lighted by flaring oil-lamps.[359]
One remarkable feature of the city, to be encountered by the visitor at
every turn, is an elevated shed which can be approached on all sides
by ranges of steps. These “Steps,” as they are briefly called, are
stations for the gratuitous daily distribution of provisions to the
poorer citizens. Every morning a concourse of the populace repairs to
the Step attached to their district, and each person, on presenting a
wooden _tessera_ or ticket, inscribed with certain amounts, receives
a supply of bread, and also a dole of oil, wine, and flesh.[360]
More than six score of such stations are scattered throughout the
town, and the necessary corn is stored in large granaries which are
for the most part replenished by ships arriving every season from
Alexandria.[361] More than twenty public bakeries furnish daily the
required demand of bread.[362] Besides free grants of food and houses
for the entertainment of strangers, the city contains various other
charities under the direction of state officials, the chief of which
are hospitals for the sick and aged, orphanages, poor-houses, and
institutions for the reception of foundlings.[363] A medical officer,
entitled an arch-physician, with a public stipend, is attached to each
parish to attend gratuitously to the poor.[364]
The civic authorities are well aware that disease arises from putrid
effluvia, and hence an elaborate system of deep drainage has been
constructed so that all sewage is carried by multiple channels into the
sea.[365] Since the introduction of Christianity, cremation has become
obsolete, and burial in the earth is universally practised.[366] Public
cemeteries, however, are not allowed within the walls, but churches and
monasteries are permitted to devote a portion of their precincts to
the purpose of interment. Such limited space is necessarily reserved
for members of the hierarchy and persons of a certain rank, who have
been beneficiaries of the church or order.[367]
We may here terminate our exploration of the topography of
Constantinople, content to leave a multitude of objects, both
interesting and important, beyond the limits of our survey. Were I to
attempt the description of everything worthy of notice in the city,
my exposition would soon resemble the catalogue of a museum, and
the reader’s attention would expire under the sense of interminable
enumerations. Our picture has been filled in with sufficient detail to
convey the impression of a vast capital laid out in colonnaded squares
and streets, to the adornment of which all that Grecian art could
evolve in architecture and statuary has been applied with a lavishness
attainable only by the fiat of a wide-ruling despot.
III. SOCIOLOGY
To make this chapter fully consonant to its title it now remains for
us to pass in review the sociological condition of the inhabitants,
whilst we try to learn something of their mode of life, their national
characteristics, and their mental aptitudes. We have already seen that
in the case of the Neo-Byzantines or Lesser Greeks,[368] the path of
evolution lay through a series of historical vicissitudes in which
there was more of artificial forcing than of the insensible growth
essential to the formation of a homogeneous people. Owing to its
geographical position it was perhaps inevitable from the first that
Byzantium should become a cosmopolitan town, whose population should
develop little political stability or patriotic coherence. In addition,
however, it happened that the Megareans, their chief progenitors, had
gained an unenviable notoriety throughout Greece; they were generally
esteemed to be gluttonous, slothful, ineffective, and curiously
prolific in courtesans, who, for some reason which now escapes us,
were peculiarly styled “Megarean sphinxes.”[369] Once established on
the Golden Horn the Byzantines seem to have found life very easy;
their fisheries were inexhaustible and facile beyond belief;[370]
whilst the merchants trading in those seas soon flocked thither so
that port dues furnished an unearned and considerable income. As a
consequence the bulk of the populace spent their time idling in the
market-place or about the wharves, each one assured of meeting some
visitor to whom for a valuable consideration he was willing to let his
house and even his wife, whilst he himself took up his abode in the
more congenial wine-shop. So firmly did this dissolute mode of life
gain a footing, that when the town was besieged the citizens could
not be rallied to defend the walls until the municipal authorities
had set up drinking-booths on the ramparts.[371] Law was usually in
abeyance,[372] finance disorganized,[373] and political independence
forfeit to the leading power of the moment, whether Greek or Persian.
Such was the community whose possession of a matchless site decided
Constantine to select them as the nucleus of population for his new
Rome, the meditated capital of the East. And, in order to fill with
life and movement the streets newly laid out, he engrafted on this
doubtful stock a multitude of servile and penurious immigrants, whom he
allured from their native haunts by the promise of free residence and
rations.[374] Nevertheless a metropolis constituted from such elements
was scarcely below the level of the times, and was destined to prove a
successful rival of the degenerate Rome which Constantine aspired to
supplant.
The impressions of life and colour which affect a stranger on entering
a new city arise in great part from the costume of its inhabitants. At
Constantinople there prevails in this age a decency in dress foreign
to Rome during the first centuries of the Empire, and even to Greece in
the most classic period. Ladies invested with garments of such tenuity
as to reveal more than they conceal of their physical beauties, to the
confusion of some contemporary Seneca, are not here to be met with in
the streets;[375] the Athenian maiden, with her tunic divided almost
to the hip, or the Spartan virgin displaying her limbs bare to the
middle of the thigh, have no reflection under the piazzas of renascent
Byzantium. A new modesty, born of Christian influences, has cast a
mantle of uniformity over the licence as well as over the simplicity
of the pagan world. In observing the costume of this time a modern eye
would first, perhaps, note the fact that in civil life the garb of men
differs but little from that of women. Loose clothing, which hides
the shape of the body, and in general the whole of the lower limbs,
is common to both sexes. Men usually shave, but a moustache is often
worn; their hair is cropped, but not very close.[376] Head-gear is an
exception, and so, for the lower classes, are coverings for the feet.
A workman, an artisan, or a slave, the latter a numerous class, wears
a simple tunic of undyed wool, short-sleeved, girt round the waist and
reaching to the knees, with probably a hood which can be drawn over
the head as a protection against the weather.[377] This garment is
in fact the foundation dress of all ranks of men, but the rich wear
fine materials, often of silk and of varied hues, have long sleeves,
and use girdles of some costly stuff. They, in addition, are invested
in handsome cloaks reaching to the ankles, which are open for their
whole length on the right side and are secured by a jewelled clasp
over the corresponding shoulder. Shoes often highly ornamented,[378]
and long hose, coloured according to taste, complete the dress of
an ordinary Byzantine gentleman. On less formal occasions a short
sleeveless cloak, fastened at the neck, but open down the front, is
the customary outer vestment. The tunic or gown of women reaches to
the feet, and, in the case of ladies, is embroidered or woven with
designs of various patterns and tints. The latter usually consist of
some small variegated device which is repeated in oblique lines all
over the garment. Shawls, somewhat similar in colour and texture to
the gown, thrown over the back and shoulders or wound round the bust,
are habitually worn at the same time. Gloves, shoes and stockings of
various hues, and a simple form of cap which partly conceals the hair,
are also essential to the attire of a Byzantine lady. As in all ages,
jewellery is much coveted, and women of any social rank are rarely to
be seen without heavy necklaces, earrings of an elaborate spreading
design,[379] and golden girdles.[380] A less numerous class of the
community are male ascetics, celibates of a puritanical cast, who
love to placard themselves by wearing scarlet clothing and binding
their hair with a fillet;[381] also virgins devoted to the service of
the churches, who are known by their sombre dress, black hoods, gray
mantles, and black shoes.[382] Philosophers adopt gray, rhetoricians
crimson, and physicians blue, for the tint of their cloaks.[383] To
these may be added the courtesans who try to usurp the costume of
every grade of women, even that of the sacred sisterhood.[384] Such
is the population who usually crowd the thoroughfares and lend them a
gaudy aspect which is still further heightened by numbers of private
carriages—literally springless carts—bedizened with paint and gilding,
and most fashionable if drawn by a pair of white mules with golden
trappings. Such vehicles are indispensable to the outdoor movements
of matrons of any rank;[385] and in each case a train of eunuchs in
gorgeous liveries, and decked with ornaments of gold, mark the progress
of a great lady.[386] Occasionally we may see the Praefect of the City,
or some other man of signal rank, passing in a silver wagon drawn by
four horses yoked abreast.[387] Often we meet a noble riding a white
horse, his saddle-cloth embroidered in gold; around him a throng of
attendants bearing rods of office with which they rudely scatter all
meaner citizens to make way for their haughty master.[388] A person
of any consequence perambulating the city is followed by at least one
slave bearing a folding seat for incidental rest.[389] In some retired
nook we may encounter a circle of the populace gazing intently at the
performance of a street mountebank; he juggles with cups and goblets;
pipes, dances, and sings a lewd ballad; the bystanders reward him with
a morsel of bread or an obole; he invokes a thousand blessings on their
heads, and departs to resume his display in some other spot.[390]
The Byzantine Emperor and Empress are distinguished in dress from all
their subjects by the privilege of wearing the Imperial purple.[391]
The Emperor is further denoted by his jewelled shoes or slippers of
a bright scarlet colour, a feature in his apparel which is even more
exclusive than his cloak or his crown. The latter symbol of majesty is
a broad black hoop expanding towards the top, bordered above and below
with a row of pearls, thickly studded with gems all round, and bearing
four great pendent pearls which fall in pairs on the nape of the neck.
His ample purple robe, which falls to his feet, is fastened by a costly
shoulder-clasp of precious stones. Its uniformity is diversified by
two squares or tables of cloth of gold embroidered in various colours,
which approach from the back and front the division on the right side.
Purple hose and a white tunic, sleeved to the wrists and girt with a
crimson scarf, complete the civil attire of the Emperor. When sitting
in state he usually bears a globe surmounted by a cross[392] in his
left hand. His attendant nobles, a new order of patricians who are
styled the Fathers of the Emperor,[393] are garbed all in white, but
the tables of their gowns are of plain purple, their girdles are
red, and their shoes are black. His Protectors or guards wear green
tunics, with red facings, and are shod in black with white hose; a
thick ring of gold, joined to a secondary oval one in front, encircles
the neck of each one; they are armed with a long spear, and carry an
oval shield bordered with blue and widely starred from the centre in
black on a red ground. Their Count or Captain is distinguished by a
red and purple breasted tunic, and by the Christian monogram of his
shield in yellow on a green ground. The dress of the Empress is very
similar to that of her consort, but her crown is more imposing, being
heightened by sprays of jewels, and laden with strings of pearls which
fall over her neck and shoulders.[394] Her purple mantle is without
tables, but is brocaded with gold figures around the skirt; she wears
besides an under-skirt embroidered in bright hues, golden slippers
with green hose, and all jewels proper to ladies of the most costly
description.[395] Two or three patricians usually wait on the Empress,
but her Court is chiefly composed of a bevy of noble matrons or maids,
female patricians who act as her tire-women; the leader[396] of these
is distinguished by her purple gown.[397]
Every morning at seven o’clock the Grand Janitor of the Palace,[398]
taking his bunch of keys, proceeds with a company of guards and
Silentiaries to open all the doors which lead from the Augusteum to the
Consistorium. After the lapse of an hour the Primicerius or captain
of the watch knocks at the door of the Emperor’s private apartments.
Surrounded by his eunuchs the prince then sallies forth and first,
standing before an image of Christ in a reverential attitude, recites
a formal prayer. On the completion of this pious office he takes
his seat on the throne and calls for the Logothete[399] or steward
of the royal household. Upon this the Janitor, pushing aside the
variegated curtains which close the door leading to the antechamber,
passes out, and in a short time returns with the desired official.
The Logothete first drops on one knee and adores the majesty of the
Emperor, after which he rises and transaction of business for the day
begins. By this time the antechamber of the Throne room has become
crowded with dignitaries of state, patricians, senators, praefects,
and logothetes of various denominations. The Emperor commands the
presence from time to time of such of these as he wishes to confer
with, and all of them at their first entrance salute him with the
same form of submissive obeisance, except those of patrician rank,
who merely bow profoundly, and are greeted by the Emperor with a
kiss.[400] Codicils or commissions for the appointment of officers
of state or rulers of provinces are presented by the Master of the
Rolls,[401] and the Emperor signs the documents in purple ink, the use
of which is forbidden to subjects.[402] Such codicils are illustrated
in colours with various devices symbolical of the dignity or duties
of the office conferred. Those of praefects and proconsuls of the
highest rank display a draped _abacus_ or table on which rests a framed
image of the Emperor lighted by wax tapers; in addition, busts of the
Emperor with his imperial associates or heirs on a pedestal, and a
silver quadriga—insignia of office, which adorn the local vestibule
or denote the vicegerent of the sovereign in his progress through the
public ways. The provinces or districts are indicated by female figures
or busts labelled with various names; in many instances by rivers,
mountains, indigenous animals, and miniature fortresses representing
the chief towns. In the case of rulers of lesser rank—dukes, vicars,
correctors, counts, presidents—a portly volume inscribed with the
initials of a conventional sentence[403] supplants the painted image.
For Masters of the Forces the codicils are illustrated with weapons
of war or with the numerous designs, geometrical or pictorial, which
distinguish the shields of the cohorts under their command. Dignitaries
of civil rank, financial or secretarial, are suitably denoted on
their diplomas by vessels loaded with coin, purses, writing-cases,
and rolls of manuscript.[404] In addition to those assigning
administrative appointments honorary codicils are also issued, by
which the prerogative or precedence only pertaining to various ranks
is conferred. These documents are also called “nude,” as they are not
illustrated with those figures which indicate that the holder is in
authority over particular districts. They are equivalent to patents of
nobility, and are granted for service to the state, general esteem,
and probably also by mere purchase.[405] Among the throng at the
Emperor’s receptions are always a number of officers of a certain
rank, who, on vacating their posts, have the privilege of waiting on
the Emperor in order to adore or kiss his purple.[406] In the absence
of urgent business the audience closes at ten o’clock; at a sign from
the Emperor the Janitor passes into the antechamber with his keys,
which he agitates noisily as a signal of dismissal. The Palace is then
shut up, but at two o’clock it is reopened with the same formalities
for the further transaction of affairs. At five o’clock it is again
closed and the routine of Imperial reception is at an end for the day.
On the _Dominica_ or Sunday the assembly is most numerous, and the
company repairs in procession to one of the adjoining halls to attend
the performance of a brief divine service.[407] As a concession to the
holiness of this day adoration of the Emperor is less formal. When the
Emperor or Empress drives through the streets the carriage is drawn by
four white horses or mules,[408] the vehicle and the trappings of the
animals being ornate in the highest degree.[409] Public processions
on festal days of the Church are regular and frequent; and on these
occasions, as well as on those of national rejoicing, the Emperor
rides a white horse amidst his train of eunuchs, nobles, and guards.
At such times the Praefect of the City enjoins a special cleansing and
decoration of the streets on the prescribed route. The way is adorned
from end to end with myrtle, rosemary, ivy, box, and flowers of all
kinds which are in bloom at the season. The air is filled with the
odour of incense, and from private windows and balconies particoloured
and embroidered fabrics are suspended by the inhabitants. Wherever
the royal cavalcade passes, cries of “Long live the Emperor” rise
from every throat.[410] At night the thoroughfares are illuminated by
frequent lamps displayed from windows and doorways. But on occasions
of public calamity, such as ruinous earthquakes or prolonged drought,
this scene of splendour is reversed; and the Emperor, on foot and
uncrowned, proceeds amidst the clergy and populace, all clad in sombre
garments, to one of the sacred shrines outside the walls to offer
up supplications for a remission of the scourge.[411] And again the
Emperor may be seen as a humble pedestrian, whilst the Patriarch, who
usually rides upon an ass, is seated in the Imperial carriage, on his
way to the consecration of a new church, or holding on his knees the
relics of some saint prior to their deposition in one of the sacred
edifices.[412]
At this date conventional titles of distinction or adulation have
attained to the stage of full development. The Emperor, in Greek
_Basileus_ or _Autocrator_, the sole Augustus, is also styled Lord
and Master, and is often addressed as “Your Clemency.”[413] His
appointed heir receives the dignity of Caesar and perhaps the title
of _Nobilissimus_, an epithet confined to the nearest associates of
the throne.[414] Below the Imperial eminence and its attachments
the great officers of state are disposed in three ranks, namely,
the _Illustres_, _Spectabiles_, and _Clarissimi_. The Illustrious
dignitaries are termed by the Prince and others “Most Glorious,”
and are variously addressed as “Your Sublimity,” “Magnificence,”
“Eminence,” “Excellence,” “Highness,” “Serenity,” or “Sincerity,”
etc. The two lower ranks are similarly addressed, but only the less
fulsome of such expressions are applied to them. Consonant to the same
scheme the clergy receive the epithets of “Most Holy,” “Blessed,”
“Reverend,” “Beloved of God”; and are addressed as “Your Beatitude,”
“Eminence,” etc., the emphasis being graduated according as they may
happen to be Patriarchs, Archbishops, Metropolitans, Bishops, or simple
clericals.[415]
In the assemblies of the Hippodrome popular fervour reaches its
highest pitch, whether in times of festive or political excitement.
From Daphne, by the gallery of St. Stephen’s and the Cochlea, the
Emperor, surrounded by courtiers and guards, gains his throne in the
Kathisma.[416] On his entry the Protectors, already assembled in the
Stama or Pi, elevate the Standards which have previously been lying
on the ground.[417] Before seating himself on his throne the Emperor,
advancing to the balustrade of the Kathisma, greets the assembled
populace by making the sign of the cross in the air. As soon as the
answering cries of adulation subside, a set hymn[418] is intoned from
each side of the Circus in alternate responsions by particular bodies
of the people called _Demes_, whose importance, not merely agonistic,
but above all political, renders a special account of them here
necessary.
The Demes or factionaries of the Hippodrome occupy the benches at the
end of the arena on each side adjacent to the Kathisma,[419] and are
called the _Veneti_ and _Prasini_, that is, the Blues and Greens.[420]
These bodies, which are legally incorporated as guilds,[421] consist
of the contending parties in the chariot races, and of such others
as elect to enroll themselves as their followers, and to wear the
colours of the respective sides. Each Deme has a subdivision, or
rather, a pendant, to which the colours white and red are attached
respectively.[422] The chief or president of each faction is entitled
the Demarch.[423] These two parties form cabals in the state, who
are animated by a fierce rivalry engendering an intensely factious
disposition. Every consideration is subordinated to a strained sense of
personal or party honour, whence is evolved a generally uncompromising
defiance to the restrictions of law and order. Ties of blood and
friendship are habitually set at naught by the insolent clanship of
these factions; even women, although excluded from the spectacles of
the Circus, are liable to become violent partisans of either colour,
and that in opposition sometimes to the affinities of their own
husbands and families. Nor does the Emperor by an equal distribution
of his favours seek to control the intemperate rivalry of the Demes,
but usually becomes the avowed patron of a particular faction.[424] At
the present time the Greens are in the ascendant, and fill the benches
to the left of the Kathisma, a position of honour assigned to them by
the younger Theodosius.[425] Every town of any magnitude has a Circus
with its Blue and Green factions, and these parties are in sympathetic
correspondence throughout the Empire.[426]
The throng of spectators within the Hippodrome, who can be accommodated
with seats around the arena, amounts to about 40,000, but this number
falls far short of the whole mass of the populace eager to witness
the exhibition. From early dawn men of all ages, even if maimed or
crippled, assault the gates; and when the interior is filled to
repletion the excluded multitude betake themselves to every post of
vantage in the vicinity which overlooks the Circus. Then windows and
roofs of houses, hill-tops and adjacent eminences of all kinds are
seized on by determined pleasure seekers.[427]
Public entertainments are given regularly in the Hippodrome and the
theatre during the first week of January, in celebration of the
Consul being newly installed for the year. They are given also on the
11th of May, the foundation day of the city, and on other occasions
to celebrate some great national event, such as the accession of an
emperor, the fifth or tenth anniversary of his reign,[428] the birth
or nomination of a Caesar or successor to the throne, or the happy
termination of an important war.[429] Several Praetors, officers who
were formerly the chief oracles of the law, are nominated annually,
their judicial functions being now abrogated in favour of organizing
and paying for the amusements of the people.[430]
Twelve chariot races take place in the morning, and, after an interval
of retirement, a similar number in the afternoon;[431] between the
races other exhibitions are introduced, especially fights of men with
lions, tigers, and bears,[432] rope walking,[433] and matches of
boxing and wrestling.[434] In the contests between two- or four-horse
chariots, the competitors make the circuit of the arena seven times,
whence the whole length of the course traversed amounts to about a mile
and a half.[435] The start is made from the top of the Euripus on the
right-hand side, where a rope is stretched across to keep the horses in
line after their exit from the Manganon, until the signal is given by
the dropping of a white cloth or _mappa_.[436] The races are run with
great fury, and the charioteers, standing in their vehicles, make every
effort to win, not merely by speed, but by fouling each other so as to
pass in front or gain the inmost position of the circuit. Hence serious
and fatal accidents are of habitual occurrence, and help to stimulate
the popular frenzy to the highest pitch.[437] The antagonists, however,
pay but little attention to the clamours of the spectators, looking
only to the Emperor’s eye for their meed of approval or censure.[438]
At the conclusion of the games, amid the chanting of various
responsions by the factions and the populace, the victors, supported by
delegates from the four Demes bearing crosses woven from fresh flowers,
wait upon the Emperor in the Kathisma, and receive from his hand the
awards of their prowess.[439]
Less frequently the Circus may be contemplated under a more serious
aspect, as the focus of national agitation. In the year 491, during
Easter week, Constantinople was thrown into a great commotion by a
report that the Emperor Zeno had died somewhat suddenly,[440] and that
no successor had yet been nominated for the throne. The people, the
Demes, and the Imperial guards at once rushed to the Hippodrome, where
all took up the stations allotted to them for viewing the Circensian
games. On all sides an incessant clamour then arose, and the cry,
addressed to those in authority, was vociferously repeated: “Give
an Emperor to the Romans.” Simultaneously the great officers of the
Court, the Senate, and the Patriarch assembled hastily within the
Palace in order to decide on what course to pursue. In this convention
the counsel of the chief eunuch Urbicius, Grand Chamberlain, had most
weight; and, fearing a riot, it was resolved that the Empress Ariadne,
on whose popularity they relied, should proceed immediately to the
Kathisma, and, by a suitable address, attempt to pacify the populace.
On the appearance of the Empress in the Hippodrome, with the retinue
of her supreme rank, the clamours were redoubled. Exclamations arose
from every throat: “Ariadne Augusta, may you be victorious! Lord have
mercy on us! Long live the Augusta! Give an orthodox Emperor to the
Romans, to all the earth!” The widow of Zeno addressed the multitude
at some length, by the mouth of a crier, who read her speech from a
written document. “Every consideration,” said she, “shall be shown to
the majesty of the people. We have referred the matter to the Lords
of the Court, to the Sacred Senate, and to the Heads of the Army; nor
shall the presence of the Holy Patriarch be wanting to render the
election valid. An orthodox Emperor shall be given to you and one of
blameless life. Restrain yourselves for the present and be careful
not to disturb the tranquillity of our choice.” With such promises
and exhortations, often interrupted, Ariadne left the Circus amid the
renewed shouts of the vast assembly. Within the Palace the council was
reformed, and, after some debate, Urbicius carried his proposition
that the election of an Emperor should be referred to the widowed
Empress. Upon this Ariadne put forward a much respected officer of the
Court, the Silentiary Anastasius, a man of about sixty years of age.
Her nominee was about to be accepted unanimously when the Patriarch
interposed his authority and demanded that Anastasius should give him
an engagement to uphold the orthodox faith. The Silentiary was, in
fact, suspected of a strong leaning towards the monophysite heresy,
which declared that Christ was possessed of only one nature.[441] His
proposition was entertained, and thereupon a guard of honour was sent
to summon Anastasius from his house, and to escort him to the Palace;
but before any formal question was put they all set about performing
the obsequies of the deceased Emperor Zeno. The next day Anastasius
presided in the Consistorium to receive the officers of state, all of
whom waited on him clad in white robes. He subscribed the document as
required by the Patriarch, and took an oath to administer the Empire
with a true conscience. He was then conducted to the Hippodrome, where
he appeared in the undress of an emperor, but wearing the red buskins.
Amid the acclamations of the populace he was exalted on a buckler, and
a military officer crowned him with a golden collar removed from his
own person.[442] Anastasius then retired to the antechamber of the
Kathisma to be invested, by the Patriarch himself, with the Imperial
purple, and to have a jewelled crown placed upon his head. Again he
sought the presence of the assembled multitude, whom he addressed
in a set speech which was read out to them by a crier. Finally the
newly-elected Autocrator departed to the Palace amid repeated cries of
“God bless our Christian Emperor! You have lived virtuously, Reign as
you have lived!”[443]
But the proceedings in the Hippodrome were not always merely
pleasurable or peacefully political. The Circus was also the place
where sedition was carried to the culminating point; and the same
Anastasius, in his long reign of twenty-seven years, had to experience
on more than one occasion the fickle humour of the Byzantine populace.
About 498, during the progress of the games, a cry arose that certain
rioters, who had been committed to prison for throwing stones inside
the arena, should be liberated. The Emperor refused, a tumult arose,
and the Imperial guards were ordered to arrest the apparent instigators
of the disorder. Stones were immediately flung at Anastasius himself,
who only escaped injury or death by his precipitate flight from
the Kathisma. The mob then set fire to the wooden benches of the
Hippodrome, and a conflagration ensued, which consumed part of the
Imperial Palace in one direction, and ravaged a large tract of the city
as far as the Forum of Constantine on the other.[444] Again in 512,
when the Emperor, yielding to his heretical tendencies to confound the
persons of the Trinity, proclaimed that in future the Trisagion[445]
should be chanted with the addition “Who wast crucified for us,” the
populace rose in a fury, set fire to the houses of many persons who
were obnoxious to them, decapitated a monk suspected of suggesting
the heresy, and, marching through the streets with his head upon a
pole, demanded that “another Emperor should be given to the Romans.”
Anastasius, affrighted, rushed into the Hippodrome without his crown,
and protested his willingness to abdicate the purple. The spectacle,
however, of their Emperor in such an abject state appeased the excited
throng, and, on the withdrawal of the offensive phrase, peace was
restored to the community.[446]
The Byzantine theatre, in which there are usually diurnal
performances,[447] is by no means a lineal descendant of that of the
Greeks and Romans. The names of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and the rest
of those inimitable playwrights, are either altogether unknown, or
are heard with complete indifference. Pantomime, farce, lewd songs,
and dances in which troops of females[448] virtually dispense with
clothing, monopolize the stage to the exclusion of the classic
drama. Ribaldry and obscenity, set off by spectacular displays,[449]
constitute the essence of the entertainment; and women even go through
the form of bathing in a state of nudity for the delectation of
the audience.[450] A contemporary music-hall, without its enforced
decency, would probably convey to a modern reader the most correct
impression of the stage as maintained in Christian Constantinople.
Actress and prostitute are synonymous terms, and all persons engaged
in the theatrical profession are regarded in the eye of the law as
vile and disreputable.[451] Nevertheless, the pastimes of the public
are jealously protected; and the amorous youth who runs away with
an actress,[452] equally with him who withdraws a favourite horse
from the Circensian games for his private use,[453] is subjected to
a heavy fine. A woman, however, who wishes to reform her life on
the plea of religious conviction, is permitted to quit the stage,
but is not afterwards allowed to relapse into her former life of
turpitude.[454] Should she betray any inclination to do so, it is
enacted that she shall be kept in a place of detention until such time
as the decrepitude of age shall afford an involuntary guarantee of her
chastity.[455] The Byzantine aristocracy, from the rank of Clarissimus
upwards is prohibited from marrying an actress or any woman on a level
with that class.[456]
A particular form of amusement among the Byzantines is the installation
of a Consul every year on the Calends of January in imitation of
the old republican function at Rome. The person nominated assumes a
gorgeous robe decorated with purple stripes and gold embroidery,[457]
grasps a sceptre surmounted with a figure of Victory,[458] and proceeds
in state to the Hippodrome, where he displays his authority by
manumitting a number of slaves specially provided for the purpose.[459]
He presides at the games from the Kathisma, and for the moment, if not
the Emperor himself, as frequently happens, the pretence is made of
regarding him as the sovereign of the Empire.[460] The year is legally
distinguished by his name and that of his colleague of the West,[461]
a series of public spectacles are exhibited for seven days,[462]
he scatters golden coin as largess among the citizens,[463] and
emissaries are dispatched in all directions throughout the provinces
to announce his elevation,[464] and to deposit in the local archives
his diptychs, a pair of ivory plates inscribed with his likeness or
insignia.[465] Immediately afterwards, the office relapses into a
sinecure, and the Consul resumes his ordinary avocations in life.
On Sunday there is a cessation of business and pleasure throughout the
city, though not of agricultural labour in the rural districts.[466]
At the boom of the great _semantron_,[467] a sonorous board suspended
in the porch of each church, and beaten with mallets by a deacon,
the various congregations issue forth to attend their respective
places of worship. In the forecourt they are met by a crowd of
mendicants, exemplifying every degree of poverty and every form of
bodily infirmity, who enjoy a prescriptive right to solicit alms at
this time and place. This practice has, in fact, been encouraged
by the early Fathers of the Church, in order that the heart may be
melted to pity and philanthropy at the sight of so much human misery
as the most fitting preparation for the order of divine service.[468]
The centre of the same inclosure is occupied by a fountain of pure
water, in which it is customary to wash the hands before entering the
sacred edifice.[469] In the narthex or vestibule, in a state of abject
contrition, are found the various penitents, who, for some offence,
have been cut off from the communion of the faithful, condemned to
advance no farther than this part for a term of years proportionate to
the heinousness of their sin.[470] The males of the congregation make
use of the central or Beautiful Gate of the church, in order to gain
their station in the nave, whilst the females, passing through the
doors on each side, ascend to the galleries which are set apart for
their special accommodation.[471] The liturgy consists of reading from
the Scriptures, of prayers, and of hymns sung in responses;[472] after
which the Patriarch, coming forward from his throne in the apse to
the ambo,[473] preaches a homily based on some portion of the Bible.
Finally the Eucharist is administered to the whole congregation, a
spoon being used to give a portion of wine to each person.[474] Ladies,
to attend public worship, bedeck themselves with all their jewels and
finery,[475] whence female thieves, mingling amongst them, often take
the opportunity to reap their harvest.[476] Men, in the most obvious
manner, betray their admiration for the women placed within their
range of vision.[477] The general behaviour of the audience is more
suggestive of a place of amusement than of a holy temple; chattering
and laughter go on continually, especially among the females; and,
as a popular preacher makes his points, dealing didactically or
reprehensively with topics of the day, the whole congregation is from
time to time agitated with polemical murmurs, shaken with laughter,
or bursts into uproarious applause.[478] Contiguous to each church
is a small building called the Baptistery, for the performance of
the ceremonial entailed on those who wish to be received among the
Christian elect. The practice of the period is to subject the body
to complete immersion in pure water, but separate chambers or times
are set apart for the convenience of the two sexes. Here on certain
occasions nude females of all ages and ranks descend by steps into
the baptismal font, whilst the ecclesiastics coldly pronounce the
formulas of the mystic rite,[479] a triumph of superstition[480] over
concupiscence pretended more often perhaps than real.[481]
The luxury of the rich, especially in the use of the precious metals
and ivory, is in this age maintained at the maximum. Practically
all the furniture in the house of a wealthy man, as far at least
as the visible parts are concerned, is constructed of those costly
materials. Gilding or plates of gold or silver are applied to every
available surface—to tables, chairs, footstools, and bedsteads; even
silver night-urns are essential to the comfort of the fastidious
plutocracy.[482] For banqueting the Byzantines make use of a large
semicircular table,[483] on the convex side of which they recline
at meals, still adhering to the custom of the earlier Greeks and
Romans.[484] By this table is set a ponderous gold vase with goblets of
the same metal for mixing and serving out the wine. Rich carpets are
strewn over the mosaic pavement; and troops of servants, either eunuchs
or of barbarian origin, permeate the mansion.[485] These domestics
are costumed and adorned as expensively as are their masters, and in
the largest establishments are retained to the number of one or two
thousand.[486] Like animals they are bought and sold; and, male and
female alike, are as much the property of their owner as his ordinary
goods and chattels; their life is virtually in his hands, but the
growth of humanity under the Empire, and the tenets of Stoicism,[487]
have considerably ameliorated their condition since the time of the
old Republic.[488] In this, as in every other age, the artificial
forms of politeness, which spring up as the inseparable concomitant
of every aspect of civilization, have developed in social circles; and
the various formalities and affectations of manners and speech familiar
to the modern observer as characteristic of the different grades of
society may be noted among the Constantinopolitans.[489]
The Byzantine wife is in possession of complete liberty of action,
and is entirely the mistress in her own household. She is, as a rule,
devoted to enervating luxury and enjoyments, which she gratifies by
extravagance in dress and jewels, by the use of costly unguents and the
artificial tinting of her countenance,[490] and by daily visits to the
public baths and squares for the purpose of display and gossip.[491]
At home she is often a tyrant to her maidservants, and not infrequently
whips them severely with her own hand.[492] Precisely the reverse of
this picture is the condition of the Byzantine maiden in her father’s
house; before her coverture she is persistently immured in the women’s
apartments, and seldom passes the outer door of the dwelling; never
unless under strict surveillance.[493] In most instances, however, her
state of seclusion is not of long duration; for, at the age of fourteen
or fifteen she is considered to be marriageable.[494] She then becomes
an article of traffic in the hands of the professional match-maker, who
is usually an old woman of low social grade, but remarkable for her
tactful and deceptive aptitudes.[495] By her arts a suitable family
alliance is arranged, but unless by a subterfuge, the proposed husband
is not permitted to behold his future wife.[496]
Once a marriage has been decided on,[497] it is considered fitting that
all the innocence of the ingenuous damsel should be put to flight on
the threshold of the wedded state. In the dusk of the evening the bride
is fetched from her home by a torchlight procession to the sound of
pipes and flutes and orgiastic songs. Although women are not allowed
to attend the theatre, on this occasion the theatre is brought to the
houses of the contracting parties; and the installation of a wife takes
place amid a scene of riot and debauchery, of lewdness and obscenity,
which tears the veil from all the secrets of sexual co-habitation.[498]
Mental culture, even in the mansions of wealthy Byzantines, occupies
a very subordinate place. Everywhere may be seen dice and draughts,
but books are usually conspicuous by their absence. Bibliophiles there
are, however, but they merely cherish costly bindings and beautiful
manuscripts, and seldom take the trouble to study their literary
contents. They only value fine parchments dyed in various tints,
especially purple, and handsomely inscribed with letters of gold or
silver; these they delight to have bound in jewelled covers or in
plates of carved ivory, and to preserve them in cabinets, whence they
are drawn out on occasion in order to afford a proof of the taste and
affluence of the owner.[499]
Popular superstitions are extremely rife at this time in the Orient;
a few examples of such may be here given. In choosing a name for
a child it is the practice to light a number of candles, and to
christen them by various names; the candle which burns longest is
then selected to convey its appellation to the infant as an earnest
of long life.[500] Another custom is to take a baby to one of the
public baths and to sign its forehead with some of the sedimental
mud found there as a charm against the evil eye and all the powers
of enchantment.[501] Amulets are commonly worn, hung about the neck,
and of these, miniature copies of the Gospels are in great favour,
especially for the protection of infants.[502] Should a merchant on his
way to business for the day first meet with a sacred virgin, he curses
his luck and anticipates a bad issue to any pending negotiations; on
the contrary, should the first woman he encounters be a prostitute, he
rejoices in the auspicious omen with which his day has opened.[503] At
funerals the old Roman custom of hiring females to act as mourners,
who keep up a discordant wailing and shed tears copiously at will, is
still maintained.[504] Black clothes are worn as a mark of sorrow for
the dead.[505] Great extravagance is often shown in the erection of
handsome sepulchral monuments.[506]
That the capital of the East, and by inference the whole Empire, is
a hotbed of vice and immorality will impress itself on the mind of
the most superficial reader. The dissoluteness of youth is in fact so
appalling that the most sane of fathers resort to the extreme measure
of expelling their sons from home in a penniless state, with the view
that after a term of trial and hardship they may return as reformed
and chastened members to the family circle.[507] Yet to complete
the picture one other sin against morality must be mentioned, which
travels beyond the belief and almost eludes the conception of any
ordinary mind. The incredible perversion of sexual instinct named
paederasty is still more than ever rife in the principal cities of
the East. Idealized by the Greek philosophers,[508] tolerated by the
later Republic,[509] and almost deified[510] under many of the pagan
emperors,[511] it has withstood the pronouncements of Trajan and
Alexander,[512] the diatribes of the Christian Fathers,[513] and even
the laws of Constantius and Valentinian, by which such delinquents are
condemned to be burnt alive.[514] Preaching at Antioch a century before
this time, the earnest and fearless Chrysostom cannot refrain from
expressing his amazement that that metropolis, in its open addiction
to this vice, does not meet with the biblical fate of Sodom and
Gomorrah.[515] Nor is there any evidence to refute the assumption that
Constantinople at the beginning of the sixth century is in this respect
less impure than the Syrian capital.[516]
The Byzantine coinage, which has been recast by Anastasius, consists
of gold, silver, and copper. The standard gold coin, the _aureus_ or
_solidus_, subdivides the pound[517] of gold into seventy-two equal
parts, and is, therefore, to be valued at nearly twelve English
shillings. Halves and thirds of the _aureus_ are regularly minted for
circulation. There is also a silver _solidus_ which weighs nearly
fifteen times as much as that of gold.[518] Twelfths, twenty-fourths,
and forty-eighths of this coin are issued; they are named the
_milliaresion_, the _siliqua_, and the _half-siliqua_ respectively. In
the copper coinage at the head of the list stands the _follis_, two
hundred and ten of which are contained in the _solidus_.[519] Hence
the _milliaresion_ is not much less in value than a shilling, whilst
the _follis_ represents but little more than a halfpenny. Yet the
_follis_ is divided hypothetically into forty _nummia_, but pieces of
five _nummia_ are the smallest coins in actual use,[520] approximately
quarter-farthings, and less even than continental centimes, etc. The
money of old Byzantium was generally figured with a crescent and
a star, or with a dolphin contorted round a trident,[521] but the
Imperial coinage of Constantinople is stamped on the obverse with the
bust of the reigning emperor,[522] and on the reverse, in the case of
gold or silver pieces, with a figure of Victory bearing a cross and
a crown or some similar device. On the reverse of copper coins, with
accompanying crosses and even crescents, we find a large letter—M,
K, I, or E—indicating that they contain 40, 20, 10, or 5 _nummia_
respectively. As specimens of art the coinage of this epoch appears
degraded to the most uncritical eye.[523]
The population of Constantinople in the sixth century is unknown, but
it may be estimated with some approach to accuracy at considerably over
a million of inhabitants.[524] The suburbs also are extremely populous,
and for many miles around the capital, both in Europe and Asia, are
covered with opulent country villas, farmhouses, and innumerable
habitations of meaner residents.[525] In this district are situated
immense reservoirs for water, and many of the valleys are spanned by
imposing aqueducts raised by a double series of lofty arches to a great
height.[526] At a distance of thirty-two miles westwards from the city
is situated the Long Wall, a stupendous bulwark against the inroads of
barbarians, built by Anastasius in 512. It stretches between the Euxine
and Propontis, a range of nearly fifty miles, and forms also a safe and
facile road for those travelling from sea to sea.[527]
The description of manners given in this chapter, although nominally
applied only to Constantinople, may be received as illustrating at this
date the social features of the whole Roman Empire; or, to speak more
accurately, of the Grecian fragment of that empire which once extended
universally over Latins and Greeks.
Before concluding this sociological exposition of the Graeco-Roman
people during the period I am treating of, a brief reference to their
language may be deemed essential to the integrity of the subject.
Viewed from the philological side the aspect of the Byzantines is
peculiar and, perhaps, unique,[528] since to them may fairly be applied
the epithet of a trilingual nation. By the union of the Roman and
Greek factors of the Empire the Latin tongue, as the official means of
expression, became engrafted on the Eastern provinces;[529] and in the
lapse of centuries a third mode of speech, a popular vernacular,[530]
has been evolved, which often has little affinity with the first two.
Sustained by the solid foundations of laws and literature, Latin
and Greek of a more or less classical cast[531] are the requisite
equipment of every one who aims at civil or military employment in
any governmental department,[532] or who even pretends to recognition
as a person of average culture. In the pride of original supremacy we
may perceive that citizens of Latin lineage despise the feeble Greeks
who forfeited nationality and independence, whilst the latter, pluming
themselves on their inheritance of the harmonious tongue in which are
enshrined all the masterpieces of poetry and philosophy, contemn the
uninspired genius of the Romans, whose efforts to create a literature
never soared above imitation and plagiarism.[533]