Greek and Roman History (320-0-1)

Topic

Byzantium: Emperors and Hooligans

Instructors

Sergey A. Ivanov

Meeting Info

Fisk Hall 114: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This course brings face to face two leading forces of the Byzantine culture: the Emperor and the Saint. The Emperor is the most visible figure of the Byzantine history. We know a lot of personal details about each of the thirty seven individuals who sat on the throne during one thousand one hundred years. Their appearance is also familiar to us, thanks to the Byzantine coins. The Emperor was the only person entitled to wear red boots. In his presence, his subjects and foreign ambassadors alike had to prostrate themselves on the ground. It was forbidden to touch the august flesh. The Emperor was the "animate law", he was an embodiment of absolute power, unconstrained by anything. And yet, the secular authorities in Byzantium always felt themselves a bit "illegitimate": for many сenturies there was no rule of succession, and each emperor was a usurper. Consequently, even the rituals of power emphasized the perishability of any earthly might. Also, there existed a counterbalance to the Emperor's omnipotence, and, in contrast to the West, it was not the Church, but the Saint. Also in contrast to the medieval West, in Byzantium, a holy "person" became a saint not thanks to his or her virtues -- but despite his or her transgressions. The more blatantly did they violate common norms, the stronger was their sacred power. The saint dared to contradict Emperors, to reprove or even condemn them. We can say that Byzantium was an autocratic regime limited by saintly authority of the hooligans.

Class Materials (Required)

N/A

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Distro Area