Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

court and ceremony 157
distinctions. Senate and consistorium had changed from earlier days: once they
had been institutions where important decisions were made, but now they
had become places where decisions were manifested. The connection
between precedence and emperor was intimate. Indeed, when western dignitaries
arrived at the eastern court to obtain recognition for their emperor
– or, later, king – their ranks were studiously ignored during their initial audience,
since recognizing their precedence meant recognizing their ruler. 110
‘Leva!’ ‘Raise the curtain!’ With these words began the central act of the
most solemn imperial audiences. As the great curtain (velum) rose in the consistorium
to reveal the Roman emperor seated on an elevated throne beneath
a golden baldaquin, the subject prostrated himself on a porphyry marker
and adored him (proskynesis). After a final screening in the antechamber,
each person or group was summoned to the adoration when their names
and ranks had been read aloud (citatio). Precedence governed admission: the
highest-ranking person entered last, and the silentiaries and ushers had to
guard against people entering out of rank and usurping undue precedence.
After adoring the emperor – and, in privileged circumstances, kissing his
feet – each person joined his peers. He stood in the spot fixed for his personal
rank, as determined by his office, his dignities and their seniority, and
watched while the higher ranks repeated the procedure. When all had
entered and adored the emperor in this way, the main ceremonial transactions
began – audiences of ambassadors, reading out of new laws, promotions,
retirements, etc. Afterwards the court was dismissed and exited by
precedence, the highest-ranking individuals first. 111
Eating with the emperor created a bond, and the growing significance of
state banquets in court life can be seen in Justin II’s Chrysotriklinos and
Justinian’s gold tableware depicting his victories. Here, too, the most powerful
men at court were easily identified: they shared the emperor’s couch;
when the emperor sent part of his own meal to the Persian ambassador,
this could only signify perfect concord between the two great powers. 112
The prominence of banquets explains why Justinian could signal the
court’s profound and public mourning at a catastrophic earthquake by cancelling
one. By the time Maurice celebrated his marriage to the late
Tiberius’ daughter, state banquets figured on a par with comedy shows and
circus races as elements of public rejoicing in the capital. 113
When the emperor returned from excursions, the court was convoked
to meet him at various places designated by his wishes and itinerary. Even
if he sailed quietly to the Great Palace, key officials were expected to assemble
to welcome him on the landing. 114 Alternatively, the emperor’s travels
110 Const. Porph. De Cer. i.87–8.
111 Coripp. Iust. iii.191–256; Cyr. Scyth. V. Sabae x, John Lyd. De Mag. ii.9, Const. Porph. De Cer.
i.84–8; Jones, LRE i.528–35. 112 Theoph. AM 6065; Const. Porph. De Cer. i.90–1.
113 McCormick, Eternal Victory 105 n. 109. 114 Const. Porph. De Cer. Append. 497.
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