Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

160 6. emperor and court
other shrines on other great feasts, again exposing the ruler to the populace’s
admiration or wrath, as during Maurice’s procession to Blachernae. 125
Indeed, the emperor himself founded liturgical feasts and processions to
honour the Virgin, who was emerging as the heavenly patron of the eastern
capital. 126 Elaborate hymns, of which the most famous were composed by
Romanos, enhanced these grand ceremonial occasions.
The connection between religion and political ideology became explicit
when the forms of Christian worship were attached to specific events in
the life of the state. The patriarch’s blessing lent religious resonance to
imperial accessions from the fifth century, and interaction between liturgy
and public ritual steadily intensified. 127 Theodosius II interrupted a circus
show and improvised a liturgical procession of thanksgiving when news of
a usurper’s defeat reached the eastern capital. By the reign of Maurice,
purely liturgical forms had emerged to herald the success of Roman arms
against the Persians. 128
The ceremonial patterns which governed the adoration of the emperor
also shaped the court’s public devotions. The convergence of religion, ceremony
and imperial ideology stands out clearly in the cult of the relic of
the True Cross, which had become the simultaneous symbol of the new
religion’s victory over death and of the regenerated empire’s victory over
its enemies. So, when the relic was exposed to the city’s veneration in the
Great Church, Justin II’s court assembled and proceeded in ranks of precedence
to adore the cross, just as they adored the emperor. 129 The court
also stimulated the cult of relics: Pulcheria obtained the supposed remains
of St Stephen Protomartyr from Jerusalem and had them deposited in the
palace church built especially for the purpose, and it has been argued that
one of the exceedingly rare depictions of the imperial court shows precisely
this procession. Leo I arranged for relics of St Symeon Stylites to be
translated to the capital and lent his imperial carriage for the ceremony. 130
v. court and culture
Court patronage helped promote new religious fashions, while its ceremonies
and language prompted imitation within and beyond the empire’s
borders. 131 The court’s influence extended into late Roman élite culture.
The situation was propitious. The court, we have seen, comprised a polyglot
mass of foreigners and Romans from throughout the empire drawn to
the prestigious rewards of imperial service. Like the former hostage
125 Theophyl. Sim. Hist. viii.4.11–5.3; Baldovin (1987).
126 Theoph. AM 6080; cf. Cameron, Averil (1978).
127 Const. Porph. De Cer. i.94; Winkelmann (1978b). 128 McCormick, Eternal Victory 60; 69–70.
129 Gagé (1933); John Eph. HE iii.23.29. 130 Holum and Vikan (1979); V. Dan. Styl. 58.
131 McCormick (1989).
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