Chapter IV: Pre-Imperial Career of Theodora: the Consort of Justinian (3)

[224] Codin., pp. 16, 64. There is no systematic description of this church, but the numerous references to it and an examination of ecclesiastical remains of the period show clearly enough what it was; see Texier and Fullan, _op. cit._, p. 134, etc.; Agincourt, _op. cit._, i, pl. iv, xvi; Eusebius, Vit. Const., iv, 46, etc. It may have been founded by Constantine, but was certainly dedicated by his son Constantius in 360; Socrates, ii, 16.

[225] _Ibid._

[226] Procopius, De Aedific., i, 2, etc.

[227] Codin., p. 83; cf. Mordtmann, _op. cit._, p. 4.

[228] We know little of the Magnaura or Great Hall (_magna aula_) at this date, but its existence is certain; Chron. Paschal., an. 532. Codinus says it was built by Constantine (p. 19).

[229] Theophanes, Cont., v, 92, etc.

[230] Const. Porph., ii, 15. The author professes to draw his precepts from the ancients, but his “antiquity” sometimes does not extend backwards for more than half a century.

[231] Codin., pp. 14, 36; Zonaras, xiv, 6, etc. Zeuxippus is either a cognomen of Zeus or of the sun, or the name of a king of Megara; Chron. Paschal., an. 197, etc.; Jn. Lydus, De Magist., iii, 70.

[232] Sozomen, iii, 9.

[233] Anthology (Planudes), v.

[234] Cedrenus, i, p. 648; cf. Anthol. (Plan.), v, 61.

[235] The vast baths of the Empire, as is well known, were evolved into a kind of polytechnic institutes for study and recreation.

[236] Chron. Pasch., an. 450. Artificial lighting was first introduced by Alex. Severus; Hist. August.; Cod. Theod., XV, i, 52; Cod., XI, i, 1, etc.

[237] Cedrenus, i, p. 648.

[238] Codin., p. 83; cf. Mordtmann, _op. cit._, p. 66.

[239] Zosimus, iii, 11. It contained 120,000 volumes, the pride of the library being a copy of Homer inscribed on the intestine of a serpent 120 feet long. The building, however, was gutted by fire in the reign of Zeno; Zonaras, xiv, 2, etc.

[240] Suidas, _sb._ Menandro; Agathias, iii, 1; Procop., De Aedific., i, 11.

[241] Zonaras, xiv, 6; Marcellinus, Com., an. 390, etc.

[242] Socrates, vi, 18; Theophanes, an. 398; Sozomen (viii, 20) says merely an inaugural festival. The pedestal, with a bilingual inscription, was uncovered of late years, precisely where we should expect it to have stood, and yet Paspates (Βυζαντινὰ Ανάκτορα, p. 95) in his map removes it a quarter of a mile southwards to meet his reconstructive views, cf. Mordtmann, _op. cit._, p. 64.

[243] Codin., p. 35.

[244] _Ibid._, p. 19. There is now an Ottoman fountain on the same site. In the case of doubtful identifications, I usually adopt the conclusions of Mordtmann (_op. cit._, p. 64).

[245] _Milliarium Aureum_ (Notitia, Reg. 4). In imitation of that set up by Augustus in the Roman Forum; Tacitus, Hist., i, 27, etc.

[246] Cedrenus, i, p. 564; Codin., pp. 28, 35, 168, etc. Byzantios and Paspates speak of an upper storey supported by seven pillars, on the strength of some remains unearthed in 1848, but the situation does not seem to apply to this monument as at present located; see also Grosvenor (_op. cit._, p. 298) for an illustration of the figures.

[247] Codin., p. 40. Removed to Hippodrome, perhaps, at this date. In any case the scrappy and contradictory records only allow of a tentative restoration of the Milion. Close by was the death-place of Arius, in respect of whom, with Sabellius and other heretics, Theodosius I set up a sculptured tablet devoting the spot to public defilement with excrement, etc. (_ibid._). Such were the manners and fanaticism of the age.

[248] Zosimus, iii, 11.

[249] Gyllius, De Topog. CP., ii, 13.

[250] The method of construction can be seen in the sketch of the ruins (_c. 1350_) brought to light by Panvinius (De Ludis Circens., Verona, 1600) and reproduced by Banduri and Montfaucon. As to whether the intercolumnar spaces were adorned with statues we have no information. The wealth of such works of art at Constantinople would render it extremely likely. Cassiodorus says the statues at Rome were as numerous as the living inhabitants (Var. Ep., xv, 7). We know from existing coins that the Coliseum was so ornamented (see Maffei, Degl’ Amfitheatri, Verona, 1728; Panvinius, _op. cit._, etc.). High up there appears to have been a range of balconies all round (Cod. Theod., XV, i, 45).

[251] They were of wood till 498, when they were burnt, but what time restored in marble is unknown; Chron. Pasch., an. 498; Buondelmonte, Descript. Urb. CP., 1423.

[252] Codin., p. 14, etc. These substructions still exist; Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 303.

[253] Const. Porph., _op. cit._, ii, 20; Nicetas Chon., De Man. Com., iii, 5. Eight, or perhaps twelve, open-barred gates separated the Manganon (more often in the plural, Mangana) from the arena; see the remains in the engraving of Panvinius.

[254] Const. Porph., i, 68, 92, etc.; Agincourt, _op. cit._, ii, pl. 10. The latter gives copies of bas-reliefs in which the Emperor is shown sitting in his place in the Circus (see below). Procopius calls it simply the throne; De Bel. Pers., i, 24; cf. Jn. Malala, p. 320; Chron. Pasch., an. 498. Originally, it appears, merely the seat or throne, but afterwards the whole tribunal or edifice.

[255] Const. Porph., i, 9, 92. It was also called the Pi (Π) from its shape; _ibid._, i, 69.

[256] Named the Cochlea or snail-shell; it seems to have been a favourite gangway for assassinating obnoxious courtiers; Jn. Malala, p. 344; Chron. Pasch., an. 380; Theophanes, an. 5969; Codin., p. 112, etc.

[257] Const. Porph., i, 68; cf. Procop., De Bel. Pers., i, 24.

[258] Const. Porph., i, 63; Codin., p. 100. The Circus, begun by Severus, was finished by Constantine; Codin., pp. 14, 19; see Ducange, _sb. nom._

[259] Euripus (Εὔριπος). I. The narrow strait at Chalcis, said to ebb and flow seven times a day; Strabo, x, 2; Suidas, _sb. v._ II. Tr. Any artificial ornamental pool or channel, partic. if oblong; see refs. in Latin Dicts., esp. Lewis and S. III. A canal round the area of the Roman Circus, to shield the spectators from the attack of infuriated beasts; devised apparently by Tarquinius Priscus; Dionysius Hal., iii, 68; rather by Julius Caesar, and abolished by Nero; Pliny, H. N., viii, 7, etc. IV. Restored by, or in existence under, Elagabalus as a pool in the centre; Hist. Aug., 23; so Cassiodorus, Var. Ep., iii, 51; Jn. Malala, vii, p. 175 (whence Chron. Pasch., Olymp., vii, p. 208; Cedrenus, i, p. 258); Lyons and Barcelona mosaics (see Daremberg and S. Dict. Antiq.). V. The name tr. to whole Spine by Byzantines; Jn. Lydus, De Mens., i, 12, Εὔριπος ὠνομάσθη ἡ μέσον τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου κρηπίς; Const. Porph., _op. cit._, pp. 338, 345; Cedrenus, ii, p. 343, etc. Labarte seems strangely to have missed all but one of the numerous allusions to the Euripus; _op. cit._, p. 53. This note is necessary, as no one seems to have caught the later application of the name.

[260] This monument still exists; see Agincourt, _loc. cit._, for reproduction of the sculptures, etc.

[261] Notitia, Col. Civ. This name was not bestowed on it by Gyllius, as Labarte thinks (p. 50). It remains in position in a dilapidated condition; see Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 320, etc.

[262] Also in evidence at the present day; see Grosvenor’s photographs of the three, pp. 320, 380. It is mentioned by Herodotus (ix, 80); and by Pausanias (x, 13), who says the golden tripod was made away with before his time. Some of the Byzantines, however, seem to aver that Constantine had regained possession of that memorial; Eusebius, Vit. Const., iii, 54; Codin., p. 55; Zosimus, ii, 31, etc. It appears that the defacement of this monument was carried out methodically during a nocturnal incantation under Michael III, _c. 835_. At the dead of night “three strong men,” each armed with a sledge-hammer, stood over it (Ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὸν εὔριπον (see p. 62) τοῦ ἱπποδρομίου χαλκοῖς ἀνδριᾶσιν ἐλέγετό τις εἶναι ἀνδριὰς τρισὶ διαμορφούμενος κεφαλαῖς) prepared to knock off the respective heads on the signal being given by an unfrocked abbot. The hammers fell, two of the heads rolled to the ground, but the third was only partly severed, the lower jaw, of course, remaining; Theoph., Cont., p. 650; Cedrenus, ii, p. 145. On the capture of the city in 1453 the fragment left was demolished by Mahomet II with a stroke of his battle-axe to prove the strength of his arm on what was reputed to be a talisman of the Greeks; Thévenot, Voyage au Levant, etc., 1664, i, 17, “la maschoire d’embas.” So history, as it seems, has given itself the trouble to account for the mutilation of this antique. I must note, however, that neither Buondelmonte, Gyllius, Busbecq, Thévenot, nor Spon, has described the damages it had sustained at the time they are supposed to have contemplated the relic. See also Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 381, whose account is scarcely intelligible and is not based on references to any authorities.

[263] Nicetas Chon., De Signis CP. This figure appears to be delineated in the plate of Panvinius, which, however, is not very reliable, as both the Colossus and the Serpent-pillar are absent from it.

[264] Codin., p. 124. Probably, and supplanted at a later date by one of Irene Attica. This is the literal Euripus.

[265] Theophanes, an. 699. That the Empress sat in this lodge to view the races (Buondelmonte) is beyond all credence, nor is there any authority for placing it to one side among the public seats (Grosvenor’s diagram), where her presence would be equally absurd. Her bust may have appeared in it beside that of her husband. It is clearly indicated in its true place on the engineering sculptures of the Theodosian column (see above).

[266] Nicetas Chon., De Alexio, iii, 4; De Signis; Codin., p. 39. First at Tarentum; Plutarch, in Fabius Max., etc. To the knee it measured the height of an ordinary man.

[267] Nicetas Chon., De Signis; also celebrated by Christodorus, Anthology, _loc. cit._

[268] The eggs in honour of Castor and Pollux; Tertullian, De Spectaculis, 8:

Κάστορά θ’ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα.
Iliad, iii.

The dolphins probably referred to Neptune, to whom the horse was sacred.

[269] See Lyons and Barcelona mosaics as referred to above.

[270] See the coins, etc., in Panvinius, which show that these cones with their stands were about fifteen to twenty feet high. Sometimes they rested on the ends of the Spina, at others on separate foundations three or four feet off it.

[271] Nicetas Chon., De Man. Comn., iii, 5; Codin., pp. 53, 192. They were brought to Venice by the Crusaders in 1204, and now stand before the cathedral of St. Mark; Buondelmonte, _loc. cit._ A much longer pedigree is given by some accounts (Byzantios, _op. cit._, i, p. 234), from Corinth to Rome by Mummius, and thence to CP. by Constantine. They even had a journey to Paris under Napoleon.

[272] Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 351. Some remains of it are still visible.

[273] Codin., p. 54.

[274] Nicetas Chon., _loc. cit._

[275] _Ibid._, Codin., p. 54.

[276] _Ibid._, p. 31.

[277] Nicetas Chon., De Signis: Καλοῦμαι Νίκων καὶ ὁ ὅνος Νίκανδρος, κ.τ.λ. Cf. Plutarch, Antony.

[278] _Ibid._

[279] _Ibid._

[280] Codin., p. 53.

[281] Jerome, Chronicon, an. 325. CP. “dedicatur pene omnium urbium nuditate.” This Saint, however, is somewhat given to hyperbole.

[282] See the various illustrations in Panvinius.

[283] We hear nothing of _vomitoria_, approaches beneath the seats to the various positions, nor do we know how the large space under the incline of benches was occupied. At Rome, in the Circus Maximus, there were “dark archways” in this situation, which were let out to brothel-keepers; Hist. August. _sb._ Heliogabalo, 26, etc. In the time of Valens, however, a record office was established here; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., iii, 19.

[284] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 24.

[285] Ducange, _op. cit._, i, p. 104; a collection of instances.

[286] Const. Porph., _loc. cit._ At Rome such awnings were decorated to resemble the sky with stars, etc.

[287] Codin., pp. 20, 22; part previously by Severus; Zosimus, ii, 30.

[288] Codin., p. 39.

[289] _Ibid._, p. 37.

[290] Cedrenus, p. 564.

[291] _Ibid._, p. 616; Zonaras, xiv, 2.

[292] Resembling, if not the prototype of, the Venus dei Medici; see Lucian, Amores.

[293] See Pausanias, v, 12.

[294] Cedrenus, _loc. cit._

[295] Theophanes, an. 6024.

[296] Zosimus, ii, 30; Codin., p. 41. Said to have been designed to the size and shape of Constantine’s tent, which was pitched here when he took Byzantium from Licinius.

[297] _Ibid._; Jn. Malala, p. 320; Zonaras, xiii, 3, etc. Really a statue of Apollo taken from Heliopolis in Phrygia and refurbished.

[298] _Ibid._; Cedrenus, i, p. 565. The blending of Paganism and Christianity is an interesting phase in the evolution of Constantine’s theology. The crosses of the two thieves were also reputed to have been stowed here till removed to a safer place by Theodosius I; also a part of the true cross; Socrates, i, 17; Codin., p. 30. Curiously enough, this Forum has been confounded with the Augusteum both by Labarte and Paspates, a mistake almost incredible in the latter, a resident, considering that the pillar of Constantine still exists in a scarred and mutilated condition; hence known as the “Burnt Pillar,” and called by the Turks “Djemberli Tash,” or Hooped Stone; see Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 374, etc.

[299] Jn. Malala, _loc. cit._; Codin., pp. 44, 180.

[300] _Ibid._, pp. 28, 68; Cedrenus, ii, p. 564.

[301] Notitia, Reg. 6; Cedrenus, i, p. 565. It had been burnt down previous to this date, but seems to have been restored.

[302] Codin., p. 48.

[303] Notitia, Reg. 5; Gyllius, De Top. CP., iii, 1.

[304] Socrates, i, 16.

[305] Codin., p. 48.

[306] Jn. Malala, p. 292.

[307] Codin., p. 76.

[308] Codin., pp. 41, 170. It fell into decay and was, perhaps, removed before this date; cf. Mordtmann, p. 69; one of the Gorgons was dug up in 1870.

[309] Codin., p. 40.

[310] See Mordtmann, _op. cit._, p. 69, and Map.

[311] Evidenced by the discovery of a swarm of leaden _bullae_, or seals for official documents, about 1877; _ibid._, p. 70. But in the sixth century the legal records from the time of Valens were kept in the basement of the Hippodrome; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., iii, 19.

[312] Cod. Theod., XIV, ix, 3, with Godfrey’s commentary. The Turkish Seraskierat has taken the place of Taurus.

[313] Cedrenus, i, p. 566; Codin., p. 42, etc. The chronographists think it particularly necessary to mention that this pillar was pervious by means of a winding stair. In a later age, when the inscriptions on the base became illegible, they were supposed to be prophecies of the future conquest of Constantinople by the Russians.

[314] Marcell., Com., an. 480, 506; Zonaras, xiv, 4.

[315] Déthier, _op. cit._, p. 14; he discovered a few letters of the epigram (Anthology, Plan., iv, 4) on a fragment of an arch; cf. Cedrenus, i, p. 566.

[316] The favourite Byzantine appellation for Joshua the son of Nun.

[317] _Ibid._; Nicetas Chon., De Signis, 4.

[318] Codin., p. 42.

[319] _Ibid._, p. 124.

[320] _Ibid._, pp. 42, 74; see Anthology (Plan.), iv, 22, for two epigrams which give some idea of the scope of these _Xenodochia_.

[321] Notitia, Reg. 10.

[322] Cedrenus, i, p. 610; Zonaras, xiv, 1; sufficiently corroborated by Cod., VIII, xii, 21, and not a mere assumption arising out of the similarity of νυμφαῖον to νύμφη, a bride, as argued by some commentators. Fountains were sacred to the Nymphs; see Ducange, CP. Christ, _sb. voc._

[323] See the title _De Aqueductu_ in both Codes and Godfrey’s commentary.

[324] This aqueduct seems to have been built originally by Hadrian, restored by Valens, who used for the purpose the walls of Chalcedon as a punishment for that town having taken the part of the usurper Procopius, and again restored by Theodosius I. Hence it is denoted by the names of each of these emperors at different times; Socrates, iv, 8; Zonaras, xiii, 16; and the Codes, _loc. cit._

[325] Chrysoloras, _loc. cit._, etc.

[326] Codin., p. 14.

[327] _Ibid._, p. 21; Byzantios, _op. cit._, i, p. 262. Still existing in a dry state, and occupied by silk weavers. Most probably the name arises from its having been founded by a patrician Philoxenus; the Turks call it _Bin ber derek_, meaning 1,001 columns; see Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 366.

[328] Cod., XI, xlii, 7: “It would be execrable,” remarks Theodosius II, “if the houses of this benign city had to pay for their water.” By a constitution of Zeno every new patrician was to pay 100 lb. of gold towards the maintenance of the aqueducts; Cod., XLI, iii, 3.

[329] Codin., p. 9.

[330] Forty of these at Rome; Notitia (Romae), Col. Civ.

[331] Codin., p. 50; cf. Cedrenus, ii, p. 107. “Hypnotic suggestion” might account for some displays of this kind, and create a popular belief in the test, which in most instances, however, would be more likely to prove a convenient method of varnishing a sullied reputation. Near the Neorium was a shelter called the Cornuted Porch, in which St. Andrew, the apostle assigned by tradition to these regions, was supposed to have taught. It took its name from a four-horned statue in the vicinity, which had the credit of evincing its disapproval of an incontinent wife by turning three times round on its pedestal if such a one were brought into its presence; Codin., p. 119.

[332] Cedrenus (i, p. 565) attributes it to Theodosius I, Codinus (p. 108) to Leo Isaurus; Nicetas Chon. (De Signis) laments its destruction without mentioning the founder.

[333] Legendary apparently. They really met in Pannonia; Julian, Orat.

[334] Codin., pp. 43, 44, 182, 188. The Philadelphium was considered to be the μεσόμφαλος or middle of the city. The numerous crosses set up by Constantine are supposed to refer to the cross which he is said to have seen in the sky near Rome before his victory over Maxentius—a fiction, or an afterthought, but whose?

[335] Codin., pp. 45, 65.

[336] Cedrenus, i, p. 566.

[337] _Ibid._; Anna Comn., xii, 6.

[338] Codin., p. 45. Unless the course of the brook has altered, the Amastrianum should be more to the south or west than shown on Mordtmann’s map.

[339] Codin., pp. 45, 172; forming some kind of boundary or inclosure perhaps.

[340] Cedrenus, i, p. 566.

[341] _Ibid._; Codin., pp. 44, 173.

[342] Theophanes, an. 5895, etc.; cf. Chron. Paschal., an. 421.

[343] Cedrenus, i, p. 567.

[344] Zonaras, xiii, 20; the base still remains in _Avret Bazaar_; the pillar was still intact in the time of Gyllius, who ascended it; _op. cit._, iv, 7. The sketches supposed to have been taken of the figures on the spiral and published by Banduri and Agincourt have already been alluded to; see p. 49.

[345] Notitia, Reg. 12, etc.

[346] Buondelmonte’s map; a “very handsome gate”; Codin., p. 122. I have noted Van Millingen’s opinion that this was not the original “Golden Gate”; see p. 34. But its mention in Notitia, Reg. 12, seems fatal to his view.

[347] Codin., p. 46.

[348] _Ibid._, pp. 102, 121; see Paspates for an illustration of the structure still on this site; Βυζαντιναὶ Μελεταί, p. 343.

[349] Codin., p. 72; the Arians, chiefly Goths, were hence called Exokionites; Jn. Malala, p. 325; Chron. Pasch., an. 485.

[350] Codinus, p. 47.

[351] _Ibid._

[352] Gregory Nazianz., De Somn. Anast., ix.

[353] Eusebius, Vit. Constant., iv, 58, _et seq._; a later hand has evidently embellished this description.

[354] Const. Porph., De Cer. Aul. Byz., ii, 43; Codin., p. 203.

[355] Corp. Inscript. Lat., Berlin, 1873, no. 738; still existing and called by the Turks the “Girls’ Pillar,” from two angels bearing up a shield figured on the pedestal; see Grosvenor, _op. cit._, p. 385; there is an engraving of it in Miss Pardoe’s “Bosphorus,” etc. The “girls” are utilized by Texier and P. in their frontispiece.

[356] Notitia, Reg. 13; Procopius, De Bel. Pers., ii, 23, etc. Perhaps not walled till later; Jn. Malala, xiii, p. 430.

[357] Suetonius, in Augusto, 30.

[358] Notitia, Reg. 1, with Pancirolus’s notes; Pand., I, xv; cf. Gallus by Becker-Göll, Sc. i, note 1.

[359] Ammianus, xiv, 1, with note by Valesius.

[360] Cod. Theod., XIV, xvii; Suidas _sb._ Παλατῖνοι; we do not know the exact form of these _Gradus_, but only that they were high, the design being doubtless such as would prevent a crush. This state-feeding of the people was begun at Rome by Julius Caesar, and of course imitated by Constantine; Socrates, ii, 13, etc. The tickets were checked by a brass plate for each person fixed at the Step; Cod. Theod., XIV, xvii, 5.

[361] Cod. Theod., IV, v, 7; always with Godfrey’s commentary; Eunapius, Vit. Aedesii.

[362] Notitia, Urb. CP., _passim_.

[363] See Cod., I, iii, 32, 35, 42, 46, etc. Cf. Schlumberger’s work on the Byzantine _bullae_.

[364] Cod. Theod., XIII, iii, 8; Cod., X, lii, 9.

[365] Codin., p. 22; cf. Pandect., XLIII, xxiii, 1. It appears probable that neither middens nor cesspools existed within the walls.

[366] See Minucius, Octavius, 10.

[367] Paspates, Βυζαντιναὶ Μελεταί, p. 381, etc. There were, perhaps, over one hundred churches and monasteries in Constantinople at this time, but the Notitia, a century earlier, reckons only fourteen churches; see Ducange’s list.

[368] Western scholars since the Renaissance have fallen into the habit of applying the diminutive _Graeculi_ to the Byzantines, thereby distinguishing them from the _Graeci_, their pre-eminent ancestors, who established the fame of the Dorians and Ionians. The Romans, after their conquest of the country, began to apply it to all Greeks. Cicero, De Orat., i, 22, etc.

[369] Suidas, _sb. nom._; Tertullian, Apologia, 39; Athenaeus, xiii, 25. There was, however, a minor school of philosophy at Megara.

[370] Aristotle, Politica, iv, 4. As late as the sixteenth century the housewives residing next the water habitually took the fish by simple devices, which are described by Gyllius; De Top. CP. Praef.

[371] See the statements by Theopompus, Phylarchus, etc., in Müller, Fragm. Hist. Graec., i, pp. 287, 336; ii, p. 154; iv, p. 377. Having obtained an ascendancy over the frugal and industrious Chalcedonians they are said to have corrupted them by their vices; cf. Müller’s Dorians, ii, pp. 177, 418, etc.

[372] Sextus Empir., Adversus Rhetor., 39. A demagogue, being asked what laws were in force, replied, “Anything I like”—a frivolous or a pregnant answer?

[373] Aristotle in the doubtful Economica (ii, 4) describes some of their makeshifts to maintain the exchequer. According to Cicero (De Prov. Consular.) the city was full of art treasures, an evidence, perhaps, of wasteful extravagance.

[374] See p. 17. His daily grant of 80,000 measures of wheat, together with the other allowances, to those who were served at the Steps, would seem to indicate as many families, but there is no doubt that the distribution was at first indiscriminate, and many were supplied who could afford to keep up considerable establishments. Constantius reduced the amount by one half; Socrates, ii, 13; Sozomen, iii, 7. Heraclius abolished the free doles altogether; Chron. Paschal., an. 618.

[375] “Matronae nostrae, ne adulteris quidem plus sui in cubiculo, quam in publico ostendant”; see Seneca, De Beneficiis, vii, 9; cf. Horace, Sat., I, ii, 102:

Cois tibi paene videre est
Ut nudam, etc.

[376] By a law of Honorius the Romans were forbidden to wear long hair (in 416), or garments of fur (in 397), such being characteristic of the Goths who were then devastating Italy; Cod. Theod., XIV, x, 4, 3, 2.

[377] See the lowest bas-reliefs on the Theodosian obelisk (Banduri, ii, p. 499; Agincourt, ii, pi. x); Cod. Theod., XIV, x, 1; Hefner-Altenek, Trachten des Mittelalters, pl. 91, 92.

[378] Chrysostom, the pulpit declaimer against the abuses of his time, was so enraged at seeing the young men delicately picking their steps for fear of spoiling their fine shoes that he exclaims: “If you cannot bear to use them for their proper purpose, why not hang them about your neck or stick them on your head!”; In Matt. Hom. xlix, 4 (in Migne, vii, 501).

[379] “You bore the lobes of your ears,” says Chrysostom, “and fasten in them enough gold to feed ten thousand poor persons”; In Matt. Hom. lxxxix, 4 (in Migne, vii, 786); cf. Sozomen, viii, 23.

[380] Chrysostom, In Ps. xlviii, 3 (in Migne, v, 515); Sozomen, _loc. cit._, etc. Women’s girdles were worn under the breasts.

[381] See Bingham’s Christian Antiquities, vii, 1, and Racinet, Costume historique, iii, pl. 21. Read Lucian’s Cynicus for a defence of a somewhat similar life on a different plane.

[382] Chrysostom, In Epist. Tim. II, viii, 2 (in Migne, xi, 541). Even these he rates for coquetry; cf. Bingham, _op. cit._, vii, 4, etc. See also Viollet-le-Duc (Dict. du mobil. fr., i, pl. 1) for a coloured figure which, though of the thirteenth century, corresponds very closely with Chrysostom’s description. Formal costume, however, of the present day, political, legal, ecclesiastical, is for the most part merely a survival of the ordinary dress of past ages.

[383] Basil Presbyt. ad Gregor. Naz., Steliteut. Const. Porph., _op. cit._, ii, 52, p. 753, with Reiske’s notes, p. 460.

[384] Cod. Theod., XV, vii, 11, 12; Cod., I, iv, 4(5); actresses (_mimae_ = _meretrices_, no doubt) are forbidden to use this and other styles of dress which might bring women of repute into ridicule.

[385] Cod. Theod., XIV, xii; Chrysostom, De Perf. Carit., 6 (in Migne, vi, 286).

[386] Chrysostom, _loc. cit._ (in Migne, v, 515).

[387] A _quadriga_.

[388] Chrysostom, In Epist. ad Cor. Hom. xi, 5 (in Migne, x, 353). “Do not be afraid,” says the Saint, “you are not among wild beasts; no one will bite you. You do not mind the contact of your horse, but a man must be driven a thousand miles away from you.”

[389] Cod. Theod., XV, xiii, and Godefroy _ad loc._

[390] Chrysostom, In Epist. I ad Thess., v, Hom. xi, 2 (in Migne, xi, 465).

[391] The laws and restrictions relating to the use of purple and the collection of the _murex_, which was allowed only to certain families or guilds, are contained in Cod. Theod., X, xx, xxi; Cod., XI, viii, ix. Julius Caesar first assumed a full purple toga (Cicero, Philip, ii, 34, probably from); Nero first made a sweeping enactment against the use of the colour (Suetonius, in Nero, 32; cf. Julius, 43). Women, however, were generally permitted some latitude and not obliged to banish it altogether from their dress.

[392] The globe as a symbol of the universal sway of Rome came into use at or about the end of the Republic. It was not merely ideographic, but was sometimes exhibited in bulk, and hollow globes have been found with three chambers in which are contained samples of earth from the three continents; see Sabatier, Mon. Byzant., Paris, 1862, p. 33. The cross came in under the Christian emperors, and is said to be first seen on a small coin of Jovian (363); _ibid._

[393] Cod., XII, iii, 5; Inst. i, 12. “Imperatoris autem celsitudinem non valere eum quem sibi patrem elegerit,” etc. This new order of patricians seems to have been instituted by Constantine, their title being coined directly from _pater_; Zosimus, ii, 40; cf. Cedrenus, i, p. 573. They were not lineally connected with the patrician caste of ancient Rome (see Reiske, _ad_ Const. Porph., _sb. voc._), but were turned out of the Imperial workshop as peers are created by an English premier; see Leo Gram., p. 301.

[394] These crowns have given rise to much discussion, for a clue to which see Ludewig, _op. cit._, p. 658. Probably most emperors designed a new crown.

[395] Some of the large coloured stones worn by the ancients were not very valuable according to modern ideas, _i.e._, cairngorms, topazes, agates, etc.; see Pliny, H. N., xxxvii.

[396] Ἡ πατρικία ζωστὴ: Codin., pp. 108, 125; cf. Reiske, _op. cit._, _sb. voc._

[397] It would be tedious, if not impossible, to put into words the details of these costumes. They are represented in the great mosaics of S. Vitale at Ravenna, dating from the sixth century. They have been beautifully restored in colour by Heffner-Altenek, _op. cit._—too well perhaps. There are also full-sized paper casts at South Kensington. There are many engravings of the same, but in all of them the details have been partly omitted, partly misrepresented. The device on the tables of the Emperor’s robe consists of green ducks (!) in red circles; that on the Empress’s skirt of _magi_ in short tunics and Phrygian caps, bearing presents. The men’s shoes, or rather slippers, are fitted with toe and heel pieces only, and are held on by latchets. The ladies’ shoes are red, and have nearly the modern shape, but are not laced at the division. Their gowns and shawls are of all colours, and much resemble diagonal printed calico, but in such cases it is the richness of the fabric which tells. The materials for illustrating the costume of this period are very scanty; we have neither the countless sculptures, wall-paintings, fictile vases, etc., of earlier times, nor the wealth of illuminated MSS., which teach so much objectively respecting the later Middle Ages.

[398] The _Curopalates_ at this date probably, a place not beneath the first prince of the blood.

[399] The Byzantine logothetes are first mentioned by Procopius, De Bel. Goth., iii, 1, etc. At this date they were the Imperial accountants.

[400] Procopius, Anecd. 30. Hence it appears that the abject prostration introduced by Diocletian was abandoned by his successors; see p. 52.

[401] Magister Scriniorum; Notitia, Or., xvii.

[402] Cod., I, xxiii, 6; a law of Leo Macella in 470.

[403] Cryptograms to modern readers if we are to follow the perplexities of Pancirolus and Böcking, who, misled by the nonsense of Cedrenus as to CONOB (i, p. 563), cannot realize the obvious as it lies before their eyes. Godefroy expanded the legends to their full complement with no difficulty; that of the Spectabiles is FeLiciter INTer ALLectos COMites ORDinis PRimi; Cod. Theod., VI, xiii; cf. Böcking’s Notitia, F. ii, pp. 283, 515, 528.

[404] As the illustrations of the Notitia are not accompanied by any explanation, considerable uncertainty prevails in respect of their point and intention; it appears almost incontestable, however, that the coloured figures were depicted in the codicils as they are seen in the MSS. of the work; otherwise only verbal descriptions of the insignia would be given; cf. Novel xxv, _et seq._; Const. Porph., ii, 52.

[405] Cod. Theod., VI, xxii; a title omitted from the Code.

[406] _Principes Officii_ and _Cornicularii_; Notitia, _passim_; Cod., XII, liii, etc.

[407] Const. Porph., ii, 1, 2; cf. Valesius ad Ammianum, xxii, 7. These early visitations were habitual in the Roman republic, as when the whole Senate waited on the newly-elected consuls on the Calends of January; Dion Cass., lviii, 5, etc.; and especially in the regular matutinal calls of clients on their patrons _re_ the _sportula_; cf. Sidonius Ap. Epist., i, 2. His description of the routine of a court _c. 450_ corresponds closely with the above. It must have been copied from Rome.

[408] Chrysostom, De Perf. Carit., 6 (in Migne, vi, 286); Theophanes, an. 6094, 6291, etc.; cf. Suetonius, in Nero, 25, etc.; Ducange, _sb. eq. alb._

[409] These state carriages, open and closed, painted in gaudy colours, with gilded pilasters, mouldings, and various figures in relief, resembled certain vehicles used in the last century and some circus cars of the present day; see Banduri, ii, pl. 4, _sup. cit._; the work of Panvinius on Triumphs, etc.

[410] Const. Porph., i, 1, and Append., p. 498, with Reiske’s Notes; Dion Cass., lxiii, 4; lxxiv, 1, etc.

[411] Theophanes, an. 6019, 6050, etc.; Menologium Graec., i, p. 67; Cedrenus, i, p. 599; ii, p. 536.

[412] Theophanes, an. 6030, 6042, etc.

[413] See Reiske _ad_ Const. Porph., p. 434, _et seq._

[414] See Zosimus, ii, 39; Alemannus ad Procop., iii, p. 390; Ducange, _sb. voc._

[415] See Godfrey’s Notitia Dignitatum, _ad calc._ Cod. Theod.; Selden’s Titles of Honour, p. 886; the epilogues to the Novels, etc. Minor dignities, entitled _Perfectissimi_, _Egregii_, are also mentioned, but are obsolete at this date; _Superillustres_ were not unknown; see Ducange, _sb. voc._

[416] Const. Porph., i, 68; see Labarte, _op. cit._, pp. 16, 140, etc.

[417] Const. Porph., i, 92, with Reiske’s Notes.

[418] Const. Porph., i, 68, _et seq._ This open-air hymn-singing was an early feature in Byzantine life; Socrates, vii, 23; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., iii, 76. Later, at least, each Deme used an organ as well; Const. Porph., _loc. cit._

[419] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 25.

[420] _Ibid._, 24.

[421] Doubtless according to Cod. Theod., XIV, ii; Cod., XI, xiv-xvii. These Corporations had certain privileges and immunities, such as exemption from military conscription, but they were bound to defend the walls on occasion; Novel, Theod. (Valent. I), xl. Naturally, therefore, after the earthquake of 447 they were sent by Theod. II to rebuild the walls (see p. 22), and also in other emergencies they were sent to guard the Long Walls; Theophanes, an. 6051, 6076. Of course, in view of such appointed work, they had some military training. Building of forts was a regular part of a soldier’s duties; Cod. Theod., XV, i, 13, and Godfrey, _ad loc._ The Demes were probably a later expression of the parties in the old Greek democracies, who associated themselves with the colours of the Roman Circus, when imported into the East, as the most effective outlet for their political feelings.

[422] These four colours, which date from the first century of the Empire, are supposed to represent the seasons of the year (Tertullian, De Spectaculis, 9); or the different hues of the sea and land (blue and green); see Chron. Pasch., Olymp., vii, p. 205; Alemannus, _ad_ Procop., p. 372; Banduri, _op. cit._, ii, p. 376, etc. Originally there were but two divisions. The leading and subsidiary colours are said to distinguish urban from suburban members of the factions; cf. Jn. Lydus, De Mens., iv, 25.

[423] Const. Porph., i, 6, with Reiske’s Notes.

[424] Procopius, _loc. cit._, ii, 11.

[425] Jn. Malala, xiv, p. 351.

[426] _Ibid._, xvii, p. 416; cf. Procopius, De Bel. Pers., ii, 11.

[427] Chrysostom, De Anna, iv, 1 (in Migne, iv, 660); an almost identical passage; Gregory Naz., Laus Basil., 15.

[428] The Decennalia represented the ten years for which Augustus originally “accepted” the supreme power; the Quinquennalia are said to have been instituted by Nero, but may have become obsolete at this date; see the Classical Dicts. There were also Tricennalia.

[429] Novel cv; Const. Porph., _loc. cit._, Codin., p. 17; Procop., De Bel. Vand., ii, 9, etc.

[430] Cod. Theod., VI, iv, 5, 26, etc. By a law of 384, eight praetors were appointed to spend between them 3,150 lb. of silver, equal to about £10,000 at that date, a credible sum; but the common belief that three annual praetors used to be enjoined to disburse more than a quarter of a million sterling in games is, I make no doubt, rank nonsense. Large amounts were, no doubt, expended by some praetors (Maximus, _c. 400-420_, _for his sons’_ 4,000 lb. of gold, over £150,000, yet, only half the sum; Olympiodorus, p. 470), but these were intended to be great historic occasions, and are recorded as such, bearing doubtless the same relation to routine celebrations as the late Queen’s Jubilees did to the Lord Mayor’s shows, on which a few thousands are annually squandered. Maximus was then bidding for the purple, in which he was afterwards buried. The question turns on the enigma of the word _follis_, which in some positions has never been solved. But Cod. Theod., XII, i, 159, makes it as clear as daylight that 25,000 _folles_ in _ibid._, VI, iv, 5, means just about fifty guineas of our money (he had also to scatter £125 in silver as largess), a sum exactly suited to _ibid._, VII, xx, 3, by which the same amount is granted to a superannuated soldier to stock a little farm. The first law publishes the munificence of the Emperor in presenting the sum of 600 _solidi_ (£335) to the people of Antioch that they may not run short of cash for, and so be depressed at the time of, the public games. And so the colossal sum doubted by Gibbon, accepted by Milman, advocated by Smith, and asserted by Bury may be dissipated like a puff of smoke in the wind. The office of _praetor ludorum_ seems to have been falling into abeyance at this time.

[431] Jn. Lydus, De Mens., i, 12. Twenty-four races were the full number, but they were gradually reduced to eight; Const. Porph., i, 68, p. 307.

[432] Anastasius put a stop to this part of the performance—for the time; Procop. Gaz. Panegyr., 15, etc.

[433] H. A. Charisius, 19, etc. A favourite exhibition was that of a man balancing on his forehead a pole up which two urchins ran and postured at the top; Chrysostom, Ad Pop. Ant., xix, 4 (De Stat.; in Migne, ii, 195). Luitprand (Legatio, etc.) six centuries later was entertained with the same spectacle, an instance of the changeless nature of these times over long periods.

[434] Novel cv; Socrates, vii, 22; Cod. Theod., XV, xi, etc.

[435] Aulus Gell., iii, 10, etc.

[436] Sueton., Nero, 22; Novel cv, 1, etc.

[437] Chrysostom, In Illud, Vidi Dominum, etc. (in Migne, vi, 113); Ad Pop. Ant., xv, 4 (in Migne, ii, 158); In Illud, Pater Meus, etc., Hom. ix, 1 (in Migne, xii, 512); a particular instance of a youth killed in the chariot race the day before his intended wedding.

[438] Chrysostom, In Illud, Vidi Dominum, etc., Hom. iii, 2 (in Migne, vi, 113); In Genes. Hom. v, 6 (in Migne, iv, 54).

[439] Const. Porph., _op. cit._, i, 69; Theophanes, an. 5969, etc. The winners usually received about two or three pounds in money, also a laurel crown and a cloak of a peculiar pattern (Pellenian, perhaps; Strabo, VIII, vii, 5); Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. liv, 6 (in Migne, vii, 539); but under some of the insensate emperors immense prizes, small fortunes in fact, were often given; see Reiske’s Notes, _ad op. cit._, p. 325. I have not met in Byzantine history with any allusion to the seven circuits of the races (except Jn. Lydus, De Mens., i, 12), the eggs or the dolphins; these are assumed from the Latin writers of old Rome and from the sculptured marbles. It appears from Cod. Theod. (XV, ix, etc.), that the successful horses, when past their prime, were carefully nurtured through their old age by the state. The choicest breeds of these animals came from Spain and Cappadocia; Claudian, De Equis Hon., etc. All the technical details of the Roman Circus will be found in the Dicts. of Clas. Antiqs., especially Daremberg and Saglio’s; see also Rambaud, De Byzant. Hip., Paris, 1870.

[440] Of epilepsy (Evagrius, etc.). This is not a fatal disease, and hence a fiction arose that he had been buried alive in a fit. A sentry on guard at the sepulchre heard moanings for two days, and at length a voice, “Have pity, and let me out!” “But there is another emperor.” “Never mind; take me to a monastery.” His wife, however, would not disturb the _status quo_; but ultimately an inspection was made, when he was found to have eaten his arms and boots; Cedrenus, Zonaras, Glycas, etc.

[441] Theoph., an. 5983; Cedrenus, i, p. 626, etc. He was a Manichaean according to Evagrius, iii, 32; cf. Theoph., an. 5999.

[442] Julian seems to have been the first Roman emperor who was hoisted on a buckler and crowned with a necklet; Ammianus, xx, 4. By Jn. Lydus, however, the use of the collar instead of a diadem would appear to be a vestige of some archaic custom traceable back to Augustus or, perhaps, even to the times of Manlius Torquatus; De Magistr., ii, 3. The Germans originated the custom of elevating a new ruler on a shield; Tacitus, Hist., iv, 15.

[443] See the full details of this election and coronation in Const. Porph., _op. cit._, i, 92. It is to be noted that twelve chapters of this work (i, 84-95) are extracted bodily from Petrus Magister, a writer of the sixth century.

[444] Jn. Malala, xvi, p. 394; Chron. Pasch., an. 498.

[445] Sc., “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, pity us!” said to have been the song of the angels as heard by a boy who was drawn up to heaven and let down again in the reign of the younger Theodosius; Menologion Graec., i, p. 67, etc.

[446] Evagrius, iii, 32; Jn. Malala, xvi, p. 407; Theoph., an. 6005, etc. The date is uncertain; as recounted by some of the chronographists only 518 would suit the incident. As soon as the government felt again on a stable footing numerous executions were decreed.

[447] In 425 theatres and other amusements were forbidden on Sundays; Cod. Theod., XV, v, 5. In the time of Chrysostom people coming out of church were liable to encounter bands of roisterers leaving the theatre.

[448] Procopius, Anecdot., ix; Chrysostom, In Coloss., iii, Hom. ix (in Migne, xi, 362), “Satanical Songs” is his favourite expression; also “diabolical display”; In Act. Apost. Hom. xlii, 4 (in Migne, ix, 301); “naked limbs” of actresses; In Epist. I Thess., iv, Hom. v, 4 (in Migne, xi, 428); cf. Ammianus, xiv, 6; Lucian, De Saltatione.

[449] By a sumptuary law, however, the most precious gems and the richest fabrics were forbidden to the stage (Cod. Theod., XV, vii, 11); but the restriction seems to have been relaxed, as this law has been omitted from the Code. The intention was to prevent mummers from bringing into disrepute the adornments of the higher social sphere.

[450] Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. vii, 5 (in Migne, vii, 79); cf. Cod., V, xxii, 9. A trick, doubtless, to evade the law, which forbade absolute nakedness on the stage; Procop., Anecdot., ix.

[451] Cod. Theod., XV, vii, 12, etc.

[452] _Ibid._, 5.

[453] _Ibid._, 6; Cod., XI, xl, 3.

[454] Cod. Theod., XV, vi, 8, etc.

[455] The immorality of the stage is the constant theme of Chrysostom. The fact that he draws no ethical illustrations from the drama seems to prove that no plays were exhibited in which virtue and vice were represented as receiving their due award. Fornication and adultery were the staple allurements of the stage; Act. Apost. Hom. xlii, 3 (in Migne, ix, 301). From the culminating scene of “The Ass” in the versions both of Apuleius and of Lucian it would seem that practical acts of fornication were possible incidents in public performances. It must be remembered, however, that women did not frequent the Greek or, at least, the Byzantine theatre. Sathas labours vainly to prove the existence of a legitimate Byzantine drama; Ἱστορ. δοκ. περὶ τ. θεάτρ. καὶ τ. μουσικ. τ. Βυζαντίων, Ven., 1878; cf. Krumbacher, Byzant. Literaturgesch., Munich, 1897, p. 644, _et seq._

[456] Haenel, Cod. Theod., IV, vi, 3; Cod., V, xxvii, 1. By the first draft, due to Constantine, the prohibition might apply to any poor but virtuous girl. This defect was remedied by Pulcheria; Nov. Mart. iv. Here we may discern a result of Athenais, the dowerless but well educated Athenian girl being chosen (by Pulcheria) for her brother’s consort; or, perhaps, of her own union with Martian, at first a private soldier.

[457] Called _trabea_ or _toga palmata_; Claudian, Cons. Olyb. et Prob., 178; Cassiodorus, Var. Ep., vi, 1.

[458] _Ibid._

[459] Ammianus, xxii, 7. Julian, when at CP., in his enthusiasm for democratic institutions, followed the consul on foot, but, forgetting himself, he performed the act of emancipation, an inadvertence for which he at once fined himself 10 lb. of gold (£400).

[460] Procopius, De Bel. Pers., i, 25; Jn. Lydus, De Magistr., ii, 8, etc.

[461] Even under the barbarian kings in Italy, Odovacar the Herule and Theodoric the Goth, a consul was appointed annually at Rome in accordance with the arrangement made when Constantine decreed that the metropolitan honours should be divided between the old and the new capital.

[462] Nov. cv, 1, where they are enumerated. The regular cost of the display was 2,000 lb. of gold (£80,000), which, with the exception of a small amount by the consul himself, came from the Imperial treasury; Procopius, Anecdot., 26; cf. Jn. Lydus, _loc. cit._ Hence it appears that even the consulship need not be held by a millionaire; see p. 100.

[463] Cod. Theod., XV, v, 2. No lower dignitary was allowed to distribute anything more precious than silver.

[464] Cod. Theod., VIII, xi; Cod., XII, lxiv.

[465] Cod. Theod., XV, ix. Numbers of these diptychs are still preserved. There is a specimen at South Kensington of those of Anastasius Sabinianus, Com. Domest., who was consul in 518. Each plate was usually about twelve by six inches, and they were hinged so as to close up together. The designs on each face were practically duplicates. Generally as to the position of consuls at this time see Godefroy ad Cod. Theod., VI, vi, and the numerous cross references he has supplied.

[466] Constantine instituted a regular observance of Sunday as the Dominica or Lord’s Day in 321; Cod. Theod., III, viii, with Godfrey’s Com.; Cod., III, xii, 3. Towards the end of the ninth century, however, Leo Sapiens prohibited even farmers from working on Sundays; Novel. Leo. VI, liv. Daily service was only instituted about 1050 by Constant. Monom.; Cedrenus, ii, p. 609.

[467] See Ducange, _sb._ Σήμαντρον; Reiske’s Notes, _op. cit._, p. 235. The instrument is still in use in the Greek Church, but literary notices of it seem to be unknown before the seventh century.

[468] Chrysostom, Habentes eundem, etc., 11 (in Migne, iii, 299).

[469] _Ibid._ The well-known palindrome, ΝΙΨΟΝΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑΜΗΜΟΝΑΝΟΨΙΝ (Wash away your sins not only your face), was at one time inscribed on the basin in front of St. Sophia; Texier and Pullan, _op. cit._, p. 10. This composition is, however, attributed to Leo Sap.

[470] Sozomen, vii, 16; Gieseler, Eccles. Hist., i, 71, etc.

[471] Procopius, De Aedific., i, 1, p. 178; Paul Silent., 389, 541. At this time, however, men and women seem to have been in view of each other in the nave as well, though separated by a wooden partition; Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. lxxiii, 3 (in Migne, vii, 677), but in earlier times they were allowed to mix indiscriminately; _ibid._

[472] Socrates, vi, 8, etc.

[473] Sozomen, viii, 5; not invariably perhaps. Part of the present description applies, of course, to St. Sophia.

[474] Cantacuzenus, i, 41; this could easily be done, as the clerical staff of each church was very numerous—over five hundred in St. Sophia; Novel iii, 1.

[475] Chrysostom, In Epist. I Tim., ii, Hom. viii, 1 (in Migne, xi, 541); In Psal. xlviii, 5 (in Migne, vi, 507).

[476] Chrysostom, De Virgin., 61 (in Migne, i, 581).

[477] Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. lxxiii, 3 (in Migne, vii, 677). “In the temple of God,” says he, “you commit fornication and adultery at the very time you are admonished against such sins.”

[478] Chrysostom, In Epist. I Tim., ii, Hom. viii, 9 (in Migne, xi, 543).

[479] Chrysostom, Epist. ad Innocent., Bishop of Rome, 3 (in Migne, iii, 533). He here describes how the women had to fly naked from the Baptistery during the riots connected with his deposition from the see of Constantinople. It must be noted, however, that the severe modesty of modern times had scarcely been developed amid the simplicity of the ancient world, as it has not among some fairly civilized peoples even at the present day.

[480] I had almost said _piety_, one of the words destined, with the extinction of the thing, to become obsolete in the future, or to be applied to some other mental conception.

[481] Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. xvii, 2 (in Migne, vii, 256). He inveighs against the farce of ascetics taking virgins to live with them, who are supposed to remain intact; cf. De Virginitate (in Migne, i, 533); also Cod. Theod., XVI, ii, 20, to which Godefroy supplies practical illustrations.

[482] Chrysostom, In Epist. ad Coloss., iii, Hom. vii, 5 (in Migne, xi, 350); in Matth. Hom. lxxxiii, 4 (in Migne, vii, 750). Or even of more costly materials, gold, crystal; Plutarch, Adv. Stoic., 22; Clement Alex. Paedag., ii, 3. The notion of unparalleled luxury has been associated with the Theodosian age, but without sufficient reason. It was rather the age of a man of genius who denounced it persistently and strenuously, and whose diatribes have come down to us in great bulk, viz., Chrysostom. The period of greatest extravagance was, in fact, during the last century of the Republic and the first of the Empire, and the names of Crassus, Lucullus, Nero, Vitellius, etc., are specially connected with it.

[483] Chrysostom, In Epist. ad Coloss., i, Hom. 4 (in Migne, xi, 304).

[484] As late as the tenth century, according to Luitprand, Antapodosis, vi, 8. In the Vienna Genesis (_c. 400_) a miniature shows banqueters reclining at a table of this sort. I will not attempt to enlarge on the courses at table and the multifarious viands that were consumed, as there are but few hints on this subject. We may opine, however, that gastronomics indulged themselves very similarly to what is represented in the pages of Petronius and Athenaeus, etc., cf. Ammianus, xvi, 5; xxviii, 4.

[485] Chrysostom, In Psalm xlviii, 8 (in Migne, v, 510). Most of the eunuchs were of the nation of the Abasgi, who dwelt between the Caspian and Euxine; Procopius, De Bel. Goth., iv, 3.

[486] Chrysostom, In Epist. ad Corinth. Hom. xl, 5 (in Migne, x, 353); In Matth. Hom. lxiii, 4 (in Migne, vii, 608).

[487] See below.

[488] Constantine enacted that families—husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters—should not be separated; Cod. Theod., II, xxv, 1; cf. XVI, v, 40, etc. But there was little practical philanthropy in the world until the Middle Ages had long been left behind. Thus by the Assize of Jerusalem, promulgated by Crusaders in the twelfth century, a war-horse was valued at three slaves! Tolerance, the toning-down of fanaticism, doubt as to whether religious beliefs are really of any validity, appears to be the foster-mother of humane sentiment. A slave could be trained to any trade, art, or profession, and their price varied accordingly. Thus common slaves were worth about £12, eunuchs £30; before ten years of age, half-price. Physicians sold for £35, and skilled artificers for £40; Cod., VII, vii. The modern reader will smile at the naïveté of Aristotle when he states that some nations are intended by Nature for slavery, but, as they do not see it, war must be made to reduce them to their proper level; Politics, i, 8.

[489] The following directions of a mother to her daughter how to shine as a society _hetaira_ emanate from a Greek of the second century: “Dress yourself with taste, carry yourself stylishly, and be courteous to every one. Never break into a guffaw, as you often do, but smile sweetly and seductively. Do not throw yourself at a man’s head, but behave with tact, cultivate sincerity, and maintain an amiable reserve. If you are asked to dinner be careful not to drink too much; do not grab the viands that are offered to you, but help yourself gracefully with the tips of your fingers. Masticate your food noiselessly, and avoid grinding your jaws loudly whilst eating. Sip your wine delicately, and do not gulp down anything you drink. Above all things do not talk too much, addressing the whole company, but pay attention chiefly to your own friends. By acting in this way you will be most likely to excite love and admiration”; adapted from Lucian, Dial. Meretr., vi.

[490] Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. xxx, 5 (in Migne, vii, 368); In I: Tim., i, 3 (in Migne, xi, 524); In Epist. ad Hebr., xxix, 3 (in Migne, xii, 206). “A country wench,” says he, “is stronger than our city men.”

[491] Chrysostom, De non Iterat. Conj., 4 (in Migne, i, 618). At all times there were ladies of such lubricity as to court the opportunity of bathing before men in the public baths; prohibited by Marcus (Hist. Aug., 23), this commerce of the sexes was encouraged by Elagabalus, and again forbidden by Alexander (Hist. Aug., 24, 34). Hadrian, however, seems to have been the first to declare against this promiscuous bathing (Hist. Aug., 18): “Olim viri foeminaeque mixtim lavabant, nullo pudore nuditatis,” says Casaubon, commenting on the passage; cf. Aulus Gell., x, 3; Cod. Theod., IX, iii, 3; Cod., V, xvii, 11; Novel, xxii, 16, etc. Clement Alex. (_c. 200_) complains that ladies were to be seen in the baths at Alexandria like slaves exposed for sale; Paedag., iii, 5. Far different was the conduct of the Byzantine matrons a thousand years later; they then fell into the ways of Oriental exclusiveness as seen amongst the dominant Turks; see Filelfo, Epistolae, ix, Sphortiae Sec., 1451. A native of Ancona, who lived at CP. for several years in the half century preceding the capture of the city.