Theodora: Empress of Byzantium (Mark Magowan Books) (56 page)

AGNOETS
. From the Greek
agnoêtês
(“he who knows not”). Name given to the followers of the Monophysite (see Glossary) doctrine of Themistius, a sixth-century deacon in Alexandria, Egypt. They believed that Jesus’ human soul could not know the future.

APHTHARTODOCETISM
. From the Greek
aphtartos
(“incorruptible”) and
dokeô
(“I appear”). It is one of the names given to the doctrine put forth by Julian, sixth-century bishop of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), that evolved from Monophysitism (see Glossary). Aphthartodocetism teaches that the body of Jesus Christ was incorruptible, impassible, and immortal from the first instant of the incarnation. Its adversaries claimed that such a doctrine was incompatible with the concept of the full humanity of Jesus.

ARIANISM
. From Arius (c. 250–336), founder of this heretical sect that denied full humanity to Jesus because they believed that out of the three persons of the Trinity only the Father ought to be considered truly God, uncreated and ungenerated, eternal and immutable. Although condemned at the First Ecumenical Council held at Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in 325, in the fourth century Arianism still had a large following in high imperial circles. It survived even longer among Christianized Teutonic tribes such as the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, and the Visigoths.

AUGUSTUS
(fem.
AUGUSTA
). A Latin noun. An honorific appellation given to Roman emperors starting with Octavian in the first century
B.C.
Often used as a synonym for “emperor” (Augustus) and “empress” (Augusta). As an adjective, it signifies “imperial,” “majestic,” “noble,” and “solemn.”

AUTOKRATÔR
. From the Greek
autos
(“by himself”) and
kratêo
(“lord”), it designates he who exercises or holds absolute power, imperial power first of all. In its negative meaning it signifies “despot,” “tyrant.”

AUTOPSIA
. From the Greek
autos
(“by himself”) and
opsis
(“sight”). It refers to what is observed or investigated firsthand, not through third-party experience or authority.

BASILEUS
. A Greek noun designating a “king,” “sovereign,” or “lord.” Starting in the seventh century it became the official title of the emperor of Byzantium.

BLUES
. Also called “Venetians,” one of the two “parties” or “factions” (see Glossary) of the Hippodrome.

BYZANTIUM
. Ancient name (from the Greek
Byzantion
) of the city founded at the eastern tip of Europe by Hellene settlers around the seventh century
B.C.
In the early part of the fourth century
A.D.
, Emperor Constantine elected Byzantium to be the center of the Roman Empire, changing its name to Constantinople (see Glossary). Since then, the term has been used to refer to Constantinople in scholarly, archaizing texts. Today, broadly speaking, Byzantium also refers to the empire as such, especially from the seventh century forward, when its Eastern characteristics intensified.

CASTRUM
. A Latin noun (
kastron
in Greek) that originally meant a military camp, later a fortified city.

CIVES ROMANUS
. A Latin expression denoting a Roman citizen, with all his rights and duties with respect to the state.

COMES
. A Latin noun (from which the English noun
count
is derived). Initially it referred to a comrade or companion of the emperor or his family; later it became an honorific title or the official appellation of imperial ministers. Militarily, a
comes
was a lower-rank officer.

CONSTANTINOPLE
. Literally, “the city of Constantine,” from the emperor (r. 306–37) who named after himself the ancient city of Byzantium (see Glossary) which he chose in 324 and inaugurated in 330 as the capital of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome and the western empire, it became capital of the entire empire. Later, as a result of the growing orientalization of the empire and the emergence in western Europe of the Holy Roman Empire, Constantinople was the capital of the medieval empire that we call Byzantine. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks seized the city and changed its name to Istanbul (perhaps from the Greek expression
eis tên polin
, “in the city”).

COPT
. Appellation given to the Christians of Egypt, a contraction of the Greek
aigyptioi
and the Arabic
qibt
. The term
Copt
is often applied to followers of Monophysitism (see Glossary) and to those who speak the Coptic language derived from ancient Egyptian.

CUBICULUM
. A Latin noun from the verb
cubo
(“I lay, I rest”), it initially
referred to a bedroom other than that of the master or mistress of the house. Later, it signified an apartment.
Sacrum cubiculum
is the apartment par excellence, that of the emperors.

CURIA
. A Latin noun. In late antiquity, it referred to the city council that managed the administrative, financial, and logistic (but not political) responsibilities of a city (
polis
; see Glossary) and its territory (
chora
). Starting at about the close of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century
A.D.
, the relevance of the
curia
declined as a result of the growing centralization of the empire.

CURIALIS
. From
curia
(see Glossary). In the period under consideration, it referred to the
decurion
(a local councilor) who was a member of the city’s elite.

DAIMON
. A Greek noun with many nuances. Initially it referred to a deity, later to a demon, a being intermediate between gods and men, then to the soul freed from the body, and still later to one’s individual destiny or deepest vocation. In its negative meaning it signified an evil spirit or devil.

DESPOTÊS
(fem.
DESPOINA
). A Greek noun meaning “master” (mistress), “owner,” or “absolute lord” (lady).

DOMINUS
(fem.
DOMINA
). A Latin noun with analogous meaning to that of the Greek
despotês
(fem.
despoina
) (see Glossary).

DOMUS
. A Latin noun that means “home,” “seat,” “family,” also “fatherland.”

DOMUS DIVINA
. A Latin technical expression (literally, “divine house”) designating those landholdings whose rent was specifically assigned to the emperor’s liberality or to the maintenance of the emperor’s apartments.

DUX
. A Latin noun. In late antiquity, this technical term referred to the military commander of frontier troops in a given province. In some rare cases, the
dux
also filled civilian posts and performed nonmilitary duties.

DYNATOS
. A Greek term meaning “powerful,” a person invested with formal authority.

DYOPHYSITE
(also spelled
DUOPHYSITE
). From the Greek
dyo
(“two”) and
physis
(“nature”), it designated those who saw in the triune person of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, both a divine and a human nature in a state of permanent union but without intermingling or fusion. The Dyophysite doctrine was formulated by Pope Leo the Great in 449 and prevailed at the Council of Chalcedon (451) over the Monophysite (see Glossary) interpretation of the nature of Jesus. The opposition to Dyophysitism was long-lasting, especially in the eastern Mediterranean regions, until the birth of Islam at the close of the seventh century.

ECUMENE
. From the Greek
oikoumene
, or “the inhabited [lands],” (in Greek,
gê
means
“
land” or “earth”). The universalistic tendency of the Byzantine empire meant that all the inhabited lands were in principle subject to the emperor’s power, just as the Christian “message”—which the empire promoted—was directed at all the people of those lands.

EON
. From the Greek term
aiôn
, which means a “long period of time” such as a century, a millennium, an age, or similar. In Gnosticism (see Glossary) it is an emanation of the supreme Divine Being.

EXCUBITOR
. A Latin noun whose literal meaning is “sentry.” It designated a military man with a superior physique, member of a choice unit of the Imperial Palace Guard in Constantinople.

FACTIONS
. Descended from the four
factiones
of the Rome Circus, in Constantinople there were two factions, as the Whites gradually came to identify with the Blues and the Reds with the Greens. The names originated from the colors of the tunic worn by the charioteers during the chariot races in the Hippodrome, the most popular spectator sport of city life. The factions did more than cheer the charioteers; they managed enormous sums of money that they received from the city government to organize the shows and compensate the athletes and the service personnel. Since the emperor and the highest authorities were customary spectators at the races, the factions were also empowered to submit political or administrative issues to them, although they are not comparable to modern political parties.

GNOSTICISM
. From the Greek noun
gnôsis
(“knowledge”), it designates a set of ideas and trends that arose within Christianity, starting especially in the second century, and reappeared in many forms at various times in history. Central to all the forms of Gnosticism is the belief in a supreme, unknowable Divine Being from whom, through a series of emanations (eons; see Glossary) the Demiurge is derived. The Demiurge is the creator and ruler of our earthly world, which is intrinsically evil. In Gnosticism, Jesus is an emissary of the Divine Being and a bearer of knowledge (
gnôsis
) to a restricted circle of “spiritual,” not “carnal,” men.

GREENS
. Also known as “Prasini,” they were one of the two “parties” or “factions” (see Glossary) attached to the Hippodrome.

HIPPODROME
. The leading monumental public building of Constantinople and its entertainment center. It was connected to the imperial palace through a loge or gallery called the Kathisma, where the emperor appeared in order to be acclaimed or to watch the games and the chariot races. The Hippodrome could house up to a fifth of the city’s population at its highest demographic density (more than 100,000
spectators out of a total population of 500,000 to 600,000). The succession of columns and obelisks that separated the tracks made this circus a sort of outdoor museum.

HUBRIS
. From the Greek
hybris
, a noun signifying “violence,” “arrogance,” “smugness,” “insolence,” or “excessive pride,” manifested as a challenge to the law (whether divine, natural, or political) and as such invoking the gods’ revenge.

IMPERIUM
. A Latin noun that signifies an order or command, therefore the power to give it, hence “authority.” It also refers to the territory where authority is exercised, and therefore to the “state” or “empire.”

INFAMIS
. A Latin adjective signifying “without honor,” “discredited,” and thus “dishonorable,” “infamous,” or “shameful.”

KYRIOS
(fem.
KYRIA
). A Greek noun. See
despotês
(fem.
despoina
).

LOCUS AMOENUS
. A Latin expression meaning “pleasant place,” “agreeable location,” an ideal or idyllic setting.

MAGISTER MILITUM
. The army’s highest rank (literally, master of soldiers).

MANIAKION
. A Greek noun designating a fabric collar embroidered with pearls and gems that was part of the imperial garb.

MANICHEISM
. A religious doctrine preached by Mani (A.D. 216?–276). Born in the region of Persia, it spread to the Mediterranean and the whole of Asia. Taking its cue from elements of early Christianity and Gnosticism (see Glossary), Manicheism saw the world as a clash between light and darkness, devalued all earthly experience, and recommended a strict asceticism. In Manicheism, Jesus Christ is one of many “enlightened” human beings (Mani is another) who are called upon to free the tiny particles of light that are present in each man and woman.

METABOLÊ
. A Greek noun that means “mutation,” “variation,” “transformation,” as well as (in ancient Greek tragedy especially) the “reversal of a situation.”

MONOPHYSITISM
. From the Greek
monos
(“single” or “one”) and
physis
(“nature”), it designated the doctrine that saw in Jesus, the Incarnate Word, only one nature, divine, instead of two natures, divine and human (Dyophysitism; see Glossary). An extreme formulation of Monophysitism was put forth by Eutyches and condemned at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held at Chalcedon in 451, since it seemed to negate the humanity of Jesus that was instead accepted by other versions of Monophysitism. The doctrine gained a wide following in Egypt and among Syrian monastic groups.

NESTORIANISM
. From the name of the heretical leader Nestorius (patriarch of Constantinople in 428, deposed in 430, died after 451), it refers
to a doctrine that refused to call the Virgin Mary
Theotokos
, “Mother of God,” preferring to call her
Christotokos
or “Mother of Christ.” Nestorianism also taught that in Christ two persons coexist, one divine, the other human, a violation of the dogma of the unity of each of the three persons of the Trinity.

NOMISMA
. A Greek noun, equivalent to
solidus
(see Glossary).

NOVELLAE
. The “new” laws, promulgated by Justinian after he published the
Codex Iustinianus
in 534.

PAIDEIA
. A Greek noun with layered meanings. Originally it meant “children’s education,” later it came to signify their teaching through an adequate course of study that led to identifying
paideia
with “culture,” and later, metaphorically, with “individual experience.” It may also mean “art,” “discipline.”