The Power

In Byzantium

The Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire: right up until the collapse of the Empire, the emperor gave himself the title of ‘Emperor of the Romans’ on the coinage and in all their official acts. To become emperor, they had to be carried shoulder-high by the army and proclaimed emperor. They were then elected by acclamation of the people: the people of Constantinople, the city of Constantine, founder of the ‘new Rome’, represented the Roman people and the new emperor was usually elected by acclamation in the capital’s Hippodrome, which could accommodate up to 40,000 people. Finally, the Senate ratified the choice of emperor. The Senate in fact became a deliberating assembly and only played an intermittent role in the twelfth century: the presence of senators—a title which had more of a social than a political significance—during the acclamation, served as an approbation that could take many forms.

With the exception of one emperor, all the emperors who reigned after Constantine (up until 1453) were Christian. The earthly inauguration also became a heavenly one: an emperor ruled because it was God’s wish and the Emperor was ‘the pious elect of God’. The way in which Constantine authorized the practice of Christianity in 312 was both a victory and a surprise for Christians. By convening and presiding over the Council of Nicaea (325), whose aim was to unify the deeply divided Christians, the emperor did in fact become head of the Church. The Emperor didn’t play a theological role but, in doing so, acquired a special status: he was an ‘equal-to-the-apostles’, a sort of unofficial bishop. He had control over the ecclesiastical districts (bishops, archbishops, and cities). The Byzantines saw the Empire—the earthly domain in which they lived—as the kingdom of God on earth. And just as there was only one God in this kingdom, there was only one emperor on earth, who took God’s place in the celestial kingdom.

The Emperor was literally ‘God’s lieutenant’ on earth, which gave him a huge amount of additional power. He had total control over the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The patriarch of Constantinople was chosen from a list of three names given to the Emperor by the synod of Constantinople. The Emperor could refuse the list if their candidate was not listed, but that was seldom the case. If there was a dispute, the Emperor always won: he found a complaisant synod to formally depose the patriarch he wished to get rid of. This situation only changed under the last dynasty—that of the Palaiologoi (1258–1453). On the one hand, the Emperor and his empire were weakened, a situation that was further aggravated by the many long civil wars between members of the imperial family. On the other hand, the monks, who had always been reticent to obey the hierarchy, were in a stronger position. And the Emperor could no longer impose his will. He was compelled, for example, to accept the union with Rome in the hope of receiving military aid from the West—the only chance of counteracting the growing, deadly threat of the Ottomans.

Since God was free to choose His lieutenant, this laid the way open to usurpation: if a usurper succeeded, they were accepted as God’s choice. This caused a real problem with the succession to the throne. It was initially and partly resolved by using the Roman system: the emperor chose the person he wanted to succeed him—his own son. A dynastic system gradually took root, which reached its height during the Macedonian dynasty (867–1056) and that of the Comneni (1081–1185). Although brilliant generals sometimes succeeded in usurping power by taking advantage of a minority, they were obliged to share power with young Porphyrogenitus emperors—i.e. those born in the Purple Chamber of the Imperial Palace (the imperial delivery room which was paved with purple marble or porphyry tiles).

The Emperor generally held the highest public office in the Empire. The government officials, who were appointed and dismissed (the highest officials) by him, obeyed him for the simple reason that he was Emperor. Orders were given and transmitted in writing, and were often put up in their intended destination and read by officials, if they were addressing the masses who couldn’t read. The Empire’s administration was relatively large and efficient, whether this was for keeping a register of the soldiers or compiling a general cadastre of Constantinople, which served as a basis of tax. This was then used—in addition to imperial munificence that was often assured by the immense imperial properties—to pay the soldiers, officials, and the senior officials. But the two merged, because an office very often had a title attached to it.

A crisis nevertheless developed in this system at the end of the Macedonian era and the intervening period before the Comneni dynasty. It coincided with a sudden loss of territory after the defeat inflicted by the Turks (1071). They occupied a large part of Asia Minor, depriving the Empire of revenue. It also coincided with the first real devaluation of the most potent symbol of Byzantine power: the gold coin (the nomisma), which had been a stable form of currency since its creation by Constantine more than seven centuries earlier. The Comneni reorganized the political and administrative system around their family by establishing a sophisticated system of matrimonial alliances in concentric circles: obedience to the Emperor based on loyalty that was very often familial prevailed over obedience to the judges. The Emperor’s personality became a determining factor. When there were divisions in the imperial family or the Emperor was not up to par, as occurred under the Palaiologoi, and the territory under his control became too small to provide the financial means with which to govern, Byzantine imperial power declined and the Empire collapsed.

M. K.