Kaiser Phokas (602–610) als Erinnerungsproblem
Abstract
The paper argues that Heraclius was forced to demonstrate the legitimacy of his rule in a particular manner, because his usurpation in 610 was structurally very similar to that of his predecessor Phocas (in 602), and the condition of the Eastern Roman Empire deteriorated rapidly during the first years of his rule. Considering the fact that not only Phocas but also Heraclius destroyed the well-established order in the view of contemporaries, one gets a notion of what can be meant by ‘legitimacy’ in the early 7th century.Given this situation Heraclius had to distance himself from Phocas as far as possible. The article discusses the most important rhetorical strategies the emperor used to achieve this aim: (1) the damnatio memoriae, (2) the identification of Phocas as an illegitimate usurper (in abundantly describing him as tyrannos), (3) his de-humanization and (4) the characterization of Phocas as a destroyer of the well-established order and Heraclius’ self-representation as its restorer.
© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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- Siglenverzeichnis
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- “You possess me, you bring me with you, I am a part of you”: a new Byzantine riddle in the Pal. Gr. 116
- The account of Thoulis, king of Egypt, in the Chronographia of John Malalas
- Psellos in 1078
- Racing with rhetoric: a Byzantine ekphrasis of a chariot race
- Hypatios of Ephesos and Ps.-Dionysios Areopagites
- Kaiser Phokas (602–610) als Erinnerungsproblem
- Roman identity in Byzantium: a critical approach
- Un sigillion inédit du patriarche de Constantinople Jérémie II et d’Alexandre Sylvestre sur la réforme du calendrier
- II. ABTEILUNG
- III. ABTEILUNG. Bibliographische Notizen und Mitteilungen
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Siglenverzeichnis
- I. ABTEILUNG
- Areopagitic influence and neoplatonic (Plotinian) echoes in Photius’ Amphilochia: question 180
- “You possess me, you bring me with you, I am a part of you”: a new Byzantine riddle in the Pal. Gr. 116
- The account of Thoulis, king of Egypt, in the Chronographia of John Malalas
- Psellos in 1078
- Racing with rhetoric: a Byzantine ekphrasis of a chariot race
- Hypatios of Ephesos and Ps.-Dionysios Areopagites
- Kaiser Phokas (602–610) als Erinnerungsproblem
- Roman identity in Byzantium: a critical approach
- Un sigillion inédit du patriarche de Constantinople Jérémie II et d’Alexandre Sylvestre sur la réforme du calendrier
- II. ABTEILUNG
- III. ABTEILUNG. Bibliographische Notizen und Mitteilungen
