Late Roman emperorship in Constantinople: embodiment and ‘unbodiment’ of Christian virtues
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Sylvain Destephen
Abstract
The question of the documentary value of the last statues of Late Antiquity has been much debated in many recent publications. This article contributes to this debate and addresses emperors’ statuary and its relation to the development of a Christian theology of the Late Roman emperorship. Traditionally, statues demonstrated the military, legal and economic power of Roman emperors, who were depicted as generals, judges or benefactors. Surprisingly, the Christianisation of imperial power seems to have had a limited influence upon the official iconography of emperors. The religious dimension rarely appeared on statues even though they became rarer in Late Antiquity. Whilst literary sources, especially Christian sources, increasingly mentioned emperors’ personal piety and demonstrative humility, particularly in the monumental context of Constantinople, imperial statues remained faithful to the traditional iconography of power that obliterated physical weakness and embodied autocratic power.
© 2022 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Inhalt
- Siglenverzeichnis
- I. Abteilung
- On the toponymics of the Great Palace of Constantinople: the Daphne
- Late Roman emperorship in Constantinople: embodiment and ‘unbodiment’ of Christian virtues
- Heraclius Constantine III – Emperor of Byzantium (613–641)
- The Arab conquest in Byzantine historical memory: the long view
- Allegorie und Lob der Physik: Das Proömium der Paraphrase des Theodoros Metochites zu naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften des Aristoteles
- A list of village payments and the bouleutic career of Theodoros
- Late Byzantine sigillographic evidence from Cappadocia: lead seals from Kırşehir with a unique overstruck example
- “A statue of bronze, by which times of old used to honor men of rare example”: Materials of honorific statues in Late Antiquity
- Textkritik im Dienste der Wahrheitsfindung? Das VI. Ökumenische Konzil (680/81) und seine Fälschungsnachweise
- Justinianus Eponymus: Überlegungen zur letzten Glanzzeit kaiserlicher Namensverleihungen an Städte
- Islamicate alchemy in Greek letters on the first page of Marcianus graecus 299
- The silk industry around Naupaktos and its implications
- II. ABTEILUNG
- Pauline Allen / Bronwen Neil. Greek and Latin letters in Late Antiquity. The Christianisation of a literary form
- Nicholas Drocourt / Élisabeth Malamut (eds.). La diplomatie byzantine, de l’Empire romain aux confins de l’Europe (ve–xve s.)
- James Howard-Johnston. The last great war of antiquity
- Alex Metcalfe / Hervin Fernandez-Acevez / Marco Muresu (eds.). The making of medieval Sardinia
- David K. Pettegrew / William R. Karaher / Thomas W. Davis (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of early Christian archaeology
- Nachrichten
- Totentafel
- Nachrufe. Athanasios Kambylis (9. 1. 1928 – 20. 9. 2021), von Ioannis Vassis — 391 Benjamin Hendrickx (24 July 1939 – 8 July 2021)
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Inhalt
- Siglenverzeichnis
- I. Abteilung
- On the toponymics of the Great Palace of Constantinople: the Daphne
- Late Roman emperorship in Constantinople: embodiment and ‘unbodiment’ of Christian virtues
- Heraclius Constantine III – Emperor of Byzantium (613–641)
- The Arab conquest in Byzantine historical memory: the long view
- Allegorie und Lob der Physik: Das Proömium der Paraphrase des Theodoros Metochites zu naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften des Aristoteles
- A list of village payments and the bouleutic career of Theodoros
- Late Byzantine sigillographic evidence from Cappadocia: lead seals from Kırşehir with a unique overstruck example
- “A statue of bronze, by which times of old used to honor men of rare example”: Materials of honorific statues in Late Antiquity
- Textkritik im Dienste der Wahrheitsfindung? Das VI. Ökumenische Konzil (680/81) und seine Fälschungsnachweise
- Justinianus Eponymus: Überlegungen zur letzten Glanzzeit kaiserlicher Namensverleihungen an Städte
- Islamicate alchemy in Greek letters on the first page of Marcianus graecus 299
- The silk industry around Naupaktos and its implications
- II. ABTEILUNG
- Pauline Allen / Bronwen Neil. Greek and Latin letters in Late Antiquity. The Christianisation of a literary form
- Nicholas Drocourt / Élisabeth Malamut (eds.). La diplomatie byzantine, de l’Empire romain aux confins de l’Europe (ve–xve s.)
- James Howard-Johnston. The last great war of antiquity
- Alex Metcalfe / Hervin Fernandez-Acevez / Marco Muresu (eds.). The making of medieval Sardinia
- David K. Pettegrew / William R. Karaher / Thomas W. Davis (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of early Christian archaeology
- Nachrichten
- Totentafel
- Nachrufe. Athanasios Kambylis (9. 1. 1928 – 20. 9. 2021), von Ioannis Vassis — 391 Benjamin Hendrickx (24 July 1939 – 8 July 2021)
