Justinian

The Wars of Justinian. However, in addition he wrote the Secret History, a vicious and scurrilous attack on Justinian and Theodora — particularly Theodora. Just why he should have taken against her so venomously is a mystery; I’m tempted to think that something like the incident I’ve described may have been the cause.

Chapter 10

an invitation from the Peacock Throne

For dramatic reasons I’ve slightly put back the date of Damascius’ and Simplicius’ acceptance. They (plus five other Athenian professors: Eulamius, Priscian, Hermeias, Diogenes and Isidore) set off for Ctesiphon after the new Great King — Chosroes (Khusro) — had invited them following his enthronement in 532.

You can’t touch me — it’s against the law

Up to this time there had existed, as Robert Browning says in his Justinian and Theodora, ‘general immunity’ from corporal punishment for the upper classes. He then goes on to relate how John of Cappadocia’s subordinates ‘dared to imprison and flog men of high social position for non- payment of taxes’.

devastated by a terrible earthquake

In the interests of simplification, I have conflated the terrible earthquake of 526 (in which, according to Procopius, many public buildings were flattened, and 300,000 people killed) with the less severe one of 29 November 528.

to ferry her across the Bosphorus

To enable Theodora to reach her destination expeditiously, I have contracted the time the trip would have taken. By the shortest route, Hieron was above four miles from the nearest harbour in Constantinople.

a complete reform of Roman Law

This hugely ambitious and historic project (which still has relevance today) was achieved with incredible speed, with no sacrifice of scale or thoroughness — thanks to the energy, expertise, and organizing ability of Tribonian, the great jurist commissioned by Justinian to see it through. The Code of 529 was followed in 533 by the Digest, a carefully edited and condensed compilation of all the responses of jurisconsults (such as Gaius and Papimian) of the classical period — a mind-boggling task involving the reduction of three million lines of text to one hundred and fifty thousand! To enable lawyers easily to comprehend and utilize the great new legal corpus, a training-manual for law students — the Institutes (in use until the twentieth century) — was published in the same year as the Digest. Today, Tribonian’s great work forms the basis of the law of many European countries, especially that of Scotland and Holland.

free to love each other outwith marriage

A rather liberal interpretation on Macedonia’s part, of one aspect of certain secret rites exclusive to unmarried women in the classical Greek period, in which Sapphic practices took place. (In her fascinating television series about ancient Sparta, Bettany Hughes refers, in this context, to ‘girl on girl’ liaisons.)

the two hundred and third from the Founding of New Rome

Events in the Eastern Empire were now increasingly being dated from the founding of Constantinople — anno regiae urbis conditae, rather than by the consuls (whose office anyway was soon to be abolished) for a particular year. The system of dating from the founding of Constantinople (AD 330) can be seen in the Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes (not to be confused with the fourth century historian Ammianus Marcellinus) — an invaluable source of information for the early Justinianic period. The Chronicle ends in 534, but was continued in an Additamentum (covering the years 534 to 548) by an anonymous ‘Continuator’.

Chapter 11

appointed as quaesitor

The office was actually created by Justinian a few years later, in 535. But as its purpose was to deal with public order offences, it seemed appropriate to introduce it here.

Chapter 12

more civilized values than in Sulla’s time

Which made the executions of Sunday, 11 January all the more shocking, especially as the government was widely blamed for provoking the disturbance in the first place. In England, as recently as the early nineteenth century, there existed close on two hundred capital offences (mainly for crimes against property), some of them bizarrely harsh: ‘stealing anything whatsoever from a bleaching-field’, ‘cutting down young fruit-trees at night’ (my italics) etc. By comparison, Justinian’s Empire seems, in this context, a model of enlightened humanity — capital punishment, even for murder, being rarely carried out.

In Justinian’s tablinum. . were assembled

In addition to those persons mentioned in the text, Narses was also present. However, as his part in the ensuing events was peripheral, I have not included him. On the evidence available it seems unlikely that Procopius was actually present; Count Marcellinus, on the other hand, might well have been, especially as he is known to have been a loyal supporter of Justinian. The two agentes are conjectural. For the purposes of the plot, I have included Procopius at the meeting, portraying him as a sort of double agent — ‘an ear of Julianus planted in the Palace’. Artistic licence; but his private loathing of the royal couple (as clearly demonstrated in his Secret History) makes such a role entirely in character. The false rumour that Justinian had fled was actually started by one Thomas, an imperial secretary, due to a misunderstanding.

Chapter 13

based on the basilica

Notable examples of this type of church still standing are: S. Apollinare Nuovo, in Ravenna, Sta Sabina and S. Paolo fuori le Mura, in Rome, Constantine’s Church of the Holy Wisdom, in Bethlehem — to name but four.

marbles of every hue

A contemporary poet, Paul the Silentiary, describes in a poem, Descriptio Sanctae Sophiae, the various stones and marbles used to decorate the interior of the church: the Carystian — pale, with iron veins; the green marble of Laconia; the Carian — from Mount Iassis, with oblique veins, white and red; the Lydian — pale, with a red flower; etc.

Chapter 14

Some of us who love Rome

The tendency of people in modern times to see the citizens of the East Roman Empire as somehow not being ‘real’ Romans, was certainly not shared by those citizens themselves. As Antony Bridge in his brilliant book Theodora says of them, ‘They were. . intensely conscious of being an heir to the eternal world of Rome. . their pride in themselves as Romans became even greater than it had been before the barbarians began to encroach upon the Empire. . Their role as defenders of civilization often seemed a very lonely one’.

Emerging from the tunnel at the coast

In the seventh century, the Berber princess Al-Kahina was besieged in the amphitheatre by Muslim forces. A strong tradition has it that the building was connected by a tunnel to the coast, enabling Al-Kahina to taunt the besiegers by waving fresh fish from the topmost tier of seats. But could the tunnel story be just that — a story, perhaps deriving from the fact that an underground aqueduct leads to the amphitheatre? Whatever its origins, I felt that the legend was too good not to use.

Chapter 15

the long cavalry column

In the text, I have simplified the appearance of the units in the column, so as not to overload the reader with information. On the march, cataphracts would have stowed their armour in a case behind their saddles. In addition to spare horses, riders would have taken the following impedimenta: small tent or extra cloak (a heavy one) for bivouacking, 20–30 lbs. of hardtack, flour, or other provisions, water-bottle, cooking utensils, cloak, javelin cases, spare horseshoes or, if the horse was unshod, a hoof-cleaning tool. Strategikon — a sixth century military manual by one Mauricius — is a mine of information for such details.

stocky. . men with yellowish skins and flat Oriental faces

The Huns — who burst upon the scene in the late fourth century, forcing the Goths to take refuge in the Roman Empire (an event which set off a chain reaction resulting, a century later, in the Fall of the Western Empire)