Saradi The Kallos of The Byzantine City

The Kallos of the Byzantine City: The Development of a Rhetorical Topos and Historical
Reality
Author(s): Helen Saradi
Source: Gesta, Vol. 34, No. 1 (1995), pp. 37-56
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the International Center of Medieval
Art
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The Kallos of the
Byzantine City:
The
Development
of a Rhetorical
Topos
and Historical
Reality
HELEN SARADI
University of Guelph,
Canada
Abstract
The term
"beauty"
is
among
those cited
by Henry
Maguire
as central to "Art."
Beauty
is
regularly
ascribed
to the
city
in the Greek rhetorical tradition. This article
explores
the use of the
topos
of urban
beauty
and its
associated
expressions
for
conveying
aesthetic
concepts,
and relates them to the actual
physical appearance
of the
late Roman and
Byzantine city. Applied initially
to the
natural
setting
of a
city
or the
accomplishments
of its citi-
zens,
the
topos
of urban
beauty
shifted
by
the fourth cen-
tury
to the cities' architectural
appearance,
a
usage
that
peaks
in the sixth
century.
It
is, then,
at
precisely
the time
that the ancient architectural structure of the cities was
gradually disintegrating
that the cities were
increasingly
praised
in terms of their ancient aesthetic value. The ar-
ticle
proposes
reasons-both rhetorical and aesthetic-
for this
disjunction,
and then
pursues
the
topos
of urban
beauty
as it is
incorporated
into Christian literature and
transformed in the
classicizing
conventions of the late
Byzantine
authors.
Descriptions
of cities are found in all kinds of sources in
ancient and
Byzantine
literature: in
historiographical sources,
poetry, epigrams,
orations,
both ecclesiastical and
secular,
in
epistolography
and Lives of Saints. From the Roman
empire
onwards,
such
descriptions,
whether condensed or
extended,
became a
topos
in
literary
sources and were formulated ac-
cording
to the rules of rhetoric: rhetorical treatises defined the
formal elements of the encomion of the
city.
The most im-
portant
is that of the
third-century
orator Menander. In recent
years,
when
great emphasis
has been
placed
on ancient and
Byzantine
rhetoric and its influence on various
literary
genres,
the rhetorical
descriptions
of cities became the
subject
of several studies. The book of E.
Fenster,
Laudes
constantinopolitanae (Munich, 1968),
and a recent
paper
of
H.
Hunger,
"Laudes
Thessalonicenses,"2 as
well as the book
of C. J.
Classen,
Die Stadt im
Spiegel
der
Descriptiones
und
Laudes Urbium
(Hildesheim, Zurich,
New
York, 1986) study
specific aspects
of
descriptions
of cities.
Other scholars have studied the
"concept"
of the
city
in
ancient literature and have discerned a
significant develop-
ment.
Thus,
for
example,
J. E.
Stambaugh
examined the
literary image
of Athens in three different texts: the Funeral
Oration of Pericles
given by Thucydides,
a Hellenistic de-
scription by
Heraclides of Crete (third century B.c.)
and
that
by Pausanias.3 In the
History
of
Thucydides
the
city
is
praised
for its cultural and
political
achievements and not in
Why
turn to
fiction--unless
it be to
escape?'
terms of
public buildings.
In
contrast,
Heraclides stresses the
architectural
appearance
of
Athens,
while the civic life is of
no interest to him. There is no doubt that this
image
of Ath-
ens reflects a historical
reality.
Pausanias' interest is that of
an
antiquarian:
he is
describing only
the
city's
monuments.4
This
development
must be
interpreted
in the historical
context of the Roman
empire.
In the new
political
conditions
created
by
the
expansion
of the Roman
state,
the cities
ceased to be understood in terms of their
political
and social
functions; they
had lost their
independent political
character.
Already Livy
describes this
process
with
great perception
in
his account of the fate of
Capua
after its
occupation by
the
Romans. The
city
had been reduced
by
the
conquerors
into
a
dwelling-place:
"But it was decided that
Capua,
as a nom-
inal
city,
should
merely
be a
dwelling-place
and a center of
population,
but should have no
political body
nor senate nor
council of the
plebs
nor
magistrates.""5
Thus the
cities,
no
longer expressing
an
independent political
and cultural
life,
became
merely
a
place
where the citizens lived. In
literature,
therefore,
the
physical setting
of the cities
gradually gained
in
importance. Stambaugh
undertakes to examine this em-
phasis
on the cities'
physical
environment in connection with
the
general phenomenon
of visual
descriptions
in Hellenistic
literature and of works of art.6 This
interpretation gives
a
new direction to the
study
of the
image
of the ancient
city
in
literature:
namely
in terms of the means of
expression,
in
both literature and art.
For
Byzantinists
the
development
of the
city
in the end
of the
early Byzantine period
and its fate in the
beginning
of
the Middle
Ages
still constitutes a controversial
topic,
al-
ways
attractive and
approached
with
conflicting arguments
and conclusions. In a
previous study
on the cities of the
early Byzantine centuries,
I have shown that in
many
his-
torical sources adherence to the classical tradition and rhe-
torical clich6s conceals historical
developments.7
This
study
will
attempt
to
approach
the
topic
from a new
perspective,
namely
the
expressions
used to
convey
aesthetic
concepts
as
they apply
to the
early Byzantine city,
and their
develop-
ment in later centuries. The terms most
frequently
encoun-
tered in
descriptions
of cities of this
period
are kallos and
kosmos. The theme of the urban kallos is
fully developed
in
the literature of the sixth
century.
This constitutes the cul-
mination of a
long literary
tradition which follows the con-
ventions of rhetoric. What is
interesting
for the historian of
GESTA XXXIV/1
?
The International Center of Medieval Art 1995
37
Byzantine
urban
history
is that the more the
magnificent
monumental
appearance
of the ancient
city
deteriorated dur-
ing
this
early period,
for a
variety
of
reasons,
the more the
authors of
prose
or
poetry
insisted on
developing
the theme
of the
"beautiful"
city.
The concerns of the state as docu-
mented in the
imperial
decrees from the fourth to the sixth
century, by
which the
emperors
had tried to
impede
the dis-
solution of the traditional architectural
appearance
of the
cities,
will
complement
the
picture. Finally
we will
attempt
to determine the
period
in which this
literary
theme be-
comes less
frequent
and establish a connection with histori-
cal
reality;
in other
words,
to examine whether a decisive
transformation of the architectural
appearance
of the cities
had
actually brought
about a decline of this rhetorical
topos.
The theme of the
"beauty"
of the
city emerges
late and
gradually
in literature. In order to understand this
process
and evaluate its historical
meaning
it will be instructive to
take as a
starting point
the use of the
topos
of the kallos in
Pausanias'
text,
an unrivalled account of sites of interest to
visitors. Given the nature of this text we are
surprised
that
the word
caikkog
is found
only
in a few
passages.
In
only
two
passages
does it refer to works of art: in an account of
a statue of
Praxiteles,8
and in a
praise
of
Polycleitus'
art
with reference to the theatre of
Epidaure.9
In two
passages
the
Kadkkog
describes the
quality
of some stones which beau-
tify buildings.'0
In two other
passages
the word is contained
in verses of ancient
poets
cited
by
Pausanias." But what is
more
interesting
is that in five
passages
the word describes
elements of nature such as the water of rivers or fountains
(one
such
example
is the famous fountain Kastalia in Del-
phi)
and animals
(as
in an account of a local tradition in
Aegeira
of
Achaia).'2
The Rhetorical Tradition
Two new trends of rhetoric in the Roman
empire
had a
significant impact
on the form of
city "descriptions"
in litera-
ture. These trends are the need to
produce
an
excessively
embellished
style,
essential for all
literary genres,
and the ele-
ment of
exaggeration (amplification
and
diminutio),
inevita-
ble in rhetoric. The orator was
expected
to
extol, apply
amplification
(aidrlaotg)
to,
his
subject.'3 Although
these ele-
ments had
already
been stressed
by
the classical Roman ora-
tors,14 under the
Empire they became
subjects of elaborate
theories of famous teachers of rhetoric.'" A
consequence of
amplification of the
existing positive aspects of the
praised
person
or
object
in the encomion was the need to
complement
absent positive characteristics with
amplification
(adi~l-
cctv)16
and
suppress the
negative ones. In
meeting
the aim
defined in these terms, questions regarding
the
sincerity
of the
orators were raised. Aristeides, for
example, stressed the im-
portance of
credibility which must be announced in the intro-
duction as well as the use of
exaggeration (hyperbole).'7 But
the hyperbole which stands at the very nature of the encomion
leads to untrue statements, and efforts were made to accom-
modate the rhetorical
technique rationally.'8
Menander offers the most
systematic
treatment of the
city
encomion
by defining
the formal elements of the
genre
in his treatises "How one should
praise
the land and cities"
(IJJq@ pi Xwjpav
~nratvEiv, mrCg
Zpil
tmtu mEcnatveiv).'9
Ac-
cording
to these, the encomion of a
city
has two
parts:
the
praise
of the
city's physical
environment
(the
site of the
city,
the
neighboring cities, the
climate,
geographic
fea-
tures, such as rivers, etc.)
and of the
qualities
and accom-
plishments
of its citizens
(the political system
of the
city,
the famous schools of letters or
science,
of
arts, rhetoric
and
sports, etc.).20 If the
city
does not have features
worthy
of
praise,
then the orator must invent some with
sophistic
arguments.21
It is
important
to note that in contrast to
descriptions
of
cities in the literature of earlier
periods,
in the rhetorical trea-
tises of the late Roman
empire
the natural
surroundings
of the
city gained
in
importance.
A
general
rule in the treatises on
encomia is that the external
appearance
of a
person
or
object
must be extolled.22 Often, however, in encomia of cities of
this
period
the traditional view of the
city
and the new trends
coexist: in a brief outline of a
city
encomion in
Hermogenes'
Progymnasmata,
the traditional value of the citizens' achieve-
ments remains
predominant
and the
praise
of the
physical
beauty
of the urban center is of
secondary importance.23
Menander himself exhibits this
duality.
In his treatise
on
epideictic oratory (mcpi
'tntS6tKZtKOv)
it is the surround-
ing
nature that offers
pleasure
and it must be
praised
as
such.24
He
employs
the
topos
of the
"beauty"
in
describing
the
particular
elements of the
city,
such as the harbor:
"you
will
praise
the harbors for their
size,
beauty
and harmonious
proportions,
and for the
quality
and number of
anchorings"
(K61rouqg
frtVcf
YtJ
S
Eig t~P'y0og KCitf Kil)kog KCti
EOpuOtiav
Ki.
cig 6t4t6lgvozrlZaT
Kcf.ai
Tohutlpv6"Tr1T);25
in
praising
the
acropolis,
the orator must omit the
possible negative
ele-
ments of its natural form and he must
present
it as the most
"beautiful"
(aiTzrl KacLioYrl).26
References to the
"beauty"
of
the
city
are found in two more
passages
in the same treatise.
In the first, he recommends to future orators to stress that the
proximity
of cities to each other does not diminish their
"beauty"
(Tzv
K6oypov).27
If a
city
had been founded
by
in-
habitants from other
sites,
the orator should stress that this
move was not the result of misfortunes, but rather "a
change
of the site for the sake of beauty"
(dl)6& mpog
KcLc)og
IEza-
paLo~~a
ziov
TV
Tov).28
On
the other hand, in another
passage
the term kosmos is used
metaphorically to designate the or-
derly structure of civic life: "Besides all these practices we
also embellish activities, if the city is administered in an
orderly fashion"
(map& mbcoag 8&
Tcra
q
Trc
iuttrll86c0ct
Kai
TU cvcpyflcLara
KOOdo4LsEC
a, 6i KOo?iWqg 8tot cUKElt
i1
7"{6tg).29
Menander also suggests that cities can be praised on account
of benefices which they received from emperors or archons
or other distinguished men, or on account of one of their ar-
38
chitectural
features,
such as baths or harbors or
any
other
building
of the
city.
In this
passage, however,
there is no ref-
erence to aesthetic considerations. On the
contrary
he
sug-
gests
that such
descriptions
should be
very
brief.30
From this
analysis
it becomes clear that in the rhetorical
treatises on encomia of
cities,
their kallos was defined
mainly
in terms of natural
setting,
an element borrowed from litera-
ture, especially poetry,
and in terms of the "civic" virtue of
their inhabitants.31 The cities' architectural
setting
remains
an
undeveloped
theme.
Stylistic
trends in literature are
directly
related with the
use of
descriptions
of cities. The orators of the
Empire
in
particular
elaborated on the
"beauty"
of
literary style
with
definitions of the kallos in terms of
stylistic norms.32 Her-
mogenes
in the
mnpi 18&"t
v
expresses
the new trends when he
defines the
KaikktYzoo k6yoq
of the
panegyric by
a use of
words unlike that in "civic"
subjects.33 Accordingly
the sim-
ple
narrative should be enhanced
by
references
to,
or brief
descriptions
of
sites,
such as
great cities,
remarkable
rivers,
etc.34 Mention of the characteristic urban features and of the
surrounding nature,
such as their size and
prosperity, give
beauty
and
simplicity
to the
narrative.35
Applying
these
stylistic trends,
the orators recom-
mended the use of the
topos
of the
beauty
of the
city
in a
variety
of other
speeches. Menander,
for
example,
in his
treatise on
epideictic oratory
recommends it for the
speech
of
arrival
(&3ntLpaTzptog).
Particularly
the
beauty
of the
temples
(icEPCv KckkJl)
and of the harbor should be mentioned. The
orator should stress the emotional
impression
of the
city's
beauty
on him.36 Thus in narratives in which the author sim-
ply employs
the encomion of a
city,
the urban center should
be
praised
as
aesthetically
beautiful. In the
lengthy descrip-
tion of the natural
setting
of the
city (plains, rivers, lakes,
mountains,
the
sea, etc.)
that
follows,
nature also must be
praised
as beautiful
(nC6iOv Krl
a1).37
At the end the orator
must
praise
the
qualities
of the inhabitants.
The
topos
of the urban kallos is also
employed
in other
speeches,
such as a
speech
on the fatherland
(ndzptoq k6yo?).
The
stoas, temples, harbor, imported products,
athletic
per-
formances,
the
pleasure
of
baths, fountains, forests,
famous
temples
or
oracles,
"contribute to the
beauty
of the
city" (Kai
yap
zraTC ouvzThksI pgVT K6Co?ov Tzi m6st).38
Menander ex-
plains
what differentiates these
genres
from one another: it
is only the
arrangement
of the
parts.39 Another element of
interest to our
investigation, introduced in this text, is the
size of the
city
(LsyioryTlv T61tv).
The
topos of civic
beauty
can also be used in the "talk"
(aktd6)
which
belongs
to deliberative or
epideictic oratory.
The
predominant characteristic of this
genre
is the indul-
gence
in
stylistic elements and stories which
delight
the lis-
tener.40 For this
purpose the urban kallos must be stressed.41'
The same rules
apply to the
speech
of arrival42 and to
the
propemptic speech.43
In the latter Menander mentions
the
beauty
of the urban
buildings.44 In another
section of the
same treatise Menander refers
again
to the
important topos
of civic
beauty
(sTza Tz
Ka d
Log dzrg m6soEq).
Here at last the
city
is said to be beautified
by
its
splendid buildings
and
by
the size of its stoas and baths
(6paitiEszat pi&v ydp
ifl
6kt
KdckELtV
iEP(TV Kai
OzOV
Kai
kOUzpOv LpE'yOCtV).45
In the
leavetaking speech
(CouvzaczKT6g)
the theme of the kallos
of the
particular
urban structure must be
stressed.46
Again
the orator refers to the double function of the encomion of
the
city
in rhetoric: it is not
only
the thematic relevance
of the
topic (an
archon leaves a
city,
thus the
city
must be
praised
as kalliste in the broad sense of the word to
justify
the emotions caused
by
the
separation),
but also
stylistic
needs. In the
praise
(Ecatvog)
of the
city, "you
will
beautify
your speech
with
images, stories, illustrations,
and the other
pleasant devices, and
by
some
descriptions
of
porticoes,
harbors,
rivers and
groves"
(Ka)mo7Yost6 86
T
Ov koyov
Kcai
siK6dot Kai iozopfit

K
7tap43apokCi Kai tTal
UIkattg
you-
KUTzlOt
KUi KK(ppdopEacYFi
UtV
n
V
T ET()
ECaiV ZV( g
1
hsmgO, oYoTOv
Kati
,tJECvOV
Kati tTozTLaPOV
Kai
rctrly7v
K1ai
Kt
omCv...).47
Menander also recalls a basic
principle
of
oratory, namely
that it is
necessary
to
praise
the
city
as if it were the first and
to admire it as such.48 In this treatise there is
explicit
refer-
ence to the
ekphraseis
of the
temples.
Elements which must
be stressed are their
size,
the
harmony
of their
parts,
and the
beauty
of the
stone,
an element which is
found,
as we have
seen,
in earlier literature.49
We
may
therefore conclude that the
topos
of the
beauty
of the
city
is recommended
by
the orators of the late
Roman
empire
more for shorter
descriptions
and
praises
of
cities used in various rhetorical texts than for the encomion
of cities itself. We
may
thus state with
certainty
that this
topos,
found in brief
ekphraseis
of later
Byzantine
litera-
ture,
had its
origin
in the rhetorical tradition of the late Ro-
man
period.
It is
important
for our
investigation
to look at the
way
these recommendations of the famous orators were
applied
in
praises
of cities in these
early centuries, the most famous
being
the late
second-century
Panathenaikos of Aelius Aris-
tides and the
fourth-century
Antiochikos of Libanius. Aelius
Aristides uses all the traditional elements of the
city's praise:
description
of the
land,
the
sea,
the
climate,
the
people,
the
mythical beginning
of the
city,
the
generosity
of the ances-
tors,
a
lengthy
account of the historical
events,
the
great
urban
monuments, its cultural
achievements,
its
political
system. The topos of the kallos is
extensively used in a
variety
of contexts. First is the
geographical setting (the is-
lands, the mountains, etc.) which is beautiful and adorns the
city.50
Then comes the
greatest adornment of the land: men
("Of all the
things on earth, the most beautiful
thing
adorns
our land ... For she first
brought
forth man":
zflV
&A
?CLTC1-
patv 1XptV
KOCOS
TOWv
~chi
7l TO
KG110zTov
...
vIp&cTr1 ydp
fiveyKscv EivOponov:
#24). After
having praised the
great
achievements of the ancient Athenians, the orator remarks
that "for one
thing, it [Athens] adorned the
Acropolis with
39
monuments of its
deeds,
and added to its natural
beauty
the rival
beauty
of wealth and art"
(#191).~'
Thus it was
"becoming
fairer and
greater through
its
deeds, glory,
and
adornment"
(T64
K6~oLpm
Ka
e)ov
Te
Kati
Pi`mOv
yvoPtEvq).
The
surrounding
demoi are adorned more
gloriously
than
cities and "all the
beauty
(K6OcTov),
both natural and artifi-
cial
beauty, vying
with each other in the
city
and the coun-
tryside" (#351).
The
temples
of Athens are the
greatest
and
fairest
(Kdkktozot)
of all
(#354).
"This evidence of its
piety
is also a
testimony
to its
beauty
(Ka~ikoug)
and
greatness"
(#192).
The
Acropolis
itself is an adornment:
To0zo K-0dL)og
(#16).
The
Acropolis
as well as the other monuments of the
city
are
praised
with elaborate
figures
of
speech (#364).
But
it is the libraries which constitute "a
particular proper
or-
nament for Athens"
(TzJv AOrlvv K6oCLog oiKEiog:
#354).
The
city
is the
originator
of some
things
and of others it
pos-
sesses "the fairest
(K6aclktoza)
possible" (#375).
Thus the
city "might
be
praised
(KooLPoizo)
by
means of its own ad-
vantages" (#329).
In turn the
city
adorns both earth and sea
(#66);
its ancient
glorious
achievements have adorned
Greece
(#132),
while the Roman
empire
"is not
unwilling
to
adorn
(KOoTPEiv)
Athens as a teacher and foster father"
(#332).
Men have
praised
the
city
with "the
largest
number
and the fairest
(Ka)cktoTa)
compliments" (#400).
Aristides'
speech
is "an adornment
(K60cLog)
for the festival of the
Panathenaia"
(#404).
Equally developed
is the
topos
of the kallos in Aelius
Aristides'
praise
of Rome: Rome excels all the other cities
in
everything (#93).
With an elaborate
figure
of
speech
he
suggests
that all the
objects
of art and other adornments of
the Greek cities now decorate Rome.
Among
these a
pre-
dominant
position
is
occupied by Ionia ("a
leader in
beauty":
K
c 0i)ouq
,yLcp0v:
#95)
and Alexandria
("an
orna-
ment of
your
domain":
6yKEK)X)rtoCYPa
g
T
U'Pt6paq
yyovev flyEtpoviag:
#95).
The
importance
of the urban
beauty
in the culture of this
period
is illustrated in section
97: "All other rivalries between cities are
spent,
but this
one contention
possesses
them all,
how each one will
ap-
pear
most beautiful and most
charming" (Kh
ai
a
v
6aikkt
mdccaut
qtkovtKita
Tr
Trh k6btk
knthth)oihcitvU,
jiia
8E aiuzrT
Kat~TXEt ThdCYabg ?ptg, ij7)cg iOt
Kk)CoTrl"]
Kai
tl6{oTrl"
ai(UT
ErKcyTr q(pcavelCati).52
In Libanius' Antiochikos
(Or. XI)
the
commonplace
of
the
city's
kallos appears already
in the first section of the
speech:
the
speech
adorns the city
(KooLatfC
kd6yo,
zTilV
n6tyv).53
This topos will have a long
tradition in later
Byz-
antine literature. The structure of the
speech
follows the
rules of encomia: a
praise
of the site, the
surrounding
na-
ture, the sea, the climate, the
mythical
foundation of the
city, and its history; a description
of the contemporary
ad-
ministrative organization,
its wealth, and the educational
achievements, among
which rhetoric occupies a particular
place;
a praise of its beautiful buildings (#194); a descrip-
tion of the
city planning (the walls, the new city,
the
palace,
the
stoas, etc.),
the
suburbs,
the
surrounding villages
with
particular emphasis
on
Daphne,
the river and the harbor.
Antioch is
praised
as "the most beautiful
thing
in the most
beautiful land beneath the
sky"
(TY6g
COU'
o0pav
KcacCYTrl7g
TO
KacL)tc(Yov l"S
iC~oyv).54
The term kallos is reserved for
all the elements which constitute a
subject
of
praise:
the
abundance of its
products;
the
sea;
a famous
fountain;55
the
temples ("the temples
are an adornment of the
city
and a
guard post
of the
gods":
K6CYPOqg
TC TE
T?6ct KaEi qpuXacK1 TOSv
OSv adT dvcvcLKopa);
the
buildings ("gathering
from
every
side the
beauty
of
stones, they incorporated
the
beauty
of
the
buildings, shining
like
stars,
into the
city":
7rtavacXo6`v
Kdhrl Mmiov dOpoioEvzrEg CyK~ca"Pt?Iv
oio
SOlaPrlPdTmv
KcL'-
krl z1
TO
ozt 6iKrlv doaCYCp(ov
r
kCapnovtra);
its
location;
the
new
city;
the
palace;
the houses and the suburb
Daphne;
the
private baths;
and the
products
from all over the world.56
From all
points
of view the
city surpasses everything
in
beauty.57
The term kallos is also used to
designate
the moral
qualities
of the women of the
city
and of the
demos,
as well
as the citizens' achievements in the area of education.58
Another
interesting example
is to be found in Libanius'
Funeral Oration
(XVIII)
for the
emperor
Julian. In a
dispute
between two
Syrian
cities about
precedence,
the
following
arguments
were advanced:
beauty
(Kdkko0g)
for the
one,
on
account of its
proximity
to the sea and the
reputation
of one
of its
citizens;
for the
other,
the wisdom of a
foreigner
who
had chosen the
place
for
philosophical pursuits.
Julian did
not consider the
beauty
of the
buildings (r&v
imOwv
ayriv)
which both
possessed,
but he
judged
them
only
on account
of their intellectual
accomplishments.59
In the
panegyric
to
the
emperor Anastasius, Procopius
of Gaza would elaborate
on the theme of the benefactor
emperor,
the works of whom
decorate the cities. The walls restored
by
the
emperor
are
"the ornament which
provides security" (doq)Ik Ko'CYov).60
The
topos
of the kallos of the
city reappears
in other
speeches
of Libanius. In the XVth Oration
(The Embassy
to
Julian)
the
buildings
are considered an adornment of Anti-
och
(#14). Julian's intention to rebuild the
city, destroyed
by
the
Persians,
with marble
buildings
is
interpreted
as
"furnishing beauty
for the
city" (Tr mlk6ct
rMapcKE6U'eg
Kca)ko0:
Or.
XV, 52).61
The
topos
of the kallos has also been
identified in
descriptions
and
praises
of the
city
of Con-
stantinople
(KaXcktrotg)
in a
variety
of texts.62
These orations manifest a
significant departure
from
the theories of the earlier orators: it is obvious that in
praises
of cities of the late Roman
period
the
topos
of the urban
kallos was used more
extensively than had
originally
been
recommended by
the teachers of rhetoric.
Historiography of the early period.
The rhetorical theo-
ries had a significant
influence on the literary style
of his-
toriography.
In contrast with the rules of ancient Greek
historiography,
which aimed at educating
the reader, Ro-
man historiography began very early
to stress the necessity
40
of a
very
embellished and elaborate
style.
Thus histori-
ography
was defined as
very
close to
rhetoric, particularly
to
epideictic.63
It was recommended that the
historiographer
use various rhetorical
techniques,
in
particular
the
amplifi-
cation and a
very
elaborate narrative
appropriate
to
epideic-
tic.64
Historiographical
works were
appreciated especially
for their rhetorical
style.65 Quintilian
in his Institutio Orato-
ria explains
the
affinity
of
historiography
with
poetry
and
the need for elaborate
style.66 Hermogenes
classified histori-
ography
under
panegyric
because
historiographers
aim at
amplification
and at
giving pleasure
with the elaborate
style
of their
writing.67 Accordingly
Herodotus was
appreciated
more than
Thucydides,
because he is
"grander
and more
ap-
pealing"
(navrlyuptKcz pog Kaoi
K
t6iov).68
At the same time
some ancient
literary
critics felt that this trend distorted his-
toriography:
some historians were
reproached
for
being
more interested in
creating
an elaborate
style according
to
the rules of rhetoric than in
investigating
the historical
truth. The result was that their works had become mere
encomia,69
and the use of
topoi,
such as
digressions
of ek-
phraseis,
became a rule.70
In the context of this
literary
tradition we can under-
stand the use of
ekphraseis
of cities and the
topos
of the
urban kallos in the
historiography
of the
early Byzantine
period. Evagrius,
for
instance, explains
the
purpose
of the
urban adornments:
"they
are devised for
magnificence
and
distinction,
or
summoning
to
public
or
private
function"
(Tzi
r6tdt
Kdclh
l, 1
mrpbg
To
yc
1
akolrpcEC
K
Kai
dLrapcdp3rlzov
1rlOKlLavLva, t npog Kotvwg
1
i&StoaztKd KakoOvzTa XpEiac).71
In his account of the restoration of Daras in the sixth
century,
Evagrius
states that
walls, beautiful
buildings, churches,
charitable
institutions,
stoas and
public
baths are the ele-
ments which adorn the cities of distinction
(ai n
rtoyltot zTOv
/6rEO)V
yK
aXk)01)7i OV1at).72
Procopius'
work constitutes a remarkable
example
of
the use of the
topos
of kallos in both
historiography (The
History
of the
Wars)
and in his
purely
rhetorical
work,
The
Buildings.
In the
History
the
topos
of the urban kallos
ap-
pears only
in brief
descriptions
of cities. Thus Antioch is
praised
as the first
among
all
Byzantine
cities of the East in
wealth,
in
size,
in
population,
in
beauty
(KCdEkkt),
and in
prosperity
of
every
kind. In another
passage Procopius
praises
Antioch for "the
beauty
and
splendor
in
every
re-
spect"
(z6 ZE KdLhog Kai zTO g fitavza
~Tcyakotpcmrt),
while
the
buildings which had
collapsed
in an
earthquake in 526
were "most beautiful"
(dkktorza).73
A similar
description is
reserved for Rome: Totila was
planning
to raze Rome to the
ground, "and he was on the
point also of
burning
the finest
(zT Kcdkktora)
and most
noteworthy
of the
buildings and
making Rome a
sheep-pasture..."74
In the
following pas-
sage Procopius explains the reaction of Belisarius to Toti-
la's
plans. The creation of civic
beauty
is the work of men
who know to live an urban life: "While the creation of
beauty
in a
city which has not been beautiful before could
only proceed
from men of wisdom who understand the
meaning
of civilization, the destruction of
beauty
which
already
exists would be
naturally expected only
of men who
lack
understanding,
and who are not ashamed to leave to
posterity
this token of their
character.""75
Further on, the citi-
zens of Rome are
praised
as
loving
their
city
(pitkot6nkt&g)
for
they
had tried to
preserve
their
city
"so that
nothing
of the ancient
glory (To0 cnakato
Kcy6oou)
of Rome
may
be obliterated."
Although "they
were for a
long period
under barbarian
sway, they preserved
the
buildings
of the
city
and most of its adornments"
(T)v
,yKaxWhmrtoCLT(OV
zT
recYTira).76
In two other
passages
the term kallos is used in
a
general
sense: when
destroyed by enemy
action
nothing
is
left of their former
kallos.77
In
only
one
passage
in
Procop-
ius'
History
is a
city (the city Apsyrtus
near
Lazica)
adorned
with the traditional civic
structures, a theatre and a
hippo-
drome
(6ip
Tp Kai
6
o

irrpo6plom
tah0rZo).78
In the
Buildings, however, the urban kallos constitutes
a
commonplace.
The
emperor
is
praised
because he adorned
the cities of the
Empire
with all the traditional urban fea-
tures: theatres, hippodromes, agoras,
churches. The idea can
be traced back in the earlier orators.
Hermogenes
in his Pro-
gymnasmata,
for
example,
stressed the
importance
of the ur-
ban institutions: men are
happy,
if
they
have a house, gather
in the ekklesia, go
to the theater, and
please
their souls with
all sorts of
spectacles.79 In Procopius'
Secret
History,
as in
Evagrius'
work mentioned above, the ancient civic institu-
tions are described as the cities' adornment
(Toij
K6?ICpOUg
Kai dU cyKcaahkkJicXLtara):
the
attorneys (rhetores), physi-
cians, teachers, the civic
revenues, theaters,
hippodromes,
circuses.80 In
Procopius' works, therefore,
the
literary
tradi-
tion
provides
a model for the use of the
topos
of the
city's
kallos: in the
Buildings,
which is an encomion of the
great
restoration programme
of
Justinian,
the
topos
of the urban
kallos is
predominant,
in accordance with the rules of the en-
comia; in the
History,
which
adopts
the
principles
of clas-
sical
historiography,
the use of this
topos
is
very
much
limited.
Finally,
a
passage
of
Agathias' History
is
particularly
revealing
of the
persistence
of the
topos
of the urban kallos
in
early Byzantine historiography:
. . . "another small town
which
despite
its extreme
smallness,
its lack of
beauty
and
generally
unattractive
appearance
is called
Kallipolis." Aga-
thias justifies its name
by the
beauty of the
surrounding
nature: "the
surrounding country is
graced with fields and
roadsteads dotted with a
great variety
of trees and blessed with
streams of good drinking
water and with a rich, fertile soil that
produces a plentiful store of all the necessaries of life."81
The imperial legislation. Imperial legislation on
public
buildings provides insight into the aesthetic considerations
of early Byzantine society regarding
the cities. The consti-
tutions contained in the Books XV, 1 of the Codex Theodo-
sianus and VIII, 11 of the Codex Justinianus (de operibus
41
publicis)
date from the
year
338 until 472
(not
all decrees
contained
originally
in the CJ have been
preserved). They
deal with the radical
changes
in urban
public space.
Since the
beginning
of the fourth
century
administrative and cultural
developments
resulted in
profound
transformations of an-
cient
city planning: public buildings
had been abandoned
and were
falling
into
decay,
or
they
had been
deprived
of
their
sculptural ornaments,
which had been transferred to
other
public buildings
of
larger
cities or to residences of
pri-
vate individuals. Aesthetic considerations had dictated a se-
ries of decrees with which the
emperors
had tried to end this
practice.
In most of these constitutions the
public buildings
are
presented
as an embellishment of the
cities,
while their
sculptural
elements constitute their ornaments.
Thus,
for
example,
in the first decree cited in the CTh
15, 1,
1 of the
year
357 we read: "No man shall
suppose
that
municipalities
may
be
deprived
of their own
ornaments,
since indeed it was
not considered
right by
the ancients that a
municipality
should lose its
embellishments,
as
though they
should be
transferred to the
buildings
of another
city."82
A constitution
of the
year
365
(CTh 15, 1, 16)
refers to "ornaments of cit-
ies and their marble embellishments"
(ornamenta
urbium ac
decora
marmorum).
In other constitutions
governors
are for-
bidden "to tear from
any
structure
any
ornament of bronze or
marble or
any
other material which can be
proved
to have
been in serviceable use or to constitute an ornamentation in
any municipality."83
A decree of the
emperors Gratian, Val-
entinian and Theodosius orders the demolition of all
private
structures erected in
public space
for aesthetic
reasons.84
Similar measures were taken
by
the
emperors
Arcadius and
Honorius
(CTh 15, 1, 45;
a.
406) regarding
the
contemporary
structures which
private
individuals had set
up
in the
space
between the columns of
porticoes
of
Constantinople.
It
ap-
pears, however,
that this law was not
enforced,
and thus a
constitution of the
emperor
Zenon written in Greek
(CJ 8,
10, 12, 6b)
orders that these structures be covered
up
with
slabs of marbles in order to
give beauty (Kaikko?)
to the
city
and
pleasure
(WuXcay7yilv)
to those who
pass by.
Another de-
cree of the CTh
15, 1,
50 orders the erection of a
portico
in
front of the Baths of Honorius and
explains
that "the
beauty
(decus)
thereof is so
great
that
private advantage may
justifiably
be
slightly neglected."
Each one of the
private
individuals who
possessed properties
behind the
portico
was
also allowed as
compensation
to build
superstructures
so that
he
may "rejoice both in the beauty
of the
City
and also in an
increase of his own fortune."
Specific buildings
such as the
assembly
halls of the
professors are praised
for both their
size and
beauty,
and
they constitute an ornamentation for the
city (CTh 15, 1, 53; a. 425). A Novel of
Majorian
of the
year
458 refers to the same
subject
in a more direct
way:
"the
pub-
lic
buildings
in which the adornment of the entire
City
of
Rome consists . . . the beautiful structures of the ancient
buildings
are
being
scattered . .
.
these
things
which belong
to the
splendor
of the cities
ought
to be
preserved by
civic
affection . . . "
(4, 1).
In the same sources the ornaments of
the monuments are
basically
their
sculptural
elements.85
The
picture
that
emerges
from these
legislative
texts is
revealing
and it coincides with evidence from other sources.
Thus,
for
example,
in Themistius' Oration "On the
Embassy
for
Constantinople"
(IPEPECo3U1Kog
6
tiC KcvoCvcavZcvouot6-
X?c)
the
capital
is
KaXLito[ktg,
constantly
adorned
by
the
emperors.86
Other sources. The theme of the kallos of the
city
also
ap-
pears
late in
epigrams.
This
may
be
exemplified by
contrast-
ing
two
epigrams
on the
city
of
Ephesus
from different
historical
periods.
The
first,
written
by
Duris of
Elaea,
refers
to the destruction of the
city by
flood around 290 B.c. The
poet
mentions the
private dwellings
and the
personal
wealth
of the citizens rather than the
public buildings.
The theme of
the
"beauty"
is absent:
Misty clouds, how, drinking
bitter
waters,
did
you
obliterate
everything
with
unrelenting
darkness?
Not
Libya's,
but of unfortunate
Ephesus
those countless
homes and
possessions
from fortunate
ages.
Where did the saviour
gods
then turn their
eyes?
Alas for much-famed ladon.
All those
things,
like
rolling waves,
rushed into the sea with
spreading
torrents.87
In another
epigram
on the destruction of the same
city
by earthquake
in
A.D.
554 written
by
John Barbucallus the
topos
of the kallos is introduced in a
strong figure
of
speech:
This wretched
city,
a
city
no
longer,
I lie mixed
with
nine-year corpses, all-hapless.
Hephaistos
subdued me amid the turmoil of the
Earthshaker
Alas,
after much
great beauty,
I am ashes.
But
step
forward and lament
my
fate
And
pour
a tear for
perished
Beirut.88
Christian literature.
Despite
the anti-urban
message
of
early Christianity,89
Christian literature soon
adopted pagan
traditional motives and conventions of urban
life,
while at
the same time cities
adopted
Christian institutions such as
churches,
cemeteries and saints.90 In Christian literature of
the
early
centuries the ideal of ascetic life coexists with the
imagery
of urban life. Christian literature also
adopted the
topos of urban
beauty.91
For
example,
in the
Thirty-third
Homily
of
Gregory
of Nazianzus the topos is introduced in
a
splendid contrast of urban life with the solitude in a rural
settlement.
Gregory
cites his
opponent's reproach: "Your
city
is small, one should not call it a
city, but an
ugly village
without
any delight
and with
very
few
inhabitants."'92
Gre-
gory argues
then that, if he is found in this situation, i.e.,
away
from a
city,
it is
against
his will; he is
only tolerating
42
the misfortune. If he had
deliberately
chosen the
place,
he
would have
given
himself to
contemplation.
His
opponent
praises
the
splendors
of
Constantinople:
its fortifications,
theaters, hippodromes, palaces,
the beautiful and
long
stoas
(Ka6k0r ozo&Jv
Kai
acy~0rP),
the
great
stele with Constan-
tine's
statue,
a market
place
with abundance of all kinds of
products,
active citizens and a wise council.93 In this ac-
count there are obvious similarities with the earlier
praises
of cities and with Libanius' Antiochikos.
Gregory
reveals
his excellent
knowledge
of the rhetorical treatises on enco-
mia when he remarks that in this encomion one element
had been
omitted,
the
superb
location of the
capital
on land
and sea. In the
following passage
of the
Homily
he ex-
presses
an emotional reaction to the ancients' obsession
with urban life:
"so,
do we have to die
(Kai 6Ei
Z6TOvvav
pagt),
because we did not build either a
city,
or
walls, hip-
podromes, stadium, places
for hunt and the related insane
customs
(paviatg),
or
magnificent
baths with luxurious mar-
bles and other
painted
or embroidered decorations?" Fol-
lowing
the rhetorical
rules,
he
suggests
that one could add a
few more elements to the
praise
of the
city,
such as wealth.
With reference to the
occupations
of the citizens he con-
cludes: in his site,
life is
very simple
and it can be
compared
to that of
animals,
it is
"unequipped
and artless"
(6GKCuog
Kai
avEntCl8ui6uto0).94
Further he uses another
topos
of the
city's
encomion: the
city
is
glorified by great
men.95 This
topos
will be utilized
by biographers
of
saints.96
Early
on the
city's praise
became a standard element in
hagiography,
which is
actually
the Christian version of the
encomion. The close relation of the Vitae of saints to the en-
comion is made clear in a
splendid way by
St. Basil in the
Seventeenth
Homily
on the
martyr Gordius,
which has not
been
yet
utilized
by
scholars. In the
introduction,
in a
figure
of
speech,
St. Basil describes the Christian festival
honoring
the saint with a civic
vocabulary:
"for now the
people
first
poured
from the
city,
as if from
beehives,
and in a mass took
possession
of the ornament before the
city,
this
holy
and
beautiful
place
of the
martyrs" (Niv
y7p 86 71poTov
6
0a6g,,
olovei acJipPo)v ztvv, zO g
6 T
X o
npoxu0~evTr
,
z6v Tpond-O-
kEov
KOCYpOV, TOZ aPVOV
TOUTO
Kai
ItdyKcatov
TCJv
papT6pU0v
odStcLov,
rtav6r7psi
KaTCraflhi(pacYtV).97
Then he
explains
that
his
Homily
is an encomion. The encomion of a saint or mar-
tyr
is
justified
with a
quotation
from the
Scriptures:
accord-
ing
to Solomon, people
will be
delighted by
the encomion of
a
just
man.98
Although
the
speeches
of orators or
logogra-
phoi
aim at
surprising
the listeners, people
are
pleased with
their elaborate
style,
the invention of
arguments and their
structure, the
pompous and harmonious words; in contrast,
the Christian praise would
produce spiritual pleasure by
mentioning only
in
simple
words the achievements of the
martyrs, which thus become
prototypes
for imitation. All
other encomia consist of
amplifications, while in
martyrs'
encomia the truth of their action is sufficient to show their
great virtue. Thus, he concludes, when we
give
an account
of the saints'
lives, in the first
place
we
praise
God
by prais-
ing
those who were his servants. We
praise
the
martyrs only
with the available evidence
(8th Tg
laptupictag
v
otlPEv)
and not
by exaggerating
and
amplifying
the real
events;
people get pleasure only by listening
to
good
deeds and not
from an elaborate rhetorical
style.99
Therefore Christian
preaching
should not follow the rules of rhetoric
("the holy
place
of
teaching
does not know the conventions of enco-
mia":
o0K
o 6Ev oUv
E77aKY)CiV
v6pov ZTb
O" ov
61tSaCYKa-
kXiov),
for it is based on the evidence of acts.
According
to
the rules of
encomion,
the
place
of
origin
of the
praised
person
must be
examined,
as well as his social
background
and education.100 St. Basil enumerates all the elements of
the
city praise: great achievements,
particularly
victories in
wars, location, climate,
fertility
of the
land,
etc. But the
Christian orator does not need these formulas of
rhetoric,
for
he aims at
praising
the virtues of the
martyr.
Despite
this
repudiation
of the norms of
rhetoric,
St.
Basil starts the encomion of the
martyr
Gordius with a tra-
ditional rhetorical clich6: "He was born in this
very city,
that is
why
we love him
very much,
for this adornment
(K6GIpog)
is
ours."'101
We have seen that in Menander's trea-
tise on
epideictic rhetoric, the achievements of the citizens
are
praised
as an embellishment.102 In the
propemptic speech
Menander uses the
topos inversely:
as someone can be beau-
tified
by wealth,
likewise it is
appropriate
to
suggest
that the
archon is adorned
by
the
greatest
of the cities.103 Thus the to-
pos
of the Christian saint whose virtue adorns his
city
of or-
igin
is
simply
an extension of a traditional rhetorical clich6
already
recommended
by
teachers of rhetoric.
John
Chrysostom provides
a few
interesting passages
along
these lines. In his Nineteenth
Homily
Eig Tzog
dv6pt-
avzTa,
he
reproduces
the theme
referring
to the social and
political
order of civic life: if Christians
respect
the law for-
bidding
the
oath, they
will embellish themselves and their
city.104 For,
while the other cities are
praised
on account of
their
harbors,
the market
place,
the abundance of
products,
Antioch will be
glorified
on account of its inhabitants' virtue
("this
will be embellishment and
security
for
you": -oiro
6piV K6(YpO
E
iEat1
Kai
dy(pd~ista).105
In the Seventeenth
Homily
Eig tzoi dv6ptidvTa,
he elaborates on the theme
by
contrasting
it with the traditional elements of encomion:
what is
important
and becomes an adornment of Antioch is
neither the fact that it is
a
metropolis,
nor its size, nor the
beauty
of its
buildings, nor the number of its columns, its
large porticoes and
gardens, nor its elevated status
among
the other cities, but the virtue and
piety
of its inhabitants.106
The theme is also extended to the adornment of the Church
by good Christians
("today they beautified the
city
for us
and adorned the Church":
di -Tiv nt6Xyv
jllaiv CK0cLXltoUcv
cOrlpEpov
Kai Tfiv
'EKKXcriCav cK6c0priflaV).107
It is
important
to note here that the
spiritual kallos is a basic Christian con-
cept. Deriving
from
pagan philosophy,
it
developed .into a
highly elaborate theme in Christian literature.108
43
The Life of St. Thecla offers another excellent ex-
ample
of the use of
city imagery
in
early hagiography.
In the
introduction,
the
biographer
announces that he is
writing
a
history,
an account of old
deeds,109 echoing
St. Basil's
argu-
ments that the
praise
of a saint is not based on rhetorical am-
plification,
but on true evidence. The
biographer
follows an
older version of the saint's life. He declares that
by writing
a new Vita he does not intend to
"say anything more,
or more
beautiful or more
precise
than what was said before"
(o3X
63
Epoivtg tt ktXEov,
tElptlKaXXYopov,
jyouv
dKpt3oTEpov
T
tv ntdXat
rjeOvt0ov).
Therefore
beautifying
details should
not be considered as
amplification,
but rather as
supplying
greater precision. Accordingly,
the theme of
"beauty"
is
ap-
propriate
to Vitae defined as
"history,"
because it
provides
accuracy,
the basis of historical
investigation.
While histo-
riographers
aimed at
reporting
the historical events so that
they
would not be
forgotten, however,
he writes the Vita with
the aim of
adorning
himself.110
Further in the Vita we find an elaborate encomion of
the
city
of Seleucia with all the elements defined
by
orators:
its
position
in the
surrounding area, proximity
to the
sea,
the
river
Calycandus (this
account is
particularly lengthy);
the
city
itself is
praised
as "admirable and
very
beautiful"
(Oau-
i'acia,
idX'a apticottl),
of a
great size;
it is so
splendid
(kanLrtp"
Kai
xitizaptg)
that it
surpasses
all the other
cities;
it
competes
with Tarsus
regarding
its
climate,
the abundance
of
products,
the
easily
accessible
water,
the
delights
of the
baths,
the
magnificent ruling class,
the intellectual activities
of its
citizens,
the
joyous
nature of the
demos,
the
eloquence
of the
orators,
the
great
achievements of the
military men;
Tarsus
surpasses
Seleucia
only
in that it had been Paul's
fatherland. I1
In another section of the Vita we find the theme of the
beauty
of the church dedicated to the saint. This
topos
will
be
developed
in Christian literature to the
degree
that it will
often
replace
the theme of the urban kallos. But in St. The-
cla's Vita the
imagery
of the ancient
city
was still so
pow-
erful that the
hagiographer
is
using
it as a
point
of reference
in his
praise
of the saint's church: the church is
compared
to
a
city
in terms of its
plan,
the needs which it
serves,
and its
beauty ("its church,
or rather
city,
for it has further been
built around into the
form,
function and
beauty
of a
city":
T 7v yovv
vabv adtig
i7youv
Kai-c-t6'tv
Kai
7yp ig rt6XCo g
Xotrbyv
ntpt~XflhXtlar
KQai
Xflija Kai %psiav
Kai
Q
,LX0og).ll2
We find the same
imagery
in the
description
of the church
of the
Apostle
Barnabas in
Cyprus
in the Vita written
by
Alexandros Monachos from
Cyprus.
The church was built
on the site where the relics of the saint were found. It was
very large, splendid
in construction, and even more in the
variety
of decoration (Tfi
nototkit trig
StaKoopceioog),
sur-
rounded by
stoas. On the one side there was a
courtyard
with
porticoes
and the residence of the monks; an
aqueduct
brought
water from a distant place
into a
very
beautiful wa-
ter fountain in the middle of the courtyard; many buildings
for the pilgrims'
accommodation were also
appended
to the
complex.
In terms of
beauty,
the entire site was
comparable
to a small and
pleasant city."'113 In other lives of saints the
beauty
of a church is defined in terms of
buildings
as well
as in terms of revenues.114 In the
hagiographical
sources
also the
topos
of the
beauty
of baths and their
idyllic
natural
setting
is often
found."5
The
topos
of the kallos of the churches is used in two
ways
in the literature of this
period:
the churches are an
adornment of the
cities,1l6 or the churches themselves are
described as beautiful. The architectural features of the
churches
give
them
beauty
as do the decorative elements
such as
paintings, mosaics,
marble
stones, gold, silver,
and
precious
stones.117 We have seen such a
description
in the
Vita of the
Apostle
Barnabas. The
Epitaph
of the
bishop
Eugenius
of Laodicea Combusta on a marble
sarcophagus
offers another
example:
"... . I rebuilt the whole church
from its foundations with all the adornments around
it,
namely
the
porticoes,
the
tetrastoa,
the
paintings,
the mo-
saics,
the
water-fountain,
the
porch
and all the works of the
stone-masons."l18 In most
texts the size and the
beauty
of
the churches are the two
complementary
elements
worthy
of
praise.119
As we will
see,
this
topos
is
particularly
used
in later
descriptions
of cities. In some texts such
as,
for
example,
in a
description
of the church of St.
Euphemia
at
Chalcedon,
the
idyllic
natural
surroundings beautify
the
churches.120 In the same
text,
the church
facing
Constanti-
nople
is beautified
by
the view of the
capital.121 Often,
if the
church had been built on a
pagan site,
the
topos
is used
to contrast the beautified Christianized site to the
previous
pagan
one.122
The
topos
of the
beauty
of the church is also found in
early Byzantine historiography.
Instructive in this
respect
is
a
passage
of
Agathias
on Saint
Sophia.
After a
lengthy
account of the church as it was built
by Justinian,
he notes
that it was not relevant for his work to
praise
all the won-
derful features of the
church,123 for this was offered in the
encomion of Paul Silentiarius. Indeed in the
ekphrasis
of
Saint
Sophia by
Paul Silentiarius the
topos
of the kallos is
found in various contexts and in
compound poetic words,124
as well as in the
ekphrasis
of the ambon.'25 A number of
other words are also used to describe the
beauty
and
splen-
dor of the
building
and its
particular
elements:
bright, shine,
amazement, delight, delicate, gleaming (dyka6k,
auRneo,
OidL3og,
Ydpit,
d3p6g, <pat6Sp6,
and
adjectives compound
with Ec-). It is
important
to note that
already
in this
early pe-
riod the
variety
(nottolKia)
of the architectural
parts
and other
decorative elements is considered as
giving beauty
to the
churches.126 It is
mainly
in the ecclesiastical literature of this
early period
that the kallos of the churches is stressed as far
superior
to that of the famous
objects
of art which
glorify
some cities; in the Christian era the churches make some cit-
ies renowned.127 Another element which beautifies churches
is the relics of saints.128
Finally
the topos of the city
kallos is also used in vari-
ous allegorical contexts in Christian literature: a
passage
of
44
Theodore of
Mopsuestia
stresses the urban kallos in a
pas-
sage referring
to the creation of the world.129
Thus the
city imagery pervades
Christian literature of
the
early
centuries in a
variety
of forms. The
topos
of the ur-
ban kallos is
very frequently
used even in texts in which the
traditional clich6s of rhetoric were
refuted,
while at the same
time the kallos of the churches
develops
into a
typically
Christian theme.
Later
Byzantine
Rhetoric
Later
Byzantine
orators
preserved
the ancient conventions
of rhetoric. Effusive
praise
is recommended as a basic ele-
ment in most
genres
of literature. Thus
amplification
was
necessary.
An
interesting analysis
of the
subject
with its
jus-
tification is
given by Doxopatres
in his Homilies on
Aphtho-
nius.130 The encomion is defined not as a
simple
account of
events but as an
amplification.131
In the same treatise Doxo-
patres
defines the encomion of cities as
being
threefold: it
includes the
site,
the
size,
and the
beauty
of the
city.
A
historical account of the
origin
of the
city
and its
description
are also
essential.132
Byzantine
authors of all
literary genres,
particularly orators,
make extensive use of the
topos
of the
kallos, referring
to
physical
or
spiritual beauty.133
Later
Byzantine
encomia of cities. The crisis of urban
life after the sixth
century
is
clearly
reflected in the absence
of
descriptions
of cities in the literature of the
following
cen-
turies. The
development
of the urban centers after the tenth
century
created of course a new interest in
cities,
but it was
only
in the last
period
of the
Byzantine history
with the
influence of humanism that intellectuals wrote encomia of
cities. 134
John Phocas' lone
twelfth-century ekphrasis
of the cit-
ies of the
Holy
Land follows the earlier rhetorical clich6s.
The
topos
of the urban
beauty
is reserved for the traditional
features of the cities: for the stoas of Antioch-thus
echoing
Libanius-and its
idyllic nature,135 for
the natural
setting
of
Beirut,136 for
the walls and the
buildings
of
Tripolis,137
for
the
buildings
and the harbor of
Tyre,138
and for the churches
of
Antioch, Nazareth,
Jerusalem and Bethlehem.139
The
topos
of the urban kallos then
appears
in
particu-
larly developed
form in the encomion of Trebizond written
by
Bessarion. The author would adorn the city with his
speech. Almost all the elements of the
city
are described as
beautiful: the site, the rivers, the
city itself, the
products
im-
ported
from all
places-called
zt
KcLor~Ta,
the climate, the
products
of its own
territory,
the houses, the site in which it
had been founded, the achievements of its inhabitants, its
political system,
the suburbs, the
palace,
the churches. The
city itself is so
great that no speech could adorn it
appropri-
ately.
We also find the familiar
topos
of the earlier literature,
that of the
city being
an adornment for its inhabitants.140
John
Eugenikos wrote an encomion
(ymoCtlat'ztKri
CKcppacLtg)
of Trebizond, an encomion of Corinth, and an
ekphrasis
of a town
(Ko3pqg KEpcrqpaYg).
In the
praise
of Tre-
bizond two elements are
particularly
stressed: the
security
offered to the
city by
its
strong fortifications,141
and the
beauty
of the
countryside
and the churches.142 In the last
paragraph
of the encomion Trebizond is
praised
as the most
beautiful
(Kakkiozr),
a
pleasure
for the
author,
a relief for
weariness and for the
emperor's sadness, consolation,
a small
ostentation to the
emperors,
a
present
to the
city
itself.143
In
the encomion of Corinth it is the Christian tradition that
adorns the
city:
the churches
beautify it,
and it is correct that
the fairest
(KakkimTzl)
and foremost of all cities has been dedi-
cated to St. Paul.144 In the encomion of an
anonymous
town
again
the
topos
of the kallos is
fully developed.
The town
adorns its inhabitants
"day by day
with its
beauty"
(tzO Ka6'
fllaPpav zooi
rtap'
E;auzT
KaidcYt).
Its location is the
prettiest
in the
Peloponnesus
and in
Laconia;
she is adorned with the
most beautiful
climate;
the tower in the middle of the town
is an
adornment,
work of its
inhabitants;
three churches beau-
tify
the
tower;
the
surrounding
nature is full of charms: the
trees "are
perfecting
a
beauty beyond
words"
(Kdikgo piq(Pov
datpyacoptE'v);
the
beauty
of the
vineyards
and of the mead-
ows is stressed in the
concluding paragraph.145
In another
ekphrasis
of John
Eugenikos,
the
praise
of
Imbros,
the
topos
of
beauty
is used in
descriptions
of the
natural
setting
of the island and of its two cities.146
Theodore Metochites in a
praise
of Nicaea defines the
city
encomion in terms of the
beauty
of the
literary style.
In
contrast to the silent admiration of a
city,
the written en-
comion is an
expression
of love of
beauty (here beauty-
qtkCKakog?refers
to the embellished
literary style
of the
encomion).147
The
city
of
Nicaea,
referred to as the most
beautiful
('~ KaLio
rnTr1
t6kt),
is the fatherland of Meto-
chites.148 The
praise
includes an allusion to the
glorious past,
a detailed
description
of the site which
gives security
and has
charm,149
the
sea,
the
rivers,
the
lake,
the
plains
and their de-
lights;
the
plants
are
praised
as
particularly
beautiful.150 The
walls of the
city
are admired for their
strong
construction.
They guarantee
the
security
of the
city
and at the same time
they
are
charming
and
admirable,
their
beauty
cannot be sur-
passed
(K6daog lapaXov).151
The
great emphasis
on the
beauty
of
the walls is a new element in the
praise
of the
cities,
re-
flecting
the new conditions in which the medieval cities had
to
function;
it is also found in the
Byzantine historiography
and
chronography.
With
reference
to the
buildings
of
the
city, while the baths offer
pleasure,152
it is the churches and
monasteries "which
belong
to the
truly spiritual life...,
for their ornament is
great"
(
6~
Tig Kpcizzovog 6vTOg
tohtzia;
...
TCoXkg jlhV
6
~K60CoYg).153
The charitable institu-
tions are admired for the
beauty of their construction
(zt6
Kcdog zTv oiKo860olrvi?T)V).154
These
buildings
are "the
ornaments of
beauty"
civ&
zoi Kc~LdouS d&ydkaca,
the
monuments of the
philosophical contemplation of Chris-
tians. Metochites
expresses his aesthetic
concepts of
beauty
in the
description of the churches of Nicaea. The kallos of
most of them cannot be
described.'55
But the element which
45
constitutes their kallos and charis is the
variety
(notkltfia)
of
materials, patterns
and colors in the decoration of the
interior.156 The result of the combination of these various
elements is defined with an aesthetic
concept
known from
classical
art,
the
proportion
of crafted
harmony
(ooptropAvr'l
TflV
vakoyiav Iilg
Apiovia)).157
Even
gold gives beauty
with
its riches.158 The
resulting
effect is charm and balanced
pro-
portions.159 Along
the same
lines,
the decorative elements
adorn the icons. The church of St.
Tryphon
is
especially
praised
for the
pleasure
and the fame that it
gives
to the
city.'60
The second
part
of the encomion includes an account
of the
history
of Nicaea with
particular emphasis
on the
ecclesiastical
history.
In
summing up,
Nicaea
surpasses
all
other cities in the location and nature of its
land, the
length
of its
wall,
the charm and the
beauty
of its
buildings.161
Evidence of the
city's beauty
is the
emperor's
care for it.
62
Accounts of
conquests
of cities
belong
to the same lit-
erary genre,
the
encomion,
and follow most of its formal ele-
ments. An account of the
occupation
of Thessalonica
by
the
Arabs in
July
904 is
given by
John
Kameniates:
the
city
is
praised
as
large
and
preeminent among
those in
Macedonia,
its
strong
walls
guarantee
the
security
of its
inhabitants,
its
prosperity
is assured
by
its harbor and the sea
trade,
the land
around the
city
is
praised
as
very
beautiful.163 In
particular
the land to the west is adorned
by
churches.164 Thessalonica
enjoys
the
products
from its land and from
long-distance
trade and it is beautified
by magnificent buildings
and the
intellectual achievements of its inhabitants.165 Its churches
are
large
and decorated with a
variety
of adornments.166
The fall of Thessalonica to the Normans in 1185 is the
subject
of an encomion of Eustathius of Thessalonica. At the
outset the author states that he will include deviations on
theological subjects,
and he will embellish the
style
with
various
elements, particularly ekphraseis;167
he will also
try
to
keep
a balance between the
tragic
nature of the event and
his desire to thank
God,
in accordance with his Christian
principles,
for an excessive embellishment of
style
is not
appropriate
to an account of sad events.168 Further
referring
to the
pillage
of the
city,
he mentions its ancient
beauty
(nakat&d
Kakkovi).169
In another passage
Thessalonica is
praised
as
Kaki.170
The
topos
of the kallos is likewise
applied
to the
military equipment.'71
Equally
embellished with the
topos
is the account of the
last
occupation of Thessalonica
by Ioannes Anagnostes,172
with
particular emphasis
on the kallos of the churches,173
while the disorder
(dKooJpia)
of the
city
after its
occupation,
compared
to a
garment appropriate
for
mourning,
is con-
trasted to the
previous orderly appearance
and adornment.'74
The topos of the kallos is
employed
to embellish a
jiov86ia
of
Anagnostes
on the same historical event, writ-
ten in a
highly poetic style.175
There is no doubt that an
elaborate
literary style
dictates the use of the
topos
of the
urban kallos. The above texts
may
be contrasted with the
narrative of John Kananos on the fall of
Constantinople,
written in a
very simple style,
from which the
topos
of the
kallos is absent.176
In the same
literary genre
we should
classify
a letter of
Manuel
Chrysoloras
addressed to the
emperor
John Palaeo-
logus.177
The letter is written in a
highly classicizing style.
In the
beginning
there is a reference to Antioch's
beauty
praised by many,
with
particular
allusions to Libanius and
John
Chrysostom.
Famous cities of the East are
praised
on
account of their
magnificent
ancient
monuments,
still visi-
ble.178
The ancient
capital
of the Roman
empire, Rome,
is
equally praised
for its
monuments,
although
most of them
had vanished either
through passage
of time or because
they
were used as
quarries
for metal and stones.
Constantinople
had also suffered from
dilapidation
to such a
degree
that one
could say
that it had nourished itself from its own
parts.
In
spite
of
this,
its ancient
glory
can be discerned from the
remaining vestiges
and
columns,
as well as the
great
size and
beauty
of its monuments: not
only
were
they
beautiful when
they
were
standing
in their
original form,
but even the
remaining parts
of them maintain their
beauty
(KaQ6).
Many
of them had been
brought
to Rome from
Greece,
as one can
see from the letters of the
inscriptions. They
are "of the most
beautiful and ancient
type" (Toi
KckkCYTou
Kai dp~aiou
rc6nou).'79
These
objects
of art
testify
to the wealth and
great
achievements of the
inhabitants,
and to their love for
beauty
(q(tkoKakia).180
The ancient monuments of Rome are
praised
as
large
and beautiful: the
walls,
the
aqueducts,
the
porti-
coes,
the
palaces,
the
bouleuteria, the
forum,
the
baths,
the
theatres, the
triumphal arches, etc.181 The view of Rome
from outside is
equally
beautiful and
pleasant:
the
walls,
the
location of the
city,
the flow of the
river,
the
grace
of the
fields,
of the
suburbs,
and of the villas.182 It is
interesting
to
note that even in this text
inspired by
the
antiquarian spirit
of the
Renaissance,
the
description
of the churches
occupies
a central
place.'83
The
description
of
Constantinople
starts with a state-
ment of its
superiority
to Rome: founded out of
competition
with the ancient
capital,
New Rome was built
larger
and
more beautiful than the
old.184
Constantinople
received its
kallos from
Rome,
as if it were the
lighting
of a fire or a
ray
of sunshine.185
Chrysoloras
follows the traditional rules of
the encomia: he
praises
the
site,
the
harbor,
the
strong walls;
all the arts had been used to
beautify it;186 Chrysoloras
refers
to the
magnificence of the houses and the churches and re-
marks on the streets, covered in medieval fashion;'87 among
all the
buildings of the
capital
the
topos
of the kallos is re-
served
only
for the
palaces. Further the suburbs are
praised
as competing with the
city
itself in
beauty.'88 Particular
emphasis is
placed on the walls in a
passage
which is
worthy
of mention: "a settlement becomes and receives the name of
a
city
from its walls"
(n6itv
-E
npTzo
dit6
TJv
TetLv
qpaiveOV
t,
Kil Kahelo0at).189
Ancient
objects
of art in Con-
stantinople are fewer than in Rome, but certainly more
beautiful and more
magnificent than the latter's.'90 The bases
46
of the statues which had been taken
away
in the course of
the
years testify
to their
great size,
their
beauty
and their
magnificence.
After references to
particular monuments,
Chrysoloras
closes the
description
of
Constantinople
with a
praise
of the Great Church.
Following
the rules of the enco-
mia,
Saint
Sophia
is
praised
as the
largest
and the most
beautiful.
Among
its various admirable
elements,
as in other
texts,
the
tnotKtkLia
and
plppovia
are
especially
stressed.191
Thus,
while
Byzantine
encomia of cities in the later cen-
turies follow the traditional rhetorical
clich6s,
two elements
underlying
the medieval character of the urban centers be-
come central in such
praises:
the kallos of the churches and
the kallos and the
strength
of the fortifications.
Later
Byzantine historiography.
In the
Byzantine
histo-
ries or
chronographies, descriptions
of cities are
usually
sim-
ple
and brief. References to the kallos of cities are few in
Byzantine historiography: they
are found in the works of
classicizing
authors and reserved for the
largest
urban cen-
ters. In Psellus'
History,
Antioch is
sptKaKiXflg,
in
Pachy-
meres'
History only
Damascus is
Kakkiozyl,
in Choniates
only
Antioch is
Kakoryl,
while Thessalonica is
"splendid,
note-
worthy,
renowned"
(kapaip6, koyitrj
and
(aiyaXovulog0).'92
But what
particularly
attracts the attention of the
Byzantine
historiographers
or
chronographers
is the fortifications. In
Choniates'
history
some cities are referred to as
ply6tnupyot,
while Proussa is a
Kakkitnup7o
pyo kt with
very strong
walls.193 The decoration of the towers of Amorion with lions'
pictures
is
worthy
of mention in
Theophanes'
Continuatus.194
In some verses of the
poem
of
Manasses, although they
refer
to an earlier
period,
the urban fortifications are
praised
as
beautiful and solid
("of
the whole
splendid city
with
strong
towers and walls":
tdcyl nX6k?cS
kXapntpd? E6nrtpyou
czEp-
porcsEiou).195
In a few passages
in
urban
buildings
are mentioned as
beautiful; they
adorn the
city. They
are
especially
found in
descriptions
of destruction
of cities
by
enemies.196 Several texts
apply
the
concept
of
beauty
to
important
urban
buildings,
such as
palaces.
In
Theophanes'
Continuatus the
palaces
of
Constantinople
were
beautified with new
buildings
or adorned with various orna-
ments
by
the
emperors
Basil I and Constantine
Porphyrogen-
itus.197 In a
passage
of Choniates about Manuel Comnenus
the beautiful
buildings
erected
by
the
emperor
on both sides
of the palace and decorated with mosaics
depicting
his vic-
tories are evidence of his "love for
beauty"
((ptXoKaXia).198
Rarely
in
are the natural
setting
and the suburbs referred to as beautiful.199
The topos of the archon who adorns his
city
with the
prestige
of his office is also found in
Byzantine histori-
ography.200 Generally
we
may observe that in the
Byzantine
texts from the eleventh
century, cities become
again a fa-
vorite
topic
in
metaphors and poetic imagery
in a
variety
of
contexts.20' From the late
Byzantine period
the
history of
Kritoboulos is a case in
point: since the work is
actually
an
encomion of Mehemet's achievements and it is written in a
Thucydidean style,
the
topos
city
and its
various
buildings
is
persistent.202
More often, however, churches are mentioned as the
most
important
structure of the cities and
they
are
praised
for
their kallos.203 Choniates mentions the church of the Arch-
angel
Michael in Chonai as
very large
and
KdLXcLt
Kc
dIt-
GTov.204 The topos
of the
kallos of the churches is particu-
larly developed
in
classicizing authors,
such as the
history
of
Scylitzes.205
In the Alexias of Anne Comnene the church of
St. Paul in
Constantinople
with the annexed charitable insti-
tutions is
compared
to a
city ("Such
is the
city,
and such are
also its inhabitants":
Tota'Tri jl
v
r
1Rt6Xit?,
otoi-ot
6&
KQ1i
oi
Tfig ir6X1o8
za5Trg
oiKr1Topes).206
This
imagery
is
found,
as
we have seen, in earlier
classicizing texts,
such as the Life
of St. Thecla.
It is
important
to note that even in the work of an author
as
classicizing
as
Psellus,
where the cities are
praised
first
and foremost for the achievements of their
inhabitants,
the
topos
of kallos is reserved
mainly
for
churches,
which are
praised
not
only
for their size and
beauty,
but also for their
natural
setting.207 Psellus
in
another
passage
enumerates "the
embellishments and marvels which
beautify"
various
places
and cities in the world
(e~potpO KooCYPOUVat KdLkXXkF tC KJai
Oa6ipact),
e.g.,
the
elephant
in
India,
the Nile in
Egypt,
Daphne
in Antioch. In contrast the
Byzantine city
is beau-
tified
by
churches.208 The
topos
of the
city
beautified
by
a
church is also found in documents of the
imperial
adminis-
tration such
as,
for
example,
a
chrysoboullos logos
of the
emperor
Andronicus
II Palaeologus
of the
year
1319 which
confirms the
privileges
of the church of
Ioannina.
The
city
is
praised
for its
size,
the
security
of the
location,
the size and
wealth of the
population.
But the first and
greatest
kosmos to
the
city
is St.
Michael,
its founder and
protector.209
Finally
one should draw attention to some more realistic
descriptions
of
Byzantine
cities in
historiographical
works.
The account of the restoration of Tralleis
by
Andronicus
Palaeologus
in
Pachymeres' History
is instructive. The em-
peror
was attracted
by
the
beauty
of the site and decided to
restore it and
give
it his name. While the walls were
being
erected,
and the ruined
city
was
taking
the form of a
great city
by
the river Maeander
flowing rapidly,
settlers were invited
from the
surrounding
area. But the site did not have water res-
ervoirs. On the other hand it was
impossible to find sources
of
water
by digging. In this account dictated
by pragmatism,
the
predominant elements of the
city's structure are three: the
walls, the
population and the water
supply. Aesthetic con-
siderations are reserved
only
for the
surrounding nature.210
Later
Byzantine hagiography. Later
Byzantine hagiog-
raphers also follow the tradition of their
predecessors of the
early period: while
they
refute the norms of rhetoric because
of the nature of their
subject,
at the same time
they apply
traditional rhetorical
techniques.211 Many lives
of saints are
47
defined as encomia. The term encomion also is to be found
in the title of Vitae either alone or next to the words
Biog
or
Biog
Kai
tobt'l-Eia.212
The encomion of the saint's
city
of ori-
gin
is a
topos usually developed
with an elaborate rhetorical
style.
In such brief
praises
of cities the urban kallos is
par-
ticularly
stressed. In the Life of St. Matrona of Chios
(+ ca.
1306-1310),
for
example,
the saint's
city
of
origin
is
praised
for its kallos and
size,
its
climate,
and its beautiful
gar-
dens.213 In the Life of St. Diomedes written
by
Maximos
Planoudes,
the saint's
fatherland, Tarsus,
is
praised
as the
most beautiful (f
KcaLXfrl).
Its walls
surpass those of all
the other cities both in
beauty
and
security
(rtpog K`caog
e6oi3
Ktai d~op6Etav).214
In the Life of
Macarius from
yEaa
of Asia Minor, written
by
Philotheus of
Selymbria, it is
stressed that a reference to the saint's
city
of
origin
is a
"rule of the encomia"
(v6piog tyKoCiaov).2'5
While virtue
and moral values are an adornment to individuals,216 the cit-
ies are adorned
by
the virtue of their renowned inhabitants,
especially
the saints.217 Ithehe Life of St. Diomedes the
martyrs'
bodies adorn the city
of Nicomedeia.218
In a similar
way,
renowned
bishops
or
metropolitans adorn their metro-
poleis.219 In
other
hagiographical texts the theme of the
saint's
city
of
origin appears
in a
theological image: the
saint's fatherland was the celestial Jerusalem.220
It is
particularly
in the
vitae of
classicizing
authors that
we find
fully developed the
praise of the
city.221
The enco-
mion for
Symeon Metaphrastes, written
by Michael Psellus,
offers
interesting insight into the
literary style
of the
hagio-
graphical
texts in the Middle
Byzantine period. It recalls
some of the remarks of St. Basil and of the
bishop of Seleu-
cia in the Vita of St. Thecla. In the introduction Psellus
applies
the term kallos to the art of
philosophy
and rhetoric
which
Symeon combined.222 Further the same term refers
to
the
literary style.223
With his work
Symeon adorned the
spiritual fights
of the ascetics, although
it is known that
other vitae had been written
in a
more elaborate
(KagXiovag)
rhetorical style.224 Symeon
follows the
rules
of the encomia
by starting
with a
praise
of the fatherland of the saint: the
rivers, the
advantageous location
of the
city, the climate.225
The Life of St. David of Thessalonica (+ ca. 540) offers
another
interesting example.
In
the
introduction
of the
ear-
lier Vita edited
by
V. Rose, the
hagiographer
is
compared
to
the
painters who
try
to describe the
beauty
of virtue. Further,
the fatherland
on
the saint, Thessalonica, is
praised briefly as
"splendid and renowned" (Xapptp Kai
K
rteptovujLog).226
In the
encomion of the same saint written in the fifteenth
century
by
Manuel
Palaeologus
both
the
introduction
and
the
praise
of Thessalonica are further
developed with elaborate rhetori-
cal
figures of
speech: virtue beautifies not
only the
thought
of those who chose to
compete
in
writing,
but also the
speech and the soul. The encomion of Thessalonica is
lengthy
and it contains all the elements of the
city praise: the
beauty, the size, its
power and security, the climate, the
beauty
of the
surrounding nature, the abundance
of
prod-
ucts.227 We should note that unlike the rhetorical treatises of
antiquity,
this
high style
text
emphasizes
the kallos of the
city by placing
it first.
Finally,
as in vitae of the
early Byz-
antine
period,
the
beauty
of the church is often
developed
into a detailed
description
of its architectural
structure,
its
ornamental
components
and the natural
surroundings.228
In
nearly
all the texts of the
Byzantine
literature of the
middle and late
periods,
the
topos
churches is
prevalent,
and it
certainly
has a
greater
force
than that of the urban kallos. It is
persistent
in encomia of
churches.229
Let's sum
up
the conclusions of this
study.
The
topos
of
the kallos of the
city developed gradually
in the literature of
the late Roman and
early Byzantine centuries, according
to
the
guidelines
of the rhetorical treatises. In this
period
it is
often found in brief references and
descriptions
of cities in
all
literary genres,
and not in the encomia of cities alone.
We have seen that in this
early period
the urban kallos refers
to the architectural
appearance
of the cities: it was under-
stood in terms of ornamental monumental architecture. We
have observed
that,
while the ancient architectural structure
of the cities was
gradually disintegrating,
the cities were in-
creasingly praised
in terms of their ancient aesthetic value.
A culmination of the
topos
is found in the literature of the
sixth
century,
and it is
probably
related to the renewed in-
terest in
antiquity
at the time of Justinian. The theme of kal-
los in
general
and with
regard
to cities in
particular,
is
further
developed
into a rhetorical convention in Christian
literature.
In the
Byzantine
literature of the middle and late
peri-
ods,
the
cities, having
lost their ancient lavish architectural
ornaments,
are
praised mainly
for their
strong
fortifications
and their size. The
topos
of urban kallos is
particularly found,
apparently
as a rhetorical
convention,
in the texts of classi-
cizing authors, especially
in the last centuries. A new
topos,
which had
appeared
in earlier
literature,
now became
persis-
tent: churches are the adornment of cities.
In order to understand the
phenomenon
which I de-
scribed,
two
explanations
should be considered: the histo-
rical and the
literary.
The modification of the
topos
of the
kallos after the sixth
century
coincides with the decline of
most of the cities and their transformation into settlements
without the "urban" structure of the ancient cities at
exactly
the same
period. Some texts such as the
passage
of
Agath-
ias mentioned earlier, by shifting the focus from the "urban
setting"
to the
"physical environment" of the cities, imply a
change
of
emphasis of the authors
suggesting
the
very
much reduced circumstances in which the cities after the
sixth
century functioned. Thus this evolution of the topos is
not
completely alien to the historical
development
of cities.
Fenster has
already noticed that
Constantinople
is
praised
as the most beautiful
city
until the sixth
century
and the
topos of the urban
beauty appears rarely
in the
following
centuries.230
48
According
to a
literary interpretation
of the
develop-
ment of the
topos
of the urban
kallos,
the use of the
topos
was dictated
by
considerations of rhetorical
techniques
in all
literary genres.
The relation of ancient
historiography
to lit-
erature has often been discussed. The influence of rhetoric
on
historiography
has
equally
been
stressed,231
and it has
been mentioned earlier in this
paper.
But the
gradual amplification
of the
particular topos
in
the
early period
and its culmination in the literature of the
sixth
century
demands an
explanation.
In connection with
this,
one additional
topic
must be examined, namely
the
relation of art to
literary
forms of
expression,
in
particular
rhetoric. With reference to
Byzantine
art,
this connection
has
already
been established.232
It has also been
recognized
that the
Byzantine ekphraseis
of works of art maintained
conventional rhetorical notions such as imitation of
nature,
liveliness, beauty.233 Christopher
Walter
expressed skepti-
cism that "these
descriptions
are conventional
literary
exer-
cises,
couched in
language
destined to conceal rather than
manifest the writer's sentiments."234 It isn't
my
intention to
discuss the aesthetic values of
Byzantine
art and the
literary
expressions
of that art.
My purpose
is
only
to
point
to a
phe-
nomenon
parallel
to that which I
study
in this
paper.
Thus it
has been noticed
by
Onians that "there should be such a cre-
scendo in the volume of artistic
descriptions
at
precisely
the
same time that art itself is
becoming
less and less
descrip-
tive. Even more
striking
is it that the character of the
literary
descriptions
also seems to
change continuously
but in a
pre-
cisely
inverted
way."235
Onians
points
to the element of ex-
aggeration
in
descriptions
of
objects
of art in late
antiquity;
he also shows that this was not
just
"rhetorical
inflation,"
but it was
expressing
a "real
contemporary experience."236
He also concludes that the
spectators
in late
antiquity (from
the first to the sixth
century)
had an
increasingly greater
"vi-
sual
response"
to the
object
of art
by using
an "inner visual
imagination" although
art was
becoming
more
abstract, i.e.,
they
could see in the
objects
of art more than
they really
were,
and "that the Justinianic writers saw most of all."237
It is
equally important
-for the
present
discussion to
point
to differences between the
descriptions
of
objects
of
art and those of cities with reference to the
topos
of the kal-
los: while this
topos
is
persistent
in the
ekphraseis
of ob-
jects
of
art, particularly churches, throughout
the
centuries,
as we have seen, it becomes less
frequent
in references to
cities after the sixth
century
and it
reappeared
much later in
ekphraseis
of the last centuries of
Byzantium.
That the topos
of urban kallos is found more often in
authors
writing
in elevated
style
cannot be
explained simply
by
considerations of the
literary genre.
It
appears
to me that
it reveals the attachment of such authors to the ancient idea
of the city, adorned with
magnificent public buildings.
As
the transformation of the urban public space
was
becoming
more
profound
in the
early Byzantine period, the educated
authors wanted to preserve a visual
representation
of the
antique city by
the excessive use of the rhetorical
topos
of
the urban kallos.
Underlying
the rhetorical
topos
is the idea
of the ancient
city
as
architecturally magnificent,
while in
reality
it was
progressively disintegrating.
The use of the
topos
in
Byzantine
literature of the middle and late
periods
suggests
a different
explanation:
authors of formal
style
used
it as a
figure
of
speech.238
In
concluding
we
may suggest
that
literary
tradition and
nostalgic
attachment to the ancient urban ideal were in con-
flict with the
objectivity
of historical
writing
in the
early
Byzantine
centuries. The writers of the
following
centuries
inherited this tradition which was influenced
by literary
con-
siderations of the individual
authors,
and
by
the historical
context of each
period.
NOTES
1. G. Steiner, Language
and Silence
(London, 1967),
420-21.
2. In:
Eopracrrx7uc
T6po;.
50
Xp6via,
1939-1989 (Thessalonica, 1992),
99-113.
3. J. E.
Stambaugh,
"The Idea of the
City:
Three Views of Athens,"
Classical Journal, LXIX,
4
(1974),
302-21.
4. Ibid., 319.
5.
Livy XXVI, XVI, 9. On the Roman cities cf. the references in: C. J.
Classen, Die Stadt, n. 61.
6. T. B. L. Webster, Hellenistic
Poetry
and Art
(London and New York,
1964), 156ff.; Stambaugh,
315ff.
7. H. Saradi-Mendelovici, "The Demise of the Ancient
City
and the
Emergence
of the Mediaeval
City
in the Eastern Roman
Empire,"
Classical Views-Echos du monde
classique, XXXII, n.s. 7
(1988),
365-401, esp.
396ff.
8. Pausanias 1, 20, 1; 1, 20, 2; 1, 28,
11.
9. Ibid., 2, 27, 5.
10. Ibid., 3, 21, 4; 8, 41, 8.
11.
Ibid., 5, 24, 3; 7, 20, 5.
12.
Ibid., 7, 5, 12; 8, 20, 1, 8, 25, 13; 10, 8, 9; 7, 26, 3, 5.
13. Cicero, De Oratore 3, 104.
14. Cf. A. D.
Leeman, Orationis Ratio. The
Stylistic
Theories and Prac-
tice
of
the Roman Orators, Historians and
Philosophers (Amsterdam,
1963),
330.
15. Aristeides
(HIpi tyv
v
irlTopt1Kv)
defined the encomion as an
amplification ("the
encomion elevates":
T6
6~
yK&i?6Ptov rtci
ptilov
taipct),
ed. L.
Spengel,
Rhetores Graeci, II (Lipsiae, 1854), 505; cf.
also
Hermogenes, HpoyupLvdocpatra,
ed. H.
Rabe, Hermogenis Opera
(Leipzig, 1913; rpt. Stuttgart, 1985), 14; Theon,
HpoyupLv6aara,
ed.
Spengel, II, 109; Menander,
H1pi
1ArtKnt6tKjtv,
ed.
Spengel,
III
(Lipsiae, 1856),
331ff.
16. Theon,
Hpoyutvdcatara,
ed.
Spengel, II, 72.
17. Aristeides,
-Ipi 7tokItitKoi
X6you,
ed.
Spengel, II, 490,
18.
According
to
Hermogenes,
the orator is allowed to lie when the audi-
ence knows it, only
if such statements are
advantageous
to them:
Hermogenes, 1Hpi lts066ou0 etv6trltog,
ed. Rabe, 435. Some orators
justified
it
by evoking arguments
of the
greatest
Greek
philosophers:
49
the scholia in
Hermogenes,
Chr. Walz, Rhetores Graeci
(Stuttgart,
1835), IV, 24-25
explain
that
according
to Plato and Aristotle untrue
statements are
permitted
when
they
are beneficial.
19. Ed.
Spengel, III, 344-67. Theon,
Hpoyuvdolatara,
ibid., II,
118
(xtpi
cK(ppiacEo).
Cf. Classen, Die Stadt, 16-17. On
ekphrasis
cf. J. Palm, Be-
merkungen zur Ekphrase
in der
griechischen Literatur, Hum.
Venskaps-
Samf. in
Uppsala (Arsbok, 1965-66).
20. Ed.
Spengel, III, 346: "The
praises
of cities are thus
composed
of the
principal points
discussed in connection with the land, and those which
relate to the
people" (Oi Toivuv
rtpi
'tT 7t6X~t?
rtxatvot
Pt1Kto Et iotyv at
Ke(paXai(ov
rcv
trepi c7pa eiprlpvcov
Kai
T&Tv
7tepi
tdvOptnXoug).
Simi-
lar is the order in
descriptions
of
foreign
lands in
poetry:
R. F.
Thomas,
Lands and
Peoples
in Roman
Poetry:
the
Ethnographical Tradition,
Cambridge Philological Society, Suppl.
7
(Cambridge, 1982).
21. Ed.
Spengel, III, 347.
22.
Hermogenes,
ed. Rabe, 16. Cf. also J. Soffel, Die
Regeln
Menanders
fiir
die Leichenrede in ihrer Tradition
dargestellt, herausgegeben,
iibersetzt und kommentiert
(Meisenheim
am Glan, 1974),
255.
23.
Hermogenes,
ed. Rabe,
18: "Indeed from these
things you
would not
handle the encomion of the
city
with
any difficulty.
For
you
will
say
concerning
the race,
that
they
are the
original inhabitants, and
regard-
ing
their nurture, that
they
were nurtured
by
the
gods.
You will exam-
ine, as in the case of an individual, the nature of the
city
with
regard
to its character and
organization,
and what kind of customs it follows,
and what
things
it has
accomplished" (Kai pTilv Kai
it6XcoE yKCiL6ptov
K TOUT(JoV O6K
aV
XakTrEtog
I
PTaF1etpiha1to"
-
pei
ytp
Kai
1tEpi .yvou?g,
xitt
aiT66Oovq, KQi
7t pi
Tpocpil,
o6
I6rtb
OxCv
xTpdcprloTaav, KQti ntppi
tSc6iao,
3 56Ctb 0&v
,
tonsoa60oaa
v.
"'E?'_tcg
86
p_
Iti av0pd6nto,
ntoraci
Troi
g p6toug
il
'6ktg, rnoractil ?T'ilv KTGraOelV, tiotv ~itttrl-
6&paatyv aXPlaaro, riva KaTr7tpaSe).
24. Menander, ed.
Spengel, III, 347. Further
"pleasure"
is defined in
purely
aesthetic terms:
"pleasure
if it is
delightful
to the
senses, to taste, sight
and the others"
(flSovVil 86~
i tai c
aioi0lsoyt Etp7tvil YE760atv 6scWEat
Kai
'Tai &kkoatg:
ibid., 348, and
350).
On Menander cf. L.
Previale,
"Teoria e
prassi
del
panegirico bizantino," Emeritai,
XVII
(1950),
72-105, esp. 72ff.; XVIII
(1951), 340-66; E. Fenster, Laudes Con-
stantinopolitanae (Munich, 1968),
5-13.
25. Menander, ed.
Spengel, III, 352.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid., 350.
28. Ibid., 356.
29. Ibid., 361.
30. Ibid., 365.
31. The
origin
of the latter
may
be found in classical Greek literature:
Alkaios Z 103
(Lobel
and
Page); Aeschylus,
Persians 11, 348-49;
Thucydides VII, 77,
7.
32. Cf. for example Hermogenes, Hepi
iS&v,
ed. Rabe, 296-311 (Hepi
mttgEhia
KQg Kai Xoug;
Hermogenes' On Types ofStyle, transl. C. W.
Wooten (Chapel Hill and London, 1987), 54-64; M. Patillon, La
Thdo-
rie du discours chez Hermoghne le rhiteur. Essai sur les structures
linguistiques de la rhitorique ancienne (Paris, 1988), 241-43; Anon-
ymous,
EX6Xtoa
Ei AqO6viov, ed. Walz II, 44, 604, 622; and later Dox-
opatres,
'Olat ia Eig Aqp6viov, ed. H. Rabe, Prolegomenon Sylloge
(Leipzig, 1931), 107.
33. "Of panegyric speeches, the finest is in plain prose, not as in political
examinations" ('O
6~
tavrlyuptK&)v X6yov
KkktoXrog
Ev
kXit
tErI,
o6XY
o3
v
Crljxiao.t
toktotXtKolg):
ed. Rabe, 386.
34. Aristeides, TEXv&v brloputcv,
ed. Spengel II, 535: "A speech ac-
quires beauty if it is simple and composed of common elements, if it
happens
to be that
way,
and from the other
things
that follow, such as
when one calls a
city large
and
prosperous,
and when one describes a
river, whence it flows and how
great
its width-such
things always
add
beauty
to a
speech"
(KdXXkk
6
7tpoaXoatppavct
6
X67yo
6
dppXilG
Kai
AK
T6Xtov,
&v
oiioe xtrn, Kai
"
kkov
xJv
xaparokouo6vivrov,
oiov
aov 7t6ktv
y47
eUyd?&rlv Koi e68
aiovoa,
tav rtotraptv
i~
50v
pe1I,
6oov
TOb ~pog, ii
ac
otaiotauTr Kalkkog 7pooirlot lt'o k6yc7).
35. Ibid.: "To relate
according
to
type everything
that
pertains
to some-
thing,
a river, a
city
or
plain, spoils simplicity,
but that which is a
general characteristic, whether it is
large
and
prosperous,
this
pre-
serves
beauty
and
simplicity" (T6 p?v
oiv Kar' 16og
7tcidvTa tuStivat
oca
trvi 7tp6asaotv
~t
rtotra4
i"
t6kst
"1
TnEii,
6StapopEi T~lyv dp~stav,
T6o
8&
v TC
yO v
t, 6av PLaydkrlV KI ati e836atiovaO, xoOo
O
8toaT6)_st
Kai
6To
Kiog Koi rTlv dr7tk6Trlra).
Demetrius in his
rtpi
tp.Pllveiao
refers to
the definition of the kallos of the
literary style by Theophrastus,
as
that which is
pleasant
to hear or to see or
intellectually
dissent: ibid.,
III,
300. Cf. also
Hermogenes, Hepi it&&v,
ed. Rabe, 331.
36. Menander, ed.
Spengel III, 383.
37. Ibid.
38.
Ibid.,
386.
39. Ibid., 387.
40.
Ibid.,
389.
41.
Ibid.,
394: "the
beauty
of the
buildings" (r&'
Kdkkrl
TCv
oixKOOpflaLdT(ov).
42. Ibid.
43.
Ibid., 395ff.; 396: "and the
beauty
of the
acropolis"
(Kcti dKpont6kcsxo
Kikkog);
and 397; 426: "After the introduction
you
will come to
praises
of the
city,
not
describing
at this
point
its
setting
or the nature
of its climate, but
you
will rather turn
your speech
to
something
like
its customs and merit. For
long ago
the
city
of Alexander was exalted
for us
by
ancient
descriptions
and
by
the
beauty
of its
buildings"
(pl.rt
66 '?r Tcpooipla ij'et?
rti
't~yKL6pta Tig rt6Xksog,
oi0
~otyv lpFv
EvTaiooa 6K(ppda(ov, o06i dpspov cp6astg,
iTci 66,~
&
7tpdaist
Kai
Txflv
ciiav
Lpakkov Tpy~ct; xbv k6yov oi"so
rtoy
r7tcakt ltv
o v
o ClviS6-
vEro Tcakatoi 8tllpylLatov 1lpiv
'1
7t6t; Akscdv6pov
Kai
tol?i Kikkset
xTv
oiKo6SoplrlaTov);
427:
"you
will
say
what
beauty
will receive
him in the
city" (Tx6 7~1t pEig
ola K
KXXkl 6ta6Si'tat ai'T6v);
428:
"observing
the
beauty
of the
city
and its site"
(OcaaodpiEvog
'6
KiQXog
Ti
g
rt6Xk0
Kcai 0atv).
44.
Ibid.,
417:
oiKo6opolparLTv
KahXXsat.
45. Ibid., 429.
46.
Ibid., 431.
47. Ibid., 433.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid., 445.
50. The
Panathenaikos, ed. F. W.
Lenz,
P. Aelii Aristidis
Opera quae
exstant omnia (Lugduni, 1976), #11: "The multifaceted Cyclades and
Sporades lie opposite Attica, surrounding it on all
sides..,.
and it fol-
lows that their beauty and adornments are the city's beauty and adorn-
ments" (Ai
k
~tiKEtvxrat tOavTOaX68v tz7ott1KtlVavt KuKdc8g
KQai
Extop6iS r7tpi Tilv Ant4rKiv
...
Kai ?T AK~1VoV KQihrl
Kai
K6aouv xrig
it6kEso KXkkrl
Koi
K6a0poUS Elvat
avt3IPrelKEV);
#12: "So that the sights
are like the delight of a dream . . .
leading beauty of every kind cheer-
fully toward Attica"
("a'E
Eot1K~V
6vEipaoog 6l0Mpoaoivln
x&
0iL6La'aO
... KQXXfl
7tavroS6att iyovoa
.EtS'
~EiOoLiaog rti
Tlv
AtT1Krv).
Cf. also
#12, 20, 21.
51. Transl. by C. A. Behr, The Complete Works. 1. Orations I-XVI (Lei-
den, 1986).
52. R. Klein, Die Romrede des Aelius Aristides (Darmstadt, 1983).
50
53. See also #5
(p.
438 11.
19-20):
itptvzTog
oiv .~v... Kaci
KOoapiv
ttOulPoOvTroq
Kikktov
(ed.
R. Foerster).
On this text cf. A. D.
Nock,
"The Praises of Antioch," Journal
of Egyptian Archaeology,
XL
(1954), 76-82; G.
Downey,
"Libanius' Oration in Praise of Antioch
(Or. XI),
translated with Introduction and
Commentary," Proceedings
of
the American
Philosophical Society,
CIII (1959), 652-86; Classen,
Die Stadt, 21-22.
54. #16
(p.
442 11.
4-5).
55. For the encomion of an
aqueduct
cf. C. P. Jones, "Aelius Aristides,
'On the Water in
Pergamon',"
Deutsches
archiiologisches
Institut,
Archiiologischer Anzeiger, 1991,
111-17.
56. #19
(p.
443 11.
8-9),
38
(p.
449 1.
9),
72
(p.
460 11. 7-8), 125
(p.
477
11.
11-12),
194
(p.
503 11.
17-18),
196
(p.
504 11. 7-8),
205
(p.
507
1.
15),
207
(p.
508 11. 10, 12),
234
(p.
519 11. 6, 8-9, 521 11. 3-5),
245
(p.
524 11.
1-5),
264
(p.
531 11.
11-12).
57. #244
(p.
523 11.
9-11).
58. #128
(p.
478 11.
14-15),
154
(p.
488 11.
4-5),
270
(p.
534 11.
15-17).
59. Or. XVIII, 187,
188:
aCiphoaTg O T&v
d
~j5Wy ov KaXkouv.
60.
Procope
de Gaza, Priscien de Cesarde. Panegyriques
de
l'empereur
Anastase ler. Textes traduits et commentes
par
A. Chauvot (Bonn,
1986), p.
111. 2.
61. Cf. also Or. XVI, 53; XVIII, 244: cities adorn the Persian land
(y'v...
KooCpoot).
62. Cf. Fenster, Laudes
constantinopolitanae, 28-30, 39, 118, 119, 122,
134, 140, 144, 145,
152 and n. 2, 177, 202, 205, 224, 250, 256, 334,
346,
347.
63. Cicero, De Oratore, II, 62-64; De
Legibus, I, 5. Cf. also A. J. Wood-
man, Rhetoric in Classical
Historiography:
Four Studies (London
and
Sydney, 1988).
For views of modern historians and
literary
critics on
the relation of
historiography
to literature cf. The
Writing of History:
Literary
Form and Historical
Understanding,
ed. R. H.
Canary
and
H. Kozicki
(Wisconsin, London, 1978).
64. Cicero,
De Oratore, III, 104. Cf. also Leeman, Orationis Ratio, 173ff.;
C. W. Fornara, The Nature
of History
in Ancient Greece and Rome
(Berkeley,
Los
Angeles
and London, 1983), 120-34; Woodman, Rhet-
oric in Classical
Historiography, esp.
95ff.
65. Granius Licinianus, 36, p.
33: Sallustium non ut historicum aiunt sed
ut oratorem
legendum.
66.
Quintilian,
Institutio Oratoria 10, 1, 31. On the relation of ancient his-
toriography
to
poetry:
cf. T. P. Wiseman, Clio's Cosmetic's (Leicester,
1979), esp. 143-53; Woodman, Rhetoric in Classical
Historiography,
98-101;
A. Cameron, Agathias (Oxford, 1970),
58-59.
67.
Hermogenes, HIpi
i6t8yv,
ed. Rabe,
404.
68. Ibid., 409. As Woodman, Rhetoric in Classical
Historiography,
202
concludes: "The ancients themselves ... debated the exact nature of
Thucydides' work in antiquity; but the debate was not between 'litera-
ture' and 'history'... but between rhetoric and (precisely) poetry."
69. Cf. for example, Lucian, Quomodo hist. scrib. VII, 29.
70. Woodman, Rhetoric in Classical Historiography, 97-98 has shown
that digressions of praise of men or sites belonged to both judicial and
epideictic oratory and thus the connection of historiography as defined
in classical Roman literature, with both types of rhetoric explains simi-
lar digressions in historical narrative.
71. J. Bidez and L. Parmentier, The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius
(London, 1898), II, 12.
72. Ibid., III, 37.
73. Proc., Pers. II, VIII, 23; X, 5; XIV, 6.
74.
Proc., Goth. VII, XXII, 7
(transl.
H. B.
Dewing).
75. Proc., Goth. VII, XXII, 8: "To create
beauty
in a
city
where there was
none would be an
accomplishment
of wise men, who know how to live
a civic life, but to
destroy existing beauty
is
likely
of men without un-
derstanding,
who are not ashamed to leave for a later
age
this
sign
of
their character"
(lH6kXeo .tv KchdXXk
o00K 5vra &pyi?coOat
dv0pxwt0v
av (ppovipov
Euplpalrta
tEv
OKai 7tokttKOSg P3tor~6EtV EtaraPle.tvc v,
vrTa
E6
dqEavEi~tv ToTS
yE
deUV~rou EiKkb Kai
yv0lptoCtPa
zoiro Tri
aotuJv
c60eo0
ouK
aiaXuvoplvoou
Xp6v(c
jT
i6oasp
dr7tohtt
iev).
76. Proc. Goth. VIII, XXII, 5-6.
77. Proc. Goth. V, IX, 26
(Naples;
"the
beauty
of the
city
is
destroyed": Tb
zfrg xt
n
osg &avirat KXakog);
VI, XVI, 24
(Urvisalia;
"of the former
beauty": 0oi
7tp6Tpov
Ko6ypou).
The term kallos is also used
by Procop-
ius with a different connotation, that of order, civic, military
or moral,
in a
variety
of contexts: Secret
History V, 4, 28, VII, 7, 18, 37, VIII, 4,
IX, 17, 8, 16, 35, XIII, 1, XIX, 8, XX, 15, XXII, 14; Pers. II, XXIII, 10;
Goth. VIII, XXXIV,
20. In Vand. III, XVII,
9ff. the
palace
of the Vandal
king
is "a most beautiful
garden"
(tapditoog
Khkktotog).
78. Proc.,
Goth. VIII, II,
14.
79. Ed.
Spengel, II,
4 11. 5-9.
80. Secret
History XXVI, Iff. On the
vague
formulation of
descriptions
of cities in
Procopius'
work cf. the remarks of A. Cameron, Procop-
ius and the Sixth
Century (London, 1985), 94,
102.
81.
Agathiae Myrinaei
Historiarum Libri
quinque,
ed. R.
Keydell (Berlin,
1967), 5, 12,
3:
xokiXvtov
,ciXtartov
ov K
ai
dQKaXg
Kait oi6Ev
6iTtoOv
Ertpaozov
iEov,
KaQki7tokt
6~ C
oP
E5tovoLat6PEvov
rciq
yE
ilV rtE-
ptotKi6Sag KooPoI0tv dypo0i
e Kai
t[iVeta
Kaci
&v6p0v totcti
v
oCl.toq
Kai pEiOpov ltOtIOPyv yl tE
Eak
6ilG
XyaV Kai
KdpXtgoI Kdv toig
dvayKaiot;? 6tapKeaTrfdr
.
82. Transl.
by
C. Pharr.
83. CTh XV, 1,
37
(a. 398)
=
CJ VIII, 11, 13; cf. also CTh XV, 1,
14
(a.
365),
25
(a. 389);
41
(a. 401);
43
(a. 405);
48
(a. 411).
Libanius in the
Funeral Oration over Julian
complains
about the
pillage
of urban mon-
uments
by
the
imperial
secretaries: "but ancient cities were
despoiled
and the beautiful works which had
conquered
time were sent over the
sea to
brighten
the houses of the sons of
royal
cloth-carders"
(cdi'
ilp7tciovro 7takatai It6Xt Kai
KiXkk1
vsvtiFrrTa
Xp6vov
8td& OakiTTrg
ly7Ezo 7totfloovTa Kva(Peov uivotv itKiaoq
T~&v
Paot4ceiv qpat5porpwTaq).
84. CJ VII, 11,
6. Cf. also CJ VIII, 11,
3
(a. 362).
85. Cf. CJ VIII, 11, 21
(a. 440); CTh IX, 17,
2
(a. 349; de
sepulchris
vi-
olatis); 5
=
CJ
IX, 19,
5
(a. 363).
On the
legislation
on
public buildings
cf. Y. Janvier, La
Legislation
du
Bas-Empire
romain sur les
edifices
publics (Aix-en-Provence, 1969).
86. Themistius, ed. H. Schenkl, p. 63, and
Kakkhitoktq:
59 1. 1; 60 1. 1; 63
11. 2, 10; 66 1. 30
("for genuine
and true
beauty":
Eig dakrOtvbv Kai
P33Patov Kcaikog);
67 11. 2-3, 11
("beautiful
and
large": Kakfiv Kai
Lyci;rlv),
262 1. 4.
87. 'Hiptat
vsqiat,
Itd6Ev i60ara
IKP
Ittpd utooaCt
vuKfi oav douaat~(pEi rtvta
KQatKsKoar
;
06 At3iPrlg,
'E0qnoouv
6~
rd upia K~lva
tahaivrl
auta Kai laKadpov
y
t~(0ov
KtrQva.
Hoi s5
ocooiipa
x? vs
Saitlovg
izxpnrtov 6.tga;
caia rilv 'Idmyv ,toXXov dotiocixrlv.
Keiva
6S
K6taot rtcidvra Kuhtv6o0~vototv 6.oia
si ~ia
aibv
toxagoig Zspay.t rtCEttaptvotg:
Anthologia Graeca IX,
no. 424 (ed. H. Beckby). On the epigram of Duris cf. K. Hartigan,
The Poets and the Cities. Selections from the Anthology about Greek
Cities (Hain, 1979), 78-79.
51
88.
"A6'
yi,0
a
'kchipCov &7to
t6
7tgtt,
ipptya
vsKpoig
vvazTatg Ksipat, d6, 7tavacrtOTrpOTrTa
"Hqpatozr6g i' 86Ctaaos
LErdt
KX6vov 'Evvootyaiou,
pE,
adit6
zoooaziou
KaE6; S
EiIt Kp6vtg.
AXdXt rtapaotariovra g
t-
dv
orovaTJaoate
iPoipav,
otiioazEa Blpupzr
86aKpu Kcai (P0tpFva:
Anthologia
Graeca IX,
no. 425.
89. P. Brown, The World
of
Late
Antiquity from
Marcus Aurelius to Mu-
hammad (London, 1971),
101.
90. Cf. G.
Dagron,
"Le Christianisme dans la ville byzantine," DOP, XXXI
(1977), 1-25; for the
place
of the
holy
in urban life cf. P. Brown,
Society
and the
Holy
in Late
Antiquity (Berkeley
& Los
Angeles,
1982), 191; for the
place
of the saints in the cities of the
early
centuries
cf.
Dagron, 23-25; E.
Patlagean,
"Ancient
Byzantine Hagiography
and
Social
History,"
in Saints and their Cults. Studies in
Religious
Soci-
ology,
Folklore and
History,
ed. St. Wilson
(Cambridge, London, New
Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney, 1983),
110-11.
91. Whether Christian literature
developed
from
pagan
models or whether
it follows a
parallel development
because it had been
produced by
the
same social and historical conditions, see A. Cameron, "New and Old
in Christian Literature," Seventeenth International
Byzantine
Con-
gress, Major Papers, Washington, Aug. 3-8, 1986
(New York, 1986),
45-58.
92.
Migne, PG, XXXVI, col. 221C:
MtKpd
oot
cpoliv, i 'r6ktg, Kcai
o05&~
7r6ktX, d&kk Xopiov ?p6v, Kai
ca
apt, Kcai
6Xiyot
oiKo6ptcvov.
Cf.
P. Gallay, La Vie de Saint Gregoire de Nazianze (Lyon, 1943); G. Da-
gron,
Naissance d' une
capitale. Constantinople
et ses institutions de
330
ai
451 (Paris, 1984),
447-53.
93.
Migne, PG, XXXVI, cols. 221C-224A.
94. Ibid.,
col. 224C.
Compare
this attitude to that of an author of later cen-
turies: Arethae
archiepiscopi
Caesariensis
scripta minora, ed. L. G.
Westerink,
I
(Leipzig, 1968), #6, p.
61. The author
praises
life
away
from the noise of the
city
(7r6ppo0
t v doatixdv
0op63pov)
which is
opposed
to the
very
much desired life in the
countryside
(7tokupcraoTo
dypotKia).
95.
Migne, PG, XXXVI, col. 225C.
96. Cf. H.
Delehaye,
Les Passions des
martyrs
et les
genres litte'raires
(Brussels, 1921), 133-69; Classen, Die Stadt, 22.
97.
Migne, PG, XXXI, col. 489C. On the close relation between
hagiog-
raphy
and
panegyric
in late
antiquity
cf. the remarks of C.
Rapp,
"Pow-
er and
Sanctity: Emperors
and Saints in Late
Antique Literature,"
Eighteenth
International
Congress of Byzantine Studies, Summaries
of
Communications, II (Moscow, 1991), 943-44. Cf. also A. Cameron,
Christianity
and the Rhetoric
of Empire.
The
Development of
Christian
Discourse
(Berkeley,
Los
Angeles, Oxford, 1991).
98.
Migne, PG, XXXI, col. 489C.
99. Ibid., cols. 489D-492B.
100. Ibid., col. 492B.
101. Ibid., col. 493B:
Oizog
ipu
Tphiv
d7t6
tfg 7r6kXcS traSGtg, 60cv
Ki
Ct&k-
Xov
aiziv
dya
Ev, 8t6iti oiKEiog piv
6
K6otog Eottv;
and further:
"we are favoured with a kind of ornament for ourselves on account of
the kinship" (izt
i
i
KackQXXto7Ut6v
riva
fltiv 8t6 tig oiKet6rrrog4
papt(6Ivot).
102. Cf. above, n. 29. Gregory of Nazianzus stresses that unlike other cit-
ies, Athens is adorned by arts and letters: Grigoire de Nazianze. Dis-
cours fundbres en 1' honneur de son fr?re Cisaire et de Basile de
Cisarde,
ed. F. Boulenger (Paris, 1908), 13, 2.
103. Ed. Spengel, III, 427.
104. Migne, PG, XLIX, cols. 196-97.
105. Ibid., cols. 197-98.
106. Ibid., col. 176: "Not that it is a
metropolis,
nor that its
buildings
are
of
great
size and
beauty,
nor that it has
many
columns and broad
por-
ticoes and
walkways,
nor that it is
proclaimed
above other cities, but
rather the virtue and
piety
of its inhabitants-this is the
distinction,
the adornment and source of
security
of the
city" (0
tb tO rlrp6novkt
Eivat, 0~6
b
P6 syEOo
60
EXt
Kai
Kiog
OiKOS OIlPItda'TO
, o0U&6
T'
tnokkoig Kiovag,
Kcai otroa
eU6psiag
Kai
nEptTndToug, o066&
To
I6po
Tv
ko)ov
dvayope6Eo0at
t6X,ov,
dXX'
il
Tjv
votKoUVTOv dperil
Kai
'eoFata, 0oUTo
Kai
Kaiooa
a
Ki
K6ITog
Kai
dcnpiXtoa
xt6kso).
In-
versely
the citizens "are
taking pride by
the fine
things
from the
city"
(Toig
qK
xifg
t6Xso
dya0oicg YakkaXo)lt60Ipvot):
Elias of Crete, Migne,
PG, XXXVI,
col. 881C.
107.
Migne, PG, XLIX, Homily 19th,
Eig
tou
dvvpt6vrag,
col. 188.
108. Cf. for
example
the ascent to absolute
Beauty
in Plato's
Symposium
and in Plotinus' vision where the Divine is viewed as a marvellous
beauty.
Personifications of the
philosophical
kallos in late
antique
art
are
many. Cf., for
example,
a mosaic of a
building
found under the so-
called East cathedral of
Apamea,
with
representations
of various
philo-
sophical
themes and
philosophers.
The
building
has been
tentatively
identified with the school of lamblichus: J. Ch.
Balty,
"Nouvelles mo-
saiques
du IVe
siecle
sous la
'cath6drale
de l'est',"
in
Apamde
de
Syrie.
Bilan de recherches
archdologiques
1969-1971. Actes du
colloque
tenu
ia
Bruxelles les 15, 17 et 18 avril 1972 (Brussels, 1972), 163-85.
For the theme of
beauty
in a different context cf. Themistius' Or.
XIII
(ed.
H. Schenkl and G.
Downey)
'Ep(oTbK6
~
7npi
KXkkou
Pactt.Ko.
Cf., for
example,
John
Chrysostom, Migne, PG, XLVII,
cols. 295, 296; XLVIII, col. 812. Cf. also the scholia of Elias of Crete
on
Gregory
of Nazianzus:
Migne, PG, XXXVI, cols.
831B-C-832A,
880C.
On the
concept
of the kallos in Christian literature cf. F.
McCloy,
The Sense
of
Artistic Form in the
Mentality of
the Greek Fathers,
Studia Patristica, IX
(Berlin, 1966);
F. B. Brown, Religious
Aesthetics.
A
Theological Study of Making
and
Meaning (Princeton, 1990);
J. A.
Martin, Beauty
and Holiness. The
Dialogue
between Aesthetics and
Religion (Princeton, 1990);
G.
Faggin, Enciclopedia filosofica IV,
1031-34, esp. 1032, s.v. "sublime." We should also note that in
hagiographical
sources the
spiritual
kallos is
particularly
stressed. Cf.,
for
example,
C.
Loparev, Supplementum
ad historiam Justinianeam;
De S. Theodoro
(504-595)
monacho
hegumenoque
Chorensi (Petro-
poli, 1903), Zapiski
Klass. Otd.
Imp. Russkago Archeol. Obs'estva
1
(1904), suppl., p.
5
(#9); Moschos, Leimon, Migne, PG, LXXXVII,
cols.
2852B, 2965B; Der
heilige
Theodosios.
Schriften
des Theodoros
und
Kyrillos,
ed. H. Usener
(Leipzig, 1890),
13.
109. G.
Dagron,
Vie et Miracles de Sainte Th&cle. Texte
grec,
traduction
et commentaire (Brussels, 1978),
169: "This work at which I have la-
boured is a
history
and an account of ancient deeds"
('Ioropia
Tpv
t6
nov0jiOv lCtiv
to1ro
o7yypatpa Kai 7nakat&Jv Epyov
6tiyrlyotg).
110. Ibid., 170.
111. Ibid., 276-78.
112. Ibid., 280.
113. "One could see that place as an imitation in its beauty of a small and
very delightful city" (KcAi ~v i6iv
~EicVov bv
yJpov
Tfi
dpat6trrt It-
togitcvov
ttKpdv ttva n6Xtv
Kmi
"p7pvilv
kiav): Laudatio S. Barnabae
Apost. auctore Alexandro Monacho Cyprio, AASS June, 2, 446 D-E
(#45). Cf. also M.-J. Chavane and M. Yon, Salamine de Chypre X, Tes-
timonia Salaminia 1
(Paris, 1978), 19.
114. Cf. C. Loparev, De S.
Thieodoro, op. cit., 9, 10; Vita S. Matronae,
AASS, Nov. III, 811A #46, 47; Vita of St. Eutychius (+ 582), patriarch
of Constantinople, ed. C. C. Doukakis,
M'ya;
Zvvagapcrrrij,
April
(Athens, 1892), 305: "having embellished it alone in both the build-
52
ings
for
prayer
and the addition of revenues"
(T~iv ?r povilv KaQXo-
niGcq
v
ze TFliKZTpiotq olKot1, KqCi atpoY66ovy x7poo60iKatq).
115. Cf., for
example,
Vie de Sainte Melanie [+ 439]: texte grec, introduc-
tion et notes
par
D. Gorce
(Paris, 1962), 162. In
Symeon Metaphrastes'
version, written in an elaborate
classicizing style,
the theme of the
beauty
is more elaborate:
Migne, PG, CXVI, col. 765B-C. For the to-
pos
of the
beauty
of the baths in earlier sources cf. K. M. D. Dunbabin,
"Baiarum
grata voluptas:
Pleasures and
Dangers
of the Baths," Pro-
ceedings of
the British School at Rome, LVII (1989), 6-46, esp. 8-9,
and
passim.
116. Cf., for
example, Eusebius, Vita Constantini, III, ed. I. A. Heikel, Eu-
sebius Werke, I
(Leipzig, 1902), #48
(p.
98 1. 2): Constantine adorned
its
capital
with
many
churches and
martyrs'
shrines of
great
size and
beauty.
117. Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. E. Schwartz, pp.
874 11. 19, 27;
875 11. 10-11, 14, 20-21
("of
the architectural
arrangement
and the
surpassing beauty
in each
part":
dpXItEKOV1K~g tatZcigog Kai ZOO
Kcikkouq
ir
gP' i_'cozTou t ppouq
~rcppoXfi);
876 1. 1; idem, Vita Con-
stantini III, #50
(p.
99 11. 1, 5-6);
#32
(p.
93 1.
2),
34
(p.
93 11.
23-24),
39
(p.
94 1.
26),
40
(p.
94 1.
31ff.),
41
(p.
95 11.
5, 9), 43
(p.
95 11. 26,
29-30, 96 11. 5, 7),
45
(p.
96 1.
27).
118. Ed. P. Batiffol, "L'Epitaphe
d'
Eugene, 6veque
de Laodicee," Bulletin
d'ancienne litterature et d'
archdologie
chre'tienne, I (1911), p.
26
11. 13-17: . . .
Kai tioav til
v
icKK1cXoiav
dvotKo6opiuoo
a
dro6
ctCpEieov
Kai
ouvra6vza rtv
7Epi alTiv
K6Ctov
ToOT'
zTIVV oTo~v
T
EKCai
TTpctor6(ov ~c1i C(oyppayt&v Kai
Keviojocyov
KN (sic)
t68piou
Kai
crpo-
7r6kou c Kaii
t7iot
Toi
tXoOKoioiq
pyotq c
Kai
7tvzTaq
(sic)
atxd
(sic)
rKaaemoriua
.q
... (cf.
transl. C.
Mango,
The Art
of
the
Byzantine
Em-
pire
312-1453
(1972, rpt., Toronto, Buffalo, London, 1986),
14. Cf.
also
Gregory
of Nazianzus, Or. XVIII, 39
(Migne, PG, XXXV, col.
1037A-B).
119. Ibid., col. 1037A: "in size
beyond many
others and in
beauty beyond
almost all"
(pt~EyOct
t
iv
6I'ip ZoiU tnokko6qS,
KiXXkt
86 cYoXFbv
56rtp
cinavTaq);
Marc le diacre, Vie de
Porphyre
dveque
de Gaza, ed. H. Gr&-
goire
and M. A.
Kugener (Paris, 1930),
#92 11. 16-17: "the
beauty
and
size of the aforementioned
holy
church"
(To
KCioq
K i To
t
,cE0
oq Zq
iprihv1q
dyiaq
,KKXIoiaq).
120.
Evagrius,
Historia ecclesiastica, p.
40 11. 1-13.
121. Ibid., 11. 13-15.
122. C. H.
Kraeling,
Gerasa.
City of
the
Decapolis (New Haven, 1938),
inscr. no. 299
(p. 477):
"Astonishment and wonder were
inspired
in
people passing by.
For this
beauty
has
altogether dispelled
the cloud
of disorder"
(O6tcipoq 6tpo
Kai
0a Otpa napepXoplvotaotv FrX6l0v. 1rIv
ydp dKcooTpiTq
XCXUatt
v.poq
...
T68
c
Kikkoq:
church of St. Theodore;
fifth/sixth
centuries).
123.
Agathias, 5, 9,
6.
124.
Prokop
Bauten.
Paidos
Silentiarios
Beschreibung
der
Hagia Sophia,
ed.
O.
Veh
(Munich, 1977), vv. 105, 279, 466, 554, 610, 614, 657,
675, 678, 691, 741, 748, 765, 902.
125. Ibid., vv. 105, 117, 191, 198, 201, 221, 231, 285, 286, 290.
126. Ibid., vv. 754, 759, 768, 805. Cf. also Eusebius, Vita Constantini, III,
#40 (p. 95 1. 2): "in size and quantity and intricacy" (tCyiEOt
TC
cci
hriOct Ki
rotKtlialt).
127. Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. XVIII, 39 (Migne, PG, XXXV, col.
1037C): "Since many works, private and public, adorn other cities,
this alone was able to make us celebrated in the eyes of many"
(5t1
nokkXv dTQ aiL 7r6Xcg
1
K6Ct Coopo6vTV cpyOV, i6iov ?re ici 86rpooiov,
Toto Kmi p6VOV YO~coUE ~t1C3O1TOU4 fljt6I
KQTCLGTflOGQ1
TOi4
roEilootv).
128. St. Gregory of Nyssa, Laudatio S. Theodori, Migne, PG, XLVI/2,
col. 737C. For a later period cf. P. Lemerle, Les plus anciens recueils
des miracles de Saint Demetrius et la
penetration
des Slaves dans les
Balkans
(Paris, 1979),
#87
(p.
114 1.
23): the
reliquary
was a beauti-
ful work
(tCEpticalhkk 6pto6pyipra).
129. "As when a
king, having
built a
great city,
and
having
adorned it with
many
varied works, after the
completion
of
everything,
would order a
great
and
splendid
statue of himself to be set
up
in the middle of the
city
as a demonstration of the
city's origin.
And this statue, as a
statue of the
king
who built the
city, everyone
in the
city
must revere,
showing
the
city
founder
gratitude
for this, that he
gave
them such a
dwelling-place.
Thus also the Creator of the world made the whole
universe, adorning
it with a
variety
of different works"
("'oCrCtp
cF1
Tiq
Pa3othEiX6 7r6irtv tvIa
pFYiGiyTV
Kcra(evTuci
tCaq, 7tnooi o
e a
UTziv
Kai
notKiotl
8t1aKoopo1
Ecw
Cpyot1q,
pCE
T1ilV dritQV(OV ECl'xP(Octv, KEX-E-
otiev
cic6va au6To y7vop?tv1v tFy7T1iorV
tV'
Kcaiv
U.7tPtCECTpordrv,
V'
uicYp
7tdaoqr
1(cdvat
VCq
l t
7
6oq,
iq
iXy;ov
ZTO
ZTl
rt6XFOc0q aiTiou,
7iv v~yrlq cai c0q Ei-6va roU
7ttc7otlr6Toq
Ti1v 716ktv Paotkoq r7apth
TvOv
Kara
T1Vil
7Xtv0 OPQTCp5anso0t
atdvr(OV, dcipty 6poxoyo6rVOV 8td61
zo~Tro
To&
NzioT
i
flq x6XC(oq, itrl7tp aXUroIq CvStiCiTpTaL 868cocE Zoto1-
Tov.
OGizo cKai
6
Tilq Kzicce(oqS Arptoupyob rntcoircc pEv 7rivzra Tbv
K&(6pov, 81ta6po14
T E Kac 7noikol
KaLokreiot
rol
EOipyo1t):
The-
odoret of
Cyrus, Quaestiones
in Genesim, I, 20
(Migne, PG, LXXX,
col.
109A-B).
130. Ed. Walz, II, 525. On
Byzantine
rhetoric cf. G.-H. Beck, "Antike
Beredsamkeit und
byzantinische Kallilogia,"
Antike und Abendland,
XV
(1969), 91-101; H.
Hunger, "Aspekte
der
griechischen
Rhetorik
von
Gorgias
bis
zum Untergang
von
Byzanz,"
Osterreichishe
Akade-
mie der
Wissenschaften,
Philol.-Hist. Kl.
Sitzungsberichte,
277. 3
Abh.
(Vienna, 1972), 1-27; idem, Die
hochsprachliche profane
Liter-
atur der
Byzantiner,
I
(Munich, 1978),
65ff.
131. Ed. Walz, II, 413 11. 17-18; 412 11. 14-15.
132. Ibid., 514: "It is the case that it
appears separately,
and this is more
evident in the case of cities whose site, size and
beauty
are
reported.
And then
turning
back to an earlier
stage,
we treat its construction
from the
beginning
as well as craft, material, circumference and the
passage
of time"
("Eoart ydp
OTt
Kai
18tnp1ptv
o
pQtivpzalt,
Kai qpav-
p6)TEpov ToUTo
pcLkkov
rti
T(zCv 76XFCov,
Cv a_
Q
1 T 0c
o ctq
Kai
TO
p~YE0oq Kat i6 Kcikkoq x7apaklppciveLVat..
Kai ai
ndktv pbo z6 dp
pat6-
?TCpov avazp?Xovze zTilv
Ca
dpPXi4
aU
zdr oioo60tilv cKai TIa
V
TCyXvlv
Kai
Tzivl v KU
i
ziT
rteptcypoqilv
Ki TOv
Xp6vov
tnapaaa3civopEv).
133. Maximos Planoudes, Scholia in
Hermogenes,
ed. Walz, V, 512-13;
cf. also Michael Psellus, C. Sathas,
Mecra1wvKtcR BiLfiozolK7,
7 vols.
(Venice-Paris, 1872-1894), V, 3ff.; B. Laourdas,
0wriov 'Opiiari,
Hel-
lenika,
HapcdpTrclpa
XII
(Thessalonica, 1959), 97 1.
26, or as meta-
phors:
168 11. 15, 28; 169 11. 19, 21; 171 11. 26-27; 173 1. 5; 181 11. 1-2.
134. Cf. H.
Hunger,
Die
hochsprachliche profane Literatur, 170ff.
135.
Migne, PG, CXXXIII, col. 928B.
136. Ibid., col. 932C.
137. Ibid., col. 932C.
138. Ibid., col. 933A.
139. Ibid., cols. 928C, 936B, 944B, 957A.
140. Sp. Lampros, "Brooapiovo4
Ayic04ttov
Eig Tpa7rcEoivra,"
Nio;
'EAUr7-
vopyvipwv, XIII (1916), 147 (1. 16), 150 (1. 6), 153 (1. 29), 154 (1. 18),
155 (1. 28), 156 (1. 31), 160 (1. 30), 162 (1. 25), 164 (11. 16, 26), 165
(11. 3, 11, 25), 167 (1. 7), 171 (1. 30), 175 (1. 20), 176 (1. 32), 177 (1. 28),
180 (1. 9), 181 (11. 8, 23, 28, 34), 187 (11. 16, 23), 188 (11. 8, 19), 189
(11. 3, 6-7, 34), 190 (11. 1, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22), 193 (11. 31, 33),
194
(11. 3, 10). Several passages of this encomion clearly draw on Li-
banius' Antiochikos. G. Downey, "An Illustrated Commentary on Li-
banius' Antiochikos," Miscellanea Critica, I
(Leipzig, 1964), 85 n. 6
points to the imitation of the Antiochikos by Nicephorus Mesarites in
53
an
ekphrasis
of the church of the
Holy Apostles
in
Constantinople,
and
by
John Phocas in the
description
of Antioch.
141. 0.
Lampsides, "'Iowvvou E7yEvt1Ko
E"ycppactq Tpant.eovrzog.
Xpovo-
X67yrlotg cai EK6ootg,"
Archeion Pontou, XX
(1955),
26-27.
142. Ibid., 29 11. 57, 74, etc.; 32 11. 126-27; 33 1. 133; beauty
of the
churches: 29 1. 64.
143. Ibid., 36
(#20).
144. S.
Lampros,
HaAaioA6yea ca' HeAofrovvyrmacK
I (Athens, 1912-23),
48 11. 2 and 22.
145. Ibid., 49 11. 3, 11, 14; 53 1. 20; 54 11. 7, 11, 14, 24, 25.
146. J. Fr. Boissonade, Anecdota Nova
(Paris, 1844),
129-31.
147. C. Sathas,
MecatrwvclKt Bl/ifoOq,1K
, I, 139.
148. Ibid., 140 1. 14.
149. Ibid., 141 1. 14.
150. Ibid., 143 11. 23, 24.
151. Ibid., 144 1. 14.
152. Ibid., 145 1. 8.
153. Ibid., 145 11. 9-10.
154. Ibid., 145 1. 13.
155.
K6kkog tzv 7tX1t6vyov
olov
dntalavov
FpEiv: ibid., 146 1. 14.
156. Ibid., 1. 19; ti
7ravToiq Tfg Xp6ag ~tep6trlt:
1. 22.
157. Ibid., 1. 23.
158. Ibid., 147 1. 1.
159. Ibid., 147 1. 2.
160. Cf. also E. Kurtz and F. Drexl, Michaelis Pselli
scripta
minora
(Milan,
1936, 1941), II, ep.
194
(pp. 220-21).
161. Sathas,
McatovtKi
BtPhXoeiiKcr,
I, 152 1. 28.
162. Ibid., 153 11. 5-7.
163.
loannis
Caminiatae de
expugnatione Thessalonicae, ed. G.
Bohlig
(Berlin, 1973),
#3-6.
164. Ibid., #6, 3.
165. Ibid., #10.
166. Ibid., #11:
"very large
and
exceedingly
beautiful churches with varied
ornamentation"
(vaoi ...
taacpp~YOctq
Ki
tCEptKaXXh4E
Ti
otoiki
86ta-
KooapiOEt).
167. La
espugnazione
di Tessalonica. Eustazio di Tessalonica, ed. S.
Ky-
riakidis, B.
Lavagnini,
V. Rotolo
(Palermo, 1961),
3 11. 15-16.
168. Ibid., 26-28.
169. Ibid., 6 1. 8.
170. Ibid., 82 1. 3.
171. "The number and beauty of the weapons"
(7nhiOo4
mCi
KciLo4
&pptd-
zov):
ibid., 70 1. 23.
172.
'Iwdvvou A4vayvowrrov Ar4jyqrg
Jrept
ri7
relevraiag
dtaohrewg
rif
Oea-
caoviKt7g. Movo ia
ri ri} d~Jxore ri7j OeocaloviK7g,
ed. I. Tsaras
(Thessalonica, 1958), 6 11. 17-18; 58 1. 9; 62 1. 3 (kallos of the
houses).
173. Ibid., 46 1. 34; 48 1. 26; 62 1. 1; 64 1. 17, 24-25, 32; 66 1. 1.
174. Ibid., 64 11. 5-7.
175. Ibid., 70 11. 10-11: "It surpassed, more than one can say, many cities
in beauty, site and size, and in the abundance of beautiful things"
(loXk v
&
60 tV
Yp KCLXXEI
KCic 03ptc, rTokeX~ t 8 );
7Cy2tI
K141
/
,:
"hv
KaXjv dpeovi~ tr16'
6oovtv
cirCiV
7rCtp13akc
7r6tX1); 7211. 14-18: "Oh,
how
you
have been robbed of
your
former order, and
your splendour
has
departed
and
you compel
those who look on to be downcast. For
all
your enveloping beauty
is ruined, and the
beauty
with which
you
are able to adorn
yourself
has
suddenly perished"
("Q2, 7rgq oo0 zilv
tpiv EUKooIiaQv /
dqpplpoa
Kai
ri
XaPttp6tg 6rtcnTi Kai...
toig
6pCvzTaq Kaz qcpcqv dvaycd'Etqc. Euyciurnat
ydp
oot KC6Tapoq
6
7Cpt/KEi-
tcEvo4g &7cg,
mi
t6
K
(og4, o0urta
v
KO(tEiVFo
EicEg,
/
gai.pvqg
dt6-
XoXe);
11. 28-30: "When I consider the most beautiful ornament that it
lost, I mean the
holy
churches and the
dwellings
of devout men in all
its
parts" (i'viKa
t6v
c6kktoTov,
bv
drtoppkrKE,
6tpov
Xoyio0/tait,
vE6q, pr7pi., Otioug Kai
ccd t
azcr 7rvav aizfq Ppoq oc//vCv dv6pcv
KaTr-
ay6yta).
Cf. also
Sp. Lampros, "TpEiq dvic80oot tov&8{iat
Ei
tiqv ITr6o
tzv To6piov
w
Xotv
ziq O?cooaXovigicq,"
Neo
'EAAqvopvijpwv,
V
(1908),
372
(1.
3: "the most beautiful after the foremost
city"
(c6Xrtao-
tov tctE ritv 7tpefoCTiTlv 7r6tv);
1. 21: "its
exceedingly
beautiful
beauty"
(7tcptmai zar
auS6
KoCtpov),
377 (1. 184),
380
(1. 276),
383
(11. 5, 13),
385
(1. 1),
387
(1.
141: veCv
cdXXka),
388 (11. 189, 191),
389
(1.
206: "the
beauty
of the churches is the
city's
own
beauty," vECv
KcXXkkr oiKEcioq
K
c6tpoq rtoktXpou),
390, 391 1. 1.
176. Johannis Canani De
Constantinopolis obsidione, ed. E. Pinto
(Naples,
1968).
177.
Migne, PG, CLVI/2, cols. 23-60.
178. Ibid., cols. 24C-25A. For the attitudes towards the classical monu-
ments in
Byzantium
cf. H. Saradi-Mendelovici, "Christian Attitudes
toward
Pagan
Monuments in Late
Antiquity
and Their
Legacy
in
Later
Byzantine Centuries," DOP,
44
(1990),
47-61.
179.
Migne, PG, CLVI/2, col. 25C-D.
180. Ibid., col. 28A.
181. Ibid., cols. 28-29.
182. Ibid., col. 29B.
183. Ibid., cols. 33B-36C.
184. Ibid., col. 37B-C, col. 37D: "So I
say
the mother was beautiful and
graceful.
But to
many people
the
daughter
was more beautiful"
(Ayo
toivuv Kailv

Phv a p68pa Kai cpaiav ycvioOat tilv
Prlepa"
Kak(i
6i
itoXTolg
5v Ouyacrpa).
185. Ibid., col. 40A.
186. Ibid., col. 41B.
187. Ibid., col. 41D: "covered and
protected
streets
pointed
out
throughout
the
city.
So that it was
possible
to traverse it free of mud and the sun's
rays" (oie7taoTobq KCai ppaITob 8p6pouq 8t
&
&rdcqtr otF ti n6Xoeq
etcvuPlvouq
dioz
T
i
Eevat
6vewu
7rrl.o
Kai
dcztivoq 7oiav 68ttvat).
188. Ibid., col. 41B.
189. Ibid., col. 45A.
190. Ibid., col. 45B.
191. Ibid., col. 49A.
192. Michaelis Pselli Historia
Syntomos,
ed. W. J. Aerts
(Berlin, 1990),
54
1. 57; Georges PachymirOs, Relations historiques, ed. A. Failler and
V. Laurent (Paris, 1984), 241 1. 22; Choniates, ed. I. A. van Dieten, 297
1. 6; 319 1. 45; 476 1. 46.
193. Choniates, 434 1. 13; 287 11. 30-31; cf. also the description of the for-
tifications of Corcyra: 78 11. 43-48.
194. Theophanes' Continuatus, 130 11. 16-17.
195. Choniates, 281 11. 59-60; 635 11. 5-6; Manasses vv. 3170. Cf. also
the imagery of the fortifications in the poem of
Ioannes
Geometres,
Migne, PG, 106, col. 908:
"The cities, having cast the defences of their strength to the
ground like hair, torn down, lament bitterly like maidens mourning"
(1-SpI6c i 5bt,/ zp
~
nto& tc6tp
/ ol
yIpb
v I o
3ahopoa i)ai
caztortapa'ytC~vct,/ Oprlvoo0itt 7TtCp6v, o0t 7rVv01tot
ic6pCa).
54
196. Ioannis
Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum, ed. J. Thurn, 387 11. 3-4;
Cedrenus II, 501 11. 6-8:
"cutting
down the most beautiful
buildings
and
destroying
the
beauty
of the
city
and of its
great
church"
(drtoK~ipaq
-rd
KiXtoora tC
v
oiKrlltitov
Kai
ttadOtipaq
tbv tig 7t6xlEOq Ko6tPov
KaiC
aoutfi
ziqq tp''ydXi~q icKKkcoiaq;
Edessa); 522: "of its most beautiful
buildings"
("tv
KaXXtiotov
oioo6o0upalaTvc aoutfi:
Smyrna).
197.
Theophanes'
Continuatus, 329ff.,
447ff.
198. Choniates, 206 11. 48ff. Cf. also 442 1. 46 the
palace
of the
Mangana
destroyed by
Isaac III
Angelos
who did not show
any respect
either
for the
beauty
or for the size of the
building.
199.
Scylitzes,
142 1. 76:
"ravaging
the
beauty
in front of the
city"
("t&
r7p6
triqg 7t6XEgo Kaickk Kieipaq).
200. Attaleiates, 80 11. 6-7: "it
[the city
of
Annion]
was adorned with du-
cianic office"
(8ouitfi
KauotonTr1
dpXfi);
cf. also Psellus, Sathas,
MecraLwvIIl
Btl/toO~40K7,
V, 170.
201. Cf., for
example, Psellus, ibid., 165, 279.
202. Critobuli Imbriotae historiae, ed. D. R. Reinsch
(Berlin, 1983),
95
11. 14-15:
"many
beautiful cities"
(7t6t
7Tno
4t
KaCi
KaChig);
101 1. 15
(baths
and markets):
"for the
arrangement
and adornment of the
city":
STqE
cotrIacFuiiv
cKai
K6tov
trig Tn6XFoq;
114 11. 24-25
(buildings
built
by
Mehemet in
Constantinople):
"other
things
that can confer adorn-
ment and
beauty" (oa
(akk
6o6tpov o8I
t
Apptv
Ki
K0 Kaioq);
131-33,
166, 193 1. 2, 103 11. 9-12: "Ainos... a
very large city
in the most
beautiful
part
of the coast of Thrace and Macedonia"
(Alvog
. .
.t6xt
paiforl
. ..
v
KacXXic3tr tig
rapakiq
Opicrlq tc
Kai
MaK6oviaq);
121
1. 21
(for
the
countryside
of
Corinth): "everything
most beautiful and
productive" (cWikktota T
Kai
nrokXypopa 7ndvra);
152 1. 6
(for
Tre-
bizond): "largest
and most beautiful"
(pt7yiot
l
r
Kai
cKakic3tar);
155
1. 9
(for Sinope):
"a coastal
city,
most beautiful and
prosperous" (7rOXtv
napohXov
caXXiGrlv
tJ cT
Kai
7tXouotctrtlv);
172 11. 2-3, 6
(for Myti-
lene):
"the best and most beautiful ... its size and
beauty" (dpioti
"te
ipt
Kai
Kakkiaortl
...
ye7Oo4g
qKai
cdkCog aitfilg);
24 11. 17-24
(for
the
palace
of the
sultan):
"adorned with
shining
stones and translucent mar-
bles and
gleaming
with abundant
gold
and silver... elaborated with
sculpture
and
painting, gardens...
in adornment with fruit in season"
(kiOotql; t
p
cLppoi Kai
pLppipotq
tapavicrt
KEKOPLOPttva
XpooUG tE
noxxc Kai
dpyUp O KaToTpaT6PEva
...
yxkupctI Kati ypoticftl tivn
nentotctktPtva
rap&1oaot.
.
..Kaprtoiq
paootoq...
Kc6atpov.
.
.),
and 193
11. 4ff.; 61 11. 5-8 (for
churches and other
public buildings
of Constanti-
nople):
"the
beauty
of the churches and
public buildings,
and
splendid
houses and
gardens,
and
many
such
things befitting viewing, delight,
pleasure
and
enjoyment" (vFJv
rF
KicXX l Kai
68poaooiv
oico6o0ptrtpdtOv,
Kai oiciOt
hatXapai
Kai
napd6tocot
Kai
"to
arta,
7ro kg Ti
F Oav
6Poi
ai
tcppv tKai ~16oviv
Kai
ddr6kauotv
inKavd);
76 11. 4-6: "the
splendor,
beauty, quantity,
size and
beauty
of the churches and
public buildings,
and
private
and
public
houses"
(?riv
"tr
.a1rp6trora
Kai
Kakkoviiv t6
"t
7rhiOog
Kai PC
yEO0og
0
ti cKXXog
"T
'rv
t?r
vev
Kati
"tdv
8rltpooiov
oiico-
680oaLaJtr(Ov
"tv "tc
i6OtOrtCOv
oitcov
KCci
Kotvcv).
203. Theodosios Melitenos, 178: "most beautiful
monastery" (7EptmcaplXf
...
tovriv);
Cedrenus, II, 411: "a large and beautiful church" (va6v
... t.'yav Kci Ki6torov).
204. Choniates, 178 1. 21; 400 11. 94-95: "a great and celebrated work, and
of surpassing beauty" (ipyov
t~Tytoov
ci
rtcpi~nuortov yvta
ici
rtppal3ivovt
ag
K
icaog);
206 1. 68: "greatest in size [the church of
St. Irene in Constantinople] and most beautiful in beauty" (tCEyOct
tpyitorov Kci KwicEt
KCdXi.otoov).
205. Scylitzes, 162 11. 24, 43, 45; 163 11. 55, 60, 70, 71; 164 11. 74, 78, 97;
165 1. 5; 189 11. 40-41; 364 1. 82; Choniates 332 11. 2-3
(c3 KXEXt
Kickhto-ov
Kai Cca
yEOct
uIyrtotov).
It is also found in the Byzantine
chronography. Cf., for example, Theophanes' Continuatus, 322 1. 2;
323 11, 5, 7; 324 11. 2, 11, 14, 15; 325-26; 329 11. 11, 21-22; 330 1. 3;
331 11. 2, 13, 18.
206. Anne Comnene, Alexias, II, 345-48.
207. Psellus, Scripta minora, I, 26-27: "entire cities built in one
day,
not
with baked bricks like Persian
Ktesiphon
. . but with solid stones
...
behold the
height
and
beauty
of the churches, and the
harmony
and
sym-
metry
in
everything,
the
groves, meadows, coasts and
bays, possessing
besides
beauty safety"
(hI6X~1Xtq
a

Ep'
itpaq oiico6o~oupviaq tiiq,
ot 7riv6otq 6wmrait 6ios()p
i
FeIpoip
Ktrlotpv
.v...,
dx'
dppaycot
kiOotg
... .pa pot
ICi
vaoLv iyn
Ti
Kicl
c
Tr
i
"ictV
Av
7
rai
tyv
Uap-
tootiav
iai
CtuPLPLtpitpv,,
IC
a1 t icCTli
X
tp~1vCalg
tCi
CT"tmi KC1t
IcOXtoug,
ttE ic6 Tou
t6
dopcaXhg X'ovtaq).
Cf. also Eustathius of Thessalon-
ica, ed. T. Tafel, 144: "since I know that the walls of cities are also said
to be
holy,
with
prejudice
in
praise,
walls with which
they
are
protected,
whatever
territory they
enclose"
(E~ri ticc iEpd o06a t1ytI
n
7r6Eov
XysoOat,
tpooancog -nti
w
aivo,
oi~g
rtptod(Covtat1, 6rt6aCrv
Fvrt6
X(pav C(ovv6ouotv;
#15 and
17).
For the use of the
topos
of the kallos
in a
description
of nature cf. ibid., 219, 357.
208. Psellus, Scripta minora, I, 140-41. The christianization of a theme of
ancient literature is even more direct in other texts, such as for
example
in the 1 1th
Homily
of Eustathius of Thessalonica, ed. Tafel,
63: "... the correct aims in life are
guided by love, as well as the
acts
deriving
from them, which constitute life. These are the cohabi-
tation in cities, the bouleuteria, the laws, the educational institutions,
any
kind of art and science, marriage, trade, festivals, either for busi-
ness or of a
religious
nature." Cf. also ibid., p.
21 #43.
209. Fr. Miklosich and J.
Mtiller,
Acta et
diplomata graeca
medii aevi sacra
et
profana (Vienna, 1860-1890), V, 78: "He is the foremost and
great-
est adornment of all in this
very city,
and all the other
things
are in-
ferior. For he is the founder and
protector
of the
city,
and he is the
strongest champion
in
carrying
out
successfully
all of God's
angelic
ordinances above, the
great
leader Michael in
beautifying
and al-
together benevolently,
so to
speak, ruling
the
city" (6
6' 6 1
ntpCtoq
aiUtCO
K
6(cpoq4 Eti t'icati
t
7rCO
xiat
o
at
CPi
y7tytoq, mti
oi uavr Ta
tikka
ijtrrttat
totoxtri
q y7p art Kaoi tXokxtoxoq Kai Ndvtaira
Kakqd rTp[tTEtv
tpoo(tYTrlt Kpdtitoto0
6
Pyaq
"tv
iveo to
OEO
to0TaytcpTv
d7yyE7LtcO
7rpooato t7rltq
MtIalX ,
...
.KaoXXvov
tE Ti
c
patvUovv
7racvu
"tot
ptko-
ot6pyow
,
~c
siEiV,
TOb 7r6Xctapa).
210.
Pachymeres,
593-57.
211. Constantine
Akropolites
in his
Homily
to St. Demetrius states that
there is an abundance of
topoi
which he could use if he followed the
rules of the encomia. But since the Saint whom he honours with his
Homily
had
neglected
the
earthly goods,
he would focus
only
on his
piety
and
sanctity:
A.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus, AvdAcecra 'lepocrolvi-
ritKg Zra;voloyiag
(St. Petersburg, 1891; rpt. Brussels, 1963), I, 166.
212. Cf. for
example
A.
Arsenij,
Nila
mitropolita Rodosskago cetyre
neizdannyja proizvedenija (Moscow, 1891),
1: NEiou,
tprlTporokhitou
'P68ou
'Eyicpttov
Eig tilv
aoiav
Kayti Oauptaoupyov Matpcdviv
[+ ca.
1306-1310];
Vita of St. Isidoros
(+ 1350) by
Philotheus
patriarch
of
Constantinople,
ed. A.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus, Zitija
dvuh vselen-
skih
patriarchov
XIV v., Zapiski Ist.-Filol. Fakulteta
Imp.
Universiteta
76
(Petropoli, 1905),
52: Bio icai 7noktXria
cti yic6ptov
.. .; cf. also
Vita of Makarios of
'E6ca,
written
by
Philotheus of
Selymbria,
ed.
A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus, MavpoyopSdrezoS BlPlhoO~fK7,
AvEKrora
'EAIqvIKd
(Constantinople, 1884), 47; L. G. Westerink, "Trois tex-
tes
in~dits
sur Saint Diomide de
Nic~e,"
Analecta Bollandiana,
LXXXIV (1966), 180: "the crown of
praises.., worthy of praise"
(tdv yicetoi
v 6
acrzqcvo
...
Eraivov li5tov...).
213. A. Arsenij, Nila mitropolita, op. cit., 4. Cf. also P. Magdalino, "The
History of Thessaly 1266-1393" (Ph.D., Univ. of Oxford), 331 11. 6-7.
On descriptions of Byzantine gardens and the topos of the kallos cf.
O. Schissel, Der byzantinische Garten. Seine Darstellung im gleich-
zeitigen Romane, Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philos.-
hist.
Klasse, Sitzungsberichte, CCXXI, 2 (Vienna and Leipzig, 1942),
passim.
55
214. Cf. Westerink, "Trois Textes
in6dits
sur Saint
Diomede
de
Nic6e,"
182
(#5).
215. Ed. A.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus, Mavpoyop6dreizog Bl#Aio0p7eK
, 47.
216. Cf. Vita of St. Isidoros, ed.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus,
55 1. 31; Vita of
St. Matrona of Chios, ed.
Arsenij,
5 1. 1; L. Petit, "Acolouthie de
Marc
Eug6nicos, arch6veque
d'
Ephese,"
Studi Bizantini e
neoellen-
ici, II (1927),
214 1. 19; Vita of St. Germanos (+ 1336),
ed. P.
Ioan-
nou, Analecta Bollandiana, LXX
(1952),
51 11. 24-25, 52 11. 14-16;
The
Life of
Saint Nikon; Text, Translation and
Commentary by
D. F.
Sullivan
(Brookline, Mass., 1987),
#1 1. 38, 2 1. 25, 24 11. 4-5.
217. Cf. Vita of St. Theodora of Thessalonica
(+ 892),
ed. Kurtz, in Me'-
moires de 1' Academie
imp.
de
Saint-Petersbourg, VIIIe serie, VI, 1
(1902),
1 11. 15-16: "and ornament of Thessaloniki"
(t&v OEcoaovt-
KicOv Kal7k6)Xtapa);
Vita of St. Isidoros, ed.
Papadopoulos-Kerameus,
55 1. 2; Vita of St. Matrona, ed.
Arsenij, 1
(Kakk6ntapta).
In the Life
of St. Nikon, the saint is declared to be the
"delight
and ornament"
(E'vrpiprpta
and
Kakk6nottaca)
of the
hagiographer:
#77 1. 27. Cf. also
Symeon Metaphrastes,
Vita S. Theodori
Grapti, Migne, PG, CXVI/2,
col. 656A.
218. Westerink, Vita St. Diomedes, 210
(#41).
219. L. Petit, "Acolouthie de Marc
Eug6nicos,"
213; Psellus, Sathas,
MeCaiow-
vK1c
BPlrioOKrc7,
V, 145.
220. Vita St. Theodora of Thessalonica, ed. Kurtz, 2 1. 10, 51 1. 34; Vita
St. Nikon, ed. Sullivan, #2, 2.
221. On the
high
and low
style
of
Byzantine hagiography
cf. the remarks
of I. ev'enko, "Levels of
Style
in
Byzantine Prose," in Akten des sech-
szehnten internazionalen Byzantinisten-Kongress (Vienna, 1981),
Jahr-
buch der
6sterreichischen
Byzantinistik,
XXXI/1
(1981), 289-312,
esp. 291-92, 300-3; R.
Browning,
"The
Language
of
Byzantine
Litera-
ture," in The "Past" in Medieval and Modern Greek Culture, ed.
Sp. Vryonis,
Jr.
(Malibu, 1978), 118-19; A.
Garzya, "Lingua
e cultura
nell'
agiografia italo-greca,"
La Chiesa
greca
in Italia dall' VIII al XVI
secolo, III
(Padova, 1973),
1179-86.
222.
Migne, PG, CXV, col. 188A.
223. Ibid., 192B, 193D.
224. Ibid., 192D, 196A.
225. Ibid., 196C.
226. V. Rose, Leben des
heiligen
David von Thessalonike (Berlin, 1887),
3 11. 3, 20.
227. Odesska abstch. istorii i drevnosti
Zapiski (Odessa, 1912),
vol. 30,
236-37.
228.
Cf.,
for
example,
Vita S. Theoctistae Lesbiae
(+ 797-802),
AASS
Nov. IV, 226A-B; Vita St. Nikon, ed. Sullivan, op. cit., #35 11. 3-4,
50; #38 11. 4-9; #58 11. 84-87.
229. Cf., for
example,
the 10th
Homily
of Photius, delivered in the form of
a
description
of the renowned church of the Palace, ed. B.
Laourdas,
owriov
'Opiiari,
100 11.
27, 30, 31; 101 11. 20, 24; 102 11. 5, 15, 23; 103
11. 17, 25-27: "that the church is most excellent and beautiful and that
it defeats the canons of an
ekphrasis" (t6
Kr6Xkkto6v
te
ttvat
Tbv
vabv
Kai
Opat6zTzov
Kai
vtio&vTa v6pouq Fyppd(cxog;
tr. C.
Mango,
The
Homilies
of
Photius
[Cambridge, Mass., 1958], 189);
De sacris aedi-
bus
deque
miraculis
Deiparae
ad Fontem
(tenth century),
AASS Nov.
III, 878A-B; Sp. Lampros, "'O Mapctavbg
K
tC
524," Nio;
'EAr7-
vopvjpwv,
VIII
(1911),
148 1.
2ff., 150 11. 60-61.
The Homilies of John of Euchaita offer
interesting examples:
loannis Euchaitorum metropolitae quae
in codice vaticano Graeco
676
supersunt,
ed. P. de
Lagarde (G6ttingen, 1882),
139: "the church
surpassing
in size, beauty
and the richness of its construction, other
buildings" (va6g. ... pt~y~Ot
ai
K KLEXt
ai
nokEt)OFa
i
Ka5rKUj
noku it T& aikkaq tnspp3aivov oiKoSo6odq..
.);
and 142, 160. In the
Homily 179, the
topos
of the kallos is reserved
only
for the church of
Amaseia, while the
city
itself is
praised
as
large
and ancient.
230. Fenster, Laudes
constantinopolitanae,
322.
231. Cf. A.
Momigliano,
"The Rhetoric of
History
and the
History
of
Rhetoric: On
Hayden
White's
Tropes,"
in
Comparative
Criticism. A
Yearbook, vol. 3
(Cambridge, 1981), 259-68; G. L. Kustas, "Litera-
ture and
History
in
Byzantium,"
in The "Past" in Medieval and Mod-
ern Greek Culture, 55-69. Cf. also the remarks of A.
Cameron,
in
History
as Text. The
Writing of
Ancient
History (Chapel
Hill and
London, 1989).
232. H.
Maguire,
Art and
Eloquence
in
Byzantium (Princeton, 1981).
For
earlier
periods
cf. the recent work of B. H.
Fowler, The Hellenistic
Aesthetic
(Madison, 1989).
233. C.
Mango,
The Art
of
the
Byzantine Empire,
XIV-XV.
234. Chr. Walter, "Expressionism
and Hellenism. A Note on
Stylistic
Ten-
dencies in
Byzantine Figurative
Art from
Spaitantike
to the Macedonian
'Renaissance'," Revue des etudes
byzantines,
XLII
(1984), 265-87,
esp.
267.
235. J. Onians, "Abstraction and
Imagination
in Late
Antiquity," AH, III
(1980), 1-23, esp.
4.
236. Ibid., 9ff.
237. Ibid., 11.
238. In the Basilikos of Maximos Planoudes, for
example,
the
topos
of
Constantinople's
kallos is treated in a
particularly
unusual
way:
"if
one should call some
city
'leader' because of the nature of its
beauty,
this one I call the 'leader' of
beauty" (Ei
yd6p
Tot Xpl Tiva ct
yktv
EK
(p6FoE
K6tpou
6Canor6tv
k'yEtv,
Ta6QTiV -y( K6a(tou 68ECn6tIv kXyo:
L. G. Westerink, "Le Basilikos de Maxime Planude," Byzantinoslav-
ica, XXVIII
(1967),
63 11.
573-74).
56

Saradi The Kallos of The Byzantine City

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The Kallos of the Byzantine City: The Development of a Rhetorical Topos and Historical

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