Four for a Boy (24 page)

Glossary

NOTE: All dates are CE unless otherwise indicated.

ACHILLEA
Yarrow. Its botanical name,
Achillea millefolium
, is derived from the legend that Achilles employed it to stop his men’s wounds bleeding. It has been thus used for centuries, earning it the alternative name of Soldier’s Woundwort.

ALABASTRON
Glass or pottery flask for massage oil or perfume. The name is derived from the Greek
alabastros
meaning alabaster, from which early examples were made.

ATRIUM
Central area of a Roman house, open to the sky. An atrium not only provided light to rooms opening from it, but also held a shallow pool (impluvium) under the square or oblong opening in its roof in order to catch rain water both for household use and decorative purposes.

AUGUSTAION
Square between the GREAT PALACE and the GREAT CHURCH.

BATHS OF ACTAEON
According to legend, Actaeon was a hunter who accidentally saw Artemis, goddess of the chase, while she was bathing. He was transformed into a stag and subsequently torn to pieces by his own dogs.

BATHS OF ZEUXIPPOS
Public baths in Constantinople. They were named after a Thracian deity whose name combined Zeus and Hippos. Erected by order of Septimius Severus (146-211; r 193-211) and situated northeast of the HIPPODROME, they were generally considered the most luxurious of the city’s public baths. They were famous for their classical statues, numbering between sixty and eighty.

BLUES
See FACTIONS.

CALDARIUM
Hottest room in the public baths.

CARYATID
Column formed in the shape of a female figure dressed in flowing garments. The best known caryatids are probably the six supporting the roof of the Porch of the Maidens of the Erechtheion, a temple on the Acropolis in Athens.

CAUTES AND CAUTOPATES
Statues of twin torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates were part of the sacred furnishings of a MITHRAEUM. Cautes always held his torch upright while Cautopates pointed his downward. The twins may represent the rising and setting of the sun. Other interpretations hold that they symbolize life and death or the twin emotions of despair and joy or perhaps that they are both MITHRA, depicted at different hours of the day.

CHALKE
Main entrance of the GREAT PALACE.

CHURCH OF EIRENE
Popular name for Hagia Eirene (Church of the Holy Peace), situated near the GREAT CHURCH.

CITY PREFECT
High ranking urban official whose main duty was to maintain public order.

CONCRETE
Roman concrete, consisting of wet lime, volcanic ash, and pieces of rock, was used in a wide range of structures from humble cisterns to the Pantheon in Rome, which has survived for nearly 2,000 years even without the steel reinforcing rods commonly used in modern concrete buildings. One of the oldest Roman concrete buildings still standing is the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, Italy, built during the first century BC.

EXCUBITORS
The palace guard.

EUPHEMIA (d c 524)
Little is known about Euphemia, wife of JUSTIN I. She was originally called Lupicina, a name commonly associated with prostitutes. It is said that she was a slave whom JUSTIN I purchased, freed, and married, and that she had also been the mistress of her previous owner. She supported JUSTINIAN as her husband’s successor, but was bitterly opposed to any suggestion of JUSTINIAN marrying THEODORA.

FACTIONS
Supporters of the BLUE or GREEN chariot teams, named for their racing colors. Great rivalry existed between the factions. Brawls between them were not uncommon and occasionally escalated into citywide riots.

FALERNIAN WINE
Considered one of the finest Roman wines.

FORUM BOVIS
See MESE.

FORUM CONSTANTINE
See MESE.

FROM EGGS TO APPLES
From beginning to end. The saying is based upon Roman dining practice. A modern version would be from hors d’oeuvres to dessert.

GREAT CHURCH
Popular name for the Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom). The first Great Church was built in 360 and burnt down in 404. The second was erected in 415, but destroyed during the Nika riots (532). It was replaced by the existing Hagia Sophia, constructed by order of JUSTINIAN I and consecrated in December 537.

GREAT PALACE
Lay in the southeastern part of Constantinople. It was not one building but many, set amid trees and gardens. The grounds included barracks for the EXCUBITORS, ceremonial rooms, meeting halls, the imperial family’s living quarters, churches, and housing for court officials, ambassadors, and various other dignitaries.

GREENS
See FACTIONS.

HARMONIA’S NECKLACE
According to mythology, when Harmonia married Cadmus, one of her wedding presents was a necklace which later brought calamity on everyone who owned it. Proverbially it refers to a possession that brings misfortune.

HIPPODROME
U-shaped race track near the GREAT PALACE. The Hippodrome had tiered seating accommodating up to a hundred thousand spectators. It was also used for public celebrations and other civic events.

HORMISDAS PALACE
Home of JUSTINIAN and THEODORA before JUSTINIAN became emperor.

HYPOCAUST
Roman form of central heating, accomplished by distribution of hot air through flues under the flooring.

HEMSUT
Egyptian goddess of fate. Also known as Hemuset.

JOHN THE HUNCHBACK (known 490s)
Leader of an army sent by Anastasius I (c 430-518, r 491-518) to put down an Isaurian rebellion. JUSTIN I, then still serving in the ranks of the military, was one of John’s subordinate commanders. Although they were defeated at the battle of Cotyaeum in Phrygia (491), it took several years to finally subdue the rebels.

JUSTIN I (c 450-527, r 518-527)
Born in the province of Dardania (part of present-day Macedonia), Justin and two friends journeyed to Constantinople to seek their fortunes. All three joined the EXCUBITORS and Justin eventually rose to hold the rank of commander. Justin was married to EUPHEMIA. He was declared emperor upon the death of Anastasius I (c 430-518, r 491-518). Justin’s nephew JUSTINIAN I was crowned co-emperor in April 527, four months before Justin died.

JUSTINIAN I (483-565; r 527-565)
Nephew of JUSTIN I and his successor to the throne. Justinian’s greatest ambition was to restore the Roman empire to its former glory. He succeeded in temporarily regaining North Africa, Italy, and southeastern Spain. He ordered the codification of Roman law and after the Nika Riots (532) rebuilt the GREAT CHURCH as well as many other buildings in Constantinople. He married THEODORA in 525.

KALAMOS
Reed pen.

KING THEODORIC (454-526; r Ostrogoths 47l-526; r Italy 493-526)
Known as Theodoric the Great, he was educated in Constantinople, having been taken there as a diplomatic hostage at the age of eight. Ascending to the Ostrogothic throne on the death of his father Theodemir in 471, he eventually regained control of Italy from the barbarians who had won it from Rome almost twenty years before. During his reign he favored Roman methods of government and law.

KEEPER OF THE PLATE
Court official responsible for the care of palace plate, which included ceremonial items as well as imperial platters, ewers, goblets, and various types of dishes, often made of precious metals.

LUPICINA
See EUPHEMIA.

MASTER OF THE OFFICES
Oversaw the civil side of imperial administration within the palace.

MESE
Main thoroughfare of Constantinople. Enriched with columns, arches, statuary (depicting secular, military, imperial, and religious subjects), fountains, religious establishments, workshops, monuments, emporiums, public baths, and private dwellings, it was a perfect mirror of the heavily populated and densely built city it traversed. The Mese passed through several fora, including FORUM BOVIS and FORUM CONSTANTINE.

MIME
After the second century CE, mime supplanted classical Roman pantomime in popularity. Unlike performers of pantomime, mimes spoke and did not wear masks. Their presentations featured extreme violence and graphic licentiousness and were strongly condemned by the Christian church.

MITHRA
Persian sun god. It was said Mithra was born in a cave or from a rock, and that as soon as he emerged into the world he clothed himself with leaves from a fig tree and ate of its fruit. Mithra slew the Great (or Cosmic) Bull, from which all animal and vegetable life sprang. Mithra is usually shown wearing a tunic and Phrygian cap with his cloak flying out behind him and in the act of slaying the Great Bull. A depiction of this scene was in every MITHRAEUM. Mithra was also known as Mithras.

MITHRAEUM
Underground place of worship dedicated to MITHRA. Such places have been found on sites as far apart as northern England and what is now the Holy Land. See also CAUTES AND CAUTOPATES.

MITHRA’S FIG TREE
See MITHRA.

MITHRAISM
Of Persian origin, Mithraism spread throughout the Roman Empire via its followers in various branches of the military. It became one of the most popular Roman religions during the second and third centuries CE but declined thereafter. Mithrans were required to be chaste, obedient, and loyal. Parallels have been drawn between Mithraism and Christianity because of shared practices such as baptism and anticipation of resurrection as well as the belief that MITHRA, in common with many sun gods, was born on 25 December. Mithrans advanced within their religion through seven degrees. In ascending order, these were Corax (Raven), Nymphus (Male Bride), Miles (Soldier), Leo (Lion), Peres (Persian), Heliodromus (Runner of the Sun), and Pater (Father). Women were excluded from Mithraism.

MONOPHYSITE
Adherent to a doctrine holding that Christ had only one nature (divine) although others declared this one nature to be a mixture of two (human and divine). Monophysites holding the former view were condemned by the Council of Chalcedon (45l), but nevertheless the belief remained particularly strong in Syria and Egypt during the time of JUSTINIAN I.

NEREIDS
Mythological sea-nymphs. Fifty in number, they often aided sailors in peril. The Nereids were usually depicted riding marine denizens such as seahorses or dolphins.

NUMMUS (plural: nummi)
In the early Byzantine period the nummus was the smallest copper coin. Although the minting of nummi was suspended in 498, it was resumed in 512.

ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS
Trophonius and his brother Agamedes were legendary architects whose works were said to include Apollo’s temple at Delphi. The oracle of Trophonius was at Lebadeia in central Greece. It was consulted by performing purification rites and sacrifices, and then descending a shaft to reach an extremely narrow passageway leading to a cave. After the supplicant returned, priests interpreted any revelations that had been granted. Since the former invariably emerged in a state of extremely low spirits after visiting the cave, the melancholy were commonly referred to as having “consulted the oracle of Trophonius.”

OVID (43 BC-c l7 CE)
Roman poet best known for his erotic verse. Author of the
Art of Love
and also
The Metamorphoses
, a mythological-historical collection.

PATRIARCH
Head of a diocese or patriarchate.

PENDULIA
Small ornaments, often jeweled, hanging from a circlet or crown.

PLATO’S ACADEMY
Plato (428-347 BC) founded his academy in 387 BC. Situated on the northwestern side of Athens, its curriculum included natural science, mathematics, philosophy, and training for public service.

PLINY THE YOUNGER (62–c 113 CE)
Orator, public official, and consul. He is famous for his letters, which provide a vivid picture of contemporary Roman life and are thought to have been written for publication rather than as individual communications.

PROCONNESUS
Island in the Sea of Marmara. It was famous for its white marble quarries.

PROSPHORION
Harbor situated on the northern side of Constantinople.

QUAESTOR
Public official who administered financial and legal matters.

SAMSUN’S HOSPICE
Founded by St Samsun (d 530), a physician and priest. Also known as Sampson or Samson the Hospitable, he is often referred to as the Father of the Poor because of his work among the destitute. His feast day is 27 June. The hospice was near the GREAT CHURCH.

SAUSAGES
Sausages were a popular Roman dish. The best were considered to be spicy Lucanian sausages, said to have been brought to Rome by soldiers returning from service in Lucania in southern Italy.

STRATEGION
Forum in north Constantinople, close to the Golden Horn.

TESSERAE (singular: tessera)
Small pieces of glass, stone, marble, etc., usually square and used to make mosaics.

THEODORA (c 497-548)
Wife of JUSTINIAN I. Before her marriage she was an actress and MIME as well as allegedly working as a prostitute. She exercised great influence upon her husband.

THUCYDIDES (c 460-400 BC)
Eminent Greek historian, author of the
History of the Peloponnesian War
.

VITALIAN (d 520)
Defended the orthodox faith against Anastasius I (c 430-518, r 491-518), who supported monophysitism (see MONOPHYSITE). Vitalian went into hiding after being defeated in 515. After his ascension to the throne, JUSTIN I invited Vitalian to Constantinople to honor him for his actions. Appointed consul in 520, Vitalian was murdered several months later at an imperial banquet. Popular rumor maintained that JUSTINIAN I was responsible for his assassination.