The Concepts of Justice and Piety in the Byzantine Political and Philosophical Thought of the 4th Century

Introduction. The article analyzes the transformations of the concept of justice in early Byzantine thought. The purpose of the article is to test the hypothesis that the semantic shifts in the meaning of the concept of justice in the philosophical and theological literature were due to political processes and events. Methods. The article analyzes the political philosophical and political theological texts of the fourth century: “Oration in Honor of Constantine on the Thirtieth Anniversary of His Reign” by Eusebius of Caesarea; “Panegyric in Honour of Constantius” and “The Heroic Deeds of Constantius” by emperor Julian (“The Apostate”); “On Kingship” by Synesius of Cyrene. In the course of the analysis, the methodological tools of the history of concepts were used. Analysis. The analysis revealed a conflict between the concepts of “justice” and “piety”. It was found that the analyzed texts violate the ancient political and philosophical correlation of these concepts in which piety is considered as a form of justice. In the texts of Eusebius of Caesarea, piety is presented as a particular virtue without any connection with justice. Moreover, the frequency of using the concept of “piety” in the sense of the ruler’s virtue significantly exceeds the frequency of using the concept of “justice” in the sense of political virtue. In the texts of the Emperor Justinian, the discursive status of “justice” is restored. However, in the political philosophy of Synesius of Cyrene, the correlation of the concepts of “justice” and “piety” prescribed by Eusebius of Caesarea is fixed. Results. These processes is due to the influence of religious discourse on political one which is quite understandable in the works of theologians, on the one hand, and the crisis of polis and republican political technologies and discourses in the situation of increasing complexity of administrative tasks faced by the Roman emperors of the 4th century, on the other hand which subsequently led to the formation of a specific Byzantine “taxis” – a socio-cultural order. In this regard, the texts of Emperor Julian can be considered as an unsuccessful attempt to restore the previous discourse, an attempt to restore justice to a dominant place among the virtues of the ruler. The failure of this attempt is attested from the texts of Synesius of Cyrene. All the above allows us to conclude that a new Christian-imperial political discourse is being generated in the corpus of philosophical and theological texts in which the concept of justice is given a relatively modest place.

Finger Ring Amulets with the Image of the Holy Rider of the 7th Century from the Crimea

Introduction. The group of jewelry with Christian symbols that existed in the Crimea in the early Middle Ages includes cast bronze rings, on a flat shield of which the image of a holy rider with a cross in his hands is engraved. The rings were found in the South-West Crimea in the burial grounds near the village of Luchistoe, Skalistoe and EskiKermen, as well as in Kerch at the early medieval necropolis of the Bosporus, in the burials of the 7th century. Methods. For the attribution of published products, a circle of analogies is identified, findings from the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire are analyzed. The iconography of the holy rider is compared on various subjects. In the Crimea, three of the published finger rings were found in in situ burials, as part of a closed complex, together with tools with a narrow dating, which makes it possible to clarify the time of existence of this type of products in the region and to determine the method of wearing it. Analysis. The plot depicted on the finger rings has an undeniable resemblance to the scene of the solemn entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, described in all four Gospels and well known from the numerous pictorial monuments of the early medieval period. The iconography of that scene originated in the era of Constantine the Great, under the influence of imperial art and in many ways corresponded to the Triumphal entry of the emperor to Rome or any large city of the empire. The image of Christ the rider on the Crimean finger rings belongs to the iconographic type, which became widespread in the 6th–7th centuries, mainly in Egypt, the Syro-Palestinian region and Asia Minor. The quality of execution of the published rings from the Crimea allows us to speak about their local production. Byzantine products that came to the peninsula thanks to stable trade relations with the empire or were brought by pilgrims from holy places served as models for the Crimean artisans. In the minds of ancient Christians, the image of Christ the rider had a powerful protective power. Placed on the shield of the ring, it endowed the decoration with the properties of an amulet, protecting the person wearing it from all troubles. The rings originating from Crimea belonged to a teenage girl and young women who wore them on their hands – on the right index or ring finger, or in special belt bags, in which, in addition to utilitarian items, various amulets were also put. Results. The study of rings makes it possible not only to expand knowledge about jewelry that existed in the early medieval times, but also to replenish our information about the daily life of the Christian population of the early medieval Crimea.

The Elevation of the See of Constantinople at the Council of Chalcedon: The Course of the Procedure

Introduction. Despite multiple references to the proposed topic in the scholarly literature, it still seems relevant to identify and consistently describe the entire set of measures taken at the Council of Chalcedon in order to raise the status of the see of Constantinople. Methods. The work is based on the application of the historicalcritical method of analysing source data of the original text, compiled in Greek and Latin. Analysis. The article consistently describes and analyses the church-political steps and actions taken during the conciliar meetings, which paved the way for the elevation (“addition to honour”) of the see of Constantinople, which took place during the 17th conciliar act. These measures included the corroboration of the status of the Council of Constantinople in 381 as the Second Ecumenical Council, the use of the ecclesiastical and political actions of the see of Constantinople in the previous period as court of appeal and “superprovincial” instance as precedents, as well as a demonstration of the equal status of the Archbishop of Constantinople in relation to his Roman counterpart. The result was the adoption of the so-called 28th canon and its approval by the officials presiding at the council, and then by the emperor Marcian himself. Results. The author concludes that the actions taken by the officials, who were presiding at the council, and the representatives of the Church of Constantinople during the council were planned and consistently aimed at establishing the equal honour of the see of Constantinople in relation to the see of Rome and its second place in regard to the latter. He also points to certain similarities in the process of elevation of both sees.

New Lead Seal of Adrian Komnenos, Protosebastos and Megas Domestikos of the Entire West, Discovered in the Area of Rusokastro in Southeastern Bulgaria

ntroduction. The present article is a primary publication of a newly discovered sphragistic artefact from the area of the medieval fortress of Rusokastro, which was acquired by the Regional Historical Museum in Burgas in 2019. Methods. In their entirety, the Byzantine lead seals are an important primary and reliable source of information on various aspects of Byzantine history. Byzantine seals are especially important from the perspective of prosopography. First of all, they are invaluable evidence of individuals who, in one way or another, participated in the social and political life of the Byzantine Empire. Therefore, the discovery of each new sphragistic monument is of great importance and the available information must be carefully analyzed. Analysis. This interesting artefact is a lead seal of the brother of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenos (1081–1118), Adrian Komnenos as a protosebastos and megas domestikos of the entire West. The obverse depicts Saint George, nimbate, standing, facing forward, holding a spear in his right hand, and resting his left hand on a shield. Inscription in 7 lines within dotted border on the reverse: + Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἀδριανῷ (πρωτο)σεβαστῷ (καὶ) μ(ε)γ(άλῳ) δομ[ε]στίκῳ πάσης Δύσεως τῷ Κομνην(ῷ). The seal dates from the end of the 11th century. Results. This new Byzantine lead seal, described in this article, increases the number of medieval sphragistic finds in the Rusokastro area, which belong to an undeniably wide chronological range – from the second half of the 8th century to the beginning of the 12th century. Thus, the number of lead seals from the area of Rusokastro grow to six, five of which are Byzantine and one is a Bulgarian imperial seal.

The Lost Fresco Paintings of the Inkerman Cave Churches (“Temple with Baptistery”, “Church of Geography”, Monastery of Saint Sophia)

Introduction. Among the “cave towns” of Mountainous Southwestern Crimea, there are monuments located in the lower reaches of the Black River valley. There are no less than 9 rock-cut monastic complexes which include about 30 temples. Methods. Some churches of the 13th–15th centuries were decorated with fresco paintings. Today, frescoes have been preserved only in one church. Sources of the 18th–20th centuries indicate traces of paintings in more than five temples. Frescoes inside the “temple with baptistery”, “Church of Geography (Eugraphy)”, and the Monastery of St. Sophia have not survived. Archival materials that expose the plots and compositions are published in this work. Analysis. The frescoes of the “temple with baptistery” date back to the 13th century. The Deesis composition is reconstructed in the apse conch. In the “Church of Geography (Eugraphy)” (the 13th century), on each side of the throne, four figures of saints are depicted (The Holy Fathers composition). This is probably: John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Athanasius of Alexandria and two more saints from among the Cappadocian Fathers. One of them is obviously St. Blaise. This painting in general terms repeats the traditional scheme of the lower register of the painting of the apses of the cave temples of the mountainous Crimea. The monastery of St. Sofia should be dated back to the 14th–15th centuries. During the period of the monastery’s functioning, there were fresco paintings in the Main Church and Church no. 3, but all the attempts to attribute them were unsuccessful. Results. The analyzed frescoes show themes of Deesis and the Great Cappadocians. They are common for altar compositions in cave temples in South-West Crimea. In the interiors of the cave temples of Inkerman, there are: simple linear ornaments, complex plant reports, linear ornaments with complex weaving and plant elements.

The 25th Anniversary of the Journal «Vestnik Volgogradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheniya»

To the 25th anniversary of Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations

For a Discussion About Epigraphic Evidence of the Activities of Byzantium in the Mountainous Crimea in the 6th Century

Introduction. In the basilicas discovered on the Mangup plateau (fig. 3), in the Karalez valley (fig. 1) that begins at its foot and on Eski-Kermen (fig. 2, 1), inscriptions were found, the interpretation and dating of which caused many years of discussion. Some scientists considered them as evidence of the activities of the Eastern Roman Empire in the region in the 6th century, while other specialists doubted both such an interpretation of the inscriptions and their dating. Methods. To substantiate the chronology of the mentioned inscriptions, it is important to consider the formulas and linguistic features contained in them, as well as the stratigraphy recorded during the excavation of temples and the revealed dated closed ceramics complexes. Analysis. The text of the inscription with the name of Justinian I is correlated with the information of Procopius about the construction of the “Long Walls” in the Dory region at the behest of the emperor. Most likely, the inscription reported the construction of one of the “Long Walls” in the Karalez valley at the foot of Doros. It is possible that the stone (fig. 1) with the typical Byzantine graffiti with the formulas ΦΩС ΖΩΗ and κ(ύρι)ε βοήθ(ει...) was inserted into a wall of an apse of the basilica right after its construction in the Karalez valley in the second half of the 6th century. On a stone over the graffiti ΦΩС ΖΩΗ letters of the second graffiti “Ἰς νικᾷ” are cut out which means Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς (Χριστὸς) νικᾷ – “Jesus Christ wins”. In Byzantium the images of a cross with the formula IC XC NI ΚΑ (Ἰ(ησοῦ)C Χ(ριστὸ)C Ν(ικ)Α) appeared at the iconoclast emperor Leo III (717–741) and were distributed in later time. Results. Undisputed evidence of Byzantium’s activity in the region in the 6th century is only the fragment of a plate with a building inscription that means the emperor Justinian I found in a late slab grave at the basilica on Mangup. According to the stratigraphy, revealed in 1938 during the excavations of the Baptistry on Mangup, the graffiti (fig. 3) that caused a long discussion was carved on the back of the cornice in the second construction period not earlier than in the 9th century.

The Xylinitai on the Service to Byzantine Emperors: A Seal of Niketas Xylinites, Protospatharios and epi tou koitonos

Introduction. Among the most ancient and noble Byzantine families there were the Xylinitai, who belonged to the first rank of “pure” civil nobility. Nevertheless, only restricted information of this family members survived. Therefore, any new account is of importance not only for the Byzantine prosopography but also for the Byzantine history in general. In this connection, interesting is one sigillographic find which uncovers a new page in the life of one of this family members. According to the seal legend, its owner Niketas Xylinites held the second-class rank of protospatharios and was engaged in the court service at the emperor’s bedchamber, the koiton. There is no doubt that the stylistic features date the molybdoboullon in question to the eleventh century. Analysis and Results. The sources in possession supply information on a few persons bearing this name and belonging to the family in question, who left their footprint in the annals of history in this or that way. All of them were high-ranked courtiers and persons of importance, whose career stages were reflected in different periods of Byzantine history. The comparison of the seal data with other sources allows us to suppose that the owner of the seal was Niketas Xylinites, a member of the milieu of Empress Theodora, related to her ascension to the Byzantine throne following the death of Constantine IX. The sources only inform of his career that he got from the Empress of one of the highest civil offices (logothetes tou dromou) and a high court title of proedros. According to the seal under study, it reflects the earliest stage in Niketas’ career at the court, when he was selected to serve at the emperor’s bedchamber and got the rank of protospatharios. The Seal of Niketas Xylinites probably dates to the late 1030s – very early 1040s, the period before he got the title of patrikios, his works in the Iveron monastery, and Theodora’s ascension to the throne.

Fortified Villages of Mediaeval Byzantium: Town or Village?

The search for a model rural settlement – “village” is the common position in interpretation of the problem on the “fortified villages” of Mediaeval Byzantium. On the one hand, the multiformity of the settlement’s types in the Byzantine Middle Ages is conditioned by climatic and local natural specificities. On the other hand, the patterns of rural settlement are predetermined by the social and economic structure and development of all the other sides of life of habitants of the village, including a dwelling. The tasks of the defence of population foreordain a necessary of construction of fortresses (“kastra”) and their deployment into defensive system. It quite corresponds to the processes, developed in many south regions of Mediaeval Europe, where the building of fortifications, transmuting the village into the fortress – “castrum”, becomes as rule. The building of the fortresses and other fortifications in towns and rural settlements of Mediaeval Byzantium creates a trend, designating the degree of necessary defence of its habitants. This tendency makes itself felt in Late Byzantium. The guarded by walls rural settlements here were not unique. The “pyrgoi” and so named “dwelling towers” were built everywhere, these served as refuges for villagers in the ordeals of the war years. The appellation “pyrgos” turned into synonym of the designation of the rural settlement, as a landlord’s state, and a substitute of term “chorion”. The “pyrgoi” appeared practically as “keypoints” of every description of the territories of large landownings, the passed ways and the households arranged there. The system of fortifications as a defence of whole region was deployed in Byzantine country, where the rural settlement has significant position. The article consists of the Introduction (“Introduction. The Village and key Problems of its Studying”), three parts (“The fortified Settlement”, “The rural Fortifications”, “The Pyrgos”) and the part “The Results and Conclusion. The Common Trends”, where the main problems are examined, touching the study of the Mediaeval Byzantine village, pyrgoi and common regularities of fortification of Late Byzantine village.

The Ministry of Deaconesses in Byzantium and Projects for Its Reconstruction at the Pre-Council Conference in Russia 1906

Introduction. The order of deaconesses in Byzantium was formed by the time of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The idea of the institutionalization of the women’s ministry was revived in the new conditions in Russia of the 19th – early 20th century because of the need for Church reforms. Materials and methods. A comparative analysis of the ancient order of deaconesses and the project of its reconstruction in Russia allows us to determine characteristics of the ministry and status of deaconesses that depended on the specific living conditions of the Church. The deaconesses in the Byzantine Empire were ministers of the Church: the bishop ordained widows or virgins between the ages of 40 and 60. Deaconesses kept chastity, had property rights, were assigned to a parish, helped priests at the baptism of women, and were subordinate to clergymen. By the 12th century, the female order in Byzantium disappeared, however the honorary title of deaconess could later be worn by the prioress of female monasteries. The Russian Church has never had deaconesses, but in the 19th – early 20th century projects were discussed for the reconstruction of this women’s ministry which was actively developing in the protestant tradition. The Pre-Council Conference in 1906 developed a draft of Church reforms, including the rules for orthodox deaconesses, who could be elected from active parishioners, not nuns. It was assumed that these women were supposed to keep order in the Church, help the priest in the parish, at the baptism and catechumenate of women, help the sick and the needy, in the so called “inner mission”. However, the undeveloped status of deaconesses as new ministers of the Church did not allow this project to be implemented. Results. The order of the deaconesses that disappeared in Byzantium and the attempt to restore it in Russia show that a stable institutionalization of women’s ministry took place only at a certain period in the history of the Church which needed it.