ments are confined by a narrow circle; and, whatsoever may be its value, the luxury of life is possessed with more innocence and safety by the master of his own, than by the stew. ard of the public, fortune. In an absolute government, which levels the distinctions o noble and plebeian birth, the sovereign is the sole fountain. of honor; and the rank, both in the palace and the empire depends on the titles and offices which are bestowed and resumed by his arbitrary will. Above a thousand years, from Vespasian to Alexius Comnenus,39 the Casar was the second person, or at least the second degree, after the supreme title of Augustus was more freely communicated to the sons and brothers of the reigning monarch. To elude without violating his promise to a powerful associate, the husband of his sister, and, without giving himself an equal, to reward the piety of his brother Isaac, the crafty Alexius interposed a new and supereminent dignity. The happy flexibility of the Greek tougue allowed him to compound the names of Augustus and Emperor (Sebastos and Autocrator,) and the union produced the sonorous title of Sebastocrator. He was exalted above the Cæsar on the first step of the throne: the public acclamations repeated his name; and he was only distinguished from the sovereign by some peculiar ornaments of the head and feet. The emperor alone could assume the purple or red buskins, and the close diadem or tiara, which imitated the fashion of the Persian kings.40 It was a high pyramidal cap of cloth or silk almost concealed by a profusion of pearls and jewels: the crown was formed by a horizontal circle and two arches of gold at the summit, the point of their intersection, was placed a globe or cross, and two strings or lappets of pearl depended on either cheek. Instead of red, the buskins of the Sebastocrator and Cæsar were green; and on their open coronets or crowns, the precious gems were more sparingly distributed. Beside and below the Cæsar the fancy of Alexius created the Panhypersebastos and the Protosebastos, whose : 39 See the Alexiad (1. iii. p. 78, 79) of Anna Comnena, who, except in filial piety, may be compared to Mademoiselle de Montpensier. În her awful reverence for titles and forms, she styles her father 'Eлoτημονάρχης, the inventor of this royal art, the τέχνη τεχνῶν, and ἐπιστήμη ἐπιστημῶν. 40 Στέμμα, στέψανος, διάδημα; see Reiske, ad Ceremoniale, p. 14, 15, Ducange has given a learned dissertation on the crowns of Constantinople, Rome, France, &c., (sur Joinville, xxv. p. 289-303;) but of his thirty-four models, none exactly tal. y with Anne's description sound and signification will satisfy a Grecian ear. They imply a superiority and a priority above the simple name of Augustus; and this sacred and primitive title of the Roman prince was degraded to the kinsmen and servants of the Byzantine court. The daughter of Alexius applauds, with fond complacency, this artful gradation of hopes and honors; but the science of words is accessible to the meanest capacity; and this vain dictionary was easily enriched by the pride of his successors. To their favorite sons or brothers, they imparted the more lofty appellation of Lord or Despot, which was illustrated with new ornaments, and prerogatives, and placed immediately after the person of the emperor himself. The five titles of, 1. Despot; 2. Sebastocrator; 3. Cæsar; 4. Panhypersebastos; and, 5. Protosebastos; were usually confined to the princes of his blood: they were the emanations of his majesty ; but as they exercised no regular functions, their existence was useless, and their authority precarious. But in every monarchy the substantial powers of government must be divided and exercised by the ministers of the palace and treasury, the fleet and army. The titles alone can differ; and in the revolution of ages, the counts and præfects, the prætor and quæstor, insensibly descended, while their servants rose above their heads to the first honors of the state. 1. In a monarchy, which refers every object to the person of the prince, the care and ceremonies of the palace form the most respectable department. The Curopalata,11 so illustrious in the age of Justinian, was supplanted by the Protovestiare, whose primitive functions were limited to the custody of the wardrobe. From thence his jurisdiction was extended over the numerous menials of pomp and luxury; and he presided with his silver wand at the public and private audience. 2. In the ancient system of Constantine, the name of Logothete, or accountant, was applied to the receivers of the finances: the principal officers were distinguished as the Logothetes of the domain, of the posts, the army, the private 41 Par exstans curis, solo diademate dispar, says the African Corippus, (de Laudibus Justini, l. i. 136;) and in the same century (the vith) Cassiodorus represents him, who, virga sures decoratus, inter numerosa obsequia primus ante pedes regis incederet, (Variar. vii. 5.) But this great officer, (unknown,) aveniɣvwoτος, exercising no function, νῦν δὲ οὐδεμίαν, was cast dcwn by ta modern Greeks to the xvth rark, (Codin. c. 5, p. 65.) and public treasure; and the great Logothete, the supreme guardian of the laws and revenues, is compared with the chancellor of the Latin monarchies.42 His discerning eye pervaded the civil administration; and he was assisted, in due subordination, by the eparch or præfect of the city, the first secretary, and the keepers of the privy seal, the archives, and the red or purple ink which was reserved for the sacred signature of the emperor alone.43 The introductor and interpreter of foreign ambassadors were the great Chiauss 44 and the Dragoman,45 two names of Turkish origin, and which are still familiar to the Sublime Porte. 3. From the humble style and service of guards, the Domestics insensibly rose to the station of generals; the military themes of the East and West, the legions of Europe and Asia, were often divided, till the great Domestic was finally invested with the universal and absolute command of the land forces. The Protostrator, his original functions, was the assistant of the emperor when he mounted on horseback: he gradually became the lieutenant of the great Domestic in the field; and his jurisdiction extended over the stables, the cavalry, and the royal train of hunting and hawking. The Stratopedarch was the great judge of the camp: the Protospathaire commanded the guards; the Constable,46 the great Eteriarch, and the Acolyth, were the separate chiefs of the Franks, the Barbarians, in 42 Nicetas (in Manuel, 1. vii. c. 1) defines him si Autivov qory Καγκελάριον, ὡς δ' Ελληνες εἴποιεν Λογοθέτην. Yet the epithet of μέγας was added by the elder Andronicus, (Ducange, tom. i. p. 822, 823.) 43 From Leo I. (A. D. 470) the Imperial ink, which is still visible on some original acts, was a mixture of vermilion and cinnabar, or purple. The emperor's guardians, who shared in this prerogative, always marked in green ink the indiction and the month. See the Dictionnaire Diplomatique, (tom. i. p. 511–513,) a valuable abridg.. ment. 44 The sultan sent a Zaovs to Alexius, (Anna Comnena, 1. vi. p. 170. Ducange ad loc.;) and Pachymer often speaks of the Miyas Tṭαous, (1. vii. c. 1, 1. xii. c. 30, 1. xiii. c. 22.) The Chiaoush basha is now at the head of 700 officers, (Rycaut's Ottoman Empire, p. 349, octavo edition.) 45 Tagerman is the Arabic name of an interpreter, (D'Herbelot, p. 854, 855 ;) πρῶτος τῶν ἑρμηνέων, οὓς κοινῶς ὀνομάζουσι δραγομάνους, says Codinus, (c. v. No. 70, p. 67.) See Villehardouin, (No. 96,) Busbequius, (Epist. iv. p. 338,) and Ducange, (Observations sur Villehardouin, and Gloss. Græc. et Latin.) 46 Κονόσταυλος, οι κοντόσταυλος, a corruption from the Latin Comes stabuli, or the French Connêtable. In a military sense, it was used by the Greeks in the xith century, at least as early as in France. and the Varangi, or English, the mercenary strangers, who, in the decay of the national spirit, formed the nerve of the By. zantine armies. 4. The naval powers were under the command of the great Duke; in his absence they obeyed the great Drungaire of the fleet; and, in his place, the Emir, or Admiral, a name of Saracen extraction,47 but which has been naturalized in all the modern languages of Europe. Of these officers, and of many more whom it would be useless to enumerate, the civil and military hierarchy was framed. Thei honors and emoluments, their dress and titles, their mutual salutations and respective preeminence, were balanced with more exquisite labor than would have fixed the constitution of a free people; and the code was almost perfect when this baseless fabric, the monument of pride and servitude, was forever buried in the ruins of the empire.48 The most lofty titles, and the most humble postures, which devotion has applied to the Supreme Being, have been prostituted by flattery and fear to creatures of the same nature with ourselves. The mode of adoration,49 of falling prostrate on the ground, and kissing the feet of the emperor, was borrowed by Diocletian from Persian servitude; but it was continued and aggravated till the last age of the Greek monarchy. Excepting only on Sundays, when it was waived, from a motive of religious pride, this humiliating reverence was exacted from all who entered the royal presence, from the princes invested with the diadem and purple, and from the ambassadors who represented their independent sovereigns, the caliphs of Asia, Egypt, or Spain, the kings of France and Italy, and the Latin emperors of ancient Rome. In his transactions of business, Liutprand, bishop of Cremona,50 asserted the free spirit of a 47 It was directly borrowed from the Normans. In the xiith century, Giannone reckons the admiral of Sicily among the great officers. 48 This sketch of honors and offices is drawn from George Cordinus Curopalata, who survived the taking of Constantinople by the Turks his elaborate, though trifling, work (de Officiis Ecclesiæ et Aulæ C. P.) has been illustrated by the notes of Goar, and the three books of Gretser, a learned Jesuit. 49 The respectful salutation of carrying the hand to the mouth, ad os, is the root of the Latin word, adoro, adorare. See our learned Selden, (vol. iii. p. 143-145, 942,) in his Titles of Honor. It seems, from the 1st book of Herodotus, to be of Persian origin. 50 The two embassies of Liutprand to Constantinople, all that he saw or suffered in the Greek capital, are pleasantly described by himself, (Hist. 1. vi. c. 1.-4, p. 469-471. Legatio ad Nicephorum Pho. cam, p. 479-489.) Frank and the dignity of his master Otho. Yet his sincerity cannot disguise the abasement of his first audience. When he approached the throne, the birds of the golden tree began to warble their notes, which were accompanied by the roar ings of the two lions of gold. With his two companions Liutprand was compelled to bow and to fall prostrate; and thrice to touch the ground with his forehead. He arose, but in the short interval, the throne had been hoisted from the floor to the ceiling, the Imperial figure appeared in new and more gorgeous apparel, and the interview was concluded in haughty and majestic silence. In this honest and curious narrative the bishop of Cremona represents the ceremonies of the Byzantine court, which are still practised in the Sublime Porte, and which were preserved in the last age by the dukes of Muscovy or Russia. After a long journey by sea and land, from Venice to Constantinople, the ambassador halted at the golden gate, till he was conducted by the formal officers tc the hospitable palace prepared for his reception; but this palace was a prison, and his jealous keepers prohibited al! social intercourse either with strangers or natives. At his first audience, he offered the gifts of his master, slaves, and golden vases, and costly armor. The ostentatious payment of the officers and troops displayed before his eyes the riches of the empire: he was entertained at a royal banquet,51 in which the ambassadors of the nations were marshalled by the esteem or contempt of the Greeks: from his own table, the emperor, as the most signal favor, sent the plates which he had tasted; and his favorites were dismissed with a robe of honor.52 In the morning and evening of each day, his civil and military servants attended their duty in the palace; their labors were repaid by the sight, perhaps by the smile, of their lord; his commands were signified by a nod or a sign: but all earthly greatness stood silent and submissive in his presence. In his regular or extraordinary processions through 51 Among the amusements of the feast, a boy balanced, on his fore head, a pike, or pole, twenty-four feet long, with a cross bar of two cubits a little below the top. Two boys, naked, though cinctured, (campestrati,) together, and singly, climbed, stood, played, descended, &c., ita me stupidum reddidit: utrum mirabilius nescio, (p. 470.) At another repast a homily of Chrysostom on the Acts of the Apostles was read elatâ voce non Latine, (p. 483.) 52 Gala is not improbably derived from Cala, or Caloat, in Ar ɩbic ● robe of honor, (Reiske, Not. in Ceremon. p. 84.) |