Saradi the Kallos of the Byzantine City

8/11/2019 Saradi the Kallos of the Byzantine City

1/21


2/21

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

s

among

those cited

by

Henry

Maguire

as

central

to

Art.

eauty

is

regularly

ascribed

to the

city

in the Greek

rhetorical radition.

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

o the

natural

etting

of a

city

or

the

accomplishments

of

its

citi-

zens,

the

topos

of urban

beauty

shifted

by

the fourth en-

tury

to

the

cities'

architectural

ppearance,

a

usage

that

peaks

in

the

sixth

century.

It

s, then,

at

precisely

the time

that the ancient architectural tructureof the cities was

gradually

disintegrating

hat the cities were

increasingly

praised

in

terms of

their

ancient

aesthetic

value. The ar-

ticle

proposes

reasons-both rhetoricaland aesthetic-

for this

disjunction,

and then

pursues

the

topos

of

urban

beauty

as it is

incorporated

nto Christian

iterature

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:

n

historiographical

ources,

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 literarysources and were formulated ac-

cording

to the rules

of

rhetoric:rhetorical

reatises

defined

the

formal elements of the encomion

of

the

city.

The most im-

portant

s thatof the

third-century

oratorMenander.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, 2as

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

urn 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

n

terms of their

political

and social

functions;

they

had lost their

independent

political

character.

Already Livy describes this process with great perceptionin

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

hus 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 n

connection with

the

general phenomenon

of

visual

descriptions

in

Hellenistic

literature and of works of art.6This 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 urbankallos is

fully developed

in

the literatureof the sixth

century.

This

constitutes the

cul-

mination of a

long literary

traditionwhich follows the con-

ventions of rhetoric. What is

interesting

for

the historian of

GESTAXXXIV/1

?

The

InternationalCenter of Medieval Art 1995

37

This content downloaded from 131.130.217.127 on Wed, 9 Jul 2014 08:17:24 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/21

Byzantine

urban

history

is that the

more

the

magnificent

monumental

appearance

of

the

ancient

city

deteriorateddur-

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 architecturalappearanceof 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 s 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

n

two

passages

the

Kadkkog

escribes 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

n

litera-

ture. These

trends are the

need to

produce

an

excessively

embellished

style,

essentialfor all

literarygenres,

and the

ele-

ment of

exaggeration

(amplification

and

diminutio),

inevita-

ble

in

rhetoric.

The

orator was

expected

to

extol,

apply

amplification

(aidrlaotg)

o,

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

amplificationof 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

he

sincerity

of the

orators

were raised.

Aristeides,

for

example,

stressed the

im-

portance

of

credibility

which must be

announced n the

intro-

duction

as well as the

use of

exaggeration(hyperbole).'7

But

the

hyperbole

which

stands atthe

very

natureof 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

o

note thatin contrast

to

descriptions

of

cities

in the literature

of earlier

periods,

in the rhetorical

rea-

tises of the late

Roman

empire

the natural

surroundings

f

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.22Often, 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,

he traditional

value

of the

citizens'

achieve-

ments

remains

predominant

and the

praise

of

the

physical

beauty

of the urbancenter

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

or their

size,

beauty

and

harmonious

proportions,and for the quality and numberof 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 futureorators

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-

habitantsfrom

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

iov

V

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&

mbcoag8&

Tcra

q

Trc

iuttrll86c0ct

Kai

TU

cvcpyflcLara

KOOdo4LsEC

, 6i

KOo?iWqg

tot

UKElt

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



4/21

chitectural

features,

such as baths or harbors or

any

other

building

of

the

city.

In this

passage,

however,

thereis 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

clearthat 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

relatedwith

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

mnpi8& t

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.34Mention

of

the

characteristic urban features and of the

surroundingnature, 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).

articularly

the

beauty

of

the

temples

(icEPCvKckkJl)

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 n 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

1).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,

importedproducts,

athletic

per-

formances,

the

pleasure

of

baths,

fountains,

forests,

famous

temples

or

oracles,

contribute

o

the

beauty

of the

city

(Kai

yap

zraTC uvzThksI

gVT K6Co?ovTzi

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.40For this

purpose

the urban

kallos must be

stressed.41'

The same rules

apply

to the

speech

of arrival42and to

the

propemptic speech.43

In the latter

Menander mentions

the

beauty

of the

urban

buildings.44

n another

section of

the

same treatise Menander refers

again

to the

important

topos

of civic

beauty

(sTza Tz

a

d

Log

dzrgm6soEq).

Here at

last

the

city

is said to be beautified

by

its

splendidbuildings

and

by

the size

of its stoas and baths

(6paitiEszat

pi&v dp

ifl

6kt

KdckELtV

iEP(TV Kai

OzOV

Kai

kOUzpOv

LpE'yOCtV).45

In

the

leavetaking

speech

(CouvzaczKT6g)

he

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

ai

tTal

UIkattg

ou-

KUTzlOt

KUi K(ppdopEacYFi

UtV

n

V

ET()

ECaiVV(

g hsmgO, YoTOv

Kati

,tJECvOV

Kati

tTozTLaPOV

ai

rctrly7v

1ai

Kt

omCv...).47

Menander

also

recalls a basic

principle

of

oratory,namely

thatit is necessary to praisethe 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

recommendationsof

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

andadorns the

city.50

Then comes the

greatest

adornmentof 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-

patv1XptV

KOCOS

OWv

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



5/21

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

a

e)ov

Te

Kati

i`mOv

yvoPtEvq).

The

surrounding

demoi are

adorned more

gloriously

than

cities and all the

beauty

(K6OcTov),

oth natural and artifi-

cial

beauty,

vying

with each

other in

the

city

and the coun-

tryside (#351). The temples of Athens are the greatestand

fairest

(Kdkktozot)

of all

(#354).

This

evidence

of

its

piety

is also a

testimony

to its

beauty

(Ka~ikoug)

nd

greatness

(#192).

The

Acropolis

itself is an

adornment:

To0zo-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

K6oCLogiKEiog:

#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 Romanempire 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)

or 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 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 ThdCYabgptg,

ij7)cg Ot

Kk)CoTrl ]

Kai

tl6{oTrl

ai(UT

ErKcyTr(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,

TilV

n6tyv).53

This topos will have a long traditionin 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

he

temples ( the temples are an adornment of the city and a

guard post

of

the

gods :

K6CYPOqg

TC

E

T?6ct KaEipuXacK1 TOSv

OSv adTvcvcLKopa);

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

io

SOlaPrlPdTmv

KcL'-

krl 1

O

ozt 6iKrlv

doaCYCp(ov

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:

t 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



6/21

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

o

epideic-

tic.64

Historiographical

works were

appreciated especially

for their

rhetorical

style.65

Quintilian

in his

Institutio

Orato-

ria explains the affinity of historiographywith 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 pogKaoi

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

,

1

mrpbg

o

yc

akolrpcEC

K

Kai

dLrapcdp3rlzov

1rlOKlLavLva,

t

pog

Kotvwg

i&StoaztKdKakoOvzTa

pEiac).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

toyltot 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),

nd

in

prosperity

of

every

kind. In

another

passage

Procopius

praises

Antioch

for

the

beauty

and

splendor

in

every

re-

spect

(z6 ZEKdLhogKai zTOg 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)

nd

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

urther

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) f 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

T

recYTira).76

n 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

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 tracedback 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):

he

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,

n

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

s

called

Kallipolis.

Aga-

thias

justifies

its name

by

the

beauty

of the

surrounding

nature: the

surrounding

country

is

graced

with

fields

and

roadsteadsdotted with agreatvarietyof treesandblessed 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



7/21

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 transferredto

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 o the

buildings

of

another

city. 82

A

constitution

of the year 365 (CTh 15, 1, 16) refers to ornamentsof cit-

ies and their

marble

embellishments

(ornamenta

urbium

ac

decora

marmorum).

n

other

constitutions

governors

are

for-

bidden to tear from

any

structure

any

ornamentof bronze or

marble or

any

other material which

can be

proved

to have

been in

serviceable

use or to

constitute

an

ornamentation n

any

municipality. 83

A

decree

of the

emperors

Gratian,

Val-

entinian

and

Theodosius

ordersthe 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

he

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 structuresbe covered

up

with

slabs of

marbles

in order

to

give beauty

(Kaikko?)

to the

city

and

pleasure

(WuXcay7yilv)

o 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

o 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

constitutean

ornamentation or the

city

(CTh

15,

1,

53;

a.

425).

A

Novel

of

Majorian

of the

year

458

refers to

the same

subject

in a moredirect

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

andit

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 han

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 unfortunateEphesus 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

n

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

greatbeauty,

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 n

Christian literature of

the

early

centuries the ideal of ascetic life

coexists with the

imagery of urbanlife. Christian literature also adopted the

topos

of

urban

beauty.91

For

example,

in the

Thirty-third

Homily

of

Gregory

of Nazianzus the

topos

is introducedin

a

splendid

contrast of urbanlife 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

re-

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



8/21

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),

he

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),

ecause 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

standardelement 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

1poTov

6

0a6g,,

olovei acJipPo)v

ztvv,

O g

6

X

npoxu0~evTr

z6v Tpond-O-

kEov

KOCYpOV,

OZ

aPVOV

TOUTO

Kai

ItdyKcatov

TCJv

papT6pU0v

odStcLov,

rtav6r7psi

KaTCraflhi(pacYtV).97

hen

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 surprisingthe 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

martyrsonly

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

6pov ZTb

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

Christianoratordoes 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)

s

ours. '101

e have seen

that

in

Menander'strea-

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

o

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 referringto 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

Eigzoi

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

jllaivCK0cLXltoUcv

cOrlpEpov

ai

Tfiv

'EKKXcriCavK6c0priflaV).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



9/21


10/21


11/21

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

praisedas large and preeminent among those in Macedonia,

its

strong

walls

guarantee

the

security

of its

inhabitants,

its

prosperity

s

assured

by

its harborand 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 Eustathiusof

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

o 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)f 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 broughtto 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

hese

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

inspiredby

the

antiquarianspirit

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,

he

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-

markson 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.

Furtherthe 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

,

Kil Kahelo0at).189

Ancient

objects

of art in Con-

stantinople

are

fewer than in

Rome,

but

certainly

more

beautifuland

more

magnificent

than the

latter's.'90The bases

46



12/21

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

nd plppoviare 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,

n

Pachy-

meres'History only Damascusis

Kakkiozyl,

in Choniatesonly

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

yo

kt

with

very strong

walls.193

The decoration of the towers of

Amorion with lions'

pictures

is

worthy

of mentionin

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?cSkXapntpd?6nrtpyou zEp-

porcsEiou).195

n

a few

passages

in

Byzantine

historiography

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 he

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

Saradi the Kallos of the Byzantine City

Documents

Transcript of Saradi the Kallos of the Byzantine City