This is an extract from: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, No. 54 Editor: Alice-Mary Talbot Published by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Washington, D.C. Issue year 2000 © 2000 Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University Washington, D.C. Printed in the United States of America www.doaks.org/etexts.html Nicolas Oikonomides 1934–2000 Dumbarton Oaks has lost a good friend. On 31 May 2000, Nicolas Oikonomides, Dumbarton Oaks’s advisor for Byzantine sigillography, died in Athens after a brief illness. The beginning of Professor Oikonomides’ long association with Dumbarton Oaks datesto1973,theyearhecommencedaprojecttoreadandpublishthe17,000Byzantine lead seals in the collections of Dumbarton Oaks and the Fogg Museum. InmanywaysProfessorOikonomideswasuniquelyqualifiedtoheadtheprojectand to edit the first four volumes of the Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in theFoggMuseumofArt,aseriesdevotedtosealsoftheByzantineprovincialadministration. Although as a youth he had originally intended to study the history of modern Greece at the University of Athens, Oikonomides soon turned to Byzantine history under the tutelage of Professor Dionysios Zakythinos, and his first writings in this discipline began to appear in the early 1950s. In 1958 he enrolled in a doctoral program in Paris, where he studied sigillography with one of the great specialists in the discipline, Pe`re Vitalien Laurent. His dissertation, an edition and commentary of the Taktikon Escorial, was the basisofalatervolume,publishedin1972,Leslistesdepr´es´eancebyzantinesdesIXeetXesi`ecles. This book was then and remains a classic study of the evolution of titles and develop- mentsintheByzantinesystemofadministration.ForalmosttwodecadesProfessorOiko- nomidesmaintainedanassociationwithFrenchbyzantinology,collaboratinginthepubli- cation of seven volumes of the Archives de l’Athos series, beginning with the Actes de Dionysiou(1968)andcontinuingthroughtheappearanceofthefourthvolume,Actesd’Ivi- ron (1995). The colonels’ seizure of power in Greece in 1967 forced Professor Oikonomides to leavethecountryandtocontinuehiscareerelsewhere.Eventually,in1969,hesettledin Canada, where he took a position in the history department at the University of Mon- treal. For an expatriate Greek with extensive academic training in France, francophone Montreal,withitslargeHelleniccommunity,wastheperfectplacetomakethetransition from Europe to North America. As he established himself at the university where he would remain for twenty years and twice serve as department chairman, Oikonomides continued to stay abreast of events in Greece and to maintain his contacts with Greeks abroad, not least through his broadcasting on Greek-language radio. Yet devoted as he was to his native land and culture, Oikonomides came to feel very much at home in MontrealandbecameaCanadiancitizen,anallegianceofwhichhewasalsoveryproud. x NICOLAS OIKONOMIDES At a reception commemorating his retirement from the University of Montreal in 1989, his colleagues and students paid homage to his contribution in teaching and re- search. He taught undergraduate courses and seminars in both Byzantine and modern Greek history while training and supervising a succession of graduate students. He was a practical, approachable teacher who believed that one learned by doing; he would lay out photographs of manuscripts or seals and have the student begin reading them to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. While he insisted on high standards in the quantity and quality of research, above all in the primary sources, his guidance was al- ways instructive and unobtrusive. It was, however, the wealth of his scholarly research and publications that truly set him apart, an achievement attributable not only to his extraordinary range of expertise, but also to his industry and use of time. When his successoraschairmanexpressedastonishmentthatOikonomideshadbeensoproductive even when burdened with all manner of administrative responsibilities, it brought to mindOikonomidesoncementioninghowhehadtranscribedanumberofAthonitedoc- umentsduringplanetripsbetweenMontrealandToronto(wherehehadbeeninvitedto give a seminar on Byzantine diplomatics). Professor Oikonomides was well versed in palaeography, and a good portion of his scholarly output reflects an abiding interest in using this tool to exploit unedited docu- ments for information on legal precepts, the duties of bureaucrats, and the evolution of bureaucratic structures. Dumbarton Oaks drew on his expertise in these areas in the 1980s,whenhebecameakeymemberoftheteamthatproducedtheOxfordDictionaryof Byzantium,servingon the AdvisoryBoard andwriting all theentries onByzantine diplo- macy, diplomatics, and the fiscal system. UnderLaurent’searlyguidance,hehaddevelopedafurtherresearchskill:sigillogra- phy. It is possible that he would never have developed such mastery of this auxiliary disciplineexceptfortheconjunctionofseveralunrelatedcircumstances.In1969Profes- sor Herbert Hunger, while a visiting scholar at Dumbarton Oaks, had the opportunity to view the collection of some 12,000 Byzantine lead seals that Dumbarton Oaks had assembled and recommended that the institution undertake publishing them. Such a venture required a competent editor. With a trained sigillographer on the North Ameri- cancontinent,thestagewassetforProfessorOikonomidesandDumbartonOakstoenter into a long-term arrangement whereby he served (from 1972 until his death) as advisor for Byzantine sigillography. The firstphase ofthe projectwas anarduous one.It consistedof readingthe 12,000 sealsoftheDumbartonOakscollection,inadditiontothe5,000morefromthecollection oftheFoggMuseumof Art,andenteringthetranscriptionsonnotecards.1 Bylate1979 the reading of the seals had been completed, and there was now lodged in the Dumbar- tonOaks basementavast“cartoteca”ofseals.Afteraneight-yearhiatus,thesealsproject wasrebornin1987asapublicationsproject.ProfessorOikonomidesrosetothechallenge 1Onememoryofthistimethatshallalwaysremainwithme(JohnNesbitt)isaqueryofProfessorOiko- nomidesastowhereandhowIshouldbeginmyportionoftheworkontheseals.Ihad,afterall,neverseen aleadsealinmylifeand,likemostpeople,hadnoideahowtoreadone.HesaidthatIshouldbeginwith themonogrammaticseals;ifIcouldreadthose,Icouldreadanyofthem.Intheend,thiswasnottrue,for therearestillmanysealsthateludemycomprehension.Indeed,thefactthatIcanreadandinterpretany ofthemisreallyduetohispatientguidanceandthevastknowledgethathebroughttoourtask. NICOLAS OIKONOMIDES xi of bridging the gap between archive and dissemination in a way that few others would have. He realized that to publish them would require the use of new technology—the computer. IftherewasoneareaofexpertiseinwhichProfessorOikonomidesopenlydelighted, itwashismasteryoftheintricaciesof“MacWorld,”andoneofhisproudestachievements was the creation (with the help of Harvard technicians) of Sealshort, an inscriptional font. With this new font in hand it was possible to publish camera-ready copy, that is, catalogues that could be produced rapidly, accurately, and inexpensively. The question then became what to publish. The answer was relatively easy. For two decades Professor Oikonomides had been researching and publishing articles on changes in the provincial administration and the history of the Byzantine frontiers. The time had come to build upon such articles as “L’´evolution de l’organisation administrative de l’Empire byzantin auXIesi`ecle(1025–1118)”2andtopublishsealsrelevanttohistoricalgeographyandthe functions and personnel of provincial bureaucracies. The energy that Professor Oiko- nomides brought to the accomplishment of this project (as well as others) is reflected in the fact that volume one appeared in 1991, and volume four will appear in 2001—a publication rate of almost one volume every two and a half years. This figure is of course exclusive of the many other seals publications in which he and Dumbarton Oaks were involved and of which he was either author or editor. To minimize discussion in the catalogues of how and why seals are assigned certain dates, Professor Oikonomides had the foresight to publish a booklet on these matters in 1986, DatedLeadSeals. To encourage the study of seals and their publication, in 1987 he initi- ated StudiesinByzantineSigillography, a journal that soon became a means of overcoming one of the major stumbling blocks to the publication of seals, namely, bibliography. The propercataloguingofsealsrequiresinformationfrommanypublications,includingauc- tionsales,ontheexistenceofsimilarorparallelspecimens.Addressingthisissue,volume three (1993), volume five (1998), and volume six (1999) include lists of scholarly articles and auction catalogues appearing between the years 1931 and 1996. All of this Professor Oikonomides undertook while handling the competing needs of hishomeinstitutionsinGreece.Forshortlyafterthesealsprojectwasrestarted(in1987), heleftNorth Americatotakethechairof ByzantineHistoryattheUniversity ofAthens. LaterhealsotookoverdirectionoftheByzantineStudiesCenterattheNationalHellenic ResearchFoundation,andin1997hebecamevice-presidentoftheExecutiveCommittee of the Foundation for Hellenic Culture. His scholarly production remained as rich as ever amidst these duties, and in 1996 he realized his longstanding intention to publish the definitive study of the middle Byzantine fiscal system, Fiscalit´e et exemption `a Byzance (IXe–Xes.). NicolasOikonomides’scholarlyreputationisassured,forhisworkwilllongbeindis- pensable to research in every aspect of Byzantine history, but his friends and colleagues willrememberhimmostofallforthepleasureofhiscompany.Hewasaconvivial,gener- oushostwithareadysenseofhumorwholovedtospeakofhistravels,experiences,and observations. Perhaps our most affectionate memory of Nikos will be the story of his rendezvous with U.S. customs officials. En route from Montreal to Washington, he pre- 2TM6(1976). xii NICOLAS OIKONOMIDES sented his visa for admission to the United States. When asked to explain his role with the“sealsproject,”NikosrespondedthatDumbartonOaks,amajorresearchcenter,had come into possession of 17,000 seals, of which he was preparing a catalogue. As customs officialsgatheredroundinamazement,Nikoswarmedtothesubject,explainingthatthe seals had come from various lands, principally Turkey and Greece; each one had been photographed, andnow it was timeto discuss theprovenance and owners ofthe seals in a multivolume catalogue. It finally dawned on Nikos, as he beheld the incredulous faces before him, that the officials thought that he was talking about 17,000 marine mammals stored on an estate in the national capital. He then hastened to explain the meaning of “seal”inthis particularcontext,butthe lessonNikosderivedfromthis incidentwasthat the United States truly was the greatest country on earth, for only Americans had the breadth of mind not just to envision but to support such a “seals catalogue.” We thought it appropriate to close with the following lines from Cavafy, which we offer in tribute to a great scholar who did so much to illuminate the history, institutions, and civilization of the medieval Greek world: ÔUph'rxe di´kaio", so(cid:1)o´", gennai'o" ÔUph'rxen e“ti to` a“riston ejkei'no, ÔEllhniko´"— ijdio´thta de`n e“c∆ hJ ajnqrwpo´th" timiote´ran(cid:2) eij" tou`" qeou`" euJri´skontai ta` pe´ran. Il´etaitjuste,sage,etcourageux EtenfinGrec,plusquetouteautrechose; L’humanit´enes’honorepasdeplusbellequalit´e Demeilleuresneserecontrentqueparmilesdieux. Hewasjust,wise,courageous Andhewasmoreoverthatbestofall,aGreek— Humanityhasnomorehonorablequality; Theonesbeyondarefoundamongthegods. John Nesbitt Eric McGeer This is an extract from: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, No. 54 Editor: Alice-Mary Talbot Published by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Washington, D.C. Issue year 2000 © 2000 Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University Washington, D.C. Printed in the United States of America www.doaks.org/etexts.html The Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople and the Monophysite Refugees JONATHANBARDILL When Cyril Mango first attempted to elucidate the circumstances surrounding the construction of the church dedicated to Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in the palace of Hormisdas in Constantinople, his proposed scenario raised objections from Richard Krautheimer andThomas F. Mathews,to whichMango felt compelledto reply.1 Iwould not have ventured to address this controversial topic yet again, were it not for the emer- gence of some new evidence. The church (now Ku¨¸cu¨k Ayasofya Camii) is located on the south side of the city, beneaththetoweringsubstructuresofthecurvedendoftheHippodrome,justinsidethe sea walls along the shores of the Marmara.2 Today, the railway from Sirkeci Station runs inthenarrowgapbetweenthechurch’ssouthwallandthefortifications.Procopiusindi- catesthatthechurchstoodwithinthepalaceofHormisdasandthatthispalacehadbeen theresidenceofJustinianandTheodoraintheyearsbeforetheyascendedthethronein 527.3LetterswerewrittentoPopeHormisdason29June519,statingthatJustinianhad built (or perhaps, in truth, begun to build) a church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the palace ofHormisdas,andrequestingrelicsofthetwoapostlesandofSt.Lawrenceinorderthat they might be deposited there.4 Justinian supported Chalcedonian orthodoxy and had ThisarticlewaswrittenwhileIheldaBritishAcademyPostdoctoralFellowshipattheInstituteofArchae- ology,Oxford.IamgratefultoSebastianBrockandananonymousrefereeforreferences,andalsotoJames Howard-JohnstonandCyrilMangofortheircommentsfollowingthepresentationofaversionofthispaper totheByzantineStudiesSeminarinOxfordon27January1995. 1SeeC.Mango,“TheChurchofSaintsSergiusandBacchusatConstantinopleandtheAllegedTradition ofOctagonalPalatineChurches,”JO¨B21(1972):189–93;R.Krautheimer,“AgainSaintsSergiusandBacchus atConstantinople,”JO¨B23(1974):251–53;T.F.Mathews,“Architectureetliturgiedanslespremi`eres´eglises palatiales de Constantinople,” Revuedel’art 24 (1974): 22–29; C. Mango, “The Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus Once Again,” BZ 68 (1975): 385–92. Mango’s “Tradition” and “Once Again” are reprinted in C.Mango,StudiesonConstantinople(Aldershot,1993). 2Onthechurch,seeW.Mu¨ller-Wiener,BildlexikonzurTopographieIstanbuls(Tu¨bingen,1977),177–83,fig. 358; T.F. Mathews, The Byzantine Churches of Istanbul: A Photographic Survey (University Park, Pa.–London 1976),242–59;P.Grossmann,“Beobachtungenzumurspru¨nglichenGrundrißderSergios-undBakchoskir- cheinKonstantinopel,”IstMitt39(1989):153–59. 3Procopius,Buildings,1.4.1–8,ed.O.Veh,Prokop:Werke,vol.5(Munich,1977);trans.H.B.Dewingand G.Downey,Procopius,vol.7(London,1940). 4FordetailsofSts.PeterandPaul,seeMango,“Tradition,”189–90;andA.A.Vasiliev,JustintheFirst:An IntroductiontotheEpochofJustiniantheGreat(Cambridge,Mass.,1950),377–78. 2 CHURCH OF STS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS written earlier letters to the pope helping negotiate an end to the Acacian schism.5 It is, therefore, not unlikely that it was Justin I’s reconciliation with the papacy (achieved on 31 March 519) that motivated his nephew to build the new church.6 Justinian was made co-emperorwithhisuncleon1April527;whenthelatterdiedexactlyfourmonthslater, he became sole ruler, his wife was proclaimed augusta, and the imperial couple moved from the palace of Hormisdas into the Great Palace.7 ProcopiusexplainsthatSts.SergiusandBacchuswasbuiltbyJustinianalongsidethe earlierchurchofSts.PeterandPaul,andhesaysthatthetwoedificeswereofsimilarsize and shared the same atrium.8 The dedicatory inscription carved around the nave of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus is worth quoting in full: Othersovereignshavehonoureddeadmenwhoselabourwasunprofitable,butourscep- tered Justinian, fostering piety, honours with a splendid abode the Servant of Christ, Begetterof allthings, Sergius;whomnot theburningbreath offire, northesword, nor any otherconstraint of tormentsdisturbed; but whoendured to beslain for thesake of Christ,theGod,gainingbyhisbloodheavenashishome.Mayheinallthingsguardthe rule of the sleepless sovereign and increase the power of the God-crowned Theodora whosemindisadornedwithpiety,whoseconstanttoilliesinunsparingeffortstonourish thedestitute.9 The references to“our sceptered Justinian” and “God-crowned Theodora”indicate that the text was composed and inscribed in or after 527, the year in which the couple as- cended the throne. Even if the capitals that support the inscribed entablature had been stockpiled or salvaged from an earlier structure (unlikely suggestions), the monograms on them, which are to be resolved as IOUCTINIANOU, BACILEVC, and QEODVRAC, provide the same terminuspostquem.10 The monograms might also be adduced as evidence in favor of a terminus ante quem in 532. Those of Justinian and Theodora are of the box type (otherwise known as the block, square, or double-bar type), being constructed around a letter with two uprights (N in IOUCTINIANOU) or around two letters, each with a single upright (E and P in QEODVRAC).Thecruciformstyleofmonogramwasalaterdevelopment,whichhadnot beenintroducedby518.11TheabsenceofanycruciformmonogramsofTheodoraonthe 5Vasiliev,JustintheFirst,179–83,199. 6Vasiliev,JustintheFirst,378;W.Dynes,“TheFirstChristianPalace-ChurchType,”Marsyas11(1964):6. 7SeePLRE,II,648–51(“Iustinus4”),645–48(“Iustinianus7”);PLRE,III,1240–41(“Theodore1”). 8Procopius,Buildings,1.4.1–8. 9TranslationfromMango,“Tradition,”190.FortheGreek,see,e.g.,A.vanMillingen,ByzantineChurches inConstantinople:TheirHistoryandArchitecture (London, 1912), fig. 20 (by A.E. Henderson); S.G. Mercati, “Epigraphica,”AttidellaPontificiaAccademiaRomanadiArcheologia,ser.3,Rendiconti3(1925):197–205. 10Forthemonograms,seeH.Swainson,“MonogramsoftheCapitalsofS.SergiusatConstantinople,”BZ 4(1895):106–8. 11The sculpture and brickstamps from St. Polyeuktos lack cruciform monograms. For the monograms, seeR.M.Harrison,ExcavationsatSara¸chaneinIstanbul,vol.1(Princeton,1986),162,fig.L;M.J.Vickers,“A ‘New’CapitalfromSt.Polyeuktos(Sara¸chane)inVenice,”OxfordJournalofArchaeology8(1989):228,fig.2; andS.J.Hill,“TheBrickstamps,”inHarrison,Excavations,1:213,fig.B(B11,B28);216,fig.C(C11,C13– C16).IwilldemonstrateelsewherethatthesuperstructuresofthechurchofSt.Polyeuktoswerebuiltusing stampedbricksmanufacturedinandafter518,whichis,therefore,theterminuspostquemfortheconstruction of the upper parts. E. Weigand, “Ein bisher verkanntes Diptychon Symmachorum,” JDAI 52 (1937): 130, placedtheintroductionofthecruciformmonogram“zwischen530und540”butlackedfirmevidencefora terminuspostquem.SuchevidencenowcomesfromtheSt.Polyeuktosexcavations. JONATHAN BARDILL 3 group of capitals used inSts. Sergius and Bacchus may indicate that thetype (or at least Theodora’s monogram of that type) had not appeared even by 527. In the churches of Hagia Eirene, Hagia Sophia (both ca. 532–537), and St. John at Ephesus (535/6–541),12 cruciformmonogramsoftheempressareemployed,eitheraloneorincombinationwith herboxmonograms.13Theevidencemight,therefore,betakentoindicatethatthecapi- tals in Sts. Sergius and Bacchus had been carved after Theodora’s accession in 527 but somewhatbeforethedesignsforthecapitalsinHagiaEireneandHagiaSophiahadbeen prepared, ca. 533.14 Furthermore, no monogram of AUGOUCTA occurs on the capitals, although it does appear in both Hagia Eirene and Hagia Sophia, and this is perhaps another indication that the capitals were carved before ca. 533.15 These are, of course, arguments from silence, and there may be other explanations: the sculptors were unfa- miliar with the most up-to-date imperial monograms, or the capitals were old stock or spoils taken from elsewhere. A terminus ante quem in 536 is firmer, since the acts of the council held in May and June of that year were signed by one Paul, “the presbyter and abbot of the holy apostles Sts. Peter and Paul and of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in the palace of Hormisdas.”16 Unfortunately, the five brickstamps that have so far been published are not help- ful in clarifying the church’s date. The two types of rosette that Ernest Mamboury and Cyril Mango ascribed to the sixth century belong, in fact, to the Turkish period, being stamped on hexagonal tiles used to relay the floor in the gallery.17 The three other ex- 12For the date, see C. Foss, Ephesus afterAntiquity: A LateAntique, Byzantineand TurkishCity (Cambridge, 1979),88n.88. 13SeeW.S.George,TheChurchofSt.EireneatConstantinople(London,1912),fig.7,pl.16(HagiaEirene); C.G.CurtisandS.Aristarches,“Aj ne´kdotoi Ej pigra(cid:1)ai´Buzanti´ou,” OJ ejnKwnstantinoupo´lei EJ llhniko´"Filo- logiko`"Su´llogo",archaeologicalsuppl.tovol.16(1885):13–15(HagiaSophia);E.M.Antoniades,“Ek(cid:1)rasi" th'" AJ gi´a" So(cid:1)i´a", vol. 2 (Athens, 1908), 23, 29, 31, 34, 35, 68, 69, 205, 209, 213, 225, 231, 232, 236, 297, 309,326,335,343,356(HagiaSophia);H.Vetters,ed.,DieInschriftenvonEphesos:InschriftengriechischerSt¨adte ausKleinasien17.2,VII.2(Bonn,1981),no.4363(St.JohnatEphesus). 14CurtisandAristarches,“Aj ne´kdotoi Ej pigra(cid:1)ai´Buzanti´ou,”15,pl.3,no.8,suggestthatthemonogram on a capital in the southwest exedra at ground-floor level in Hagia Sophia gives the date A.M. 6042. The interpretation is doubtful, but if correct it would suggest that construction had reached the first storey by 533/4.SeealsoC.G.Curtis,BrokenBitsofByzantium,pt.2(n.p.,1891),no.15;W.R.LethabyandH.Swain- son, The Church of Sancta Sophia Constantinople (London–New York, 1894), 296; Antoniades, “Ek(cid:1)rasi" th'" AJ gi´a"So(cid:1)i´a",2:29;H.K¨ahler,HagiaSophia,trans.E.Childs(NewYork–Washington,D.C.,1967),14with pl. 75; R.J. Mainstone, Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy of Justinian’s Great Church (London, 1988),185.C.Foss,“ThreeApparentEarlyExamplesoftheEraofCreation,”ZPapEpig31(1978):241–46, doesnotdiscussthiscapital. 15Swainson,“Monograms,”107,tooktheabsenceoftheAUGOUCTAmonogramtoindicatethatthechurch was built before Theodora became augusta. But this is impossible, since the entablature inscription and monogramsofBACILEVCclearly indicatethatthechurchwasbuiltafter Justinianhadbecomeemperor, andTheodoraisknowntohavebecomeaugustaonthesamedaythatsheandherhusbandwerecrowned. T.Mathews,TheEarlyChurchesofConstantinople:ArchitectureandLiturgy(UniversityPark,Pa.,1971),47,mis- representsSwainson’sargument,stating;“Theodoraisnotnamedinthemonograms.” 16Mango, “Tradition,” 191; Krautheimer, “Again,” 253; Mango, “Once Again,” 385–86. For Paul’s signa- tures,seeACO,ed.Schwartz,vol.3(Berlin,1940),46no.34,129no.54,144no.56,158no.54,164no.54, 173no.59.Inno.34,Paulstyleshimselfpresbu´tero"kai`hJgou´meno"tw'naJgi´wnPe´troukai`Pau´loutw'najpos- to´lwn,Sergi´oukai`Ba´kcoutw'nmartu´rwn. 17See E. Mamboury, “Les briques byzantines marqu´ees du chrisme,” Annuaire de l’institut de philologie et d’histoireorientales 9 (1949): 449–62 (where nos. 16 and 17, in fact, represent the same stamp); C. Mango, “Byzantine Brick Stamps,” AJA 54 (1950): 19–27, fig. 1 (where the two different types are shown). The