Chapter 8
cut from a ‘living’ animal
James ‘the Abyssinian’ Bruce, Scottish ‘Renaissance Man’ and explorer (he discovered the source of the Blue Nile in 1770), published an account of his travels in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1790. Many of his claims in this work — e.g. his reference to a steak being cut from a living cow, seemed so extraordinary that they were generally disbelieved, although subsequently vindicated in toto.
crowned by the ramparts of a mighty fortress
Magdala was taken and destroyed by a British expedition under Sir Robert Napier in 1868. The campaign was mounted in response to a public outcry, after several British subjects were imprisoned in Magdala by the mad Abyssinian emperor, Theodore.
The great machines. . were duly being assembled
Some idea of the fearsome power and destructive capability of Roman catapults can be gained from the following passage in Josephus’ The Jewish Wars. ‘One of the men. . had his head carried away by a stone [and] shot. . to a distance of three furlongsv. . More alarming even than the engines was their whirring drone, more frightful than the missiles was the crash.’
N.B. In Chapters 7 and 8, I’ve relied mainly on imagination and evidence from later periods in depicting Ethiopian warriors, as there is a dearth of contemporary material regarding their appearance. In arming them with spears and rawhide shields (standard equipment for as far back as records show) I imagine I’m on pretty safe ground. But having some with swords? Nilotic warriors have used European-looking swords well into modern times (e.g. as brandished by the Khalifa’s army in that splendid film of 1939, The Four Feathers). But how far back did the practice go? Some have suggested that it stemmed from acquisition/copying of Crusaders’ swords. If so, I can see no reason why the date should not be extended even further back — to the long, cutting spatha of late Roman times.
Chapter 9
a cruel surprise awaits the poor, duped girls
Sadly, a problem which — thanks to ‘people trafficking’ from Eastern Europe and Asia — the West is only too familiar with today.
Justinian was visibly impressed
In his Justinian and Theodora, Robert Browning states that, ‘she quoted the orator Isocrates [to Justinian] with electrifying effect’. I’ve used this incident to suggest that it marked a turning point in their relationship: the moment when he fell in love with her — for her mind.
a Seneca to my Nero
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC-65 AD), philosopher, man of letters, and a noble, upright character, was entrusted with the education of the young Nero. For a time Seneca was able to exert a salutary effect on the boy; when Nero became emperor however, his essential viciousness of character came to the fore, and he degenerated into the monstrous tyrant he is remembered as today. Disillusioned, Seneca allowed himself to become involved in a plot to murder Nero. But, on the plot failing and his part in it being discovered, he committed suicide.
compensation for brothel-owners
The amount eventually settled on was five nomismata — about thirty pounds in present value.
I love you. . in the sense that Plato means
Despite Procopius’ attempt (in his Secret History) to portray Theodora as a raging nymphomaniac, I remain strongly of the opinion that the love between her and Justinian was — as I’ve suggested in the Notes for Chapter 3 — more about a meeting of minds than anything physical, while their wedded state remained strictly monogamous. Even Procopius can find no evidence that she was anything but faithful to Justinian after their marriage. There is some evidence that they may have produced a daughter, who died young. If so, she was their only offspring — although there doesn’t appear to have been any physical reason why they should not have had more children. All of which suggests that sex may well have been a low priority for both of them. Justinian comes over as an ascetic intellectual for whom sex may even have been mildly repugnant. (Again, see Notes for Chapter 3.) As for Theodora, occasional prostitution dictated by economic necessity, combined with her experience as the mistress of Hecebolus may well (as has been recorded concerning many women with similar experience*) have put her off sex — at least with men. (See Notes for Chapter 6.) Her total commitment to the causes she espoused on behalf of prostitutes, women in general, and the Monophysites, suggests that her sex drive may have been sublimated into, or replaced by, the energy she devoted to these all-consuming passions.
I’ll pay you back for that
Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500 to after 562), a lawyer by training, was military secretary to Justinian. As such, he was an eye-witness to many of the events which he describes, with commendable objectivity, in his The Wars of Justinian. However, in addition he wrote the Secret History, a vicious and scurrilous attack on Justinian and Theodora — particularly Theodora. Just why he should have taken against her so venomously is a mystery; I’m tempted to think that something like the incident I’ve described may have been the cause.
Chapter 10
an invitation from the Peacock Throne
For dramatic reasons I’ve slightly put back the date of Damascius’ and Simplicius’ acceptance. They (plus five other Athenian professors: Eulamius, Priscian, Hermeias, Diogenes and Isidore) set off for Ctesiphon after the new Great King — Chosroes (Khusro) — had invited them following his enthronement in 532.
You can’t touch me — it’s against the law
Up to this time there had existed, as Robert Browning says in his Justinian and Theodora, ‘general immunity’ from corporal punishment for the upper classes. He then goes on to relate how John of Cappadocia’s subordinates ‘dared to imprison and flog men of high social position for non-payment of taxes’.
devastated by a terrible earthquake
In the interests of simplification, I have conflated the terrible earthquake of 526 (in which, according to Procopius, many public buildings were flattened, and 300,000 people killed) with the less severe one of 29 November 528.
to ferry her across the Bosphorus
To enable Theodora to reach her destination expeditiously, I have contracted the time the trip would have taken. By the shortest route, Hieron was above four miles from the nearest harbour in Constantinople.
a complete reform of Roman Law
This hugely ambitious and historic project (which still has relevance today) was achieved with incredible speed, with no sacrifice of scale or thoroughness — thanks to the energy, expertise, and organizing ability of Tribonian, the great jurist commissioned by Justinian to see it through. The Code of 529 was followed in 533 by the Digest, a carefully edited and condensed compilation of all the responses of jurisconsults (such as Gaius and Papimian) of the classical period — a mind-boggling task involving the reduction of three million lines of text to one hundred and fifty thousand! To enable lawyers easily to comprehend and utilize the great new legal corpus, a training-manual for law students — the Institutes (in use until the twentieth century) — was published in the same year as the Digest. Today, Tribonian’s great work forms the basis of the law of many European countries, especially that of Scotland and Holland.