Re-anchoring Rome’s Protection in Constantinople : The pignora imperii in Late Antiquity and Byzantium

Abstract

This paper uses the conceptual framework of “Anchoring Innovation”, which is being developed by OIKOS, the Dutch National Research School in Classical Studies, in order to assess matters of religious continuity and change in the late antique and Byzantine attitudes towards the pignora imperii, or talismans which vouched for the safety of the Roman Empire. Notable pignora are the Palladium, the ancilia, and the stone of Cybele. The paper focuses on two periods. In the first section, a close reading of a passage of Servius from the early fifth century AD discloses how the author re-anchored the pignora in the contemporary context of anxieties over the preservation of pagan heritage and the imminent shift of power and prestige from Rome to Constantinople. The second section focuses on the works of John Malalas and John of Lydia in order to trace the vicissitudes of the pignora in sixth century Constantinople. Servius’ pignora are re-anchored in the context of an Empire which saw itself increasingly as Christian and centred on Constantinople. Also new pignora, such as the Latin language and statues in Constantinople are being construed in the sixth century. The paper concludes with a short sketch of a field which merits further research; the continuity in religious attitudes towards pignora between late antiquity and the Byzantine period. It will be argued that icons of the Theotokos or Virgin Mary in Byzantium gradually usurp the role and function of the antique pignora. The paper has in two appendices 1) a list of testimonies to the Palladium, and 2) a list of transfers of Hero remains in antiquity.