The DAI is a loose compilation of historical information, which includes the foundation myths of various Balkan nations, while ostensibly offering diplomatic advice for future Byzantine rulers: an example of the ‘mirror for princes’ genre. In the DAI’s introduction, Constantine himself states the text’s goal: his son and eventual successor to the throne, Romanos II, was ‘to be instructed in what it behooves thee before all else to know, and lay hold skillfully upon the helm of rule’. To compile the DAI, Constantine oversaw a team of scholars and writers who gathered and documented information of keen interest to Byzantine rulers. In 1611, John Meursius, the manuscript’s first publisher, stamped its text with the title by which it is still known today. The DAI’s original title, if it had one, is unknown. Although the archetype of the DAI is lost, four manuscripts have survived. A particularly significant text to which he contributed is the De Administrando Imperio (DAI), which was developed between 948 and 952. Through his own writings and his power as a royal sponsor, Constantine’s work covered a broad set of topics that spanned complex ceremonial procedures, imperial biography, military strategy, diplomacy and even agriculture. Bolstered with the knowledge stored in monastic and imperial libraries, he was able to organise and publish a number of scholarly texts. Instead, he devoted considerable time and energy to pursuing intellectual and artistic endeavours, including efforts to improve the ways in which the Byzantine state was ruled, perhaps as a response to the circumstances in which he found himself.Ĭonstantine was an important figure in 10th-century Byzantine intellectual life. Seemingly resolved to his own fate or, more likely, as a result of his introverted temperament, Constantine had forsaken any active resistance to regain his throne. Constantine could do little but submit to his father-in-law’s demands as Romanos consolidated his power. Romanos’ daughter, Helena, was married to the young Constantine in 919, further evidence of the usurper’s intent to topple the Macedonians. Constantine, the rightful heir, was left physically unharmed in a relatively bloodless transition of political power. He had himself crowned emperor by Constantine and the Patriarch and subsequently elevated his own son to junior emperor status. Once in the palace, he swiftly captured the levers of the Byzantine state.
#POLIUDIE WAS DESCRIBED IN DE ADMINISTRANDO IMPERIO HOW TO#
The admiral’s thinking was clear on how to resolve the current political crisis in the capital: he planned to seize the imperial throne from Constantine and the Macedonian dynasty. As the admiral of the Empire’s navy, Romanos Lekapenos was invited to the city as protector of its young ruler, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (‘born in the purple’). On 25 March 919 the Byzantine fleet sailed into the port of Constantinople.
0 kommentar(er)
