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Basileus

Justinian mosaic, San Vitale

Justinian

Justinian I (r. 527-565)

Here, Emperor Justinian is depicted offering a model of the Hagia Sophia to the Virgin Mary. Justinian came to the throne during a period of political and economic turmoil within the empire. His reign was characterised by religious, legal, and economic reforms and the empire's expansion to its greatest extent. Ousterhout identifies the Hagia Sophia as being, first and foremost, “a symbol of the rule of Emperor Justinian”, as it was constructed “at a critical point in his reign”, following the Nike Rebellion in 532 (Ousterhout, 287). Moreover, Justinian consciously sought to emulate Constantine, who invested the fabric of Constantinople with church structures, crafting the city as the religious epicentre of the empire and instilling it with new ecclesiastical legitimacy. Therefore, Justinian intended the Hagia Sophia to serve as “a potent visual symbol of the sacred character of the city” in which both “imperial and religious ceremonies” were conducted (Ousterhout, 289). Justinian is portrayed in similar attire to the mosaic in San Vitale, where he sports a “diadem, a purple chlamys with gold-embroidered tablion” and is similarly nimbed (Bassett, 49). Justinian quite literally made his authority a crucial part of the Hagia Sophia as he included his monogram, Theodora’s monogram, and the monogram of "basileus" [Emperor] in the capitals of the basilica.

Exterior and interior

The Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia, meaning "Holy Wisdom", was rebuilt by Justinian I (r. 527-565) following the devastation of the Nike Rebellion in 532 on the site of the Magna Ecclesia, planned by Constantine I and completed by Constantine II in 330 (Ousterhout, 286, 287). The Hagia Sophia is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it is "dedicated to a concept and not to a person", as most churches were (Ousterhout, 286). Secondly, it "originally had no specific sacred associations and contained no important relic”; therefore, it commemorated no one “specific site, nor any specific event” (Ousterhout 286, 287). The Hagia Sophia was built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, “two architects with theoretical backgrounds” (Ousterhout, 288). Its architecture and space combine Western and Eastern traditions, as it is composed of both a longitudinal basilica and a centrally planned nave. Additionally, the use of pendentives to support its massive dome is a distinctly Western strategy for distributing weight. This dome, with its forty windows, serves to accentuate the “quality of [interior] space”, as sunlight can enter the space from all sides and reflect off of the “more than four acres of gold mosaic” (Ousterhout, 288). This use of gold mosaics anticipates those of San Vitale by approximately a decade, as the imperial portraits were completed “between 546 and 548” (Bassett, 51).

Pilgrimage was one of the main facilitators of travel and global exchange in the Medieval world. Ousterhout comments that records exist of "Byzantine pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem" as well a sizable extant collection of "pilgrims' guidebooks to Constantinople...written by Western Europeans" (Ousterhout, 298). These guidebooks demonstrate that the Medieval world and the people inhabiting it were far less stagnant than has historically been assumed. The active trade in saints' relics and the importation of Byzantine artisans to build San Vitale in Ravenna both signal the existence of broader trade routes and avenues for exchange over vast geographic areas. Furthermore, the purposeful coupling of Eastern and Western architectural and stylistic elements in the Hagia Sophia indicates an interest in and a demand for what would be traditionally interpreted as foreign tastes.

Global Connections

Creating Sacred Sites

Unlike Jerusalem, where Christ was born, suffered, died and was resurrected, Constantinople "had no significant Christian history prior...to Constantine”; it was totally devoid of holy topography (Ousterhout, 283). This blank slate of sorts meant that Constantinople could be "deliberately crafted" as a "New Rome” or, better yet, a New Jerusalem (Ousterhout, 283, 284). Thus, Constantinople’s adaptability became a boon for its emperors, as they could borrow from both Western and Eastern traditions to craft the city’s identity and shift the epicentre of power towards themselves. Part of this grand project of instilling the city with spiritual importance was the construction of churches like the Hagia Sophia, as the idea of the church and the idea of the city became one and the same. Another important means of imbuing sacredness was "the acquisition of relics", and Constantinople was reported to have "more than thirty-six hundred...representing at least 476 different saints" (Ousterhout, 284). This purposeful accumulation of spiritual significance demonstrates that Constantinople's citizens, or at least its elite, consciously referred to and thought about the city's relationship to Jerusalem, not only spiritually but also geographically.

Apse of San Vitale (top); Vestibule mosaic (bottom)

The Virgin Mary

On the left of the seal is the Virgin Mary (Theotokos), to whom the inscription on the perimeter and reverse are addressed. A similar presentation scene appears in the apse mosaic of San Vitale; however, in that instance, Bishop Ecclesius presents a model of San Vitale to Christ, as typically the founder or donor of the church is depicted offering it to the Virgin or Christ. Additionally, above the south door of the vestibule is a mosaic of the Virgin and Child enthroned, flanked by Justinian on the left and Constantine on the right, each holding an ex voto. Justinian offers the Hagia Sophia, while Constantine offers the Magna Ecclesia. While these mosaics were completed at least four centuries after Justinian’s reign, they would have been extant to the craftsman who created this seal.

The Museum of Byzantine Culture’s website dates this seal to the 11th century. Why was it produced 600 years after Justinian's reign? 2. What type of document would this seal have been attached to? What type of cases did the ecclesiastical tribunal preside over? 3. Why does the seal specifically address the Virgin Mary rather than Christ as Lawgiver?

Questions

Inscription and Reverse

Along the perimeter of the seal is an inscription reading "Most Holy Mother of God, please help us" in Greek. The inscription from the obverse is continued on the reverse: "the god-fearing presbyters and defenders of the Christian Church (Ecdics)". This seal was used by the ecclesiastical tribunal, established under the reign of Justinian, as part of his broader legal reforms. The tribunal held judicial cases in the Hagia Sophia, continuing the Roman tradition of basilicas as judicial courts and places of law, as well as the theological understanding of Christ as lawgiver, as represented in the mosaics of San Vitale (image under the Virgin Mary).