palace; their labour was repaid by the sight, perhaps by the smile, of their lord; his commands were signified by a nod or a sign; but all earthly greatness stood silent and submissive in his presence. Processions and acclamations In his regular or extraordinary processions through the capital, he unveiled his person to the public view; the rites of policy were connected with those of religion, and his visits to the principal churches were regulated by the festivals of the Greek calendar. On the eve of these processions, the gracious or devout intention of the monarch was proclaimed by the heralds. The streets were cleared and purified ; the pavement was strewed with flowers ; the most precious furniture, the gold and silver plate, and silken hangings were displayed from the windows and balconies, and a severe discipline restrained and silenced the tumult of the populace. The march was opened by the military officers at the head of their troops ; they were followed in long order by the magistrates and ministers of the civil government : the person of the emperor was guarded by his eunuchs and domestics, and at the church door he was solemnly received by the patriarch and his clergy. The task of applause was not abandoned to the rude and spontaneous voices of the crowd. The most convenient stations were occupied by the bands of the blue and green factions of the circus;[1] and their furious conflicts, which had shaken the capital, were insensibly sunk to an emulation of servitude. From either side they echoed in responsive melody the praises of the emperor; their poets and musicians directed the choir, and long life[2] and victory were the burden of every song. The same acclamations were performed at the audience, the banquet, and the church; and, as an evidence of boundless sway, they were repeated in the Latin,[3] Gothic, Persian, French, and even English language,[4] by the mercenaries who sustained the real or fictitious character of those nations. By the pen of Constantine Porphyrogenitus this science of from and flattery has been reduced into a pom-
- ↑ [See above, vol. iv., Appendix lo, p. 531-2.]
- ↑ (
Greek characters) is explained by (Greek characters) (Codin. c. 7, Ducange, Gloss. Græc. tom. i. p. 1 199).
- ↑ (Greek characters) (Ceremon. [i.] c. 75, p. 215). The want of the Latin
V obliged the Greeks to employ their β [it was not a shift ; the pronunciation of β was then, as it is now, the same as that of v] ; nor do they regard quantity. Till he recollected the true language, these strange sentences might puzzle a professor.
- ↑ (Greek characters) (Codin. p. 90 [p. 57, ed. Bonn]). I wish he had preserved the words, however corrupt, of their English acclamation.
