FOURTEEN BYZANTINE RULERS The Chronographia of Michael "Psellus TBANSIATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY e. h. A. sewteb PENGUIN BOOKS Book Six [3-4 traditional allegiance to themselves.1 These men, because they were afraid lest at some future time they should be accused of introducing new ideas into the constitution, or of making foolish decisions, or of acting illegally, were meticulously careful in their conduct of state affairs, both military and civil, and as far as possible they treated the empresses with all due honour. Court procedure, in the case of the sisters, was made to conform exactly to the usual observance of the sovereign who had ruled before them. Both of them sat in front of the royal tribunal, so aligned that Theodora was slightly behind her sister. Near them were the Rods and Sword-bearers ml the officials armed with the rhomphaia.2 Inside this circle w n the special favourites and court officials, while round tin 111 on the outside of the circle, was the second rank n| ilif personal bodyguard, all with eyes fixed on the ground 111 attitude of respect. Behind them came the Senate .in«l iln privileged class, then persons of the second clav. md tribes, all in ranks and drawn up at proper intervd all was ready, the other business was carried on. 'J'lien lawsuits to be settled, questions of public interest, >.....MMli buttons of money, audiences with foreign ainb.iss 1 I 1 troversies or agreements, and all the other duties ili.n r up an emperor's time. Most of the talking was limn li» I officials concerned, but sometimes, when it was m ■ empresses also gave their instructions, in a (aim made their replies, sometimes being prompted .md 1 cue from the experts, sometimes using tlieii - n For those who did not know them it may In ■ give here some description of the two sistet I li was the quicker to understand ideas, but si" 1 r. Nicolaus was appointed to high office in tin 1 1 1 Cabasilas in the west. George Maniaces bceinn m ■ ■ back to Italy as supreme commander (Ccdn mi 2. See Glossary. 156 5] Zoe and Theodora 1042 utterance. With Theodora it was just the reverse in both respects, for she did not readily show her inmost thoughts, but once she had embarked on a conversation, she would chatter away with an expert and lively tongue. Zoe was a woman of passionate interests, prepared with equal enthusiasm for both alternatives - death or life, I mean. In that she reminded me of lea waves, now lifting a ship on high and then again plunging it down to the depths. Such characteristics were certainly not (bund in Theodora; in fact, she had a placid disposition, and .....tie way, if I may put it so, a dull one. Zoe was open- li mded, the sort of woman who could exhaust a sea teeming wiili gold-dust in one day; the other counted her staters when I" (f.i 1 away money, partly no doubt because her limited forbade any reckless spending, and partly because 1 "dy she was more self-controlled in this matter. 111 I'm 11 quite candidly (for my present purpose is not to 1 ■m|m,-l. .1 eulogy, but to write an accurate history) neither of t| fitted by temperament to govern. They neither how to administer nor were they capable of serious •11 1 lie subject of politics. For the most part they 1 iIh miles of the harem with important matters of 11 1 lie very trait in the elder sister which is com-"r many folk today, namely, her ungrudging 1 icii d very widely over a long period of rime, ill hough it was no doubt satisfactory to those I'r'dn I 111 ,r of the benefits they received from her, 1I1 1 uise, in the first place, of the universal 1 1 lln 1 eduction of Roman fortunes to their ........I well-doing is most characteristic ......(I where discrimination is made, il'ii 111111 instances and the fortune of the till. 1 mi' personal qualities are taken into 1 "i......>f largess is to be commended. mi ieal discernment is exercised in ■ ••line hi money is wasted. I U7 Book Six [6-8 Such were the differences that marked the sisters in character. In personal appearance there was an even greater divergence. The elder was naturally more plump, although she was not strikingly tall. Her eyes were large, set wide apart, with imposing eyebrows. Her nose was inclined to be aquiline without being altogether so. She had golden hair, and her whole body was radiant with the whiteness of her skin. There were few signs of age in her; in fact, if you marked well the perfect harmony of her limbs, not knowing who she was, you would have said that here was a young woman, for no part of her skin was wrinkled, but all smooth and taut, and no furrows anywhere. Theodora, on the other hand, was taller, more taper of form. Her head was small, and out of propol don with the rest of her body. She was more ready with hi I tongue than Zoe, as I have said, and quicker in her movement! There was nothing stem in her glance: on the contrary, illi was cheerful and smiling, eager to find any opportunity ltd talk. So much for the character and physical appearance <'l ill two empresses. I will return to the government. In tin >s< it seems to me, a peculiar magnificence, and an added |>i< ii| attached to the executive power. The majority of tin old underwent a sudden change, as if they were playinr \> >• i a stage and had been promoted to a role more u..... any they had acted before. Largess was poured on i r n the past. Zoe, in particular, opened the coffers of 11....... treasury. Any trifles hidden away there were di-.iiibm her with generous abandon. These monies had mil I tributed by volunteers, but were the fruit ol ill plunder. In fact, all this squandering, togctlx i wuli il standard of living, was the beginning of the uiii ■ i our national affairs and the cause of our stibsr<|in i tion. But that was clear only to the proplnis, 01 saw what was really happening. The prize-money for the soldiers and the i < \..... 158 9-11] Zoe and Theodora 1042 to army expenditure were quite unnecessarily diverted and put aside for the use of other persons - a crowd of sycophants and those who at that time were deputed to guard the empresses - as if the Emperor Basil had filled the treasuries with riches for this very purpose. Most men are convinced that the nations around us have made their sudden incursions against our borders, these wild unexpected inroads, for the first time in our day, but I myself li< ild a different view. I believe the house is doomed when the mortar that binds its bricks together becomes loose, and, ill hough the start of the trouble passed unnoticed by the Majority, there is no doubt that it developed and gathered 11' ngth from that first cause. In fact, the gathering of the ilouds iii those days presaged the mighty deluge we are ulli 1 ing today. But I must not speak of that yet. I II 111 11,. It AUGUSTA ZOE DELIBERATES WHOM TO il" 'MOTE TO THE IMPERIAL THRONE di".< ription of the events that follow I will speak with 1 u n I unity and more personal knowledge. The affairs iť ni|'ľiitly demanded vigorous and skilful direction, hu y needed a man's supervision - a man at once led and very experienced in government, one 'lv understood the present situation, but also any 'Im Ii.id been made in the past, with their probable tilled a man who would make provision for the " ľ m- long beforehand against all possible attacks ■ ' n In >m abroad. But the love of power, or the 11»1 >.i rent freedom and the absence of super-1I1 in lor ever greater power - these were the 1I1 1 1111 icror's apartment in to a gynaeconitis. I'l-ople had no settled convictions. One n...1 In 1 w.is bruited about, either favourable or (loi t here were some who thought that 159 Book Six [63-4 dwarf olives and the whitest sort of bays. The younger sister daily gloated over her collection of darics, for which she had had bronze coifers made. Knowing their hobbies, therefore, the Augusta won the gratitude of them both by giving the presents they liked best. It was no difficult matter, for Zoe no longer felt jealous of her rival (she was past the age for that) and there was no ill-will on her side. As the years passed, too, she had lost her capacity for vehement hatred. And as for Theodora, since her own desires were satisfied, she showed even less resentment than her sister. Thus the wealth which the Emperor Basil had accumulated in the imperial treasury, at the cost of much sweat and labour, became the plaything of these women, to be expended on their pleasures. Presents were exchanged or given as rewards one after another. Some of the money was even paid out to strangers, and soon all was spent and exhausted. However, that is a subject which I must deal with later. Now I mull finish the present story. When Constantine and the women had decided which apartments each was to occupy in I lid palace, the emperor had the room in the centre, with tltl sisters on either side of him, but it was Sclercna who had I hi most private quarters. And Zoe never visited the cni|...... room, unless she had first made sure that he was alone mid In lady-love far away. Otherwise she occupied hcrscli with Iipi own affairs. I must now explain what these activii 1. The tasks that women normally perform had no whatever for Zoe. Her hands never busied thcinsclv.....Ii I distaff, nor did she ever work at a loom or any otlu-i i...... occupation. Still more surprising, she affected sunn I 1 dti beautiful dresses of her rank, though I cannot tell win < 1 ■ was so negligent in the prime of life. Certainly in In 1 she lost all desire to charm. Her one and on I).....1..... ' time, the thing on which she spent all her cm 1 development of new species of perfumes, <>i tin 1 1 1 of unguents. Some she would invent, othei !■ 186 65] Constantine IX 1042-33 Her own private bedroom was no more impressive than the workshops in the market where the artisans and the blacksmiths toil, for all round the room were burning braziers, a host of them. Each of her servants had a particular task to perform: one was allotted the duty of bottling the perfumes, another of mixing them, while a third had some other task of the same kind. In winter, of course, these operations were demonstrably of some benefit, as the great heat from the fires served to warm the cold air, but in the summer-time the others found the temperature near the braziers almost unbearable. Zoe herself, however, surrounded by a whole bodyguard of these fires, was apparently unaffected by the .....hing heat. 1» fact, both she and her sister seemed to be by nature perverse. They despised fresh air, fine houses, meadows, gardens; the charm of all such tilings meant nothing to them. ()n the other hand, once they were inside their own private .....nr.. nil- scaling off the flow of the golden stream, the other • Ii 1.....- .'in the channels to make it flow faster, then they I cully enjoyed themselves. Willi regard to Zoe's other peculiarities - I must speak of Ii ■ .1 1 .1I1 t greater length, while the emperor is still taking In ' - with the beloved Augusta - there is not much that I • nattily there was no moment when the Name M " 1 11 hut mi her lips. 187