Feb 9 | Friends of the Saints event

Please join the Friends of the Saints on Friday, February 9, at 7 p.m. in the History Lounge (Room 5114) of the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Ave.) for the following paper and our customary pot-luck refreshments:

Thompson Wells
Byzantine History M.A. Student, Saint Louis University
“The Column of Constantine at Constantinople:
A Triumphal Roman Column’s Reception, Christianization and Re-interpretation
in the Medieval Era (5th-12th Centuries)”

The Column of Constantine, although erected by Constantine the Great in a very much pagan and late Roman context, became gradually Christianized and embellished with new meanings as the Medieval era ensued. This began as early as the 5th century where contemporary authors like Hesychios Melitos claimed relics of the Passion like the holy wood and the baskets which fed the multitude were stored at the column’s base. As the centuries progressed, the relics thought to be associated with Constantine’s column only grew with objects like Noah’s axe and Moses’ rock being added in later eras. In a similar vein, the 12th century Emperor Manuel I replaced the nude statue of Apollo initially atop the column with a monumental cross, embroidering the monument even more with a Christian connotation.

The flourishing relic tradition at the Column of Constantine was a conscientious effort by the Byzantines to place their city, Constantinople, within a Biblical milieu. By holding both religious and political functions at the column in close proximity to all the major relics of the Old and New Testament, they could assert themselves as God’s chosen people. Furthermore, emperors could legitimize their rule by directly linking themselves through Constantine the Great to Christ. This talk will discuss the column’s relic tradition in the medieval era while also examining the significance of the religious and political ceremonies held at the column’s base to Constantinople and the emperor himself. We will argue that the Column of Constantine was tied both to Biblical and Constantinopolitan history as a totem of the Byzantine Empire and an assertion of their status as God’s chosen people.

Leah Hanlon
Secretary, Friends of the Saints

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