The coronation (, or , ) was the main symbolic act of accession to the throne of a Byzantine emperor, co-emperor, or empress. Founded on Roman traditions of election by the Senate or acclamation by the army, the ceremony evolved over time from a relatively simple, ad hoc affair to a complex ritual.
In the 5th–6th centuries the coronation became gradually standardized, with the new emperor appearing before the people and army at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, where he was crowned and acclaimed. During the same time, religious elements, notably the presence of the patriarch of Constantinople, became prominent in what was previously a purely military or civilian ceremony. From the early 7th century on, the coronation ceremony usually took place in a church, chiefly the Hagia Sophia, the patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople. The association of the coronation ceremony with Constantinople and the Hagia Sophia became so close that even emperors who had been proclaimed, and crowned, outside the capital as military rebels or usurpers, usually repeated their coronation in the capital once they had won power.
The ritual was apparently standardized by the end of the 8th century, and changed little afterwards. It involved the homage of the Senate, a procession to the Hagia Sophia and the distribution of largess to the people. A special coronation service was held, for which the emperor or empress to be crowned changed into coronation dress inside the church. The act of coronation was carried out by the patriarch, except when a ruling emperor crowned a co-ruler or his wife. Either before or after the act of coronation, the emperors received the acclamation of the dignitaries, the troops and the people. The main change in the ceremony was the addition of the emperor's unction in the early 13th century, likely under Western European influence, although this is disputed by scholars; and the revival of the late antique practice of carrying the emperor on a shield in the 1250s. The Byzantine coronation ritual influenced other Eastern Orthodox states, notably Russia, and is a frequent subject of Byzantine art, where rulers are shown as receiving their crown directly from Christ, the Theotokos, or angels.
History of the Byzantine coronation ceremonial Theory and practice of imperial accessions In the Roman Empire, accession to the throne was never regulated in a formal manner. In theory, current since the time of Augustus and later formalized in aspects of the Byzantine coronation ceremony, the office of Roman emperor was elective, and the emperor was chosen by the Roman people, the Senate, and the army. The aim was to choose the "best man", but the reality of imperial accessions rarely fitted the idealized theory; as a result, irregular accessions to the throne were retroactively justified as a manifestation of divine favour.
The idea of selecting the "best man" was espoused especially by the Senate, and the continuing Republican tradition of the senatorial aristocracy demanded that a new emperor be chosen by the Senate at Rome. The foundation of the Roman imperial power, however, was the supreme command over the army, embodied in the title of , originally given to the triumphant generals of the Republic. As such, the emperors were frequently chosen by the army in the provinces, with the Senate deprived of any role in the process. Senatorial consent was still required as a matter of form, however, and many emperors who had been proclaimed in the provinces visited Rome to receive it.
Already from the earliest days of the Roman Empire, during the Principate, several ruling emperors were able to designate their own successors, usually a close relative by blood or adoption, but the principle of a dynastic succession was never enshrined in law. The road always remained open for usurpers to successfully claim the throne, provided they were acclaimed by the common people or the army, which signalled their consent. The fact that a usurper—usually an army officer—could successfully install himself on the throne and become accepted as a legitimate emperor led modern historians to describe the government of the later Roman Empire as "absolutism tempered by the right of revolution", in the words of Byzantinist Peter Charanis.
This pattern continued in the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. During the early Byzantine period (324–610), the army provided 12 emperors, while only nine came from the ruling imperial family. This began to change during the social transformations of the so-called "Byzantine Dark Ages" of the 7th–8th centuries, which enhanced the principle of dynastic legitimacy, exemplified by the creation of the highly prestigious epithet () for children born to reigning emperors. Dynastic succession became more and more common, until it prevailed completely under the Komnenos and Palaiologos dynasties of the late Byzantine era.
Election and acclamation ceremonies in the Roman Empire Due to the irregular nature of imperial accessions, no fixed ceremonial emerged during the Roman Empire. The only constant part of any imperial accession was the acclamation by the Senate, people and the army, which signalled the consent of the ruled; during the Principate, this ritual act of consent was often repeated annually by vows () taken to the emperor on the anniversary () of his accession. Over the centuries the act of acclamation became increasingly formalized and scripted, but remained a key symbol of popular consent, and hence of an emperor's legitimacy.
During the Principate, apart from the actual act of the election or acclamation, the ceremony of accession only included the conferment of the usual imperial insignia, chiefly the general's cloak ( or ) of imperial purple, which hearkened back to the traditions of the triumphant . Starting with Claudius (), the accession was followed by the issuing of a donative to the soldiers, either as a reward for their loyalty, or as an outright bribe for their support. From the time of Constantine the Great () on, following ancient Near Eastern tradition, a diadem was adopted as a sign of the openly monarchical power the imperial office had assumed during the Dominate. However, unlike the ancient Near Eastern monarchies, no coronation ceremony appears to have been adopted at this point. During the Dominate, the ceremony of the arrival () of a victorious emperor was sometimes employed as a symbol of an imperial accession, although it was an occasion celebrated throughout an emperor's reign as well.
The first evidence of a coronation ceremony is recorded during the acclamation of Julian in 361: the soldiers raised the new emperor on a shield, proclaimed him , and crowned him with a standard-bearer's neck torc in lieu of a diadem, since he had none. The custom of raising on a shield, borrowed from the Germanic peoples, remained frequent for military usurpers until Phocas (), but fell out of use thereafter. A more formalized version of the same procedure was observed for the coronation of Valentinian at Ancyra in 364. After he was elected by the army's leaders, Valentinian mounted a tribunal in front of the assembled troops, was clad in the imperial vestments and diadem, and proclaimed by the soldiers as . He then addressed the troops, promising them a donative. A similar procedure was followed in 367, when Valentinian crowned his son, Gratian, as co-emperor.
Early period, 5th–6th centuries
Marcian was proclaimed by the army at the Hebdomon in 450. The next coronation ceremony recorded is that of Leo I the Thracian, in 457. The coronations of Leo I, Leo II (473), Anastasius I Dicorus (491), Justin I (518) and Justinian I (525) are described in the 10th-century De Ceremoniis by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (), copied from an earlier work ascribed to the 6th-century official Peter the Patrician; provides brief translations of these ceremonies in English. in addition, the ceremony for Justin II (565) is recounted in considerable detail in Corippus' laudatory poem De laudibus Iustini minoris.
When an emperor was chosen for a vacant throne, the selection of the new ruler fell to the senior court officials (such as the and the ) and the Senate, which comprised the most senior dignitaries and ex-officials, those with the highest senatorial rank of . After the death of Zeno in 491, the officials delegated their authority to the reigning empress-dowager, the Ariadne, who chose Anastasius I. Their choice had to be assented to by the soldiers of the palace regiments, and was finally approved by acclamation by the populace of Constantinople at the public coronation ceremony in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Whereas emperors raised to a vacant throne were thus elected by the Senate and the army, with the sanction of the people, co-emperors were selected by the reigning emperor, and although the Senate may have been consulted, the choice was ultimately the ruling sovereign's. Although this was in effect a dynastic choice, the new emperor's right to the throne derived not from his birth, but by the will of his predecessor.
Coronation of Leo I The coronation of Leo I took place in in Hebdomon, a suburb of Constantinople outside the city walls. It was otherwise nearly identical to the ceremony used by Valentinian: Leo mounted a tribunal and as crowned with a torc by the army's drill master (); the standards were raised and Leo was acclaimed by the soldiers as God-crowned ; he donned the imperial cloak and diadem, and took a lance and a shield; the officials came to pay homage () according to their rank; and an official addressed the troops on the new emperor's behalf, promising them the customary donative.
In stark contrast to the purely military affair of Valentinian's acclamation, the coronation of Leo I was a civilian matter: the Senate ratified his nomination, and the new emperor received the crown. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Anatolius, was present, but did not play any role in the proceedings, in contrast to his successors. Julian's coronation with the torc, originally an ad hoc necessity, had now been revived and institutionalized as a deliberate act, which was followed in subsequent coronations as well.
Following his coronation, Leo prayed at the Church of the Papilion and the Church of St. John the Baptist, where he offered his crown at the altar. After he put the crown back on his head, he proceeded to Constantinople on horseback. At the Helenianai Palace, he was enrobed in the imperial garbs and rode in a chariot across the city. A "foremost patrician", likely Aspar, accompanied him in the chariot. They got off the vehicle at the Forum of Constantine where a "leading senator", also probably Aspar, offered Leo a golden crown. When Leo visited the patriarchal cathedral of Hagia Sophia, he deposited his crown upon the altar, and as he left the church, the patriarch placed the crown on his head.
At the Great Palace, he was met by the senators and the comites of the palace guards. There, he granted financial favors to the senators and was escorted by patricians into his quarters.
Ceremonial of the 5th–6th centuries After Leo I, the ceremonies described in the sources took place at the Hippodrome, except for Justinian I and Justin II. Justinian was crowned and acclaimed entirely in the Delphax hall of the Great Palace. Justin II was also crowned and acclaimed inside the palace, largely in the presence of the senate rather than the army, but performed another acclamation in the Hippodrome in front of the populace.
The ceremonies of the period shared broad similarities:
Arrival at the Hippodrome