Byzantine rhetoric Byzantine rhetoric refers to rhetorical theorizing and production during the time of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rhetoric is significant in part because of the sheer volume of rhetorical works produced during this period. Rhetoric was the most ...

, a ''basilikos logos'' ( gr, βασιλικòς λόγος, literally "imperial word") or ''logos eis ton autokratora'' ("speech to the emperor") is an

encomium ''Encomium'' is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is ''laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the song sung by the c ...

addressed to an emperor on an important occasion, regularly at

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

. The parameters of the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

were first set out in a treatise attributed to

Menander Rhetor Menander Rhetor ( el, Μένανδρος Ῥήτωρ), also known as Menander of Laodicea ( el, Μένανδρος ὁ Λαοδικεύς), was a Greek rhetorician and commentator of the 3rd or 4th century AD. Two incomplete treatises on epidei ...

of the late 3rd century. The encomiast should praise the emperor's origins, his physical beauty, his upbringing, good habits, feats in peace and victories in war, philanthropy, good fortune and practice of the four

cardinal virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in both classical philosophy and Christian theology. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term ''cardinal'' comes from the ...

. He identified the ''presbeutikos'', a speech of supplication given by a city to an emperor, as a subgenre of the ''basilikos logos''. The panegyric of Constantine the Great delivered by

Eusebius of Caesaria Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

established a new convention of depicting the ideal emperor rather than the actual. The Christian ''basilikoi logoi'' dropped references to good fortune (''

tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrodite a ...

'') in favour of piety. The term ''presbeutikos'' also shifted in meaning to refer to an ambassador's report. The delivery of a ''basilikos logos'' could be used as an occasion to subtly advise the emperor, becoming a sort of "

mirror of princes Mirrors for princes ( la, specula principum) or mirrors of princes, are an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, the late middle ages and the Renaissance. ...

". This is the form it took when Agapetos praised

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

(6th century) and when

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

his son

Leo VI Leo VI (or Leon VI, notably in Greek) may refer to : * Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor 886 to 912 * Pope Leo VI, 928 to 929 * King Leo VI of Armenia (1342 – 1393), of the House of Lusignan, last Latin king of the Armenian crusader Kingdom of C ...

(9th century). The surviving biography of the Empress

Theodora Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". Theodora may also refer to: Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodora o ...

(9th century) may originate in a ''basilikos logos'' addressed to her during her regency.

John the Oxite John the Oxite or John Oxeites was the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (as John IV or V) from c. 1089 until 1100, when he was exiled by Prince Bohemond I of Antioch. He fled to the Byzantine Empire and continued to govern those parts of the patr ...

wrote and presumably delivered an unconventional ''logos'' that was highly critical of the policies of

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

(11th century).

Michael Italikos Michael Italicus or Italikos ( el, Μιχαήλ Ἰταλικός; fl. 1136–66) was a Byzantine medical instructor (''didaskalos iatron'') at the Pantokrator hospital that had been established by Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–43) in 1136 ...

(12th century) wrote a ''logos'' for the Emperor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

based primarily on his deeds and another for

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Romanization of Greek, Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), w ...

that was more conventional.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{refend Byzantine culture Byzantine literature

See also

Notes

Bibliography