Chrysaphius ( el, Χρυσάφιος) was a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

in the

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

court who became the chief minister of

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...

(r. 402–450). Having a great influence on the rule of the empire during his ascendancy, he pursued a policy of appeasement towards the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, which cost the empire far more gold than any military campaign, while amassing a vast fortune in bribes himself. He is depicted as a sinister figure in all the ancient accounts.

Life and policies

The Byzantine historians give us a considerable amount of information on Chrysaphius. His real name was Taiouma ( Theophanes 151) or Tumna (

Cedrenus George Kedrenos, Cedrenus or Cedrinos ( el, Γεώργιος Κεδρηνός, fl. 11th century) was a Byzantine Greek historian. In the 1050s he compiled ''Synopsis historion'' (also known as ''A concise history of the world''), which spanned the ...

I 601) or Tzoumas (Patria II 182;

George Codinus George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδινός), also Pseudepigrapha, Pseudo-Kodinos, ''kouropalates'' in the Byzantine court, is the reputed 14th-century author of three extant works in late Byzantine literature. Their attributio ...

47) or even Ztommas (

Malalas John Malalas ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Malálas''; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey). Life Malalas was of Syrian descent, and he was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in ...

363–6). Chrysaphius exercised a considerable influence on Theodosius II at the end of his reign. According to Malalas, Theodosius II loved Chrysaphius for his beauty (Malalas id and 368). He seems to have risen from among the ranks: according to Malalas, he was a mere ''

cubicularius ''Cubicularius'', Hellenized as ''koubikoularios'' ( gr, κουβικουλάριος), was a title used for the eunuch chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Empire and in the Byzantine Empire. The feminine version, used for the l ...

'' (servant of the imperial bedchamber); according to the ''

Chronicon Paschale ''Chronicon Paschale'' (the ''Paschal'' or ''Easter Chronicle''), also called ''Chronicum Alexandrinum'', ''Constantinopolitanum'' or ''Fasti Siculi'', is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world. Its name com ...

'', he was a ''

spatharios The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: la, spatharius; el, σπαθάριος, literally "spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely ho ...

'' (p. 390). In 441 the

city prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and ...

in Constantinople was a pagan poet from Panopolis in Egypt named

Cyrus Cyrus ( Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

, who was exceedingly popular in the city. Thus he incurred the envy of Chrysaphius, who engineered his downfall. Cyrus saved himself by converting to Christianity, but the malice of Chrysaphius was not so easily frustrated, and the eunuch arranged for him to be appointed bishop of Cotyaeum in

Phyrgia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

, where the population had lynched the previous four incumbents. In the event, Cyrus survived and returned to Constantinople in 451 after the death of Chrysaphius. In 443, he became chamberlain (''

praepositus sacri cubiculi The ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' (Latin: "provost of the sacred bedchamber", in gr, πραιπόσιτος τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου κοιτῶνος, praipositos tou eusebestatou koitōnos) was one of the senior palace offices in the La ...

''), which in practice made him the chief minister of the weak Theodosius II. Chroniclers record that he was all-powerful in the Palace (Theoph. 150; Priscus 227); the later ''Patria'' (II 182; Codinus 47) names him anachronistically as a ''

parakoimomenos The ''parakoimōmenos'' ( el, παρακοιμώμενος, literally "the one who sleeps beside he emperor's chamber) was a Byzantine court position, usually reserved for eunuchs. The position's proximity to the emperors guaranteed its holders ...

'', after the all-powerful eunuch officials of the 9th-10th centuries. He schemed against the emperor's sister

Pulcheria Aelia Pulcheria (; grc-gre, Πουλχερία; 19 January 398 or 399 – July 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother emperor Theodosius II during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to he ...

by exalting the influence of the empress

Eudocia Eudoxia ( grc, Εὐδοξία, ''Eudoxía''), Eudokia (, ''Eudokía'', anglicized as Eudocia) or Evdokia is a feminine given name, which originally meant "good fame or judgement" or "she whose fame or judgement is good" in Greek. The Slavic forms ...

, and succeeded in arranging her withdrawal from the court. Having done this, he intrigued against the empress, accusing her of adultery with Paulinus, a boyhood friend of the emperor. She was then banished in 444. Having removed both the emperor's wife and sister from the court, Chrysaphius was effectively ruler of the empire, and it is said that the emperor signed papers without reading them (Theophanes, A.M. 5942). In December 447, the Hunnic king

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

arrived before the

walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople ( el, Τείχη της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) since its founding as the ...

. Chrysaphius adopted a policy of appeasement, and the imperial government paid Attila a huge tribute to go away, rather than fight. Chrysaphius had also been involved in the ecclesiastical disputes of the time, and taking bribes from the various parties he amassed a great fortune. He was the godson of the aged Cyrillian abbot

Eutyches Eutyches ( grc, Εὐτυχής; c. 380c. 456) or Eutyches of Constantinopleepiscopal throne of Constantinople and so increase his own political influence. This was prevented by the elevation of

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

in 447. Chrysaphius therefore induced the emperor to require a gift from the new bishop. Flavian sent the emperor three loaves of consecrated bread, which Chrysaphius rejected, on the grounds that the emperor demanded gold. Flavian refused to supply this on the ground that churchmen should not hand over church property as bribes (Evagrius II.2). This made Chrysaphius his enemy, but

was still influential and defended Flavian. Chrysaphius did arrange for a violent enemy of Flavian's, Dioscorus, to be appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, and arranged for the exile of

. In 448 the Eutychian dispute arose, Eutyches bribed Chrysaphius. Flavian was reluctant to be drawn in, but organised a local council in Constantinople, which condemned Eutyches in 448. Chrysaphius, however, was able to use Dioscorus to depose Flavian at the " Robber-synod" (''

Latrocinium ''Latrocinium'' (from Latin ''latro'', "bandit", ultimately from Greek ''latron'', "pay" or "hire") was a war not preceded by a formal declaration of war as understood in Roman law; thus guerrilla warfare conducted against Rome was a form of ''latro ...

'') of Ephesus in August 449. He used the soldiers and puppet clerics to prevent any discussion of the issues. Flavian died a few days after the closure of the Latrocinium because of the injuries suffered from the mob of Dioscorus' monks, led by the dreaded abbot Barsaumas, "a wild, illiterate Syrian archimandrite".Holum, K. G., Theodosian Empresses (Berkeley: 1982), pp. 186-187. The Hunnic problem had not gone away. In 449, Chrysaphius, with the approval of Theodosius, suborned Edecon, the chief of

's guards, to assassinate him. But he later betrayed the plot to Attila, who demanded the head of Chrysaphius. Chrysaphius sent an envoy with money, and Attila consented in contemptuous language to forgive him and the emperor provided that he received an annual compensation payment of 700 pounds of gold a year. This burden of taxes on an empire already devastated by the ravages of the Huns made the already unpopular favourite deeply hated. Gibbon remarks that the money involved would have more than financed any war against Attila. The high-handed behaviour at the ''Latrocinium'' also back-fired. There was general opposition to the decisions of the council, and

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...

wrote to the emperor and demanded a fresh council. It seems that Chrysaphius may have fallen out of favour in the last months of Theodosius' reign. He had an enemy in the

Isauria Isauria ( or ; grc, Ἰσαυρία), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated, district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surrou ...

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

, Master of Soldiers, who seems to have threatened a revolt in 449. See John Ant. fr. 84 (''De ins.''), and Priscus, fr. 5 (''De leg. Rom.'').

Death

Theodosius II died in 450, and was succeeded by

Marcian Marcian (; la, Marcianus, link=no; grc-gre, Μαρκιανός, link=no ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the East from 450 to 457. Very little of his life before becoming emperor is known, other than that he was a (personal as ...

, who married Pulcheria. Both were personal enemies of Chrysaphius. His fate is described differently in the historians. According to most,

avenged herself against Chrysaphius by handing him over to his mortal enemy

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...

, who had him put to death (Theophanes 160; Chronicon Paschale 390; Malalas 368; Zonaras; III 107–109, Cedrenus I 601–1603). However, according to Malalas, Chrysaphius's cause of death was very different. Chrysaphius had been head of the Green faction, whom Theodosius had protected (Malalas 351). Chrysaphius's death sentence was apparently politically motivated. Supported by the Greens, Chrysaphius may have incited some unrest, and it is known that Marcian was a partisan of the Blues (Malalas 368). Some say that Marcian ordered him to appear before a tribunal to enquire into his misdeeds. On the way there, the fallen minister was stoned to death by a mob infuriated by the high taxes needed to pay

's tribute. His immense wealth was confiscated. The political career of Chrysaphius is recorded by the Byzantine historian

Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Latinized as Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus ( el, Νικηφόρος Κάλλιστος Ξανθόπουλος), of Constantinople (c. 1256 – c. 1335), was the last of the Greek ecclesiastical historians. H ...

, who deals with his actions in the critical years 449–451.

Evagrius Scholasticus Evagrius Scholasticus ( el, Εὐάγριος Σχολαστικός) was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, ''Ecclesiastical History'' (), compris ...

also records some of his actions in church matters.

Chrysaphius in fiction

The conspiracy against Attila is a significant plot element in Geza Gardonyi's novel '' Slave of the Huns''. In this account, the head of Chrysaphius really is given to Attila, transported preserved in honey. Chrysaphius also features in Gillian Bradshaw's novel, Imperial Purple, about a conspiracy to usurp the imperial throne.

References

External links

Eudocia

5th-century Byzantine people Byzantine eunuchs 450 deaths Year of birth unknown Byzantine courtiers Praepositi sacri cubiculi Ancient slaves Lynching deaths