Uhura's Mazda
Banned
Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills
Book Four
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills
Book Four
Prologue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Oxon, Cantab, Otago)
So far in Michael Psellos' magnum opus we have seen the inevitable yet reversible decline of the Constantinopolitan Empire under the successors of the drolly-named Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. We have seen the indolence and brutality of Constantine VIII and the Romantic ambitions of Romanos III come back to bite these woefully inept Emperors - the Army of Romanos fled from a gaggle of barbarians only five years after the death of the great Basil. Now, in Book Four, we see this downward trend arrested somewhat by the singularly ignoble figure of Michael IV (who, assiduous readers will remember, was the lover of Zoe the Macedonian, now in her fifty-sixth year) and the eminence grise of his older brother, the eunuch John the Orphanotrophos. Let us allow Psellos' wry tones to explore the all-too-short reign of this Paphlagonian forger...
SPARTACUS MILLS
The empress Zoe, learning of the death of her husband, Romanos Argyros -- she had not herself been present while he was dying -- immediately took control of affairs, apparently under the impression that she was the rightful heir to the throne by divine permission. In point of fact, she was not so much concerned to seize power on her own behalf; all her efforts were directed to securing the crown for Michael, the person I have already described. [1]
[...]
She persisted in her support of Michael, with unwavering loyalty; there was no question of reason in the matter, for her judgment of the man was inspired by sentiment. It remained to set a time for the ceremony of coronation and for the assumption of the other insignia of power. Michael's elder brother approached her on the subject privately (he was the eunuch John, a man of outstanding intellect, as well as a man of action). 'We shall die,' he argued, 'if there is any further delay in promoting Michael.' Zoe, now completely won over[2], at once sent for the young man, clothed him in a robe interwoven with gold, placed on his head the imperial crown, and set him down on a magnificent throne, with herself near him in similar dress. She then issued an order that all those who were living in the palace were to prostrate themselves before both of them and hail them both as sovereigns in common. Of course, the order was obeyed, but when news of it reached those outside the palace also, all the city wanted to share in the rejoicings at her command. To flatter their new monarch, the majority feigned approval of the proceedings. As for the old emperor, they cast him off as though he were some heavy burden. So, light-hearted and blithe, with pleasure and satisfaction, they acclaimed Michael as emperor.
[... Psellos goes on at length about Romanos III's funeral here. Rather self-serving. SM]
Till now, Michael had played a part: his attitude and the look in his eyes showed love for the empress. It was not long, though, before all this was changed, and her love, as well as her favours to im, were repaid with base ingratitude. I can neither praise nor blame him for it, for though I can scarcely commend this hatred for his benefactress or his behaviour towards her, yet I cannot fail to applaud his fear of the lady, fear lest he too should be involved in catastrophe, like Romanus. [3]
The chief objection to any forthright condemnation of the man lies in his own character, for if you acquit him of this one crime committed against Romanus, and acquit him also of the charge of adultery and of accusations that he exiled persons on mere suspicion, this man will take his place in the forefront of Roman emperors. He was, it is true, entirely devoid of Hellenic culture[4]; on the other hand, he was more harmonious in his nature than the philosophers who professed that culture. Even in the fullness of manhood and the flower of youth he mastered his body. Far from the physical passions beating down his reason, it was reason that exercised severe control over the desires. Nor was it merely his eye that was grim -- his soul was too. He was ready moreover, with the witty retort, and his tongue was well-equipped to this end, for it lacked monotony, and he spoke fluently, with a voice both fine and resonant.
[...]
Clearly it was not a noble beginning for a man promoted to supreme power, as I have shown. Nevertheless, for a short period after he became master of the Empire, he treated the governing of it as a kind of joke. He would put off decisions until some crisis arose or some unexpected turn of events, while he passed the time in amusing his wife and in organizing pleasures and pastimes for her. Once he saw the magnitude of the Empire, however, and recognized the diverse quality of forethought required for its managing and the multitudinous difficulties involved in the cares of state--difficulties with which a man who is truly an emperor must be faced -- then his character was suddenly and radically changed. It was as if he had grown up to manhood, no longer a boy, and from that moment he governed his Empire in a fashion at once more manly and more noble.
Michael at once seemed as if he had been born to the role of Emperor. His sheer humility avoided the usual imbalances that plague a new Emperor's reign: none of his usual habits were changed. Even those who had befriended him before his elevation, and those to whom he owed gratitude, were not immediately given important positions, but were employed, as a trial, so to speak, in humbler posts and so gradually made capable of performing more important duties. The exeptions to this were his numerous elder brothers. Although John the Orphanotrophos remained a mere functionary although he was the chief minister, the other eunuchs of the family were elevated beyond their abilities in an attempt to create a dynasty: Constantine was made Domestic of the Schools [5] and George was also promoted. The bearded men of the family - that is, the brother Niketas and the brother-in-law Stephen 'the Caulker' were not so favoured [POD] for the reason that John the Orphanotrophos still hoped that Michael would have sons with Zoe or another woman, and the sons of these men might become rivals for the Empire. Upon his accession, Michael left most things unchanged for the moment, apart from reintroducing the allelengyon, a measure originally conceived by Basil II by which landowners were liable to pay the taxes of their poorer neighbours.[6]
[...]
In the way he treated his brothers Michael was hard to excess. Apparently Nature, when she brought them to birth, accorded the nobler qualities to Michael, but in the others she produced characteristics exactly the opposite. Each of them wanted to usurp the place of his brothers, and allowing none of them to live either on sea or even on land, to dwell alone in the whole wide world, as if by some dispensation of God both sea and land were his own inheritance. Often Michael tried to restrain them, not by warnings but with harsh invective, angry reprimands, and the use of violent and frightful threats. All to no purpose, for the eldest brother, John, administered their affairs with great dexterity. It was he who assuaged the emperor's wrath and he who won for his brothers permission to do what they liked [7]. And he did this, not because he exactly approved of their attitude, but because, despite it, he cared for the family.
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[1] Naturally, we must recall Michael's unlikely personality: Psellos describes him as what we would nowadays call an 'epileptic' or 'spastic' and as such he was relatively helpless when manipulated by his carers and brothers. These brothers were corrupt to a man with the possible exception of John, and all were over-promoted non-entities with the exceptions of John and his fellow eunuch Constantine, at this point merely Doux of Antioch. SM
[2] Evidently, Zoe was a gullible fool if she bethought herself to be loved by her new husband. Zonaras says that she payed Patriarch Alexis of the Studium a large sum to marry the pair on the same morning that Romanos was found dead in his bath, but Psellos wisely omits that detail for his own safety. One can hardly be forgiven for speculating on the speed of Michael's advancement to Imperial rank. SM
[3] Very sensible. Murderous harlot of a women, by all accounts. SM
[4] Psellos' egregious philhellenism mars his judgement here. SM
[5] Domestic of the Schools was the Byzantine term for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies. SM
[6] This measure was a key component in avoiding the emergence of Western-style feudalism in the Constantinopolitan Empire, as the debt burden on peasant freeholders was substantially reduced and the growth of large estates belonging to major families was decelerated considerably. SM
[7] Perhaps Psellos is jealous of the brothers here. Certainly we have no other records of misdemeanours committed by them, apart from Attaleiates' assertion that Constantine the Domestic was embezzling money in the early 1040s. SM
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OOC: I was inspired to do something like this by reading the 'History of Middle Earth' series by Christopher Tolkien, in which he, an arch academic type, reproduces the early drafts of the Silmarillion and constantly butts in with his own analysis. The interplay between the medieval-style original text and the donnish commentary inspired me to contrast an actual medieval text with an imagined 20th century professor's take on it.
And yes, the name Spartacus Mills is a reference to something with relevance to Alternate History.
As far as the actual 'plot' of this TL goes, I'm taking Michael Psellos' actual text as a jumping-off point and rewriting more and more as the butterflies take effect, while still trying to retain his self-centered and cynical style. I've always been interested in the Paphlagonian Emperors, ever since reading JJ Norwich's entertaining work on the History of Byzantium. However, a cursory glance at the forum shows that there are exponentially more threads on Basil II having kids - indeed, the only WI related to what I'm going to do was in 2009 and got one reply, so this should at least be somewhat original.
I am now experiencing a condition wherein I cannot stop writing like a don. Help me!