1. Stephenson, P., ‘The legend of Basil the Bulgar-slayer’, BMGS 24 (2000) 102-32Google Scholar. I am grateful to Günter Prinzing, whose critical reading of that paper led me to reconsider the significance and date of Niketas Choniates’ first use of Voulgaroktonos, and to consider for the first time the psalter illumination and silk. Günter also read a draft of this paper, which was written in his seminar library at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, where I was privileged to hold a Humboldt-Stiftung Forschungsstipendium during the academic year 1999-2000. It is my intention to write a book-length study of Basil and his legend, and to that end I welcome comments on, and criticism of, this and my previous BMGS paper.

2. Nikephoros III Botaneiales (1078-81) is portrayed wearing a similar stemma, set with a red stone, in Cod. Par. Coislin. 79, illustrated at Evans, H.C. & Wixom, W.D., eds., The Glory of Byzantium: art and culture in the middle Byzantine era, A.D. 843-1261 (New York 1997) 208 Google Scholar. See also the miniature of Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) in Cod. Vat. gr. 666, fol. 2v, which is examined by Spatharakis, I., ‘Three portraits of the early Comnenian period’, in his Studies in Byzantine manuscript illumination and iconography (London 1996) 18–40 Google Scholar at 29-31.

3. For a complete description see Cutler, A., ‘The Psalter of Basil II’, Arte Veneta 30 (1976) 9–19 Google Scholar; ‘The Psalter of Basil II (part II)’, Arte Veneta 31 (1977) 9–15 Google Scholar at 9. Henceforth, all references will be to part II. The portrait may usefully be compared to that of Basil I (Cod. Par. gr. 510, fol. Cv), crowned with the stemma by Archangel Gabriel and handed the labarum (not sword or lance) by his patron Saint Elijah. All three stand on a low, rectangular suppedion. A verse inscription around the border states that St. Elijah guarantees Basil victory, and Gabriel crowns him protector of the world. See Spatharakis, I., ‘The portraits and the date of the Codex Par. gr. 510’, Cahiers archéologiques 23 (1974) 97–105 Google Scholar; reprinted in his Studies in Byzantine manuscript illumination and iconography, 1-12. It must be noted that Spatharakis here, and in a second paper (‘A note on the Imperial portraits and the date of Par. gr. 510’, JOB 39 (1989) 89-93) identified this as pertaining to the victory by Basil I at Germanikeia in 879. However, Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, I., ‘The portraits of Basil I in Paris gr. 510’, JOB 27 (1978) 19–24 Google Scholar, has argued convincingly for a later date (880-3) not associated with a particular victory. See now Brubaker, L., Vision and meaning in ninth century Byzantium (Cambridge 1999) 5–7 Google Scholar. For Basil I’s victory celebrations, to which we will return below, see McCormick, M., Eternal victory. Triumphal rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Early Medieval West (Cambridge & Paris 1986) 154-7Google Scholar; Hunger, H., ‘Reditus Imperatoris’, in Prinzing, G. & Simon, D., eds., Fest und Alltag in Byzanz (Munich 1990) 17–35 Google Scholar at 23-4, 28.

4. Grabar, A., L’empereur dans l’art byzantin (Strasbourg 1936) 86 n. 3, 86-7Google Scholar: ‘Since Kondakov, researchers (archéologues) have been unanimous in identifying here Bulgarian chieftains … It is almost certain that this image originally commemorated the definitive victory of Basil II over the Bulgars (1017) [sic], and was without doubt inspired by the famous triumph which was celebrated by the Bulgar-slayer’ (my translation). This has been repeated recently by Matthews, T., Byzantium from Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York 1998) 36-8Google Scholar.

5. Ševčenko, I., ‘The Illuminators of the Menologium of Basil II’, DOP 14 (1962) 245-76Google Scholar at 272, offers a transcription and ‘pedestrian translation’. Cutler, ‘Psalter’, 10, offers a modified translation, but only so far as ‘… crowning [the emperor]’. Cutler thus omits the final lines referring to the ‘martyrs’ and those lying at Basil’s feet. If he did so in order not to undermine his• argument that this does not represent a victory ceremony, the omission is unnecessary. There is no explicit mention of ‘enemies’, which Ševěnko introduces in square parentheses, in the final couplet (o’l μάρτυρες δε συμμαχοϋσιν (iç φίλω, ρίπτοντες τους ποσι προκειμένους). Matthews, Byzantium from Antiquity to the Renaissance, 38, also supplies ‘enemies’ in his translation: ‘fight beside him as with a friend, laying low the enemies prone at his feet’. Ševčenko (p. 272) suggested that the poem does not fit the illumination as exactly as we might have expected. The emperor is handed not a sword, which is the usual English translation for romphaia, by Archangel Michael, but a lance, and the martyrs are more particularly the military saints. However, martyrs seems to me entirely appropriate for military saints. Moreover, while romphaia does refer most frequently to a sword, it can also mean spear. See Kolias, T.G., Byzantinische Waffen (Vienna 1988) 191 Google Scholar, n. 38. The Souda (rho. 226) offers the description ‘то μακρόν άκόντιον, ή μάχαιρα’, i.e. ‘The long lance, or sword [knife]’. See Suidae Lexicon, ed. Adler, A., 5 vols. (Leipzig 1928-38) IV, 200 Google Scholar. I am grateful to David Woods and John Haldon for advice on this matter.

6. Ševčenko, ‘The Illuminators of the Menologium’, 272, n. 91: ‘The two works show a close resemblance in dimensions … script and make-up. Considered as books, they could have been executed only a few years apart, or could even have been contemporaneous’. Besides numerous editors of the Marcian collection, see: Wessel, K., ‘David’, in Reallexikon zue byzantinischen Kunst, ed. Wessel, K. (Stuttgart 1966) I, 1146-61Google Scholar at 1148, for a date c. 1000. Contra: Nersessian, S. Der, ‘Remarks on the date of the Menologion and the Psalter written for Basil II’, B 15 (1940-1) 104-25Google Scholar.

7. For example, Der Nersessian, ‘Remarks on the date of the menologion and the psalter’, 115.

8. Matthews, Byzantium from Antiquity to the Renaissance, 36, with the caption ‘Triumph of Basil II over the Bulgarians’; Evans & Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium, 186, cropped, with the caption ‘Basil II Triumphs Over His Enemies’.

9. Jolivet-Lévy, C., ‘L’image du pouvoir dans l’art byzantin à l’époque de la dynastie macédonienne (867-1056)’, B 57 (1987) 441-70Google Scholar at 450. See also Cormack, R., Writing in gold. Byzantine society and its icons (London 1985) 183 Google Scholar, with b/w reproduction of the illumination, fig. 65. The caption begins: ‘The frontispiece portrait … is one of the most effective images in Byzantine art of the emperor as Christian ruler and soldier. The visual elements are explained in an accompanying poem’.

10. On crowns in general see Wessel, K., ‘Insignien’, Reallexikon zur byzantinischen Kunst, III, 370–498 Google Scholar at 373.-97; McCormick, M., ‘Crowns’, ODB I, 554 Google Scholar, notes there were no hereditary Byzantine ‘crown jewels’. Particular crowns do not appear to be handed down, but instead were buried with the emperor, or given to churches as votive offerings.

11. Ioannis Skylitzes Synopsis Historiarum, ed. Thurn, J., CFHB 5 (Berlin & New York 1973) 364-5Google Scholar, henceforth Skylitzes. An interpolation in one of the extant manuscripts of Skylitzes by Michael of Devol adds the information that the procession also included ‘the rest of the Bulgarians and the Archbishop of the Bulgarians’, who was named David.

12. Ioannis Zonarae epitome historiarum, eds. Pinder, M. & Büttner-Wobst, T., 3 vols. CSHB (Bonn 1841-97) III, 566-7Google Scholar. Histoire de Yahya ibn Sad d’Antioche, III, ed. Kratchkovsky, I., Micheau, tr. F. & Tropeau, G. (Patrologia Orientalis 47, 4, no. 212. Turnhout 1997) [38-9], 406-7Google Scholar: ‘All the Bulgarian chieftains came to meet Basil, and brought with them the wife and children of the Bulgarian ruler Aaron.’ Yahya here confuses John Vladislav with his father, Aaron. See also al-Antaki, Yahya, Cronache dell’Egitto fãtimide e dell’impero bizantino 937-1033, Pirone, tr. B. (Milan 1997) 284 Google Scholar, §13:46-7.

13. Ivanov, J., ‘Le costumes des anciens Bulgares’, in L’art byzantin chez les Slaves, II: Les Balkans (Paris 1930) 325-33Google Scholar. See Dujčev, I., Minijaturite na Manasijevata Letopis (Sofia 1962)Google Scholar. These figures seem to fit Gregory Antiochos’ description of the pointed felt hats sported by Bulgarians in the later twelfth century. See Darrouzès, J., ‘Deux lettres de Grégoire Antiochos écrites de Bulgarie vers 1173’, I, BS 23 (1963) 276-84Google Scholar; II, BS 24 (1963) 65-86.

14. Cutler, ‘Psalter’, 10.

15. Il menologio di Basilio II (Cod. Vaticano Greco 1613), 2 vols. (Turin 1970) 345, for the scene depicting the martyrdom of Ss. Manuel, George and Leontos by the Bulgarians.

16. Leonis Diaconi Caloensis Historiae Libri Decem, ed. Hase, C.B., CSHB (Bonn 1828) 156-7Google Scholar, henceforth, Leo the Deacon. See Ševčenko, I., ‘Sviatoslav in Byzantine and Slavic Miniatures’, Slavic Review 24 (1965) 709-13CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17. Schramm, P.E., ‘Das Herrscherbild in der Kunst des frühen Mittelalters’, Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg, ed. IIISaxl, F.. (Vorträge 1922-3, I. Leipzig & Berlin 1924) 145–224 Google Scholar at 171. The image is modelled on a well-known prototype, for which see Cutler, ‘Psalter’, 11, who notes parallels with the cameo of Constantius now in the Hermitage.

18. Cutler, ‘Psalter’, 11. Stephenson, P., ‘The Byzantine frontier in Macedonia’, Dialogos 7 (2000) 23–40 Google Scholar, proposes a peace treaty between Basil and Tsar Samuel in 1005, which, if correct, could also be a context for the production of such an image. Cf.Stephenson, P., Byzantium’s Balkan frontier. A political study of the northern Balkans, 900-1204 (Cambridge 2000) 66–71 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. However, I wish to stress the general characteristics of the image, rather than seek an alternative, particular scenario for its production.

19. For example, I. Spatharakis, ‘The Proskynesis in Byzantine Art. A study in connection with a nomisma of Andronicus II Palaeologue’, in his Studies in Byzantine manuscript illumination and iconography, 193-224 at 196: ‘The relief on the base of the obelisk of emperor Theodosius I (379-395), in the Hippodrome in Constantinople. shows defeated barbarians in proskynesis’ . The relief dates from 391-2.

20. Pace Spatharakis, ‘Proskynesis’, 207-8, who follows Der Nersessian, and indicates that such an interpretation is based on ‘historical evidence’ and the fact that Basil is shown with a grey beard. The text accompanies a dark grey reproduction of the psalter illumination (p. 209). Furthermore, as Cutler, ‘Psalter’, 11-12, notes, the figures performing proskynesis do not have their palms turned upwards. Quite exceptionally, the four central figures have their palms placed downwards, supporting themselves as they kneel and bow low to the ground. The character to the fore in the bottom right corner has his hands clenched to form a loose grip, and his counterpart to the left, whose hands have mostly flaked away, may be similar. The hands of the two figures behind these are obscured.

21. See in general Kazhdan, A., ‘Toupha’, ODB III, 2100 Google Scholar. I do not mean to suggest that Basil would be portrayed being crowned with the toupha, which would violate established iconographical norms. However, his wearing the toupha was clearly associated with his victory in extant writings, and therefore we would expect it to be portrayed in a specific representation of the events of 1019.

22. Legrand, E., ‘Description des oeuvres d’art et de l’Eglise des Saints Apôtres à Constantinople par Constantin le Rhodien’, REG 9 (1896) 36–65 at 37Google Scholar. See now Speck, P., ‘Konstantinos von Rhodos. Zweck und Datum der Ekphrasis der sieben Wunder von Konstantinopel und der Apostelkirche’, in Speck, P., ed., Poikila Byzantina 11, Varia 3 (Bonn 1991) 249-61Google Scholar.

23. Ioannis Tzetzae Historiae, ed. Leone, P. (Naples 1968) 310 Google Scholar; an English translation is provided by Mango, C., in a letter to the editor, Art Bulletin 41 (1959) 351-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar; repr. as ‘Justinian’s equestrian statue’, in his Studies in Constantinople (Aldershot 1993) no. XI, with new pagination.

24. Skylitzes, 364.89-365.90: ‘χρυσω στεφάνω έφύπερθεν εχοντι’; Zonaras, 566.15-16: ‘τιάρο: ταινιωθεκ; όρθία (ην τοθφαν …)’.

25. For the triumphal entry see Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Three Military Treatises on Imperial Military Expeditions, ed. & Haldon, tr. J.F., CFHB 28 (Vienna 1990) 146-51Google Scholar. For the coins, see Grierson, P., Catalogue of Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, III: Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717-1081 (Washington, D.C. 1973) I, 128 Google Scholar, 129-30; pl. xiv-xvi. Cf. Hunger, ‘Reditus Imperatorie’, 24-5.

26. Evans & Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium, 204-5, for illustrations and literature. Talbot-Rice, D., ‘Eastern and western elements in the decoration of the Troyes Casket’, Starinar 20 (1969) 347-53Google Scholar; repr. in his Byzantine Art and its Influences (London 1973) no. XX, at 349, wrongly identifies the toupha as metal-plumed helmet, as worn by Roman legionaries and gladiators.

27. Maguire, H., ‘Imperial gardens and the rhetoric of renewal’, in Magalino, P., ed., New Constantines. The rhythm of imperial renewal in Byzantium, 4th to 13th centuries (Aldershot 1994) 181-98Google Scholar at 193-8; Restle, M., ‘Hofkunst und höfische Kunst Konstantinopels in der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit’, in Laurer, R. & Majer, H.G., eds., Höfische Kultur in Südosteuropa. Bericht der Kolloquien der Südosteuropa-Kommission 1988 his 1990 (Göttingen 1994) 25–41 Google Scholar at 35-7.

28. Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 140-7: ‘The victorious return of the Christ-loving emperor Basil from campaign in the regions of Tephrike and Germanikeia’.

29. Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 142.752. A scholion explains that the tunic the emperor wore (not the Kaisar’s diadem, as it may appear from the sentence structure) was called ‘rose-cluster’. ‘Rose-cluster’ (ροδόβοτρυν) is also used to describe the ‘gold-embroidered breastplate-style tunic’ worn during Theophilos’ entry (148.838).

30. Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 143, offers the translation: ‘[The Eparch and the emperor’s representative] presented to the emperor a golden crown, after the old custom, along with other crowns of laurel, as symbols of victory.’ It is clear, however, that the ‘old custom’ does not refer solely to the presentation of a golden crown, but also to the laurel wreaths. See pp. 138-9 for the standardised account of a fifth- or sixth-century imperial entry, and particularly the entry by Justinian I (11 August 559) who was received without the presentation of crowns.

31. Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 144.784. The description in the Vita Basilii of Basil I’s celebrations in 879 refers to his coronation with the ‘crown of victory’ (νίκης στεφάνω). See Theophanes continuatus, Ioannes Caminiata, Symeon Magister, Georgius Monachus continuatus, ed. Bekker, I., CSHB (Bonn 1825) 271 Google Scholar. Genesios on the Reigns of the Emperors Cf., Kaldellis, tx. A. (Byzantina Australiensia 11. Canberra 1998) 100 Google Scholar, n. 450. It is suggested that Basil I had particular reasons for wishing to be crowned once more. See also McCormick, Eternal Victory, 156-7. Several crowns may be worn during the course of a single ceremony, for which see De Cerimoniis, book 1, ch. 37, which records the use of white, red, green and blue stemmata for portions of particular processions to and from Hagia Sophia. Constantini Porphyrogeniti De Cerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae, 2 vols., ed. Reiske, J., CSHB (Bonn 1829) I, 187-91Google Scholar. Christophilopoulou, A., ‘Tá ε’κ τους vaoùç τής Κωνσταντινοπόλεαχ; αύτοκρατορικά στέμματα’, Hellenika 15 (1957) 279-85Google Scholar, suggested that the colours were those of the precious stones. However, McCormick, M., ‘Crowns’, ODB I, 554 Google Scholar, prefers visible coloured cloth (presumably silk) linings.

32. On the date of composition of the Leipzig Codex, which alone contains the longer treatise of expeditions (C), see Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 37, 53, 54-61.

33. Procopius, Aed, 1.2.1; Procopius IV. De Aedificiis libri IV, ed. Haury, J. (Leipzig 1964) 15–16 Google Scholar. For commentary see Prinzing, G., ‘Das Bild Justinians I’, Fontes Minores 7, ed. Simon, D. (Frankfurt am Main 1986) 1–99 Google Scholar; Mango, C., ‘The columns of Justinian and his successors’, in his Studies in Constantinople, no. X, 1–20 Google Scholar. For the eighth-century situation, see Cameron, A. & Herrin, J., eds. & tr., , Constantinople in the Eighth Century. Parastaseis Syntomai Chronikai (Leiden 1984) 148-9Google Scholar, 262-3. The toupha is visible, its plume picked out in red, in a twelfth-century miniature of Constantinople (Cod. Vat. gr. 751, fol. 26r) which depicts Justinian’s column. See Papadaki-Oekland, S. ‘The representation of Justinian’s column in a Byzantine miniature of the twelfth century’, BZ 83 (1990) 63–71 Google Scholar, esp. 68. Details of the column c. 1348-c. 1422 are also provided by Russian eye-witnesses, although none mentions the toupha: Majeska, G., Russian Travellers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (Washington, D.C. 1984) 237-40Google Scholar.

34. However, as Mango notes, the form of the toupha may have changed somewhat during the reign of Theophilos, at least on the statue, after it fell down. It was restored and replaced by a bold steeplejack (skalotes) who scaled the 100-foot column. The most accessible version of this drawing, and hence illustration of the toupha, is the frontispiece of volume seven of the Loeb edition of Procopius. See also Prinzing, ‘Das Bild Justinians I’, Abbildung 7; Mango, ‘The columns of Justinian and his successors’, first unnumbered page.

35. Pachymeres, George, ‘Ekphrasis on the Augusteion’, in Nicephori Gregorae byzantina historia, ed. Schopen, I., CSHB (Bonn 1830) II, 1217-20Google Scholar at 1219-20. The translation is Mango’s, ‘Justinian’s equestrian statue’, 3 [= Letter, 351]. A fuller version is offered at Mango, C., The Art of the Byzantine Empire (Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1972) 112-13Google Scholar.

36. Jolivet-Lévy, ‘L’image du pouvoir’, 450.

37. H. Maguire, ‘Images of Ihe Court’, in Evans & Wixom, eds., The Glory of Byzantium, 182-91 at 188; Ševčenko, N. P., ‘Illuminating the Liturgy: illustrated service books in Byzantium, in Safran, L., ed., Heaven on Earth. Art and the Church in Byzantium (University Park, PA 1998) 186–228 Google Scholar at 201, 203-4. For further comments on the model provided by David, see Jolivet-Lévy, ‘L’image du pouvoir’, 460-2; Wessel, ‘David’ (see note 6), and ‘Kaiserbild’, Reallexikon zur byzantinischen Kunst, III, 722-853 at 758-60.

38. Jolivet-Lévy, ‘L’image du pouvoir’, 469: ‘Qu’il s’agisse de portraits officiels ou d’iconographic typologique, l’image du pouvoir reste dans l’ensemble conventionelle et “universelle”, dans la mesure où elle ne se réfère que rarement à des circonstances historiques particulières … Ce n’est que plus tard, à partir du XIIe siècle, que commence à se manifester un certain intérêt pour la représentation d’événements historiques précis’. Pace Spatharakis, ‘Three portraits of the Early Comnenian Period’, 18, who maintains that ‘Any military successes [the emperor] might score would be the result of divine help and on such occasions he is again shown receiving the victor’s diadem from Christ or another representative of God’. The two examples he cites are the aforementioned portrait of Basil I (note 3 above) and the psalter portrait considered here. Both, as we have seen, can be shown not to relate to a particular victory. On the ubiquity of the ‘symbolic coronation of the [Macedonian] emperor by Christ or a delegated figure (Virgin, angel or saint)’, see Jolivet-Lévy, ‘L’image du pouvoir’, 445-52. On coronation by an angel, see Wessel, ‘Kaiserbild’, 751-2. On twelfth-century imperial portraits illustrating specific historical episodes, see Magdalino, P. & Nelson, R., ‘The emperor in Byzantine art of the twelfth century’, BF 8 (1982) 123-83Google Scholar, esp. 158-9, 169-77. However, Magdalino and Nelson emphasise continuity as well as innovation, and, while noting Cutler’s intervention, appear to accept Grabar’s conclusions on the date and context for the psalter portrait (158), and also the Gunthertuch (155).

39. Müller-Christensen, S., Das Guntertuch im Bamberger Domschatz (Bamberg 1984) 6 Google Scholar. See also Müller-Christensen, S., ‘Beobachtungen zum Bamberger Gunthertuch’, Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, n.f. 17 (1966) 9–16 Google Scholar.

40. Far fuller and better descriptions of the Gunthertuch are provided by Grabar and Prinzing, cited below. See also the excellent photos in Rom und Byzanz. Schatzkammerstücke aus bayerischen Sammlungen, ed. Baumstark, R. (Munich 998) 206-10Google Scholar. The photograph at Maguire, ‘Imperial gardens’, 188, has been reversed.

41. Grabar, A., ‘La soie byzantine de l’évêque Gunther à la cathédrale de Bamberg’, L’art de la fin de l’antiquité et du Moyen Age, 3 vols. (Paris 1968) I, 213-27Google Scholar; reprinted with new pagination from Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, n.f. 8 (1956). Grabar (p. 227) wrongly considered Basil’s use of the toupha to be unique.

42. See, for example, Jolivet-Lévy, ‘L’image du pouvoir’, 456. The identification of Basil was contested by Wentzel, H., ‘Das byzantinische Erbe der ottonischen Kaiser. Hypothesen über den Brautschatz der Theophano’, Aachener Künstblatter des Museumsvereins 43 ( 1972) 11–96 Google Scholar.

43. Prinzing, G., ‘Das Bamberger Gunthertuch in neuer Sicht’, BS 54 (1993) 218-31Google Scholar.

44. Leo the Deacon, 158-9; Skylitzes, 310; Hunger, ‘Reditus Imperatoris’, 29.

45. The scene is depicted in the Madrid Skylitzes, fol. 172v (a). See Estopañan, S. Cirac, Skyllitzes Maritensis, I. Reproducciones et Minituras (Barcelona & Madrid 1965) 174 Google Scholar, 374, fig. 450; Grabar, O. & Manoussacas, M., L’illustration du manuscrit de Skylitzès de la Bibliothèque Nationale de Madrid (Venice 1979)Google Scholar plate 34 & fig. 221. Notably, no image of Basil’s triumphal entry is included: folios 186v. to 195, where it would have been, are not illustrated.

46. Skylitzes, 310; Leo the Deacon, 158, omits this episode and appears to imply that the highly symbolic divestiture took place in the palace. This seems less likely. For further comment see McCormick, Eternal Victory, 174.

47. Prinzing, ‘Bamberger Gunthertuch’, 230, has suggested that the silk itself may have been hung in Hagia Sophia at this time, and was still there when Bishop Gunther visited in 1064-5.

48. Schramm, ‘Das Herrscherbild’, 159-61; Déer, J., Die heilige Krone Ungarns (Vienna 1966) 59 Google Scholar.

49. Grabar, ‘La soie byzantine de l’évêque Günther’, 227.

50. Prinzing, ‘Bamberger Gunthertuch’, 228-9. For the role played by the demes in the triumphal entries by Theophilos and Basil I, see Three Military Treatises, ed. Haldon, 142-5, 148-9, 279-80; McCormick, Eternal Victory, 204-5.

51. Cf. Maguire, ‘Imperial gardens’, 188-9.

52. McGrath, S. ‘The battles of Dorostolon (971): Rhetoric and Reality’, in Miller, T.S. & Nesbitt, J., ed., Peace and War in Byzantium. Essays in Honor of Dennis, George T., SJ. (Washington, D.C. 1995) 152-64Google Scholar, provides an intelligent commentary on the two passages.

53. Leo the Deacon, 153-4; McGrath, ‘The battles of Dorostolon’, 161-2.

54. Iordanov, I., Pechatite ot strategiiata v Preslav (971-1088) (Sofia 1993) 134-5Google Scholar.

55. Iordanov, Pechatite, 124-5.

56. Leo the Deacon, 158; Hutter, I., ‘Theodorupolis’, in Aetos. Studies in Honour of Cyril Mango, ed. Ševčenko, I. et al. (Stuttgart & Leipzig 1998) 181-90Google Scholar.

57. In discussing this suggestion with Günter Prinzing, he noted that this possibility had also been raised when he presented his paper in 1992. To my knowledge, the anonymous questioner has not developed or published her or his idea.

58. Prinzing’s redating has been accepted in Rom und Byzanz, ed. Baumstark, 206.

59. Stephenson, ‘The legend of Basil the Bulgar-slayer’, 116-29.

60. Anne Comnène, Alexiade, ed. Leib, B., 3 vols. (Paris 1937-45) III, 9–10 Google Scholar. Cf. Skylitzes, 323, where Manuel, called simply Erotikos, guards Nikaia against Skieros. Nicéphore Bryennios Histoire, ed. & Gautier, tr. P., CFHB IX (Brussels 1979) 74-5Google Scholar, names Manuel as founder of his dynasty.

61. Georgii Acropolitae Opera, ed. Heisenberg, A. (Leipzig 1903) I, 18.19–20 Google Scholar; 23.16-19.

62. Nicetae Choniatae historiae, ed. Dieten, J.-L. van, CFHB XI/1 (Berlin 1975) 373-4Google Scholar. The editor notes (at pp. lvi, xciii) that this section belongs to the b(revior) version of the text. Therefore, it was first written c. 1195-1203, and is the first extant use of the term Voulgaroktonos.

63. Nicetae Choniatae historiae, 368.

64. Moravcsik, G., ed., Fontes Byzantini historiae Hungariae aevo đucum et regum ex stirpe Árpád descendentium (Budapest 1984) 262-4Google Scholar at 262. The significance of the use of barbaroktonos, and its relation to Kalojan’s subsequent claim to be Romaioktonos, was noted by Prinzing, G., Die Bedeutung Bulgariens und Serbiens in den Jahren 1204-1219 in Zusammenhang mit der Entstehung und Entwicklung der byzantinischen Teilstaaten nach der Einnahme Konstantinopels infolge des 4. Kreuzzuges (Miscellanea Byzantina Monacensia 12. Munich 1972) 58-9Google Scholar, 74 n. 62.

65. Buck, C.D. & Petersen, W., A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adjectives (Chicago 1944) 282-3Google Scholar, lists 102 compound adjectives with the nasal termination ‘-ktonos’ (and 71 more with ‘-phonos’), many of which were used by more than one author. The list includes seven examples used in the twelfth century by John Tzetzes and Theodore Balsamon, but not Choniates nor Prodromos.

66. For example: Theodoros Prodromos, historische Gedichte, ed. Hörandner, W. (Vienna 1974), poem XVI, 276-85Google Scholar at 2777.7, John is addressed as Περσόλεθρε Σκυθοδαλματοκτόνε, ‘ruin of the Persians, and slayer of the Scytho-dalmatians’. Similarly, in poem XVIII, 302-8 at 305.83, John is Περσοκοτόνος, ‘slayer of the Persians’. Elsewhere (poem X, c, 251.22) John is Περσολέτα and (poem II, 186.46) Σκυθολοιγέ. Poem (348-62) marks Manuel I’s triumphal celebrations of 1149. The poems of•Manganeios Prodromos, which will be published with an English translation by Elizabeth and Michael Jeffreys, are, judging from the few I have examined, replete with similar imagery. See poems 1, 2 and 27 (addressing Manuel’s campaigns against the Serbs and Hungarians, delivered, I believe, between December 1150 and April 1151), and poems 7 and 31 (probably delivered in 1155).

67. Lampros, S., Neos Hellenomnemon 8, 2 (1911) 127-8Google Scholar; partial translation by Mango, Art of the Byzantine Empire, 226-7, who omits all the martial imagery save Persoktonos.

68. Mango, C., ‘The conciliar edict of 1166’, DOP 17 (1963) 317-30Google Scholar, 324. The Mokios portraits were clearly an imperial commission, in contrast to others which were commissioned by imperial subjects. As Kinnamos records, this was ‘the custom among men placed in authority’: Ioannis Cinnami epitome rerum ab Ioanne et Alexio Comnenis gestarum, ed. Meinecke, A., CSHB (Bonn 1836) 266 Google Scholar. See Magdalino & Nelson, ‘The emperor in Byzantine art’, 135-7, 142-6, for translations of two complementary poems: Cod. Marc. gr. 524, fol. 34r-v and fol. 112v. The first describes a series of portraits, of Alexios, John and Manuel, with a similar array of barbarians portrayed as Manuel’s subjects, but no Basil. The second describes the decoration of the new kouboukleion at the Blachernae Palace, constructed c. 1165. Manuel is shown to ‘triumph over Dalmatians, Persians, Dacians and every barbarian faithless race’.