Sacred Founders: Women, Men, and Gods in the Discourse of Imperial Founding, Rome through Early ByzantiumDiliana Angelova argues that from the time of Augustus through early Byzantium, a discourse of “sacred founders”—articulated in artwork, literature, imperial honors, and the built environment—helped legitimize the authority of the emperor and his family. The discourse coalesced around the central idea, bound to a myth of origins, that imperial men and women were sacred founders of the land, mirror images of the empire’s divine founders. When Constantine and his formidable mother Helena established a new capital for the Roman Empire, they initiated the Christian transformation of this discourse by brilliantly reformulating the founding myth. Over time, this transformation empowered imperial women, strengthened the cult of the Virgin Mary, fueled contests between church and state, and provoked an arresting synthesis of imperial and Christian art. Sacred Founders presents a bold interpretive framework that unearths deep continuities between the ancient and medieval worlds, recovers a forgotten transformation in female imperial power, and offers a striking reinterpretation of early Christian art. |
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Aeneas Alföldi Ambrose Ambrose’s Apollo Arsinoë Augustus Augustus’s Basilica baths bishop Blachernai BMCRE building Caesar Cameron-Hall century Christ Christian church city’s coinage coins commentary Constan Constantine and Helena Constantinople cult dedicated deification diadem Dio Cass discourse of founding discussion divine domus emperor empress Eudoxia Euseb Eusebius Eusebius’s Faustina female FIGURE Forum founder Galla Placidia Genetrix globus cruciger God’s goddess Hagia Sophia Harvard University Press Hellenistic Holum Holy honors iconography imperial women inscription Janin Julia Domna Juliana’s Justin Justinian Krautheimer largesse late antique Liber Pontificalis Licinia Eudoxia Livia Mango Mary Mary’s mater mausoleum Mikocki mosaics mother Nero Noreńa Notitia Obverse Octavian oration palace pater patriae Photo credit piety porticoes Procop Procopius Ptolemy Pulcheria Ravenna references Regio relic Reverse legend role Roman Rome Rome’s Romulus senate sixth-century statue suggests temple Theodora Theodosius Theotokos Tiberius tomb tradition trans Venus victory Virgin