ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)

CEREMONIAL AND NOBILIARY HISTORY:

TOPIC 1: CONCEPTS: INTRODUCTION CEREMONIES AND RITUALS:
1. DEFINITIONS:
• CEREMONY: Set of formal acts.
Many ceremonies in history were religious → Nowadays are more social.
It involves +1 participant.
• RITUAL: Set of fixed action and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony.
It can be done with only 1 participant.
The mass = Ceremony (with people) / Praying = Ritual (you can pray alone)
Ritual: context and symbolism → Category of standardized behavior in which the relationship between the means
and the end is not intrinsic (Goody 1961).
Different forms of action, which may be from everyday life, but with different purposes.
• RITE OF PASSAGE: Official ceremony or informal activity that marks an important stage or occasion in a person’s life,
specially becoming an adult.
Quinceañera
o RITE → Usually religions ceremonies with set of fixed words and actions.
• SYMBOL: Sign, shape or object that it´s used to represent something else.
• EMBLEM: Picture of an object that is used to represent a particular person, group or idea.
• ETIQUETTE: Set of rules or customs that control accepted behavior in particular social groups or situations
Dressing code
• PROTOCOL:
- System of rules and acceptable behavior used at official ceremonies occasions.
- Formal international agreement.
- Rules to be followed when doing a scientific study or an exact method for giving medical treatment.

2. HISTORY CEREMONIAL AND PROTOCOL:

PROTOCOL AS AN ACADEMIC SUBJECT:
• Transverse discipline + comprehensive training + interdisciplinary (humanity and social science: history anthropology,
sociology, law…).
• The use of the concept of protocol is recent (20 th century) → The objectives and aims of the discipline can be traced through
the whole history of humanity.
• The study has a long history.
• We use the term protocol when speaking about the official protocol as a set of rules, customs and traditions which shape the
order of celebration of a given official event.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROTOCOL – POWER:

Protocol has been defined as: • Rituals that legitimated power linking to divinity
• Image of power • Justification of specific hierarchy and social order
• Theatrical representation of power • Basic element in the shaping of society and the
• Staging of power before an audience subjugation of individuals and groups
• The purpose would be the representation of power → Concepts related to power:
Physically materialize it in a setting • Authority
Protocol linked with power: • Influence
• Political • Reputation
• Economic • Beliefs
• Social • Symbols
• Military • Social groups
Importance of power in ceremonials and rituals from the • Conflicts
antiquity:
3. RITUALS AND CEREMONIES:
Ceremony and ritual can be used almost in the same way. In history, a ceremony is usually understood as a set or a sequence of
rites. The rituals focus on the basic and most revealing elements of ceremony. It allows us to take advantage from the theoretical
contributions coming from other disciplines (anthropology and sociology).
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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)

Anthropology has extremely influenced the historical study of rituals and ceremonies.
Protocol and etiquette mainly refer to ceremonies and celebrations (official ones) but also the different codes of social behavior
in a broader sense.
Protocol is a clear and well-defined object to study, but not the best concept to work with.
Ritual is more specific and better studied term which allow us to focus in the basic and most revealing elements of a ceremony or
a protocolary act.
• SOCIOLOGY: Study of human society with an emphasis on generalizations (theory) about its structure and development.
• HISTORY: Study of human societies in the plural, phasing the emphasis on the differences between and on the changes which
have taken place in each one over time.
• ANTHROPOLOGY: Study of the human being, its culture and society and its physical development. How the human responses
to its different context.
• ETHNOGRAPHY: Scientific description of the culture of a society by someone who has lived in it (participant observation).
• ANTHROPOLOGY STUDIES → Focused on rituals in different cultures around the world and rituals in historical past societies.
• RITUALS → Has been regarded as elements that condense a whole culture which are expressed through rituals. It is a source
which allows to study the values, principles and objectives of any culture.

FORMAL PROPERTIES OF RITUALS:

• REPETITION: Time and space, content, formal aspects of some combination of those elements.
• ACTION: Basic quality of rituals is that they shape actions which are NOT spontaneous. They imply doing something, not just
saying, or thinking (performance) → Not a single ritual or ceremony is identical to another one.
• “SPECIAL” BEHAVIOR OR STYLIZATION: Actions or symbols performed in a ritual are not intrinsically extraordinary or ordinary
but they are use in unusual way which fixes the attention of the participating and
observers, which gives a new meaning to the action.
• ORDER: Rituals are organized events, concerning people involved and cultural elements. They have a beginning and end, and
they don´t exclude moments or elements of chaos and spontaneity, but those become present only in a prescribed
time and place.
It is often a dominant feature and may be exaggeratedly precise. It is precisely this emphasis on order which
transforms rituals in special and unique occasions.
Rules and guidelines-established by tradition, convention or law are usually explicit.
Reasons for acting, meanings, motivations or interpretations are NOT necessarily explicit / recognized.
• EVOCATIVE STYLE OF PRESENTATION AND STAGING: It tends or try to call the mind of people involved in it, whether they act
as participants or spectators.
They point at involving the actors in same way. Usually, it is done by
means of sensorial stimulus and manipulating symbols.
• SOCIAL DIMENSION: Its mere performance involves a social message, that has a meaning. It is a significative aspect of what it
is being express (the form is part of the content).
• MULTIMEDIA: They use multiple and heterogeneous languages and channels to communicate to express the message. They
constitute a hybrid genre.
• PARTICULAR TIME AND SPACE: Rituals take place in a defined time and place, which will be defined during their development.
At the same time, time and space provide its peculiarity (context) to the ritual taking and
impose its limits.
- Honesty, courage and kindness
4. HISTORY OF NOBILITY: NOBILITY - People of the highest social rank in society considered as a group
- Class or group of people who have high social rank, specially from
birth
During the old regime, the nobility constituted with the clergy
were privileged states (social group), which represented the
highest rank in the society.

• ARISTOCRACY: Class of people who hold high society rank. The

upper rank of nobility.

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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)

The three orders of medieval society:

- Society divided in 3 orders
- Law recognizes 2 men (noble + servant) → Not governed by same law
- Nobles are warriors → Protectors of the church
- Servants doesn´t gain without suffering
- The 3 orders live together and will not get apart
- They support the others

Privilege:
- Advantage that only 1 person/group has (usually because of their position/rich)
- Special right that some people in authority have that allows them to do/say
things that other can´t
Tributary exemptions, special justice tribunals, allowance to wear weapons…

Right:
Fact that a person or animal can expect to be treated in a fair, morally acceptable or legal
way to have the things that are necessary for life.
Nobility enjoyed privileges:

Nobility of merit Nobility of blood

They protect (Warriors) Birth right

• LINEAGE: Members of a person’s family who are directly related to that person and who lived a long time before him/her.
Line of descendants from a particular ancestor. Nobiliary lineages in Europe are composed by the line of descendants
through men from a common male ancestor (patrilineal kinship).
• DYNASTY: Series of rulers/leaders who are all from the same family, or a period when a country is ruled by them. Lineage of
a sovereign family.
• KINSHIP: Relationship between members of the same family.

5. SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND POLITICAL CULTURE:

SOCIAL CLASS AND STATUS:
• SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: Inequalities in the distribution of wealth, status and power in any society.
• SOCIAL CLASS: Social group with a particular function in the process of production. The different social classes have conflicting
interests (power relationships).
• STATUS: Max Webber distinguished classes-states-status groups whose fate and opportunities in life were determined by the
status or honor accorded to them by others.
In status groups the position was normally acquired at birth and defined legally, but it was revealed by their lifestyle.
Max took the concept of status group from the traditional idea of the tree states or orders.

SOCIAL ROLES:
Central concept in sociology. It is defined in terms of the patterns or norms of behavior expected from the occupant of a particular
position in the social structure.
Child as a social role, childhood as a historical phenomenon.

People viewed the world as a stage on which a man in his life plays many parts.
SOCIAL MOBILITY:
Movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a
change in social status relative to one´s current social location within a giving society.
• Upward/Downward mobility → Distinction between movement up and down the social hierarchy.
• Intragenerational → Distinction between mobility within an individual lifetime and mobility spread over generations.
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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)
• Individual or group mobility
It is unlikely that any stratified society has been in a state of complete immobility.
• Different modalities of social mobility:
o China → Examination system. Main way of entering the Chinese bureaucracy which conferred states, wealth
and power.
o Ottoman Empire → Children recruited (tribute of children) from the Christian population.
▪ They were selected on the basis of their abilities and given education (15-16th century)
▪ Empire administration, including important positions.
▪ Conversion to islam.
o Preindustrial Europe → One of the main paths of social mobility was the church.
POWER AND POLITICAL CULTURE:
Societies are constituted of multiple overlapping and intersecting networks of power.

• POLITICAL CULTURE: Political knowledge, ideas and sentiments current in a given place and time. Importance of symbols
and rituals in political culture.
o French revolution → New festivals tried to restructure the participants perceptual of space and time. Systematic
attempted to create new sacred spaces in order to replace traditional catholic ones.
Different costumes indicated different politics.
• POLITICS: Term which is widening its meaning to encompass the informal and invisible aspects of the exercise of power.
o Micropolitics (Michel Faicault) → Exercise of power in a variety of small-scale institutions (prisons, schools…).

HEGEMONY:
Acceptance of the ruling class values by those who are ruled. Whether or not the values of the ruling class are accepted by the
ruled at a particular place and time is a question difficult to answer.

• ANTONIO GRAMSCI CONCEPT OF HEGEMONY: The ruling class did not rule by force but by persuasion; the subordinate
classes learned to see society through their ruler´s eyes thanks to their
education and also to their place in the system.
• PERSUASION IS INDIRECT:
o Contribution of ceremonies to social consensus
o Revival of the concept of cultural hegemony
o Symbolic violence, negotiation and resistance.

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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)
TOPIC 2: RITES, CEREMONIES AND SYMBOLS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD:
1. EGYPT:
• Herodotus (Greek historian): Egyptians are religious to excess, beyond any nation in the world.
• Example of historical significance of religious as a legitimizing component of political power and authority.
• Significance for different social groups, the whole society.
• 1 of the most theocratic societies in history → 3000 years and 31 dynasties.
• All aspects of society and culture had a religious manifestation and gods are everywhere.
• Large percentage of population were priest (often part time).
• Men and women lived at homes and got married and had families.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL GROUPS:

Pharaoh:
• King of Egypt.
• Supreme priest + considered a living god → Incarnation of the living Horus, son of Osiris. Son of Ra, god of sun.
• There were a few codified laws because the pharaoh was the highest judge. All laws and rules emanated from him.
• Royal ceremonies were very important, but the pharaoh was almost invisible. He was considered intangible and people
had to prostrate in his presence.

Complex Empire:
• Hierarchical organization → Precedence and clothing.
• The first magistrate (Tyaty) supervised the house and directed and organized the funeral ceremonial.
o Symbols:
▪ Shenep with Maap → Long robe with a symbol of harmony and universal justice.
▪ Aba → Great scepter
▪ Forty scrolls of the law

Symbols of the pharaoh:

• Crown • Diadem with vulture and cobra → Symbols of
• Scepters → Crossed crook + flail. Identification of goddesses
Osiris • Fake beard peace → Osiris
• Headdress → Striped • Thrones were crucial in ceremonies → Coronation

Representation:
• Pharaohs were shown in an immobile and dignified manner.
• He was differentiated by his striped dress (nemes) and uraeus.
• Power expressed by the vows of foreign enemies under his feet and by bull tail that hangs from his kilt between his legs.
• CORONATION: Very important ceremony. Gods choose the pharaoh and give him power. Ritual of sequence ceremonies.
• FUNERARY RITUAL: Boat crossing the Nile, funerary objects… Open the month of the death so that they can eat in the
afterlife.
• MAXIMS AND SAYINGS PRESERVED BY THE GRANDSON OF A MAGISTRATE (PTAHHOTEP): Moral advice about life, social…
Only speak when you have something worth saying

2. BABYLON:
• Mesopotamia was a region with different forms of organizing political power → City-States, kingdoms, empires…
• It has +3000 years of history (South Iraq).

Description of the whole religion and empire:

• Cooperation of civil and religious authorities → • Vitality and continuity of Babylonian culture →
Economic and political organization Importance to the intellectual and artistic life.

Code of Hammurabi (1754 B.C.E):

• Babylon became an important city. It was the capital until the Hellenistic period (4 th century B.C)
• Collection of laws, rules and sentences of the king → Strengthen the power of the king.
• Stone stele (Basalt) → Bas-relief.
• Image of the king standing and receiving the Code of laws from Marduk/Shamash, patron god of the city and justice.
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• Image king = image Marduk.
• God gives the king the laws and the baton (symbol of justice).
• Divine legitimation of royal power.
• Sacralization of laws. They were dictated by the gods to kings.
• 282 rules written in Akkadian language using cuneiform script.
• Legal procedures, criminal and civil rules…
• Based on social stratification (Status and gender) → Owners, free people and slaves.
• Idea of presumption of innocence.
• One of the earliest written code of rules.

➢ Major elements of its traditional culture, in literature, scribal practice, religion and ritual were carefully preserved through
centuries.
➢ Instability of the regime by coups and usurpations, and assailed from invaders.
➢ Kingship and royal ceremonies are central in understanding the continuity of Babylonian culture in spite of political instability,
discontinuity in the royal dynasties and military invasions.

THE KING:
• Essential in Babylonian notions on civilizations and social order. Civilized existence represents a divinely established order
and the king acted as its guardian against chaos.
• Guarantor of the divine order.

New year festival:

Consensual ritual centered on the monarch. It stressed the stability of the state, the legitimacy of the king and the parallels
between celestial and earthly hierarchies.

• Essential role of the patron god. Marduk´s supremacy over the gods of other cities.
• Essential role of the king. King´s position and social order were confirmed and celebrated.
• 12 days of festival at the beginning of the year.
• Initially was a symbol of spring, harvest, fertility; now it incorporated more contents, rites and symbols.
• Recitations of the poem “Enuma Elis” by the supreme priest.

Poem:
Marduk defeats an army of demons commanded by Ti´amat, then rises the supreme power in the phanteon of gods and created
the world and humanity.
Requires the active participation of the king.
• First 7 days of activities in the temple of Marduk (Esagila) → Chapels for other gods inside the temple.
• Chief priest was the main officiant of the ceremonies.
• Epic poem about the triumph of Marduk was recited by the chief priest.
• The main ritual of the king inside the temple was a ritual of humiliation:
o Chief priest divested him of his sceptre, ring, mace and crown. Symbols were put out of view.
o Chief priest struck the king across the face.
o He led the king in and force him to kneel before the statue by pulling his ears.
o King pronounced a negative confession.
o He gave the king the reply of the god.
o King reinvested with his royal insignia.
o King was struck again on the cheek by the chief priest. The purpose this time was to obtain an omen.
o If the king´s tears flowed Marduk was favorably disposed towards him.
o If the tears didn´t flow, Marduk would help the enemies of the king and cause his downfall.
• Arrival of the statues of the gods from other cities in Babylonia.
• Participation after day 8 became more general → Public.
• Blessed water over the king and people → Marduk was led by the king to the shrine of destinies. Ritual asserting his
authority over the other gods as the head of the pantheon. He pronounced the destinies.
• The king led the god by the hand. Colorful, display wealth, prosperity…
• The procession embarked on boats and go beyond the city. They returned to Esagila.

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• The festival ended with the return home of the gods.
o Emphasis on Marduk and reigning King.
o Emphasis on Babylon as a city and on its inhabitants.
o Special ritual role of the privileged citizens.
o Social stratification of the pantheon of gods and of Babylonian society. Differentiated status.
• Ritual of humiliation warned the king about the precariousness of his position. Kingship was not a permanent gift. His
duty was to defend the creation of Marduk. If he was not able, he would be defeated.
• It expressed notions connected with the maintenance of the status quo.
• Confirmation of the role of the king and his responsibility in assuring the social order as laid down by Marduk.
Duty of the King.
In the context of the political instability, with dynastic discontinuity and new kings claiming the throne, the personal success of a
king in keeping the throne was proof of divine approval.

The need for tradition and order increased while the stability of the state became more uncertain and difficult.

Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, conquered Babylon 539 a.C allowed local ceremonies and rituals to continue in the city, and he
even appropriated some of Babylonian rituals for his own ceremonial programmed within the Persian empire.

3. PERSIA:
Old Persian Achaemenid Empire (550 – 330 BC):
❖ Achaemenid: Name of the Persian dynasty, the House of Achaemenes.
❖ Very fast territorial expansion.
❖ Large empire.
Cyrus II the Great was the founder of the Old Persian Empire in the 6th Century B.C.

How the Persian Empire kept together?

• Divine legitimacy of the kings → Elective monarchy. King was elected among the members of the family.
• Promotion of the royal cults of conquered cities and peoples. They adopted or adapted the conquered political uses.
• Religious and cultural tolerance:
o Zoroastianism / Mazdayasna (Persia) o Ancient Egyptian Religion
o Babylonian religion o Judaism

Persian Empire: Political organization:

• Empire divided into satrapies ruled by a satrap. Satraps were chosen by the Persian King among members of his family
and other noble families.
• Imperial court: There was a court following the model of the imperial court.
o Court travelled with the king.
o King (satrap): Source of honor and gifts → Patronage – Clientelism.
o Royal banquets.
o New year festival (Mithrakán): King receive gifts from all the Satraps.

Persian ceremonial:
• Objective: Display the king´s majesty by keeping him separated from his subjects.
• Kings’ coronation: On the king´s birthday. He dresses in red (symbol of warrior) and white (symbol of magic).
• Prokynesis: Ritual greeting. Different according to rank. It was a symbol of status.

4. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356 BC – 323 BC):

• Adopted the ceremonial and political languages of the Persian Empire and other oriental cultures.
• Some of the ceremonies and power symbols were adopted by the Greeks and by the Romans and Western culture.

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TOPIC 3: POWER AND CEREMONIAL IN ANCIENT ROME:
1. ROMAN MONARCHY:
• Elective monarchy → 753 BCE (Before Common Era) – 6th Century (509 BCE)
• Scarcity of sources, traditions and laws.
• Foundation myth of Rome (753 BCE) → Linked to Aenas voyage from Troy. Aenas was considered an ancestor of Romulus
and Remus. They were suckled by a she-wolf (Luperca). Romulus founded Rome and was its first king. He divided the
people of Rome in 30 curiae with tribal and ethnic criteria → Comitia Curiata.
• TRIBE: Community whose members recognize among themselves remote family ties. They thank their descended from a
common ancestor and they had similar customs and traditions.

TRIBE → Pre-state organization (Less complex than a state) Clan:

Large family

Pater familias
Clan 1
Tribe:

Tribe
CLAN → Large family Clan 2
Set of clans
Pater familias → Clan leader → Comands his entire family for condition Clan 3
Power over family Tribal chieftain
and slaves Protection Wisdom

• The roman monarchy wasn´t hereditary but the king was elected for life.
• Sacralization of kingship:
o King was chosen by the senate (Council of 300 rich and noble men). The curiate Assembly approved or rejected
the proposal of the senate.
o Inauguration → Ceremony of approval by the gods. The elected king was moved to the citadel and placed on a
stone seat. The augur (priest) indicated the god´s acceptance and the king obtain the divine will.
o Imperium → The comitia curiata / Curiate Assembly passed a law at the beginning of each reign that formally
granted to the king the use of imperium.
o In this ceremony the king was invested with supreme political, military and judicial authority.
o King has the power to nominate magistrates and officials + immunity.
o The imperium protected him and he could not be brought to trial for his actions.
o Only the king held imperium.
o Senate + Curia had little power.
o Religious power → King was the supreme religious authority. Chief of the augurs, priest in charge of interpreting
divine auspices and he nominated the augurs and conducted religious ceremonies.

SYMBOLS OF ROYAL POWER:

• Purple toga picta • 12 lictors wielding the fasces bearing axes. Those
• Privilege to sit upon a curule chair (Sella curulis, officials escorted the king bearing the symbols of
chariot) → Symbol of political and military power imperium:
used later by magistrates with imperium. o Lictors symbolically represented the
• Ivory sceptre power of the monarch (imperium)
• White diadem o The bear a tied bundle 30 fasces (30 sticks
• Red shoes representing the 30 roman curiae)
o Axe represented the power to order
capital punishment

2. ROMAN REPUBLIC:
• Expansion of Rome 509 BCE – 27 BCE
• The imperium became shared and temporal.
• Populus romanus → Rome was conceived as a community of free citizens.
• Res publica → Public affairs. State + commonwealth is administrated by the roman institutions.
• Public affairs were not conducted directly by the people (it wasn´t a democracy). Roman participated in the rule of the
state via its institutions:
o Senate
o Magistratures (Public offices)
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o Curiate Assambly (Comitia Curiata)

• Traditional civic roman virtues:

o Piety → Gods, progenitors, ancestors, defeated.
o Loyalty → Political and military deals, friendship…
o Dignity → Self-control, serenity.
• Oratory was added to these traditional virtues: Influence of Greek rhetoric.
• These virtues shaped the idea of a roman virtuous citizen → Righteous, honorable and good orator.
• Main roman institutions:
o Senate → Advisory and governing assembly of the aristocracy.
▪ Members were appointed for life, not elected.
▪ It became a very powerful institution during the roman republic. Political power → Decrees, high court
and supervision finances.
▪ Dignity and authority → Senate and individual senators.
▪ System of precedence according to the dignity of each senator:
• Patrician / Plebeian
• Rank: Dictator, censor, consul, praetor…
• In each category the order of precedence depended on age.
▪ The most honorific position was the princeps senates (leading member).
▪ They had the title of clarissimus and the privilege of showing a large purple stripe in their tunnies.
o Assemblies → Roman citizens with full rights had the right to elect legislative assemblies.
o Magistrates → They were in charge of the public administration affairs. During the republic the imperium
became shared and temporal.
▪ Office was annual, elective and honorific. Not paid and elected by the senate.
• Potestas: Power limited by their specific functions.
• Imperium: They had specific rights and immunity.
▪ Magistrates bore symbols of imperium according to their functions.
▪ Number of lictors escorting the magistrate varied according to the magistrate category.
▪ Different honors: Toga Praetexta, Curule Chair, special seats in spectacles…

3. ROMAN EMPIRE:
• Fall of the Western Roman Empire (27 BCE – 476 CE) → Eastern roman empire (Byzantine) until 1453 (Ottoman conquest
of Constantinople).

ROMAN EMPIRE:
• PRINCIPATE: 27 BCE – 284 BCE
Power was formally shared between the principeps (Princeps senatus / Princeps Civitatis) + senate.
• DOMINATE: 284 (Diocletian) – 476 (Romulus Augustus) → Western part of the empire.
Dominus → Lord of master.
• CAESAR AUGUSTUS: 1st roman emperor.
Accumulation of positions, titles and honors + diguitas, virtues and auctoritas.
The roman senate gave the title of Imperator Caesar Augustus to Octavios 27 BCE → Assumption of
power.
o Titles of the Roman Princeps:
▪ Imperator (Victorious commander) → Leader of the army
▪ Augustus (God) → Caesar Augustus as Jupiter
▪ Pontifex Maximus (High Priest) → Pontifex – Pontiff / Pope
• CEREMONY TOOK PLACE IN 2 SESSIONS: January 27th BCE:
▪ 1st session → Imperator returned the extraordinary powers he had received.
▪ 2nd session → He received the charge of safe keeping the res publica (to have the greatest auctoritas)
+ supreme power for 10 years and the title of Augustus. It has a religious meaning (Sacralization).
• EMPIRE´S SUCESSION WAS APPOINTED BY THE EMPEROR: Several dynasties.
• IMPERIAL DIGNITY WAS AN HONORIFIC TITLE, NOT A MAGISTRACY.
• DEIFICATION OF AUGUST AND SUCCESSIVE EMPERORS: Imperial cult.
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• CAESAR HAD A LONG REIGN (41 YEARS) WHICH ENDED WITH DECADES OF ROMAN CIVIL WARS:
o Pax romana → Imperial expansion
o Propaganda → Statues, portraits, medals, coins… Effigy everywhere within the empire
o Deification of August + successive emperors → Imperial cult.

ROMAN EMPIRE CEREMONIES:

• CELEBRATION OF VICTORIES (TRIUMPHS): Offered by the senate to the military commanders (imperators) who returned
victorious from a campaign/battle.
o Civil and religious ritual
o Procession → Animals sacrifices to Jupiter
o Triumphal arches and other monuments
• TRIUMPHAL ENTRY AND MILITARY PARADE GOING ACROSS THE FIELD OF MARS: Campus Martius, Via Sacra…
• VICTORIOUS COMMANDER: Head of the parade carrying a quadriga (chariot) drawn by white.
o He wore a purple toga picta and a slave hold upon his head a Laurel crown.
o Entered the temple of Jupiter and offered the laurel crown to the god.
• PROTOCOL AND PRECEDENCE:

symbols and defeated

senators and sacrificial dancers and
banners of the soldiers (to be lictors roman soldiers
magistrates animals musicians
conquered ensalved)

o Triumphal arches involved to commemorate different sorts of events, not only military victories.
o Great influence on the Early modern and contemporary Age.
• ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE: Altar of the Augustan Peace → Civil religion.
o Built 13 BCE to celebrate the return of Augustus from his campaigns in Hispania and Gallia.
o Placed in the Campus Martinus + commissioned by the Senate.
o Imperial family, senators and officials are depicted on the wall reliefs in a procession.
o Altar has ritual scenes → Romulus and Remus and other mythological scenes.
• DECENNALIA: Festival celebrated each 10 years until the end of the Empire.
o Commemoration of the anniversary of Augustus access to supreme power.
o People offered vows to the emperor for the success of his empire.
• TRIUMPHS: Organized by the senator for the sake of military commanders of the senatorial order who had been
proclaimed imperator when they came back from victorious military campaigns.
o Civil + religious ritual.
o Triumphal entry and military parade going across the Field of Mars, via Sacra…
o Victorious military commander was at the head of the parade carrying a cuadriga drawn by white horses.
o Triumphal archers. Commemoration of victories and other events. Great influence.
• ORGANIZED PROCESSION: Senators and magistrates.

Funerary ceremonial and Apotheosis of the Emperors:

Imperial funerals:

• Origin in funerals of Roman Nobles (Republican tradition), but important innovations.

• Senate arranged and paid the funeral services. Important function in the provision of how funeral services were held. It
was the institution organizer. The emperors wrote down how they wanted their funerals to be.
• CONCLAMATIO → Legal certification of the death of the emperor
o Exhibition of the corpse for a week
o Tribute and farewell
• LUSTITIUM → Mourning was officially decreed (clothing and cessation of recreational acts up to 1 year)
• FUNERAL PROCESSION → The corpse has moved followed by the senate, equestrian order, priest, corporation, lictors…
+ symbols of the emperor.
• LAUDATIO FUNEBRIS → Panegyric account of the emperor´s remarkable actions, victories… written by one of his kins.
• INCINERATION → Incinerate the corpse with incense and votive offerings.

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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)

The Apotheosis: Elevation to heaven of the emperor.

• Ceremony of consecration / divinizations of the Roman Emperors.

• Wax image of the emperor. Mourning rituals. It is out above a pyre, lit by the new emperor.
• Eagle released carrying the soul. He is revered like the other gods (temple and priest).
• Text of the Greek historian Herodian.
• From August (14) to Constantine (1st Christian emperor, 337) 36 of the 60 emperors and 27 members of their families
had an Apotheosis ceremony and received the title of divus (divine). → Defied after their death.
• Important part of the symbolism that defined the imperial house.
• Funerary rituals and Apotheosis combined 2 models rooted in Rome.
• Tradition of the noble families and the worship of the gods.

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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)
TOPIC 4: COURT CEREMONIES AND ROYAL RITUALS IN BYZANTIUM:
1. BYZANTINE EMPIRE:
• Ancient Greek City (667 BC)
• CONSTANTINOPLE: Renamed in 330 AC. After the roman emperor Constantine new capital of the Empire → New Rome
• ISTANBUL: Renamed after conquered by the Ottomans Turks 1453.

CONSTANTINE I: THE GREAT (306-337):

• 1st roman emperor converted to Christianity.
• Edict of Milan 313 → Tolerance to the Christian religion altogether with different religious and cults.
• Constantine as God´s representative on Earth → Authority legitimated and sanctioned by God.
• The saint
• Deification → Canonization (Ortodox church) Not for catholic.
o Isapostolos → Equal to the apostles

THEODOSIUS I: THE GREAT (379-395):

• Edict of Thessalonica 380 → Christianity became the only official religion → Prohibition of others.
• Final division of the Roman Empire in 2 parts after his death (395)

JUSTINIAN I: (527-565):
• Territorial expansion (renovation imperii) → Recover the western roman territories.
• Consolidation of imperial authority:
o Codification of roman law → Corpus iuris civilis. Very important in the legislation of the Byzantine empire and in
the recovery of Roman law in western Europe.
o Court ceremonies.

EMPEROR (BASILEUS):
• Supreme political authority
• Non-hereditary succession, but the successor was appointed by the emperor.

PATRIARCH (BISHOP) OF CONSTANTINOPLE:

• Highest religious authority
• Emperor appointed → The patriarch (Political control over the church)
• The patriarch crowned → The emperor (Religious legitimacy)

CAESAROPAPISM:
• The state controls the church
• No separation between powers.

TITLES OF THE BYZANTINE EMPERORS:

• Basileus → King of Greece • Porphirogenitus → Born in the birth room of the
• Autokrator → Emperor Greek imperial palace
• Sebastas → Majesty • Kaiser → Caesar
• Kirios → Lord • Kronokrator → Lord of time
• Kosmokrator → Lord of cosmos

2. BYZANTINE CEREMONIAL:
The rituals conveyed imperial majesty and the special / close bond with God.
In the imperial art, emperors/empresses are represented in association with Christ, the Virgin and the Saints.
• Hieratism → To stress the emperor´s majesty and sacredness 2 main ceremonial strategies:
o Regulating / controlling the personal access to the emperor → Development of the imperial court, palatine
offices and protocol (since the crisis of the 3rd century, deification of the emperor and propaganda).
o Ritualizing the emperor´s public appearances → From religious ceremonies and festivals to circus races and
games.

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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)

THE ROMAN CRISIS OF THE 3RD CENTURY → TRIPLE (INTERNATIONAL CRISIS):

1. ECONOMIC CRISIS, DEMOGRAFIC/POPMATION → Less production → Les exportations = rising public deficit
- No new markets / trade routes
No more military expansion (since 200 AD) - No bountires / cheap raw materials
- No slaves (free labor) → less production
- Indebted small owners → Sell their lands (Became servants)
2. SOCIAL CRISIS (SOCIAL POLARIZATION) - Big landowners (landlords) gather all the property
TAX RAISES (TO FACE PUBLIC DEFICIT) - Peasant revolts
3. POLITICAL CRISIS
PROPAGANDA (TO FACE SOCIAL CRISIS) → Deification of the emperor (claimed more power and authority)
- Military uprising, civil wars
Landlords and military leaders became more powerful
- Anarchy

REGULATING / CONTROLLING PERSONAL ACCESS TO THE EMPEROR:

• Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD): kept himself into his palace, surrounded by his servants.
o Adoratio → Everybody had to bow to him and kiss the tip of his purple tunic.
• Emperor Constantine I (306-337 AD): Kept the adoratio as part of the emperor´s audience.
o Imperial court develop → sacrum cubiculum: space reserved to the emperor´s personal attendance
▪ Praepositus sacri cubiculi: chief of the court officers, close to the emperor.
o Ceremonial silence in the emperor’s presence. Only the praepositus sacri cubiculi was allowed to break the
silence and address to the emperor directly.
• Emperor Constantine VII (Porphyrogenitus 913-959): Book of ceremonies, compilation of the different rituals of the
Byzantine Court. Constantine VII took royal rituals very seriously, insisting on a proper observance.
o Ceremonies helped to strengthen and better display the emperor´s authority, both among his subjects, but also
before other kings and foreign powers.

Byzantine royal rituals were meant to impress, to theatrically display the emperor´s splendor (sign of authority and might), inside
or outside the empire → Diplomacy.

Receptions of the Persians diplomats (according to the Book of ceremonies):

• Carefully arranged escort and lodging to the Persian diplomats during the journey and arrival.
• Imperial reception:
o Curtained doors (mystery) o Prostrations at fixed points, intervals
o Master of offices escorts the diplomat o Last curtain door reveals the emperor →
across the different doors Exchange of gifts

Book of ceremonies: 10th century:

• Key historical source for studying Byzantine royal ceremonial.
• It compiles ceremonies which rooted in the ancient Roman Empire, describing their performance.
• Rituals change and evolved over time. The book tells us about how these ceremonies were meant to be performed in the
10th century, not how they always been or how they were exactly performed.
• Compilation of royal rituals / ceremonies:
o Imperial marriages o Diplomatic receptions
o Births of imperial offspring o Public appearances
o Bestowal of codicils of office on imperial
ministers
• The imperial calendar was largely influenced by the liturgical year, which provided regulatory and order (taxis) to the
emperor´s public appearances.

RITUALIZATIONS OF THE EMPEROR´S APPEARANCES IN PUBLIC (CONSTANTINOPLE). KEY ELEMENTS:

1. Movement of the emperor:
a. Real or symbolic between profane and Sacre spaces
b. Direction is fixed but also the manner and stopping places where the emperor had to performed rituals or to
receive public acclamations.
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ISABEL ARÉVALO 1º PROTOCOLO, ORGANIZACIÓN DE EVENTOS Y COMUNICACIÓN CORPORATIVA (INGLÉS)
2. Dress code:
a. Emperor + rest of participants → Strictly regulated
b. End 7th century → Emperor changed the purple tunic for the Loros (long, narrow and gold embroidered cloth)
which was wrapped around the torso and dropped over the left hand.
3. Participants: Imperial, officials, clerics, members of the court…
4. Acclamation:
a. Elaborated and formulaic salutation/welcoming prescribed for particular places and moments.
b. Specified participants and performance → who should salute the emperor…
The blues and greens, the two factions of circus races, performed chorus during the emperor´s lengthy acclamations, both in
secular and some religious occasions.
5. Food:
a. Usually, dinner → Regulated and attended by specified guests.
b. These rituals mixed sacred and profane at times with the emperor even coming near playing the role of Christ.
Wednesday after easter, the emperor invited the patriarch of Constantinople to a ceremonial dinner, according to a
prescribed formula.

The emperor´s ritualized public appearances were meant to be a message for the people, so they can see the ruler´s majesty and
authority.
Particularly, religious festivals and races in the Hippodrome → Power dialogue between Emperor – Subjects.
Public occasions gave way to private ceremonies in the imperial palace → Power dialogue between Emperor – Regular class.
PALM SUNDAY CEREMONY:
• Night before: Emperor gives palms with gold and silver crosses to senators, patricians and officials according to their rank
in the church of Saint Demetrius.
• Sunday: Imperial palace (Throne room → Golden chamber)
o There is an icon of Christ on top of the imperial throne.
o Symbolize the relationship between Emperor – Christ.
• Members of the government and courtiers surround the emperor seated on the throne under the icon of Christ.
• Emperor receives crosses from certain groups that prostrate themselves before him.
• Departure in procession to various churches and return to the palace.
• Golden chamber: Patricians with candles and the priest participate. The deacon places the Gospels on the imperial
throne. Litany is recited.
• Emperor accompanied by courtiers and clergy to the church of the Virgin. The patricians leave after acclaiming the
emperor.
If the emperor orders it → Patricians join and participate in the liturgy next to the church. The guest list is read.
• After the end of the religious ceremony, the emperor sits at a table with the guests. Everyone changes dresses for this
occasion.
Combination of royal ceremony with the religious liturgy of the annual calendar.
• Book of ceremonies: shows an elaborated and highly regulated court ritual that united religious and secular elements in
the same protocol
• Spectators of the ceremonies:
o People of Constantinople → Numerous ceremonies with the emperor and the imperial family surrounded by
officers and clergy in spectacular processions through the city.
▪ Splendor costumes + music + songs
o Took place in the palace → Importance of the audience that could have access to the palace.
o Visual representation of hierarchies and closeness to power → Important the relative order of the positions in
the administration and the government.

3. BYZANTINE IMPERIAL EMBLEM:

• Double-Headed eagle: symbolized the political and religious role of the emperors. It carries:
o Orb / cross on one leg (Church)
o Sword / sceptre (State)
• Used during the last centuries of the Byzantine empire.
• Great influence on later European empires.

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