ABSTRACT
The idea that the Byzantine emperor, as God's viceroy on earth, should always be represented as the perfect ruler was an age-old commonplace of Byzantine political thought. 1 Thus, if for whatever reason this perfect image was tarnished, the need for intervention in order to restore it-as far as was possible - to its former condition became imperative. Such intervention, the origin of which, the texts imply, is divinely inspired, could be made even while the emperor was still alive, circumstances allowing. The rehabilitation of the damaged prestige of the occupant of the imperial throne was, however, usually effected posthumously, with the unsurprising prerequisite that the former ruler's dynasty continue to be in power. Within the context of dynastic propaganda, texts would thus appear extolling the dead ruler and advancing various (and largely spurious) excuses for decisions made or errors committed. For example, the rehabilitation of Basil I (867--86), founder of the Macedonian dynasty, began in fact during his lifetime and followed an ascending course until it acquired major proportions in the accounts of the 'official' historical works written for the dynasty a century later. In these accounts every effort was made to remove the stigma of the murder of Michael III (842-67) from Basil's record.2 The results of this enterprise were not particularly spectacular, judging from the account of Ioannes Zonaras, who remarked that texts on
38 ATHANASIOS MARKOPOULOS
Figure 4.1 Theophilos, by N. Engonopoulos (1952) (oil painting 92cm x 73cm). Private collection (photo: M. Skiadaressis).
