ABSTRACT
In 879, following what was called a 'victorious return from campaign', the Emperor Basil I staged a triumphal entry into the city of Constantinople.1
After spending the night at Hebdomon, he moved in solemn procession toward the city, stopping for a costume change at the monastery of the A vraamites before passing through the Golden Gate. Stational ceremonies, punctuated with acclamations by the city's factions, were staged at the Sigma, the Exakionion, the Forum of Arcadius, the Forum Bovis, the Capitol, the Forum of Theodosius, the Artopolia, and the Forum of Constantine, where the Church of the Virgin was used for another costume change. Basil then proceeded on foot to the Milian, and then into Hagia Sophia for a liturgical service, before, finally, finishing with a banquet in the Triklinos of Justinian at the Great Palace.2 The city had been cleaned up, dressed up, and decorated for the occasion, and the spectacle was apparently spectacular enough to have been recorded in some detail.3
