ABSTRACT
The Letter to Theophilos is a much-debated text, 1 which enjoyed widespread diffusion in the Byzantine era and was much reworked and expanded at different times. 2 According to the title of the work in what appears to be the version closest to the original, the letter was addressed to the emperor Theophilos by the Melkite patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, respectively named Christopher, Job and Basil. The title also claims the letter to have been “written in the holy city of Jerusalem in the church of the Holy Resurrection” as a result of a synod held there, which 185 bishops, 17 abbots and 1153 monks attended (τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐπισκόπων ρπε´, ἡγουμένων ιζ´, μοναχῶν , αρνγ´). A dating is provided for the synod: “in the month of April, the 14th indiction, in the year 6344” (μηνὶ Ἀπριλλίῳ ἰνδικτιῶνος ιδ´, ἔτους , ςτμδ´), which corresponds to April 836. The title further informs us that the letter is “about the holy, venerable and revered icons” (περὶ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τιμίων καὶ σεβασμίων εἰκόνων), adding that at the head of the text “the holy representation of the all-holy Theotokos Maria, depicted bearing the Saviour in her arms” was appended. 3
