International Network for Byzantine Philosophy

By  Mario Baghos When Dr Andrew Mellas kindly invited me to write a blog post on the philosophy of Constantinople , it struck me that I had not quite thought of emperor Constantine the Great’s ‘New Rome,’ the capital of the Eastern Christian Roman Empire known as ‘Byzantium,’ in this way before. The challenge in writing this entry has been in applying the term ‘philosophy’ — which can be understood as an overarching mentality or disposition with existential or practical outcomes — to the city’s rhythms. When applying it, one encounters a clear distinction between the organs of Church and state that characterised so much of the history of both the city and the empire; organs that sometimes worked in tandem, and at other times did not. What I intend to accomplish here is a nuanced assessment of Constantinople that takes into account some of the main ideological and spiritual trends that conditioned the city, which, we shall see, were not entirely homogeneous since the ‘

The penultimate strophe of Romanos the Melodist's hymn On Pentecost  is a scintillating display of contempt for the ancient poets and philosophers. The final three strophes of this Byzantine  kontakion are quoted hereunder and the Greek text of the penultimate is also included so that the puns which are lost in translation can be seen. The English translation is by Archimandrite Ephrem Lash and the Greek text is from the  edition of Romanos' hymns edited by  José Grosdidier de Matons (SC 283). 16 Now those who before were fishermen have become skilled speakers. Now those who once  stood by the shores of lakes are orators, and clear ones.  Those who previously used to mend their nets  now unravel the webs of orators and make them worthless with simpler utterances.  For they speak one Word, instead of many, they proclaim one God, not many.  The One as the one they worship, a Father beyond understanding,  a Son consubstantial and inseparable, and