Christopher Walter. Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint. Revue des études byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 163-210.

8/3/2019 Christopher Walter. Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint. Revue des tudes byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 16

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Christopher Walter

Theodore, archetype of the warrior saintIn: Revue des tudes byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 163-210.

Rsum

REB 57 1999 France p. 163

Christopher Walter, Theodore, Archetype of the Warrior Saint. Les origines du culte de saint Thodore sont tudies en vue

d'laborer une approche mthodologique qui vaudrait pour les autres saints. Sont examins un un les plus anciens textes

concernant Thodore, l'tablissement de son sanctuaire Euchates, l'expansion de son culte, la nature de ses interventions

comme saint militaire dans la vie terrestre des hommes, l'mergence de son jumeau Thodore Stratlats qui disposait de son

propre sanctuaire Euchaneia et, enfin, la place de l'iconographie des deux Thodore dans l'esthtique byzantine.

Abstract

The origins of the cult of Saint Theodore are studied with a view to the elaboration of a methodological approach valid for other

military saints. One by one, are examined the most ancient hagiographical texts concerning Theodore, the establishment of his

sanctuary at Euchata, the spread of his cult, the nature of his interventions as a military saint in the lives of terrestrial men, the

emergence of his twin Theodore Stratelates with his own personal sanctuary at Euchaneia, and finally the place of the

iconography of the two Theodores in Byzantine aesthetics.

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Walter Christopher. Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint. In: Revue des tudes byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 163-210.

doi : 10.3406/rebyz.1999.1970

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1999_num_57_1_1970
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/author/auteur_rebyz_98http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/rebyz.1999.1970http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1999_num_57_1_1970http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1999_num_57_1_1970http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/rebyz.1999.1970http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/author/auteur_rebyz_98


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THEODORE,ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT

Christopher WALTER

Summary : The origins of the cult of Saint Theodore are studied with a view to theelaboration of a methodological approach valid for other military saints. One by one, areexamined the most ancient hagiographical texts concerning Theodore, the establishmentof his sanctuary at Euchaita, the spread of his cult, the nature of his interventions as amilitary saint in the lives of terrestrial men, the emergence of his twin TheodoreStratelates with his own personal sanctuary at Euchaneia, and finally the place of theiconography of the tw o Theodores in Byzantine aesthetics.The late Alexander Kazhdan once remarked that the cult of Byzantinewarrior saints needed special investigation.1 I would be inclined slightlyto modify this statement and to remark rather that the attention whichwarrior saints have received is uneven and higgledy-piggledy. Some, like

Saints George and Demetrius, have been examined in all their aspects :their legends, the origin and spread of their cult, their iconography.2Others, like Saint Mercurius, have long had their dossier competentlyestablished, to which little that is new has needed to be added.3 Yetothers, like Saints Eustathius and Procopius have excited interestprincipally for only one aspect of them, in this case their vision.41. A. Kazhdan, Hagiographical Notes, Byz. 53 , 1983, p. 544.2. For Saint George, see the hundreds of items listed by the Bollandists in thebibliographies of their An. Boll, also my article, The Origins of the Cult of Saint George,REB 53 , 1995, p. 295, note 2. For Saint Demetrius, see the same article, p. 310, note 96.3. S. Binon, Essai sur le cycle de Mercure, martyr de Dce et meurtrier de l'empereurJulien, Paris 1937 ; Idem, Documents grecs indits relatifs S. Mercure de Csare,Louvain 1937. More recently, P.L. Vocotopoulos, An Icon of Saint Mercurius SlayingJulian the Apostate, Bulletin, New Series n 2, Medieval Art - In Honour of ZagorkaRasolkoska-Nikolovska, Skopje 1996, p. 137-140.4. See particularly H. Delehaye, La lgende grecque de saint Eustache, Mlangesd'hagiographie grecque et latine, Brussels 1966, p. 212-239 ; N. Thierry, Le culte du cerfen Anatolie et la vision de saint Eustathe, with appendix by C. Jolivet-Lvy, Troisnouvelles reprsentations de la vision d' Eustathe en Cappadoce, Monuments et mmoires

Revue des tudes Byzantines 57, 1999, p. 163-210.


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164 CHRISTOPHER WALTERHowever, synthetical studies, in which a scholar attempts seriously toanswer the question : what is a warrior saint ?, are mostly lacking, apartfrom one outstanding example, which, being published in Serbian, maynot receive the attention which it deserves.5I have personally long been intrigued by Byzantine warrior saints, towhom I have devoted a number of articles, while planning an overallstudy of them. One point which has become clear to me is that, while inlate Byzantine society their legends and cult (in synaxaries andmenologid) are fairly standardized, as well as their iconography (moreparticularly in wallpainting), this is not the case in the earlier period. Onthe contrary, here the legends, cult and iconography of those who may beadmitted as candidates for the title of warrior saint are strikingly varied.Before embarking on an overall study, it seemed advisable to examineattentively one particular dossier, that of Saint Theodore. I have severalreasons for making this decision. One is that, although Theodore wasoutstanding in the first centuries as a warrior saint (only later was he inpart eclipsed by George), with an abundantly full dossier (most of theliterary texts concerning him as well as the known portraits have beenpublished), a synthetical study exists only for his iconography.6 In fact,the studies of Theodore which have been published are mostly concernedwith points of detail sometimes fiddling, sometimes inaccurate (eventhe Byzantines themselves could be muddled about him !). Consequentlysome sorting out is necessary. Further, a methodology needs to beestablished or re-established for the study of the first warriorsaints. What I use for Theodore can, I hope, be usefully applied in duecourse to other members of his echelon or phalanx. It should thenbe possible to generalize safely about the warrior saint, both pristine andmature.I intend now to examine the following aspects of Theodore : theliterary texts about his Life, Passion and Miracles ; the origins andspread of his cult ; the special functions attributed to him, notablyslaying dragons, intervening in battle to protect cities or rulers, investingrulers ; the early iconographical documents with particular reference to62, 1991, p. 33-106. H. Delehaye, Les Uzendes hagiographiques, Brussels 1905, p. 142-167; . Thierry, Vision d'Eustache. Vision de Procope, . . , III, Thessaloniki 1991, . 1845-1860.5. . Delehaye's Les lgendes grecques des saints militaires, Paris 1909, remains ofcourse the essential introduction to the study of military saints, bu t it lacks the globaldimensions of M. Markovio's ikonografiji svetih ratnika u istohriscanskoj umetnosti i predstavama ovih svetitelja u Decanima, Zidno slikarstvo manastira Decana, editedV. Djuri, Belgrade 1995, p. 567-630. For the Theodores, see A. Amore, Teodoro (diAmasea), Bibliotheca Sanctorum 12 , 238-242, and C. Weigert, Theodor Stratelates vonEuchata, Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie 8, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, p. 444-446, Theodor von Euchata (von Amasea), ibidem, p. 447-451.6. L. Mavrodinova, Sv. Teodor - Razvitije i osebnosti na ikonografskija mu tip vsrednovekovnata zivopis, Bulletin de l'Institut des Arts 13, Sofia 1969, p. 33-52, whiledeveloped for the later Byzantine representations of Saints Theodore Tiron and Stratelatestogether, is skimpy for the earlier ones of Theodore (Tiron) alone.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 165his status as a warrior ; Euchata and Euchaneia ; the emergence of atwin or double - Tiron and Stratelates ; the aesthetics of warrior saints,with special reference to the phenomenon of twinning in Byzantinehagiography and iconography.The Literary Sources for Saint Theodore

Theodore's hagiographical tradition began well with an Encomiumpronounced at his sanctuary. The text has generally been attributed toGregory of Nyssa.7 At one time there were discordant voices as to itsauthenticity, which made Hippolyte Delehaye inclined to suspendjudgment, pending a critical edition of the Encomium. The text had awide circulation ; its most recent editor lists eighty-eight manuscriptscontaining it . Apparently, he took its authenticity for granted.8 The textdoes not specify the location of Theodore's sanctuary. However, it isonly in BHG 1765 that Amaseia, the place where, traditionally, he wasexecuted, is proposed. Euchaita, where he was reputed to have beenborn, is also the place where all later accounts situate Theodore'ssanctuary. If Gregory of Nyssa pronounced the Encomium, it must datefrom the late fourth century. It is a sober, conventional piece of writing,somewhat sparse in detailed information about Theodore's personalbiography. It recounts how he was enrolled in the army, stationed atAmaseia, one day's march from Euchaita, how he refused to sacrifice tothe gods, setting fire to a temple of Cybele, how he was tortured and putin prison, where he was consoled by celestial visions, and how, finally,he was burned alive (not decapitated).

7. Gregory of Nyssa, De sancto Theodoro, PG 46, 736-748 {BHG 1760, Clavis3183) ; J.P. Cav Arnos, Gregory ofNyssa, Sermons II 1, p. CXXV-CLXXII, p. 61-71. A briefrecital about Theodore's early life {BHG 1765) was known to Delehaye, Lgendesgrecques, op . cit. (note 5), from Paris, gr. 499, f. 284v-285. He characterized it asbelonging to the literary genre of l'loge funbre d'aprs Mnandre and not to be takenseriously. It recounts how, his mother having died prematurely, Theodore was brought upby his father, how he enlisted as a soldier, refused to offer cult to the gods and wasmartyred at Amaseia. Delehaye later published this recital, Acta sanctorum November IV,Brussels 1925, p. 45-46. Concurrently it was published by A. Sigalas, EEBS 2, 1925,p. 225-226, collating other manuscripts. Later Sigalas maintained that this recital wasancient, possibly anterior to Gregory's Encomium, Des Chrysippos von Jerusalem auf denhi . Johannes den Tufer, 2c, Exkurs : Die alte Theodoras vita, Athens 1937, Texte undForschungen zur byzantinische-griechischen Philologie 20, p. 102. Even if Sigalas wasright, which seems unlikely for it is much more probable that it was extracted or compiledfrom a later Life, the recital does not much advance our knowledge of Theodore.8. C. Zuckerman, Cappadocian Fathers and the Goths, TM 11 , 1991 (B. Gregory ofNyssa' s Enkomion for St. Theodore the Recruit and the Gothic Riots in Asia Minor in379), p. 479-486, not only establishes the authenticity of the attribution to Gregory ofNyssa by relating the reference in the Encomium to Scythians to another in his Letter 164,but also plausibly fixes its date to February 17th, 380. I take the opportunity of thankingsincerely Dr Zuckerman for a number of useful references, as well as reading a draft ofthis article and proposing several amendments.


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166 CHRISTOPHER WALTERIf a Byzantinist is disappointed that so august an authority hasprovided him with so few concrete facts about Theodore, he willnevertheless find that the text offers two compensations. Firstly, itwitnesses to late fourth-century belief in the power of saints, not only asintercessors but also as actively intervening in the lives of terrestrialmen. Besides exercising the traditional office of warding off demons,Theodore also protected his clients on journeys, cured their diseases andprocured riches for them if they were poor. He was also considered to becapable of intervening in battle as a soldier, an attribute which wasunusual at this early date. Secondly, a passage of the text describespaintings in Theodore's sanctuary, but of this more later.As was normally the case with popular saints, Theodore's biographywas developed zealously by hagiographers, most of whose fairlynumerous versions have been published.9 The earliest Passion, published

by Delehaye, was studied critically by Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, andthen republished by Delehaye.10 It embellishes Gregory of Nyssa'ssuccinct text, by introducing in the conventional way information aboutthe martyr's parents and childhood, a more developed account of histrial, tortures and death, and of the retrieval of his dead body for decentburial. Such supplementary details were regularly borrowed and adaptedfrom the Passions of other martyrs. In the present case, Franchi de'Cavalieri proposed that many new details introduced into Theodore'sPassion were borrowed from those of Polycarp, Nestor and Theagenes.As for the transfer of Theodore's body from Amaseia, the place of hismartyrdom, to Euchaita, an unusual procedure, for Euchata, at that time,was a mere settlement, not the much-frequented sanctuary which itwould become, while Amaseia was a city, Franchi de' Cavalieri suggestsan explanation : at Euchaita Theodore's relics were less liable to beprofaned.Thus far, apart from Gregory of Nyssa's list of benefits whichTheodore could bestow on those who invoked him, there is little todistinguish him from any other martyr ; he was simply a soldier arecruit to the infantry who, like many other Christians in the army,refused to renounce his faith. In the next text to be considered, theperspectives change. Although their opinions diverge as to the date ofthe events described in it and of its actual composition, and althoughtheir reasons for studying it differ, all the scholars who have beeninterested by the Life and Miracula BHG 64, have found it to be anoutstanding piece of hagiographical writing. The unique manuscript in

9. They are listed, of course, in the Bibliographica hagiographica graeca (withAuctarium) 1760-1770.10. Delehaye, Lgendes grecques, p. 127-135 {BHG 1762d) ; Pio Franchide'Cavalieri, Attorno al pi antico testo del martyrium S. Theodori Tironis, Noteagiografiche, fascicolo 3 (Studi e testi 22) Rome 1909, p. 91-107; Idem, Noteagiografiche, fascicolo 4 (Studi e testi 24), Rome 1912, p. 161-185. Delehaye, AdaSanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7), p. 12-13.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 167which the text has survived, Wind, theol. graec. 60 , would have beenwritten in the tenth or eleventh century. Delehaye placed its compositioncategorically after 934. For this he was followed by his fellowBollandist, Franois Halkin, in his introduction to the related Passiondue to Nicolas Ouranos (which, apparently, Delehaye did not know).However, there are reasons for supposing that, even if the text as it hassurvived was not put together before the tenth century, it containsmaterial assembled at a much earlier date.11 The author of the earliercompilation knew Euchaita and its surroundings first hand. Thetopographical information which he offers has attracted some scholars,because it shows what life was like in a region chronically exposed tomarauders. 12Military protection from the Byzantine army was sporadicallyavailable, but more than this was needed. Here Theodore came into hisown, as this text recounts, particularly in the Miracula. In the firstmiracle, he made a posthumous apparition, in order that a true likenessmight be made of him on an icon. It is mentioned specifically that hewore military dress. It is possible (but, of course, not certain) that thisicon was the prototype of the one described in the eleventh century byJohn Mauropous, an icon on which Theodore was represented as afootsoldier, and which was, for a time, the focal point of a festivalattracting crowds of pilgrims.The phrase in question mentions that the text was composed in thefourteenth year of the emperor Constantine, and the seventh indiction.Taken literally, the phrase yields the year 754, a date which HippolyteDelehaye considered to be out of the question for a text which introducesthe practice of painting icons, of offering cult to them and of asking forthe intercession of saints painted on icons, because it falls during thereign of Constantine V in the period of First Iconoclasm. Delehaye'sargument would be valid if imperial decrees prohibiting the cult of iconshad been applied strictly throughout the Byzantine empire. However,evidence is accumulating in favour of the view that this was not the case.The mosaic portraits of Saint Demetrius in Thes Saloniki which survivedIconoclasm are notorious evidence that the cult of popular saints in theirsanctuary was tolerated. Theodore was a highly popular saint. There is

11. Delehaye, Lgendes grecques, p. 183-201 ; Idem, Ada sanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7),p. 49-55. Fr. Halkin, Un opuscule inconnu du Magistre Ouranos (La Vie de Thodore leConscrit, BHG 1762m), An. Boll. 80, 1962, p. 308-324, reprinted, Martyrs grecs, He-VIIIesicles, (Variorum Reprints) London 1974, n IX.12. Notably, J.F. Haldon & H. Kennedy, The Arab-Byzantine Frontier in the Eighthand Ninth Centuries - Military Organisation and Society in the Borderlands, ZRVI 19 ,1980, p. 91. F. R. Trombley, The Decline of the Seventh-Century Town The Exceptionof Euchaita, Byzantine Studies in Honor of Milton V. Anastos, edited by Sp. Vryonis Jr.,Malibu 1985, p. 65-90 (citing Abrahamse). Idem, The Arab Wintering Raid AgainstEuchaita in 663, Fifth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference (Abstracts of Papers), p. 5-6.A. Kazhdan, Hagiographical Notes, 17. The Flourishing City of Euchata? , Erytheia 9.2,1988, p. 197-199.


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168 CHRISTOPHER WALTERconsequently little difficulty in accepting that BHG 1764 was compiledoriginally soon after 754, nor is it necessary to amend the text byintroducing the name of Romanus I Lecapenus (for whom the fourteenthyear of his reign coincided with the seventh indiction yielding the date934). Equally superfluous are the amendments proposed by Abrahamseand Trombley. The commonsense reading of the phrase may beretained.13The text recounts another miracle Theodore slays a dragon.14 If theeighth-century date is retained for the original version of it, thenBHG 1764 provides the earliest literary account of the prodigy.Iconographical evidence also exists, which, if it does not confirm thedate, at least corroborates it and makes it more plausible. But of thismore later.This icon was to serve as a point of reference, for, in another miracle,it enabled a respectable lady to recognize the martyr in a vision, this timeon horseback, helping to ward off a barbarian attack, at just the placewhere he had been painted.15 It seems, however, that the celestial powerswere not always favorably disposed towards the inhabitants of Euchata,for, on this occasion, angels ordered Theodore to leave the way open forthe barbarian invaders. Theodore prayed that God should not abandonthe people of whom he was the protector. God relented ; in consequence,although the city was destroyed, the inhabitants of Euchata were saved.Other miracles occurred. On one occasion, the Arabs failed to destroyTheodore's sanctuary, because their leader had fallen to the groundinside it, rolling about and biting his tongue. On another occasion,Theodore's relics were stolen, but after an earthquake were restored toEleutherius the Great, at that time the bishop of the city ; subsequently herebuilt Theodore's shrine. There was also another intervention byTheodore to wreak vengeance on the Persians, who had sacked Euchatabefore being defeated by Heraclius. Routed by a Roman force, the fewwho escaped were killed by hail as big as stone projectiles. 16This collection of miracles differs radically from the earliest survivingone (BHG 1765c), attributed to Chrysippus,17 a priest of Jerusalem whodied in 479. Delehaye described them as des anecdotes piquantes, d'un

13. C. Zuckerman, The reign of Constantine V in the Miracles of St . Theodore theRecruit (BHG 1764), REB 46, 1988, p. 191-210.14 . Ibidem, p. 200, note 32.15. Miracle n 4, Ibidem, p. 196-198.16. Miracle n 3, ibidem , p. 206-210. Zuckerman dates the incident to the late autumnof 622. J.D. HowARD-Johnston, The siege of Constantinople in 626, Constantinople andits Hinterland, edited C. Mango & G. Dagron, Aldershot 1995, p. 131-142, especiallyp. 134 note 11, prefers to date the incident slightly later, shortly before Heraclius relievedthe Persian siege of Constantinople in 626.17. Published by A. Sigalas, Des Chrysippos von Jerusalem Enkomion auf den hi .Theodoros Ter n, Leipzig 1921, and again by Delehaye, Ada Sanctorum vol. cit. (note7), p. 55-72, who also summarized and analysed them, Les recueils antiques de miraclesdes saints, An. Boll. 43, 1925, p. 41-45.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 69caractre populaire, qui mettent en lumire l'ide qu'on se faisait dusaint. Thus Theodore only figures once as a soldier (in the first miracle,where he rescues on horseback a child who had been sold as a slave tothe Ishmaelites, a type of miracle which recurs often enough inByzantine hagiography !). He rarely leaves his sanctuary, which is notspecified to be Euchaita. His speciality is to help those who have beenwronged in their material interests, and he is surprisingly indulgent tothieves. In the last miracle, he extinguishes a fire in a palace near hisoratory. This latter was rebuilt by a person who was not named byChrysippus, although he is called Sphoracius in the abridged version ofthe text, which Delehaye published alongside that of Chrysippus. Heconsidered Chrysippus to have been a compiler and adaptor. Hisanecdotes imply no necessary firsthand knowledge, whether of theevents recounted or of Euchaita. By contrast, the miracles recounted inBHG 1764 were all perpetrated in Euchaita or nearby. The first wouldhave occurred shortly after Theodore's death (his apparition in militarydress in order to enable an artist to paint a faithful likeness of him). Thefourth and the succeeding ones would have occurred in the lifetime ofthe compiler of the original text. His apparition on horseback in order todefend Euchaita on the occasion of an enemy attack (of this more later)would have occurred in 753.It is not to be expected that the numerous later texts would add muchinformation authentic or not about Theodore's life. However, oneor two examples may be adduced in passing. The Life composed byNicephorus Ouranos (BHG 1762m) has the advantage that it was writtenby someone who is otherwise known and who lived at the end of thetenth century.18 It is evident that, apart from the prologue and the twoconcluding chapters, the text closely follows BHG 1764. NicolasOuranos probably did not know Euchaita personally, in spite of the factthat he recounts (a conventional phrase ?) that the miraculous portrait ofTheodore was still venerated there in his sanctuary at the end of the tenthcentury. A prodigy recounted, according to which Theodore rescued hismother from the jaws of a dragon, which had captured her while she wasdrawing water from a spring (BHG 1766), was rejected by Delehaye (nodoubt rightly) as an embroidery of the conventional accounts ofTheodore's encounter with a dragon, the more so because the prodigywas situated in the kingdom of a certain king Samuel (or Saul ?).19Finally, the text should not be forgotten which attributes relatives toTheodore, all themselves soldiers and martyrs ! It was published longago by Hippolyte Delehaye (BHG 656). 20 Eutropius and Cleonicus,natives of Cappadocia, were sons of the same mother ; Basiliscus,

18. Halkin, art. cit. (note 11).19 . Delehaye, Lgendes grecques, p. 37-39. Idem, Acta Sanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7), p.46-48.20. Delehaye, Lgendes grecques, p. 40-42 ; 202-203. G. D. Gordini, Cleonico,Eutropio e Basilisco, Bibliotheca Sanctorum 4, p. 54-56.


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170 CHRISTOPHER WALTERTheodore's nephew, was born like him in Choumiala (presumably asettlement near Euchata). They are said in the ConstantinopolitanSynaxary to have been Theodore's relatives and comrades in arms(, ).21 Eutropius and Cleonicus were buriednear Amaseia. Prodigies and miracles occurred at their tombs. Basiliscushad a different fate. He was said to have been not only a soldier but alsobishop of Cumana, where his body lay, beside which that of JohnChrysostom, having died in exile, was also provisionally buried. There isno confirmation, neither literary nor archaeological, for all this. In factthe texts have no historical value. However, they are interesting for tworeasons. First, they exemplify, once again, how a popular saint's lifemight be embellished. Secondly, the text describes their mutualaffection, and will therefore be of concern later in this article. I have onlycome across representations of Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus inthe sixteenth-century paintings at Treskavac (Macedonia).22 Here allthree are portrayed in military dress. However, undoubtedly, they musthave been represented earlier elsewhere.The Origins and Spread of Theodore's Cult

A century ago, rationalist scholars often took it for granted that theearly Christian saints were reincarnations of pagan heroes.23 Christianscholars, notably the Bollandists, were exposed to denunciation, becausetheir efforts to distinguish fact from legend led to results which wereoffensive to pious Ultramontane ears. The Bollandists clung,nevertheless, to their view that, even if much or most of what wasrecounted about the first martyrs was spurious, evidence in favour oftheir cult was generally reliable. We are still enormously indebted toHippolyte Delehaye and Andr Grabar for their research into the originsand development of the cult of the first Christian martyrs, even if boththese eminent scholars tended to systematize unduly, each according tohis personal vision of the subject, what was it seems likely a morehaphazard and spontaneous process. In the present section of this article,my approach will be pragmatic. I propose a presentation, which willsurely not be exhaustive, of the evidence available with regard to theearly cult of Theodore.

It would be optimistic to expect evidence to exist for the saint's cultearlier in date than Gregory of Nyssa's Encomium, although Sigalas, as21. Synaxarium Constantinopolitanum, 503.22. M. GLiGORiJEVi-MAKSiMOVio, Slikani kalendar u Treskavcu i stihovi HristoforaMitilenskog, Zograf8, 1977, p. 48-54, fig. 4, 5 (It may be noted in passing that SabbasStratelates, who, when he was rarely portrayed, paradoxically wore court dress, is alsorepresented here in military clothing.)23. The example may be cited, after C. van de Vorst, Bulletin des publicationshagiographiques, n 27, An. Boll. 21 , 1912, p. 105, of L. Anrich, Die Anfnge desHeiligenkults, Tbingen 1904, in which Theodore is presented as a reincarnation of thegod Men, whom Anrich gratuitously supposed to have had a temple at Euchata.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 171we have seen, was prepared to advance this claim for the fragmentParis, graec. 499, f. 284v-285 (BHG 1765). We are obliged to be contentwith Gregory's witness to the existence in the late fourth century of asanctuary where cult was offered to Theodore. There are analogies, butby no means all the warrior saints (or others for that matter) werefavoured by a sanctuary where their cult originated and from which itspread. Even if cult was offered to Theodore at Amaseia, as thisfragment maintains, it is evident that Euchaita became the principalcentre and continued to be up to the eleventh century, even after theepiscopate of John Mauropous.24 Subsequently, no doubt, Saracenoccupation made access difficult for pilgrims.Meanwhile, however, Theodore's cult had spread, sometimesexplicitly associated with the distribution of his relics, as inscriptionsand other literary documents witness, for example an inscription atApamea refers to the relics of Saint Theodore and other saints( ).25 LaterMauropous was to write that the dispersion of Theodore's relics tookplace, in order that these universal riches could be widelyppreciated.26 It is not necessary to suppose that each reference to aplace where the cult of Theodore was established presupposed that afraction of his relics had been deposed there.Maraval lists among the places where Theodore was venerated afifth-century basilica at Gerasa ;27 a martyrium at Jerusalem built beforethe beginning of the sixth century ;28 another at Kausai near Myra.29Franois Halkin augments this list with other inscriptions : addressed toTheodore and Sergius at Kefr Antn dated 523 ;30 at Milos, where aprayer inscribed on the fifth or sixth century ambo is addressed toTheodore ;31 another in former barracks at Ghor (Syria), dated 524/5 or530/1, mentions Longinus, Theodore and George.32 Procopius, writing inthe 550's, refers to two churches dedicated to Theodore in Haemimontus(the district north-east of Europa and west of Rhodope).33 He alsoalludes to a church in Constantinople ', no doubt to beidentified with that at Bathys Rhyax, which, according to Anna

24. See below note 115.25. P. Maraval, Lieux saints et plerinages d'Orient, Paris 1985, p. 346, afterH. Delehaye, Saints et reliquaires d'Apame, An. Boll. 53, 1935, p. 238.26. N. Oikonomids, Le ddoublement de saint Thodore et les villes d'Euchata etd'Euchaneia, An. Boll. 104, 1986, p. 328, after Iohannis Euchatorum metropolitae quaein codice Vaticano graeco 676 supersunt, d. P. Lagarde, Gttingen 1881, p. 127.27. Maraval, op . cit. (note 25), p. 330.28. Ibidem, p. 208.29. Ibidem, p. 387.30. Fr. Halkin, Inscriptions grecques relatives l'iconographie, tudes d'pigraphiegrecque et d'hagiographie byzantine (Variorum Reprints), London 1973, 1 p. 99, note 9.31. Ibidem, III p. 122, after H. Leclercq, Mlos, DACL 1 1. i, 279.32. Ibidem, Supplment, p. 335.33. Procopius of Caesarea, De aedificiis, edited J. Haurt, Leipzig 1964, p. 147, n 3, 26 = Bonn III, p. 306.


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172 CHRISTOPHER WALTERComnena, was widely frequented in her time.34 However, the earliestrecorded chapel in Constantinople dedicated to Theodore, which existedin the early fifth century, is that which was attributed to the patricianSphoracius, consul in 452. 35 Here the most important feasts in honour ofTheodore were celebrated, but Janin wrote that in Constantinople morethan fifteen churches dedicated to him are known.36 His cult spread toItaly.37 His portrait appears in the apse mosaic at Saints Cosmas andDamian, Rome, built by pope Felix IV (526-530). By the seventhcentury he had his own church there. He was also patron of Venice, untilits citizens acquired the relics of Saint Mark. One unusual relic ofTheodore should be recorded. According to ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, his shield was suspended in the dome of the churchdedicated to him at Dalisandos (Seleucia, a region of Isauria).38In sum, the origins and development of Theodore's cult are clear intheir outline from the end of the fourth century. He had his ownsanctuary at Euchata, in favour of which many of his miracles wereperformed. His renown spread and with it his relics. Popularespecially in Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor, his cult also spread, ofcourse, to Constantinople and to the West, notably to Rome and Venice,which, for a time, adopted him as patron. As to the question of theimportance of his cult at Byzantium after Iconoclasm, this is best studiedjointly with that of the twin whom he would later acquire, theStratelates.Theodore's Special Functions

As is well known, the cult of saints is associated closely with a desireto obtain certain favours. This is manifest in accounts of their miracles.Some saints had special healing powers, notably the Anargyres whoperformed their cures gratuitously. Some rescued captive youths, likeSaints George and Nicolas. Some protected domestic beasts and alsobrought good weather, like Saint Phanourius. Their favours might begranted universally, or limited to those who frequented their sanctuary orwho were local residents. The eulogia obtained at their sanctuary couldbe taken away and prove to be potent elsewhere.Theodore is to be numbered among those who slay a dragon. Theearliest account of this feat was long supposed to be an interpolation intothe Passio prima (BHG 1762d) in the manuscript Paris, gr . 1470, dated

34. R. Janin, La gographie ecclsiastique de l'empire byzantin, Eglises etMonastres, Paris 19692, p. 150-151. Anna Comnena, Alexiadis I viii 3, Bonn 1839, p.392-393 ; edited . Leib & P. Gautier, Paris 1937-1976, II, p. 133. Maraval, op . cit.(note 25), p. 409, distinguishes the tw o churches (no doubt incorrectly).35. Janin, op . cit., p. 152-153.36. Ibidem, p. 148.37. Amore, art. cit. (note 5), gives a list of foundations under the aegis of Theodore,notably in Italy.38. De Thematibus, ed. Bonn, III, p. 36, lines 11-12.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 173890. 9 The dragon was a local menace, blocking the road. The soldier ofChrist, after making the sign of the cross, cut off the dragon's head, andfrom that day the road was free of access. This was the banal act of aChristian hero, in line with those of his antique predecessors, Perseusand Hercules. It has none of the glamour of Saint George's feat, rescuinga princess from a dragon. In fact, its significance is primarilysymbolical : the commitment of the warrior saints to fight against evil inthe world. Warrior saints, however, were not the immediate successors ofantique heroes in this struggle. Certain intermediary figures, likeSolomon, Sisinnius and others who remain anonymous, are known(Figure I).40 Nevertheless, it may be that Theodore was the first warriorsaint to whom this responsibility was attributed and that much earlierthan 890 !If the original composer of the Life and Miracula BHG 1764 waswriting around 754, then, since he recounts the encounter with thedragon, an earlier date may be proposed for its introduction intoTheodore's legend. This date is supported by iconographical evidence onseals (Figure 2). On one made for Peter of Euchata, which has beendated between 650 and 730, a military figure does spear a snake.41 He isnot named Theodore in a legend, but, given the fact that the seal wasmade for a bishop of Euchata, it is unlikely that this identification wouldbe wrong. Further corroborative evidence is provided by one of the terracotta plaques found at Vinica in 1985 (Figure 3).42 On it Theodore, hisname in Latin in the legend, is seated on horseback, wearing armour.With his spear extended behind him, he impales the head of a dragon.There is no objective evidence for the date of the terra cotta, but, withthe legend in Latin, it is likely to have been made while Vinica was stillunder Roman jurisdiction, that is before Leo III the Isaurian (717-741)brought Eastern Illyria under the jurisdiction of Constantinople in 733.43It may therefore be plausibly advanced that Theodore was the first ofthe warrior saints to acquire the office of killing a dragon, earlier thanSaint George who was concurrently slaying a man (Diocletian ?). The

39. W. Hengstenberg, Der Drachenkampf des heiligen Theodor, Oriens Christianus 2,1912, p. 78-106, 241-280, assembled long ago the texts relevant to Theodore (Tiron) andhis dragon-slaying. As one would expect, those of the Stratelates are calqued on those ofTiron. Only Hengstenberg' s dating of the earliest account is challenged here.40. See my article, The Intaglio of Solomon in the Benaki Museum and the Origins ofthe Iconography of Warrior Saints, '' 15 , 1989-1990, . 35-42, for this intermediary stage. See also D. Frankurter,Religion in Roman Egypt, Princeton 1998, p. 3-4.41. Zacos collection, n 1288. Another, n 1287, with the name of Nicolas (nospecification of place) and the same iconography on the reverse, has been dated as earlyas 550-560. G. Zacos & A. Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals I ii, Basle 1972, p. 792-793,with illustrations.42. K. Balabanov, Terakotni ikoni od Vinica, Skopje 1991, p. 31, n 3.43. S. Vailh, Constantinople (glise), DTC 3, 1350-1354, La question d'lllyricumecclsiastique, I Ve-IXe sicle.


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174 CHRISTOPHER WALTERicon of them together at Mount Sinai is well known.44 However, theearliest securely dated example is the bas relief at Aght'amar (915-921).45

The precedent of king David's burial in his city (I Kings 2, 10), so thathis bones could protect Jerusalem, was widely followed in Byzantium.Citizens placed their confidence in the ability of their local saint's relicsto ward off the city's enemies. The saint's icon served the same purpose.For Euchata, Theodore's relics (at least in the first centuries, for latertrace of them was lost) offered some guarantee of his protection ; thesame was true of his icon. As noted above, these two themes weretreated in his Life and Miracula, BHG 1764. However, such protectionwas not a peculiar privilege of military saints ; it was rather a universalpractice, open to the participation of any saint. More restricted was anapparition of the saintly protector in battle to save his city from invaders.This, again, was not strictly a monopoly of military saints, althoughperhaps they predominated. For example, Andrew, an apostle, wasbelieved to have intervened on horseback to save the city of Patras (ofwhich he was patron).46 On the other hand, a military saint, Sergius,intervened to protect Rosafa, his sanctuary, from Chosroes.47 The similarintervention of Theodore (the foot soldier !) on horseback to saveEuchata, recounted also in BHG 1764, has been mentioned above.48The resemblance of this recital to the account of a similar incident atThessaloniki with Saint Demetrius was observed by Zuckerman.49 Theyhave this trait in common : the saintly patron was ordered from abovenot to hold back the barbarian invaders ; however, thanks to his pleading,the prohibition was rescinded. Thus each saint was able to save thepeople of whom he was the protector. Does one account depend on theother ? If so, which on which ? The account by bishop John ofThes Saloniki in his Miracula dates from the seventh century ; the recitalin BHG 1764 probably dates from about 754. Thus, if chronology istaken as the base, the account of the intervention of Saint Demetrius,recently metamorphosed from a deacon to a soldier, was the model.

44. K. Weitzmann, The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, The Icons I,Princeton 1976, 44, p. 71-73.45. S. Der Nersessian, Aght'amar, Church of the Holy Cross, Cambridge(Massachusetts) 1965, p. 19, fig. 49, 50.46. G. Santha, A Harcos Szentek Biznci Legendi, Budapest 1943, partly accessiblein the Italian rsum, Le leggende bizantine dei santi combattenti, p. 69-71 ; ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, De administrando imperil, Bonn, p. 217-220 = G. Moravcsik etc.,edited, Washington 1967, p. 228-233.47. V. Chapot, Resapha-Sergiopolis, BCH 27, 1903, p. 290, citing Evagrius, Historiaecclesiastica IV 28.48. See above, note 15.49. Zuckerman, art. cit. (note 13), p. 196-197, citing P. Lemerle, Les plus anciensrecueils des miracles de saint Dmtrius I, Paris 1979, p. 159-165. He notes that, whileDemetrius by his intercession saved both city and inhabitants, Theodore saved only theinhabitants of Euchata.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 75On the other hand, in the pre-Iconoclast period, the cult of SaintDemetrius had not spread much outside Thessaloniki, whereas Theodorewas already widely known. There may, however, have been contacts. On

the wellknown Sinai icon of the Virgin and Child flanked by two saints,the identification of one as Theodore has not posed problems, in spite ofthe absence of legends. As to the identification of the other... ErnstKitzinger, long ago, remarked that the other figure on the icon exactlyresembles the portrait, with legend, of Saint Demetrius at Santa MariaAntiqua in Rome.50 In fact, for the identification of this saint on the icon,the argument from conventional practice has usually been adduced :Theodore and George constitute a couple ; therefore, since Theodore'sidentity is virtually certain, that of the other saint must be George.Conventional practice offers no similar argument in favour of Demetrius.However, the resemblance of the recitals about their interventions infavour of their respective cities may invite a rapprochement. MoreoverTheodore's portrait was depicted in mosaic in the sanctuary of SaintDemetrius. Thus evidence, not previously exploited, does exist in favourof the saint who accompanies Theodore on the Sinai icon not beingGeorge but rather Demetrius.The evidence which exists for the representation of the saintlyprotector of a city at its gates is not abundant. The most outstandingexample would be a picture in the wall-calendar at Staro Nagoricino,painted at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Here the execution ofNestor is set outside the gates of a city which must be Thessaloniki(Figure 4, 4a).51 Both martyr and executioner are represented in militarydress. In the tympanum, above the city gates, there is a figure onhorseback. This must be Saint Demetrius, but whether he was reallyrepresented thus above the gates of Thessaloniki it is not possible to say.A second example is that of Saint Chrysogonus a dubious militarysaint above the gates of Zadar.52 The example may also be adduced ofan icon on Patmos of the Forty Martyrs. Above the gates of the city,represented to the left of the scene of martyrdom, is a figure, no doubt tobe interpreted as the pagan patron or Tyche of Sebaste.53

50. E. Kitzinger, On Some Icons of the Seventh Century, The Art of Byzantium andthe Modern World, edited R. Kleinbauer, Bloomington/London 1976, p. 137, fig. 4. Twodecades ago, the painting was so deteriorated that the legend was illegible, P. J.Nordhagen, Santa Maria Antiqua. The Frescoes of the Seventh Century, Acta adarchaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia 8, 1978, p. 105-106, pi . XVIII, LXV 7(legend).51. Ch. Walter, St. Demetrius : The Myroblytos of Thessalonika, Eastern ChurchesReview 5, 1973, p. 177, pi . 15 ; reprinted, Studies in Byzantine Iconography V,(Variorum) London 1977.52. S. Petricioli, Kameni grbovi grada Zadra, Radovi Instituta JugoslavenskeAkademije u Zadru 9, 1962, p. 359-372.53 M. Chatzidakis, Icons of Patmos, Athens 1977, n 82, pi. 136 (detail), 137, p. 128-129.


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176 CHRISTOPHER WALTERSometimes military saints intervened in battle, not necessarily in orderto protect a city under their patronage. Again such interventions were nottheir exclusive privilege. Accounts of such interventions are relatively

numerous. Behind them they have the tradition that the Dioscuri, afterfighting with the Romans at the Battle of Lake Regillus, announced theirvictory as they watered their horses at the fountain of Juturna in Rome.54The earliest similar legend in Christian tradition seems to be thatrecounted by Theodoret of Cyrus (ca 393-ca 466) in his Historiaecclesiastica : the apostles John and Philip, dressed in white andmounted on white horses, intervened in battle in favour of the emperorTheodosius.55No such interventions in battle are recorded for Theodore in the pre-Iconoclast period. On the other hand there are accounts of one possibly two in the tenth century, although they are attributed toTheodore Stratelates not Tiron. The interpretation of the texts provokedcontroversy, notably between H. Grgoire and Fr. Dlger.56 The versionsof the incident, which are fairly numerous, recount two Byzantinecampaigns against the Scythians (Russians), the first in 941 and thesecond in 971. Theodore appeared on the back of a white horse.57 Sincethe campaign of John Tzimisces was more notorious, Grgoire supposedthat the account of the earlier campaign in 941 was calqued on that of thelater one. The texts are interesting less, perhaps, for what they tell aboutthe apparition, than for the information which they give about Euchaitaand Euchaneia ; they also witness to the growing importance of theStratelates in the tenth century. We shall return to these two matters later.

A more precise account of a later intervention is given by TheodorePediasimos, writing a century afterwards.58 In 1246, John III Vatatzesconquered Melnik. A revolt headed by a Bulgarian, Dragota, led to theexpulsion of the Byzantines. In 1265, Theodore II Lascaris set out to54. P. Grimal, Dictionnaire de la mythologie grecque et romaine, Paris 1951, p. 128.55. Theodoret of Cyrus, Historia ecclesiastica, PG 82 , 1252.56. The interested scholar will find three articles by H. Grgoire L'expdition d'Igor(941) et la Chronique russe, Saint Thodore Spongarios ou Sporakios, Byz. 11, 1936, p.605-607 ; La dernire campagne de Jean Tzimiks contre les Russes, Byz. 12 1937, p.267-276 ; Saint Thodore le Stratilate et les Russes d'Igor, Byz. 13 , 1938, p. 291-300. Seealso Fr. Dlger, Bibliography, BZ 38, 1938, p. 232-234, giving a list of interventions by

other scholars. The principal point at issue seems to be the identity in the Life of Basil theYounger (BHG 263-264f) of forDlger a contemporary general but for Grgoire the saint. The outbreak of war in 1939seems to have put a stop to the controversy.57. So Leo the Deacon, Historia, Bonn, p. 153, lines 21-22 ; loannis Scylitzaesynopsis historiarum, edited J.Thurn, Berlin/New York 1973, p. 308-309 ; GeorgeCedrenus, Historia, Bonn II, p. 410-411 ; Zonaras, Epitomae historiarum , Bonn III, p.534, lines 2-14.58. M. Treu, edited, Pediasimi eiusque amicorum quae extant {BHG 1773), Potsdam1899, p. 17-25, commentary, p. 50-61. The amendments proposed by P. N. Papageorgiu,Zu Theodoros Pediasimos, BZ 10 , 1901, p. 425-432, do not greatly modify Treu's text.Fr. Dlger, Zwei byzantinsche Reiterheroen erobern die Festung Melnik, Sbornik GavrilKasarov, Izvestiya na B'lgarskiya Arheologiceski Institut 16 , 1950, p. 275-279.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 177recapture Melnik. He was based at Serres, where there was a sanctuarydedicated to the two Theodores. The emperor implored the help of thetwo saints before marching on Melnik. En route, he was accompanied bytwo handsome young men ( , ), whom he did not know. Astounded, the emperor asked membersof his entourage who they were. Then he recalled having asked the twoTheodores for their help. They went forward to rout the enemy. On hisreturn to Serres, the emperor lavished gifts on the saints' shrine.A warrior saint might be required to invest an emperor with a sword.This was not common in Byzantine iconography. In fact, as far as I amaware, the only surviving example in poor condition is that ofSaint George investing Milutin in the church at Staro Nagoricino (1316-1318).59 Saint George stands to the right of the composition, that is tosay, to the left of Milutin (Figure 5). He wears court not military dresswith a circlet on his head. He holds a sword in his left hand and makes agesture towards the emperor with his right. Milutin wears imperial dress.Djuric interpreted it as commemorating Milutin' s recent victory over theTurks.From this picture it is possible to reconstruct the now lost picture ofthe investiture by Theodore of Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) in thehouse of Leo Sikountinos at Thessaloniki.60 A description of it hassurvived in Marc. gr . 524, f. 36 : On the gate of a house whereon wasrepresented the emperor and above him the most-holy Mother of Godhaving Christ in her bosom (in the act of) crowning the emperor, anangel preceding him, Saint Theodore Tiron handing him the sword andSaint Nicolas following behind... Also present is the horseman Tiron,Christ's martyr, who rides in front of you when you battle the enemy, whoinstructs your hands in military contest . Apparently Theodore wasrepresented twice, once handing a sword to the emperor and again onhorseback as if preceding him into battle.It seems that in the later Byzantine epoch, with the Turks ever moremenacing, not only did the emperor's status as supreme militarycommander become enhanced but also his dependence on the aid of themilitary saints became more explicit. The triumphal rendering of Basil IIin the frontispiece of his Psalter, Marc, graec. 17, f. Ill, is archetypal.However, the investiture with a spear is undertaken by an angel ; the sixwarrior saints, represented in bust form to left and right of the emperor,fight with him as a friend, according to the poem facing the miniatureon the opposite page, throwing down enemies prostrate at his feet.61

59. V. Djurio, Tr i dogadadja u srpskoj drzavi XIV. veka i njihov odjek u slikarstvu,Zbornik za likovne umetnosti 4, 1968, p. 68-76 ; B. Todio, Staro Nagoricino, Belgrade1993, p. 119.60. Sp. P. Lampros, 524, NE 8, 19 1 1, p. 43 ; English translation,C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453, Englewood Cliffs 1972, p. 226.61. The miniature is reproduced everywhere, and the accompanying verses aresometimes transcribed. See, for example, A. Cutler, The Aristocratic Psalters inByzantium, Paris 1984, n 58, p. 115-116, fig. 412. Not all transcriptions are correct. That


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178 CHRISTOPHER WALTERInvestiture, in fact, was an office more often performed by angels. Themeeting of Joshua with the commander of Jehovah's army (Joshua 5, 13-15) was assimilated to an investiture ; the emperor might be acclaimed asa New Joshua.62One final service was required of warrior saints : the elimination of apersecutor. From the time of Lactantius and Eusebius, it was held thatpersecutors came to a bad end, usually by an agonizing disease.63 Thetradition was maintained in iconography, notably in the illustration ofsome Metaphrastic volumes.64 The most common formula was torepresent the persecutor with a snake, normally encircling him :Dochiariou 5, f. 117, Maxentius, f. 205, Diocletian ;65 Sinai 508, f. 66V,Trajan holding a snake in his right hand, f. 190, a crowned figureencircled by a snake, f. 234V, Maximian (?) holding a vessel from whicha snake is drinking;66 Marc, graec. 351 (714), f. 117, Diocletianencircled by a snake.67 Other formulae were possible, as in Vatic,gr . 1679, where the martyrs are represented actually revengingthemselves on their persecutors. Not all of these martyrs were soldiers ;even those who were are not represented in military costume : f. 3,Ananias (bishop) strangling his persecutor, f. 80v, Probus, Tarachus andAndronicus (warriors) with the emperor prostrate at their feet, f. 137V,Varus (not a warrior) clubbing the emperor, f. 160, Artemius (warrior)spearing the emperor, f. 336, Epimachus (not a warrior) trampling theemperor and pulling his beard.68In the three literary texts which recount how a martyr intervened inorder to rid the world of a persecuting emperor, he is each time a warrior.Two of these incidents are well represented in iconography. In the caseof Saint George, the Greek text has not survived, only its translation intoCoptic and Ethiopian.69 Moreover it is not told that Saint Georgeintervened directly. An official sent by Diocletian to Lydda broke a lampby I. Sevcenko, The Illuminators of the Menologium of Basil II, DOP 16, 1962, p. 272,note 92, contains errors. In my article The Iconographical Sources for the Coronation ofMilutin and Simonida at Gracanica, L'art byzantin au dbut du XlVe sicle, Belgrade1978, reprinted Prayer and Power in Byzantine and Papal Imagery (Variorum), Aldershot1993, IV, I have published a photograph of the verses, pi . 1 lb, as well as transcribing andtranslating them, p. 193-194.

62. V. DjuriC, Novi Isus Navin, Zograf 14, 1983, p. 5-14.63. Lactantius, De la mort des perscuteurs, edited J. Moreau, Paris I 1954, p. 55-64 ;Eusebius, Histoire ecclsiastique, edited G. Bardy, Paris 1952-1960, X 8-9, III, p. , IV, p. 131-132.64. N. Patterson-Sevcenko, Illustrated Manuscripts of the MetaphrastianMenologion, Chicago/London 1990, p. 193.65. Ibidem, p. 90.66. Ibidem, p. 155-156.67. Ibidem, p. 176.68. Ibidem, p. 161-164 ; Ch. Walter, The Triumph of Saint Peter in the Church ofSaint Clement at Ohrid and The Iconography of The Triumph of The Martyrs, Zograf 5,1974, p. 30-34.69. Walter, art. cit. (note 2), p. 316-317.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 79hanging before Saint George's icon. A piece of glass from the lamplodged in his head, causing leprosy and his death. When Diocletianhimself went to Saint George's shrine in Lydda, the archangel Michaelintervened. Diocletian went blind and died shortly afterwards. SaintGeorge was, in fact, represented on horseback killing a man at least asearly as 915-921 at Aght'amar.70 Usually no legend identifies the man onrepresentations of this scene which were particularly numerous inGeorgia.71 However, on two icons, dating from the first half of theeleventh century, the prostrate figiure is named the godless kingiocletian.72

Closer to the literary narrative, which, in fact, was much developedand embellished, are the representations of Mercurius killing Julian theApostate.73 The text resembles that of the account of Theodore andSergius killing the emperor Valens.74 Julian was killed on June 26th, 363.He was succeeded by Jovian, and, in 364, by Valens, who, being anArian and a persecutor of the Orthodox, was not considered to be anybetter than Julian. Faustus of Byzantium told in his History of Armeniaof a sophist's vision of the assembled martyrs in heaven. Thecla joinedthem ; she proposed an intervention in order to rid the world of thepersecuting emperor. Saints Sergius and Theodore departed to performthis office. Later the sophist saw them return. They announced the deathof Valens. In making known the emperor's death, the sophist riskedexecution for treason. However, he was given three days' grace, at theend of which the fact was generally known. The story is, of course,apocryphal, because Valens actually died in battle at Adrianople in 378.

Faustus's History survived only in Armenian. Peeters thought that theoriginal text was written in Greek and that it was early, earlier than theaccount of Mercurius killing Julian, which was already circulating in themid-fifth century. Garsoan, however, argues convincingly that itdepends rather on a Syriac text. According to Peeters, whom, in general,Garsoan follows, it was impossible for the intervention of Theodore and70. Der Nersessian, op . cit. (note 45), p. 19, fig. 49.71. G. N. Tschubinaschvili, Georgian Repouss Work, VIII-XVIH Centuries, Tbilissi1957, pi . 29-98, 103.72. Idem, in Byzanz und der christliche Osten, edited W.F. Volbach & J. Lafontaine-Dosogne, Berlin 1968, p. 332, pl . 360 (Museum, Kutaissi) ; Idem, op . cit. (note 71), pi . 93,Weitzmann, op . cit. (note 44), fig. 28 (at Nakipari). The name Diocletian is sometimesinscribed by the prostrate figure on late Georgian icons.73. See above, note 3.74. P. Peeters, Un miracle de SS . Serge et Thodore et la Vie de S. Basile dans Faustede Byzance, An. Boll. 39, 1921, p. 70-73. See also The Epic History Attributed toP'awstos Buzand , translated and edited by Nina G. Garsoan, Cambridge (Mass) 1989,IV x, p. 130-132, and her commentary, p. 279-280. Surprisingly, this eminent scholarwrote, p. 407, that Sargis (Sergius) was traditionally martyred under Diocletian, ca 303(actually Maximian or Maximinus Daia), that Justinian (actually Anastasius I) renamedRosafa Serginpolis, and that he was always represented in military dress (by no means !).Her notes about Theodore, p. 413, and Vales (Valens), p. 421, are more satisfactory.


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180 CHRISTOPHER WALTERSergius to have been modelled on that of Mercurius.75 Thus theirintervention was archetypal. Yet, paradoxically, that of Mercurius wasfar more popular and frequently represented, while no pictures of theirsis known. In his Homily In supremum vale Gregory of Nazianzus refers,without mentioning their names, to Julian and Valens.76 The eleventh-century illustrator of Panteleimon 6 picked up the allusion (Figure 6). Heillustrated the passage, f. 242 v, with two miniatures. Julian is representedbeing killed by Mercurius, while Valens is represented simply as anArian, crouched in the position habitual for Arius when condemned atthe first council of Nicaea.77Early Representations of Theodore as a Warrior

We are fortunate in having Gregory of Nyssa's description of thePassion cycle in Theodore's sanctuary : There were representations ofthe saint's brave deeds, his resistance, his torments, the ferocious facesof the tyrants, the martyr's most blessed death and the representation ofChrist in human form, presiding the contest.78 Although analogies mayeasily be found for this cycle, it is unique for Theodore. An isolatedscene occurs of the martyrdom of Theodore Tiron by burning in theMenologium of Basil II, p. 407, and of the Stratelates being scourged inthe Theodore Psalter, f. 39V (Figure 7).79 Although the Stratelates isrepresented in military dress in his portrait in the Menologion, p. 383(Figure 8),80 warrior saints were not normally so clad in scenes of theirmartyrdom, so that it is unlikely that the Tiron would have been in thelost cycle in his sanctuary.The few known portraits, which, if not objectively dated, can beconsidered to be early on stylistic grounds, are not more helpful, even ifthey make it clear that Theodore's portrait type was established from thebeginning and consistently maintained. There are the two fragments ofcloth in the Fogg Art Museum, Boston, one with his head and traditionalfeatures, the other with a legend () () (), which hasbeen attributed to Egypt and the sixth century.81 The portrait in the75. Ibidem, p. 76, 78, 87-88.76. PG 36, 461.77. G. Galavaris, The Illustrations of The Liturgical Homilies of GregoryNazianzenus, Princeton 1969, p. 211, fig. 177.78. See above, note 7 ; English translation, Mango, op . cit. (note 60), p. 36-37.79. // Menologio di Basilio II, edited C. Stornajolo & P. Franchi de' Cavalieri,Vatican/Milan 1907 (Vatic, gr. 1613) ^February 17th, PG 117, 317 ; S. Der Nersessian,L'illustration des Psautiers du Moyen ge II, Londres Add. 19.352, Paris 1970, p. 28, fig.68 , illustrating Psalm 34, 15, Scourges were brought against me. The Stratelates is saidto have been beheaded, but the flagellation which preceded his execution is described inhis Passion , L'loge de saint Thodore le Stratilate par Euthyme Protasecretis (BHG1753b), edited Fr. Halkin, An. Boll. 99, 1981, p. 20.80. Menologio (op. cit., preceding note), p. 383, February 8th, PG ill, 317.81. The Age of Spirituality, edited K. Weitzmann, New York 1979, n 494, p. 549-550.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 8 1church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Rome, is also dated to the sixthcentury.82

On the icon of the Virgin and Child flanked by two saints at MountSinai, again attributed to the sixth century, the figure identified asTheodore wears court dress.83 However, on two later ones, 13,possibly of Egyptian provenance, and 14, where he is accompanied bythe deacon Leo, Theodore wears armour.84 The saint on certain sealsassociated with Euchata, also identified as Theodore, again wearsarmour.85 The example may also be adduced of a capital, found at Aqabaabout 1935 and now in the Archaeological Museum at Amman (Figure9).86 It is comparatively small (27 40 37 centimetres), and isaccompanied by another similar capital on which Longinus isrepresented. Both he and Theodore wear military costume, hold a spearand shield and are haloed. With the same lot a stele was discovered withan inscription that may be dated to 555. There is no necessaryconnection between the capitals and the stele ; consequently there are noobjective criteria for dating them. They could be sixth or seventh centurywork, but the crudity of their execution makes such a dating conjectural.On the other hand on the votive mosaic in Saint Demetrius,Thessaloniki, generally dated to the seventh century, Theodore wearscourt dress.87In fact, although it was never de rigueur, it did become morecustomary for military saints to be represented in armour. However, at noperiod can it be said that armour was an essential attribute of the militarysaint.

The art of Cappadocia, being more plentiful, provides a convenientwatershed. As is wellknown, in Cappadocia scenes and cycles are rare ;there are none for Theodore. However representations of him onhorseback, usually spearing a dragon, and on foot, in court or militarydress, are relatively abundant. There is no hope of providing a completeand exact repertory, given the frequent new discoveries or identifications(and, on occasions, inadequate descriptions) proposed by the specialistsin Cappadocian art. When Theodore is represented on horseback, he is82. G. Matthiae, SS. Cosma e S. Teodoro, Rome 1948, pi . 3, 9 ; Mavrodinova, art. cit.

(note 6), p. 34, fig. 1.83. Weitzmann, op . cit. (note 44), 3 ; Age of Spirituality, n 478. Regrettably,Weitzmann identifies the early portraits of Theodore incorrectly as the Stratelates ; he hasbeen followed by other scholars.84. Weitzmann, op . cit., 13 , 14.85. See above, note 41.86. First published by N. Glueck, Exploration in Eastern Palestine III, Annual of theAmerican School of Oriental Research , 18-19, 1937-1939, p. 1-3, figures 1-2. See alsoM. Schwabe, A Greco-Christian Inscription from Aila, Harvard Theological Review 46,195 p. 49. Exhibited in the Muse de la civilisation gallo-romaine at Lyon, May 1989,Catalogue n 51, p. 283.87. R. Hoddinott, Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia and Southern Serbia,London 1963, p. 154-155, pi . 34.


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182 CHRISTOPHER WALTERinvariably in military costume. Eleven examples are known to me of himspearing a dragon, sometimes alone but often in the company of SaintGeorge. I cite here only those at Mavrucan n 3 and Greme n 28(Figures 10, II).88 Pictures of Theodore on horseback, not spearing adragon are uncommon : Derin Dere kilisesi ? (ninth century) ;89 Gremen 18 ? (eleventh century) ;90 Church of the Stratelates, Mavrucan ?(1256/7) 91 . In court dress, he is represented at Aikel Aga kilisesi(Figure 12),92 Tokali I (Greme n 7),93 Balli kilise (Soganh),94 Kililarkilise (Greme n 29),95 (all the first half of the tenth century). A singlelater example of Theodore in court dress is known to me at Saint Barbara(Soganh) (1006/1021).96 Finally I have noted ten portraits of Theodorestanding in military dress : Greme n 9,97 Tokali II,98 Tagar," Smbllkilise (Hasan Dagi)100 (all tenth century) ; Basilica of Constantine(Yeniky),101 Kusluk Kililar (Greme n 33),102 Karanlik (Gremen 23), 103 Greme n 22, 104 Karaba kilise (Soganh),105 Saint Catherine(Greme n 21 )106 (all eleventh century).In conclusion, before Iconoclasm Theodore was already being treatedprimarily as a military saint, performing the office appropriate to hisstate and represented in military costume. After Iconoclasm, althoughthere was no rigorous definition, it became increasingly habitual to

88. These are studied in detail in my article Saint Theodore and the Dragon, to appearin a volume in honour of David Buckton. Much of my information about Saint Theodorein Cappadocia has been generously provided by Madame Nicole Thierry. Mavrucan n 3,N. Thierry, Haut Moyen ge en Cappadoce : l'glise n 3 de Mavrucan, Journal dessavants 1972, p. 258-263, fig. 21 ; Yilanli kilise, Greme n 28, de Jerphanion, op . cit.(following note) I, p. 142 (with correction, p. 608), pi . 135 1.89. (In this and the following notes, G. de Jerphanion, Les glises rupestres deCappadoce, Paris 1932-1942, is cited De Jerphanion; C. Jolivet-Lvy, Les glisesbyzantines de Cappadoce. Le programme iconographique de l 'abside et ses abords, Paris1991, is cited Jolivet-Lvy.) Jolivet-Lvy, p. 190. A question mark after the name of thechurch indicates that the description available does not necessarily eliminate the presenceof a dragon.90. De Jerphanion I, p. 486.91. De Jerphanion II, p. 236.92. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 328, plate 183, figure 2 ; N. Thierry, Un dcor pr-iconoclaste deCappadoce: Aikel Aga kilisesi, Cahiers archologiques 18 , 1968, p. 35-36, fig. 3.Theodore and George stand side by side, each holding a cross.93. De Jerphanion I, p. 267.94. De Jerphanion II, p. 260.95. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 141.96. De Jerphanion II, p. 322-323.97. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 306.98. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 107.99. De Jerphanion II, p. 191.100. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 306.101. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 282.102. De Jerphanion I, p. 246. Now called Meryemma kilise, Jolivet-Lvy, p. 143.103. De Jerphanion I, p. 396.104. De Jerphanion I, p. 457.105. De Jerphanion II, p. 340.106. De Jerphanion I, p. 476.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 83represent him as a soldier. Portraits of him in court dress, common in thetenth century, disappear in Cappadocia in the eleventh century. On theother hand, while portraits of him in military dress are less common thanthose of him in court dress in the tenth century, in the eleventh century itis thus that he is regularly represented, as, for example at Hosios Loukas(Figure 13).Euchata & Euchaneia

These two places tend to be confused, both in the Byzantine sources,liturgical, historical and hagiographical, and in the writings of modernscholars. Yet basically, whatever may have been written to the contrary,their respective situations are clear. For Euchata there is no great problem.Although the Byzantine city has been completely destroyed, there isgeneral agreement with H. Grgoire's identification of its site as that of themodern Avkat, a day's march from Amaseia.107 Gregory of Nyssa does notactually name it in his Encomium of Theodore, but, from the fifth century,references to it by name are common. C. Mango and I. Sevcenko werefortunate enough to identify spolia with inscriptions concerning Euchatain the neighbourhood ; one is about a wall built by the emperorAnastasius I between 515 and 518, the other about the city's episcopalstatus from the time of the same emperor.108 It was mentioned as a city inJustinian's Novel 28 , dated 535. 109 From the seventh century the see isknown to have been autocephalous. An eminent ecclesiastic, Peter theFuller, Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, was exiled there from 477 to482.110 However, Euchata patently owed its prestige to Christ's athletewho is a citizen of heaven, Theodore the guardian of this town.111 Alypiusthe Stylite visited Theodore's shrine at some moment during his longife.112 So did John Moschus, taking in Theodore at Euchata, along withJohn at Ephesus, Thecla at Seleucia and Sergius at Saphas (sic , no doubt acorruption of Rosafa).113 Theodosius , who visited Asia Minor some timeafter the death of Anastasius in 518, was aware of the existence ofTheodore's sanctuary, although he may not have actually visited it,because he situated it incorrectly in Galatia and not in Hellespont.114

107. H. Grgoire, Gographie byzantine, BZ 19 , 1910, p. 59-61.108. C. Mango & I. SevCenko, Three Inscriptions of the Reigns of Anastasius I andConstantine V, BZ 65, 1972, p. 378-384.109. Ibidem.110. Theophanes, Chronographia, edited C. de Boor, Leipzig 1883-1885, I p. 125, .111. Mango & SevCenko, art. cit. (note 108), citing the inscription found at YurgiiPasa Camii.112. Premetaphrastic Life, edited H. Delehaye, Les saints stylites, Brussels 1923, p.1521113 (Alypius is reputed to have lived to be a centenarian, born ca 515, died underHeraclius, 610- 641.)113. Pratum spirituale 180, PG 87.3, 3052b.114. Rcits des premiers plerins chrtiens en Proche-Orient (IVe-VIIe sicle), editedP. Maraval, Paris 1996, p. 194.


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184 CHRISTOPHERWALTERLater direct references to Euchaita are rare until the time when JohnMauropous became bishop. It is evident that the cult of Theodore (Tiron)was then still flourishing. However, John Mauropous, in poor health,

returned to Constantinople in 1047. 115 A successor as bishop of Euchaitawould have been appointed, although his name is not known. Accordingto his Life, George the Hagioretes and his pilgrim companions werereceived there hospitably by the bishop in 1059.116 After that, apart fromthe mention of a bishop Basil in a synodal list of 1082 and of a bishopConstantine in 1173 (neither of them necessarily resident),117 no more isheard of Euchaita.H. Delehaye wrote : On discute... la question de savoir s'il fautdistinguer Euchaita d'Euchaneia... Je persiste croire que, dans lestextes concernant S. Thodore, les deux noms dsignent la mme localitou peut-tre deux localits voisines.118 It is true that in many texts thetwo places are either confused or considered to be identical. However,there are a few which establish that they were separate places.Geographically, their respective situations are presented lucidly in theLife of Lazarus of Mount Galesius (BHG 979-980e), who died in1053. 119 The hagiographer tells that ... ... , . Oikonomides would identify Euchaneia with the modernTurkish Corum about thirty-five kilometres west of Avkat Euchaita).120The geographical separation is confirmed by ecclesiastical documents.Bishops of Euchaneia appear in synodal lists from 1042. 121 John ofEuchaneia sat with Basil of Euchaita at the trial of John Italos in 1082. 122Moreover a seal of John's has survived.123 On one side there is theportrait of a bearded saint in military dress with cuirass and lance. Onlypart of the inscription but enough to identify the saint hassurvived . On the other side, the inscription is betterpreserved . Leo of Euchaneia sat with Constantine of Euchaita at a

115. Giovanni Mauropode, Otto canoni paracletici a N.S. Ges Crsto, editedE. Follieri, Rome 1967, p. 15-16.116. P. Peeters, Histoires monastiques gorgiennes II, An. Boll. 36/37, 1917-1919,p. 121-122.117. See below, note 124.118. H. Delehaye, reviewing J.G.C. Anderson etc., Recueil des inscriptions grecqueset latines du Pont et de l'Armnie, An. Boll. 30, 19 1 1, p. 336.1 19. AASS Nov. Ill 518.120. Oikonomides, art. cit. (note 26), p. 327-332.121. J. Darrouzs, Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Paris1981, p. 87.122. V. Grumel, Regestes, second edition, revised J. Darrouzs, Paris 1989, I 3, 926, p. 401-402 ; J. Gouillard, Le procs officiel de Jean l'Italien, TM 9, 1985, p. 141.123. Zacos, op . cit. (note 41) II, compiled and edited by J.M. Nesbitt, Berne 1984,p. 271, n 519 ; Plates II, Berne 1985, pi . 53, n 51 ; Oikonomides, art. cit., (note 26), p.328.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 85meeting of the Constantinopolitan synod on July 11th, 1173. 124 To thesewitnesses in favour of Euchaita and Euchaneia being different cities,may be added that of Psellos, also of the eleventh century, in his Letter97, ) . He wrote : , , , 125 It isobvious that, if Euchaneia was the seat of a bishopric, it could not havebeen a neighbouring locality of Euchaita. Further, it can be affirmed thatit would have been to Euchaneia, not Euchaita, as Delehaye and othershave maintained,126 that John Tzimisces attributed the name ofTheodoroupolis (even if the name was not, apparently, used). It was thesanctuary of the Stratelates that he rebuilt, not that of the Tiron, becausethe Stratelates had intervened in his favour against the Scythians.127Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates

My late colleague and friend Doula Mouriki once wrote that the pre-Iconoclast Theodore, known particularly on early icons, was the Stratelates.128 Actually, it can be shown that he waswithout doubt the Tiron. It is true that, when his portrait isaccompanied by a legend with his name, it is not normally specified thathe is the Tiron. This is the case not only for pre-Iconoclastrepresentations but also for those in Cappadocia. There only once, in theForty Martyrs, Suve, a late church securely dated to 1216/7, is his namequalified by the title Tiron ( ).129 On the other hand, all theearly Lives and Passions are clearly concerned with the Tiron, becausethey specify his low military rank.130 The earliest dateable textconcerning the Stratelates is the Laudatio of Nicetas of Paphlagonia,who died in 88.131

124. Regestes, ed. cit. (note 122), n 1126.125. Michaelis Pselli Scripta Minora , edited E. Kurtz, II, Epistulae , Milan 1941, p.124.126. H. Delehaye, Euchaita et la lgende de saint Thodore, Anatolian StudiesPresented to W.M. Ramsay, Manchester 1923, p. 134, reprinted Mlanges d'hagiographiegrecque et latine, Brussels 1966, p. 280; R. Janin, Euchates, DHGE 15 , 1963, 1311-1313 ; Idem, Euchania, ibidem, 1313-1314.127. See above, notes 56, 57.128. D. Mouriki, Ta , Athens 1985, p. 156.129. De Jerphanion, op . cit. (note 89) II, p. 162, 173 ; Jolivet-Lvy, op . cit. (note 89),p. 207 (date of church).130. It is well known that the Greek Turon (Tiron) was calqued on the Latin Tiro(recruit or young soldier). According to Lampe, the word was used in this sense inPatristic texts, as well as analogically for a candidate to the religious life. It seems to havebeen restricted to Theodore as a title. Two other words were available : (footsoldier) and (recruit). Apparently, the latter was never applied toTheodore.131. Nicetas of Paphlagonia, in his Laudatio (BHG 1753), Acta Sanctorum vol. cit.(note 9), p. 83-89, specifically distinguishes the tw o Theodores. However, it should benoted that a third Theodore appears in the sources, for whom no original texts in Greekhave survived, and for whom there is no liturgical commemoration. See A. Galuzzi,


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186 CHRISTOPHER WALTERIt is, therefore, unlikely that a distinct Theodore Stratelates emerged inByzantine hagiography before the ninth century. Although much of whatis recounted about the Tiron should be taken with a pinch of salt, it

surely has a substratum of truth. There really was a Theodore Tiron. Onthe other hand, Theodore Stratelates was equally surely a fictitiouscharacter. As Delehaye wrote, l'existence du second Thodore n'estpoint tablie historiquement. The accounts of his origins : born into afamily from Euchaita, which went to live in Heracleia, his martyrdomunder Licinius, of which his servant Abgar provided an eye-witnessaccount, his final beheading and the translation of his mortal remains toEuchaneia (or Euchaita ?), all this is in the style of the professional andexperienced hagiographer. But what occasioned the creation of anothermilitary saint called Theodore of superior rank ?Delehaye observed that such a phenomenon was not isolated inhagiography.132 The multiplication of homonyms which, in reality,represent the same saint, normally had one of three origins : in thediversity of the legends circulating about him, in the diversity of thefeasts in his honour, and in the celebrity of certain sanctuaries, in whichthe saint was celebrated with different titles (sous des vocablesdivers). However, Delehaye was not prepared to pronounce which ofthese three origins was to be considered that of the ddoublement ofTheodore. Other scholars have been more temerarious. For example,Mavrodinova attributed the doubling to the existence of two differentportrait traditions, one Egyptian and the other Oriental.133 Oikonomidessuggested that in one sanctuary an icon of Theodore in military costumewas venerated, while in the other there was an icon of him in courtdress.134 Neither explanation seems to me to be satisfactory andsufficient, but then that which I am about to propose may also provokesceptical reactions.It seems that the word was equivocal. In other words, itmight be used as a personal title or simply as a general, honorific termfor a soldier, an officer with a certain standing. Some evidence may becited in favour of its use as a general, honorific term. In Cappadocia, thechurch at Mavrucan (Grelz) is known as of the Stratelates. It is late,dated by a dedicatory inscription to 1256/7. Here the term stratelatesqualifies both George and (a) Theodore.135 Which Theodore ? A furtherexample : on the eleventh-century Paris Hetoimasia, military saints arerepresented, all in court dress and holding a cross. They are Demetrius,Teodoro orientale, Bibliotheca sanctorum 12 , 249. Two Eastern texts concerning him,BHO 1163 and BHO 1174, may be placed high in a list of examples of puerilehagiographical folklore.132. Delehaye, op . cit. (note 5), p. 15.133. Mavrodinova, art. cit. (note 6), p. 50.134. Oikonomides, art. cit. (note 26), p. 330-335. His assertion that the to whomMauropous refers could not have been Theodore Tiron also leaves me unconvinced.135. De Jerphanion, op . cit. (note 89) II, p. 236.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 87Theodore, George and Procopius, and they are accompanied by a longlegend : The , having appeared from the four ends (of theworld) as witnesses to the divine pronouncements, are most ready to beawarded a place (in heaven).136 Since none of the other three was giventhe title Stratelates, the word is used here as a general, honorific term. Inpassing, we may note that a Sabbas Stratelates is also known, the doubleof another Sabbas, the Goth.137 In his case, Stratelates is evidently a title.Finally, there is the phrase in the Life of Basil the Younger, in which thesaint who intervened in battle in favour of John Tzimisces is called .138 This was inthe tenth century.Grgoire was right, to my mind, to see in the last word a corruptspelling (for which he cited parallels) of . The most ancientchurch known in Constantinople dedicated to Theodore (Tiron) wasattributed to the patrician Sphorakios, consul in 452, and known as, while n church dedicated only to the Stratelates isrecorded. It would seem, then, that at some point confusion arose. Wasthe general, honorific term stratelates being applied to Theodore or is theLife of Basil attributing this title to the second, recently emergedTheodore ?139 Their distinctive personalities would only become clearonce they began to be represented as twins. For one, the Tiron, ahagiographical tradition existed. For the other, pious authors were nottardy in creating one. Whose mortal remains were actually venerated atEuchaneia we cannot know. However, in the earliest Typica, JerusalemHoly Cross 40 and Patmos 266, both probably dating from the tenthcentury, the feast of the Stratelates, whose took place in (sic), was celebrated on June 8th, with the office as writtenfor the first Saturday of Lent (the long-established feast of the Tiron).140Later, in Paris, gr . 1990, dated 1063, and Oxford Bodl. Auct. 5 10,dated 1329, the translation of the relics of the Stratelates was celebratedthat day, while his main feast was transferred to February 8th.141An intriguing difference may be noticed in the Sirmondianus (12th-13th centuries) between the entries for the celebrations of the Tiron and

136. Most recently, Byzance. L'art byzantin dans les collections publiques franaises,edited J. Durand, etc., Paris 1992, p. 269-270, n 175. Durand observes that thesewarrior saints proclament (...) la lgitimit des ambitions politiques et militaires del'Empire byzantin. I. Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, Byzantine Icons in Steatite, Vienna 1985,p. 95-96, n 3 (commentary, p. 64) ; J. Durand, La donation Ganay. La steatite del'Htimasie, La revue du Louvre et des Muses de France 1988, p. 190-194.137. See above, note 22, and, more particularly, . Folueri, Saba Goto e SabaStratelate, An. Boll. 80, 1962, p. 279 : Mi sembra ehe senza scrupolo si possa iscrivereSaba Stratelate nella categoria dei santi ehe non sono mai esistiti. So this would be a caseof f ictitious doubling analogous to that of the Theodores.138. See above, note 58.139. The same question may be posed with regard to the Theodore addressed byManuel Philes in his Carmen n 6. See below, note 151.140. J. Mateos, Le Typicon de la Grande Eglise I, Rome 1962, p. xvm-xix, 311.141. Ibidem, p. 229.


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188 CHRISTOPHER WALTERthose of the Stratelates. While there are several references for the Tironin the Synaxary to the churches in Constantinople where celebrations inhis honour were held, notably - , no reference ismade to Euchata.142 On the other hand, for the Stratelates, no mention ismade of the church in which his feasts were celebrated, no doubtbecause none was dedicated to him, apart, of course, from his sanctuary,which the Sirmondianus, correctly, situated in Euchaneia. 143It is understandable that, in such circumstances, two distinct saintsshould emerge. Yet, although, perhaps, the Stratelates was moreesteemed in late Byzantium than the humble footsoldier, having twofeasts which were half-days ( , ), while the Tiron had only one,144 no evidence exists that hehad his own church in Constantinople, or anywhere else for that matterexcept at Euchaneia. Where, then, was his liturgy celebrated? One canonly suppose that it took place in one of the numerous churchesdedicated to the Tiron, most likely in the .Nevertheless churches did exist dedicated to both the Theodores. Theearliest, at Serres, known from the thirteenth century, has beenmentioned already with regard to the intervention of both saints in battleon behalf of the emperor Theodore II Lascaris.145 A second, inConstantinople itself, for a monastery named , after thehusband of the woman who endowed it and who entered the communityas a nun, was built at the end of the fourteenth century.146 A third atPergamon, ... is datedby an inscription on the lintel over the south door of the church to1544/5. 147 This twinning of the two Theodores was much lesswidespread in inscriptions and dedications than in the literary sources,from which, however, a few examples should be adduced. In Digenes

142. Synaxarium constantinopolitanum, 469 (February 17th, with a reference to hisprincipal feast, the first Saturday of Lent, . 272 (December 1st, a commemoration in the same church), 197 (November5th, the same), 774 (June 26th, '). For this ecclesiastical foundation and itsplace in the history of the cult of the Theodores, see above, note 56 (controversy aroundSphoracius) ; note 17 (Chrysippus first refers to Sphoracius) ; note 35 (Janin's briefaccount of the church in Byzantine sources).143. Synaxarium constantinopolitanum, 451-453 (February 8th), 735-738 (June 8th,where it is specified that Euchaneia was ). Paris, gr. 1589 (12thcentury) and 1582 (14th century) both give Eucha'ita, not Euchaneia. So does Vatic, gr.1613 (see above, note 79).144. Photii Nomocanon cum commentariis Theodori Balsamonis (12th century), PG104, 1072-1073 ; Novel of Manuel I Comnenus (1166), PG 133, 760 : February 7th andJune 8th for the Stratelates, February 17th for the Tiron.145. See above, note 58.146. Janin, op . cit. (note 34), p. 291, citing Georgius (Pseudo-)Phrantzes, ChroniconMajus,PG 156,751.147. Halkin, art. cit. (note 30), V p. 77, citing H. Grgoire, Recueil des inscriptionsgrecques chrtiennes d'Asie Mineure , Paris 1922, p. 17, n 51.


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THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 189Akrites, compiled perhaps in the eleventh century,148 the thrice-blessed Basil overawed mighty and brave warriors, thanks to the grace ofGod, of God's unconquerable mother (...) and of the prize-bearing greatmartyrs, , .149 Elsewhere,there is a reference to two presents, jewelled pictures of the saints, 150 To these may be addedfour poems composed by Manuel Philes (born ca 1275, died ca 1345). 151In iconography, it was regularly the practice to represent the twoTheodores together, in the company of warrior and other saints. Inthis final section of my article, I propose to examine this phenomenon oftwinning, more particularly under its aesthetic aspect.The Aesthetics of Warrior Saints

M.I. Rostovtzeff remarked long ago, with regard to Parthian art, thatPalmyrene gods, as well as heroized men, were resplendent in theirboyish beauty (...). Despite their military dress, the military gods ofPalmyra are refined, elegant ephebes of the Oriental type (...). Thegraceful figures of the boyish gods and of their curly-haired attendants,the slim proportions of their bodies, the romantic eyes, their almost airyappearance enable us to grasp at once, even without the help of thehaloes and radiate crowns which surround the heads of the gods, theirsolar, ethereal and celestial nature.152It should be noted that Rostovtzeff is describing military gods, so thatthe transition to military saints may be made plausibly through theintermediary of such figures as those represented in the dome of therotunda of Saint George in Thessaloniki.153 The early portraits of SaintDemetrius in his sanctuary in the same city,154 like early representations

148. E.M. & M.J Jeffreys, Digenes Akrites, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium I, 622-623.149. Digenes Akrites, edited J. Mavrogordato, Oxford 1956, p. 3.150. Ibidem, p. 129. Another reference to the tw o Theodores, p. 205. However, thechurch built by Digenes was dedicated to only one Theodore the saint and martyr, p.223.151. Manuelis Philae Carmina, edited E. Miller, I, Paris 1855, Poem 17 1 (where thetw o Theodores are compared favorably to Hercules), Poem n 287, p. 138, Poem n 51,p. 228, Poem n 262, p. 457. See also Manuelis Philae Carmina Graeca, editedG. Weinsdorf, Leipzig 1768. In the verses published by Weinsdorf, it seems that there issome confusion between the two Theodores. However, in one, n 6, p. 236, Manuel Philesaddresses the three great martyrs, Theodore, Demetrius and George. The three arequalified as , (fleet of foot, an adjective, under the form of, normally applied only to George), . However, Theodore is explicitlyqualified as .152. M.I. Rostovtzeff, Dura and the Problem of Parthian Art, Yale Classical Studies1935, p. 157, quoted after E. Fowden's study of Saint Sergius & Bacchus (printing).153. A. Grabar, propos des mosaques de la coupole de Saint-Georges Salonique,Cahiers archologiques 17 , 1