Chrysaphius () was a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

in the Eastern Roman court who became the chief minister of

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...

(r. 402–450). Having a great influence on the rule of the empire during his ascendancy, he pursued a policy of appeasement towards the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, which cost the empire far more gold than any military campaign, while amassing a vast fortune in bribes himself. He is depicted as a sinister figure in all the ancient accounts.

Life and policies

The Byzantine historians give us a considerable amount of information on Chrysaphius. His real name was Taiouma ( Theophanes 151) or Tumna (

Cedrenus George Kedrenos, Cedrenus or Cedrinos (, fl. 11th century) was a Byzantine Greek historian. In the 1050s he compiled ''Synopsis historion'' (also known as ''A concise history of the world''), which spanned the time from the biblical account of cre ...

I 601) or Tzoumas (Patria II 182;

George Codinus George Kodinos (), also Pseudepigrapha, Pseudo-Kodinos or Codinus, is the conventional name of an anonymous late 15th-century author of late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is only traditional, and is based on the fact that all thr ...

47) or even Ztommas ( Malalas 363–6). Chrysaphius exercised a considerable influence on Theodosius II at the end of his reign. According to Malalas, Theodosius II loved Chrysaphius for his beauty (Malalas id and 368). He seems to have risen from among the ranks: according to Malalas, he was a mere ''

cubicularius ''Cubicularius'', Hellenized as ''koubikoularios'' (), was a title used for the eunuch chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Empire and in the Byzantine Empire. The feminine version, used for the ladies-in-waiting of the empres ...

'' (servant of the imperial bedchamber); according to the ''

Chronicon Paschale ''Chronicon Paschale'' (the ''Paschal'' or ''Easter Chronicle''), also called ''Chronicum Alexandrinum'', ''Constantinopolitanum'' or ''Fasti Siculi'', is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world. Its name com ...

'', he was a ''

spatharios The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: ; , literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely honorary dignity in the Byzantine Emp ...

'' (p. 390). In 441 the city prefect in Constantinople was a pagan poet from Panopolis in Egypt named

Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...

, who was exceedingly popular in the city. Thus he incurred the envy of Chrysaphius, who engineered his downfall. Cyrus saved himself by converting to Christianity, but the malice of Chrysaphius was not so easily frustrated, and the eunuch arranged for him to be appointed bishop of Cotyaeum in Phyrgia, where the population had lynched the previous four incumbents. In the event, Cyrus survived and returned to Constantinople in 451 after the death of Chrysaphius. In 443, he became grand chamberlain (''

praepositus sacri cubiculi The ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' (Latin: "provost of the sacred bedchamber", in ) was one of the senior palace offices in the Late Roman Empire. Its holder was usually a eunuch, and acted as the grand chamberlain of the palace, wielding considera ...

''), which in practice made him one of the chief advisors of Theodosius II. Chroniclers record that he was all-powerful in the Palace (Theoph. 150; Priscus 227); the later ''Patria'' (II 182; Codinus 47) names him anachronistically as a ''

parakoimomenos The ''parakoimōmenos'' (, literally "the one who sleeps beside he emperor's chamber) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court position, usually reserved for eunuch (court official), eunuchs. The position' ...

'', after the all-powerful eunuch officials of the 9th-10th centuries. In the ''Chronicle'' written by

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor (; 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second C ...

in the 9th century, he was said to have schemed against the emperor's sister

Pulcheria Aelia Pulcheria (; ; 19 January 398 or 399 – 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother, the emperor Theodosius II, during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to her death in 453. She was th ...

by exalting the influence of the empress Eudocia, and succeeded in arranging her withdrawal from the court. Having done this, he intrigued against the empress, accusing her of adultery with Paulinus, a boyhood friend of the emperor. She was then banished in 444. Having removed both the emperor's wife and sister from the court, Chrysaphius was effectively ruler of the empire, and it is said that the emperor signed papers without reading them (Theophanes, A.M. 5942). However, historians closer to his time such as

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

(a contemporary of Chrysaphius),

John Malalas John Malalas (; ; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch in Asia Minor. Life Of Syrian descent, Malalas was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in his life. The name ''Malalas'' probably derive ...

and

Marcellinus Comes Marcellinus Comes (Greek: Μαρκελλίνος ό Κόμης, died c. 534) was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople. His only surviving work, the ''Chroni ...

do not mention Chrysaphius among the reasons for Eudocia's exile. In December 447, the Hunnic king

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

arrived before the

walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...

. Chrysaphius adopted a policy of appeasement, and the imperial government paid Attila a huge tribute to go away, rather than fight. Chrysaphius had also been involved in the ecclesiastical disputes of the time, and taking bribes from the various parties he amassed a great fortune. He was the godson of the aged Cyrillian abbot

Eutyches Eutyches (; c. 375–454) or Eutyches of Constantinople

, whom he hoped to place on the episcopal throne of Constantinople and so increase his own political influence. This was prevented by the elevation of Flavian in 447. Chrysaphius therefore induced the emperor to require a gift from the new bishop. Flavian sent the emperor three loaves of consecrated bread, which Chrysaphius rejected, on the grounds that the emperor demanded gold. Flavian refused to supply this on the ground that churchmen should not hand over church property as bribes (Evagrius II.2). This made Chrysaphius his enemy, but

was still influential and defended Flavian. Chrysaphius did arrange for a violent enemy of Flavian's, Dioscorus, to be appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, and arranged for the exile of

. In 448 the Eutychian dispute arose, Eutyches bribed Chrysaphius. Flavian was reluctant to be drawn in, but organised a local council in Constantinople, which condemned Eutyches in 448. Chrysaphius, however, was able to use Dioscorus to depose Flavian at the " Robber-synod" ('' Latrocinium'') of Ephesus in August 449. He used the soldiers and puppet clerics to prevent any discussion of the issues. Flavian died a few days after the closure of the Latrocinium because of the injuries suffered from the mob of Dioscorus' monks, led by the dreaded abbot Barsaumas, "a wild, illiterate Syrian archimandrite". The Hunnic problem had not gone away. In 449, Chrysaphius, with the approval of Theodosius, suborned Edecon, the chief of

's guards, to assassinate him. But he later betrayed the plot to Attila, who demanded the head of Chrysaphius. Chrysaphius sent an envoy with money, and Attila consented in contemptuous language to forgive him and the emperor provided that he received an annual compensation payment of 700 pounds of gold a year. This burden of taxes on an empire already devastated by the ravages of the Huns made the already unpopular favourite deeply hated. Gibbon remarks that the money involved would have more than financed any war against Attila. The high-handed behaviour at the ''Latrocinium'' also back-fired. There was general opposition to the decisions of the council, and

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I () ( 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (; ), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461. He is the first of the three Popes listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' with the title "the ...

wrote to the emperor and demanded a fresh council. It seems that Chrysaphius may have fallen out of favour in the last months of Theodosius' reign. He had an enemy in the

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

Zeno Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

, Master of Soldiers, who seems to have threatened a revolt in 449. See John Ant. fr. 84 (''De ins.''), and Priscus, fr. 5 (''De leg. Rom.'').

Death

Theodosius II died in 450, and was succeeded by

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

, who married Pulcheria. Both were personal enemies of Chrysaphius. His fate is described differently in the historians. According to most,

avenged herself against Chrysaphius by handing him over to his mortal enemy

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

, who had him put to death (Theophanes 160; Chronicon Paschale 390; Malalas 368; Zonaras; III 107–109, Cedrenus I 601–1603). However, according to Malalas, Chrysaphius's cause of death was very different. Chrysaphius had been head of the Green faction, whom Theodosius had protected (Malalas 351). Chrysaphius's death sentence was apparently politically motivated. Supported by the Greens, Chrysaphius may have incited some unrest, and it is known that Marcian was a partisan of the Blues (Malalas 368). Some say that Marcian ordered him to appear before a tribunal to enquire into his misdeeds. On the way there, the fallen minister was stoned to death by a mob infuriated by the high taxes needed to pay

's tribute. His immense wealth was confiscated. The political career of Chrysaphius is recorded by the Byzantine historian Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos, who deals with his actions in the critical years 449–451. Evagrius Scholasticus also records some of his actions in church matters.''Ecclesiastica History'' II 17 and 39 ({{Cite book , title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius with Scholia , publisher=Methuen & Co. , year=1898 , editor-last=Bidez , editor-first=J. , location=London , editor-last2=Parmentier , editor-first2=L.).

Chrysaphius in fiction

The conspiracy against Attila is a significant plot element in Geza Gardonyi's novel '' Slave of the Huns''. In this account, the head of Chrysaphius really is given to Attila, transported preserved in honey. Chrysaphius also features in Gillian Bradshaw's novel, Imperial Purple, about a conspiracy to usurp the imperial throne.

References

External links

Eudocia

5th-century Byzantine people Byzantine eunuchs 450 deaths Year of birth unknown Byzantine courtiers Praepositi sacri cubiculi Ancient Roman slaves and freedmen Lynching deaths