Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/114

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his jewelled shoes or slippers of a bright scarlet colour, a feature in his apparel which is even more exclusive than his cloak or his crown. The latter symbol of majesty is a broad black hoop expanding towards the top, bordered above and below with a row of pearls, thickly studded with gems all round, and bearing four great pendent pearls which fall in pairs on the nape of the neck. His ample purple robe, which falls to his feet, is fastened by a costly shoulder-clasp of precious stones. Its uniformity is diversified by two squares or tables of cloth of gold embroidered in various colours, which approach from the back and front the division on the right side. Purple hose and a white tunic, sleeved to the wrists and girt with a crimson scarf, complete the civil attire of the Emperor. When sitting in state he usually bears a globe surmounted by a cross[1] in his left hand. His attendant nobles, a new order of patricians who are styled the Fathers of the Emperor,[2] are garbed all in white, but the tables of their gowns are of plain purple, their girdles are

  • [Footnote: were generally permitted some latitude and not obliged to banish it altogether

from their dress.]

  1. The globe as a symbol of the universal sway of Rome came into use at or about the end of the Republic. It was not merely ideographic, but was sometimes exhibited in bulk, and hollow globes have been found with three chambers in which are contained samples of earth from the three continents; see Sabatier, Mon. Byzant., Paris, 1862, p. 33. The cross came in under the Christian emperors, and is said to be first seen on a small coin of Jovian (363); ibid.
  2. Cod., XII, iii, 5; Inst. i, 12. "Imperatoris autem celsitudinem non valere eum quem sibi patrem elegerit," etc. This new order of patricians seems to have been instituted by Constantine, their title being coined directly from pater; Zosimus, ii, 40; cf. Cedrenus, i, p. 573. They were not lineally connected with the patrician caste of ancient Rome (see Reiske, ad Const. Porph., sb. voc.), but were turned out of the Imperial workshop as peers are created by an English premier; see Leo Gram., p. 301.