ON THE MUTILATION AND BLINDING OF BYZANTINE EMPERORS FROM THE REIGN OF HERACLIUS I UNTIL THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
<p>Whoever reads about Byzantine history probably realises sooner or later that besides killing a pretender or emperor it was quite common to blind him – or to cut off his nose. This latter practice is called rhinotomy. It is the aim of this paper to examine the frequency of and the reasons fo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mega Publishing House
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology |
| Online Access: | http://jaha.org.ro/index.php/JAHA/article/view/265 |
| Summary: | <p>Whoever reads about Byzantine history probably realises sooner or later that besides killing a pretender or emperor it was quite common to blind him – or to cut off his nose. This latter practice is called rhinotomy. It is the aim of this paper to examine the frequency of and the reasons for these forms of punishment in Byzantiumfrom the beginning of the 7<sup>th</sup> century until 1453. The article takes a diachronic approach to the questions regarding Byzantine emperors and pretenders who were blinded or mutilated. The multiple brief case studies provided in the first part thus make up the core of the paper. But the statistical analyses in the second half are nevertheless crucial for the conclusions drawn at the end.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 2360-266X |