Chapter 2 : Damianos of Cherson, the allegory of decadence (1069-1078)
Damianos of Cherson was by all sources available one of the worst possible people to rule. Sure he was not part of the long list of lunatics who ascended to power but his inability to reign was so renowned that it is said to have inspired the literary topos of Pamphilios[1] in Taurican comedy. He had been taught by his father to focus on administration and stewardship but he had failed in the process, not even grasping simple facts on trade or laws. The thing is that he was never considered dull, as his son would be ; he was just completely disinterested in his function and relied too often on sycophants rather than competent servants.
Michael Psellos, a renowned Greek theologian and philosopher gives us an example of the man in one of his letters addressed to the brother of the Emperor, in hope he resumed his exile : “The Strategos of Cherson is truly the worst example of governance I have seen in my life. He wakes up at his own will, sometimes not even until the sun has reached its zenith ; he renders justice depending on his disposition of the day : some thieves can go free while others are hanged depending on how much he has enjoyed his meal ; he also thinks of himself as an erudite but all my attempts to elevate his discussion have been suppressed by his ignorance. I truly humble your Grace to allow me to return to the Mother of Cities by intervening with your brother … (the letter goes on)”. Despite the terrible reputation spread by the erudite, hosting Psellos improved the knowledge in the province and impressed the third son of the previous ruler, Theophylaktos.
The Iconoclast uprising in Ancyra was eventually put down in January 1070, even though it ended with the slaughter of the Chersonese regiment. The Uprising had however greatly affected the Byzantine war conduct and several defeats in the mountains of the East led to their abandon of the area to Alp Arslan, with the Turkish troops expelling the previous Greek and Armenian rulers and often force converting the populace.
Within a month following the truce powerful nobles challenged the ailing emperor, forcing him to relinquish some of his power to the Conciliarium, now dominated by ambitious dynatoi[2], eager to reclaim what they had lost in the war while improving their standing. We have no mentions of Damianos being mentioned on one side or the other. Anyway he wouldn’t have changed the situation on his own due to the fact that he was certainly one of the weakest Strategoi of the whole empire.
Meanwhile in Cumania the Kievan Rus had taken after the Alans, embarking on the conquest of the Don River from their holdings in Tmuratakhan, with the Dalassenoi not intervening on either side.
The only thing we have on Damianos during this period is how he dealt with his physician, Baruch nicknamed the “Sea-Devil”. The wife of Damianos, Theophano suffered from dysentery and the Strategos called on Baruch, whom he had recuited in December 1069. Alas, Baruch botched the treatment, removing one eye “as a cure”. It will not surprise anyone that this treatment was not successful ; Theophano would suffer from fever and various diseases until her death two years later. Baruch, who was apparently drunk during the operation was imprisoned by Damianos.
He was then hanged on the 27h of January 1072, on the orders of the Strategos. Rather than to hang him on the public place of Cherson he decided of a more fitting punishment : hanging him on the mast of his personal ship so that all sailors claiming to be physicians would know what awaited them. It was at this time that he developed an hatred against all healers, claiming that they were all impostors who knew nothing and lived like the leeches they adored to use, a policy he would come to regret in his later years.
In March of the same year the Kievan Rus eventually made peace with the horselords, taking the banks of the Don. Their conquest did not last : attacks of local clans along with the lack of money to build enough fortifications to really control the area led to the loss of the Don in the following year to a vassal Clan of Cumania.
In the year 1073, the third son of Theodoros, Theophylactos finished his education, becoming a renowned scholar in the realm. He was the only son to really benefit from his education and his brother named him Sakellarios (Steward) of the Theme despite his young age. Konstantinos, the apparent heir until the birth of Theodoros had instead followed in Damianos’ path, having no skill to serve the Theme, unless assuring that the dynasty thrived through his marriage.
The same year Theophano eventually died from diseases linked to her missing eye. The Strategos soon remarried, his previous wife having left no children to inherit the Dalassenoi lands. Eventually he would marry Ilona, princess of Hungary, who had already birthed a son to the now dead Duke of Slavonia and also aunt of the King.
At the same time, the Cuman Khan Saru converted to Islam with many of his retainers. The threat of a Muslim invasion troubled the Imperial court but thankfully the Cumans upheld their traditions of fighting against each other, rather than allying with the Seluks. The religion of the Cumans would not settled with this single conversion though ; his son would return to the faith of the Shamans, and his grandson even acknowledged the bishop of Rome.
The Dalassenoi mourned in March 1076 when Konstantinos contracted Leper and died a month later in excruciating pain, not helped by the lack of physician at court. The death of his brother seems to have prompted Damianos to change and go closer to his family : after all only him and Theophylaktos still were alive and able to continue the family.
In October of the same year Staurakios, bishop of Kimmerikon, was put on trial for heresy, having trying to spread his Bogomilistic ideas in Cherson. The Strategos was swift to arrest him and the synod called to rule out the case declared Staurakios guilty. He was then burned at the stake, one of the many martyrs of the Bogomilists. Coincidentally it was the same month that the conversion of the Riyahdid Emirate in Ifriqiya to Zikri Islam, a move that would lead the Abbasid Caliph to declare a jihad years later.
While Byzantium was licking its wounds from the Armenian War, Alp Arslan didn’t rest and set his ghazis toward Syria to take Damascus from the Fatimid Caliphate. The battles were fierce but the Turks eventually won in March 1077. A month later Konstantinos ‘The Fat’ decided to regain what had been lost in Armenia, engaging in the expedition despite his old age.
Fortunately for the idle Damianos he wasn’t required to accompany the emperor. He stayed in Cherson waiting for the birth of his first children, twins, Eupraxia and Theodoros in August.
It was also at this time that the famous statue of Damianos was unveiled in Cherson by his brother Theophylaktos (who received an ample salary for his work). The statue was apparently one of the finest of their age, although the various sources are contradictory on what it represented. It was seemingly lost or destroyed during wars in the XIIth century.
The series of outposts begun by his father were enlarged by the Strategos, with new garrisons being paid by the local magnate. There was apparently a surge of immigration toward Cherson and Theodosia during those years because of the War in the Caucasus. A Venetian merchant, Enrico Manin states in his letters dated from 1076 that “the Pontic cities have seen an influx of people of all creeds, languages and races […] Many have moved to occupy the lands now protected by the local magnate, happily using what used to be wild lands a generation ago”. While still not Constantinople, the provinces of the North became quite prosperous, their workforce increasing as new people, be they Georgians, Armenians or Anatolian came to flee war.
More reasons to flee would appear with the coronation of Michael VII, who succeeded his father Konstantinos after his death during the winter in Armenia. The man shared many traits with the Strategos but unfortunately for the Empire he wasn’t solely in charge of a single province.
[1] : a character akin to Italian Comedia Dell’Arte, representing a wealthy but idiot aristocrat.
[2] : the greatest houses of the Empire. At the time this term covered mainly the Doukai, the Komnenoi, the Konstostephanoi and Batatzes. Of course Dalassenoi were barely dynatoi because of their relative poverty and small base of power
