Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/133

 A particular form of amusement among the Byzantines is the installation of a Consul every year on the Calends of January in imitation of the old republican function at Rome. The person nominated assumes a gorgeous robe decorated with purple stripes and gold embroidery, grasps a sceptre surmounted with a figure of Victory, and proceeds in state to the Hippodrome, where he displays his authority by manumitting a number of slaves specially provided for the purpose. He presides at the games from the Kathisma, and for the moment, if not the Emperor himself, as frequently happens, the pretence is made of regarding him as the sovereign of the Empire. The year is legally distinguished by his name and that of his colleague of the West, a series of public spectacles are exhibited for seven days, he scatters

soldier.]
 * [Footnote: consort; or, perhaps, of her own union with Martian, at first a private