TheTyche of Constantinople was the deity of fortune(Tyche) who embodied the guardianship(tutela) of the city ofConstantinople in theRoman Imperial era.Malalas says that her name wasAnthousa (Roman equivalentFlora).[1] Her attributes included themural crown,cornucopia, a ship's prow,[2] and a spear.[3] She was depicted standing or seated on a throne.[4] As thepersonification of the city, Tyche or Anthousa could be abstracted from her origins as a Classical goddess, and likeVictory made tolerable as a symbol for Christians.[5] Under Constantine, theTychai of Rome and Constantinople together might be presented as personifications of the empire ruling the world.[6]
Tyche of Constantinople appears in two basic guises on coins and medallions. In one, she wears a helmet likeDea Roma. In the other, which was used for instance on silver medallions in 330 AD to commemorate Constantine's inauguration day, Tyche wears a crown of towers representing city walls, and sits on a throne with a ship's prow at her feet.[7]
The iconography of Tyche shared some attributes withCybele, especially the wearing of the turreted or mural crown as a patron of cities. According toZosimus, who appears not to have converted to Christianity, Constantine had one statue ofRhea-Cybele altered "through his disregard for religion, by taking away the lions on each side and changing the arrangement of the hands; for whereas previously she was apparently restraining lions, now she seemed to be praying and looking to the city as if guarding it." His intention seems to have been to render Cybele as the Tyche of Constantinople,[8] in keeping with a general adaptation ofImperial cult for the newly Christianized regime.[9]Proskynesis (prostration as submission to authority) was performed before emperors and symbols of imperial authority including the Tyche, and later before Christian symbols.[10]
One tradition held that Constantine had a cross inscribed on the Tyche of Constantinople near theMilion,[11] and that the emperorJulian, who opposed Christianity, rejected this manifestation of Tyche.[12] The Tyche of Constantinople continues to appear in art of theEastern Roman Empire into the 6th century, among such examples as aconsular diptych and jewelry ornaments.[13]
Media related toTyche of Constantinople at Wikimedia Commons
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