Emperor Theophilus (r. 829-842), surrounded by courtiers, from the 11th century Chronicle of John Skylitzes. Theophilus married Theodora after Cassiani’s verbal sparring landed an unexpected punch, but his iconoclastic policy – opposing sacred art on the grounds that it is idolatrous – did not please either of the two ladies. During his lifetime, Cassiani spoke out against it, receiving the lash for her efforts, and after his death in 842 his widow Theodora overturned it once and for all.
Introduction
Cassiani was a nun of noble birth in the Roman Empire’s capital city, Constantinople, during the 9th century. Her gift for poetry and hymn-writing was widely admired, and the Eastern service-books are littered with her works. The most famous is a Hymn for Wednesday in Holy Week, and thereby hangs quite a tale.
WHEN sixteen-year-old Theophilus succeeded his father Michael II as Roman Emperor in 829, the boy’s stepmother Euphrosyne organised a ‘bride show’: Theophilus must choose a wife from among the Empire’s most eligible young ladies, by handing a golden apple to one lucky winner.*
Theophilus’s eye was caught by a very beautiful girl named Cassiani, whom he approached with the awkward line, “From a woman came the baser things.” He was recalling Eve’s fatal tasting of the forbidden fruit of Eden; but the girl instantly countered with, “And from a woman came the better”, recalling Christ’s birth from a virgin. A little dazed, Theophilus passed on, and eventually chose Theodora, an army officer’s daughter, for his Empress. They married on June 5th 830, in Agia Sophia.
Cassiani became a nun, craving the freedom to live for prayer, poetry and music; but Theophilus did not forget her, and shortly before he died in 842, aged twenty-nine, paid her one last visit.
A similar procedure was followed for the choosing a bride in The Story of Esther. King Ahasuerus of Persia (probably intended to be Xerxes I) divorced his wife Vashti for failing to entertain his guests adequately, and selected a Jewish girl from a parade of the Empire’s most beautiful women to be her replacement. See also the Greek myth of the Apple of Discord.
Précis
The 9th century Roman Emperor Theophilus was just sixteen when his stepmother organised a bride show to find him a wife. His first choice was a girl named Cassiani, but after she trumped his chat-up line with something much cleverer, he moved on to pick another woman, Theodora, instead. Cassiani became a nun, but Theophilus always remembered her. (58 / 60 words)
The 9th century Roman Emperor Theophilus was just sixteen when his stepmother organised a bride show to find him a wife. His first choice was a girl named Cassiani, but after she trumped his chat-up line with something much cleverer, he moved on to pick another woman, Theodora, instead. Cassiani became a nun, but Theophilus always remembered her.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, must, or, otherwise, unless, until, whereas.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
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Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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