Embodied Aesthetics, Somatic Experiences, and Aspirational taxis: The Case of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos

The records of rituals performed on behalf of the Roman state by Constantine VII known to us in the Book of the Ceremonies can be fruitfully explored on the analogy with texts of liturgies in that we have scripts of rituals whose meaning was created anew each time they were performed. The repetitions of these rituals enforced and substantiated the ideal gender roles, the social functions, and the relationships to the Roman government among the participating eunuchs, women, and men. Attention to the somatic experience of participants helps explain the obsessive attention to details of sightlines, colors, sounds, movements, and aromas in De Ceremoniis and how these created a sense of sacred taxis. While we see the rituals through a textual record, the subject of our inquiry remains fixed on the people who participated in them and the possibilities for meaning creation available in those performances. Combining the approach of New Materiality with Lived Religion and the study of gender, this paper brings new perspectives to the enactment of Roman government seen in De Ceremoniis.