Angry Mob, Noisy Mob. Echoes of Urban Violence in Byzantium

This paper investigates the sonic representations of urban violence and turmoil in Byzantine chronicles. Chronicles are full of episodes of urban agitation, sedition, and rebellion. Scenes of physical and verbal violence are vividly described, evoking great emotions, gestures, and vocal outbursts. People shout, sing, cheer, or hurl insults, in unison, in dialogue or in opposition. These sonorous outbursts happen during times of panic, revolt, religious competition, or just to protest against an imperial decision. They are quite frequent in Constantinople because the emperor is used to occupying public spaces with sonorous processions and parades. In order to demonstrate to everyone that he is indeed God's lieutenant on earth, the one who has been chosen by Him, the emperor has to be acclaimed and sung about wherever he appears. The unison and harmony that resonate then confirm that he has been divinely chosen. In contrast, an uproar, a shouting or insults tend to demonstrate that he no longer has God's support and may therefore be overthrown. That is why during public ceremonies, the people’s voice, or more precisely the noise they make, is carefully listened to and even recorded. And later, a chronicler can recall these sonorous reactions to enlighten the cause of the disasters. These collective emotions are portrayed in a very stereotypical and biased way: they therefore illustrate more the ‘crowd psychology’ that has been passed down since Plato and the elite perceptions than actual reality. Consequently, the way these scenes of sonic violence are written reveals not only the oral/aural nature of urban political life, but also the sonic representation of both Imperial power and the people. This paper will reveal the soundscape of urban violence and consider to what end it was used to write Byzantine history.