Malalas and erudite memory in sixth-century Constantinople

229

The second part immediately turns to how the Romans implemented the purple
colour in the insignia of their own rulers. The purple attire used by the consuls was
called a toga, and king Numa Pompilius, the respectable second founder of Rome,
established the dress code for ruler and ruled alike after an embassy from Pelasgians,
who wore cloaks with red stripes (ταβΛία) A The emperor had to wear a purple cloak
with gold stripes, whereas the senators and civil servant had to wear cloaks with purple
stripes.
As in the case of Cassiodorus and John the Lydian, Malalas explicitly describes
the colour as an emblem of imperial rule.64 In the first part of the story, for instance,
Malalas contrasts the lack of distinction between ruler and ruled before the use of the
distinguishing colour by emperor Phoenix and “emperors in each area, or rulers and
toparchs”65 after him. Numa explicitly conceives his dress code as a means to perpet-
uate the imperial hierarchy, as the purple stripes “were a symbol of imperial apparel
and showed their [= the senators’ and Roman officials’] rank in the Roman state and
their loyalty to it”.66
A conspicuous feature of Malalas’ account is his emphasis on the fact that the
invention and use of the purple colour was an achievement of Tyrians, which was
later taken over by the Romans. Both the philosopher Heracles and king Phoenix are
designated as Tyrian, and Malalas explicitly mentions that Phoenix “was the first to
wear a robe of purple”.67 The colour purple, an emblem which is vital to the image of
Roman rule, is thus, according to Malalas, actually from the Near East. Throughout
his Chronographia, indeed, Malalas consistently traces different cultural practices and
achievements to origins in the Near East.
When we look into Malalas’ possible sources and similar accounts on the origin
of the colour purple in John the Lydian and Cassiodorus, we can conclude that the
version of Malalas is an idiosyncratic conflation of different traditions. The first part
of Chron. II 8 with the tale of the dog and Heracles contains parallels with accounts
on the discovery of purple by Julius Pollux (second century AD), Achilles Tatius (sec-
ond century AD), Gregory of Nazianzus (fourth century AD), Nonnus of Panopo-
lis (fourth to fifth century AD) and Cassiodorus.68 Pollux, Tatius, Nonnus and Cas-
siodorus mention the Tyrian context of the tale, whereas Gregory of Nazianzus uses
έφόρουν διά τό γινώσκεσθαι. τώ ίδίω πλήθει, καθώς ΠαΛαίφατος ό σοφώτατος
συνεγράψατο, trans. Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. ι6.
63 Reinhold (197°), Ρ· 39 η· 2·
64 The same association between the colour and rule can be found in Malalas’ description of the setting up
of golden and porphyry statues by Heracles’ descendants in his honour (Moffatt 1990, p. 102).
65 Malalas, Chronographia II 8 (Thurn 2000, p. 24): οί κατά τόπον βασιλείς, ήτοι ρήγες καί
τοπάρχας trans. Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. 16.
66 Malalas, Chronographia II 8 (Thurn 2000, p. 24): δηλούντα αξίαν 'Ρωμαϊκής πολιτείας καί
υποταγήν, trans. Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. 16.
67 Malalas, Chronographia II 8 (Thurn 2000, p. 24): καί έφόρεσεν αυτός πρώτος εκ πορφύρας
περιβόλαιον, trans. Jeffreys/Jeffreys/Scott (1986), p. 16.
68 Iulius Pollux, Onomasticon I 45-48, Achilles Tatius, Leucippe et Clitophon II11, Gregorius Nazianzenus,
Orationes 4 {Contra Iulianum I) 108, Cassiodorus, Variae I 2.