Historical Context

Saint Eirene of Athens was the first and last female emperor to rule the Roman Empire both in name and in actuality. Her images appeared on coins bearing masculine imperial titles, and her policies on both religious and geopolitical affairs shaped the Roman world for many years after her passing. And yet, although her achievements were unparalleled—given the inherent ideological incompatibility between a woman and the office of Roman emperor—the methods through which she attained preeminence were as gruesome as they were tragic. Chosen at the age of fifteen for her beauty to be the imperial bride of emperor Konstantinos VI, Eirene ruled as regent for her infant son, Konstantinos VII, after her husband passed at a young age. For fifteen years she oversaw relative peace and prosperity throughout the Roman dominion, but when her son came of age, he sought to deprive his mother of power to restore his own.

A gruelling battle for the throne of Constantinople unfolded between mother and son over three deadly years during which the imperial dynasty was rent asunder from within. With the foundation of empire cracking under the convulsion, Eirene realised that for as long as a male claimant to the supreme office remained, her legitimacy would never be secure. And thus, enthralled by ambition and driven by an insatiable desire to rule, Eirene gouged her own son’s eyes out in the porphyry room where she gave birth to him all those years ago. Konstantinos did not survive the grisly punishment. Although she was canonised as a saint for her stance on ecclesiastical matters, her name was forever associated with infamy. In the end, even murdering her own son could not secure Eirene her throne. She was overthrown by her general logothete, Nikephoros, five years after the death of her son, and was exiled to Lesbos, where she died soon after. The following poem was written from the perspective of Konstantinos as he lay dying in the room of his birth.

Poem

Purple chamber, porphyry stone

Blood stained marble, God-forsaken throne

Amidst this hallowed room

From your imperial womb

Here I was born

Into this fortress of New Rome

Oh Mother, saintly Mother

The sweetness of your milk yet lingers in my broken throat

Memories of your warm breasts yet comfort me in the boundless cold

The light of your soul, it illuminates the empty sockets of my eyes

The strength of your arms, it shields me from the world which I defied

Oh Mother, pious Mother

I was once a toddler, an infant

A witless child propped up to be dethroned

But you seized the sovereign sceptre in my name

And ruled as regent for my fame

Destroyed the heresy which my father graced

Restored Christ’s icons to their rightful place

A woman, a nameless bride

Upon your shoulders the Empire’s destiny resides

Oh Mother, regent Mother

 Returned with victory, you made our foes shudder

Khans, kings, and caliphs, you conquered

With gold and steel, prosperity you ushered

Hellas, Sicilia, Anatolia, Thracia

Righteous inheritance of the Roman race

Restored to us by your blessed grace

Wretched usurpers, traitors to our imperial name

You have tonsured, mutilated, slain

Our dynasty redeemed from shame

Godless heathens, defilers of Lord’s flame

Their speartips you shattered with the Virgin’s aid

Legions, regiments, soldiers of fate

Command them with a woman’s ways

Oh Mother, sovereign Mother

On my imperial head

The laurels of manhood lay

Still you rule in my stead

Why has the palace fallen under the eunuchs’ sway

My words ring hollow, my imperium decay

The mantle of autocrat I zealously crave

My ambition I cannot contain

Return my rightful inheritance

The crown of Constantine the Great

Of you there are no precedence

Restore my authority and open Theodosius’s gates

Oh Mother, sage Mother

Against me the armies rebels raised

Saracens, Slavs, Bulgars, my realm they betray

Where is the legitimacy which I seek

The triumph which remain beyond my reach

Ministers, eunuchs, to me a blind eye turn

My imperial decrees they spurn

The promise of passion, of scandalous love

The pontifex refused to indulge

Church, army, state

Who have I wronged to earn their hate

Return to my side

The aegis of my reign

And share in the burden

Of my accursed pain

Oh Mother, treacherous Mother

Why must you let your love for power

Eclipse your love for me

Like devious Medea of old

Envy has consumed your heart of gold

Into their ears you poison poured

Like a temptress in the days of yore

Oh Pandora, what horrors have you unleashed

Upon your son you set free the savage beasts

You are a traitor to my imperial name

Is it my throne that you wish to claim

Never shall a woman born

Sit upon Rome’s gilded throne

Cease your reckless transgression

The Lord shall tolerate no arrogation

Oh Mother, maleficent Mother

From whence did the assassins come

Bearers of daggers in the dark

Since infancy have I trusted in your words

Why must you betray me now

Upon the stakes will the rebels burn

Only in blood and fire will they learn

Oh Mother, Emperor Mother

Do you see the blood which flow from my extinguished eyes

The sanguine gore where mother and son collide

Now rip from my empty husk

The fruit of divine creed

Assume the scarlet crown

Wrought in the severed flesh of your kin

Don the imperial purple

A gown drenched in the blood of your progeny

Sit on the porphyry throne

Oh Emperor of New Rome

Saint Eirene of Athens, the first and last of your inglorious name