Historical Foundations of Ritual, Protocol, and Power Dynamics

Posted on Dec 10, 2025 in Protocol and Event Organization

Ceremony, Ritual, and Social Concepts

Ceremony: A set of formal acts, often fixed and traditional, performed on important social or religious occasions (they are not always religious). They are often public and always involve more than one participant and/or observer. A ceremony only happens on special occasions, while rituals are acts which are repeated through a period of time (e.g., the mass is a ceremony).
Ritual: A set of fixed actions and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony. We can find rituals which are not religious, but most of them are (e.g., praying is a ritual, and you can pray alone). Rituals do not always involve more than one participant; that is one of the differences between rituals and ceremonies.
Rite of Passage: An official ceremony or informal activity that marks an important stage or occasion in a person’s life, especially becoming an adult.
Symbol: A sign, shape, or object that is used to represent something else.
Emblem: A picture or an object that is used to represent a particular person, group, or idea. It is a specific kind of symbol (e.g., shields, school logos, military forces, laws, brand logos).
Etiquette: The set of rules or customs that control accepted behavior in particular social groups or social situations. Nowadays, it is often used to refer to the dressing code (formal, semi-formal, casual).
Protocol: It refers to a behavior code which must be respected in certain situations and which establishes all the steps to be taken and in which order. Protocol is defined as:

The system of rules and acceptable behavior used at official ceremonies and occasions.
A formal international agreement.
The rules to be followed when doing a scientific study or an exact method for giving medical treatments.

Protocol and Power

Historical Context of Protocol: Protocol as an academic subject is a transverse discipline, requiring comprehensive and interdisciplinary training, drawing from Humanities and Social Sciences: History, Anthropology, Sociology, and Law.

Today, we use the term protocol when speaking about the official protocol as a set of rules, customs, and traditions which shape the order of celebration of a given official event. However, protocol is a set of rules, customs, and traditions which shape the order of celebration of any public event, official or not. A close relationship between protocol and power has been pointed out. Protocol has been defined as:

Image of power (as knowledge, political, economic, religious, or social power).
Theatrical representation of power.
Staging of power before an audience.

The purpose of protocol would therefore be the representation of power: to physically materialize power in a setting.

The Importance of Power in Ceremonials and Rituals from Antiquity

Rituals that legitimated political power linking it to the divinity.
Justification of a specific hierarchy and social order.
Basic element in the shaping of society and the subjugation of individuals and groups.

Rituals, Ceremonies, and Protocol

Ceremony and ritual are terms which can be used almost interchangeably, despite having some differences in meaning. Protocol and etiquette mainly refer to ceremonies and celebrations, particularly official ceremonies and celebrations, but also the different codes of social behavior in a broader sense.

Ceremony is the broader term, which is related both to rituals and protocol. However, we cannot always use the three terms as if they were fully exchangeable. For example, the tailcoat has a protocolary but also ceremonial use, and thus, it can be studied in its ritual context (whether it is a royal audience or a gala dinner). However, the float (Paso) has a clear ritual and ceremonial use, but not a protocolary one.

Protocol is a clear and well-defined object of study, but not always the best concept to work with. Ritual is a more specific and better-studied term which allows us to focus on the basic and most revealing elements of a ceremony or a protocolary act. Historians, for instance, refer to a ceremony as a set or sequence of rituals. The use of the term ritual allows us to take advantage of the theoretical contributions coming from other disciplines, such as Anthropology and Sociology.

Academic Perspectives

Anthropology, in particular, has extremely influenced the historical study of rituals and ceremonies. During the last decades, there has even taken place an important development of the so-called Anthropological History.

Sociology: The study of human society, with an emphasis on generalizations (theory) about its structure and development.
History: The study of human societies in the plural, placing the emphasis on the differences between and also on the changes which have taken place in each one over time.
Anthropology: The study of the human being, its culture and society, and its physical development. There are two main branches, depending on the focus of study: social anthropology and cultural anthropology.

Since History, Sociology, and Anthropology share human culture and society as objects of study, the differences between them lie largely in their focuses and methodological approaches.

Ethnography: A scientific description of the culture of a society by someone who has lived in it. Also called participant observation.

Anthropological studies have focused on:

Rituals in different cultures around the world.
Rituals in historical past societies.

Rituals have been regarded as elements that condense a whole culture: beliefs, social organization, power relationships, which are expressed through rituals. Rituals are then a sort of window (source) which allows us to study the values, principles, and objectives of any culture. To know and decipher the symbolic context and its meaning is, therefore, essential to properly read any ritual.

Formal Properties of Ritual

Repetition: Rituals are usually characterized by repetition, either of a particular time and/or space, of content, of formal aspects, or of some combination of those elements. You can find a unique ceremony but not a ritual.
Action: A basic quality of rituals is that they shape actions which are not spontaneous. In rituals, one is acting like in a theater play. Rituals imply doing something, not just saying or thinking. Performance is really important when analyzing rituals and is usually linked with history and continuity. Not a single ritual or ceremony is identical to another one. People in rituals try to do the exact same things always, but it is not possible to do always the exact same movements.
Special Behavior: The actions or symbols performed in a ritual are not intrinsically extraordinary or ordinary, but they are used in an unusual way (stylized)—a way which fixes the attention of the participants and observers, which gives a new meaning to the action. An action in a ritual has a meaningful significance, even if in normal life it is something typical.
Order: Rituals are, by definition, organized events, both concerning people involved and cultural elements. They have a beginning and they have an end. They do not exclude moments or elements of chaos and spontaneity, but those become present only in a prescribed time and place. Order is often a dominant feature in rituals and may be exaggeratedly precise. It is precisely this emphasis on order which transforms ritual into a special and unique occasion.
Rules & Guidelines: Rules (established by tradition, convention, or law) are usually explicit. Who does what, how, and when is usually explicit. It is something recognized by those performing the ritual. However, reasons for acting, meanings, motivations, or interpretations of ritual actions are not necessarily explicit or recognized. In rituals, it is usually clearly stipulated who can directly participate and who cannot. Rituals include and exclude, integrate and segregate, oppose and link, in certain contexts, certain human and non-human actors.
Evocative Style Presentation & Staging: Rituals tend or try to call to the mind of people involved in it, whether they act as participants or spectators. Rituals, in fact, aim at involving the actors in some way (affective, cognitive, volitive). Usually, it is done by means of sensorial stimuli and manipulating symbols (appeal to emotions and affections).
Social Dimension: Rituals have, by definition, a social meaning. Their mere performance involves a social message. However, the staging is not just a means to express something. The message itself has a meaning; it is a significant aspect of what is being expressed (the form is part of the content).
Multimedia: Rituals use multiple and heterogeneous languages and channels to communicate, to express their message: sounds and music, tattoos and masks, songs and dances, colors and odors, gestures, disguises and special costumes, food and beverage, meditation, silence. They constitute a hybrid genre (they try to make people feel part of what is taking place).
Particular Time & Space: Rituals break the flow of everyday life. Even if they include quotidian actions, they are performed with a different purpose and meaning. Rituals take place in a defined time and place, or which will be defined during their development. At the same time, time and space provide peculiarity (context) to the ritual taking place and impose its limits.

History of Nobility and Social Structure

Nobility: The people of the highest social rank in a society, considered as a group. Most people belonged to the nobility because of their birth. During the Old Regime, the nobility constituted, together with the clergy, the two privileged estates (social groups) which represented the highest rank in society.
Aristocracy: A class of people who hold high social rank (it is the highest category we can find in any kind of group). It was the upper rank of nobility.

The king is part of the nobility and aristocracy (also the queen, but not really common), and is always the head.
The aristocracy is the one with titles.
The rest of the nobility: the hidalgos wanted to show a higher position than the one they had.

The Three Orders Clergy, nobility, and servants/peasants. The clergy prayed for society, to protect the whole community; the nobles were warriors, they had to fight to protect everybody; and the servants did the work for everyone. Their function in society was for the whole society; there was harmony between all of the groups. Each of the groups had their own law; they weren’t treated as equals. Nowadays, the law is the same for everybody. The servants knew that working for everybody wasn’t in the best conditions, but they were necessary for society. Many servants were not free people (not slaves), but the nobility was completely free. The clergy and the nobility were privileged estates; the third estate was a non-privileged one.Privilege Rights from the 13th to 16th century in a text meant a privilege; there were no rights for everybody. The rights were the privileges of the city. A privilege is an advantage that only one person or group of people has, usually because of their position or because they are rich. It is the special right that some people in authority have that allows them to do or say things that other people are not allowed to.Right The fact that a person or animal can expect to be treated in a fair, morally acceptable, or legal way, or to have the things that are necessary for life.

Privileges of the Nobility

Tributary exemptions: they did not pay personal tributes or taxes.
Special justice tribunals: they were judged by other nobles.
Special justice code: they could not be tortured, neither hanged to death nor executed by other deranging sentences; they had to be beheaded instead.
Allowance to bear weapons in public. This is related to the military origin of the nobility; they fought for society.

Lineage: The members of a person’s family who are directly related to that person and who lived a long time before him or her. The line of descendants from a particular ancestor. Nobiliary lineages in Europe are composed by the line of descendants through men from a common male ancestor (patrilineal kinship).
Dynasty: A series of rulers who are all from the same family, or a period when a country is ruled by them.
Kinship: The relationship between members of the same family, or the lineage of a sovereign family.

The accounts, the memory of their ancestors, of their own lineage, represented an essential part of the nobility’s self-perception and social legitimacy. This memory of the lineage was expressed in many ways, for example, in their emblems and heraldry.

Social Structure and Political Culture

Social Stratification: Inequalities in the distribution of wealth, status, and power in any society.
Social Class: A class is a group with a particular function in the process of production. The different social classes have conflicting interests (power relationships). Those concepts are mainly used to refer to industrial society, especially in Great Britain.
Status: Weber distinguished classes from estates or status groups whose fate and opportunities in life were determined by the status or honor accorded to them by others. In status groups, the position was normally acquired at birth and defined legally, but it was revealed by their style of life. Max Weber took his concept of status group from the traditional idea of the three estates or orders defined in the Middle Ages: nobility, clergy, and the third estate or commoners.

Models of Society

Class-based society: A kind of society conflictive in essence and which minimizes solidarities.
Status society: It was seen as a powerful tool to build harmony and resolve conflicts.

Both models possess useful and significant ideas. Each of them highlights some of the features of the social structure; they are complementary (these concepts come from a European context, be careful when applying them to other cultures).

Social Role: It is a central concept in Sociology. It is defined in terms of the patterns or norms of behavior expected from the occupant of a particular position in the social structure. For example, ‘child,’ as a social role, is defined by the expectations of adults. Childhood is also a historical phenomenon. We can observe changes in the expectations about a child throughout history (Philippe Ariès, invention of childhood in Europe in the 17th Century).
Social Mobility: Distinction between movement up and down the social hierarchy (Upward/downward mobility). For example, a person who was a merchant in the 16th century, earned a lot of money, gave money to the king, and went up in the social system.; Distinction between mobility within an individual lifetime and mobility spread over several generations (Intragenerational/intergenerational mobility; inter is in more than one generation).; Individual/group mobility. It is unlikely that any stratified society has ever been in a state of complete immobility.

Modalities of Social Mobility

China: Examination system (from the end of the 6th Century), the main way of entering the Chinese bureaucracy, which conferred status, wealth, and power.
Ottoman Empire: Children recruited from the Christian population. They were selected on the basis of their abilities and given an education (15th and 16th centuries). They entered the empire administration, including important positions such as Grand Vizier, often requiring conversion to Islam.
Preindustrial Europe: One of the main paths of social mobility was entering the church.

Power & Political Culture: Power of the ruling class or a political elite over the rest of society. Societies are constituted of multiple overlapping and intersecting networks of power (Michael Mann).
Political Culture: The political knowledge, ideas, and sentiments current in a given place and time. Importance of symbols and rituals in political culture (Case of the French Revolution. New festivals tried to restructure the participants’ perception of space and time. There was a systematic attempt to create new sacred spaces, such as the Champs de Mars in Paris, in order to replace traditional Catholic ones. Different costumes indicated different politics).

Politics is a term which is widening its meaning to encompass the informal and invisible aspects of the exercise of power. Michel Foucault’s micropolitics refers to the exercise of power in a variety of small-scale institutions, including prisons, schools, hospitals, and even families.

Ancient Civilizations: Egypt, Babylon, and Persia

Egypt: The Theocratic Society

Herodotus (Greek historian) stated: “The Egyptians are religious to excess, beyond any nation in the world.” Egypt is one of the most theocratic societies in history, lasting more than three thousand years and spanning 31 dynasties. All aspects of society and culture had a religious manifestation, and gods were everywhere (temples, tomb chapels). Egypt is a good example of the historical significance of religion as a legitimizing component of political power and authority. A large percentage of the elite population were priests (often part-time). Men and women lived in their homes, married, and had families.

Pharaoh: The title of the king of Egypt; he was also the supreme priest. He was considered a living god, the incarnation of the living Horus, the son of Osiris. He also appears as the son of Ra, god of the sun. In Egypt, there were few codified laws because the pharaoh was the highest judge; all laws and rules emanated from him. Royal ceremonies were very important, but the Pharaoh was almost invisible before the public. He was considered intangible; people had to prostrate in his presence. The complex empire’s hierarchical organization was expressed through precedence and clothing.

Symbols of the Pharaoh

Crowns (various)
Sceptres, crossed crook and flail (identification with Osiris)
Striped headdress (nemes)
Diadem with vulture and cobra (symbols of goddesses and Upper and Lower Egypt)
Fake beard piece (identification with Osiris)
Thrones were crucial in ceremonies, such as coronation.

Royal Ceremonies

Coronation: This was a very important ceremony. Gods chose the pharaoh and gave him power. There was a ritual sequence of ceremonies.

Funeral Ritual: When the pharaoh died, his body was transferred to the place where it was embalmed and remained there for 70 days. The body was then placed in a casket on a boat crossing the Nile with a procession and a ceremony involving the family. He carried with him objects that he would have in the afterlife. The chest was put in a sarcophagus, the sarcophagus was put in a tomb, and a ceremony was performed. Finally, the people who were alive had a feast.

A pharaoh was typically shown in an immobile and dignified manner. He was differentiated from his subjects by his striped headdress (nemes) and uraeus. His power was expressed by the bows of foreign enemies under his feet and by the bull tail that hung from his kilt between his legs. They left the mouth open so that he could eat in the afterlife.

Maxims of Ptahhotep

Moral advice about life, social behavior, etiquette, politeness, and good manners, preserved by the grandson of a magistrate:

Only speak when you have something worth saying.
God loves him who listens; he hates those who do not listen.
Do not repeat slanderous rumor; do not listen to it.
May your heart never be vain because of what you know. Take counsel from the ignorant as well as the wise.
Do not gossip in your neighborhood, because people respect the silent.

Babylon: Law and Divine Order

Mesopotamia was a region with different forms of organizing political power: city-states (a city dominating the surrounding countryside and smaller village settlements); kingdoms; empires. Babylon was a city with more than three thousand years of history in the south of Iraq. Babylonia describes the whole region and the Empire.

There was cooperation of civil and religious authorities, the Palace and the Temple, in the economic and political organization. Babylonian culture showed vitality and continuity, with importance placed on intellectual and artistic life.

Code of Hammurabi: During the reign of Hammurabi, Babylon became an important city, giving its name to the entire area. Babylon was the capital until the Hellenistic period (4th century B.C.).

Politics and Law

There was a collection of laws, rules, and sentences of the King written down, which served to strengthen the power of the King (unlike in Egypt, where this was not necessary). These laws and rules were sacralized, dictated by the gods to the king (282 rules written in Akkadian language using cuneiform script). They covered legal procedures, civil and criminal rules, labor, and family norms. This was one of the earliest written codes of rules. These rules were applied differently depending on the gender and social status (three main social groups: owners, free people, slaves). The idea of presumption of innocence appears: if you want to accuse someone, you have to prove it (not guilty until proved).

In Babylon, major elements of its traditional culture, in literature, scribal practice, religion, and ritual, were carefully preserved through centuries. On the other hand, there was great instability of the regime, undermined from within by coups and usurpations, and assailed from without by invaders who provoked political and military agitation. Political upheaval and military conquests by peoples whose languages and habits were entirely alien were frequent in Babylonian history.

Coronation: There is an image of the King standing and receiving the Code of laws from Marduk/Shamash, patron God of the city and God of Justice. Marduk is sitting on his throne. In both images, the King and the God fit the same scale. The God gives the King the laws and the baton, symbols of justice. There is a divine legitimation of royal power. Kingship and royal ceremonies are central in understanding the continuity of Babylonian culture in spite of political instability, discontinuity in the royal dynasties, and military invasions.

The King: Essential in Babylonian notions of civilization and social order. A civilized existence was conceived to represent a divinely established order, and the king acted as its guardian against chaos. The king was the guarantor of the divine order. He protected his subjects from devastation by war, guaranteed water supplies and canals, ensured agriculture success, and made it possible for the temples to ensure divine protection by repairing them and donating resources.

The New Year Festival (Akitu)

This festival was a consensual ritual centered on the monarch. It stressed the stability of the state, the legitimacy of the king, and the parallels between the celestial and the earthly hierarchies. This ritual reasserted Marduk’s supremacy over the gods of other cities and villages. It also had an essential role for the king of Babylon. This ritual consisted of twelve days at the beginning of the year (March–April). This festival was a symbol of spring, the harvest, and fertility, but it eventually incorporated more contents, rites, and symbols. This festival included the recitation of the poem Enuma Elish by the supreme priest. This poem was an epic creation where Marduk defeats an army of demons, commanded by Tiamat. He then rises to the supreme power in the pantheon of gods and creates the world and humanity. This festival required the active participation of the reigning king who may have ritually enacted the battle and the triumph of Marduk.

During the first week, the activities took place in the temple of Marduk, where there were chapels of other gods inside the temple. The chief priest of Esagila was the main officiant of the ceremonies. A fragment of a prayer (second day) included:

“Have pity on your city Babylon.”
“Turn your face upon your temple.”
“Maintain the freedom of the privileged citizens of Babylon.”

The epic poem about the triumph of Marduk was entirely recited by the chief priest on the fourth day. For that reason, the crowns of the god of the sky and the god of air were veiled.

During the fifth day, there was a ritual of humiliation inside the temple; very few people could see it:

Firstly, the chief priest divested the king of his scepter, ring, mace, and crown (the royal insignia). Symbols were put out of view.
The chief priest struck the king across the face.
The chief priest led the king in and forced him to kneel before the representation of Marduk by pulling his ears.
The king pronounced a negative confession.
The chief priest gave the king the reply of the god: “He will destroy your enemies and defeat your adversaries.”
The king was struck again on the cheek by the priest. The purpose of this was to obtain an omen.
If the king’s tears flowed, Marduk was favorably disposed towards him.
If the king didn’t cry, Marduk would help the enemies of the king and cause his downfall.

During the sixth day, the statues of the gods arrived from other cities in Babylonia. After the eighth day, participants became more general, meaning the ritual was public. Furthermore, blessed water went over the king and their subjects. Marduk was led by the king to the shrine of destinies. This ritual asserted his authority over the other gods as the head of the pantheon. Marduk then pronounced [missing information]. The procession embarked on boats and went beyond the city, also carrying the statues of the god, and a banquet was held.

During the eleventh day, the gods and the processions returned to Esagila, and held an assembly in the shrine of destinies, had presents to the gods and therefore, another banquet. The festival ended the twelfth day with the return of the gods to home.

Significance of the Festival

Emphasis on Marduk and the reigning king.
Emphasis on Babylon as a city (temples, walls) and on its inhabitants.
Special ritual role of the privileged citizens.
Social stratification of the Pantheon of gods and of Babylonian society (differentiated status).

The ritual of humiliation warned the king about the precariousness of his position. Kingship was not a permanent gift. His duty was to defend the creation of Marduk. If he was unable, he would be defeated. This Festival of New Year expressed notions connected with the maintenance of the status. It also confirmed the role of the king and his responsibility in assuring the social order as laid down by Marduk. The duty of the king was to build prosperity by protecting the walls, temples of the gods, and providing resources. He also had the responsibility for providing all the essentials for the divine order to be maintained. Finally, the festival had a public character as it involved everyone within the city and beyond, and was an occasion for feasting.

In the context of political instability, with dynastic discontinuity and new kings claiming the throne, the personal success of a king in keeping the throne was proof of divine approval. It has also been said that in Babylonia the need for tradition and order increased while the stability of the state became more uncertain and difficult. Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. He allowed local ceremonies and rituals to continue in the city, and he even appropriated some of Babylonian rituals for his own ceremonial program within the Persian empire.

Persia: The Achaemenid Empire

The Old Persian Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC) was named after the Persian dynasty, the House of Achaemenes. It experienced very fast territorial expansion, becoming a large empire. Cyrus II the Great was the founder of the Old Persian Empire in the 6th century B.C.

Expansion of the Empire

Persians’ revolts against Median rule to gain independence. Cyrus II revolts against his grandfather, Astyages, King of Medes (553 B.C.).
Cyrus II marches through the Median Empire (552 B.C.).
The Median capital Ecbatana is conquered by the Persian Army, and the Median Empire declines (550 B.C.).
The Achaemenid Empire conquers Lydia (547 B.C.).
The Achaemenid Empire conquers Elam and the Neo-Babylonian Empire (539 B.C.).
Cyrus II invades the territory of the tribes in the east, but he is killed (530 B.C.).
Cambyses II invades Egypt and Cyprus territories (525 B.C.).

Maintaining Cohesion

How the Persian Empire kept together:

Divine legitimacy of the kings.
Elective monarchy: the king was elected among the members of the family.
Promotion of royal cults of conquered cities and peoples. They adopted or adapted the conquered political uses.
Religious and cultural tolerance: Zoroastrianism, Babylonian religion, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Judaism.

Political Organization and Royal Sites

The empire was divided into satrapies, ruled by a satrap. Satraps were chosen by the Persian king among members of his family and other noble families. In the Imperial court, in each satrapy there was a court following the model of the imperial court.

Royal Sites:

Royal Palace: The court traveled with the king.
King (or Satrap): He was the source of honor and gifts (patronage-clientelism).
Royal Banquets: They included a rigid protocol regarding the seat of everyone according to their rank and merits.
New Year Festival (Mithrakán): The King received gifts from all the satraps.

Persian Ceremonial

The objective was to display the King’s majesty (grandeur, splendor, power) by keeping him separated from his subjects.

The King’s Coronation was celebrated on the King’s birthday. The King dressed in red (the symbol of the warriors) and white (the symbol of magic).
Proskynesis: A ritual greeting, which was different according to the rank, consisting of prostration, kneeling, bowing, and kisses as a symbol of status.

Darius I the Great and the Greco-Persian Wars

Darius I the Great was a Persian who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire. He carried out the expansion of the Empire in this way:

Darius I expanded the territory in the east part of Libya (522 B.C.).
Darius I invaded the Indus Valley and expanded the territory in the east and north (518 B.C.).
The European Scythian campaign of Darius I resulted in Achaemenid domination of the Black Sea regions (513 B.C.).
Darius I continued to expand the territory to the west. Macedonia became a Persian vassal kingdom (511 B.C.).

On the other hand, the Greco-Persian Wars carried out this way:

The Achaemenid Empire was defeated at the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.).
The 2nd Persian invasion of Greece began by King Xerxes I (480 B.C.).
The Persian Empire, under King Xerxes I, was defeated at the Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.).
The Persian Empire was defeated at the Battle of Plataea (479 B.C.).
During a series of wars with the Delian League, Persia lost control of some western parts of its territory (477 B.C. – 499 B.C.).

Alexander the Great (356 BC–323 BC): He adopted the ceremonial and political languages of the Persian Empire and other oriental cultures. Some of these ceremonies and power symbols were adopted by the Greeks and then by the Romans and Western culture.

Alexander started to invade the Persian empire (334 B.C.).
Alexander defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus (333 B.C.).
Alexander conquered Egypt (332 B.C.).
Alexander defeated Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 B.C.).
Darius III was killed and Ecbatana was conquered by Alexander (330 B.C.).
Alexander continued to conquer the rest of the Persian territory until he died.

Roman Political and Ceremonial Evolution

The Roman Monarchy (753 B.C.–509 B.C.)

The Roman Monarchy has its origins in 753 B.C.–509 B.C. It was an elective monarchy based on a myth since Aeneas’ voyage from Troy (Virgil’s Aeneid), in which he was considered an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. Those twin brothers were suckled by a she-wolf (Luperca). Then, Romulus founded the city of Rome and became the first king (seven kings in the Roman monarchy). He divided the people of Rome into 30 curiae (tribes).

Tribe: It is less complex than a state since it is considered a pre-state organization. We can define this term by saying it is a community whose members recognize among themselves remote family ties. These people think they descended from a common ancestor and shared customs and traditions. A tribe is a set of clans.
Clan: A large family. From the pater familias we can distinguish a clan leader; he commands his entire family for a condition of protection and wisdom. The clan is composed of:

Pater familias.
Wife & children.
Grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles.
Servants & slaves.

Kingship and Authority

The Roman monarchy was not hereditary, but the king was elected for life. There was a sacralization of kingship. The King was chosen by the Senate (a council of 300 rich and noble men). The Curiate Assembly approved or rejected the proposal of the Senate.

Inauguratio: A ceremony of approval by the gods. The elected king was moved to the city and placed on a stone seat. The augur (priest) indicated the god’s acceptance, and by that, the king obtained the divine will.
Imperium: The Curiate assembly passed a law at the beginning of each reign that formally granted to the king the use of imperium: this was the supreme political, military, and judicial authority.

The Roman kings had the power to nominate magistrates and officials. They obtained immunity: the imperium protected him, and he could not be brought to trial for his actions. Only the king held imperium. The Senate and the Curia had little power.

Religious Power: The Roman king was also the supreme religious authority. He was the chief of the augurs, the priest in charge of interpreting divine auspices. He nominated the augurs and conducted religious ceremonies.

Symbols of Royal Power (Royal Insignias)

The purple Toga Picta.
The privilege to sit upon a curule chair, which was a symbol of political and military power and was used later on by magistrates with imperium.
Ivory sceptre.
A white diadem.
Red shoes.
Twelve lictors (public officials during the classical period) wielding the fasces (the insignia of the magistrates of the Roman era, the authorities of that time). Those officials escorted the king bearing the symbols of imperium. These lictors represented symbolically the power of the monarch (imperium). They bore a tied bundle of 30 fasces representing the 30 Roman curiae. The axe represented the power to order capital punishment.

The Roman Republic (509 B.C.–27 B.C.)

During this period, there was a new conception of power and State:

Populus Romanus: The State as a community of free citizens.
Res Publica: Public affairs, commonwealth.

Public affairs were not conducted directly by the people (it was not exactly a democracy). Roman citizens participated in the rule of the State through its institutions:

The Senate
The magistratures (public offices)
Curiate assembly (Comitia Curiata)

New Political and Civic Values

Traditional civic Roman virtues:

Piety: Towards gods, progenitors, ancestors, defeated.
Loyalty: Towards political and military deals, friendship.
Dignity: Self-control, serenity.

Oratory was added to these traditional virtues. (Influence of Greek rhetoric.) These virtues shaped the ideal of a Roman virtuous citizen: righteous, honorable, and a good orator.

The Roman Senate

Originally, it was an advisory assembly of the aristocracy with little power. The members were appointed for life, meaning they chose 300 men among patricians and ex-magistrates. The Senate became a very powerful political institution during the Roman Republic as they supervised finances or made decrees. The senators wielded political authority and designated magistrates. Members of this institution enjoyed the highest dignity and authority. The most honorific position was the princeps senatus (leading member).

The system of precedence according to the dignity of each senator (in each category the order of precedence depended on the age):

Social Class: Patrician/Plebeian.
Rank: Dictator, censor, consul, praetor, aedile, tribune, quaestor.

Senators had the title of clarissimus and the privilege of showing a large purple stripe in their tunics. Roman knights had the right to wear just a thin purple stripe.

Magistrates and Imperium

During the Republic, the imperium became shared and temporal, passing from the king to the magistrates. A magistrate exercised that power during the time he held his office.

Magistrates’ offices were annual, elective, and honorific (they honor the bearer and they do not entail any salary).
Magistrates were elected by the Senate, but it was the magistrates who called the Senate meetings and presided over them.
Magistrates enjoyed: Potestas (power limited by their specific functions) and Imperium (they had specific rights and immunity).

Magistrates wore symbols of imperium according to their functions: Ivory sceptre & Lictors with fasces, or lictors with fasces and axes.

The number of lictors escorting the magistrate varied according to the rank of the magistrate’s office:

Dictator: 24 lictors
Consul: 16 lictors
Praetor: 6 lictors

Magistrates also enjoyed different honors: toga praetexta, curule chair, and special seats in spectacles.

The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–476 A.C.)

The Roman Empire is divided into these periods:

Principate (27 B.C.–284 A.C.): Power was formally shared between the Princeps and the Senate.
Dominate (Diocletian, 284–Romulus Augustus, 476): In the Western part of the Empire, the Emperor gathered all the power as he was considered lord or the master (dominus).

Caesar Augustus

Caesar Augustus was the First Roman Emperor (27 B.C.–14 A.C.). He was the great-nephew and adoptive son of Julius Caesar. Octavius formed a triumvirate (42 BC–32 BC) together with the consuls Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marcus Antonius. Octavius defeated Marcus Antonius during a civil war (War of Actium, 32 BC–30 BC).

The Roman Senate gave Octavius the title of Imperator Caesar Augustus in 27 B.C. The ceremony took place in two sessions:

First session: Imperator Caesar renounced the extraordinary powers he had received during the Civil War.
Second session: He received two titles: Princeps civitatis (first citizen) and protector of the res publica, which was the greatest auctoritas (supreme power); and Augustus (religious meaning, sacralization).

In 12 B.C., Caesar Augustus also took the title of Pontifex Maximus (supreme priest).

Titles and Legacy of the Roman Princeps

Caesar Augustus reigned for 41 years, which ended decades of Roman civil wars, ushering in the Pax Romana (no more civil wars, but imperial expansion). Propaganda (statues, portraits, medals, coins) was widespread; Augustus’ effigy was everywhere across the Empire. This period saw the deification of Augustus and successive emperors (Imperial cult). The Empire’s succession was appointed by the Emperor himself, leading to several dynasties such as the Flavian or Julio-Claudian.

Roman Empire Ceremonies

Celebration of Victories (The Triumph)

These were ceremonies offered by the Senate to the military commanders (imperators) who returned victorious to Rome from a campaign or battle. They were both a civil and religious ritual, consisting of:

Procession
Animal sacrifices to Jupiter (god of war)
Feasting
Games

Triumphal arches and other monuments were erected. The procession involved a triumphal entry and a military parade going across the Field of Mars, Via Sacra, Roman Forum, to the Temple of Jupiter. The victorious commander was at the head of the parade carrying a quadriga drawn by white horses. He wore a purple toga picta, and a slave held a laurel crown upon his head. (He then entered the temple of Jupiter and offered his crown to the god.) These processions influenced the model of Medieval and Early Modern Royal entries.

The protocol and precedence in the procession was:

Senators and magistrates.
Symbols and banners of the conquered.
Sacrificial animals.
Defeated soldiers (to be enslaved).
Lictors.
Dancers and musicians.
Roman soldiers.

Triumphal arches evolved to commemorate different sorts of events, not only military victories. They also had a great influence on the Early Modern and Contemporary Age.

Altars and Festivals

Altars: They were open-air spaces for the animal sacrifices to Jupiter, located at the Field of Mars. As an example, we can see the Ara Pacis Augustae, which was built to celebrate the return of Augustus from his campaigns in Hispania and Gallia, commissioned by the Senate. The imperial family, senators, and officials are depicted on the wall reliefs, probably representing the procession which consecrated the altar. The altar shows ritual scenes, depicting Vestal Virgins, priests, sacrificial animals, Romulus and Remus, and other mythological scenes.

Decennalia: They were festivals celebrated every ten years. They commemorated the anniversary of Augustus’ access to the supreme power, as in the past his power was granted only for those years. People offered vows to the emperor for the success of his rule. They played a religious and a ludic character. Other Roman Empire Public Spectacles included: Ludi scaeni (theater) and Munera (gladiator fights).

Funerary Ceremonial and Apotheosis

Imperial funerals (a rite of passage) had their origin in the funerals of Roman nobles, following the republican tradition, and were greatly influenced by Julius Caesar’s funerals. Innovations included the elevation of the Emperor to heaven (apotheosis).

The costs of those funerals were paid by the Senate. Though the Emperors used to arrange how their funerals would be, the Senate had the last word.

Imperial Funerals Steps:

Conclamatio: A legal certification of the emperor’s death. His name was pronounced three times, and his corpse was exhibited for a week in public.
Iustitium: Mourning was decreed, especially on clothing, and recreational acts ended for up to one year.
Funeral Procession: The emperor’s corpse was moved and followed by the members of the Senate, the equestrian order, priests, lictors, soldiers, etc., as well as symbols of his conquests.
Laudatio Funebris: A panegyric account (discourse) of the Emperor´s remarkable actions and victories, written by one of his kin.
Incineration: This took place on the Field of Mars, together with incense and votive offerings.

Apotheosis: A ceremony of consecration/deification of the Roman emperors, presided over by the Emperor’s successor. It consisted of a wax image of the emperor and mourning rituals; then, the wax was put above a pyre. Finally, an eagle was released as a symbol of it carrying the soul of the dead emperor to heaven. He was revered like other gods, with a temple and priests.

From Augustus (14 A.C.) to Constantine (first Christian Emperor, 337), up to 36 emperors (from a total of 60) and 27 members of their families had an apotheosis ceremony and received the title of divus (divine). They were deified after their death. This ceremony was an important part of the symbolism that defined the imperial house/dynasty. Funerary rituals and apotheosis combined the two models rooted in Rome: the tradition of the noble families and the worship of the gods.

The Byzantine Empire: Sacred Authority and Protocol

Historical Context and Key Emperors

Byzantium was the name of the ancient Greek city in 667 B.C. It was renamed in 330 A.C. as Constantinople after the Roman Emperor, Constantine, resulting in the new capital of the Empire, known as the New Rome. It was finally changed its name to Istanbul after being conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

Constantine I the Great (308–337): Constantine I was the first Roman Emperor converted to Christianity. He declared the Edict of Milan in 313, a law which meant the tolerance of the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, along with different religions and cults. The figure of Constantine became the representative of God on Earth. His imperial authority was legitimated and sanctioned by God. He was considered a saint after his death (canonization) for the Orthodox Church and called isapostolos, meaning “equal to Apostles.”
Theodosius I the Great (379–395): Declared the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, where Christianity became the only official religion of the Roman Empire, resulting in the prohibition of other religions. After his death in 395, the Roman Empire divided into two parts.
Justinian I (527–565): Wanted to recover the western Roman territories, succeeding in that recovery by a territorial expansion (renovatio imperii). He consolidated the imperial authority by a codification of Roman law, which was very important in the legislation of the Byzantine Empire and in the recovery of Roman law in Western Europe. He was also known for his court ceremonies.

Social Organization and Imperial Titles

Emperor (Basileus): The supreme political authority. Succession was non-hereditary, but the successor was appointed by the emperor.
Patriarch (Bishop) of Constantinople: The highest religious authority. The emperor appointed the Patriarch as he had political control over the church. The Patriarch crowned the Emperor to give him religious legitimacy.
Caesaropapism: The State controls the Church; there is no separation between powers.

Titles of Byzantine Emperors

Basileus: King in Greek (Greek was the official language, instead of Latin, from the 7th Century on).
Autokrator: Emperor in Greek, one who rules by himself.
Sebatos: Majesty.
Kirios: Lord.
Porphirogenitus: Born in the birth room of the Imperial Palace (legitimacy).
Kaiser: Caesar (title of the imperial heir).
Khronokrator: Lord of time.
Kosmokrator: Lord of cosmos.

Byzantine Ceremonial

The rituals of Byzantine Emperors conveyed imperial majesty and the special/close bond with God. In the imperial art of Byzantium, the Emperors and Empresses are represented in association with Christ, the Virgin, and the saints of the Christian Church. The art was bound with hieratism. To stress the Emperor’s majesty and sacredness, there were two main ceremonial strategies:

Regulating/controlling the personal access to the Emperor (who, how, when).
Ritualizing the Emperor’s public appearances.

The Roman Crisis of the 3rd Century

This crisis led to the development of strict protocol:

Economic Crisis: There was a demographic (population) crisis, which meant less production and less exportations, raising the public deficit. No more military expansion, no new markets or trade routes, no cheap raw material, no slaves (free labor), and because of that, less production.
Social Crisis (Social Polarization): As taxes were raised to face the public deficit, there were indebted small owners that had to sell their lands and became servants. Big landowners (landlords) gathered all the property, and there were peasant revolts.
Political Crisis: Propaganda appeared to face social crisis, meaning the deification of the Emperor (claimed more power and authority). Landlords and military became more powerful with military uprisings and civil wars. There was also the concept of anarchy.

Regulating Personal Access to the Emperor

This involved the development of the Imperial Court, palatine offices, and protocol. After the Crisis of the 3rd Century, there was an increase in the deification of the Emperor and imperial propaganda.

Emperor Diocletian (284–305): He kept himself in his Palace, surrounded by his servants. He developed the concept of Adoratio, the act of everyone bowing before him and kissing the tip of his purple tunic.
Emperor Constantine I (306–337): He kept the Adoratio as a part of the Emperor’s audiences. He developed the Imperial court, resulting in the Sacrum Cubiculum, a space reserved for the emperor’s personal attendance. The Praepositus sacri cubiculi, a chief of the court officers, was close to the emperor. Constantine declared the Ceremonial Silence in the emperor’s presence. Only the Praepositus sacri cubiculi was allowed to break the silence and address the emperor directly.
Emperor Constantine VII (913–959): The Book of Ceremonies appeared, which was a compilation of the different rituals of the Byzantine court, as he took the royal rituals very seriously, insisting on proper observance. This was because those ceremonies helped to strengthen and better display the emperor’s authority among his subjects, kings, and foreign powers.

Byzantine royal rituals were made to impress and theatrically display the Emperor’s splendor (as a sign of authority and might), both inside and outside (diplomacy intentions). For example, in 968 A.D., Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas performed one of his solemn processions to St. Sophia. The ceremony was accounted for by the Italian bishop Liutprand of Cremona, who was visiting Constantinople, and reported how the emperor was saluted as the morning star with acclamations and people prostrating to the ground as he entered the church.

Diplomatic Reception Protocol (10th Century)

According to the Book of Ceremonies, the way they received Persian diplomats consisted of:

A carefully arranged escort and lodging of the Persian diplomats during their journey and arrival to Constantinople.
An Imperial reception:
- Curtained doors (mystery).
- The Master of Offices escorted the diplomat across the different doors.
- Prostrations at fixed points/intervals were made.
- The last curtain door revealed the Emperor, where the exchange of gifts took place.

The Book of Ceremonies (10th Century)

The Book of Ceremonies was the historical source for studying Byzantine royal ceremonies (it compiles ceremonies which rooted in the Ancient Roman Empire), but rituals changed and evolved over time. This book tells us about how these ceremonies were meant to be performed in the 10th century, not how they had always been, nor how they were exactly performed later. This book showed us:

Imperial marriages.
Births of imperial offspring.
Bestowal of codicils of office on imperial ministers.
Diplomatic receptions.
Public appearances of the emperor like games or Major Christian festivals.

The imperial calendar was largely influenced by the liturgical year, which provided regularity and order to the Emperor’s public appearances.

Ritualization of the Emperor’s Public Appearances

Movement of the Emperor: Real or symbolic movement between profane and sacred spaces. The direction was fixed, but also the manner (on foot, mounted, by boat) and stopping places where the Emperor had to perform rituals or to receive public acclamations.

Dress Code: The emperor’s costume and the participants’ costumes were strictly regulated. Since the end of the 7th century, the emperors changed the Roman purple tunic for the Ioros, a long, narrow, and gold embroidered cloth that was wrapped around the torso and dropped over the left hand.

Participants: The ones that took part in the ceremony were imperial officials, clerics, members of the court, etc.

Acclamation: Elaborated and formulaic salutation or welcoming to the Emperor prescribed (not spontaneous) for particular places and moments during the ceremony. There were specific participants and a performance as it was stipulated who should salute the emperor, how, and when. Example: The Blues and the Greens, the two teams of circus races, performed the chorus during the emperor’s lengthy acclamations, both in secular and religious occasions.

Food: It was usually a dinner, closely regulated and attended by specified guests. These ritual meals mixed sacred and profane at times, with the Emperor even coming near playing the role of Christ.

Example: On the Wednesday after Easter, the Emperor invited the Patriarch of Constantinople to a ceremonial dinner, according to a prescribed formula.

The Emperor’s ritualized public appearances were originally meant to be a message for the people so they could appreciate the ruler’s majesty and authority, especially on religious festivals and races in the Hippodrome during the reign of Justinian I. There was a power dialogue between the emperor and his subjects. However, public occasions gave way to private ceremonies in the imperial palace, meaning there was also a power dialogue between the emperor and the ruling class.

The Palm Sunday Ceremony

The night before, the emperor gave palms with gold and silver crosses to senators, patricians, and officials, according to their rank in the church of Saint Demetrius. On Sunday, the rituals took place in the Imperial Palace, specifically in the Throne Room, known as the Golden Chamber, where there was an icon of Christ on the top of the imperial throne (a symbol of the relationship between the emperor and Christ). The members of the government and courtiers surrounded the emperor seated on the throne, under the icon of Christ, and greeted him. The emperor received crosses from certain groups that prostrated themselves before him. Departure in procession to various churches and return to the palace.

In the Golden Chamber, the ritual took place in which the patricians with candles and the priests participated. The deacon placed the Gospels on the imperial throne. A litany was recited. Then, the emperor was accompanied by the courtiers and clergy to the Church of the Virgin. The patricians left after acclaiming the emperor. If the emperor ordered it, the patricians could join in and participate in the liturgy next to the church of San Esteban; then, the guest list was read. After the end of this ceremony, the emperor sat at a table with the guests. Everyone changed dresses for this occasion.

Visual Representation of Hierarchy

The Book of Ceremonies shows a very elaborated and highly regulated court ritual that unites religious and secular elements in the same protocol. The spectators of the ceremonies were:

People of Constantinople. There were numerous ceremonies with the emperor and the imperial family surrounded by officers and clergy in spectacular processions through the city. Splendor of the costumes, which were sometimes changed during ceremonies. Music and songs.
Most of the ritual took place in the Palace as it was important that people could have access to the Palace.
The rituals themselves were a visual representation of hierarchies and closeness to power. The relative order of the positions in the administration and the government was very important.

Byzantine Imperial Emblem: It was a double-headed eagle. It symbolized the double political and religious role of the emperor. The eagle carried:

An orb or a cross on one leg (symbolizing the Church).
A sword or scepter (symbolizing the State).

This was used during the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire. It had a great influence on later European Empires, for example: The Imperial Banner of the Holy Roman Empire or the Coat of arms of the Russian Empire.