The “Light, Lamps, and Eyes” of the Persian Empire and the Gothic Kingdom in Justinian’s Time: A Note on Peter the Patrician and Cassiodorus

Abstract

A fragment from the lost History of Peter the Patrician is the most important surviving source for the peace treaty of 298 between the Romans and the Sasanids, and scholars have acknowledged the influence of this piece on the later work of Theophlylact Simocatta. This essay explores Peter’s use of images of power, particularly the “lamps, lights and eyes” as a metaphor for imperial rule, considering them together with similar uses of the same imagery by Cassiodorus. In some of his letters for the Ostrogothic Kings, Cassiodorus used strikingly similar images to describe the relations between Empire and Kingdom, and between rulers, particularly Theodora and Gudeliva. By examining these works in their larger context, nuances of meaning in Sixth Century diplomacy can be discerned, revealing that while the ultimate source of the “lamps, lights, and eyes” cannot be stated with certainty, the use of this image to symbolize power reflected the authors’ efforts to represent relations between Empires and Kingdoms (Roman/Persian and Byzantine/Italic) in ways that were useful as diplomacy and especially as propaganda, as well as symbolically important. They also may hide Theodora’s ambitions to hold power equal to that of her husband, as testified by other contemporary authors.