Splendid isolation Secluded emperors and the spectre of Oriental despotism

This chapter explores the significance of the Oriental court, as it was imagined by Greek and Roman authors, as a parallel or counterpoint to the Roman court in the Principate and Late Antiquity, especially with regard to imperial seclusion and courtly splendour. In classical Greek discourse, the kings of the Assyrians, Medes, and especially the Persians, often exemplified the flaws of Oriental despotism, since they shielded themselves from their subjects and seemed to care for nothing but the unrestrained pursuit of physical pleasure. By the turn of the first century, this theme was picked up by Dio Chrysostom to contrast the aloof, secluded Domitian with the accessible Trajan. With the development of highly ceremonious ‘palace emperorship’ in Late Antiquity, the literary topos of the princeps clausus emerged in the works of authors and orators such as Synesius of Cyrene and Claudian, who once again evoked the ‘splendid isolation’ of Oriental kings to criticize more aloof, ritualized modes of imperial behaviour and display. Hence, these authors sought to make a vital distinction between the secluded Oriental despot and the active, accessible Roman princeps, even while the changing role of the late antique emperor put this traditional ideal under increasing pressure.