Mechanical Miracles and Iconoclasm under the Emperor Theophilos: The Cogs of Religion and a Byzantine Defence of Machine Aesthetics

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Abstract

This article explores the role of technology in arousing religious awe from classical antiquity to the time of Emperor Theophilos. People’s fascination with technology ensured that this trend, which became increasingly popular in Greco-Roman religious festivals from the Hellenistic period onwards, also gained pace among Christians after an initial period of rejecting such practices. Pagan and later Christian emperors systematically sought to impress their subjects by staging cult-related and other public spectacles in which they showcased the technology available at their disposal. However, while emperors could always rely on technology to bolster their statements about their proximity to God, engineering employed to stage miracles was deeply harmful for Christianity. Thus, Theophilos’ father is reported by Eutychius to have punished paradigmatically the mastermind of one such mechanically enabled miracle in his native Phrygia. Accordingly, the article examines Theophilos’ known obsession with engineering in connection with his iconoclastic views as a response to the miracle frenzy of his day which encouraged cases of counterfeit miracles.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages22
JournalDe Medio Aevo
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024

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