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The Christian rite of the sacring of kings does not derive its origin from the older Jewish rite, though doubtless during the process of its developement it borrowed details from the older ceremony.

The origin of the rite must be sought in Constantinople, and from the Byzantine ritual the idea of the Western rite is ultimately derived. But what then is the origin of the Byzantine rite itself? It is the Christian developement of the ceremonies connected with the inauguration of the Roman Emperors in pre-Christian times. Of these ceremonies we have no very full or detailed account, but although we have no exact and complete record of the actual ritual used, yet certain historians tell us in somewhat general terms of what happened on the accession of various Emperors. For example, the circumstances of the election of Tacitus to the Empire in 275 were as follows[7].

The Senate was convoked and asked to elect an Emperor, and Tacitus the Princeps Senatus on rising to give his opinion was suddenly acclaimed Emperor by the whole Senate, with the acclamation ‘Tacitus Augustus, the Gods preserve you. You are our choice, we make you Princeps, to you we commit the care of the republic and the world. Take up the Empire by the Senate’s authority. The honour which you deserve is in keeping with your life, your rank, your character’ etc., and the acclamations conclude with the repetition of the formal words, ‘Tacitus Augustus, the Gods preserve you.’ He was thereupon elected, and the Senate proceeded to the Campus Martius, where its choice is announced to the people in these words, ‘You have here, Sanctissimi Milites et Sacratissimi Quirites, the prince whom the Senate has elected in pursuance of the vote of all the armies, I mean the most august Tacitus; so that he who has hitherto helped the republic by his votes, will now help it by his commands and decrees.’ The people greet the announcement with the acclamation: ‘Most fortunate Augustus Tacitus, the Gods preserve you,’ and the rest that it is customary to say. Lastly the Senate’s choice is proclaimed to the army, and the customary Donative is given.

Pertinax was suddenly and irregularly acclaimed by army and populace without waiting for the Senate to make an election. Thereupon he proceeded to the Senate, and after delivering an address to the senators he was acclaimed by all, and received from them all honour and reverence, and ‘was sent to the temple of Jupiter and the other sanctuaries, and having celebrated the sacrifice for the Empire, he returned to the palace[8].’

Thus we see that in theory the new Emperor was first elected by the Senate, and then accepted or recognised in the Campus Martius by the people and army with acclamations which followed a definite and fixed ritual, and finally the Donative originated by the Emperor Claudius, and followed by his successors, was bestowed. But in actual fact the election by the Senate tended to become more and more a very perfunctory affair, and the choice of an Emperor came more and more to fall into the hands of the armies.

The Emperor had, however, some power in providing his successor. He could and often did nominate a colleague who would normally possess a right of succession. But while he was merely colleague in the Empire, though he was invested with some of the marks and functions of the Imperial dignity, he had no actual ‘imperium.’

There were also certain definite imperial insignia, such as the purple cloak, once the mark of a general in the field; the laurel wreath, which the Emperor habitually wore; the purple-striped toga and tunic; and the scarlet senatorial shoes.

The ceremonies of the inauguration naturally tended in process of time to develope. The election by the Senate, as has been remarked, became more and more of a form, and new customs gradually came into being. A considerable developement is noticeable in the account of the inauguration of Julian, though the whole ceremony in his case was under the circumstances somewhat informal and makeshift. It is the army which elects him. In spite of his protests he is acclaimed as Emperor; he is then elevated on a shield; and finally he is crowned, a torque serving temporarily to represent the diadem. Afterwards, we are told, he assumed a gorgeous diadem at Vienne[9]. The elevation on a shield, which henceforward always occurs in the inauguration ceremonies, appears for the first time at Julian’s accession to the imperial throne. It was a custom followed among the Teutonic tribes[10], and was doubtless introduced by the Teutonic soldiers who formed so important a part of the Roman armies at this time. The diadem, which is of oriental origin, was perhaps introduced by Aurelian. It seems to have been habitually used by Constantine, and there was a gradual advance during this period in the matter of ceremonial and the sumptuousness of the imperial vestments.

There is no sign, for some time after the acceptance of Christianity as the religion of the Empire, of any Christian influence on the rites of inauguration. It is not until the time of the Emperor Leo I that we meet with the coronation rite in the religious sense of the term. In the year 457 the Emperor Leo I was formally crowned and invested as Emperor with religious rites. Constantine Porphyrogenitus[11], to whom we owe so much of our knowledge of the court functions and ceremonial of the Byzantine period, describes the rite which took place at the accession of Leo. The new Emperor, accompanied by the high officials of the Empire, went down in state to the Hippodrome, in which was gathered together a vast concourse of people. Here he ascended a lofty tribunal in view of all the people and was greeted with acclamations. A maniakis (apparently a kind of fillet) is placed upon his head, and another in his hand, amid the cheers of the people. Then under the cover of a testudo, raised by the candidati, he is arrayed in the imperial vestments, and so shews himself to the people, with the diadem on his head and the imperial shield and spear in his hands. He is thereupon greeted with the ritual formula, Mighty and victorious and august, prosperously, prosperously. Many years, Leo Augustus, thou shalt reign. God will keep this realm, God will keep this Christian realm, and other such things. The Emperor then makes a speech to the people, and promises the customary Donative.

Nicephorus, Theodore the Reader, and Theophanes, assert that Leo was elected by the Senate, and that the diadem was set upon his head by the Patriarch Anatolius[12], but Constantine does not make any reference to any act of coronation by the Patriarch, and does not mention him at all, except as being among the high officials who accompanied the Emperor to the Hippodrome. Evidently as yet the Patriarch took no very public or prominent part in the ceremonial.

We are told more, however, in connection with the inauguration of the Emperor Anastasius I in 491[13]. On the death of Zeno, the choice of his successor to the Empire was left in the hands of the Empress Ariadne. The Senate summoned the Patriarch to exhort her to make a worthy choice, and she chose as Emperor Anastasius the Silentiary. After the funeral of Zeno, Anastasius takes up his position before the portico of the great Triclinium and the magistrates and Senate require of him an oath that he will retain no private grudge against anyone, and that he will rule the Empire well and justly. The Patriarch Euthymius then demands an oath in writing[14] that he will make no change in the Faith or Church, and that he shall sign the Chalcedonian dogmas. Anastasius then proceeds to the Hippodrome and enters the triclinium from which the Emperor is wont at race times to receive the adoration of the Senate. He is clothed in the golden-striped Dibetesion (a tunic reaching to the knees), girdle, greaves, and royal buskins, his head being uncovered. The military standards are in the meanwhile lying on the ground, to signify, apparently, the vacancy of the throne. The people acclaim him, he is raised on a shield, and a campiductor places a torque about his head. This last is perhaps a perpetuation of the makeshift coronation of Julian with a military torque. The standards are then lifted up, and people and soldiery together acclaim the Emperor. The Emperor re-enters the triclinium, and is invested with the regalia. The Patriarch says a prayer which is followed by the Kyrie eleeson, and then the Patriarch invests the Emperor with the imperial chlamys (the purple robe), and sets a gorgeous crown upon his head. After this the Emperor goes to the Kathisma and shews himself to the people, who greet him with the cry Auguste, Σεβαστέ. The Emperor then proceeds to address the people in a special ritual formulary, a book containing which is put into his hand for the purpose.

Emperor. It is manifest that human power depends on the will of the supreme Glory.

People. Abundance to the world! As thou hast lived, so rule. Incorrupt rulers for the world! and so on.

Emp. Since the most serene Augusta Ariadne with the assent of the illustrious nobles and by the election of the glorious Senate and mighty armies, and the consent of the sacred people, have advanced me, though unwilling and hesitating, that I should assume the care of the Empire of the Romans, agreeably to the clemency of the Divine Trinity. …

Peo. Kyrie eleeson. Son of God, have mercy upon him. Anastasie Auguste, tu vincas! God will keep the pious Emperor. God gave thee, God will keep thee! and so on.

Emp. I am not ignorant how great a weight is laid upon me for the common safety of all.

Peo. Worthy of the Empire! Worthy of the Trinity! Worthy of the City. Out with the informers. (This last is doubtless an unauthorised interpolation.)

Emp. I pray Almighty God that as ye hoped me to be, in this common choice of yours, so ye may find me to be in the conduct of affairs.

Peo. He in whom thou believest will save thee. As thou hast lived, so reign. Piously hast thou lived, piously reign. Ariadne, thou conquerest! Many be the years of the Augusta! Restore the army, restore the forces. Have mercy on thy servants. As Marcian reigned, so do thou … (and much more to the same effect).

Emp. Because of the happy festival of our Empire, I will bestow 5 solidi and a pound of silver on each man.

Peo. God will keep the Christian Emperor. These are the prayers of all. These are the prayers of the whole world. Keep, O Lord, the pious Emperor. Holy Lord, raise up thy world. The fortune of the Romans conquers. Anastasius Augustus, thou conquerest! Ariadne Augusta, thou conquerest! God hath given you, God will keep you.

Emp. God be with you.

The Emperor then proceeds to the church of St. Sophia and lays aside his crown in the Mutatorium, and it is deposited in the sanctuary. He then offers his gifts, and returning to the Mutatorium reassumes his crown, and thence returns to the palace.

In the account which he gives of the inauguration of Leo the Younger in 474[15], Constantine illustrates the ceremonies observed at the inauguration of one associated in the Empire during his father’s lifetime.

The reigning Emperor, accompanied by the Senate and by the Patriarch Acacius, proceeds to the Hippodrome, where the populace and soldiery are already assembled. The Emperor standing before his throne begins to address the troops, who pray him to be seated. Saluting the people the Emperor seats himself and the concourse greeting him with cries of ‘Augustus,’ beseeches him to crown the new Emperor. The Magister and Patricians then lead forward the Caesar, and place him on the Emperor’s left hand. The Patriarch recites a prayer to which all answer ‘Amen.’ The Praepositus then hands a crown to the Emperor, who himself sets it on the Caesar’s head, the people shouting ‘Prosperously, prosperously, prosperously.’ The Emperor seats himself, while the new Emperor addresses the people who greet him with shouts of ‘Augustus.’ The Eparch of the city and the Senate come forward and present the new Emperor, according to custom, with a modiolon, or crown of gold. Finally the Emperor addresses the soldiery, and promises the usual Donative.

In these descriptions we still find a reminiscence of the old election by the Senate, ratified by the soldiery and people. The military assent is signified by the raising aloft on the shield, and by the imposition of the military torque, which was retained as late as the time of Justin II. Leo I also received a second torque in his right hand, which may perhaps be identified with the second golden crown given to Leo II. The meaning of this second crown is not clear, but Mr. Brightman[16] has suggested that it may represent authority to crown consorts in the Empire. The acclamations evidently follow a fixed ritual, and the imperial speech is a written document.