Celebracja cesarskich zwycięstw militarnych w późnym Bizancjum w świetle kroniki Jerzego Akropolitesa
Celebrating military victories during the late Byzantine Empire according to the chronicle of George Akropolites

Summary/Abstract: The notion of triumphal ceremonies in the Byzantine Empire is well known thanks to a book by Michael McCormick entitled „Eternal Victory. Triumphal Rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Early Medieval West”. Therein, the scholar mainly focuses on the ceremonies which were officiated during the early and middle Byzantium, while omitting — much to the detriment of his consideration, the period of the Nicene Empire and the empire ruled by the Palaiologos. M. McCormick chiefly tries to unveil to what extent the Byzantine ceremonies drew upon the heritage of Antiquity, and therefore he mostly foregoes their development during the Komnenoi dynasty period. He supported his choice arguing that the scope of societal changes that occurred during the early medieval times in Byzantium translated into the formula and ideological message of the ceremonies in question. In the light of the mentioned premises it would be eligible to ask about the form of triumphal ceremonies in the Byzantine Empire in exile in the Asia Minor, that is, in the Nicene Empire. The present article aims at verifying the record thereof written by the epoch’s (i.e., of the Empire in exilio) most renown chronicler — George Akropolites. Particularly, to examine his chronicle’s usefulness as a source of knowledge on the Nicene triumphal ceremonies. The analysis concentrates upon the two events described by the said author, namely: the celebration stemming from the annexation of Thessaloniki in 1246 by John III Vatatzes and Michael VIII Palaiologos’s official installation in Constantinople of 1261 regained from the Romans.

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