TITLU în română: Iustinian şi bolile sexuale. Hagiografie şi profilaxie în Bizanţul timpuriu
Subiect: This research compares collected data from texts regarding the life of Emperor Justinian, with information on cases of sexual diseases in the context of Early Byzantium. A hagiographical text, The Life of Saint Samson, recounts that a serious illness affected Emperor Justinian’s genital organs for which the Byzantine physicians of the time failed to fiind a cure. The disease was only abated through a miracle of Saint Samson. This adynaton placed the Emperor in a “coverage space”. Afterwards, in the 23rd or 24th year of his reign, Justinian suffered a leg pain, accompanied by pain during urination. Körbler hypothesizes that these symptoms were owed to syphilis. The affliction of the Emperor’s leg was cured through the intercession of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Rather the Emperor’s illness can be detected as a literary locus of hagiography; moreover, the adynaton confirms the foundation of the imperial institution, and reaffirms the adequacy of the sovereign.
