로마 황궁 소속 환관의 권력쟁취 전략: 에우세비우스, 에우트로피우스, 크리사피우스의 사례

Abstract

The introduction of Oriental style court in the Later Roman Empire was a turning point in the institutional history of the eunuchs. At this time some of the imperial eunuchs were endowed with the title ‘praepositus sacri cubiculi (Grand Chamberlain)’. This paved the way for their rise on the stage of power. This paper focuses on the nature of the political power of the Roman eunuchs. Accordingly, three examples of Roman eunuchs in the 4th and 5th century have been selected: Eusebius, Eutropius and Chrysaphius. Following this, I have investigated how they became so mighty that they influenced the rulings of the emperor. These eunuchs proved to have enjoyed influential power in the court especially in two fields: In the political field the trust of the emperor became the grounding basis for the enlarging of ‘the eunuch’s power’. By way of support of the emperor, the eunuchs checked, eliminated their opponents and established advantageous positions in the court. For example, Eusebius, one praepositus sacri cubiculi, drove away Gallus the cousin of the emperor Constantius Ⅱ and Ursicinus his colleague general through an alliance with one influential magister militum Arbitio. Another grand chamberlain, Eutropius, also took away the position of the praetor praefect namely Rufinus who was the patron of the teenager emperor Arcadius(395-408). What was more, the ambitious eunuch Eutropius chased away opposing officials in the imperial court, while others with the same interests in the court were united with him. One more eunuch, Chrysaphius, successfully oppressed his rival Pulchria, the elder sister of the emperor Theodosius Ⅱ(408-450), who had a powerful influences on court politics. Then Chrysaphius established a base for the political power. In the religious field the eunuchs had the possibility to ensure and enforce their own status. Here we can say that grasping for the church policy means taking the power of the church itself into one’s hands. Therefore Eusebius and Chrysaphius persuaded their emperors regarding the direction of church policy that they wanted. At the same time they got rid of their rivals in the church like antagonistic bishops, and set the new bishops in their posts. In fact, the movement of the Roman eunuchs toward power and their winning of it was not a durable phenomenon in the 4th-5th century. The historical developments of the Roman eunuchs were thus different from those in the Chinese and Persian ancient courts. Nevertheless the goal of the Roman eunuchs, being political power, can also be interpreted as the result of the despotization of the Roman court in the Later Roman Times. The emperors relied on their proximi rather than on the senators for their rulings. This style of imperial governing was indebted to the rising of the eunuchs in the power struggles and the political troubles of the times. The official title for the court eunuchs(praepositus sacri cubiculi) in the early 4th century of the Roman Empire led to a new phenomenon: Finally the eunuchs were able to consolidate their own power in the court and play influential roles in the politics of the times.