The oath of the Byzantine army in AD 917 and the relic of the True Cross: some remarks on the meaning of the episode

In AD 917, the regiments of the Eastern Roman Empire concentrated in Thrace, preparing a military response against the incursions of Symeon of Bulgaria.Then, according to the Chronicle of the Logothete and other sources, palace officials brought with them a relic of the True Cross, and the troops venerated it and swore an oath on it before the beginning of the campaign.This paper raises some questions regarding this oath and offers an explanation regarding the meaning of the episode.Accordingly, the paper argues that the practice described by the chroniclers can be explained, on the one hand, by the different ways in which the Byzantine imperial elite used Christian relics in military contexts, and, on the other, by the particular situation of the throne during the regency of Zoe, the mother of Constantine VII.