Commandaria and the eponymous
Rumney wine).
Retsina, wine flavored with pine resin, was also drunk, as
it still is in Greece today, producing similar reactions from unfamiliar visitors; "To add to our calamity the Greek wine, on
account of being mixed with pitch, resin, and plaster was to us undrinkable," complained
Liutprand of Cremona, who was
the ambassador sent to Constantinople in 968 by the German Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I.
[217]
The
garos fish sauce
condiment was also not much appreciated by the unaccustomed; Liutprand of Cremona described being served food
covered in an "exceedingly bad fish liquor."
[217]
The Byzantines also used a soy sauce like condiment,
murri, a fermented
barley sauce, which, like soy sauce, provided
umami flavoring to their dishes.
[218][219]
Byzantines were avid players of
tavli (
Byzantine Greek:
τάβλη
), a game
known in English as
backgammon, which is still popular in former Byzantine
realms, and still known by the name tavli in Greece.
[220]
Byzantine nobles
were devoted to horsemanship, particularly
tzykanion, now known as
polo.
The game came from Sassanid Persia in the early period and a Tzykanisterion
(stadium for playing the game) was built by
Theodosius II (r. 408–450)
inside the
Great Palace of Constantinople. Emperor
Basil I (r. 867–886)
excelled at it; Emperor
Alexander (r. 912–913) died from exhaustion while
playing, Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) was injured while
playing with
Tatikios, and
John I of Trebizond (r. 1235–1238) died from a
fatal injury during a game.
[221][222]
Aside from
Constantinople and
Trebizond, other Byzantine cities also featured
tzykanisteria
, most notably
Sparta,
Ephesus,
and
Athens,
an
indication
of
a
thriving
urban
aristocracy.
[223]
The game was introduced to the West by crusaders, who
developed a taste for it particularly during the pro-Western reign of emperor
Manuel I Komnenos.
In the Byzantine state, the
emperor was the sole and
absolute ruler, and his power was regarded as having divine
origin.
[224]
The
Senate had ceased to have real political and legislative authority but remained as an honorary council with
titular members. By the end of the 8th century, a civil administration focused on the court was formed as part of a large-
Cuisine
Recreation
A game of
τάβλι
(tabula) played by
Byzantine emperor Zeno in 480 and
recorded by Agathias in c. 530
because of a very unlucky dice throw
for Zeno (red), as he threw 2, 5 and 6
and was forced to leave eight pieces
alone.
[220]
Government and bureaucracy
scale consolidation of power in the capital (the rise to pre-eminence of the position of
sakellarios
is related to this
change).
[225]
The most important administrative reform, which probably started in the mid-7th century, was the creation
of
themes, where civil and military administration was exercised by one person, the
strategos
.
[226]
Despite the occasionally derogatory use
of
the
terms
"Byzantine"
and
"
Byzantinism",
the
Byzantine
bureaucracy had a distinct ability for
reconstituting itself in accordance with
the Empire's situation. The elaborate
system of titulature and precedence gave
the court prestige and influence. Officials
