Note 1026 — INDEX.
Reading edition
Footnote 1026: Is this another trace of "Byzantinism"? It was a regular custom at the Byzantine and other Oriental Courts to have a "concourse of beauty" for the Emperor's benefit when he wished to choose a wife (Histoire Générale, i., 381 n., v., 728); and the story of Theophilus and Theodora is familiar (Finlay, ii., 146-47).(back)