During the Third Act of the Council of Constantinople (879-880), the Epistle of Pope John VIII to the Council (sent 879) was read out:
[7] For that patriarch among the saints, Tarasius of Constantinople,
sent, in accordance with the custom, conciliar letters. When we received these
letters and learned the correctness of his faith regarding the other dogmas as
well as regarding the sacred and venerable icons, finding it to be in accord
with the holy six Ecumenical Councils, we both accepted them gladly and agreed
therewith, even though we were neither ungrieved nor untroubled by the fact
that he ascended to the great throne directly from a worldly rank and imperial
service, from soldiers’ boots, and was not installed as patriarch according to
our canons. (The Acts of the Eighth Ecumenical Council [trans. Gregory
Heers; Uncut Mountain Press, 2025], 255)
“From soldiers’ boots” (Gr. απο καλιγων, L. a caligis): a Latin expression
meaning “from military service.” The Latins called caligae what the
ancient Greeks called αρβυλαι,
(Aeschylus, Agamemnon 944), meaning military shoes. Hence καλιγωνω, “to put metallic shoes on horses,
asses, and mules.” Shoeing is an invention of the Romans. The Macedonians
marched on their expeditions with unshod horses. Thus, the expression “from soldiers’
boots” meant that someone originated from a very low station. Pope John’s
insinuation essentially applies to Photius, since when Tarasius (about whom he
purportedly said that he came “from soldiers’ boots”) was elected patriarch, he
was asecretis, a political office. Only Photius was in the military, and
“from soldiers’ boots” is an indirect reference to him. That is, because Photius
was in the military and not the clergy when he was elected patriarch, John
spitefully calls him. A “reservist”, so to speak, and that he went from “reservist”
straight to patriarch. (Ibid., 255 n. 275)
While reading the above, I
was reminded of Isa 9:4 (Heb. v. 5). In the KJV, we read:
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise .
. .
However, modern translations
render סְאוֹן as “boot” or “footgear” (e.g., NRSV; NJB). Perhaps something like
the above is going on in the Isaiah text as it is with respect to the phrase, “form
soldiers’ boots” in Pope John’s letter from 879.
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