The dignitaries of the State now approached, in the order of their rank, and did homage to the monarch, while the crowds around made the air ring again with every acclamation that loyalty or adulation could invent. As soon as this scene terminated, the emperor addressed a brief allocation to the soldiers, through a herald; claiming to reign by the will of God and their suffrage, promising devotion to the welfare of the Empire, and a generous donative to each of his faithful companion-in-arms, announcements which were greeted with storms of applause. Then the sum of money required for the promised largess was handed over by the emperor to the officers charged with its distribution. Upon the conclusion of this important part of the day’s proceedings, the ceremonies assumed a religious character. The emperor now repaired, on foot, to a camp-chapel, a tent of many colours, at a short distance from the Imperial tribune, and, leaving his crown without, entered to bow before the King of kings. It was a simple service conducted by ordinary priests, as the patriarch and higher clergy had left the Campus for St. Sophia. Upon issuing from the chapel, the emperor resumed his crown, and proceeded on a white charger, followed by a brilliant escort of dignitaries also on horseback, to the Church of St. John the Baptist, the principal sanctuary of the Hebdomon. This second service may be described as the Consecration of the Crown. For in this case, the crown, upon being again removed from the emperor’s head, was not left in the vestry, but was carried by a court official up to the altar, and then placed by the emperor himself on the sacred table. There it remained until the service closed, when the emperor handed it to the court official, and, having presented a rich gift to the church, returned to the vestry and assumed his diadem once more. This brought the coronation ceremonies, so far as they concerned the Hebdomon, to an end. The stream of life now poured into the city, the Imperial _cortége_ gathering more and more pomp as it passed the Golden Gate, the Helenianæ,[1257] the Forum of Constantine, and entered St. Sophia for the supreme coronation of the emperor by the patriarch in the Great Cathedral of the capital.[1258] Only one triumphal procession, that of Basil I.,[1259] is expressly described as starting from the Hebdomon, but the suburb was in all probability[1260] the starting-point also of the processions which celebrated the victories of Theodosius the Great, Heraclius, Constantine Copronymus, Zimisces, and Basil II., if not of Michael Palæologus.