De Ceremoniis

De Ceremoniis, in full De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae and in English the Book of Ceremonies, is a Greek book of the ceremonial protocol of the Byzantine emperors' court at Constantinople, written in the middle of the 10th century. Emperor Constantine VII wrote or at least commissioned it, probably around 956–959, and it was partly revised under Nikephoros II; it includes chapters from a 6th-century manual by Peter the Patrician. It sets out the processions, stations, costumes and acclamations of religious feasts and of secular rites such as coronations, weddings, births and funerals, as well as the reception of ambassadors. An English translation in two volumes was published in 2012.