284 Part Two: Epigrams in Context
arguments of John the Grammarian and his fellow iconoclasts? And what
about the vast majority of the population, those who were ignorant of writing
and reading? Did they understand the imperial propaganda when they looked
at the Chalke and its iconoclastic verse inscriptions? The illiterate and those
with little education will certainly have needed an interpreter, someone more
knowledgeable than themselves, in order to fathom what John the Grammar-
ian was actually saying. But even without this sort of basic guidance, they will
have immediately grasped the essence of the iconoclastic propaganda at the
Chalke just by looking at the golden letters and the cruciform shape of the
acrostics. They saw golden-lettered crosses – what more did they need to
understand that iconoclasm was back in town? Rational arguments, sophisti-
cated words? No, not necessarily. For words and arguments speak to the mind,
but writing in gold speaks to the heart.