John, in this mosaic on the north tympanum in the Hagia Sophia, is the figure
on the left; his name is discernable in Greek down each side of the figure:
Iohanne Oxrisostomos. The surname Chrysostom means "golden mouthed" and was
given to him by virtue of his compelling oratorical abilities - abilities,
however, which were eventually to prove his undoing because of his "no punches
pulled" sermons, which were invariably directed at the ruling classes and the
misuse of wealth. This brought him into direct, long-standing and eventually
fatal conflict with the Imperial family and after having been exiled twice by
the machinations of Eudoxia the Empress he eventually died in 407 CE, presumably
due to the rigours of his final journey into exile at the eastern end of the
Black Sea. St John was Bishop of Constantinople towards the end of the 4th
century CE.
