 The Homilies of Gregory was commissioned as a gift for emperor Basil I by the Patriarch of Constantinople Photios I, to both celebrate the triumph of Orthodoxy and to praise the reign of Basil I.The focus on St. Gregory, a fourth century archbishop of Constantinople, is a very deliberate decision made by Photios, who, being a highly educated man was well aware of the connotation of wisdom and devout faith that would be drawn by having a commemorative piece made focusing on the famous homilies delivered by St. Gregory in Nazianzus.Some have speculated as to the reason for devoting a manuscript to an emperor who was most likely illiterate, but the formality of the gesture, and intricate design of the work lend to the idea that this was done as a celebratory gift, and not something Basil I would have actually have been expected to read.