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[German version] [1] Flavius Iulius C. Roman Emperor (Augustus), 337-350 AD Roman Emperor, born c. 320 AD, the youngest son of Constantine [1] and Fausta, elevated to Caesar on 25 December 333 and at about the same time betrothed to Olympias, the daughter of  Ablabius [1]. From 9 September 337 Augustus. At a meeting of the brothers in Pannonia (Julian Or. 1,19a) C. received Italy, Illyricum and Africa (Zon. 13,5). He refused to acknowledge the guardianship of his eldest brother Constantine [2] II [1]. Constan…

[German version] A. Antecedents in the ancient Orient Court titles (CT) and court ranks in antiquity, used for the description and creation of personal proximity of members of courtly society to the  ruler or to the hierarchical rank classification of the upper class involved in administration, are a consequence of the emergence of territorial monarchies from the time of Alexander [4] the Great and the resulting organization of  courts as centres of political rule. The question of ancient Oriental antec…

[German version] (Artavasděs, AD 742-743). Armenian, brother-in-law of the emperor of Byzantium, Constantine V, who began his rule on 19 June 741. A. revolted against him some time later, supposedly as the defender of image-worship. He was defeated by Constantine in November 743 and overthrown. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography ODB 1, 192 I. Rochow, Kaiser Konstantin V., 1994.

(Φώτιος/ Phṓtios). [German version] [1] Byzantine high-ranking military officer Stepson of Belisarius, son of his wife Antonina from an earlier marriage, born around AD 520, died AD 578/585. After AD 535, he accompanied Belisarius on campaigns in Italy, and after AD 541 in Persia . In a novelistic passage from the Historia arcana (1,31-35; 2,1-17; 3,2-5; 3,12f.; 3,21-29) Procopius relates that P. was incarcerated by the empress Theodora on Antonina’s orders because P. tried to thwart her affair with Theodosius, an adoptive son of her husband. How…

[German version] A term used during the Roman Imperial Period and in Late Antiquity to refer to leadership functions in a variety of areas of public service [3], in the 4th-6th cents. AD in the expanded form praepositus sacri cubiculi (Greek praipósitos toû eusebestátou koitônos) to refer to the court position of imperial high chamberlain, which was reserved for eunuchs, under whom the chamberlains (see Cubicularius) served. The office of praepositus is first attested under Constantius [2] II for Eusebius [3]. As a confidant of the emperor, the praepositus often played a key role …

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In contrast with cultic  rituals, the secular ceremonies of Mesopotamia have up to now rarely been the subject of academic research. On the whole, it has to be assumed that individual and communal life in the societies of the Ancient Orient in general and that of the  ruler in particular were dominated by numerous rules, resulting in more or less standardized patterns of behaviour. The reconstruction of such non-cultic ceremonies is largely dependent on secondary refe…

[German version] [1] Guarantor in Roman procedural law A vindex, (probably with the same etymology as vindicta ) was a guarantor in Roman procedural law. He played a role in two parts of the trial--in the summoning and in the execution, each time in the context of the manus iniectio (the physical bringing forward of the defendant). According to the Twelve Tables (tab. 1,1; tabulae duodecim ), the latter was permitted when the defendant did not voluntarily follow the order of the plaintiff to appear in front of the court magistrate ( vocatio in ius ). The defendant co…

[German version] [1] Proclaimed emperor in AD 240 by the Carthaginians Was proclaimed emperor in AD 240 by the inhabitants of Carthage, but was shortly after defeated by the governor of Mauretania and delivered to Gordianus [3] III by his own followers (Zos. 1,17,1; SHA Gord. 23,4). Franke, Thomas (Bochum) Bibliography Kienast 1, 197. [German version] [2] see Vettius Sabinianus See Vettius Sabinianus. Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [3] Magister equitum per Orientem, 359-360 AD At a great age m agister equitum per Orientem in AD 359-360 under Constantius [2] II. Ac…

[German version] [1] The term dux, which had already appeared in the Republican period with the general meaning of ‘a leader in a military action or of a troop of soldiers’ (cf. e.g. Cic. Dom. 12: seditionis duces), was in the 2nd cent. AD occasionally used in a semi-official way as the title for the commander of a military unit established for a particular purpose and not necessarily subordinate to the governor of a province. Thus Ti. Claudius Candidus was dux exercitus Illyrici in the war waged by Septimius Severus against Pescennius Niger in AD 193-195 (CIL II 4114 = ILS 1140); dux was also u…

[German version] (πρωτοβεστιάριος/ prōtobestiários, Latin protovestiarius). Overseer of the Byzantine emperor's wardrobe, 5th-15th centuries, eunuch office second to the parakoimṓmenos . ODB 3, 1749. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] [1] E. Aelia Marciana Wife of the emperor Anthemius, AD 467 elevated to Augusta Only daughter of the emperor Marcianus, married Anthemius [2] in c. AD 453 who was later emperor in the west and had four sons and a daughter with him. In 467 she was elevated to Augusta. Her fate after the execution of her husband in 472 is unknown. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 2, 423f. No. 6. P. Grierson, M. Mays, Catalogue of Late Roman Coins, 1992, 260f. [German version] [2] Concubine, later wife of emperor Iustinus I Originally a slave of ‘Barbarian’ origin by the name …

[German version] (Βάραγγοι/ Bárangoi). Scandinavians who from about the early 10th cent. AD arrived in Byzantium by way of the territory of the Kievan Rus (hence also often described as Ῥώς/ Rṓs or Tauroscythae), from the 11th cent. also Anglo-Saxons who served in the Byzantine army (in which they were considered particularly trustworthy), but primarily in the Imperial Guard. Their characteristic weapon was the battle-axe, which earned them the nickname 'axe-bearers' (πελεκυφόροι/ pelekyphóroi). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography S. Franklin, A. Cutler, s. v. Varangia…

[German version] (Μαυρίκιος; Mauríkios). Flavius M. Tiberius, East Roman emperor (A.D. 582-602), born in 539 in Arabissus (Cappadocia), died on 27th Nov. 602 in Calchedon. M. replaced the caesar and later emperor Tiberius II in 574 as chief of the guard and was given the command in 577 as magister militum per Orientem to continue the Persian war. After victories near Callinicus in 580 and near Constantina in 581, he was given a triumphal reception in 582 in Constantinople. Tiberius, emperor since 578, affianced him to his daughter Constantina and…

[German version] [1] Christian theologian and poet, 2nd cent. Christian theologian, probably from Egypt, taught in c. AD 140-160 in Rome ( cf. Iren. adv. haereses 3,4,3). He wanted, possibly, to become episcopus ( epískopos ), but was turned down (Tert. adv. Valentinianos 4,1 ff.); afterwards, he must have lived in Cyprus (Epiphanius, Panarion 31,7,2). Besides a few extant fragments from sermons and letters, a work entitled 'On the three natures' ( Perì triôn phýseōn) is known to have existed. V. apparently wrote psalms in verse form; a fragment (in Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haer…

[German version] (Βασιλίσκος; Basilískos), Flavius. East Roman counter-emperor, brother of the empress Verina who was the wife of emperor  Leo I (457-474). Since 468, he held the office of mag. militum. In 468, he fought unsuccessfully against the Vandals, in 471, he supported Leo in overthrowing and murdering Aspar ( Ardabur), the powerful mag. militum, and revolted against Leo's son-in-law  Zeno (474-491) from January 475 until August 476 with the support of Monophysite groups. During his rule, he issued an edict to abolish the doctrines establi…

[German version] (Γωβάζης; Gōbázēs). King of the Lazes, abdicated in c. AD 456 in favour of his son under pressure from the Roman government, visited Constantinople in 465/6 for negotiations with Emperor Leo I, in which Daniel the Stylite, who lived there and whom he revered, supported him in a mediating role. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 2, 515 ODB 1, 585, s.v. Daniel the Stylite.

[German version] [1] Flavius Iustinianus I. Roman emperor AD 527-565 The Roman emperor Justinian (AD 527-565), born c. 482 of Thracian-Illyrian origins as the son of a farmer, with the Latin name Petrus Sabbatius in Bederiana by Tauresium, in the area of the city Iustiniana Prima, which he later built (probably identical with modern Caričin Grad, 45 km south of Niš; see [1. 1085]), died on 14 November 565 in Constantinople. He owed his rise to  Iustinus [1] I, his mother's brother. He trusted I. especially, who was serving as candidatus in the imperial palace guard when his uncle c…

(Ῥωμανός; Rhōmanós). [German version] [1] R. Melodod, the Melodist Byzantine hymnographer, 5th/6th cent. AD (Ῥωμανὸς Μελωδός; Rhōmanòs Melōdós). Byzantine hymnographer of Syrian origin, b. before AD 493 at Emesa (present-day Ḥims in Syria), d. between AD 551 and 565 at Constantinople. Initially deacon at Berytus (Beirut), he took up his post at the Church of the Virgin at Constantinople under the emperor Anastasius [1] I. According to legend, he is said to have decided to become a composer of hymns after receivi…

[German version] (Στότζας; Stótzas). Member of Martinus' [2] guard, accompanying him on Belisarius' campaign against the Vandali in AD 533. Rebelling troops in Africa chose him as their leader in 536. After a failed attempt to conquer Carthage, he was defeated in 537 by Germanus [1] and fled to Mauretania. In 541 he rebelled again, assumed the title of emperor and tried to extend his power in northern Africa until in 545 he was killed in a battle. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography A. Kazhdan, s.v. S., ODB 3, 1959f.  PLRE 3B, 1199f.

(Δήμαρχος; Dḗmarchos). Holder of office with political and/or religious duties in Greek communities. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham) [German version] I. Greece until late antiquity (1) In Athens the demarchos was the highest office-holder in each of the 139 demes ( Demos [2]), into which Cleisthenes had divided the polis ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 54,8). By no later than the 4th cent. BC the demarchos was elected by lot in each   dḗmos for one year; the demarchos for Piraeus on the other hand was appointed by the polis (Ath. Pol. 54,8). He convened and chaired the assembly of th…