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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…

[1] M., Theodosius Writer of the Saturnalia, c. 400 [German version] A. Identification There are three Latin works extant under the name Ambrosius Theodosius M., vir clarissimus and illustris (sometimes listed in reverse order): 7 bks. of Saturnalia( Sat.), 2 bks. of Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis ( Somn.) and excerpts from De differentiis et societatibus Graeci Latinique verbi. Otherwise the author is unknown. However, the persons that appear in Sat. (Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, Q. Aurelius Symmachus and several Albini) are well-known Roman aristocrats from …

[German version] (λογαριαστής, λογαριαστεύων, λογιστής; logariastḗs, logariasteúōn, logistḗs). From the 11th cent. AD the financial official responsible for the control of public expenditure in several departments of the central and provincial administration of the Byzantine empire. Alexios I (1081-1118) introduced a mégas logariastḗs as the top supervisor of the state expenses who initially acted with the sakellarios and later acted in his place. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography ODB 2, 1244f. R. Guilland, Titres et fonctions de l'Empire byzantin, 1976, XXI (1969).

[German version] I. Mesopotamia Income needed to finance tasks of state and general social functions (administration, the military, irrigation, prestige buildings, the court, cults, etc.) did not come from an all-embracing system of taxation levied on individuals, transactions or property, but on a general duty of service and labour on the part of subjects. Under the oikos economy (3rd millennium BC), the palace’s income came predominantly from the domestic operation of the institutional economies of temple and palace. In the tribute-based economy da…

[German version] [1] Apostle (Πέτρος/ Pétros, literally 'the rock'). Apostle, leading figure in the group of disciples called by Jesus of Nazareth and in the original Christian community. Frank, Karl Suso (Freiburg) [German version] A. General comments Sources documenting his life include: (1) the NT writings: the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Paul's letters (1 Corinthians, Galatians), the 1st and 2nd letter of P. (biographical analysis needs to take into account the special character of these writings); (2) early Church writi…

(Middle Persian Narseh, Armenian Nersēh, Greek Ναρσῆς/ Narsȇs, also Ναρσαῖος/ Narsaȋos). [German version] [1] Brother of Sapor I, died in AD 302 Brother of Sapor I, when he was prince-governor of (Persian) Armenia in AD 293 he overthrew his great-nephew Wahram III from the Persian throne and documented his success in the Paikuli inscription (cf. [1]). In about 296, N. renewed the conflict with Rome by invading (Roman) Armenia. The emperor Galerius [5] suffered a defeat at Carrhae (Ḥarran) in 297, but was able to besi…

(Ἡράκλειος; Hērákleios). Two prominent Sicilians known from the trial of  Verres in 70 BC: [German version] [1] Citizen of Syracuse, 1st cent. BC The son of a certain Hieron, a wealthy citizen of Syracuse. In 73 BC he inherited from a homonymous relative a magnificent house including furnishings and 3 million sesterces (Cic. Verr. 2,14,35). Because of the machinations of Verres, who contested the will, H. lost his wealth and the inheritance. The real estate was returned to him by L. Caecilius [I 13] Metellus, the successor of Verres (Cic. Verr. 2,19,47-50; 25,62). Meister, Klaus (Berlin) …

[German version] [1] Bishop of Laodicea Bishop of  Laodicea (died c. AD 360). The Alexandrine presbyter G., dismissed by his local bishop Alexander in c. 320 because of his radical  Arianism, became bishop of Syrian Laodicea c. 330 following his stay in Antioch. In persistent animosity to  Athanasius, he and Basilius of Ancyra gathered the Trinitarian Church Party of the Homoeousians (slogan: ‘The father resembles the son in essence’ ὅμοιος κατ' οὐσίαν) in 358/9. Also, he played a role in drafting the 4th Sirman Creed (22 May 359)…

[German version] I. General The states of antiquity had no executive PA independent of government and legislature in the sense of the modern separation of powers. The triple division of constitutions, indicated in Aristot. Pol. 1297b 35-1301a 15 ( tría mória, 1297b 37), into a decision-making, legislating organ ( tò bouleuómenon), an executive element ('on the offices': tò perì tàs archás) and judicature ( tò dikázon) owes more to the schematically working mind of the author than to a political concept as such, especially since the fields defined show conside…

[German version] Chancellery officials in the first division of the sacra scrinia, the imperial offices, who are attested in the Roman Empire from the latter part of the 3rd cent. AD. From c. 310, these were led by the magister officiorum and later by the quaestor sacri palatii. It was generally the task of the three scrinia ( memoria, epistolarum and libellorum) to manage communication between the Empire's central administration and the provinces. The memoriales under the magister memoriae, attested in the eastern part of the Empire in particular, were, on the evidence o…

[German version] [1] Imperator Caesar M. Aurelius Probus Augustus Roman emperor AD 276-282 Roman emperor 276-282 AD. Born on 19 August 232 AD in Sirmium; the information about his father in SHA Probus 3,2 and in [Aur. Vict.] epit. Caes. 37,1 is probably fictitious. P.'s career prior to his elevation to emperor in the East in the summer of 276 (Zos. 1,64) (in SHA Probus he is confused with a dux Tenagino P.) is unknown. During his six-year reign ( cos. I-III 277-279, cos. IV 281, cos. V 282) he fought first on the Rhine against the Alamanni, then against the Franci, Burgundiones an…

Name of an old patrician family. The tribus Sergia was named after it. The family is attested to have attained consulship in the 5th cent. BC (S. [I 5]) but did not achieve lasting importance in the historical period. The attempt of its best-known member, L.S. Catilina, to attain the consulship once more failed with the Catilinarian Conspiracy. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] S., M. The brother of L.S. Catilina (?) According to Plutarch (Sulla 32,3; Cicero 10,3), the brother of L.S. Catilina, killed by him in 81 and posthumously put on the proscriptions…

[German version] Mounted guard troops in the service of the Roman emperor from the time of Constantine onwards, according to the Notitia dignitatum five regiments in the West and seven in the East of the empire, each of 500 men, initially mostly of Germanic origin, which on the whole were not part of the imperial army but were subordinate to the magister officiorum and were each commanded by a tribune [2]. However, by the time of the emperor Zeno the SP were used only as parade troops in court ceremonial, and their role as a defensive guard for the emperor had in fact been …

(Ἡρωδιανός; Hērōdianós). [German version] [1] Aelius H. Greek grammarian, 2nd cent. AD (Αἴλιος Ἡρωδιανός; Aílios Hērōdianós), of Alexandria, one of the most important Greek grammarians, lived in the 2nd cent. AD; son of  Apollonius [11] Dyscolus and his worthy student and successor. For a time he lived in Rome and dedicated his main work, the Καθολικὴ προσῳδία ( Katholikḕ prosōidía) to the emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180). He is justifiably not seen as a brilliant but as a careful and precise grammarian, the great heir and systematician of the Alexandr…

[German version] Byzantine dynasty from AD 717 to 802 (Leo III, Constantinus [7] V, Leo IV, Irene and Constantinus [8] VI). According to an unreliable source on its origin, its founder Leo III came from Isauria, but in fact, as has long been known, he came from Germanicaea in Syria. Nevertheless, the dynasty has regrettably - because there had been an Isaurian on the imperial throne in the person of emperor Zeno (474-91) - retained its traditional name. The first two representatives of the dynasty…

[German version] Byzantine dynasty AD 867-1056, founded by Basilius [5] I, who hailed from the province ( théma) of Macedonia, after the murder of Michael III ( Amorian dynasty). Basilius was succeeded in 886 by his second son Leo [9] VI (until 912), who was in turn first succeeded by his brother Alexander [20] (until 913), then his son Constantinus [9] VII (913-959; b. 905). Initially, various regents reigned in place of the young Constantine, then, from 920 onwards, his father-in-law Romanus I; only from Janua…

[German version] I. Greek (Μαρκέλλος; Markéllos). [German version] [I 1] From Pergamum, orator, 2nd cent. AD, [1] Rhetor from Pergamum known solely from a brief reference in the Suda; he is said to have written a book (or several books) entitled Ἀδριανὸς ἢ περὶ βασιλείας/ Adrianòs ḕ perì basileías (‘Hadrian, or On Monarchy’). He would thus have lived in the first half of the 2nd cent.; whether Dio's [I 3] speeches perì basileías, addressed to Trajan, served as a model is uncertain. Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) [German version] [I 2] From Side, physician and poet, 2nd cent. AD M. from …

(Θεοφανώ; Theophanṓ). [German version] [1] T. Anastaso (Θ. Ἀναστάσω; T. Anastásō). Byzantine empress ( c. 941 until after 976 AD), wife of Romanus [3] II (959-963); the later emperors Basileius [6] II and Constantinus [10] VIII were their children; in 963 she became the wife of Nicephorus [3] II, and in 969 she instigated his assassination. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography A. Kazhdan, s. v. T., ODB 3, 2064 f. [German version] [2] Wife of Otto II, c. 1000 AD (also Theophanou, c. 960-991 AD). wife of the Western emperor Otto II from 972 onwards, niece of the Byzantine…

(Θεόφιλος; Theóphilos). [German version] [1] Comic poet, 4th cent. BC Comic poet of the 4th cent. BC; victor at the Dionysia of 329 [1. test.2], fourth there in 311 with his Pankratiastḗs [2.190, 200]. T. was of the declining Middle and the incipient New Comedy [I G]. Of the nine known titles, two - Νεοπτόλεμος ( Neoptólemos, 'Neoptolemus'), Προιτίδες ( Proitídes, 'The daughters of Proitus') - are mythological plays, the others deal with everyday material. In the Ἐπίδημοι ( Epídēmoi, 'The Pilgrims'), a slave considers whether to run away from his kind master (fr. 1); in the Φίλαυλος ( Phílaul…

[German version] (Σπαθάριος/ Spathários, ‘sword-bearer’). From the 5th to the 12th cent. AD a member of a body of chamberlains (eunuchs) at the Roman-Byzantine Imperial Court, from about the 8th cent. subordinate to a prōtospathários im Senatorenrang of senatorial rank. From the 10th cent. there is also evidence of non-eunuchs as prōtospathárioi. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography A. Kazhdan, s. v. Proto-S., ODB 3, 1748; s. v. S., 1935 f.

[German version] (Οὐρβίκιος; Ourbíkios). Recorded as an Eastern Roman praepositus sacri cubiculi under Theodosius [3] II from AD 434 and again under Leo [4] I and Zeno. He did encourage the usurper Basiliscus against Zeno in 475, but in 476 contributed to his overthrow. He was close to Verina, the widow of Leo I, and in 481 probably also supported a conspiracy against Illus, who had arrested her. He is last recorded as an advocate of the election of the emperor Anastasius [1] I in 491 and as a sponsor of pious foundations in Edessa [2] and in the Holy Land in 504/5. PLRE 2, 1188-1190. Tinnefeld, Fr…

[German version] The Republican office of consul (Greek ὕπατος, hýpatos) apparently continued under Augustus and his successors, but de facto, until AD 541, only as an honorary title, that after 541 was reserved exclusively for the ruling (east Roman) emperor (until the 7th cent.). As early as from the 7th cent. hypatos is documented on Byzantine seals as a  court title, that no longer has anything in common with the old office of consul. It is a relatively lowly rank according to the catalogues of ranks of the 9th and 10th cents. and is subordinate to the titles ἀνθύπατος ( anthýpatos, procon…

[German version] (Σεβαστός/ Sebastós). Originally a Greek equivalent for the Latin title Augustus, was not introduced as a title in the Byzantine court until the 11th century AD; after 1081 it was conferred - also in combinations such as sebastokrátōr - by the Comnenian emperors predominantly on family members. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography A. Kazhdan, s.v. S., ODB 3, 1862 f.

(Λυδός; Lydós). [German version] [1] Mythological king of Lydia Mythological king of Lydia, son of Atys [1], brother of Tyrsenus ( Tyrrhenus). Eponym of the Lydian people ( Lydia) (formerly Maeon: Hom. Il. 2,864): Hdt. 1,94; Str. 5,219; Tac. Ann. 4,55. According to Hdt. 1,171 L., Mysus and Car were brothers, which expresses the tribal kinship of the Lydians, Carians and Mysians ( Carian, Mysia). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Attic black-figured vase painter (ὁ Λυδός/ ho Lydós, ‘the Lydian’). Attic black-figured vase painter, before 560-540/530 BC; a bit older t…

[German version] (παρακοιμώμενος / parakoimṓmenos, 'the one who sleeps nearby'). Senior imperial chamberlain, the highest-ranking court eunuch at Constantinople, probably succeeding the earlier praepositus sacri cubiculi; reliably attested only from AD 780; a highly influential office in the 9th-11th cents. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography ODB 3, 1584.

[German version] (πρωτοστράτωρ; prōtostrátōr). Byzantine term, 8th-15th cents. AD, for the superintendent of the imperial grooms ('marshal'), who accompanied the emperor when riding. It was an influential position close to the emperor and was considered favourable for further advancement. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography R. Guilland, Recherches sur les institutions byzantines, vol. 1, 1967, 478-497  ODB 3, 1748 f.

[German version] Byzantine statesman, Armenian, brother of Theodora, mother of Emperor Michael III (AD 842-867). Bearer of the highest court title Caesar (καῖσαρ) since 862. He promoted the mission to the Slavs, founded a school for scientific studies in the imperial palace, furthered the elevation of the learned  Photius to patriarch. B. was murdered by the parvenu  Basilius [5] I, the founder of the Macedonian dynasty, on 21.4.866. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography LMA 1, 1456 ODB 1, 255f. P. Speck, Die kaiserliche Universität von Konstantinopel, 1974.

(Λεόντιος; Leóntios). [German version] [1] Ptolemaic commander of Seleucid Pieria, late 3rd cent. BC Ptolemaic commander of Seleucea Pieria; in 219 BC, he surrendered the city to Antiochus [5] III after initial resistance in a hopeless position. Ameling, Walter (Jena) [German version] [2] General of peltasts, 3rd cent. BC Macedonian, named general of peltasts by Antigonus [3] Doson in his will. Together with Megaleas, L. opposed the pro-Achaean politics of Philippus V and his mentor Aratus [2]; after inciting the elite troops against the k…

Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) I. History (CT) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) The term Byzantium (B.) initially denoted the eastern part of the Roman Empire, from the foundation of Constantinople by the emperor Constantine the Great as a ‘second Rome’ on the extended territory of the town of Byzantion on the Bosporus in AD 330. After the end of empire in the western part of the Roman Empire in the late 5th cent., it designated the Roman Empire as it continued to exist in the East until 1453. The rediscovery of Classical Antiquity in the 18th and 19th cents. had as a result that …

[German version] (Ἴλλος/ Íllos or Ἰλλοῦς/ Illoûs). Isaurian, high-ranking official and general in the East Roman Empire. In February AD 474, together with  Verina, widow of  Leo(n) [4], he supported the elevation of his compatriot  Zeno to the position of emperor, but as early as 475 he joined forces with Verina and the usurper  Basiliscus. After the defeat of Basiliscus in 476 he soon sided with Zeno again and in 477 became magister officiorum and patricius. At his instigation Verina, who together with Epinicus [2] had attempted to get rid of I. in 478, was exiled to …

[German version] Illyrian. In AD 544, with the rank of ἄρχων ( árchōn; dux?) per Illyricum under Vitalis he was the defender of Bononia (Bologna) against the Goths, and in 551 took part in action against plundering by the Slavs in the Balkan peninsula. PLRE 3, 936f. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] Leader of a Thracian troupe of horsemen under  Belisarius against the Persians in AD 530. Since about 539, together with him magister militum per Orientem, he undertook the campaigns against the Persians in 541 and 542. According to Procopius, Historia arcana (reliable source?), he was recalled in 542 supposedly because of high treason, and was incarcerated for more than two years. In 554, he saved an army under general Bessas in Lazica (Colchis) from annihilation by the Persians. It is highly likely that he is identica…

(πρόεδρος/ pró(h)edros, pl. πρόεδροι/ pró(h)edroi) denotes that person who (in a leading position) 'sits in front' ('chairman' or 'president'). [German version] I. Greece in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods In early 4th cent. BC Athens, the duty of the chairman of the council ( boulḗ ) and the people's assembly ( ekklēsía ) was passed from the prytaneis to a newly created collegium of nine pró(h)edroi. The pró(h)edroi were summoned each for one day, one from each phyle of the council, excepting the prytany conducting business at just that time. One could be pró(h)edros only once du…

(Νικηφόρος; Nikēphóros). [German version] [1] Patriarch of Constantinople, died 828 Patriarch. N. was born around AD 750 or 758 in Constantinople; he embarked on a magistrate's career at the imperial court which he represented in 787 at the Council of Nicaea. Around 797 he became a monk and ran a poorhouse in Constantinople. In 806 he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople and failed to end the so-called ‘Moechian controversy’ between Theodoros Studites and the government. In 815 he had to resign at th…

[German version] [1] M. Daia Roman emperor, AD 305-313 Roman emperor, AD 305-313. The son of Galerius' [5] sister and like Galerius born in Dacia ripensis, possibly in Šarkamen (modern Serbia), he rose from protector to tribunus (Lactant. De mort. pers. 19,6); as Galerius' adoptive son he became Caesar in the change of rulers of 305 (thereafter: Galerius Valerius Maximinus). As co-ruler over the diocese Oriens he continued the persecutions of Christians (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 8,14,9). Like Constantinus [1] not content with the title …

I Greek [German version] [I 1] Greek rhetor, prob. late 3rd/4th cent. (Τιβέριος/ Tibérios). Greek rhetor, probably of the late 3rd or 4th cents. AD, author of a small surviving treatise on figures (Περὶ τῶν παρὰ Δημοσθένει σχημάτων, Perì tòn parà Demosthénei schēmáton, 'On the figures in Demosthenes'), which uses Apsines as its main source. The latter's dates (1st half of 3rd cent. AD) are thus the only point of reference for dating T. The treatise deals separately with figures of thought (1-22) and figures of speech (23-42; Figures). E…

[German version] [1] M. Valerius M. The poet Martial, epigrammatist in the 1st cent. the Roman poet Martial. Lausberg, Marion (Augsburg) [German version] A. Biography The epigrammatist M. was born between AD 38 and 41 (cf. Mart. 10,24: 57th birthday) in Bilbilis in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. Around 64, he came to Rome (10,103), where he was probably at first promoted in the circle of Seneca. His poetic production does not become tangible for us until much later, when he celebrated the inauguration of the amphitheatrum Flavianum ( Colosseum) in 80 with a book of epigrams ( De spe…

[German version] (πρωτασηκρήτις/ prōtasēkrḗtis). Byzantine term for the office of chief of the imperial secretaries (singular ἀσηκρήτις/ asēkrḗtis, from Latin a secretis), used in the 6th-12th centuries AD. ODB 3, 1742. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] (Ἑλικώνιος; Helikṓnios). From Byzantium, chronicler, known only from the Suda, wrote a χρονικὴ ἐπιτομή ( chronikḕ epitomḗ) from Adam up to emperor Theodosius I (Suda E 851). The Suda (A 3215 and 3868) quotes one note each from the chronicle on the lives of Apion and Arrian. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 1, 411 [Heliconius] G. Wirth, Helikonios der Sophist, in: Historia 13, 1964, 506-509.

(Ἰωάννης; Iōánnēs). Well-known persons i.a.: I. [1] the Evangelist, I. [4] Chrysostomos, bishop of Constantinople and Homilet, I. [18] Malalas, author of the world chronicle, I. [25] of Gaza, rhetor and poet, I. [33] of Damascus, the theologian, I. [39] Baptistes. [1] I. the Evangelist [German version] A. Tradition and criticism According to the inscriptions, the author of a  Gospel (Jo), of three letters and the Apocalypse in the NT is called I. (= J.; the name appears only in Apc. 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 22:8). Since the end of the 2nd cent. (Iren. adv…

[German version] A. Roman Republic and Imperial period Comes (from com- and ire, ‘to go with’) in its wider sense is a companion, trusted friend, or one entrusted with duties of aid and protection towards another (Dig. 47,10,1; 47,11,1,2). In public life, already in the Republican period comes means a member of the retinue of a travelling official, especially a provincial magistrate (Gr. ε̃πόμενος; hepómenos); the comes himself may be an official, a personal friend, slave, freedmen, client or even a high dignitary (Suet. Iul. 42; Dig. 1,18,16). In its special sense, from the beginn…

[German version] [1] Byz. general under Justin I Son of a sister of Justin I, cousin of Justinian I, Byzantine general, as magister militum per Thracias under Justin I he conquered the people of the Anti who had invaded the Empire from the lower Danube. As patricius and primus magister militum praesentalis, he successfully combated the military revolt of Stotzas in North Africa in 536-537, on the orders of Justinian I. In a deployment in 540 against the first assault by Chosroes [5] I after the ‘eternal peace’ of 532, a shortage of troops preven…

[German version] Mētrópolis (μητρόπολις) in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt; in AD 640, it was defended by the dux Domentianus who was attacked by Amr, the commander of the Arabian-Islamic troops, in the spring of 641. He fled and his army was wiped out at N. PLRE 3, 408f. (Domentianus). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] Isaurian, East Roman general, honorary consul AD 484; fought against the Vandals in 468; he followed Illus to Antioch in 481, and died in 484 having taken part in Illus' uprising against Emperor Zeno. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 2, 728f. Nr. 2 Stein, Spätröm. R. 1, 577f.

(Φαρασμάνης; Pharasmánēs). [German version] [1] Ph. I. King in the Caucasus (1st cent. AD) Son of Mithridates [19] and king of Iberia [1] (Caucasus). From AD 35, as an ally of Rome, P. had been supporting the Armenian kingdom of his brother Mithridates [20] (Tac. Ann. 6,32-35; 11,8-9) and, after AD 51, that of his own son Radamistus (Tac. Ann. 12,44-47). His relatives’ failure as client kings to Rome (cf. Tac. Ann. 13,37) and the acceptance of the Arsacid Tiridates I. as king of Armenia must have affected him…

(Βασιλεῖος; Basileîos). [German version] [1] Basil the Great Theologian and bishop of Caesarea/Cappadocia. Markschies, Christoph (Berlin) [German version] A. Biography B. (born around 329/330 as the son of a Christian senatorial family who owned large estates) together with his younger brother  Gregorius of Nyssa and his friend  Gregorius of Nazianze were called the three great Cappadocians. His grandmother gave him his first introduction to the Bible and theology along the lines of Origenism. His education contin…

[German version] [1] Roman pope 352-377 Roman pope 352-366. L.'s pontificate was burdened by the difficult dispute over Arianism. Emperor Constantius II banished L. to Beroea in 355, because he would not recant in Milan his support for the condemned bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, who was hostile to Arianism, whereupon Felix had himself appointed and ordained counter-bishop ( Felix [5] II.). The anguish of exile, reflected by the four letters of the spring of 357 recorded by Hilarius of Poitiers led…

[German version] B.I, born in AD 850/53, margrave of Friaul, grandson of Louis the Pious. Following Charles III's deposition in Tribur by Arnulf of Carinthia, B.I was installed as King of Italy in January of 888 in Pavia, but struggled for years with rivals (Wido and Lambert of Spoleto; Louis of Provence). In 915, he was crowned emperor by the Pope in agreement with Byzantium; in 924 he was murdered in Verona. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography LMA 1, 1933 R. Hiestand, Byzanz und das Regnum Italicum, 1964

[German version] (σιλεντιάριοι; silentiárioi). Guards at the Imperial Roman courts instituted by Constantine (Constantinus [1]  I) that were named after the ceremonial silence surrounding the emperor. They were subordinate to the imperial chamberlain ( praepositus sacri cubiculi). From AD 437, 30 silentiarii are documented under three decuriones at the court of Constantinople. Their rank within the court hierarchy continued to rise until the 6th cent. after which their importance decreased. The last of the silentiarii are mentioned in sources from as late as the 12th cent. Tinnef…

[German version] One of several terms (others are e.g. adscriptio, extraordinaria munera) for special taxes levied by imperial decree in the Roman and Byzantine Empires to offset extraordinary expenses, e.g. in times of crisis, either from all or only from rich landowners. As unanticipated burdens, they were universally detested. Taxes Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography J. Karayannopulos, Das Finanzwesen des frühbyzantinischen Staates, 1958, 138-141  N. Oikonomides, s.v. Secondary Taxes, ODB 3, 1863f.

[German version] (Ζωή; Zōḗ). Empress regnant of Byzantium 21 March - 12 June AD 1042 (born 978), as the daughter of Constantinus [10] VIII (1025-1028) a descendant of the Macedonian dynasty, therefore she also legitimated the emperorship of her three husbands [2; 4]. She was presumably the bride from Byzantium intended for Otto III who did not arrive in Italy until shortly after his death on 24 January 1002. By having her first husband Romanos [4] III, imposed on her by her dying father in 1028, mu…

[German version] (Σαββάτιος/ Sabbátios). Father of the emperor Iustinianus [1] I, Illyrian, mentioned only in passing in Procop. Arc. 12,18 and Theophanes p. 183,9 de Boor. PLRE 2, 966. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] [1] Student of Libanius, consularis Palaestinae primae 360/1 AD Student of  Libanius, from whom he received letters (Lib. Ep. 137; 157; 158). In AD 360/361 he was consularis Palaestinae primae (Lib. Ep. 156; 159). PLRE 1, 447 (H.us 1). Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [2] Flavius H. Brother of empress Eusebia, consul 359 AD Brother of empress  Eusebia. Together with his brother Fl. Eusebius he was consul in AD 359 (Amm. Marc. 18,1,1). In 363 he was possibly vicarius urbis Romae (Cod. Theod. 3,5,8). He was sentenced along with his brother in a trial …

[German version] Revolt against Iustinianus [1] I in Constantinople, AD 13-18. 1. 532, named after the cry of níka (νίκα, ‘be victorious!’) of the rebels in the Hippodrome. The outward reason was the decisive action of the city prefect Eudaemon against rampaging members of the so-called circus parties (‘green’ and ‘blue’, factiones ), the real cause, however, was the strict rule of the emperor, particularly his fiscalism occasioned by expensive war campaigns. The growing unrest among the citizens, further stirred up by oppositi…

(Αὐτοκράτωρ; Autokrátōr). [German version] A. Greek The meaning ‘exercising control over oneself’ expresses the opposite of subjugation to the will of another. The Thebans used this argument to claim that their support of the Persians in 480 was attributable to a ruling   dynasteia , not to the whole city, which acted as its own autocrator (Thuc. 3,62,3-4). Envoys and officials are often described as autokratores when entitled to more power than is usual in these positions. This background is evident, for example, when the Athenians declare the leaders of th…

[German version] Silentiarius at the court of Justinian I, Armenian, son of the proconsul of Armenia I Arsacius, who was murdered in AD 539. Participant in campaigns against the Persians, in 542 under  Belisarius, whom he supported through tactical manoeuvres at the conquest of Callinicus on the Euphrates, in 543 under Martinus, after whose defeat at Anglon in Armenia he was killed while fleeing (Proc. Pers. 2,3; 21; 24 f.). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography Rubin 1, 340-43.

[German version] (λογοθέτης; logothétēs). Byzantine term for an office attested from the 6th cent. AD, initially for more lowly finance officers (tax collectors in the province or pay administrators in the army), and from the 7th/8th cents. for the following high offices: 1) logothetes genikoú (‘general logothetes’, i.e. logothetes of the state treasury), initially still subordinate to the sakellários but soon the highest finance officer in the empire corresponding to the earlier comes sacrarum largitionum ( comes ), 2) logothetes idikoú, successor of the comes rerum privatarum, …

[German version] I Greek (Θεοδόσιος/ Theodósios). [German version] [I 1] Greek mathematician and astronomer, 2nd/1st cent. BC Greek mathematician and astronomer. Folkerts, Menso (Munich) [German version] I. Life and works According to Str. 12,4,9, T. was one of the most important men in Bithynia; the birthplace Tripoli given in the Suda (s. v. Θ.) may relate to another T. As Strabo also names T.’ sons as important mathematicians, T. must belong in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. BC, or, at the latest, the 1st half of the 1st. …

(Τιμόστρατος/ Timóstratos). [German version] [1] Tragic poet, 4th cent. BC Greek tragedian, successful at the Lenaea in c. 350 BC (TrGF I 83). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] [2] Athenian comedy writer, beginning of the 2nd cent. BC Athenian comedian, who came sixth at the Dionysia in 188 BC with his Λυτρούμενος ( Lytroúmenos, 'The ransomed [prisoner]') [1. test. 1] and fourth in 183 with his Φιλοικεῖος ( Philoikeîos, 'He who loves his relatives') [1. test. 2]; a third place in c. 177 with an Ἀντευεργετῶν ( Anteuergetṓn, 'He who repays good deeds') is uncertain [1…

[German version] [1] I. I Eastern Roman general AD 518-527 (AD 518-527), emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, born a farmer's son around 450 in Bederiana (like  Iustinianus [1] I.), he came to Constantinople with  Leo I and was soon a member of the palace guard; under  Anastasius I he was comes rei militaris and from 515 comes excubitorum. In the dispute over the succession to Anastasius, who died without an heir, a majority in the Senate supported his candidacy and eventually he was also acclaimed by the army and the people, and was crowned on 10 Jul…

[German version] (Ἡρακλωνᾶς; Hēraklōnâs). Son of the emperor  Heraclius [7] and his second wife Martina, born c. AD 626. After his father's death in 641, he was to assume the succession as a minor represented by his mother together with Heraclius' oldest son Constantinus III, but was already deposed and exiled with his mother in Sept. 641 at the instigation of the Senate. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 3, 587f. ODB 2, 918.

[German version] [1] Trajan, Roman Emperor, AD 98-117 Roman emperor, AD 98-117. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] I. Career up to accession T. was probably born in 53, the son of the consular (of the same name), M. Ulpius [12] Traianus, and probably a certain Marcia, perhaps a daughter of Marcius [II 3] Barea. The family came from Italica in Hispania Baetica. Little is known of T.' senatorial career. He served as a tribunus [4] militum under his father in Syria (but certainly not for ten stipendia ('campaigns'), as alleged in Plin. Pan. 15,3). After his praetorship (before 84…

(στρατηγός/ stratēgós, 'army leader'; pl. strategoi). In many Greek states the formal title for a military commander. [German version] I. Classical Greece In Athens, strategoi are occasionally mentioned earlier (e.g. Peisistratus [4] as strategos; Hdt. 1,59,4; [Aristot.] Ath. pol. 17,2), but it was only after the tribal reorganization of Cleisthenes [2], probably first in 501/0 BC, that a regular board of strategoi was appointed: one from each of the 10 phylai, elected annually by the assembly (but candidates may have been pre-selected in the phylai, see [2]), and eligible for …

A popular cognomen in the Imperial Age, attested with certainty from the 1st cent. AD (ThlL, Onom. 2,133ff.). [German version] [1] Christian in AD 200 Christian in c. AD 200, author of various lost treatise about the Hexaemeron (Eus. HE 5,27; Jer. vir. ill. 48). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] A follower of the Gnostic Valentinianus, 3rd cent. AD A follower of the Gnostic Valentinianus; in c. AD 230, he had a public dispute with  Origen, who accused him of retrospectively falsifying the records (Rufin. Apol. Orig. epil. = PG 17,625; Hier. Adv. Ru…

(Διογένης; Diogénēs). Known personalities: the Cynic D. [14] of Sinope, the philosophical historian D. [17] Laertius. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] Macedonian troop commander in Attica since 233 BC Athenian (?) [1. 341,1], Macedonian troop commander in Attica since 233 BC, who is supposed to have demanded Corinth from the Achaeans (Plut. Arat. 34,1-4) [2. 168,63] at the rumour of the death of  Aratus [2]; after the death of  Demetrius [3] II in 229, he facilitated the liberation of Athens from Maced…

[German version] (πρωτονοτάριος, Latin protonotarius). Superintendent of notarii (Greek notárioi) in Byzantine public authorities, primarily as 'state secretary' of the logothétēs toû drómou ( Logothétēs ), 9th-12th centuries. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography R. Guilland, Les logothètes, in: REByz 29, 1971, 5-115, esp. 38-40 ODB 3, 1746.

[German version] (κουροπαλάτης; kouropalátēs; from Lat. cura palatii). Initially a term for an official responsible for palace business, used for the first time by Justinianus [1] I as a higher court title for his successor Iustinus [4] II. In the period following it was mainly reserved for members of the imperial family or for foreign princes. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography ODB 2,1157 R. Guilland, Titres et fonctions de l'Empire byzantin, 1976, III.

[German version] [1] C. I. The Great, Roman Emperor AD 306-337 ‘the Great’, Roman emperor from AD 306-337. Born c. 275 (Euseb. Vita Const. 4,53; Aur. Vict. Caes. 41,16; [Aur. Vict.] Epit. Caes. 41,15, differently Euseb. Vita Const. 2,51) at Naïssus (Anon. Vales. 2) the son of Constantius [1] I and of Helena. After his father was made Caesar, Constantine served on the staff of  Diocletian and of  Galerius (Pan. Lat. 7[6] 5,3; Lactant. De mort. pers. 18,10; Anon. Vales. 2). In 305 he left the court of Galerius to jo…

(Φωκᾶς; Phōkâs). [German version] [1] Martyr around AD 305 Martyr († around AD 305 in Sinope; Fest: 22. 9.). He lived in Sinope as a gardener and suffered martyrdom by beheading. As early as the 4th cent. a church is said to have existed above his grave in Sinope. From there his cult spread throughout the entire Mediterranean area. He is depicted as a gardener. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography J. Bollandus, G. Henschenius et al. (eds.), Acta sanctorum, vols. 1ff., 1643ff.; 6, 293-299; 7.3, 629-632  PG 60, 36ff. [German version] [2] P. Diaconus Poet A poet of unknown date who is …

[German version] (καθολικός; katholikós). In the early 4th cent. AD the designation of a financial supervisor in an imperial diocese, later used only in the ecclesiastical sense: in the Byzantine world, used of an abbot in charge of several monasteries, in the Christian East used of bishops and above all for ecclesiastical leaders of whole countries (Armenia, Georgia). ODB 2, 1116. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

Roman praenomen ( P. Iulius, a contemporary of Romulus [1]), and secondarily a cognomen. Depending on the form, a diminutive (older * prokelo-) of the stem * proko- (~ classical procus 'wooer, suitor'), it originally perhaps meant 'the one who demands or claims (the inheritance?)'. Proca (King of Alba Longa) can also be regarded as etymologically connected. The praenomen, which had already become rare at an early time, survived in derivatives, the gentilician names Procilius and Proculeius. Steinbauer, Dieter (Regensburg) [German version] [1] Roman jurist, 1st cent. The jurist fro…

[German version] (and gloriosissimus). Unofficial epithet of the Roman emperor and of high officials in correspondence and in the intitulatio of laws, having the same meaning as the official inclitus, Greek éndoxos (ἔνδοξος), a result of translating the Greek word back into Latin. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography G. Rösch, Ὄνομα βασιλείας, 1978.

[German version] [1] Byzantine emperor, 9th cent. Byzantine emperor (AD 811), son of Nikephoros [2] I, seriously wounded in the battle against the Bulgarian Khan Krum, in which his father fell. After a short period of recognition as successor to the throne, he was succeeded by Michael [3] I. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography P. A. Hollingsworth, s.v. S., ODB 3, 1945 f. [German version] [2] Eunuch, 8th cent. AD Eunuch in the rank of a πατρίκιος/ patríkios (Patrikios), from AD 781 λογοθέτης τοῦ δρόμου/ logothétēs toû drómou (Logothetes), victorious over the Slavs in Greece i…

(ἑταιρία/ hetairía, also ἑταιρεία/ hetaireía). [German version] [1] In Crete a sub-category of citizenry In Crete a sub-category of citizenry, with communal meals ( andreia or syssitia: Aristot. Pol. 1272a 12ff.; Ath. 4,143a-b = Dosiadas FGrH 458 F 2) and a common cult of Zeus Hetaireîos (Hsch. s.v. ἑταιρεῖος/ hetaireîos), but neither an association of family members nor part of a phyle, as was the hetairia in Thera or Cyrene (ML 5, l. 16). Acceptance into the hetairia took place after those fit for military service had left the   agélai and it was a prerequisit…

[German version] I. Greek (Μαρῖνος; Marînos). [German version] [I 1] M. of Tyre Greek geographer, 2nd cent. AD Greek geographer, known only through his immediate successor Claudius Ptolemaeus, who mentions M. as a source in his ‘Introduction to the Representation of the Earth (γεωγραφικὴ ὑφήγησις/ geōgraphikḗ hyphḗgēsis, = ‘G.). Arabic texts which mention M. all trace back to the ‘G. [8. 189]. Place names used by M. allow his work to be dated to between AD 107 and 114/5; cities are mentioned with the name of Trajan refering to his Dacian Wars (ended AD 107…

(σχολαστικός/ scholastikós). [German version] [1] Advocate in Late Antiquity In Roman procedural law of Late Antiquity a scholasticus (literally: someone 'schooled') is the advocate of a party, a late successor to the causidicus , with a certain amount of knowledge of formal rhetoric and law. Schiemann, Gottfried (Tübingen) Bibliography M. Kaser, K. Hackl, Das römische Zivilprozeßrecht, 21996, 563. [German version] [2] Palace official in Constantinople, from 422 (in Latin sources Scholasticus or Scholasticius), a palace official in Constantinople, first recorded i…

[German version] Originally ‘levy, tax’ (Dig. 19,1,13,6; Cod. Just. 1,51,11 and 12,52,3), from the 4th cent. AD also a term in chronology and from the 6th cent. solely used as a term in chronology. In the Imperial period Indictiones temporariae were extraordinary duties on grain. In 287 emperor  Diocletianus introduced an annual tax census that in each case involved a five-year assessment. It was initially called ἐπιγραφή ( epigraphḗ), and after 297 also indictio (ἰνδικτίων, indiktíōn). A 15-year tax cycle was introduced in 314, retroactively effective as of September…

Roman cognomen (greek Λογγῖνος; Longînos), derived from longus (‘tall’), in the Republican period in the family of the Cassii (Cassius [I 6-17; II 14-16]), in the Imperial period attested in numerous other families. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [1] Cassius Longinus Grammarian, Rhetor and platonic philosopher, c. AD 210-272/3 [German version] A. Life A Greek grammarian, rhetor and Platonic philosopher ( c. AD 210-272/3), who was an outstanding representative of the education and culture of his time and was therefore called a ‘living library and walking u…

[German version] (Φιλιππικὸς Βαρδάνης/ Philippikòs Bardánēs). Byzantine emperor (November AD 711 -June 713). Of an Armenian family at Constantinople (hence his Armenian name Bardanes), d. at Constantinople in 714/5. While participating in an expedition against Cherson, he was proclaimed emperor there under the Greek name P.B. as a rival to Iustinianus [3] II, who, while attempting to stall him on his way to Constantinople, was killed. As an adherent to Monotheletism, P.B. revoked the rulings of the 680/1 Council of Co…

[German version] (Aelia V., Greek Βηρίνη/ Bērínē). Eastern Roman empress, wife of Leo [4] I, died AD 484. After the death of her husband in 474 she initially favoured rule by the Isaurian Zeno [18], the husband of her daughter Ariadne and the father of her grandson Leo [5] II, but for a time in 475 she supported the rebellion of her brother Basiliscus against Zeno. In 478 she and Epinicus [2] tried to overthrow the powerful magister officiorum Illus; but he anticipated it and banished her to Tarsus. He was able to win her over in 484, however, to suppor…

(Ἐπίνικος; Epínikos). [German version] [1] Writer of comedies Comic poet; two titles of his plays and two fragments are extant. The dating of his life (late 3rd/early 2nd cent. BC) is based on the title of his play, Mnēsiptólemos: it refers to the court historiographer (FGrH 164) of Antiochus III (223-187 BC), a remarkably late example for the mockery of a named character (ὀνομαστὶ κωμῳδεῖν; onomastì kōmōideîn). Fr. 1 sees Mnesiptolemus speaking for himself, parodying the ornate, almost dithyrambic style, in which he describes the banalest of acts performed by his sovereign. Nesselrath…