Search

[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.

[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] 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] 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 …

[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…

(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…

[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.

[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.

[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…

[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.

[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)