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[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.

[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] (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/ …

[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] (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.…

[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 came to power in 518, adopted him and had him crowned in April 527 by the patriarch as Augustus and co-emperor, his wife  Theodora, a former actress, as Augusta. When he died on 1 August 527, I. became the sole ruler. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) [German version] A. Foreign affairs During his 38-year rule I. tried to restore to its former power and size the Roman empire, whose former western provinces were in the hands of Germanic tribes from …

[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. Kaz…

[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 …

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[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…

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