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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/ 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] (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…

[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)

[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.

[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] 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…

[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] (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] (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] (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)

[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…

[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…

[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…

[German version] (πατρίκιος/ patríkios, from Lat. patricius). From the time of Constantine [1] I until about the 11th cent., a court title (court titles) in the Roman-Byzantine empire for high officials and officers. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography LMA 6, 1789-1791  ODB 3, 1600  W. Heil, Der konstantinische Patriziat, 1966.

[German version] Sovereign family, ruled the Byzantine Empire for three generations (AD 820-867). Its founder Michael II (820-829) from Amorion in Phrygia asserted himself in 823 against the usurper Thomas the Slav. His son Theopilus (829-842) was the last of the iconoclast emperors (opponents of religious cult images). During his rulership the Arabs achieved a significant success in 838 by taking the fortress Amorion. Under his widow Theodora, who first ruled for her son Michael III (842-867, bor…

[German version] (σκευοφύλαξ; skeuophýlax). Clerical post in the Byzantine Church, responsible for liturgical equipment, sanctuaries and ecclesiastical ceremonies, associated with the headship of an office and highly prestigious. At major churches such as Hagia Sophia at Constantinople. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography P. Magdalino, A. M. Talbot, s.v. S., ODB 3, 1909f.