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[German version] (νόμος στρατιωτικός; nómos stratiōtikós). Byzantine collection of regulations on ‘military law’  compiled in the 6th and 8th cents. AD from the Corpus iuris civilis and other sources. The NS has survived in various versions, sometimes in military manuals, sometimes as an appendix to several Middle Byzantine statute books, frequently together with the nómos nautikós (‘maritime law’). According to the NS, crimes such as refusing to obey orders, desertion and looting were to be punished by death in wartime; offences in times of peace w…

[German version] Colloquial Latin term for the Roman Empire, documented from the 4th cent. AD, in Greek (Ῥωμανία/ Rhōmanía) from the 6th cent. AD. In the western Middle Ages, the term refers merely to the area of the former Exarchate of Ravenna, present-day Romagna. In the east, the term continued to be reused in vernacular texts to refer to the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) and was transferred from there, in the 11th cent., to the Sultanate of the Seljuq Turks of 'Rūm' in Asia Minor and in the 13th cent. to the so-called Latin Empire of the Crusaders in Constantinople and Greece. Berger, Albrec…

[German version] [1] see Michael [2] See Michael [2]. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) [German version] [2] Georgius S. (Γεώργιος Σύνκελλος; Geṓrgios Sýnkellos). Author of a Byzantine world-chronicle, written c. AD 810, extending from the creation of the world until the beginning of the reign of Diocletianus in AD 284. Little is known about his life; he lived for quite a long time as a monk in a monastery in Palestine and later became σύγκελλος/ sýnkellos ('cell companion', i.e. assistant and private secretary) of the patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople. The chronicle Ἐκλογὴ χρονογραφίας/ E…

[German version] (θέμα /théma, pl. thémata; literally: 'area of deployment' [6]). Byzantine administrative districts that replaced the Roman provincial divisions beginning in the 7th cent. AD: After the loss of Egypt and the Middle East (mid 7th cent. AD), the Roman troops were withdrawn to Asia Minor only to be re-deployed there in the four themes of Anatolia, Armenia, Thracia and Opsikion, each under the command of a strategos (Byzantium II. D. incl. map). By the mid 8th cent., the authority of the provincial administration had been complet…

[German version] Designation for a group of 42 citizens of the city of Amorion in Phrygia (Asia Minor), who were taken to the caliph's residence in Samarra on the Euphrates after the Arab conquest in AD 838 and were executed there in 845. Their Greek vita, which was written by the monk Euodius soon thereafter, bears strongly legendary traits. The main focus lies with a theological discussion between the captives and their guards; the martyrs are executed because they refuse to convert to  Islam. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography Editions: V. Vasil'ev, P. Nikitin (ed.), Skazanija…

[German version] (ὀψίκιον/ opsíkion). Originally a term for a troop detachment (Latin obsequium), from c. 680 AD one of the four original themes ( thḗma ) of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor. It comprised the northern part of the Dardanelles peninsula as far as the River Halys with a capital at Ancyra. Later it was reduced in size and limited in the west, with Nicaea [5] as its capital. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography R. Hiss, s.v. O., LMA 6, 1418f.  C.F.W. Foss, s.v. O., ODB 3, 1528f.

[German version] Themes of the Byzantine Empire, established from the early 8th cent. AD for the construction and maintenance of a fleet. The most significant of them comprised the whole Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor from Miletus to Cilicia. The capital was probably Attaleia [1], but the crews were predominantly from the mountainous hinterland in the western part of the theme, as is shown by the name 'Theme of the Cibyrrhaeoti', which can be traced to the city of Cibyra about 80 km from the sea in the Carian-Lycian border region. Theme Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography 1 H. Ahrwe…

[German version] [1] Military handbook Byzantine term for military handbook, cf. Taktika [2]; cf. also stratēgikón . Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) [German version] [2] Taktika of Leo Military handbook ( stratēgikón) in 20 books, written c. AD 905 by the emperor Leo [9] VI or at his command. It is to some extent based on earlier sources such as writings by Onasander [2] and the stratēgikón of Mauricius, but it also contains many contemporary passages, e.g. on the Arabs and Hungary. The work, which is preserved in two different versions, exer…

[German version] (νόμος ναυτικός; nómos nautikós). Byzantine collection of legal rules concerning shipping, compiled in the 7th or 8th cent. AD and incorporated in the 9th cent. AD into the legal compilation of the ‘Basilica. Its traditional meaning of ‘Rhodian Sea Law’ derives from the subsequently added prologue asserting that the Roman emperors affirmed the ancient sea law of Rhodes. This statement, although mentioned in legal writings (e.g. Dig. 14,2), cannot be verified historically in any detai…

[German version] Author of a world chronicle ranging up to 1057, whose life remains altogether unknown. The chronicle is primarily based on the works of Theophanes, Ps.-Symeon Magistros and Georgius [5] Monachos, but also contains important information from otherwise unknown sources, e.g. regarding the history of the city of Constantinople. From 811 on, it renders the chronicle of Iohannes Skylitzes so accurately, that it could be used as a substitute until the new edition of Skylitzes' work was published. Georgius [5] Monachos; Skylitzes; Symeon Magistros; Theophanes Berger, Alb…

[German version] A weapon of the Byzantine navy similar to a flame-thrower, first mentioned in the defence against the Arab attack on Constantinople in AD 674-678. Its mode of operation was successfully kept secret for several centuries. Presumably petroleum (extracted from natural sources) was heated in a pressure container, ejected with air pressure through a metal pipe and ignited. The flames continued to burn on the water and were hard to extinguish.  Callinicus [3] Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography J. F. Haldon, M. Byrne, A Possible Solution to the Problem of Gree…

[German version] (Λακαπηνοί; Lakapēnoí). Byzantine imperial family of Armenian origin. Romanus I Lacapenus took the regency in AD 919 for Constantinus [9] VII. Porphyrogenetus, who was still a minor; he married the emperor to his daughter, had himself successively crowned co-emperor and emperor-in-chief in 920, forcing the emperor into the background by crowning his own sons Christophorus († 931), Stephanus and Constantinus co-emperors. In 944, Romanus I was deposed by his surviving sons, but they were themselves deposed in 945 by Constantine VII. Theophylactus, a younger son …

[German version] (Ψελλός/ Psellós). Byzantine writer, jurist and politician, b. Konstantinos P., c. AD 1018 at Constantinople. It is unclear whether P. (from ψελλίζειν/ psellízein, 'to lisp') was a personal byname or a family name. P. was an official at the imperial court from 1041, becoming imperial private secretary in 1043, quickly acquiring a great reputation as a teacher and receiving the title of 'consul of the philosophers' (ὕπατος τῶν φιλοσόφων/ hýpatos tôn philosóphōn) in 1045. Coming under suspicion of being an 'astrologer and heathen', he fell into disfavo…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium Fortress, town and bishop's seat in the province of Pontus in the north-east of  Asia Minor, developed and extended during the reign of  Iustinian I and defended against the Arabs in AD 778 and 940; part of Turkey since 1071 (today Şebinkarahisar). The area around C. had economic importance because of the alum mining carried out there ( Alum) and was the centre of the  Paulician sect from the 7th to the 9th cents. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography A. Bryer, D. Winfield, The Byzantine Monuments and Topograp…

Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Constantinople's (C.) development as a city reached its zenith in the time of Justinian I (AD 527-565), though building activity continued until about 600. The deep political crisis which began in the Byzantine Empire after that had incisive results for C.: because of the Persian occupation of Egypt, grain deliveries ended in 618 and the aqueducts were destroyed in 626 during the siege by the Avars . The number of inhabitants, which was at …

[German version] (Σκυλίτζης/ Skylítzēs). Byzantine historian (second half of the 11th century AD), high court official in Constantinople, probably identical to a Iohannes Thracesius mentioned there in 1092 [6]. His so-called Synopsis Historiarum (Σύνοψις ἱστοριῶν/ Sýnopsis historiôn) appeared after 1070. It extends from 811 until 1057 and is conceived as a continuation of the Chronicle of Theophanes, whom in the foreword he singles out for praise in comparison with other historians (e.g. Psellos). Among his sources are e.g. 'Theop…

[German version] (στρατηγικόν; stratēgikón). A military manual, also called Taktikón, with accounts of military tactics, training and leadership, and weapon and siege technology. From the Early Byzantine Period we have the Stratēgiká of Urbicius (c. AD 500), the Naumachíai of Syrianus Magister (6th cent., on naval warfare), an anonymous treatise, and, most importantly, the so-called Strategikon of Mauricius. Attribution of the latter text to the emperor Mauricius (582-602) is uncertain, although it must date from before the 630s, as the wars against t…

[German version] Author of a lost Greek report on the travels of a legation to the ruler of Kinda in central Arabia and then to Ethiopia and southern Arabia in the year AD 530/1, the existence of which is known only from the  ‘Library of Photius (cod. 3). Similar journeys had been undertaken by 502 by N.'s grandfather Euphrasius, and several in 524 and later by his father Abram. According to Photius, the report emphasised the courage of N. in hazardous situations and contained information on the r…

[English version] (auch Kassiane oder Eikasia). Byz. Dichterin, Adressatin eines Briefs des Theodoros Studites vom J. 816/818 n.Chr., in dem sie als Novizin bezeichnet wird, geb. also ca. 800/805. Ihre angebliche Teilnahme an einer Brautschau für Kaiser Theophilos um 821 (?) ist legendär, doch wird deren Historizität h. noch ernsthaft diskutiert. K. lebte als Äbtissin eines von ihr gegr. Klosters in Konstantinopel, wo sie nach 843 starb. Überl. sind unter ihrem Namen verschiedene liturgische Dichtung…

[English version] Umgangssprachliche lat. Bezeichnung für das Römische Reich, bezeugt seit dem 4. Jh. n. Chr., seit dem 6. Jh. auch im Griechischen (Ῥωμανία). Die Bed. verengt sich im westl. Mittelalter auf das Gebiet des früheren Exarchats von Ravenna, die h. Romagna; im Osten wird sie in volkssprachlichen Texten für das Byz. Reich (Byzantion, Byzanz) weiterverwendet und geht von dort im 11. Jh. auch auf das Sultanat der seldschukischen Türken von “Rūm” in Kleinasien, im 13. Jh. auf das sog. lat. Kaiserreich der Kreuzfahrer in Konstantinopolis und Griechenland über. Berger, Alb…