Glossary of Terms

The list focuses on offices, dignities, titles and terms that appear in the Skylitzes text. The explanations are based on information contained in N. Oikonomides, “L’évolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantine au XIe siècle (1025–1118),” TM (1976), 125–152; and J.-C. Cheynet, Jean Skylitzès, Empereurs de , Paris 2003, Glossaire, 413–416.

Offices, Titles, and Administrative Terms /megas domestikos commander of offensive forces. In the 10th century the position was divided into two: a commander in charge of field operations in the East and another in the West. The megas (grand) domestikos is the domestikos of the East. doukaton a military zone commanded by a doux; to all intents and purposes the same as a katepanaton under the command of a . doux in the main the term refers to military commanders who had control of the larger military zones created from lands acquired during Byzantium’s wars of expan- sion. Eparch of the City the official responsible for maintaining the public peace in Con- stantinople. His duties included supervision of the guilds, monitoring the activities of foreigners and ensuring adequate supplies of foodstuffs. He also had judicial responsibilities. katepano during the 11th century large and important geographical territories came to be placed under the control of a katepano. An example would be Michael Dokeia- nos, katepano of Italy. kleisoura (plural kleisourai) a strategic mountain pass guarded by forces under the command of a kleisourarches. a general term for an official who was responsible for the direction of the activities of a bureau. master of petitions (epi ton deeseon) head of the office which received petitions to the emperor and drafted replies in his name. megas hetaireiarches the commander of a palace security unit called the , or “Companion Guard.” the official in charge of the imperial chancery. a palatine service staffed by palace eunuchs, but was later open to non-eunuchs. For example Constantine Leichoudes held the position before his ele- vation to Patriarch. Basically the protovestiarios directed the civil activities of the emperor’s household.

Eric McGeer and John W. Nesbitt - 9789004419407 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 09:43:12PM via free access glossary of terms 199 a dignity which came into use during the 1070s and was at the base of the emperor Alexios ’ reforms of the system of honorifics. the commander of thematic forces responsible for protection of a specific locale, such as the strategos of Artach (IV.13).The strategos was subject to the author- ity of a doux. strategos autokrator second in command to the emperor. a term interchangeable with domestikos. (plural tagmata) a corps of professional soldiers in the pay of the emperor and always at the ready for combat. During the 11th century they came to be stationed in the provinces, relegating the thematic forces to secondary status. Below are listed the various tagmata mentioned in the text: – tagma of the Arithmoi traditionally the Arithmoi formed an elite band of soldiers who protected the imperial palace, but during the 11th century (and certainly by the 1060s) this and other Constantinopolitan regiments had suffered a loss of prestige. – tagma of the a contingent of Normans who followed the banner of Robert Crispin and his successor Roussel de Bailleul. – tagma of the Hetaireia a regiment of troops that provided security at the imperial palace. It was under the command of the megas hetaireiarches. – tagmaof the Lykaonai a regiment composed of forces from a region in eastern Asia Minor called Lykaonia. – tagma of the Scholai a body of troops who served as the palace guard, but were also used on campaign. – tagma of the Stratelatai a regiment of troops at the emperor’s disposal for field operations. It was formed at the beginning of the reign of (969– 976). theme (thema) the term generally refers to a body of soldiers and the area where they were recruited and stationed, as for example in II.8 the theme of in northern Greece. A strategos was in charge of a theme’s affairs. Recruits received lands and tax exemptions. a body of palace guards, usually Scandinavians (or, after the Norman Conquest, Anglo-Saxons) under the command of a hetaireiarches. vestes a dignity which in the later 11th century declined in prestige and tended to be awarded to foreign mercenaries and to Byzantine officials occupying the middle rungs of the bureaucratic ladder.

Eric McGeer and John W. Nesbitt - 9789004419407 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 09:43:12PM via free access 200 glossary of terms

Dignities: Arranged in Order of Descending Importance kaisar a dignity reserved for members of the imperial family. In our text this title, when used independent of a name, signifies John , brother of Constantine X Doukas. nobelissimos before the later decades of the 11th century only members of the impe- rial family received this title, but we note in Skylitzes that III Botaneiates elevated Alexios Komnenos, the future emperor, from proedros to nobelissimos, and promoted him to the position of supreme military commander (megas domestikos). before 1057 this dignity was conferred on members of the imperial family but then came to be bestowed on military personnel who were scions of important families. For example bestowed on his brother John the title of kouropalates and the office of megas domestikos. Then again we have the example of Romanos Diogenes elevating Manuel Komnenos (nephew of Isaac I Komnenos and brother of ) from protoproedros to kouropalates and appointing him commander of the army. proedros (see also protoproedros at the end of this entry) this dignity was originally bestowed on eunuchs, but after the first quarter of the 11th century it was granted to non-eunuch personnel as well. The dignity of proedros appears in association with an important military command: Nikephoros Bryennios held the title of proedros and exercised the office of doux of Dyrrachium. The term protoproedros is simply an inflated form of the tile proedros. magistros many military commanders mentioned in our text held this dignity. It was prestigious, but was awarded for the most part to persons who held positions well below the top tiers. a dignity higher in standing than patrikios. An example of this superior- ity is provided by the career of Romanos Diogenes who had the dignity of patrikios, when serving as doux of Sardica, but petitioned and received for valour the rank of vestarches. Military officers honoured with this dignity held important, but not as a rule elevated commands. It was originally bestowed on eunuchs, but after 1040 it was more widely distributed and included non-eunuchs. anthypatos often joined with the dignity of patrikios. patrikios a dignity of some prominence in the first half of the eleventh century, which gradually lost its lustre as the century went on.

Eric McGeer and John W. Nesbitt - 9789004419407 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 09:43:12PM via free access