Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy. Most of the offices and titles were honorifics only, as the emperor was the sole ruler. Over the more than 1000 years of the empire's existence, different titles were adopted and discarded, and many lost or gained prestige. At first the various titles of the empire were the same as those in the late Roman Empire, as the Byzantine Empire was not yet distinguished from Rome. By the time of Heraclius in the 7th century many of the titles had become obsolete; by the time of Alexius I, many of the positions were either new or drastically changed, but they remained basically the same from Alexius' reign to the fall of the Empire in 1453.

Aristocratic titles

Imperial titles

• Basileus (????????)? the Greek word for "king," which originally referred to any king in the Greek-speaking areas of the Roman Empire, such as Herod in Judea. It also referred to the emperors of Persia. Heraclius adopted it to replace the old Latin title of Augustus (Augoustos) in 629, and it became the Greek word for "emperor." Heraclius also used the titles autokrator (?????????? - "autocrat," "self-ruler") and kyrios (?????? - "lord"). The Byzantines reserved the term "basileus" among Christian rulers exclusively for the emperor in Constantinople, and referred to Western European kings as "rigas", a Hellenized form of the Latin word "rex" (=king). Emperors wanting to emphasize the legitimacy of their ascent to the throne, appended to their names the title porphyrogenitos (?????????????? - "born-in-the-purple"), meaning they were born in the delivery room of the imperial palace (called the Porphyra because it was panelled with slabs of purple marble), to a reigning emperor, and were therefore legitimate. The feminine form basilissa referred to an empress. Empresses were addressed as "Eusebestati Augousta" (=Most Pious Augusta), and were also called Kyria (=Lady) or Despoina (the female form of "despotes", see below). Basileopator was a honorific to describe the "father" of an emperor, although a basileopator was not necessarily the emperor's actual father. The first basileopator was Zautzes, a nobleman under Leo VI; Romanus I Lecapenus also used the term when he was regent for Constantine VII. One has to bear in mind that primogeniture, or indeed heredity itself, was never legally established in Byzantine imperial succession, because in principle the Roman emperor was selected by the Senate, the People and the Army. This was rooted firmly in the Roman "republican" tradition, whereby hereditary kingship was rejected and the emperor was nominally the convergence of several offices of the Republic onto one person. Many emperors, anxious to safeguard their firstborn son's right to the throne, had them crowned as co-emperors when they were still children, thus assuring that upon their own death the throne would not be even momentarily vacant. In such a case the need for an imperial selection never arose. In several cases the new emperor ascended the throne e.g. after marrying the previous emperor's widow, or indeed after forcing the previous emperor to abdicate and become a monk. Several emperors were also deposed because of perceived inadequacy, e.g. after a military defeat, and some were murdered. This explains why a basileopator (i.e. the emperor's father or father-in-law) had not been an emperor himself.
• Autocrator ? "Emperor," this title was originally equivalent to Imperator, and was used by the emperors.
• Sebastos (????????) ? "Majesty," this title is the literal Greek translation of the Latin term Augustus or Augoustos, and was used by the emperors. Under Alexius I it became less important after the creation of Protosebastos. The feminine form was sebasta.
• Despotes (????????) ? This title ("despot") was created by Manuel I Comnenus in the 12th century, as the highest title after the emperor. A despot could be the holder of a despotate; for example, the Despotate of Morea, centred at Mistra, was held by the heir to the Byzantine throne after 1261. The feminine form, despoina, referred to a female despot or the wife of a despot.
• Sebastokrator ? "Venerable Ruler," a title created by Alexius I as a combination of autokrator and sebastos. The first sebastokrator was Alexius' brother Isaac; it was essentially a meaningless title, which signified only a close relationship with the emperor. The feminine form was sebastokratorissa.
• Kaisar ? Caesar (title), originally as in the late Roman Empire it was used for a subordinate co-emperor or the heir apparent. When Alexius I created sebastokrator, kaisar became third in importance, and fourth after Manuel I created despotes. The feminine form was kaisarissa.
• Panhypersebastos, and Protosebastos ? developed from sebastos ("majesty"). Alexius and later emperors could create a large number of titles by adding pan ("all"), hyper ("above"), proto ("first"), and other prefixes to basic titles, such as sebastos in these cases.

Despotes, sebastokrator, kaisar, panhypersebastos, and protosebastos were normally reserved for members of the imperial family, and were distinguished by different clothes and different crowns. However, they could also be given to foreigners. The first despotes was actually a foreigner, Bela III of Hungary, signifying that Hungary was considered a Byzantine tributary state. The first foreigner to be called sebastokrator was Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, who was given the title in 1191. Kaloyan of Bulgaria also used the title. Justinian II named Tervel, khan of the Bulgars, kaisar in 705; the title then developed into the Slavic term tsar or czar (from Latin through Russian). Andronicus II also named Roger de Flor, leader of the Catalan Grand Company, kaisar in 1304. Protosebastos was also given to Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, before his involvement in the Fourth Crusade.

Related Topics:
Bela III of Hungary - Stefan Nemanja - Serbia - 1191 - Kaloyan of Bulgaria - Justinian II - Tervel - Bulgars - 705 - Slavic - Tsar - Latin - Russian - Andronicus II - Roger de Flor - Catalan Grand Company - 1304 - Enrico Dandolo - Doge of Venice - Fourth Crusade

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Especially in the later centuries of the empire, Byzantine emperors were also referred to as khronokrator (???????????) and kosmokrator (???????????) - literally, "ruler of time" and "ruler of the world."

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Court titles

• Pansebastohypertatos, panoikeiotatos, protoproedros ? examples of the lengthy titles created by adding prefixes. These titles were held by members of the imperial family after Alexius I, signifying a close relationship with the emperor, but they held no real power.
• Protovestiarios - usually a minor relative of the emperor, who took care of the emperor?s personal wardrobe, especially on military campaigns. He was also sometimes responsible for other members of the imperial household, and the emperor?s personal finances. The older term, from before the time of Justinian I, was curopalata (or kouropalates in Greek). This was derived from kourator (curator), an earlier official responsible for financial matters. The vestiarios was a subordinate official. The protovestiaria and vestiaria performed the same functions for the empress.

The Byzantines also had aristocratic titles for lesser members of the royal family and lesser nobles, adopted from Latin terms and somewhat equivalent to the similar terms in Western Europe (derived from the same Latin terms). These were prinkeps (prince), doux (duke), and komes (count). They also had kleisourarka, apokomes, and akrita, equivalent to lower nobles such as marquesses, viscounts, earls, and barons.

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Various lesser nobles also held titles in the imperial residence, such as parakoimomenos (a bodyguard) and pankernes (a cupbearer), and megas konostaulos ("grand constable," in charge of the emperor?s stables).

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