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.

Military titles

Army

• Exarch - The exarchs were governors of remote parts of the empire such as Italy or Africa. They enjoyed a greater degree of independence than other provincial governors.
• Domestikos ? the domestikoi were originally imperial guards, who became generals in the themes. They included:
• Megas domestikos (Grand Domestic) - the overall commander of the army.
• Domestikos ton Scholon (Domestic of the Scholae) ? the commander the Scholae, originally a prestigious army division, later a theme that provided troops for the division. This was a very prestigious title, which held a lot of power, unlike many of the other titles.
• Domestikos tou thematos (Domestic of the Themes) ? the commander and organizer of the military themes; there was one for the European themes and one for Asian themes.
• Strategos ? a military commander of a theme, who often also had the title of doux. The term is basically equivalent to "general" or "admiral", as it was used in both branches of service
• Protospatharios ? the commander of the imperial guard. The spatharios was his subordinate.
• Protostrator ? a later name for the commander of the army.
• Stratopedarch ? a commander of the army in the field, who also possibly had legal powers.
• Protokentarchos and kentarchos - commanders of a smaller division of the army in the field. The name was derived from the Latin centurion.
• Merarches - a commander of a cavalry division in the army.

Navy

• Megas doux ? the Megaduke or Grand Duke, was the basic equivalent of the modern Lord High Admiral, and organized the Byzantine naval themes. He was very likely one of the few who knew the secret of the composition of Greek fire. By the end of the Palaialogos dynasty the megaduke was head of the government and bureaucracy, not just the navy.
• Megas drungarios - a subordinate of the megas doux, who was in charge of the naval officers.
• Drungarios - a naval officer as well as an army officer. A somewhat higher version of the drungarios was the drungarokomes.
• Katepano ? the governor of a naval theme, such as the Catapan of Italy, a title developed in the 9th century.

Other military titles

• Konostaulos - Greek form of "constable," the chief of the Frankish mercenaries
• 'Hetairiarch' ? the chief of the barbarian mercenaries
• Akolouthos - "acolyte," the chief of the Varangian Guard
• Spatharokandidatos ? another Varangian title
• Manglavites ? another Varangian title