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Aetios (eunuch)
Aetios or Aetius ( grc-gre, Ἀέτιος) was a Byzantine eunuch official and one of the most trusted advisers of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens (r. 797–802). After Irene's rise to sole rule, Aetios developed an intense rivalry with her eunuch chief minister Staurakios. After Staurakios's death, Aetios became the leading man in the state. He plotted to usurp the throne for his brother, Leo, but lost power when Irene was deposed in 802. Biography Early years and rivalry with Staurakios Aetios first appears in 790, when he was a ''protospatharios'' and a confidant of Irene, then the Byzantine empress-mother and regent for her young son, Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797). In the autumn of that year, Irene tried to sideline her son and assume full rule over the Byzantine Empire. This, however, caused a mutiny by the army in favour of the young emperor. Constantine was installed as sole ruler, Irene confined to a palace in Constantinople, and her eunuch protégés, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scholai
The ''Scholae Palatinae'' (literally "Palatine Schools", in gr, Σχολαί, Scholai) were an elite military guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the ''equites singulares Augusti'', the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard. The ''Scholae'' survived in Roman and later Byzantine service until they disappeared in the late 11th century, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos. 4th–7th centuries: imperial guards History and structure During the early 4th century, ''Caesar'' Flavius Valerius Severus attempted to disband the remaining units of the Praetorian Guard on the orders of Galerius. In response, the Praetorians turned to Maxentius, the son of the retired emperor Maximian, and proclaimed him their emperor on 28 October 306. When Constantine the Great (), launching an invasion of Italy in 312, forced a final confrontation at the Milvian Bridge, the Praetorian cohorts made up the most prominent element of Maxentius' ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theophanes The Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 and resisted the iconoclasm of Leo V the Armenian, for which he was imprisoned. He died shortly after his release. Theophanes the Confessor, venerated on 12 March in both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches, should not be confused with Theophanes of Nicaea, whose feast is commemorated on 11 October. Biography Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac, governor of the islands of the Aegean Sea, and Theodora, of whose family nothing is known. His father died when Theophanes was three years old, and the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V (740–775) subsequently saw to the boy's education and upbringing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macedonia (theme)
The Theme of Macedonia ( el, θέμα Μακεδονίας) was a military-civilian province ( theme) of the Byzantine Empire established between the late 8th century and the early 9th century. Byzantine Macedonia had limited geographical relation to the Ancient Macedonia and mainly laid in what is now the modern region of Southern Thrace. Its capital was Adrianople. History From the beginning of the 6th century, the former Roman Diocese of Macedonia, then part of the Byzantine Empire became a subject to frequent raids by Slavic tribes which in the course of next centuries, resulted in drastic demographic and cultural changes. The Slavs organized themselves into " Sklaviniai", that continued to assault the Byzantine Empire, either independently, or aided by Bulgars or Avars during the 7th century. In the late 7th century, the Byzantines organized a massive expedition against the Slavs in the area. They subdued many Slavic tribes and established a new theme of Thrace in the hin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrace (theme)
The Theme of Thrace ( el, ) was a province (''thema'' or theme) of the Byzantine Empire located in the south-eastern Balkans, comprising varying parts of the eponymous geographic region during its history. History Traditionally, it has been held that the theme (at the time primarily a military command) was constituted in c. 680, as a response to the Bulgar threat... This is based on the mention of a certain ''patrikios'' Theodore, Count of the ''Opsikion'' and '' hypostrategos'' of Thrace, in 680/681. However, it is unclear whether this implies the existence of Thrace as a separate command, with Theodore holding a dual post, or whether Thrace was administratively united to the ''Opsikion''. In fact, separate ''strategoi'' of Thrace are not clearly attested in literary sources until 742, while seals of ''strategoi'' are also extant only from the eighth century on. Initially, Adrianople was probably the theme's capital. Under Empress Irene of Athens, in the late eighth century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monostrategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenistic world and the Eastern Roman Empire the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army, it is the highest officer rank. Etymology ''Strategos'' is a compound of two Greek words: ''stratos'' and ''agos''. ''Stratos'' (στρατός) means "army", literally "that which is spread out", coming from the proto-Indo-European root *stere- "to spread". ''Agos'' (ἀγός) means "leader", from ''agein'' (ἄγειν) "to lead", from the proto-Ιndo-Εuropean root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move”. Classical Greece Athens In its most famous attestation, in Classical Athens, the office of ''strategos'' existed already in the 6th century BC, but it was only with the reforms of Cleisthenes in 501 BC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbasids
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs for most of the caliphate from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, near the ancient Babylonian capital city of Babylon. Baghdad became the center of science, culture and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opsician Theme
The Opsician Theme ( gr, θέμα Ὀψικίου, ''thema Opsikiou'') or simply Opsikion (Greek: , from la, Obsequium) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created from the imperial retinue army, the ''Opsikion'' was the largest and most prestigious of the early themes, being located closest to Constantinople. Involved in several revolts in the 8th century, it was split in three after ca. 750, and lost its former pre-eminence. It survived as a middle-tier theme until after the Fourth Crusade. History The Opsician theme was one of the first four themes, and has its origin in the praesential armies of the East Roman army. The term ''Opsikion'' derives from the Latin term ''Obsequium'' ("retinue"), which by the early 7th century came to refer to the units escorting the emperor on campaign. It is possible that at an early stage, the ''Opsikion'' was garrisoned inside Constantinople itself. In the 640s, however, fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logothetes Tou Dromou
The ( gr, λογοθέτης τοῦ δρόμου), in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/ or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Public Post ( la, cursus publicus, gr, δημόσιος δρόμος, demosios dromos, or simply , ), and one of the most senior fiscal ministers (logothetes) of the Byzantine Empire. History and functions The office of the is explicitly attested for the first time in circa 762, but traces its origins to the officials supervising the Public Post in Late Antiquity. Until the late 4th century, the administration of the Roman Empire's Public Post was a responsibility of the praetorian prefectures. Due to the abuse of the Post and its privileges by the officials of the praetorian prefecture, in the late 4th century the oversight over the Post passed to the , while the day-to-day administration remained in the hands of the praetorian prefecture. As a result, an official known as the , the inspector of the Publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revolt (499 BC), the Cappadocians were reported as occupying a region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia. Van Dam, R. ''Kingdom of Snow: Roman rule and Greek culture in Cappadocia.'' Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, p.13 The name, traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history, continues in use as an international Tourism in Turkey, tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenistic world and the Eastern Roman Empire the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army, it is the highest officer rank. Etymology ''Strategos'' is a compound of two Greek words: ''stratos'' and ''agos''. ''Stratos'' (στρατός) means "army", literally "that which is spread out", coming from the proto-Indo-European root *stere- "to spread". ''Agos'' (ἀγός) means "leader", from ''agein'' (ἄγειν) "to lead", from the proto-Ιndo-Εuropean root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move”. Classical Greece Athens In its most famous attestation, in Classical Athens, the office of ''strategos'' existed already in the 6th century BC, but it was only with the reforms of Cleisthenes in 50 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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