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Leo Argyros (10th Century)
Leo Argyros ( el, Λέων Ἀργυρός) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general active in the first decades of the 10th century. Life He was the son of the ''magistros'' Eustathios Argyros, ''droungarios'' of the Watch under Leo VI the Wise (ruled 886–912). In ca. 910, Leo and his brother Pothos Argyros were serving at court as manglabites (personal bodyguards of the emperor), when their father was poisoned after being suspected by Leo for plotting against him. The two brothers brought their father's body for burial to their ancestral monastery of Saint Elizabeth in the Charsianon district. Pothos and Leo both followed military careers. According to Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, already in 911, Leo, despite his youth, became military governor ('' strategos'') of the theme of Sebasteia, with the rank of ''protospatharios''. Both brothers played a distinguished role during the regency of Empress Zoe Karbonopsina (913–919). Leo and a younger brother, Romanos, partici ...
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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 ...
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Patrikios
The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 BC). By the time of the late Republic and Empire, membership in the patriciate was of only nominal significance. The social structure of Ancient Rome revolved around the distinction between the patricians and the plebeians. The status of patricians gave them more political power than the plebeians. The relationship between the patricians and the plebeians eventually caused the Conflict of the Orders. This time period resulted in changing the social structure of Ancient Rome. After the Western Empire fell, the term "patrician" continued as a high honorary title in the Eastern Empire. In the Holy Roman Empire and in many medieval Italian republics, medieval patrician classes were once again f ...
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9th-century Births
The 9th century was a period from 801 ( DCCCI) through 900 ( CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the House of Wisdom was founded in Abbasid Baghdad, attracting many scholars to the city. The field of algebra was founded by the Muslim polymath al-Khwarizmi. The most famous Islamic Scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal was tortured and imprisoned by Abbasid official Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad during the reign of Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim and caliph al-Wathiq. In Southeast Asia, the height of the Mataram Kingdom happened in this century, while Burma would see the establishment of the major kingdom of Pagan. Tang China started the century with the effective rule under Emperor Xianzong and ended the century with the Huang Chao rebellions. While the Maya experienced widespread political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in internecine warfare, the abandonment of cities, ...
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Romanos III Argyros
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople when the dying Constantine VIII forced him to divorce his wife and marry the emperor's daughter Zoë. Upon Constantine's death three days later, Romanos took the throne. Romanos has been recorded as a well-meaning but ineffective emperor. He disorganised the tax system and undermined the military, personally leading a disastrous military expedition against Aleppo. He fell out with his wife and foiled several attempts on his throne, including two which revolved around his sister-in-law Theodora. He spent large amounts on the construction and repair of churches and monasteries. He died after six years on the throne, allegedly murdered, and was succeeded by his wife's young lover, Michael IV. Life Family and early career Romanos Argyros, bo ...
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Romanos Argyros (10th Century)
Romanos Argyros ( el, Ῥωμανός Ἀργυρός) was a Byzantine aristocrat and son-in-law of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. Life He was a son of the distinguished general Leo Argyros, and had at least one brother, Marianos Argyros, who also occupied high military posts. Romanos on the other hand is chiefly known for having married Agathe, a daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (reigned 919–944). The sources disagree on when the marriage took place: the 11th-century historian Yahya of Antioch asserts that the marriage took place before Lekapenos' rise to power, while the late 10th-century chronicler Theophanes Continuatus records that it took place in 921. In either case, the marriage represented an effort by Lekapenos, a provincial upstart, to solidify his position by linking his family to one of the most prestigious aristocratic families of the Empire. As such, Romanos became the brother-in-law of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, who had married another of Lekapenos' ...
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Marianos Argyros
Marianos Argyros ( el, Μαριανός Ἀργυρός, – 16 August 963) was a Byzantine aristocrat and member of the Argyros family. A monk, in 944 he supported the assumption of sole rule by Constantine VII, and was allowed to leave the monastery and enter imperial service. He held a succession of senior military commands, fighting in southern Italy against local rebels and the Fatimids, and in the Balkans against the Magyars. In 963, he tried to oppose the takeover of the imperial throne by the general Nikephoros Phokas by assuming control over Constantinople and arresting his father, Bardas Phokas the Elder. During the ensuing clashes, he was hit on the head by a platter, and died on the next day, 16 August 963. Life Origin and the palace coups of 944 Marianos was the eldest son of the general Leo Argyros, active in the first decades of the 10th century. He had a brother, Romanos Argyros, who in 921 married Agathe, a daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (). The ...
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John Kourkouas
John Kourkouas ( gr, Ἰωάννης Κουρκούας, Ioannes Kourkouas, ), also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the East reversed the course of the centuries-long Arab–Byzantine wars and set the stage for Byzantium's eastern conquests later in the century. Kourkouas belonged to a family of Armenian descent that produced several notable Byzantine generals. As commander of an imperial bodyguard regiment, Kourkouas was among the chief supporters of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos () and facilitated the latter's rise to the throne. In 923, Kourkouas was appointed commander-in-chief of the Byzantine armies along the eastern frontier, facing the Abbasid Caliphate and the semi-autonomous Muslim border emirates. He kept this post for more than twenty years, overseeing decisive Byzantine military successes that altered the strategic balance in the region. During ...
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Battle Of Pegae
The Battle of Pegae ( bg, битка при Пиги) was fought between 11 and 18 March 921 in the outskirts of Constantinople between the forces of the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927. The battle took place in a locality called ''Pegae'' (i.e. "the spring"), named after the nearby Church of St. Mary of the Spring. The Byzantine lines collapsed at the very first Bulgarian attack and their commanders fled the battlefield. In the subsequent rout most Byzantine soldiers were killed by the sword, drowned or were captured. In 922 the Bulgarians continued their successful campaigns in Byzantine Thrace, capturing a number of towns and fortresses, including Adrianople, Thrace's most important city, and Bizye. In June 922 they engaged and defeated yet another Byzantine army at Constantinople, confirming the Bulgarian domination of the Balkans. However, Constantinople itself remained outside their reach, because Bulgaria lack ...
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Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ("the Great City"), Πόλις ("the City"), Kostantiniyye or Konstantinopolis ( Turkish) , image = Byzantine Constantinople-en.png , alt = , caption = Map of Constantinople in the Byzantine period, corresponding to the modern-day Fatih district of Istanbul , map_type = Istanbul#Turkey Marmara#Turkey , map_alt = A map of Byzantine Istanbul. , map_size = 275 , map_caption = Constantinople was founded on the former site of the Greek colony of Byzantion, which today is known as Istanbul in Turkey. , coordinates = , location = Fatih, İstanbul, Turkey , region = Marmara Region , type = Imperial city , part_of = , length = , width ...
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Kavkhan
The ''kavkhan'' ( grc-x-byzant, καυχάνος; bg, кавха̀н) was one of the most important officials in the First Bulgarian Empire. Role and status According to the generally accepted opinion, he was the second most important person in the state after the Bulgarian ruler. He had a number of responsibilities and concentrated huge power and authority. The ''kavkhan'' was a commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian army and one of the primary diplomats in the state. He was a member of the 'Bolyar Counsel' and one of the most important advisers to the Bulgarian ruler; the ''kavkhan'' was sometimes his regent or co-ruler. The ''kavkhan'' was a high magistrate and substitute to the ruler when the latter is absent from the capital. He is also attributed to have been a judge. It is assumed that there was a prominent bolyar family in Bulgaria from which the ''kavkhan'' was chosen generation after generation - the so-called "''kavkhan'' kin". The title was therefore hereditary and ...
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Alexios Mosele (admiral)
Alexios Mosele ( el, ), or Musele/Mousele (Greek: Μουσηλέ), was a Byzantine admiral (''droungarios tou ploimou'') in the early reign of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944).. He was killed in 921, leading a detachment of imperial marines along with the imperial '' tagmata'' under the '' domestikos ton scholon'', Pothos Argyros, against the forces of the Bulgarian tsar, Simeon I (r. 893–927) during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927. The Byzantines were defeated at the Battle of Pegae The Battle of Pegae ( bg, битка при Пиги) was fought between 11 and 18 March 921 in the outskirts of Constantinople between the forces of the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–9 ..., and during the subsequent flight, Mosele slipped and drowned while trying to board one of his warships.. References Sources * * * 10th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine admirals Byzantine people of the B ...
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Droungarios
A ''droungarios'', also spelled ''drungarios'' ( el, δρουγγάριος, la, drungarius) and sometimes anglicized as Drungary, was a military rank of the late Roman and Byzantine empires, signifying the commander of a formation known as '' droungos''. Late Roman and Byzantine army Latin-speakers adopted the word ''drungus'' - first attested in the early 4th century - either from Gaulish or from a Germanic language. In the late 6th century, the Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in his '' Strategikon'' used ''droungos'' to refer to a specific tactical deployment, usually of cavalry, although still in the general sense of "grouping, division". The term ''droungarios'' (Greek: δρουγγάριος) is not documented before the early 7th century but might have been used as an informal or unofficial designation before that date. The office and the corresponding unit appear to have initially referred to ''ad hoc'' arrangements, but during the early 7th century these were formalized ...
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