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Vestitor
The , Hellenization, Hellenized as ( el, βεστήτωρ) was a lowly Byzantine Empire, Byzantine palace position and rank. As their name suggests, the were originally officials of the imperial wardrobe ( la, vestiarium, adopted into Greek as ), and are first attested as such in the 6th century. By the 9th century, the title had also become an honorary dignity (, ) intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs), marked in the ''Kletorologion, Klētorologion'' of 899 as the third-lowest of the imperial hierarchy, coming between the and the (both also classes of palace officials). Its distinctive insignia was a , a cloak fastened by a fibula (brooch), fibula brooch. According to the ''Klētorologion'', together with the , the were under the command of the court official known as the . The later ''De Ceremoniis'' of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos () indicates that they assisted the in dressing the emperor, while the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor calls them wardens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellenization
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the Hellenistic period, many of the territories which were conquered by Alexander the Great were Hellenized; under the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, much of its territory was Hellenized; and in modern times, Greek culture has prevailed over minority cultures in Modern Greece. Etymology The first known use of a verb which means "to Hellenize" was in Greek (ἑλληνίζειν) and by Thucydides (5th century BC), who wrote that the Amphilochian Argives were Hellenized as to their language by the Ambraciots, which shows that the word perhaps already referred to more than language. The similar word Hellenism, which is often used as a synonym, is used in 2 Maccabees (c. 124 BC) and the Book of Acts (c. 80–90 AD) to refer to clearly muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor Alexander. Most of his reign was dominated by co-regents: from 913 until 919 he was under the regency of his mother, while from 920 until 945 he shared the throne with Romanos Lekapenos, whose daughter Helena he married, and his sons. Constantine VII is best known for the ''Geoponika'' (τά γεοπονικά), an important agronomic treatise compiled during his reign, and three, perhaps four, books; '' De Administrando Imperio'' (bearing in Greek the heading Πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν Ῥωμανόν), '' De Ceremoniis'' (Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως), '' De Thematibus'' (Περὶ θεμάτων Άνατολῆς καὶ Δύσεως), and ''Vita Basilii'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme (Byzantine District)
The themes or ( el, θέματα, , singular: , ) were the main military/administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and Muslim conquests of parts of Byzantine territory, and replaced the earlier provincial system established by Diocletian and Constantine the Great. In their origin, the first themes were created from the areas of encampment of the field armies of the East Roman army, and their names corresponded to the military units that had existed in those areas. The theme system reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries, as older themes were split up and the conquest of territory resulted in the creation of new ones. The original theme system underwent significant changes in the 11th and 12th centuries, but the term remained in use as a provincial and financial circumscription until the very end of the Empire. History Background During the late 6th and e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kommerkiarios
The ''kommerkiarios'' (Greek: κομμερκιάριος) was a fiscal official of the Byzantine Empire charged with the collection of the imperial sales tax or ''kommerkion''. History and functions The ''kommerkiarios'' was perhaps the successor of the ''comes commerciorum'', which was a late Roman controller of trade on the frontier.. According to the late 4th-century ''Notitia Dignitatum'', there were three ''comites commerciorum'' under the control of the ''comes sacrarum largitionum'': one for Oriens and Egypt, one for Illyricum, and one for Moesia, Scythia Minor and Pontus (i.e. the Danube frontier and the Black Sea). The term ''kommerkiarios'' first appears in fragmentary inscriptions of a law issued by Emperor Anastasios I (r. 491–518). The ''kommerkiarioi'' were stationed in many areas of the frontier, as indicated by their seals, which appear to substantiate the statement made by the 6th-century historian Procopius about Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) installing c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protonotarios
The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek ' ''protos'' "first" + Latin ''notarius'' ("notary"); the -h- appeared in Medieval Latin. The title was awarded to certain high-ranking notaries. Byzantine usage The office of ''prōtonotarios'' ( el, πρωτονοτάριος), also ''proedros'' or '' primikērios'' of the ''notarioi'', existed in mid-Byzantine (7th through 10th centuries) administration as head of the colleges of the ''notarioi'' in various administrative departments. There were ''prōtonotarioi'' of the imperial ''notarioi'' (secretaries of the court), of the various ''sekreta'' or ''logothesia'' (government ministries), as well as for each '' thema'' or province.* The latter appeared in the early 9th century and functioned as the chief c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigillographic
Sigillography, also known by its Greek-derived name, sphragistics, is the scholarly discipline that studies the wax, lead, clay, and other seals used to authenticate archival documents. It investigates not only aspects of the artistic design and production of seals (both matrices and impressions), but also considers the legal, administrative and social contexts in which they were used. It has links to diplomatics, heraldry, social history, and the history of art, and is regarded as one of the auxiliary sciences of history. A student of seals is known as a ''sigillographer''. Etymology The word ''sigillography'' derives from the Latin word , meaning 'seal', and the Greek suffix , meaning 'description'. It was effectively coined in Italian (as ) by Anton Stefano Cartari in 1682. It entered English at a much later date: the earliest instances recorded by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' date from 1879 (''sigillography'') and 1882 (''sigillographer''). The alternative term, ''sphrag ... [...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 at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Ceremoniis
The ''De Ceremoniis'' (fully ''De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae'') is the conventional Latin name for a Greek book of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople. Its Greek title is often cited as ("Explanation of the Order of the Palace"), taken from the work's preface, or ("On the Order of the Palace"). In non-specialist English sources, it tends to be called the ''Book of Ceremonies of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos'' (variably spelt), a formula used by writers including David Talbot Rice and the modern English translation. History and Sources It was written or at least commissioned by Emperor Constantine VII (reigned 913-959), probably around 956-959. The compilation of Rep. I 17 (Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek) was partially revised later under Nikephoros II (963-969), perhaps under the supervision of Basil Lekapenos, the imperial ''parakoimomenos'', and it also contains earlier descriptions of the 6th century."De Ceremoniis" in ''The Ox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epi Tes Katastaseos
The ''epi tes katastaseos'' ( el, ἐπὶ τῆς καταστάσεως) was a court office of the Byzantine Empire, attested in the 9th–10th centuries. The origin and exact nature of the office are unclear. J. B. Bury translated the title as "master of ceremonies" since may be interpreted as "order", and derived its origin from the late Roman , the head of the , a department under the authority of the . George Ostrogorsky and Ernst Stein on the other hand pointed out that the ceases to be mentioned after 534, and suggested that the was a descendant of the , attested from the time of Justinian I (reigned 527–565) on. The mid-9th century ''Taktikon Uspensky'' is ambiguous as to its role, placing the office first among the civil officials (between the and the ) and then among the lower-ranking courtiers. The of 899 records the office as one of the "special dignities" (), and records that his staff comprised the orders () of , , , the , and the ("senators",which Bury sugge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fibula (brooch)
A fibula (/ˈfɪbjʊlə/, plural fibulae /ˈfɪbjʊli/) is a brooch or pin for fastening garments, typically at the right shoulder. The fibula developed in a variety of shapes, but all were based on the safety-pin principle. Unlike most modern brooches, fibulae were not only decorative; they originally served a practical function: to fasten clothing for both sexes, such as dresses and cloaks. In English, "fibula" is not a word used for modern jewellery, but by archaeologists, who also use "brooch", especially for types other than the ancient "safety pin" types, and for types from the British Isles. There are hundreds of different types of fibulae. They are usually divided into families that are based upon historical periods, geography, and/or cultures. Fibulae are also divided into classes that are based upon their general forms. Fibulae replaced straight pins that were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. In turn, fibulae were replaced as clo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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