''Actuarius'' or ''actarius'', rendered in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

as ''aktouarios'' (), was the title applied to officials of varying functions in the late

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

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 Constantinopl ...

empires. In the late Roman Empire, the ''actuarius'' was an official charged with the distribution of wages and provisions to the

Roman military The military of ancient Rome, according to Titus Livius, one of the more illustrious historians of Rome over the centuries, was a key element in the rise of Rome over "above seven hundred years" from a small settlement in Latium to the capital o ...

.. In this capacity, the post is attested at least until the 6th century, but appears only in antiquated legal texts thereafter. The title re-appears in the ''

Taktikon Uspensky The ''Taktikon Uspensky'' or ''Uspenskij'' is the conventional name of a mid-9th century Greek list of the civil, military and ecclesiastical offices of the Byzantine Empire and their precedence at the imperial court. Nicolas Oikonomides has dated ...

'' of circa 842 and the later ''

Kletorologion The ''Klētorologion'' of Philotheos ( el, Κλητορολόγιον), is the longest and most important of the Byzantine lists of offices and court precedence ('' Taktika'').. It was published in September 899 during the reign of Emperor Leo VI ...

'' of 899, but the role of its holder is unclear. In the 10th-century '' De Ceremoniis'' of Emperor

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 K ...

(r. 913–959), the ''aktouarios'' is mentioned as handing over awards to victorious charioteers, but in the 12th century (or perhaps in the 11th century) the term came to be applied to prominent physicians, possibly those attached to the imperial court (cf.

John Actuarius Johannes Zacharias Actuarius ( el, Ἰωάννης Ζαχαρίου Ἀκτουάριος; – c. 1328 ), son of Zacharias ( el, Ζαχαρίας), was a Byzantine physician in Constantinople. He is given the title of '' Actuarius'', a dignity fr ...

References

Sources

* Byzantine court titles Byzantine administrative offices Byzantine medicine {{Byzantine-stub