Domentzia ( el, Δομεντζία) was a name shared by the mother of the
Byzantine emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Phocas
Phocas ( la, Focas; grc-gre, Φωκάς, Phōkás; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially, a middle-ranking officer in the Eastern Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers ...
(r. 602–610), and a daughter of the same emperor, likely named after her paternal grandmother.
[Martindale (1992), p. 409]
Name
The mother is only named by
John of Antioch John of Antioch may refer to:
People from Antioch
* John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), born in Antioch, archbishop of Constantinople
* John Scholasticus (died 577), born in Antioch, patriarch of Constantinople from 565 to 577
* John Malalas (died 578 ...
, who renders her name 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 "Dysmenziane" (Δυσμενζιανή). All other occurrences of the name refer to the daughter. The more familiar form "Domentzia" (Δομεντζία) is given by
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 u ...
.
Anastasius Bibliothecarius
Anastasius Bibliothecarius or Anastasius the Librarian (c. 810 – c. 878) was ''bibliothecarius'' (literally "librarian") and chief archivist of the Church of Rome and also briefly a claimant to the papacy.
Early life
He was a nephew of Bis ...
, who translated the work of Theophanes to
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, renders the name "Domnentzia". The later historian
Joannes Zonaras
Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...
gives the name as "Domnentia" (Δομνεντία), while
Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos
Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Latinized as Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus ( el, Νικηφόρος Κάλλιστος Ξανθόπουλος), of Constantinople (c. 1256 – c. 1335), was the last of the Greek ecclesiastical historians.
H ...
gives her name as "Dysmenziane", indicating that both women used the same name.
[
]
Mother of Phocas
Phocas and his family were likely of Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Thracians under the rule of the Roman Empire.
The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace became a Roman client kingdom c. 20 BC, while the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coast came under Roman contro ...
origin.[Bury (2009), p. 197] The husband of the elder Domentzia is unknown. She had three known sons: Phocas, Comentiolus
Comentiolus ( el, Κομεντίολος, ''Komentiolos''; died 602) was a prominent Eastern Roman (Byzantine) general at the close of the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Maurice (). He played a major role in Maurice's Balkan campaigns, a ...
[Martindale (1992), p. 326] and Domentziolus. The latter seems to have been ''magister officiorum
The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centu ...
'' by 610.[Bury (2009), p. 201] A grandson, also named Domentziolus, was granted the title of ''curopalates
''Kouropalatēs'', Latinized as ''curopalates'' or ''curopalata'' ( el, κουροπαλάτης, from lat, cura palatii "he one incharge of the palace"). and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time ...
'' on the ascension of Phocas to the throne in 602.[Bury (2009), p. 199]
Daughter of Phocas
The younger Domentzia was a daughter of Phocas and Leontia
Leontia ( el, Λεοντία, fl. 610) was an empress of the Eastern Roman Empire as the wife of Phocas.
Empress
Maurice reigned in the Byzantine Empire from 582 to 602. He led a series of Balkan campaigns and managed to successfully re-estab ...
. In 607, she married the general Priscus
Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...
, who served as ''comes excubitorum
The Excubitors ( la, excubitores or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike moun ...
'', commander of the Excubitors
The Excubitors ( la, excubitores or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike moun ...
bodyguard.[ As she was the only known child of the Emperor, the marriage effectively made Priscus an ]heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question.
...
to the throne. Her husband fell into disfavour however when the citizenry of 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 (" ...
began erecting statues in their honour.[Martindale (1992), p. 1056]
Her marriage took place in the palace of Marina, named after its original owner, a daughter of Arcadius
Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ea ...
and Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia (; ; died 6 October 404) was a Roman empress consort by marriage to the Roman emperor Arcadius. The marriage was the source of some controversy, as it was arranged by Eutropius, one of the eunuch court officials, who was attempti ...
. A chariot racing
Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...
event was arranged to be held in the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Sultanahmet Square ( tr, Sultanahmet Meydanı) or the Hippodrome of Constantinople ( el, Ἱππόδρομος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Hippódromos tēs Kōnstantinoupóleōs; la, Circus Maximus Constantinopolitanus; t ...
, in honor of the newlyweds. The leaders of the Blues (''Vénetoi'') and the Greens (''Prásinoi'') racing factions (''demoi'') decided to honor the occasion by erecting statues of the imperial family. Thus they placed images of Phocas, Leontia, Domentzia, and Priscus in the Hippodrome. The images of the reigning imperial couple belonged there by tradition, but the latter two implied that Priscus was the heir or co-emperor of Phocas. Phocas was enraged at the implication and ordered the depictions of his daughter and son-in-law to be destroyed.[Bury (2009), p. 202]
Phocas further treated the matter as an attempted coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, demanding further investigation of the matter, arresting the demarchs
The ''dēmarchos'' ( gr, δήμαρχος, 3=archon of the deme; plural δήμαρχοι, ''dēmarchoi''), anglicized as Demarch, is a title historically given to officials related to civic administration. In ancient Athens the title was given to ...
responsible with accusations of treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
. While their lives may have been spared due to popular demand, Phocas likely viewed Priscus himself as the culprit, and seems to have started viewing his son-in-law as a potential rival.[ By alienating Priscus however, Phocas undermined his own hold on the throne. By 608, John of Antioch reports Priscus initiating contact with ]Heraclius the Elder
Heraclius the Elder ( el, Ἡράκλειος, ''Herákleios''; died 610) was a Byzantine general and the father of Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). Generally considered to be of Armenian origin Heraclius the Elder distinguished hims ...
, the Exarch of Africa
The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in the late 580s and surviv ...
, and instigating the revolt that would eventually remove Phocas from power.[Bury (2009), pp. 202–203]
References
Sources
*
* {{Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire , volume=3
6th-century Byzantine people
7th-century Byzantine people
6th-century Byzantine women
7th-century Byzantine women
Daughters of Byzantine emperors
Mothers of Byzantine emperors