The term ''oikeios'' ( el, οἰκεῖος, "belonging to the household") was used as an honorific designation and eventually as a formal title by the
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 Constantinopl ...
in the 9th–15th centuries.
In philosophy, the adjective belongs to the same family of words as the Greek ''oikeiôsis'', in Latin ''accommodatio'', which plays an important role in Stoic doctrine and refers to the appropriation of the living to oneself.
[See Cicero, ''De Finibus bonorum'', III, xix]
In Byzantium, the term was originally used in the ''
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 t ...
'' of 899 to designate the close relatives of the reigning
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 ...
. According to the ''
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...
'', "
tis probablethat the epithet ''oikeios'' was linked to the honorific title ''
doulos''", meaning "slave" or "servant", in the sense that "a man titled ''oikeios'' would call himself the ''doulos'' of his majesty".
By the late 12th century, under the
Komnenian emperors
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...
, the epithet was formalized into a semi-official title awarded to senior dignitaries, mostly civil ones, until the
end
End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to:
End
*In mathematics:
** End (category theory)
** End (topology)
**End (graph theory)
** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous)
**End (endomorphism)
*In sports and games
**End (gridiron footbal ...
of the Empire. Indeed, it was sometimes used as a title in itself, rather than being combined with other offices or dignities.
References
Sources
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ref={{harvid, ODB
Byzantine court titles