Sirianus was the

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 ...

catapan of Italy, the second appointed by the Emperor Constantine X Doukas. He arrived in Bari, the seat of the catapanate, in 1061 or 1062, replacing

Marules MarulesVera von Falkenhausen, ''Untersuchungen über die byzantinische Herrschaft in Süditalien vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert'' (O. Harrassowitz, 1967), p. 94, notes that the rare name Marules is attested from the 10th century.André Guillou, "Pro ...

, who had been appointed the previous year. Constantine was the last emperor who took an interest in recovering ground in Italy, but Sirianus was on the defensive against the Norman state and recovered no territory.Jules Gay
''L'Italie méridionale et l'empire Byzantin''
(New York: Burt Franklin, 1904), p. 526. According to the annals of

Lupus Protospatharius Lupus Protospatharius Barensis was the reputed author of the ''Chronicon rerum in regno Neapolitano gestarum'' (also called ''Annales Lupi Protospatharii''), a concise history of the Mezzogiorno from 805 to 1102. He has only been named as the auth ...

, the Norman duke Robert Guiscard captured Oria and Brindisi in the year of his appointment and

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

in the following year.William J. Churchill
''The Annales Barenses and the Annales Lupi Protospatharii: Critical Edition and Commentary''
PhD dissertation (University of Toronto, 1979), pp. 144–145. He was succeeded in 1064 by

Abulchares Abulchares ( el, Αβουλχαρέ, la, Apochara; died 1068) was a Byzantine general of Arab origin who served as the catepan of Italy from 1064 until his death. The chief sources for his catapanate are ''Skylitzes Continuatus'' and '' Anonymi Ba ...

Vera von Falkenhausen Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarra ...

, ''Untersuchungen über die byzantinische Herrschaft in Süditalien vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert'' (O. Harrassowitz, 1967), p. 94. The date of Sirianus's arrival in Bari can be placed between 1 September 1061 and 31 August 1062 because the only source, the

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 ...

'' Anonymous Chronicle of Bari'', uses the

Byzantine calendar The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...

Ludovico Antonio Muratori Lodovico Antonio Muratori (21 October 1672 – 23 January 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. Biography Born ...

(ed.)
''Rerum Italicarum scriptores'', vol. V.
(Milan, 1724), p. 152: ''Mill. LXII. Ind. XV. ... Et Siriano venit Catap. in Bari.''. The name Sirianus is a Latinization of the Italianized form ''Siriano'' found in the chronicle. It is uncertain whether it represents the Byzantine Greek name ''Syrianos'' (Συριανός) or ''Syrgiannes'' (Συργιάννης).

References

{{end 11th-century catepans of Italy Year of birth unknown