''Dioikētēs'' ( gr, διοικητής), often
Latinized as ''dioecetes'', is a term applied to a variety of administrative officials.
Origin and history during Antiquity
The term derives from διοίκησις (''dioikēsis''), literally "housekeeping", which already in
Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
came to mean "administration", especially connected with finances, both public and sacred (connected to the temples).
Officials in charge of administration were thus designated (''ho epi tē dioikēsei'').
The title of ''dioikētēs'' is mostly attested in
Ptolemaic Egypt, where it was held by the head of the kingdom's financial administration, headquartered in the capital
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
.
In addition, provincial ''dioikētai'' existed, possibly one for every province (
nome).
The office survived Egypt's annexation into the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, and is well attested, with Roman occupants, throughout the
Roman period.
Outside Egypt, the title is less frequently used, being attested in some
Syrian cities, as well as in
Corfu; in some places ''dioiketai'' are attested for smaller bodies (e.g., the ''
ephēboi'' of
Cyzicus
Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...
), or even in private households.
Byzantine Empire
In
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 ...
times, the term was employed more widely for a type of tax collector, being first attested in 680, in the acts of the
Third Council of Constantinople
The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well by certain other Western Churches, met in 680–681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical ...
. The ''dioikētai'' of this period were subordinate officials of the ''
logothetēs tou genikou'', the head of the "general" (''genikon'') fiscal department, and detailed to provincial duties. From their surviving seals, both the older
Late Roman civil provinces as well as the newer
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
are attested, but most of the ''dioikētai'' were sent to individual islands or—mostly coastal—cities. The last seal for a ''dioikētēs'' of this kind dates to the early 10th century, while holders from then on were assigned to specific themes. Modern scholarship suggests that the ''dioikētai'' were rewarded by the practice known as ''
synētheia'', a fee representing a fixed portion of the taxes they raised. In addition to the ''dioikētai'' of the ''genikon'', ''dioikētai'' of the ''
mētata'' () are also attested as subaltern officials of the ''
logothetēs tōn agelōn'', the minister responsible for the state-run horse and mule farms (''mētata'').
In the fiscal administration, the ''dioikētēs'' was replaced after 1109 by the ''
praktōr''. A variant of the title survived into the
Palaiologan period
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founde ...
as the ''
megas dioikētēs''. In
Modern Greek
Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...
usage, the term means simply "administrator, commander".
See also
*
Epistates An ( gr, ἐπιστάτης, plural ἐπιστάται, ) in ancient Greece was any sort of superintendent or overseer. In the Hellenistic kingdoms generally, an is always connected with a subject district (a regional assembly), where the , as ...
*
Oikonomos
''Oikonomos'' ( el, οἰκονόμος, from - 'house' and - 'rule, law'), latinized œconomus, oeconomus, or economos, was an Ancient Greek word meaning "household manager." In Byzantine times, the term was used as a title of a manager or tr ...
*
Procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...
References
Sources
*
*
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ref={{harvid, ODB
*Hagedorn, Dieter, Zum Amt des "dioiketes" im römischen Ägypten, Yale Classicaal Studies 28 (1985) pp. 167-210.
Byzantine fiscal offices
Government of the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Greek words and phrases
Finance ministers
Roman Egypt