The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

term ''primicerius'',

hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...

as ''primikērios'' ( el, πριμικήριος), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and 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 ...

to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various colleges. Etymologically the term derives from ''primus in cera'', which is to say ''in tabula cerata'', the first name in a list of a class of officials, which was usually inscribed on a waxed tablet.

Civil and military

Notitia Dignitatum - Primicerius notariorum

From their origin in the court of the Dominate, there were several ''primicerii'' (''primikērioi'' in Greek, from the 12th century usually spelled ''primmikērioi''). In the court, there was the ''primicerius sacri cubiculi'' (in Byzantine times the ''primikērios'' of the ''kouboukleion''), in charge of the emperor's bedchamber, almost always a eunuch. The title was also given to court officials in combination with other offices connected to the imperial person, such as the special treasury ('' eidikon'') or the imperial wardrobe ('' vestiarion''). Other ''primicerii'' headed some of the ''scrinia'' (departments) of the palace, chiefly the '' notarii'' or ''primicerius notariorum'' (''notarioi'' or ''taboularioi'' in Byzantine sources). In the

Late Roman army In modern scholarship, the "late" period of the Roman army begins with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 284, and ends in 480 with the death of Julius Nepos, being roughly coterminous with the Dominate. During the period 395–47 ...

, the ''primicerius'' was a rank junior to the ''

tribunus Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

'' and senior to the ''senator''. They are best attested in units associated with the imperial court, chiefly imperial guards. Thus in the 4th to 6th centuries there were the ''primicerii'' of the ''

protectores domestici The origins of the word ''domesticus'' can be traced to the late 3rd century of the Late Roman army. They often held high ranks in various fields, whether it was the servants of a noble house on the civilian side, or a high-ranking military pos ...

'' and of the ''

Scholae Palatinae The ''Scholae Palatinae'' (literally "Palatine Schools", in gr, Σχολαί, Scholai) were an elite military guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the '' equites singulares Augusti'', the c ...

'', but also ''primicerii'' in charge of the armament factories (''fabricae''), which, like the ''Scholae'', where under the jurisdiction of the ''

magister officiorum The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin language, 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 ...

''. ''Primicerii'' are also to be found in the staffs of regional military commanders ('' duces''), as well as in some regular military units. In the later Byzantine era, under the Komnenian emperors, ''primikērioi'' appear as commanders in the palace regiments of the '' Manglabitai'', '' Vardariōtai'', ''

Vestiaritai The ( gr, βεστιαρῖται, singular: βεστιαρίτης) were a corps of imperial bodyguards and fiscal officials in the Byzantine Empire, attested from the 11th to the 15th centuries. History and functions The appear in the mid-11th ...

'' and the

Varangians The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

. In the late 11th century, the dignity of ''megas prim kērios'' ("Grand Primicerius") was established, which ranked very high in court hierarchy well 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 ...

, where he functioned as a chief of ceremonies. ''Prim kērioi'' continue to be in evidence in the Byzantine Empire and the

Despotate of Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

until their fall to the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

Ecclesiastical use

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor