The ,

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 the ...

as ( el, βεστήτωρ) was a lowly

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 ...

palace position and rank. As their name suggests, the were originally officials of the imperial wardrobe ( la, vestiarium, adopted into Greek as ), and are first attested as such in the 6th century. By the 9th century, the title had also become an honorary dignity (, ) intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

s), marked in the '' Klētorologion'' of 899 as the third-lowest of the imperial hierarchy, coming between the and the (both also classes of palace officials). Its distinctive insignia was a , a cloak fastened by a

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

brooch. According to the ''Klētorologion'', together with the , the were under the command of the court official known as the . The later ''

De Ceremoniis The ''De Ceremoniis'' (fully ''De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae'') is the conventional Latin name for a Greek book of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople. Its Greek title is often cited as ("Explanation of th ...

'' of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos () indicates that they assisted the in dressing the emperor, while the chronicler

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 ...

calls them wardens of the imperial crown.. From sigillographic evidence, in the 9th century the rank was held by senior provincial officials, i.e. (heads of the civil administration) and (customs officials) of the themes. The term last occurs in the 10th century.

References

Sources

* * Byzantine court titles Byzantine palace offices {{italic title