''Cubicularius'', Hellenized as ''koubikoularios'' (), was a title used for the

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, 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 2 ...

chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The feminine version, used for the ladies-in-waiting of the empresses, was ''koubikoularia'' (κουβικουλαρία).

History

The term derives from their service in the ''sacrum cubiculum'', the emperor's "sacred bedchamber". In the late Roman period, the ''cubicularii'' or ''koubikoularioi'' were numerous: according to John Malalas, Empress Theodora's

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...

numbered as many as 4,000 '' patrikioi'' and ''koubikoularioi''.. They were placed under the command of the '' praepositus sacri cubiculi'' and the ''

primicerius sacri cubiculi The Latin term ''primicerius'', Hellenized as ''primikērios'' (), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various college ...

'', while the other palace servants came either under the '' castrensis sacri palatii'' or the ''

magister officiorum The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

''.. There were also special ''cubicularii''/''koubikoularioi'' for the empress (sometimes including female ''koubikoulariai''), and the office was introduced into the Roman Church as well, probably under

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I () ( 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (; ), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461. He is the first of the three Popes listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' with the title "the ...

. In Byzantium, they played a very important role, holding senior palace offices such as '' parakoimōmenos'' or the '' epi tēs trapezēs'', but also served in posts in the central financial departments, as provincial administrators and sometimes even as generals. Gradually, in the 7th-8th centuries, the eunuchs of the imperial bedchamber proper (in Greek known as the , '' asilikoskoitōn'') were separated from the other ''koubikoularioi'' and, distinguished as the ''koitōnitai'' (), came under the authority of the ''parakoimōmenos''. At the same time, the imperial wardrobe ('' basilikon vestiarion'') and its officials also became a separate department under the '' prōtovestiarios''. The remainder continued as the "''koubikoularioi'' of the ''kouboukleion''" (), still under the ''praepositus'' (Greek: , ''praipositos tou eusebestatou koitōnos'' in Greek), with the ''primicerius'' (, ''primikērios tou kouboukleiou'') continuing as his chief aide. The office was eventually abandoned by the Byzantines, but it is not clear when: Nikolaos Oikonomides suggested the latter half of the 11th century, but Rodolphe Guilland supported its continued existence until the early 13th century. By the 9th century, aside from its general use denoting a eunuch palace servant, ''koubikoularios'' had also acquired a more technical meaning as a grade or dignity in the Byzantine palace hierarchy: according to the '' Klētorologion'' of 899, the rank of ''koubikoularios'' was the second-lowest among those reserved for the eunuchs, coming after the '' spatharokoubikoularios'' and before the '' nipsistiarios''. Again according to the ''Klētorologion'', the distinctive insignia of the rank were a ''kamision'' (an over-cape similar to the '' paenula'') edged with

purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

, and a ''paragaudion'' (tunic)..

References

Sources

* * {{ODB , last=Kazhdan , first=Alexander , authorlink=Alexander Kazhdan , title = Koubikoularios , page = 1154 Ancient Roman titles Byzantine court titles Byzantine palace offices Catholic ecclesiastical titles Byzantine titles and offices reserved for eunuchs

History

See also

References

Sources