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Sebastos
( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title ''sebastos'' and variants derived from it, like , , , and . History The term appears in the Hellenistic East as an honorific for the Roman emperors from the 1st century onwards, being a translation of the Latin . For example, the Temple of the Sebastoi in Ephesus is dedicated to the Flavian dynasty. This association also was carried over to the naming of cities in honor of the Roman emperors, such as Sebaste, Sebasteia and Sebastopolis. The epithet was revived in the mid-11th century—in the feminine form —by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos () for his mistress Maria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komnenos
Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνηνοί, ''Megalokomnenoi'') founded and ruled the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461). Through intermarriages with other noble families, notably the Doukai, Angeloi, and Palaiologoi, the Komnenos name appears among most of the major noble houses of the late Byzantine world. Origins The 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Psellos reported that the Komnenos family originated from the village of Komne in Thrace—usually identified with the "Fields of Komnene" () mentioned in the 14th century by John Kantakouzenos—a view commonly accepted by modern scholarship. The first known member of the family, Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, acquired extensive estates at Kastamon in Paphlagonia, which became the stronghold of the family in the 11th centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panhypersebastos
The title of ( gr, πανυπερσέβαστος, , venerable above all) was a Byzantine court title created by Alexios I Komnenos () using the imperial root (the Greek translation of ). It was always conferred to members of aristocratic families closely allied to the imperial family. Michael Taronites, Alexios I's brother-in-law, was first awarded this title and regarded as almost equal to a . Under the Komnenian emperors, was one of the titles accorded to the emperor's sons-in-law (): the husband of the eldest daughter received the title of , the husband of the second daughter became , and those of the third and fourth received the titles of and respectively. The title remained very important through to the Palaiologan era, coming right after the , but under Andronikos III Palaiologos (), when the future emperor John VI Kantakouzenos was named , the latter office was raised above the . According to Pseudo-Kodinos George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδ� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protosebastos
The title of ''protosebastos'' ( el, πρωτοσέβαστος, ''prōtosébastos'', "first ''sebastos''") was a high Byzantine court title created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. History Although the title first appears in a document of 1049, where Domenico I Contarini, the Doge of Venice, uses it alongside the title of '' patrikios'' to refer to himself, it is commonly accepted that it was created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (). It was first conferred to his brother Adrianos, while another early holder, his brother-in-law Michael Taronites, was soon after raised to the even higher title of '' panhypersebastos''. It was also conferred on Sergius VI of Naples and his son, John VI, at about the same time. Later, during the 12th century, it was given to close relatives of the Byzantine emperor, such as the eldest son of a '' sebastokratōr''. In the Palaiologan period it was conferred to leading aristocratic families, such as the Tarchaneiotai, the Raoul, etc. The ''Book on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Komnenos (brother Of Alexios I)
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, ''Isaakios Komnēnos''; – 1102/1104) was a notable Byzantine aristocrat and military commander in the 1070s. Isaac played a major role in the rise to the throne of his younger brother, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (), and remained a leading figure in his brother's administration until his death. Isaac was born to the highest aristocracy of mid-11th century Byzantium, a position reinforced through marriage ties to the imperial Doukas dynasty. Well educated and brave, in 1073–1078 Isaac occupied two of the highest military positions in the Byzantine Empire, as Domestic of the Schools and '' doux'' of Antioch. His military record against the Seljuk Turks was not particularly distinguished, but on his return to Constantinople in 1078 he gained the favour of Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and of Empress Maria of Alania. Isaac and Alexios used imperial favour to further their own designs on the thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Aristocracy And Bureaucracy
Through the 5th century Hellenistic political systems, philosophies and theocratic Christian-Eastern concepts had gained power in the eastern Greek-speaking Mediterranean due to the intervention of Important religious figures there such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Origen of Alexandria who had been key to the constant Christianized world of late antiquity. By the 6th century they had already influenced the definitive power of the monarch as the representative of God on earth and his kingdom as an imitation of God's holy realm. The Byzantine empire was a monarchic theocracy, adopting, following and applying the Hellenistic political systems and philosophies. The monarch was the incarnation of the law ''nomos empsychos'', and his power was immeasurable and divine in origin. He was the ultimate benefactor, carer and saviour of his people, '' Evergétis'', '' Philanthrōpía'' and '' Sōtēr''. They in turn were his ''paroikoi'' (subjects). He was the sole administrator and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastohypertatos
( gr, σεβαστοϋπέρτατος, , the supreme venerable one) was a Byzantine honorific title. The title formed the basis for a further compound title, ( gr, πρωτοσεβαστοϋπέρτατος, , the first supreme venerable one). These titles were part of the reordering of the Byzantine titulature under the Komnenian emperors, where titles formed around the formerly imperial epithet (the Greek translation of ) were created to denote kinship with the emperor. As such, and were among the titles accorded to the emperor's sons-in-law (). According to Lucien Stiernon was awarded to husbands of the third daughter of a Byzantine emperors, and to the husband of the fourth; while the husband of the second one bore the title of , and of the first that of . and both appear for the first time in the reign of John II Komnenos (): Manuel Anemas, who married John's third daughter Theodora, assumed the latter, while Theodore Vatatzes Theodore Vatatzes or Batatzes ( gr, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks was the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Biography Alexios was the son of John Komnenos and Anna Dalassene,Kazhdan 1991, p. 63 and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doukas
The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title '' dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded the Despotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling over Thessaly. The continuity of descent amongst the various branches of the original, middle Byzantine family is not clear, and historians generally recognize several distinct groups of Doukai based on their occurrence in the contemporary sources. Polemis, who compiled the only overview work on the bearers of the Doukas name, in view of this lack of genealogical continuity "it would be a mistake to view the groups of people designated by the ''cognomen'' of Doukas as forming o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustus (honorific)
''Augustus'' (plural ''Augusti''; , ; "majestic", "great" or "venerable") was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (often referred to simply as Augustus), Rome's first Emperor. On his death, it became an official title of his successor, and was so used by Roman emperors thereafter. The feminine form '' Augusta'' was used for Roman empresses and other female members of the Imperial family. The masculine and feminine forms originated in the time of the Roman Republic, in connection with things considered divine or sacred in traditional Roman religion. Their use as titles for major and minor Roman deities of the Empire associated the Imperial system and Imperial family with traditional Roman virtues and the divine will, and may be considered a feature of the Roman Imperial cult. In Rome's Greek-speaking provinces, "Augustus" was translated as '' Sebastos'' (Σεβαστός, "venerable"), or Hellenised as ''Augoustos'' (); these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine Keroularios
Constantine Keroularios ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Κηρουλάριος) was a high-ranking Byzantine official in the third quarter of the 11th century. Life Constantine was a nephew of the powerful Michael Keroularios, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1043–1059. The name of his father is unknown. A friend and correspondent of Michael Psellos, Constantine and his brother Nikephoros were among the supporters of Isaac I Komnenos when he rose in revolt to seize the throne in 1057, and went on to occupy senior offices in the Byzantine hierarchy. In his correspondence with Psellos, Constantine is variously referred to by the high court ranks of ''sebastos'', '' proedros'', ''protoproedros'', and '' magistros'', the senior fiscal offices of ''sakellarios'' and ''genikos logothetes'', and the judicial offices of '' epi ton kriseon'' and ''droungarios tes viglas''. It was probably under Constantine's tenure that the latter office acquired the epithet "''megas''" ("grand"), and wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Of The Sebastoi
The Temple of the Sebastoi in Ephesus, formerly called the Temple of Domitian, is a Roman temple dedicated to the Imperial cult of the Flavian dynasty. It was dedicated in CE 89/90 under the reign of Domitian. Its contemporary name is known from an adjacent inscription.Steven J. Friesen, ''Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John'', 2001, p. 43-55 "''Sebastoi''" (''lit.'' 'venerable ones') refers to the imperial dynasty; it is the plural of "''sebastos''", the Greek rendering of the Roman imperial title ''Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...''. The city of Ephesus was the first to be named '' neokoros'' (lit. 'temple-warden') thanks to this temple. See also * List of Ancient Roman temples Notes Bibliography * Steven J. Friesen, ''Twice Neokoros: Ephesus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire had seen a resurgence of its military and economic power and had enjoyed a cultural revival. Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with Pope Adrian IV and the resurgent West. He invaded the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, although unsuccessfully, being the last Eastern Roman emperor to attempt reconquests in the western Mediterranean. The passage of the potentially dangerous Second Crusade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
