Domentzia
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Domentzia () was a name shared by the mother of the
Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
Phocas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the East Roman army, Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the cour ...
(r. 602–610), and a daughter of the same emperor, likely named after her paternal grandmother.Martindale (1992), p. 409


Name

The mother is only named by John of Antioch, who renders her name in
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
as "Dysmenziane" (Δυσμενζιανή). All other occurrences of the name refer to the daughter. The more familiar form "Domentzia" (Δομεντζία) is given by Theophanes the Confessor.
Anastasius Bibliothecarius Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 – c. 878) was the chief archivist and librarian () of the Holy See and also briefly a claimant to the papacy. Early life He was a nephew of Bishop Arsenius of Orte, who executed important commissions a ...
, who translated the work of Theophanes to
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, renders the name "Domnentzia". The later historian Joannes Zonaras gives the name as "Domnentia" (Δομνεντία), while Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos gives her name as "Dysmenziane", indicating that both women used the same name.


Mother of Phocas

Phocas and his family were likely of
Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman describes the Romanization (cultural), Romanized culture of Thracians under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace became a Roman client kingdom c. 20 BC, while the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coa ...
origin.Bury (2009), p. 197 The husband of the elder Domentzia is unknown. She had three known sons: Phocas, ComentiolusMartindale (1992), p. 326 and Domentziolus. The latter seems to have been ''
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 ...
'' by 610.Bury (2009), p. 201 A grandson, also named Domentziolus, was granted the title of '' curopalates'' on the ascension of Phocas to the throne in 602.Bury (2009), p. 199


Daughter of Phocas

The younger Domentzia was a daughter of Phocas and
Leontia Leontia (, fl. 610) was an empress of the Eastern Roman Empire as the wife of Phocas. Empress Maurice reigned in the Byzantine Empire from 582 to 602. When he decreed that the Byzantine army was to spend the winter of 602/603 on the northern ...
. In 607, she married the general Priscus, who served as '' comes excubitorum'', commander of the Excubitors bodyguard. As she was the only known child of the Emperor, the marriage effectively made Priscus an
heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...
to the throne. Her husband fell into disfavour however when the citizenry of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
began erecting statues in their honour.Martindale (1992), p. 1056 Her marriage took place in the palace of Marina, named after its original owner, a daughter of Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia. A
chariot racing Chariot racing (, ''harmatodromía''; ) was one of the most popular Ancient Greece, ancient Greek, Roman Empire, Roman, and Byzantine Empire, Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...
event was arranged to be held in the
Hippodrome of Constantinople The Hippodrome of Constantinople (; ; ) was a Roman circus, circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square (). The word ...
, in honor of the newlyweds. The leaders of the Blues (''Vénetoi'') and the Greens (''Prásinoi'') racing factions (''demoi'') decided to honor the occasion by erecting statues of the imperial family. Thus they placed images of Phocas, Leontia, Domentzia, and Priscus in the Hippodrome. The images of the reigning imperial couple belonged there by tradition, but the latter two implied that Priscus was the heir or co-emperor of Phocas. Phocas was enraged at the implication and ordered the depictions of his daughter and son-in-law to be destroyed.Bury (2009), p. 202 Phocas further treated the matter as an attempted
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
, demanding further investigation of the matter, arresting the demarchs responsible with accusations of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
. While their lives may have been spared due to popular demand, Phocas likely viewed Priscus himself as the culprit, and seems to have started viewing his son-in-law as a potential rival. By alienating Priscus however, Phocas undermined his own hold on the throne. By 608, John of Antioch reports Priscus initiating contact with Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, and instigating the revolt that would eventually remove Phocas from power.Bury (2009), pp. 202–203


References


Sources

* * * {{cite book, first=Christian, last=Settipani, title=Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs, date=2006, language=fr 6th-century Byzantine people 7th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Byzantine women 7th-century Byzantine women Daughters of Byzantine emperors Mothers of Byzantine emperors Family of Phocas