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, Comentiolus[Martindale (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