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Skleroi
The Skleros ( el, Σκληρός; plural: Σκληροί, ''Skleroi''), latinized Sclerus, feminine form Skleraina (Σκλήραινα), Latinized Scleraena, was a noble Byzantine family active mostly in the 9th–11th centuries as members of the military aristocracy, and as civil functionaries thereafter. Origin and early members The family descended from north-eastern Asia Minor, either from Lesser Armenia or the theme of Sebasteia. Due to their place of origin, they have been traditionally regarded as Armenians, although this is nowhere explicitly attested. It has also been suggested that the family was mixed Greek–Armenian. The Greek surname Skleros () indicates that the family's founding father may have been at least partly Greek, since Byzantines of purely Armenian origin generally had surnames that were recognizably Armenian with simply a Greek suffix. The Skleros have been linked more specifically with the area around Melitene, where a member of the family was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bardas Skleros
Bardas Skleros (Greek: Βάρδας Σκληρός) or Sclerus was a Byzantine general who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor Basil II during the years 976 to 979. Background Bardas belonged to the great family of the Skleroi, which owned enormous estates at the eastern outskirts of Asia Minor. His mother Gregoria descended from Basil I's brother Bardas. The greatest coup of his early career was a brilliant defense of Constantinople against the army of Svyatoslav I of Kiev in 970. During the Battle of Arcadiopolis, he reportedly managed to inflict as many as 20,000 casualties on the Rus, while the campaign claimed the lives of merely 25 Greek soldiers. After he had shown himself equal to dealing with the fiercest enemies of Byzantium, Bardas became a trusted advisor to John I Tzimiskes, who was his brother-in-law and a fellow Armenian. Upon John's death, Skleros aspired to replace him as an acting emperor. The eunuch Basil Lekapenos, who actually led the imper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madrid Skylitzes
The ''Madrid Skylitzes'' is a richly illustrated illuminated manuscript of the ''Synopsis of Histories'' ( el, Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν, ), by John Skylitzes, which covers the reigns of the Byzantine emperors from the death of Nicephorus I in 811 to the deposition of Michael VI in 1057. The manuscript was produced in Sicily in the 12th century, and is now at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid, with the shelfmark MS Graecus Vitr. 26–2. Other names for it are and . Apart from the very fragmentary 6th-century Alexandrian World Chronicle, it is the only surviving illustrated manuscript of a Greek chronicle, and includes 574 miniatures. It is unclear whether these illustrations are copies of earlier Byzantine images or were newly created specifically for this copy. Bibliography * Color facsimile edition by Militos (Μίλητος) Publishers, . * Vasiliki Tsamakda, The Illustrated Chronicle of Ioannes Skylitzes, Leiden 2002. * Bente Bjørnholt and J. Bur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Turkish Straits to the northwest, the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highlands to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the Balkan peninsula of Southeast Europe. The eastern border of Anatolia has been held to be a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea, bounded by the Armenian Highlands to the east and Mesopotamia to the southeast. By this definition Anatolia comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. Today, Anatolia is sometimes considered to be synonymous w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellas (theme)
The Theme of Hellas ( el, , ''Thema Hellados'') was a Byzantine military-civilian province (''thema'', theme) located in southern Greece. The theme encompassed parts of Central Greece, Thessaly and, until , the Peloponnese peninsula. It was established in the late 7th century, and survived until the late 11th/12th century, when it was broken up into smaller districts. History 7th–8th centuries The ancient term "Hellas" was already in use in the 6th century to designate southern Greece in an administrative context, being employed in the '' Synekdemos'' as an alternative name for the Roman province of Achaea. During the late 6th and early 7th centuries, the collapse of the Byzantine Empire's Danube frontier allowed large-scale Slavic invasions and settlements to occur all over the Balkan peninsula. From 578, Slavic raids reached Thessaly and southern Greece. Aided by the Byzantine Empire's preoccupation with the long and bloody wars with Sassanid Persia in the east, and wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrikios
The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 BC). By the time of the late Republic and Empire, membership in the patriciate was of only nominal significance. The social structure of Ancient Rome revolved around the distinction between the patricians and the plebeians. The status of patricians gave them more political power than the plebeians. The relationship between the patricians and the plebeians eventually caused the Conflict of the Orders. This time period resulted in changing the social structure of Ancient Rome. After the Western Empire fell, the term "patrician" continued as a high honorary title in the Eastern Empire. In the Holy Roman Empire and in many medieval Italian republics, medieval patrician classes were once again f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthypatos
''Anthypatos'' ( gr, ἀνθύπατος) is the translation in Greek of the Latin ''proconsul''. In the Greek-speaking East, it was used to denote this office in Roman and early Byzantine times, surviving as an administrative office until the 9th century. Thereafter, and until the 11th century, it became a senior Byzantine court dignity. History and functions Gubernatorial title The title of ''anthypatos'' was the traditional Greek translation for the Latin title of ''proconsul''. Under the Principate, the title of ''anthypatos''/''proconsul'' had been borne by all governors of a senatorial province, irrespective of whether they had previously been consuls, but after the reforms of Diocletian (), there were only two: the governors of Asia and Africa. The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' of , on the other hand, mentions three, with the proconsuls of Africa (''Pars Occ''. XVIII) and Asia (''Pars Or.'' XX) being joined by the proconsul of Achaea or Hellas (''Pars Or.'' XXI). To them was adde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magistros
The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) 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 ''magistros'' (μάγιστρος), until it disappeared in the 12th century. History and functions Late Roman Empire Although some scholars have supported its creation under Emperor Diocletian (), the office can first be definitely traced to the year 320, during the reign of Roman emperor Constantine the Great (), but was probably created sometime soon after 312–13, probably as part of an effort to limit the power of the praetorian prefect (''praefectus praetorio'') the Roman emperor's chief administrative official. The ''magister'' was first given command of the palace guard, the '' Scholae Palatinae''. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil I The Macedonian
Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court. He entered into the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867), and was given a fortune by the wealthy Danielis. He gained the favour of Michael III, whose mistress he married on the emperor's orders, and was proclaimed co-emperor in 866. He ordered the assassination of Michael the next year. Despite his humble origins, he showed great ability in running the affairs of state. He was the founder of the Macedonian dynasty. He was succeeded upon his death by his son (perhaps actually Michael III's son) Leo VI. From peasant to emperor Basil was born to peasant parents in late 811 (or sometime in the 830s in the estimation of some scholars) at Chariopolis in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amorian Dynasty
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Amorian or Phrygian dynasty from 820 to 867. The Amorian dynasty continued the policy of restored iconoclasm (the "Second Iconoclasm") started by the previous non-dynastic emperor Leo V in 813, until its abolition by Empress Theodora with the help of Patriarch Methodios in 842. The continued iconoclasm further worsened relations between the East and the West, which were already bad following the papal coronations of a rival line of " Roman Emperors" beginning with Charlemagne in 800. Relations worsened even further during the so-called Photian Schism, when Pope Nicholas I challenged Photios' elevation to the patriarchate. However, the era also saw a revival in intellectual activity which was marked by the end of iconoclasm under Michael III, which contributed to the upcoming Macedonian Renaissance. During the Second Iconoclasm, the Empire began to see systems resembling feudalism being put in place, with large and local landholders becoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malatya
Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of years. In Hittite, ''melid'' or ''milit'' means "honey", offering a possible etymology for the name, which was mentioned in the contemporary sources of the time under several variations (e.g., Hittite: ''Malidiya'' and possibly also ''Midduwa''; Akkadian: Meliddu;Hawkins, John D. ''Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. Vol. 1: Inscriptions of the Iron Age.'' Walter de Gruyter, 2000. Urar̩tian: Meliṭeia). Strabo says that the city was known "to the ancients"Strabo ''Geographica, Translated from the Greek text by W. Falconer (London, 1903); Book XII, Chapter I'' as Melitene (Ancient Greek ''Μελιτηνή''), a name adopted by the Romans following Roman expansion into the east. Acco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umar Al-Aqta
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Marwān,. ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaydallāh ibn Marwān, or simply Umar al-Aqta ( ar, عمر الأقطع) surnamed al-Aqtaʾ, "the one-handed" (μονοχεράρης, ''monocherares'', in Greek), and found as Amer or Ambros ( el, ) in Byzantine sources, was the semi-independent Arab emir of Malatya (Melitene) from the 830s until his death in the Battle of Lalakaon on 3 September 863. During this time, he was one of the greatest threats to the Byzantine Empire on its eastern frontier,. and became a prominent figure in later Arabic and Turkish epic literature. Biography ʿUmar belonged to the Banu Sulaym tribe, which was established in the western Jazira at the time of the Muslim conquests and played an important role in the affairs of Malatya and the Jaziran frontier zone ('' thughur'') with the Byzantine Empire as well as the Caucasian frontier with the Khazars. His father, ʿAbdallah or ʿUbaydallah, is little known, except that he was also emir of Malatya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the western Indian Ocean islands (including the Comoros). An Arab diaspora is also present around the world in significant numbers, most notably in the Americas, Western Europe, Turkey, Indonesia, and Iran. In modern usage, the term "Arab" tends to refer to those who both carry that ethnic identity and speak Arabic as their native language. This contrasts with the narrower traditional definition, which refers to the descendants of the tribes of Arabia. The religion of Islam was developed in Arabia, and Classical Arabic serves as the language of Islamic literature. 93 percent of Arabs are Muslims (the remainder consisted mostly of Arab Christians), while Arab Muslims are only 20 percent of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
