Seal of Theophylaktos, basilikos kandidatos and komes tes kortes of Chaldia

The Count of the Tent ( el, κόμης της κόρτης, ''komēs tēs kortēs'') was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

military-administrative office attested from the 8th to the early 12th centuries.

History and functions

The title derives from ''korte'', "tent". The emperor often had a Count of the Tent in his own, personal service, the most famous of whom was

Michael the Amorian Michael II ( gr, Μιχαὴλ, , translit=Michaēl; 770–829), called the Amorian ( gr, ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου, ho ex Amoríou) and the Stammerer (, ''ho Travlós'' or , ''ho Psellós''), reigned as Byzantine Emperor from 25 December 820 to ...

under

Nikephoros I Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I ( gr, Νικηφόρος; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. Having served Empress Irene as '' genikos logothetēs'', he subsequently ousted her from power and took the throne himself. In r ...

(r. 802–811). According to the 10th-century Emperor

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe K ...

, during Imperial campaigns through the provinces (

themes Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

), the Imperial Count of the Tent and his subordinates, the ''kortinarioi'', were responsible for pitching the Imperial tent and assisting the Drungary of the Watch in keeping watch over the camp at night... The Count is also attested as an official attached to the staff of a ''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Helleni ...

'', the military governor of a theme, in seals and documents from the 8th to the early 12th centuries; on seals, the province where he served is often denoted. The office's functions are not clear, but based on his role in narrative sources the Count seems to have been mostly involved with police and judicial matters;

Nicolas Oikonomides Nikolaos or Nikos Oikonomides ( el, Νικόλαος Οικονομίδης, 14 February 1934 – 31 May 2000) was a Greek Byzantinist, and one of the leading experts in the field of Byzantine administration. Biography Oikonomides was born in ...

views him as "a sort of

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

".. They seem to have borne mid-level court ranks such as ''

spatharios The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: la, spatharius; el, σπαθάριος, literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely ...

'' and '' kandidatos''.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book, last=Oikonomides, first=Nicolas, author-link=Nicolas Oikonomides, title=Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles, location=Paris, publisher=Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, year=1972, language=French, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFdmAAAAMAAJ Byzantine military offices