Chase, the son of Ioube (), originally Hasan ibn Ayyub, was a senior

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

official of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

origin.

Biography

Chase, a

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

form of the Arabic name "Hasan", is mentioned by the ''

De Administrando Imperio (; ) is a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. It is a domestic and foreign policy manual for the use of Constantine's son and successor, the Emperor Romanos II. It is a prominent example of Byz ...

'', a work compiled in the middle of the 10th century by

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

, and the chronicles of

Theophanes Continuatus ''Theophanes Continuatus'' () or ''Scriptores post Theophanem'' (, "those after Theophanes") is the Latin name commonly applied to a collection of historical writings preserved in the 11th-century Vat. gr. 167 manuscript.Kazhdan (1991), p. 2061 It ...

and

Georgius Monachus George Hamartolos or Hamartolus () was a monk at Constantinople under Michael III (842–867) and the author of a chronicle of some importance. Hamartolus is not his name but the epithet he gives to himself in the title of his work: "A compendio ...

. Along with his younger brother, who received the Christian name Niketas on his

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, he was reportedly a slave of the ''

patrikios The patricians (from ) 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 B ...

Damian Damian () may refer to: *Damian (given name) *Damian (surname) *Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China See also *Damiani, an Italian surname *Damiano (disambiguation) *Damien (disambiguation) *Damon (disambiguation) *Da ...

, the ''

parakoimomenos The ''parakoimōmenos'' (, literally "the one who sleeps beside

he emperor's chamber He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court position, usually reserved for eunuch (court official), eunuchs. The position' ...

'' of Emperor

Michael III Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...

(), implying that they had been captured as prisoners of war during a conflict with the Arabs around the middle of the 9th century or shortly after. It is unclear whether they came alone or with their father Ioube (Ἰούβη, Hellenized form of Ayyub); it is possible that they came to Byzantium as children, and that Niketas was even born there. Unlike his brother, who converted to Christianity, Chase remained a Muslim throughout his life. Constantine VII asserts that during the reign of his uncle

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(), Chase was one of his closest confidantes. Constantine VII further accuses him of having a negative influence on the emperor. According to the chroniclers, he held a fiscal position in the

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

of Hellas thereafter. He became quickly hated by the local inhabitants due to his incessant demands, until he was stoned to death before the altar of a church (most likely the converted

Parthenon The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of c ...

) in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. As he was a Muslim, he may have tried to seek sanctuary there, or otherwise his entering of the church may have outraged the congregation leading to his murder. His death took place probably in 915. The ''illoustrios''

John Ioubes John Ioubes () was a Byzantine official (qualified as ''illoustrios'') in the middle of the 10th century at Chalcedon. He is known from the hagiography of St. Luke the Stylite. According to it, his pregnant wife was in pain for 22 days but could no ...

later in the century was possibly a descendant or otherwise a relative.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase 9th-century births 915 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century Byzantine government officials Byzantine officials Byzantine Greece Prisoners of war held by the Byzantine Empire Byzantine people of Arab descent Medieval Athens Deaths by stoning Byzantine Muslims