The Count of the Tent (, ''komēs tēs kortēs'') was a
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 ...
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 under
Nikephoros I (r. 802–811). According to the 10th-century Emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, during Imperial campaigns through the provinces (
themes), 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'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...
'', 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;
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 supportin ...
".
[.] They seem to have borne mid-level
court ranks such as ''
spatharios'' 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