The () 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 ...

office, whose holder was responsible for receiving and answering petitions to 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 ...

and other Byzantine officials. The office is usually considered by modern scholars, such as J. B. Bury, as the direct continuation of the late Roman , but this identification is not certain. The title is first attested in a 7th-century seal. In the lists of precedence like the '' Kletorologion'' of 899, he was counted among the judicial officials (). In the '' Taktikon Uspensky'' of , its holders had the lowly court rank of , and did not rise above until the mid-11th century. From the latter half of the 11th century however and during the 12th, the office rose much in importance, with its holders receiving higher titles and being drawn from among the Empire's most senior noble families. The last named holder, George Chatzikes, is attested in 1321, but the office is still mentioned as active decades later by Pseudo-Kodinos. It is unknown if he had a dedicated staff, or what its composition may have been; it is absent in the ''Kletorologion'', but a seal of a probably subordinate "notary of the petitions" () is known. Seals also attest to the existence of provincial officials titled , among others in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

, as well as for the

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

References

Sources

* * * * {{Byzantine Empire topics Byzantine judicial offices