Eustathios () was the

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 ...

governor (''

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 ...

'') of the

Cibyrrhaeot Theme The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots (), was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries. As the Byzantine Empire's first and most important naval them ...

in ca. 909–912. Eustathios is only 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 ...

. According to it, in approximately 909/910, he was ''

protospatharios ''Prōtospatharios'' () was one of the highest Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court dignities of the middle Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to forei ...

'', ''

asekretis The term ''asekretis'' (, invariable form) designated a senior class of secretaries in the Byzantine imperial court in the 6th–12th centuries. The term is derived from the Latin ''a secretis'', and in its full form was "''asekretis'' of the co ...

'', and ''

ek prosopou EK, Ek or ek may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Eastern Kentucky Railway (with reporting mark EK), now-defunct railway * Eastman Kodak (formerly with NYSE ticker symbol EK), US-based photography company, formerly * Ek Commando Knife C ...

'' of the

. Use of the title ''ek prosopou'' ("representative") is ambiguous in the sources, and modern scholars suggest that he was actually the military governor (''

'') of the Cibyrrhaeots, rather than the governor's deputy. He came into conflict with the ''

katepano The ''katepánō'' (, ) was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", mean ...

'' of the

Mardaites The Mardaites () or al-Jarajima (; /ALA-LC: ''al-Jarājimah'') were early Christians following Chalcedonian Christianity in the Nur Mountains. Little is known about their ethnicity, but it has been speculated that they might have been Persians ( ...

, a certain Staurakios Platys. Although both were proteges of the powerful ''

logothetes tou dromou The (), in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/ or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Public Post (, , or simply , ), and one of the most senior fiscal ministers (logothetes) of the Byzantine Empire. H ...

'', Himerios, Eustathios clashed with Staurakios over their jurisdiction, as the latter held his appointment directly from the emperor and was wont to disregard the instructions of the theoretically superior ''strategos''. After remonstrances to Emperor

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...

, Staurakios was recalled, and his authority transferred to Eustathios. As Eustathios remained in office until late 912, when he was replaced by Emperor

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 ...

with the ''protospatharios'' Niketas, he is most likely to be identified with the anonymous ''strategos'' of the Cibyrrhaeots who was responsible for the equipment of a fleet and crews in preparation for Himerios' great naval expedition in 911, directed against the

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( or , ; ) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the ...

or the coasts of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eustathios 10th-century Byzantine government officials 10th-century governors Byzantine generals Governors of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Protospatharioi