The ''sebastophoros'' () was a high

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 ...

court position and rank reserved for

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

s in the 10th–12th centuries. Its functions are unclear.

History and functions

The office is first attested in the ''

Escorial Taktikon The ''Escorial Taktikon'' (other spellings: ''Escurial Taktikon'', ''Escorial Tacticon'', ''Escurial Tacticon''), also known as the ''Taktikon Oikonomides'' after Nicolas Oikonomides who first edited it, is a list of Byzantine Empire, Byzantine of ...

'' of circa 975.

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

suggested that it was introduced sometime between 963 and 975.... In the ''Escorial Taktikon'', it is ranked as one of the highest dignities, after the ''

proedros ''Proedros'' (, "president") was a senior Byzantine court and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is ''proedrissa'' (προέδρισσα). Court dignity The title was created in the 960s by Nikephor ...

'' and before the '' magistroi'', and was usually reserved for eunuchs. The first known holder was Romanos Lekapenos, the son of

Stephen Lekapenos Stephen Lekapenos or Lecapenus (; died 18 April 963) was the second son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his younger brother Constantine, he deposed Romanos I in December 944, but ...

and grandson of Emperor

Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos I Lakapenos or Lekapenos (; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinisation of names, Latinized as Romanus I Lacapenus or Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for and senior co-ruler of ...

(r. 920–944),. but Oikonomides suggested that the title may have been first created for

Basil Lekapenos Basil Lekapenos (; – ), also called the Parakoimomenos () or the Nothos (, "the Bastard"), was an illegitimate child of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. He served as the '' parakoimomenos'' and chief minister of the Byzantine Empire f ...

, the powerful ''

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' ...

'' and long-time first minister of the Byzantine Empire. The functions of the ''sebastophoros'' are unclear; the name may imply that he carried the emperor's banner, or that he was a personal messenger of the emperor, a role some of its holders are known to have fulfilled. The title was quickly devalued, already during the 11th century: on seals, it is combined with relatively modest offices in the Byzantine imperial hierarchy. It disappeared completely after the 12th century. In some texts, namely the ''

Patria of Constantinople The ''Patria'' of Constantinople (), also regularly referred to by the Latin name ''Scriptores originum Constantinopolitarum'' ("writers on the origins of Constantinople"), are a Byzantine collection of historical works on the history and monuments ...

'' and the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' lexicon, the ''sebastophoroi'' are identified as officials of the districts (''regeonai'', "regions") of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, who every year on October 5 performed dances before the Byzantine emperor. This statement, however, comes from the 6th-century antiquarian writer

John Lydus John the Lydian or John Lydus (; ) ( AD 490 – 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer. He is considered a key figure in antiquarian studies from the fourth to the sixth century A.D. Although he is a secondary author, his works are signific ...

, who alleges that this practice existed under Emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

(r. 14–37), i.e. in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Known holders

* Romanos Lekapenos, grandson of Emperor

(r. 920–944), he was castrated while young in 945, and was probably still alive in 975. * Stephen Pergamenos, eunuch official who notified Emperor

Constantine IX Monomachos Constantine IX Monomachos (; 980/ 1000 – 11 January 1055) reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita chose him as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring agai ...

(r. 1042–1055) of his accession in 1042, and was rewarded with the dignity of ''sebastophoros''. He suppressed the revolt of

George Maniakes George Maniakes (; ; died 1043) was a prominent general of the Byzantine Empire during the 11th century. He was the catepan of Italy in 1042. He is known as Gyrgir in Scandinavian sagas. He is popularly said to have been extremely tall and well ...

, but later conspired against the Emperor and was

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

d. *

Nikephoritzes Nikephoritzes () was an influential Byzantine eunuch official, who served as chief minister and virtual ruler of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078). His actual name was Nikephoros; he received the n ...

, the unpopular eunuch chief minister of Emperor

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...

(r. 1071–1078). He bore the title during his tenure as '' doux'' of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

in 1059–1060. * John Pepagomenos, household member (''

oikeios The term ''oikeios'' (, "belonging to the household") was used as an honorific designation and eventually as a formal title by the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–15th centuries. In philosophy, the adjective belongs to the same family of words as the ...

'') of Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

(r. 1081–1118), attested in the synod that condemned

John Italos John Italus or Italos (, ''Iōánnēs ho Italós''; ) was a neoplatonic Byzantine philosopher of the eleventh century. He was Calabrian in origin, his father being a soldier. He came to Constantinople, where he became a student of Michael Psellu ...

in 1082. A few other seals of ''sebastophoroi'' are known from the 10th–12th centuries, but their owners are not otherwise known..

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book, last=Oikonomides, first=Nicolas, authorlink=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 court titles Byzantine palace offices Byzantine titles and offices reserved for eunuchs