(), Latinized as , was a mid-ranking

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 dignity used in the 7th–11th centuries.

History

The title was created as a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the titles and , both of which were types of palace guards in the 4th–6th centuries.. The earliest references to the title occur in the ''History'' of Sebeos and in a letter by

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II (; 669 – 11 February 731) was the Pope, bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death on 11 February 731.Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...

(). John B. Bury accepted a creation in the early 7th century, but the title is clearly attested only from the early 9th century on. In the 9th-century lists of precedence ('' Taktika''), the dignity ranks below that of and above that of among the dignities intended for 'bearded men' (i.e. non-

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). Its distinctive insigne () was a golden chain () worn around the chest. The dignity was not given to eunuchs, for whom the corresponding dignity was that of . Judging from

sigillographic Sigillography, also known by its Greek-derived name, sphragistics, is the scholarly discipline that studies the Sealing wax, wax, lead, clay, and other Seal (emblem), seals used to authenticate archive, archival documents. It investigates not o ...

evidence, the dignity was associated mostly with mid-level ranks, such as and lower judges. In the lists of offices known as the ''Taktika'', the dignity corresponds to specific positions in the lower tier of the senior civil and military hierarchy, such as those of (senior secretary), (commander of a frontier district), (deputy commander) of a , or (divisional commander) of a . The last attested mention of the title is in 1094, and it was dropped from use at the latest in the 12th century.

In Popular Culture

The title is rarely encountered in popular culture, but in Season 3, Episode 3 of the historical drama series Vikings: Valhalla, the characters representing the Byzantine general Georgios Maniakes and the Viking Harald Sigurdsson are depicted receiving it as reward for a victory in Sicily. Hardrada is played by Leo Suter, and Maniakes is played by Florian Munteanu.Vikings: Valhalla (2022–2024) Full Cast & Crew. IMDB, Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11311302/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm retrieved 12 July 2024.

References

Sources

* * {{ODB , last=Kazhdan , first=Alexander , authorlink=Alexander Kazhdan , title = Spatharokandidatos , page = 1936 Byzantine court titles Guards units of the Byzantine Empire Medieval bodyguards Byzantine titles and offices