Theophylact Dalassenos (; born before c. 990 – after 1039) 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 ...

aristocrat who occupied a series of senior military positions in the 11th century.

Life

Theophylact was the son of

Damian Dalassenos Damian Dalassenos (; ca. 940 – 19 July 998) was a Byzantine aristocrat and the first known member of the Dalassenos noble family. He is known for his service as the military governor ('' doux'') of Antioch in 996–998. He fought the Fatimids w ...

, the first attested member of the distinguished Dalassenos aristocratic clan. He first appears in 998, when he accompanied his father, then holding the post of ''doux'' of Antioch, in battle against the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

. In the resulting

Battle of Apamea A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

Damian was killed and Theophylact, along with his brother

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

, were taken prisoner. They were then sold on to the Fatimid general Jaysh al-Samsama for 6,000

gold dinar The gold dinar () is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word denarius, which was ...

s, spending the next ten years in captivity in the Fatimid capital of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. Following his release he continued his military career, but his life is obscure until 1021/22, by which time, according to

Yahya of Antioch Yahya of Antioch, full name Yaḥya ibn Saʿīd al-Anṭākī (), was a Melkite Christian physician and historian of the 11th century. He was most likely born in Fatimid Egypt. He became a physician, but the anti-Christian policies of Caliph Al ...

, he held the rank of ''

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 ...

'' and ''

droungarios A ''droungarios'', also spelled ''drungarios'' (, ) and sometimes anglicized as Drungary, was a military rank of the late Roman and Byzantine empires, signifying the commander of a formation known as '' droungos''. Late Roman and Byzantine army ...

'' (most likely the post of ''

droungarios tes viglas The of the Watch (), sometimes anglicized as Drungary of the Watch, was originally a senior Byzantine military post. Attested since the late 8th century, the commanded the or "Watch", one of the elite professional cavalry regiments () of the mi ...

''). In August 1022, Emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

(reigned 976–1025) appointed him ''

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 ...

'' (military governor) of the

Anatolic Theme The Anatolic Theme (, ''Anatolikon hema'), more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics (Greek: , ''thema Anatolikōn''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). From its establishment, it ...

and gave him money to raise troops, with the task of suppressing the rebellion of

Nikephoros Xiphias Nikephoros Xiphias (, ) was a Byzantine military commander during the reign of Emperor Basil II. He played a distinguished role in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, and was instrumental in the decisive Byzantine victory at the Battle of Klei ...

and Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos. In the end, the two rebels fell out and Xiphias had Phokas assassinated; as the rebellion collapsed, Dalassenos took Xiphias prisoner and brought him for trial to

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 ...

. From his surviving seals of office, it is known that he further held the rank of the posts of ''

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

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

(likely before 1021), and ''katepano'' of

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

(after 1027). His last post, likely in 1032–34, was that of ''doux'' of Antioch, with the ranks of ''

anthypatos ''Anthypatos'' () is the translation in Greek of the Latin ''proconsul''. In the Greek-speaking East, it was used to denote this office in Roman and early Byzantine times, surviving as an administrative office until the 9th century. Thereafter, an ...

patrikios The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

'' and ''

vestes ( was a Byzantine court title used in the 10th and 11th centuries. The term is etymologically connected to the , the imperial wardrobe, but despite earlier attempts to connect the and the related title of , the head of the class of the , with t ...

'', also attested by a seal. Emperor

Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael IV the Paphlagonian (; c. 1010 – 10 December 1041) was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 1034 to his death on 10 December 1041. The son of a peasant, Michael worked as a money changer until he was found a job at court by his brother ...

(r. 1034–41) however suspected the Dalassenoi of conspiring to usurp the throne; Theophylact's career therefore probably ended in 1034, and the entire family was banished in August 1039. Another seal records that he held the supreme court rank of ''

magistros The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

'' as well, but it is unclear whether this was already before 1034 or whether he was awarded it after Michael IV's death. Theophylact was most likely the father of Adrianos, the maternal grandfather of

Anna Dalassene Anna Dalassene (; ca. 1025/30 – 1 November 1100/02) was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise to power of the Komnenoi in the eleventh century. She exercised great influence over her son, the Emperor Alexi ...

, the mother 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 ...

, founder of the

Komnenian dynasty The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. Th ...

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalassenos, Theophylact 10th-century births 11th-century deaths 11th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine governors of Antioch Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Byzantine prisoners of war Theophylact Generals of Basil II Magistroi Patricii Year of birth unknown Byzantine governors of Vaspurakan Prisoners and detainees of the Fatimid Caliphate Governors of the Anatolic Theme Protospatharioi