B

BABEK. See KHURRAMITES; THEOPHOBOS.

BAGHDAD. See ABBASID CALIPHATE; CALIPH.

BAGRATIDS. Armenian Dynasty (884–1045) founded by Asot I the Great. Under Asot II Erkat the Iron, who reigned from 914 to 928, taking the title “King of Kings,” Armenia consolidated its independence from both Byzantium and the Arabs. This was despite an expedition by Byzantine general John Kourkouas in 922 that bolstered the rival Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan. Asot III the Merciful, who reigned from 953 to 977, transferred his capital to Ani, which became a center of Armenian civilization.

The conquest of Ani in 1045 by Byzantine troops effectively ended the Bagratids. Armenia fell under the control of the Seljuks after the Battle of Mantzikert in 1071. See also ABCHASIA.

BALADHURI, AL-. Arab historian (died ca. 892) of the early Arab conquests. Along with the history of al-Tabari, Baladhuri is a chief source for the early Arab conquests, although his work is dependent on earlier Arab accounts. See also HISTORY.

BALDACCHINO. See CIBORIUM.

BALDRIC OF DOL. See GESTA FRANCORUM ET ALIORUM HIEROSOLIMITANORUM.

BALDWIN II. Latin emperor of Constantinople. He was born in Constantinople in 1217, and ruled in his own right from 1240 to 1261. The throne passed to him in 1228, when his brother, Latin emperor Robert de Courtenay, died. However, since Baldwin was then only 10, a regent was chosen in the person of John of Brienne, who held the empty title “King of Jerusalem.” In 1237, when John died, Baldwin traveled to the West to beg for men and money to save his empire. He was formally crowned Latin emperor when he returned to Constantinople in 1240.

The remainder of his long reign accompanied the steady decline of the Latin Empire. The successes of the rival Empire of Nicaea was confirmed in March 1261 when Michael VIII Palaeologos signed the Treaty of Nymphaion, which promised Genoese naval support in recapturing Constantinople. The city subsequently fell to a surprise land assault on 25 July 1261. After this, Baldwin fled to Thebes, then Athens, from where he sailed to Monemvasia, and then into exile in the West. See also BALDWIN OF FLANDERS.

BALDWIN OF FLANDERS. Baldwin I, first emperor of the Latin Empire, with its capital at Constantinople and one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade. He was crowned in 1204, but in the next year was captured by the Bulgarian leader Kaoljan in a battle near Adrianople. He apparently died in 1205 while imprisoned in Bulgaria. See also CHIOS; CRUSADES; CUMANS; PARTITIO ROMANIAE.

BALKAN PENINSULA. Southeasternmost peninsula in Europe, often referred to as the Balkans. On three sides it is bordered by seas: the Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Sea of Marmara, and Black Sea. To the north, the Danube and Sava rivers are its traditional northern limits.

Maintaining control over the northern Balkans was essential for the protection of Greece and Constantinople. Nevertheless, geography (mountain systems comprise two-thirds of the area), and the peninsula’s highway systems conspired to make this difficult. The Danube was a boundary that could be penetrated. Once across the Danube, most mountain ranges run north to south, making invasion from the north relatively easy.

Most highway systems ran north to south as well, including the military highway from the Danube frontier that ran from Belgrade to Nish, where it split into two branches: one going to Skopje and Thessalonike, the other in a more southeasterly direction to Serdica, then to Philippopolis, Adrianople, and Constantinople. The famous east-west highway called the Via Egnatia ran from Dyrrachion via Thessalonike to Constantinople. Thus, once the Danube was penetrated both geography and highway system favored the invader.

The history of the peninsula in Byzantine times can be viewed largely as a history of its invasions, including those by Visigoths, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Serbs, Rus, Pechenegs, Uzes, Crusaders, and Ottomans. See also RUMELI; SKANDERBEG; VELBUZD.

BALSAMON, THEODORE. See CANON LAW.

BANDON. The smallest military unit within a theme, which by the 10th century consisted of 50–100 cavalry, or of 200–400 infantrymen, commanded by a count. Theophilos created banda from the Persian troops led by Theophobos that fled to Byzantium. Five to seven banda comprised a droungos (commanded by a droungarios). Several droungi comprised a turm, which was the largest military unit within a theme. See also ARMY.

BANKING. No banks as we know today, as places of safe deposit, of credit and exchange, existed in Byzantium. Nothing along the lines of Italian Renaissance banks (e.g., the Medici bank) ever developed. Safe deposits for coins and precious valuables were put in linen sacks, in wood or iron coffers, buried in pottery vases, and stored in monasteries.

Credit and money lending was carried out by moneychangers, called trapezitai because each of them had his table (trapeza in Greek), where he spread his coins, along with small, calibrated weights and balance scales. The 10th-century Book of the Eparch mentions a separate guild of silver and gold dealers who also exchanged money.

BAPHEUS, BATTLE OF. See ANDRONIKOS II PALAIOLOGOS; NIKOMEDeIA; OSMAN.

BARBARIANS. The concept of “barbarians” was an invention of Greco-Roman antiquity that Byzantium inherited. It was a lens through which non-Romans were generally perceived. Only the Persians were not considered barbarians; the Byzantines considered them their civilized equals. Barbarians were seen as having their own customs and traditions, and their own regions of settlement outside of Byzantium. Information about barbarians was often outdated, or plain wrong, which makes it sometimes difficult to understand how barbarians organized themselves, such as tribes, confederations, and peoples under a charismatic leader like Attila.

Barbarians included many Germanic peoples from across the northern frontier, also Slavs, and peoples from the Eurasian steppe, such as Huns and Avars. What is common to most barbarian peoples is that they attacked the Byzantine Empire at various times and were sometimes allowed to settle on Byzantine territory. Many were used as mercenaries in Byzantine armies. The Visigoths were particularly destructive. First they were settled across the Danube into Byzantine territory in 376. They subsequently revolted and destroyed a Roman army at Adrianople. In 395 they revolted again under the leadership of Alaric and wreaked great damage on Greece and Italy that culminated in the sack of Rome in 410. The Huns under Attila threatened Italy in the fifth century, a century that saw much of the West taken over by barbarian kingdoms in North Africa (by Vandals), Italy (by Ostrogoths), and Spain (by Visigoths). The destructive impact of the “barbarian hordes” on the West is a theme in much modern historical literature, beginning with Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

On the other hand, many barbarians who served in Byzantium became semi-Romanized. Stilicho, who commanded the armies of the West from 395–408, had a Vandal father and a Roman mother. Given the barbarian stereotypes in Byzantine literature it is difficult to define the types of hybrid identities that existed in Byzantium. Yet of the great number of so-called barbarian peoples who settled in the empire, who served in Byzantine armies, hybrid identities must have been the norm. Byzantine culture and society was itself a hybrid of Christian and Greco-Roman traditions. Thus, “barbarians,” like “Byzantine,” needs much explanation. See also AMALASUNTHA; ASPAR; BULGARS; COTRIGURS; ETHNIC DIVERSITY; GAINAS; GAISERIC; MAGISTER MILITUM; ODOACER; PECHENEGS; RICIMER; RUS; SLAVS; THEODORIC THE GREAT; TURKS; UZES; VIKINGS.

BARBARO, NICOLO. Author of an eyewitness account of the siege and fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453. Barbaro was a Venetian ship-doctor who arrived shortly before the siege and was trapped inside the city. His account, notable for its sound chronology, is marred only by its bias against the Genoese. See also LEONARD OF CHIOS.

BARBERINI IVORY. See IVORY.

BARDANES, GEORGE. See APOKAUKOS, JOHN.

BARDANES TOURKOS. Military commander of five themes in Asia Minor who rebelled against Nikephoros I in 803. The rebellion faltered within a month and Bardanes ended it by retiring to a monastery. Two young officers, Leo V the Armenian and Michael II the Amorion, both future emperors, were rewarded by Nikephoros I for deserting the rebellion.

BARDAS. Uncle and chief advisor of Michael III; brother of Theodora and Petronas, who helped put Michael III on the throne by assassinating the regent Theoktistos. This capable administrator, who held many titles (including caesar and patrikios), organized the school at the Magnaura, creating a faculty for it headed by Leo the Mathematician. Bardas also played an active role in organizing the mission of Cyril and Methodios to Moravia, as well as in the baptism of Khan Boris I of Bulgaria. Nevertheless, in 865 Michael III allowed the future emperor Basil I to assassinate Bardas.

BAR-HEBRAEUS, GREGORIUS. Syrian historian (1226–1286); last classical author in Syriac literature. His original name was Gregory Abu’l Faraj. He was bishop of the Jacobite church and author of a variety of works, including commentaries in Syriac and in Arabic on Aristotle. His world Chronicle in Syriac, based chiefly on the Chronicle of Michael I the Syrian, goes from Adam to the invasions of the Mongols. See also HISTORY.

BARI. Fortified city in Apulia on the Adriatic Sea, and the center of Byzantine operations in southern Italy from the time of its reconquest by Basil I in 876 to 1071 when the Normans conquered Bari. The date 1071 is among the most dreadful in the history of Byzantium, for it was not only the year the Byzantines were ejected from Italy but also the year of the Battle of Mantzikert, which marked the beginning of Seljuk expansion in Asia Minor. See also ARGYROS; OTTO I THE GREAT.

BARLAAM AND IOASAPH. Popular Byzantine romance often attributed to John of Damascus, but probably authored by a certain John of Mar Saba. The plot of the story is a version of the life of Buddha, but how it got to Byzantium is unclear. See also LITERATURE.

BARLAAM OF CALABRIA. Monk, theologian, and chief opponent of Hesychasm. Barlaam was a Greek from Calabria who taught in Constantinople and who had friends in high places. These included John VI Kantakouzenos and Andronikos III, who sent him on a mission to the Avignon papacy in 1339, where he explained the Byzantine position on the union of the churches. His sarcastic attacks on the Hesychast monks of Mount Athos as being superstitious drew a response from Gregory of Sinai, who engaged in a protracted theological argument with him.

In 1341 Barlaam was condemned at a council in Hagia Sophia, after which he returned to Italy. There, he taught Leontius Pilatus, who played an important role in the early phase of the Italian Renaissance. (Pilatus translated the Odyssey of Homer into Latin.) At Avignon, Barlaam met the great Italian humanist Petrarch, and he tried, rather unsuccessfully, to teach him Greek. Boccaccio, in his Genealogy of the Gods, refers to Barlaam as a man small in stature but enormous in breadth of knowledge. See also MESSALIANISM; THEOLOGY.

BASIL I. Emperor (867–886) and founder of the Macedonian Dynasty, who came to the throne by murdering his benefactor Michael III. He deposed the patriarch Photios and reinstated Ignatios, which helped to restore relations with the papacy.

His reign was preoccupied with war on several fronts against the Arabs. Basil’s goal of reconquering southern Italy from the Arabs was accomplished with the aid of Frankish emperor Louis II. Arab attacks along the coasts of Dalmatia and Greece were rebuffed, and Cyprus was occupied for seven years. The one serious setback was in Sicily, where Syracuse fell to the Arabs.

In the East, despite some defeats, a period of systematic advances against the Arabs began with victories in the region of the Euphrates River and against the Paulicians. Basil’s internal policy included a plan to completely revise Justinianic law, but this was never realized beyond the introductory Prochiron and Epanagoge. His innovative church, called Nea Ekklesia (New Church), has survived only in literary descriptions. See also BARDAS; PARAKOIMOMENOS; SAMOSATA; TARANTO.

BASIL II. Called “Bulgar-Slayer” (Bulgaroktonos), he reigned from 976 to 1025 as the greatest of the Macedonian emperors. His greatness was not apparent at the beginning of his long reign. His first military expedition (in 986) was against Samuel of Bulgaria, and ended in total defeat at a narrow pass called Trajan’s Gate. This encouraged two rebellions, those of Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas. Only with the help of 6,000 Varangians sent by Vladimir I of Kiev were the revolts suppressed. In return, Basil gave his sister Anna to Vladimir in marriage, requiring that he convert and be baptized, which he did.

Basil II tried to curb the expansion of the landed estates of great landowners (including monasteries), the dynatoi, in an effort to preserve peasant land, especially military holdings. Among his decrees (the first in 996) was forcing the great magnates to pay the unpaid taxes (allelengyon) of their poorer neighbors. Basil further reduced the power of the provincial armies, the themes, which the military magnates controlled, by commuting army service into a money payment. The revenues he used to create a standing army, the elite forces of which were his Varangian Guard. With such troops, Basil II set out to subjugate the Bulgarians while at the same time defending Antioch and Aleppo in Syria. Total victory against the Bulgarians was achieved only in 1014, after a great victory in which Basil II captured 14,000 Bulgarian soldiers. Basil II blinded them and sent them back to Tsar Samuel, who was struck senseless and died two days later (6 October 1014). Bulgaria was quickly incorporated into Byzantium.

Toward the end of his reign he intervened in Armenia, annexing Vaspurakan and part of Iberia. At his death in 1025, there were no serious external threats on the horizon. Indeed, Byzantium seemed invincible. But Basil II was a hard act for future 11th-century emperors to follow, one that demanded harsh fiscal and foreign policies that few emperors could emulate. See also BOIOANNES, BASIL; DOBRUDJA; EPIBOLE; LEO OF SYNADA; MACEDONIAN DYNASTY; PAROIKOS; TAXATION; THEODOSIOUPOLIS; THEOPHANO; WAR.

BASILEUS. Title used for the Persian king until Herakleios conquered Persia and expropriated it. It was understood as “emperor,” and became the chief imperial title, instead of autokrator. It is not clear if demonstrable Persian influence was the reason for this change. After Charlemagne was recognized as basileus in 812, Byzantine emperors used the title Basileus ton Romaion (Emperor of the Romans). The Slavic translation for basileus is tsar. See also IRENE; LEO III; SEBASTOKRATOR.

BASILICA. A type of Roman building that was used for the first great Christian churches built by Constantine I the Great. Previous Roman basilicas were used for a variety of public purposes, such as law courts, audience halls, and covered markets. The simplest basilicas were halls without adjacent aisles. More complex ones had a vestibule (called a narthex) leading to a central nave, with narrower side aisles, above which could be galleries. The nave could terminate in a rectangular or semicircular apse. The basic design, which is flexible and open to a variety of permutations of its individual components (e.g., the domed basilica, such as Hagia Sophia, and the Greek cross-domed octagon church), proved suitable for the development of the Christian liturgy.

In a larger sense, the Christian basilica illustrates the interplay of continuity and transformation that in Constantine I the Great’s reign began to reshape the Roman Empire into what is today referred to as Byzantium. See also ARCHITECTURE; BEMA; DIAKONIKON; NAOS; PROTHESIS.

BASILIKA. The law code (Basilika is Greek for “imperial laws”) begun by a commission of lawyers under Basil I and completed under Leo VI. It essentially updated the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian I. It also includes the Novels of Justinian and of his successors Justin II and Tiberios II, as well as canon law.

Despite the apparent disadvantage of reissuing, in effect, a scaled-down version of an old and possibly outdated law code, there were advantages over the Corpus Juris Civilis. First of all, the Basilika is in Greek, the language of the East, as opposed to Latin. Second, it is divided into subjects, with the laws pertaining to each subject in one place, unlike the Corpus Juris Civilis. Because of these advantages, it soon surpassed the Corpus Juris Civilis entirely. See also MACEDONIAN RENAISSANCE.

BASILIKOI ANTHROPOI. Literally “imperial men,” referring generally to imperial officials both high and low. This is the way the term is used in the Kletorologion of Philotheos. By the 10th century there may also have been a military detachment with this name. The De ceremoniis of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and the Escurial taktikon mention a katepano of the basilikoi.

BASILISKOS. Brother of Zeno’s wife Verina who usurped the throne from 475 to 476 during Zeno’s reign. Before this Basiliskos was noted chiefly for having led the disastrous naval expedition against the Vandals in 468. During his brief usurpation he supported the Monophysites, which angered Patriarch Akakios, and prompted the pillar-saint Daniel the Stylite to lead a popular uprising in Constantinople against Basiliskos. This set the stage for Zeno’s triumphant return to the capital, and for Basiliskos’s exile. See also PETER THE FULLER.

BASIL THE COPPER HAND. He raised a revolt in Bithynia against Romanos I Lekapenos in about 932. He claimed to be Constantine Doukas, who had been killed in 913 in an abortive revolt. Basil was captured and punished by having his hand cut off. Back in Bithynia he made a copper hand for himself, and he stirred up a popular uprising of the poor, whose plight had worsened since the great famine of 928. He was captured and sent to Constantinople, where he was put to death.

BASIL THE GREAT. Saint, and one of the three Cappadocian Fathers (along with Gregory of Nazianzos and Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s brother), all great church fathers of the fourth century. They were opponents of Arianism, including its chief proponent Eunomios, at a time when the eastern emperor Valens (364–378) was promoting the heresy. In 370 Basil became bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, from where he worked to deal Arianism a final blow at the Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in 381. In the process he helped to develop the concept of the Trinity and created the Basilian rule, a balanced regimen of work and worship for monks that had a tremendous impact on the development of monasticism.

Basil’s writings on theological topics reflect the erudition of his education (he was a pupil of Libanios). His many letters are a rich source for the cultural history of the period. See also ACADEMY OF ATHENS; CHRIST, THEOLOGY OF; EVAGRIOS PONTIKOS; JULIAN “THE APOSTATE”; THEOLOGY.

BASIL THE NOTHOS. High state official (parakoimomenos) under Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II. Romanos II favored Joseph Bringas over him, and Basil hated Bringas for it. His revenge came when Nikephoras II Phokas overthrew Bringas in 963. Basil schemed against Nikephoros II and may have poisoned the next emperor, John I Tzimiskes. He administered state affairs for the young Basil II until Basil II exiled him in 985.

BAYBARS. See MAMLUKS.

BAYEZID I. Ottoman sultan (1389–1402), called “Thunderbolt.” He sealed the conquest of Serbia, conquered Bulgaria, and fought the first battles on Hungarian soil, becoming the terror of central Europe. What was left of Byzantium, except for the Morea, lay chiefly behind the great walls of Constantinople. John V Palaiologos and his successor Manuel II Palaiologos were, in fact, little more than vassals of Bayezid, forced to endure one humiliation after another.

When Byzantine appeasement failed, Bayezid laid siege to Constantinople during the last eight years of his life. Unexpectedly, Bayezid was defeated and captured by Timur at the Battle of Ankara in 1402, a turn of events that prolonged the life of Byzantium for yet another half century. See BOUCHICAUT.

BEACON SYSTEM. A series of fire signals that warned Constantinople of an Arab invasion into Asia Minor through the Taurus mountain range. The first signal station was at the fort of Loulon, just north of the Cilician Gates. The system was conceived of by Leo the Mathematician, who also created synchronized water clocks that were placed at each end of the system. There were 12 specific messages, each of which could be indicated by lighting the first beacon at the particular hour associated with the intended message. The message was received at the final signal station, located in the Great Palace at Constantinople.

BEDE. See BRITAIN.

BEDOUINS. See ARABS.

BEIRUT. See BERYTUS.

BELA III. King of Hungary (1172–1196) and, for a while, heir to the Byzantine throne. Manuel I Komnenos desired to unite Hungary with Byzantium, to which end he secured the engagement of his daughter Maria to Bela, who was given the Greek name Alexios, along with the title of despot, which made him heir-apparent to the throne. However, with the birth of Alexios II Komnenos, Bela’s engagement to Maria was rescinded.

BELEGEZITAI. See DEMETRIAS.

BELGRADE. Called Singidunum by the Romans, the city is strategically situated at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Moreover, the Belgrade-Constantinople highway was the most important trans-Balkan route from central Europe to Constantinople.

Captured by the Avars in the early seventh century, it emerged in the 10th century with a new Slavic name, Beograd (“White Fortress”). It was part of the First Bulgarian Empire until 1018, when it was incorporated into Byzantine territory. It went back into the hands of the Bulgarians in 1040, during the revolt of Peter Deljan. Subsequently, it was seized by the Hungarians, and then by the Serbs, who made it their capital in the 12th century. In 1427 the Hungarians took it, and in 1456 Hunyadi won a great victory over the Ottomans, who had to break off their siege of the city. It finally fell to the Ottomans in 1521. See also BALKAN PENINSULA.

BELISARIOS. Justinian I’s greatest general. His contributions to Justinian I’s reign were considerable. Without him, Justinian I might have lost his throne in the Nika Revolt of 532. The reconquest of North Africa from the Vandals in 533–534 and the early successes against the Ostrogoths from 536 to 540 were due in large part to his generalship. Against the Persians, his success was mixed, but his role invaluable. In 559 he came out of retirement to conduct a heroic defense of the capital against a raid by Cotrigurs.

The negative portrait drawn of him (and of the reconquest of North Africa) in Prokopios of Caesarea’s Anekdota (Secret History) is unfair, whatever the truth about Belisarios’s wife Antonina. And it would be unfair to blame him for the Berber revolt in North Africa that dragged the war on there until 548, or unforeseen events in Italy after his departure that continued the Ostrogothic war until 554. However protracted and ephemeral Justinian’s reconquests were in the West (much of Italy was lost to the Lombards in 568), at least for a time the empire regained much of its former territory. What Justinian envisioned and planned, Belisarios, often with limited resources, made possible. See also ARMY; BARBARIANS; DARA; ZABERGAN.

BEMA. The chancel (sanctuary) of a Byzantine church, where the altar is situated, often enclosed by a chancel barrier called a templon. From the bema a raised pathway (the solea) led to the pulpit (ambo). See also APSE; BASILICA; DOME; ICONOSTASIS; NAOS; NARTHEX.

BENEVENTO. City in central Italy that suffered in the wars between Justinian I and the Ostrogoths. Totila finally destroyed its walls in 545. The Lombards occupied it from ca. 570, creating the Duchy of Benevento, which included Capua and Salerno until the ninth century. Benevento became independent in 774, when Charlemagne destroyed the Lombard state. Thereafter, it switched acknowledgment of technical suzerainty from Charlemagne’s successors to Byzantium (Leo VI reoccupied it from 891 to 895, and again in 1042–1051), then to the Normans and to the papacy, as the situation demanded. See also LONGOBARDIA.

BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. Jewish traveler from Spain who visited Constantinople during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos. His description of the city is invaluable, as are his other travel notes, including his description of his journey through central Greece in 1162 on his way to Constantinople.

BERBERS. See MOORS.

BERROIA. There were two important cities with this name. One is modern Aleppo in northern Syria, which was seized by the Persians from 604 to 628, then captured by the Arabs in 636. It was recaptured by Nikephoros II Phokas from the Hamdanids in 962, becoming briefly a vassal state of the Byzantines. The attempts of Basil II to maintain control of the city ultimately failed. The other Berroia (Verroia) is the modern city of the same name in northern Greece. See also DROUGOUBITAI.

BERTHA OF SULZBACH. First wife of Manuel I Komnenos, who took the name Irene after her marriage in 1146. She was the sister-in-law of German king Conrad III, who continued to oppose Roger II of Sicily. The marriage, arranged by John II Komnenos, was meant to strengthen Byzantium’s anti-Norman alliance with Conrad III. Unfortunately for Manuel, the year after the marriage, in 1147, Conrad III went on the Second Crusade, allowing Roger II to plunder Kerkyra, Corinth, and Thebes. See also GERMANY; OTTO OF FREISING.

BERYTUS (BEIRUT). Important cultural center on the seacoast of Syria, famous for its law school, silk factories, and production of purple dyes. Its decline began with a massive earthquake and tidal wave that leveled the city in 551, after which its law school was transferred to Sidon. Captured by the Arabs in 635, it was restored to Byzantium during the reign of John I Tzimiskes.

BESSARION. Metropolitan bishop of Nicaea and pro-union participant at the Council of Ferrara-Florence, he was a theologian, collector of Greek manuscripts, and scholar.

The last attribute is the most significant, considering his influence on the Italian humanists of his day. In a sense he was a Greek who became a Latin. He emigrated to Italy after the Council of Ferrara-Florence, where he had a long and distinguished career as a cardinal (1439–1472) in the western church. He bestowed his collection of Greek manuscripts on the city of Venice, where it formed the nucleus of the library of St. Mark, providing texts for the famous first editions of the Aldine press. See also CHURCH SCHISM OF 1054; NICHOLAS V; THEODORE OF GAZA; UNION OF THE CHURCHES.

BIBLIOTHECA. Bibliotheca and Myriobiblon (a “thousand books”), are conventional titles of a work by Photios, patriarch of Constantinople (858–867, 877–886). The oldest manuscript of the work, in Venice, has the title “List and Description of Books We Have Read,” inferring, perhaps, that the Bibliotheca is a compilation of notes from a reading group led by Photios.

The work contains 280 chapters that describe 386 books, sometimes briefly, sometimes at length. Christian authors predominate, but 147 of the works described are secular, including works by pagan authors. Slightly over half of the books commented on are either totally lost or preserved in fragments. It is not known if these books were from Photios’s own library (unlikely, due to the large number of books commented on), or gotten from various other places, such as monasteries. Bibliotheca is an important literary legacy of Byzantium, one that reflects the deep interest in ancient literature. See also MACEDONIAN RENAISSANCE.

BISHOP. The priest in charge of a city and its surrounding territory (see) whose rank was below that of a metropolitan. Since church organization paralleled that of the secular state, bishops and secular officials shared similar concerns and often overlapping responsibilities, including the city’s finances, construction projects, and food supply. See also ARCHBISHOP; CLERGY; PATRIARCH.

BITHYNIA. Province in northwest Asia Minor. In the seventh century it was incorporated into the theme of Opsikion, and in the eighth century the part opposite Constantinople was given to the new theme of Optimatoi. Its importance is explained by its close proximity to Constantinople, agricultural fertility, the military highways that traversed it, great monasteries, and important cities of Chalcedon, Nicaea, Nikomedeia (its capital), Malagina, and Prousa. From 1206 to 1261 Nicaea was the capital of the Empire of Nicaea. See also TIMBER.

BLACHERNAI. An area of Constantinople located in the northwest corner of the city where the sumptuous Blachernai palace, renovated and added on to by the Komnenoi emperors, was located. In the 12th century, it replaced the Great Palace as the home of the emperors. Robert of Clari describes the palace as having 200–300 rooms and 20 chapels, all decorated in gold mosaic and filled with precious treasures. The adjacent Blachernai church, restored by Romanos III Argyros, was an important cult center dedicated to the Theotokos. See also ARGYROS; TAFUR, PERO.

BLACK SEA. Inland sea whose strategic importance had to do with its close proximity to Constantinople, which was fed by shipments of grain and salted fish coming from the Black Sea. The Byzantine colony at Cherson, in the Crimea, was the place where Byzantium endeavored to monitor northern peoples such as the Khazars, Pechenegs, and Rus. See also ANCHIALOS; BARBARIANS; CHILIA; CITIES; JOHN V PALAIOLOGOS; KAFFA; LAZICA; MEHMED II; MESEMBRIA; TRADE AND COMMERCE.

BLEMMYDES, NIKEPHOROS. The most eminent teacher and scholar of the Empire of Nicaea; tutor of George Akropolites and Theodore II Laskaris. His writings include two autobiographies, written in 1264 and 1265, which are important historical sources for the period, as well as his letters to Theodore II Laskaris. See also EPHESUS; GERMANOS II.

BLUES. See CIRCUS FACTIONS.

BOEOTIA. Region of central Greece, northwest of Athens. It borders the Gulf of Corinth on its southwest, and the Strait of Europos on its east-northeast. Its metropolis was Thebes. The history of Byzantine Boeotia is closely related to its proximity to Athens, which imported its grain and used it as a buffer against invasions from the north. Boeotia and Attica were part of one of the earliest themes of the Balkan Peninsula, the theme of Hellas, with its capital at Athens, first mentioned in 695. Among the Byzantine monuments of Boeotia is the Church of the Panaghia at Skripou, near Orchomenos, dated to the late ninth century. Boeotia was part of the Duchy of Athens and Thebes established by Othon de la Roche in 1205.

BOETHIUS. Western Christian philosopher, born ca. 480, died ca. 524. Born to wealth and privilege, he was consul in 510 under Theodoric the Great, for whom he also served as magister officiorum (Master of Offices). However, it was Theodoric who charged him with treason, imprisoned him, and executed him.

While in prison Boethius wrote On the Consolation of Philosophy, his most famous work, which consists of a dialogue between himself and Philosophy (in the form of Neoplatonism) about how the soul may see a vision of God. He composed poetry, as well as a treatise on the Trinity, mathematical works, even a work on medicine. He wrote in Latin, but he also read Greek, which was unusual for western scholars of his day. He was certainly Cassiodorus’s one great contemporary. See also LITERATURE.

BOGOMILS. Bulgarian dualists who denounced both the church and state as creations of an evil material world. The founder of the movement was a certain priest (pop) Bogomil, who began preaching during the reign (927–969) of Peter of Bulgaria that the world was created by the devil and must be avoided. His cosmological dualism owed much to the Paulicians, and before that to a long tradition that stretches back to Manichaeanism and Gnosticism. However, unlike the Paulicians, who took up arms to defend themselves, Bogomil and his followers were pacifists who practiced civil disobedience.

The movement can be viewed as a popular reaction against Byzantine cultural influence in Bulgaria. Alexios I Komnenos had Bogomil leader Basil burned in the Hippodrome in an effort to suppress the movement in Constantinople. Bogomilism spread to Western Europe, where its adherents were known by many names, including Albigensians and Cathars. See also NICHOLAS III GRAMMATIKOS; THEOPHYLAKTOS; ZIGABENOS, EUTHYMIOS.

BOHEMUND. Norman foe of Alexios I Komnenos; son of Robert Guiscard. He and his father directed Norman expansion eastward into Byzantine territories during the early years of the reign of Alexios I Komnenos, capturing Dyrrachion in 1081.

Alexios I and Bohemund fought over northern and western Greece until Robert Guiscard died in 1085, after which the Norman threat collapsed and Alexios regained Dyrrachion. Alexios I had every reason to be suspicious when Bohemund appeared at Constantinople in 1097 as a leader of the First Crusade. Nevertheless, Alexios I attempted to use him to Byzantine advantage, and Bohemund was inclined toward cooperation and readily took an oath of allegiance to Alexios. However, Bohemund not only refused to return Antioch to Alexios I, as promised, but returned to Italy in 1104 to organize a new Crusade, this time directed against Byzantium. To this end he crossed the Adriatic Sea and besieged Dyrrachion in 1107. Bohemund’s subsequent defeat by Alexios, and the allegiance he was forced to swear to the emperor as a result of the Treaty of Devol, was so humiliating that he never returned to Antioch. He died in obscurity, probably in 1111. Anna Komnene has a memorable description of Bohemund in her Alexiad. See also VODENA.

BOIOANNES, BASIL. Governor-general (katepano) of Byzantine possessions in Italy from 1017 to 1028, appointed by Basil II. His energetic leadership helped consolidate and defend those possessions against Lombard attacks, and intervention by Henry II of Germany.

BONIFACE OF MONTFERRAT. Leader of the Fourth Crusade, and, subsequently, marquis of the Kingdom of Thessalonike. Soon after the Crusaders captured Constantinople in 1204, Boniface seized Thessalonike and conquered Thessaly from Leo Sgouros, adding substantially to the territory of his new kingdom. Boniface died in 1207 in a battle against the Bulgarians, after which the Kingdom of Thessalonike found itself under assault by Theodore Komnenos Doukas of the Despotate of Epiros, who captured Thessalonike in 1224. See also LARISSA; MACEDONIA; PARTITIO ROMANIAE; PHILIP OF SWABIA.

BOOK OF THE EPARCH. A manual of trade regulations, probably issued by Leo VI. It would have served as a guide for the Eparch of the City, whose duty it was to regulate the commercial life of the capital. Its purpose was to protect the guilds of Constantinople from competition while at the same time protecting the state’s right to regulate the guilds. The guilds were diverse, from jewelers to sellers of soap. It is apparent that each was carefully regulated in order to protect the consumer and the state. In the case of goods such as high-quality silks, export was strictly controlled.

Control of markets, production, prices, and profits was accompanied by protection and security for all guild members. No one could compete with other members of his guild, or join another guild. The net result was to stifle competition, making it almost impossible to amass the large amounts of capital needed to develop large enterprises. Secret trading activities and accumulations of capital were made difficult since all sales, even in one’s own home, had to be reported to the Eparch of the City. Liutprand of Cremona, ambassador of Otto I, discovered this when he tried to export prohibited merchandise. The customs officials had already been informed of his purchases. See also DIPLOMACY; ECONOMY; KOMMERKIARIOS; MACEDONIAN RENAISSANCE; TRADE AND COMMERCE.

BOOKS. By the fourth century the book (codex) had replaced the manuscript roll. Thus, Byzantine libraries contained mostly books. The great advantages of a book are that it contains more text than a roll, it takes up less shelf space, and its parchment leaves could have writing on both sides. Books were much valued, also rare and expensive, in Byzantium. Private libraries were small, usually of no more than 25 books, so readers borrowed from their friends, or used monastic and other libraries that had larger collections. The preciousness of books is seen in the care with which they were bound, their covers often decorated in cloisonné enamel and gemstones. Miniscule script was not developed until the seventh or eighth century, but when combined with the book format it allowed copyists to write more quickly. Perhaps Byzantium’s greatest legacy was its preservation of much of classical Greek literature. Books in Miniscule script made this possible.

BORIS I. Khan of the Bulgars from 852 to 889 who received baptism from Byzantium in 864. He took the name of Michael, after his godfather Michael III. Boris was baptized only after Michael III moved an army and fleet to the borders of Bulgaria, threatening invasion if Boris did not receive baptism. Boris renounced his alliance with the Franks and invited Byzantine missionaries into Bulgaria. Immediately Boris had to suppress a revolt by his nobility that aimed at restoring Bulgar paganism. Deep concerns about what it meant to be a Christian prince and about the impact of Christianity on Bulgarian customs together with his desire for a separate and independent church prompted Boris’s inquiries to Pope Nicholas I, and to the Franks (in 866).

Boris’s baptism brought Bulgaria within the ecclesiastical and cultural orbit of Byzantium, and further work in Bulgaria by disciples of Cyril and Methodios helped to ensure the success of the new religious experiment. See also DIPLOMACY; HADRIAN II; MISSIONS.

BOSPOROS. City on the Black Sea. Along with Cherson, it was an important center of trade where Byzantium traded for furs, leather, and slaves with the barbarian peoples north of the Black Sea. Located on the easternmost projection of the Crimea, the city was ruled by the Huns until it sought the protection of Justin I in 522. In 528 its king, Grod, came to Constantinople and was baptized, whereupon Justinian I sent a garrison of soldiers to Bosporos and fortified its walls. However, from 576 onward Byzantium controlled Bosporos intermittently until the Mongols captured it (by 1240). See also TRADE AND COMMERCE.

BOSPOROS. Strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Constantinople is located where the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporos meet. The strategic importance of the Bosporos is illustrated by the fact that when Mehmed II prepared to besiege Constantinople, his first act was to construct in 1452 a huge fortified enclosure now called Rumeli Hisar on the west bank of the Bosporos. Its cannons were able to control all sea traffic between Constantinople and the Black Sea, hence its Turkish name at the time, Boghaz-kesen (“the cutter of the strait”). See also PHOBEROU MONASTERY.

BOUCICAUT. French marshal sent by French king Charles VI in 1399 to help raise the Ottoman siege of Constantinople. He fought his way to the city, despite the attempt of Sultan Bayezid I to prevent his small fleet from passing through the Hellespont. He brought with him 1,200 soldiers, most of them archers.

He stayed there for the remainder of the year, raiding the eastern coast of the Bosporos and Sea of Marmara, but he achieved nothing of importance. He then encouraged Manuel II Palaiologos to seek further military aid from the West, and on 10 December 1399 Manuel II and Boucicaut left for France, where plans to send more French troops never materialized. See also HOSPITALLERS.

BOUKELLARION. Theme in Asia Minor created in the eighth century from part of the theme of Opsikion. Its capital was Ankyra, and it derived its name from boukellarioi, hired private soldiers who served as bodyguards and private retainers. This reduction of the size of Opsikion was probably done by Constantine V in response to the revolt of Artabasdos. Subsequently, Opsikion was further reduced by the creation of two more themes, Optimatoi and Paphlagonia, diminishing even more the capability of any single strategos to revolt.

BOUKOLEON. An area of Constantinople on the Sea of Marmara east of the Church of Sergios and Bakchos, where the Boukoleon harbor was located, adjacent to a seaside palace whose remains are referred to as the “House of Justinian.”

BOULGAROPHYGON. Site of Symeon of Bulgaria’s major victory over a Byzantine army in 896, made possible by Symeon’s previous defeat of the Hungarian troops allied with Byzantium. The peace that resulted was contingent on Byzantium paying an annual tribute to Symeon.

BOURTZES, MICHAEL. General under Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II. His mostly distinguished military career (e.g., he and fellow general Peter Phokas captured Antioch in 969) was interspersed with treachery. He supported the murder of his benefactor Nikephoros II, later deserted Basil II for the rebel Bardas Skleros, and did an about-face to fight with Basil II against the rebel Bardas Phokas. See also ARMY.

BOYAR. A member of the military aristocracy in Bulgaria or in Kievan Rus. Six great boyars advised the khan in Bulgaria. In Kievan Rus, boyars served in a prince’s entourage and constituted his council.

BRACHAMIOS, PHILARETOS. See GERMANIKEIA; MOPSUESTIA.

BRANAS, ALEXIOS. Capable general who served Alexios II Komnenos, Andronikos I Komnenos, and Isaac II Angelos. His greatest victories were against the Normans in November 1185, blunting their march toward Constantinople and forcing them to evacuate Thessalonike and Dyrrachion. In 1187 Branas revolted against Isaac II, aided by the provincial aristocracy. His siege of Constantinople ended unsuccessfully when Conrad of Montferrat organized a band of mostly Latin soldiery to defeat Branas’s army. Branas himself was killed on the field of battle. See also ARMY.

BRICKS. Bricks and tiles were fundamental components of Byzantine construction. Bricks provided the strength for basic structural components, such as piers and arches, as well as for exterior decoration. For example, in fortification walls it was a common technique to alternate layers of stone and brick. The Theodosian Land Walls at Constantinople were constructed of bands of cut-stone facings filled with mortared rubble, alternating with bands of brick that go across the wall. The facades of Byzantine churches were typically decorated with brick patterns, or with stones that are framed with bricks. See also ARCHITECTURE; CERAMICS.

BRIDE SHOW. The first bride show was in 788 when the empress Irene held one for her son Constantine VI. Reminiscent of the mythic Judgment of Paris, the emperor presented a golden apple to the woman of his choice as empress from several candidates previously selected with great care. Four other bride shows were held in the following century, the most famous being that of Theophilos, who rejected Kassia in favor of Theodora. See also STAURAKIOS.

BRINDISI. Important commercial port in Apulia, and terminus of the Via Appia, the Roman road that went to Rome via Capua. Its chief strategic importance lay in the fact that it was a main point of embarkation for Dyrrachion, across the Adriatic Sea, where the Via Egnatia began. This fact explains the importance of Brindisi to the Normans, and why they conquered it in 1071, making it a staging area for attacks on Dyrrachion. See also CITIES; HIGHWAYS AND ROADS.

BRINGAS, JOSEPH. Civil official who held various high positions for Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and Romanos II. As parakoimomenos for Romanos II he managed the entire affairs of state. However, when Romanos II died an untimely death, his wife Theophano was caught up in a power struggle that pitted the unpopular Bringas against the famous general, Nikephoros II Phokas. Theophano sided with Nikephoros Phokas, as did the high civil official Basil the Nothos. Bringas tried to defend the capital, but he had little support and was soon forced to retire to a monastery. It was a victory for the military aristocracy, one that made Nikephoros II Phokas emperor and Theophano his new wife. See also EUNUCHS.

BRITAIN. Roman province from 43 to ca. 410, when Honorios informed Britain that it must see to its own defense against the Saxons, who had menaced the province’s southern shore since the third century.

Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine I the Great, ruled Britain after defeating the usurper Allectus in 296. The decline began in 367–368 with what Ammianus Marcellinus calls the “barbarian conspiracy,” simultaneous attacks by Picts, Scots, Attacotti, and Saxons. A Roman army from abroad was transported to Britain to restore order. In the last decade of the fourth century the raids of Picts and Scots were so sustained that Stilicho was forced to mount an expedition to Britain. Despite this, Honorios withdrew military forces from the island.

Trade continued throughout the early Middle Ages, as demonstrated by the Sutton Hoo Treasure (sixth or seventh century in date) from the ship-tomb of a king of East Anglia, consisting of exquisite silver objects of Byzantine manufacture.

Byzantine cultural and religious influence persisted as well. Examples of this include Theodore of Tarsos, archbishop of Canterbury (668–690), also Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731), which mentions events in faraway Constantinople. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Anglo-Saxon soldiers filled the ranks of the Varangian Guard and diplomatic activity increased. In 1400 Manuel II Palaiologos visited England in an attempt to secure aid against the advancing Ottomans. See also ART; BARBARIANS; DIPLOMACY.

BROUSA. See PROUSA.

BRUMALIA. Pagan celebration in honor of Dionysos that continued to be celebrated in Byzantium. It lasted for almost a month, from 24 November until the winter solstice. The carnival atmosphere included men and women in costumes and masks, dancing in the streets to songs in honor of the god. It was condemned at the Council of Trullo in 691–692, but Constantine V celebrated it at court in the following century. See also PAGANISM.

BRYAS. Suburb of Constantinople across the Sea of Marmara, site of Theophilos’s Bryas Palace, built around 837. Its design was based on the description of the Arab palaces that Patriarch John VII Grammatikos had seen on his embassy to Baghdad. See also ABBASID CALIPHATE; GREAT PALACE.

BRYENNIOS, NIKEPHOROS. Distinguished general, doux of Dyrrachion, and pretender to the throne during the reigns of Michael VIII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates. After failing to gain the throne in 1077 he refused to put down arms, was defeated by Alexios I Komnenos, and was blinded. His revolt was symptomatic of the chaotic period of decline that preceded Alexios Komnenos’s own usurpation in 1081.

BRYENNIOS, NIKEPHOROS THE YOUNGER. Historian and general. He was the son (or grandson) of general Nikepheros Bryennios, who rebelled in 1077. Nikephoros campaigned with Alexios I Komnenos and ended up marrying Anna Komnene. He wrote a memoir that traces the family history of the Komneni; the most useful part of it concerns events from 1070 to 1079. See also HISTORY.

BUFFAVENTO CASTLE. See CYPRUS.

BULGARIA. Established in 681 by Asparuch, Bulgaria became the first independent state on Byzantine soil to be recognized by Byzantium. The Bulgars, with their capital at Pliska, ruled over a large indigenous population of Slavs and Greeks. By the 10th century Bulgars and Slavs had intermixed into a single people, referred to as Bulgarians.

Bulgaria always remained a kind of third-world country on Byzantium’s northern border, one that was dependent on the Byzantine economy, one subject to Byzantine cultural influences. It was also an intermittent military threat, especially under Khan Krum, and tsars Symeon and Samuel. Byzantine cultural influence seemed to make headway when, in 864, Khan Boris I received baptism from Byzantium. This provoked a revolt of the Bulgar nobility, which defended Bulgar paganism against Byzantine encroachment. Boris suppressed the revolt, but it made him hesitant to place the Bulgarian church under Byzantine ecclesiastical administration. However, in 870 he did just that, after negotiations with Pope Nicholas I broke down. In 885 Boris accepted four pupils of the brothers Cyril and Methodios who provided him with a Slavonic-speaking clergy and with necessary liturgical texts. Boris struggled to preserve Church Slavonic as the language of the Bulgarian church in the face of Byzantine insistence on Greek. Nevertheless, resistance to Byzantine cultural and ecclesiastical hegemony remained strong in Bulgaria, as Bogomilism demonstrated.

To some extent these contradictory forces were never resolved. “Peace” meant Byzantine occupation of the country from 1018 to 1185, after Basil II ended a series of campaigns in 1014 with a decisive victory over the forces of Samuel. Subsequently a revolt occurred in 1185, which by 1186 resulted in a new state referred to as the Second Bulgarian Empire. Its capital was at Turnovo, and its early rulers were energetic men like Kalojan and John Asen II. The new state expanded into Thrace, and, after the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230, into western Macedonia as well. However, the growing power of Serbia threatened Bulgaria, and at Velbuzd in 1330 the Serbs destroyed a Bulgarian army. Within several decades after Velbuzd, Bulgaria’s decline was made even more apparent by the Ottoman expansion into the Balkans. In 1373 Bulgaria became a vassal to the Ottomans, and in 1393 Murad I conquered Bulgaria outright, burning Turnovo. See also ALOUSIANOS; BULGARIAN TREATY; COTRIGURS; JOHN OF RILA; UTRIGURS.

BULGARIAN TREATY. Not an actual treaty, but rather an anonymous speech dedicated to the signing of a treaty in 927 between Byzantium and Bulgaria. It contains some interesting but veiled allusions to an invasion by Symeon of Bulgaria, his coronation by Nicholas I Mystikos, and the elevation to the throne of Romanos I Lekapenos. Various authors have been proposed, including Theodore Daphnopates. See also DIPLOMACY.

BULGARIANS. See BULGARS.

BULGARS. Pastoralists originally from central Asia, who migrated westward to the steppe north of the Caspian Sea, as did the Huns and the Avars. They must have been Turkic in origin because nearly a hundred proto-Bulgarian (pre-Christian) inscriptions survive in characters known to be Turkic. Their history in the fifth and sixth centuries is obscure, although it has been suggested that they were related to the Cotrigurs and Utigurs.

The establishment of the Avars in Pannonia by the late sixth century allowed the Bulgars to expand. One contingent aligned itself with the Lombards, helping them to conquer Italy. Another contingent participated with the Avars and Slavs in attacks on Thessalonike and Constantinople. However, most Bulgars lived north of the Sea of Azov, where, in 632, one of their leaders, Kuvrat, formed a confederation of Bulgar tribes. After Kuvrat’s death, the confederation disintegrated under the growing power of the Khazars to the east. Some Bulgars, led by Asparuch, crossed the Danube, resisting an attempt by Constantine VI to oust them by force. In 680 they signed a treaty with Byzantium, creating the first independent state that Byzantium recognized on its own soil. The region was already settled by Slavs, who were much more numerous, and who the Bulgars subjugated.

By the ninth century, the Bulgars had virtually become Slavs, at which point this intermixed people are referred to as Bulgarians. See also BARBARIANS; BORIS I; BULGARIA; DIPLOMACY; KHAN; KRUM; SCRIPTOR INCERTUS; TELERIG; TERVEL; TURKS.

BUREAUCRACY. Though small by modern standards, when compared to other medieval states, Byzantium’s bureaucracy was impressive. The successful administration of the Byzantine state depended on bureaucrats like the kommerkiarios, who was responsible for collecting customs and excise taxes at all frontier points, including ports, and who supervised the sale and export of strategic materials like gold, military equipment, and silk. The bureaucracy included civil, military, and church administrators.

The organization of the bureaucracy, along with its offices, changed over time. Its organization in the Late Roman period, from the early fourth to early seventh century, is reflected in the Notitia Dignitatum (ca. 395–429). In this period, officials in the imperial court, including eunuchs, often exerted tremendous power. Examples of this include the eunuch Eutropios, grand chamberlain (praepositus sacri cubiculi) to the emperor Arkadios. The successor office to that of the grand chamberlain was that of the parakoimomenos. Basil the Nothos, Joseph Bringas, and Samonas were powerful parakoimomenoi of the 10th century.

During the Dark Ages (642–843) the bureaucracy was transformed, as many cities and towns diminished in size, along with a dramatic reduction in the territorial size of Byzantium. The prefectures gradually disappeared in favor of themes, which needed a more decentralized bureaucracy. The governor of a theme, the strategos, was the head administrator; he was primarily a military official who also administered the judiciary of the theme, as well as its finances. Subordinate in rank to the strategos was a droungarios. In the 11th century the power of the strategos declined in favor of the praitor, doux, and katepano.

Among the extant lists of bureaucratic officials (Taktika) the Kletorologion of Philotheos (composed in 899) is the most complete, providing a list and description of bureaucratic titles, and their seating places at state banquets. This latter is an indication of the relative importance of each office. As compared to the Late Roman period the number of chief administrative offices had been reduced from 103 to 53, reflecting the territorial losses of the Dark Ages.

Some office titles were specific to one of the three main branches of the bureaucracy (civil, military, church). However, there was not always such a “separation of powers,” so to speak, in Byzantine administration, as the office of strategos demonstrates. A domestikos, to cite another example, could be a civil, military, or church bureaucrat. A logothetes was typically a financial officer of some sort, but the term broadened in its use. In the ninth century the logothetes tou dromou became the chief minister of the state.

Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118) and subsequent emperors from the Komneni attempted to centralize the bureaucracy and to exert more imperial control over it by assigning the highest offices to family members. Put simply, they took these offices away from other families in the military and civil aristocracies, in favor of a single extended family of military aristocrats (the Komnenoi).

Alexios I Komnenos also created a number of non-hereditary, honorific titles based on that of sebastos (“revered”), such as sebastokrator, protosebastos, and panhypersebastos. This increased the previous older senatorial titles (e.g., illustris, spectabilis, and clarissimus, gloriosus, and magnificus), as other older titles, including those of magistros, and patrikios.

To make this all the more confusing, from the eighth to 11th century some titles could be bought at considerable price (in return for an annual pension). Some actually designated a bureaucratic office, while others were simply what they appeared to be, namely non-hereditary, honorific titles conferred by a reigning emperor. During the Palaiologan Dynasty, as demonstrated by the 14th century’s Pseudo-Kodinos, title and office typically merged together.

One example will suffice to demonstrate how bureaucratic offices could evolve over time. The office of protovestiarios was originally the keeper of the emperor’s wardrobe (vestiarion). However, from the ninth to 11th centuries the protovestiarios commanded armies. In the 12th century onward it was an honorary title.

The centralizing tendency continued in the Palaiologan Dynasty. For example, the mesazon, an office that Constantine III Leichoudes first held, developed into the top bureaucratic office in the Palaiologan Dynasty. The 15th-century historian Doukas compared his role to that of the Ottoman vizier, who headed the Ottoman bureaucracy.

Bureaucrats were distinguished by costumes, each of which signified a certain office. For example, the praetorian prefect of the East in the sixth century wore a purple tunic, a red leather belt with a gold buckle, and a cloak fastened at the right shoulder by a fibula or brooch. Each bureaucrat received a codicil signed by the emperor. Higher officeholders then (e.g., a prefect, magister militum, magister officiorum) received a codicil of gilded ivory.

Each official also had his own sealing device, marked with the title of his office. Lead seals were commonly used, except on imperial documents that had gold seals (chrysobulls) attached to them. The overall importance of seals is that they often fill in gaps in our knowledge of the Byzantine bureaucracy.

Finally, it is worth noting that many high-ranking bureaucrats played powerful roles in the history of Byzantium, including Aetius, Aspar, Stilicho, John Troglita, Petronas, Theoktistos, Michael Psellos, John the Orphanotrophos, as well as some patriarchs of the church. The famous Nika Revolt was directed initially against the chief financial minister of Justinian I, John of Cappadocia. See also BASILIKOI ANTHROPOI; CHARTOULARIOS; CLERGY; DYNATOI; EDUCATION; JOHN LYDOS; MEGAS DOUX; PRIMIKERIOS; PROTOS (PROTO-); PROTOSPATHARIOS; PROTOSTRATOR; QUAESTOR OF THE SACRED PALACE; SAKELLARIOS; SEKRETON; TAXATION.

BURGUNDIANS. Germanic tribe that crossed the Rhine River in 406. In 413 the Burgundians founded the First Burgundian Kingdom, located in Gaul with its capital at Worms (the setting for the great medieval German epic, the Nibelungenlied). In 443 a second kingdom was established south of Lake Geneva, after a defeat by the Huns that cost King Gundahar and 20,000 Burgundians their lives.

Despite their adherence to Arianism until 516, when King Sigismund converted to Orthodoxy, the Burgundians had good relations with their indigenous Roman subjects. Indeed, Roman influence was greater among the Burgundians than among any other Germanic people who settled in Roman territory, in part because of their close proximity to Italy. However, Frankish expansion threatened the Burgundians; Clovis finally conquered them in 532–534. See also BARBARIANS.

BUSTA GALLORUM. Site in Italy of a famous Byzantine victory over Totila of the Ostrogoths in 552. This battle was a serious blow to Ostrogothic resistance, and within two years the long Ostrogothic war was over. Narses, the capable Byzantine general who had replaced Belisarios in Italy, sent the blood-stained garments of Totila to Constantinople as proof of his death.

BYZANTION. Byzantion was settled in the seventh century b.c. by Megarians under a leader named Byzas, hence the city’s original name. Situated at the juncture of Europe and Asia, where the Sea of Marmara meets the Bosporos, it possessed an easily defensible topography that included a large natural harbor, the Golden Horn. This strategic location may have influenced Constantine I the Great’s decision to establish in 324 at Byzantion a Christian capital for the Roman Empire; it was dedicated officially in 330. Called “New Rome,” it was soon referred to as Constantinople (the city of Constantine). The modern terms “Byzantium,” and “Byzantine Empire,” derive from the fact that Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was formerly called Byzantion.

BYZANTIUM. The eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople from 330 to 1453, from the time Constantine I the Great dedicated his new imperial capital Constantinople (formerly called Byzantion) in 330 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans. The term “Byzantium” is a creation of Hieronymus Wolf (1516–1580), librarian and secretary to the Fuggers in Augsburg, who published the works of Zonaras and Niketas Choniates. Byzantium evolved into a multiethnic, Christian, Greek-speaking state, one whose orientation after the sixth century was progressively eastward looking. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the empire continued to refer to themselves as Romans (Romaioi), and their state as Romania. See also AQUEDUCTS AND CISTERNS; CITIES; ETHNIC DIVERSITY; POPULATION; THEOCRACY; THEODOSIAN LAND WALLS.