Anthypatos

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Anthypatos ( Greek  ἀνθύπατος ) is the Greek translation of the Latin proconsul . In the Greek-speaking eastern part of the Roman Empire, the title was used in Roman and early Byzantine times, and it remained in administration until the 9th century. After that, until the 11th century, it was a Byzantine title of honor .

History and function

In late antique and early Byzantine times, the title of Anthypatos was given to the governors of certain special provinces ( Asia , Africa , Achaea and Constantinople between 330 and 359) until the 7th century, when the late Roman administrative system was replaced by the thematic constitution .

The title was then used in the context of the themes: thematic Eparchoi kai Anthypatoi ("Eparchen and Proconsule") are documented in Asia Minor until the early ninth century. The office was of a civil nature and was probably subordinate to the Praetorian prefect in Constantinople. From this point on, the title was used more as an honorary title than as an official title: Theophanes reports that Emperor Theophilos (reign 829-842) Alexios Musele , the husband of his daughter Maria, awarded the titles " Patrikios and Anthypatos ", which he said about the others Patrician rose. This change coincided with the abandonment of most of the traditions of late antiquity, when the anthypatoi were replaced as civil administrators by the military stratēgoi of the themata and in their role as supervisors of provisions for the army and in financial matters by the less influential Prōtonotarioi .

At the latest towards the end of Michael III's reign . (842-867) the title became a regular title of honor, one rank above the patrikioi . The full title of Anthypatos kai Patrikios was given to some high-ranking civil and military figures during the 10th and 11th centuries. In the 11th century, the title Prōtanthypatos (Greek: πρωτανθύπατος, "first Anthypatos ") and, uniquely, Disanthypatos (Greek: δισανθύπατος, "double Anthypatos ") are attested. All of these titles disappeared in the 12th century.

According to the Klētorologion of Philotheos (written 899), the insignia of Anthypatus were clay tablets inscribed with purple . Their award meant the elevation to the new title by the emperor.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Haldon: Byzantium in the Seventh Century. 1997, pp. 202-203.
  2. ^ A b Bury: The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century. 1911, pp. 28-29.
  3. ^ Haldon: Byzantium in the Seventh Century. 1997, p. 204.
  4. ↑ Kazhdan (Ed.): Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Volume 1. 1991, p. 11.
  5. ^ Bury: The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century. 1911, p. 22.

literature