List of Byzantine emperors

Constantine the Great (r. 306 / 324–337) is considered the first Byzantine emperor.

This list of Byzantine emperors provides a systematic overview of the rulers of the Byzantine Empire . It contains all the emperors of Constantine the Great (306–337), who, after gaining sole rule in the Roman Empire , had the new imperial residence of Constantinople built from 324 and is considered the first Byzantine emperor until Constantine XI. Palaiologos, who lost Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 .

In research, the rulers of the late antique-early Byzantine phase of the empire (up to Herakleios 641), in which Latin was still the court and administrative language, are usually also referred to as Eastern Roman emperors and, at least up to Justinian I , the Roman emperors counted. The tetrarchs Diocletian , Galerius , Maximinus Daia and Licinius , who ruled in the east of the empire from 284 to 324 , are not counted among the Byzantine emperors . For the period between 1204 and 1261, when Constantinople as the Latin Empire was ruled by the Crusaders, the rulers of the Nikaia Empire are led as Byzantine emperors. The ruler of the Empire of Trebizond (1204-1461) from the dynasty of Komnenen are not regarded as Byzantine emperor.

Explanations

The following list shows the emperors with their portraits (especially contemporary busts , mosaics or coins ), their names commonly used in German-speaking countries , their full names (without titles ), their reigns (for usurpers and pretenders : time of their claim to power) and notes any special features. For the early Byzantine period , preference is given to the Greek version of originally Greek names (example: Zenon ), unless the Latin is much more common (example: Hypatius ). In the case of homonymy , the initial Latin name is kept in continuous counting even after late antiquity (examples: Leo III instead of Leon , Theodosius III instead of Theodosius ). Some emperors changed their names in the course of their lives, for example through adoption or when they came to power . The last name given is given without any function or honorary title. Unofficial or later epithets are in italics .

The legitimately ruling emperors ( Augusti , Basileis ; example: Constantine I ) and their co-rulers of equal rank (Symbasileis) are highlighted in white and bold . The fat does not apply to empresses or emperors who are not universally recognized or uncrowned (examples: Irene , Konstantin (XI.) ); This also applies to counter-emperors who temporarily ousted the legitimate ruler, provided they came from the ruling dynasty and their rule was recognized by the Senate or the Church (i.e. the Patriarch ) (examples: Basiliscus , Artabasdos ).

Co -emperors who have exercised de facto rule for a nominally legitimate ruler are highlighted in blue and bold (example: Romanos I ). The bold does not apply to a temporary or illegitimate exercise of independent government activity (example: Matthaios Asanes Kantakuzenos ).

Co-regents and sub- emperors or designated heirs to the throne ( Caesares , sebastocrators , despots ), who at no time legitimately ruled independently, are assigned to the respective emperors in the comment column, stating their nominal years of reign or the years of their dignity, if known (example: Dalmatius ). Title holders under several emperors are only listed once in the comment column (usually with the emperor who awarded the title (s) first; example: Konstantin Dukas Porphyrogennetos, co-emperor under Michael VII, is not listed again under Alexios I.). Italic years preceded by a slash indicate the year of acclamation or designation in the case of later coronation or official inauguration (example: Michael IX. 1281 designated as co-emperor, crowned in 1295). Also listed are non-Byzantines, to whom the title was formally bestowed by the emperor (example: Terwel ). So-called "Kaisermacher" are marked with the preposition "through" (example: "through Aspar "). Empresses ( Augustae , Basilissai) are called regents if they were nominally equal to the emperor and exercised power for him (example: Pulcheria ) or after the death of the emperor (temporarily) took over the rule (example: Domnica ).

Italicized are:

Co-emperors whose existence or imperialism has not been proven (example: Arcadius II. )
Presumptive heirs to the throne and nobilissimi who, either as a result of their own death or the death or disempowerment of the emperor, were no longer officially proclaimed Caesar or Augustus or for whom an elevation to Caesar has not been proven (example: Varronian )
De facto regents ( imperial administrators ) who were not dynastically linked to the emperor in question (example: Rufinus under Arcadius)
Candidates for the throne who, through their own resignation ( recusatio imperii ), indirectly became "emperor-makers" when the throne was vacant (example: Jovian Kaiser "after resignation by Salutius ")

Opposing emperors and usurpers are highlighted in red . This does not apply to counter-emperors in Constantinople, whose rule was recognized by the senate or the church, even if the legitimate ruler on imperial territory continued to develop his own government activities and resisted the rival (see above). “Counter-emperors” are usurpers or pretenders to the throne in the narrower sense who have acquired the imperial title themselves or who have been acclaimed by their troops or supporters. In the list, “usurpers” are characters for whom either the formal act of rising to the emperor has not been safely passed down, but who de facto appropriated imperial powers or behaved disloyally and held a not insignificant territorial power base or dynastic position or with whom The outrage was so geographically limited (at most one province / one topic ) and so briefly (at most a few days) that de facto there was no threat to the legitimate ruler.

Also listed are non-Byzantine rulers who have claimed the imperial title or an emperor-like position on former imperial territory or in territories under nominal Byzantine suzerainty ( imitatio imperii ; examples: Theudebert , Stefan Dušan) . If the regent position was officially legitimized by receiving Roman or Byzantine honorary titles, the figures are listed with the respective emperor (example: Clovis under Anastasius I).

Italicized are:

Rebels , conspirators or separatists , for whom it is unlikely or at least uncertain whether they claimed the imperial dignity, but who in the tradition were stylized as usurpers ( tyrannoi ) (example: Vitalian )
late antique Jewish - Samaritan "kings" in Palestine, whose messianic claims questioned the legitimacy of imperial rule (example: Patricius )

Usurpers, who at times were also legitimate bearers of one of the above-mentioned imperial dignities, are not specifically listed, but rather remain assigned to the respective emperor in the comment column (examples: Anastasios II , Emperor 713–715 / 16, or Johannes Dukas , Caesar since 1061 under Constantine X and his successors, are not specifically listed as counter-emperors under Leo III or Michael VII).

With regard to the opposing emperors, the list does not claim to be complete, especially since nothing or almost nothing is known about some of them apart from their names.