Stratelates
Stratēlatēs(Greek:στρατηλάτης,"driver/leader of the army" ) was aGreekterm designating a general, which also became anhonorary dignityin theByzantine Empire.In the former sense, it was often applied to military saints, such asTheodore Stratelates.
In the late Roman/early Byzantine Empire, the title was used, along with the old-establishedstratēgos,to translate into Greek the office ofmagister militum( "master of the soldiers" ).[1]In the 6th century, however, Novel 90 of EmperorJustinian I(r. 527–565) attests the existence of a middle-ranking honorific title ofstratēlatēs,which ranked alongside theapo eparchōn( "formerprefect").[2]Aprōtostratēlatēs( "firststratēlatēs") Theopemptos is attested in a 7th-century seal, likely indicating the senior-most dignitary among the entire class of thestratēlatai.[3]Thisstratēlasiawas a purely honorary dignity, attached to no office, and declined measurably in prestige during the 7th and 8th centuries:sigillographicevidence shows that it came to be held by the lower rung of the imperial bureaucracy, such askommerkiarioi(customs supervisors),kouratores(supervisors of imperial establishments) andnotarioi(imperial secretaries).[1][3]By the late 9th century, it ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy of imperial dignities (along with theapo eparchōn), as attested in the 899Klētorologionof Philotheos. TheKlētorologionalso records that the dignity was conferred by the award of a codicil or diploma (Greek: χάρτης), retaining 6th-century practice.[4]In the 10th-11th centuries, the term returned to its original military meaning, being used for senior generals, including the commanders-in-chief (theDomestics of the Schools) of East and West.[1]
At the same time, however, the presence of atagma(professional standing regiment) called theStratēlataiis attested inAsia Minorin the late 10th century, formed by EmperorJohn I Tzimiskes(r. 969–976).[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Sources
[edit]
- Bury, John Bagnell(1911).The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century - With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos.London: Oxford University Press.
- Kazhdan, Alexander(1991). "Stratelates". InKazhdan, Alexander(ed.).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 1965.ISBN0-19-504652-8.
- Kühn, Hans-Joachim (1991).Die byzantinische Armee im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Organisation der Tagmata(in German). Vienna: Fassbaender Verlag.ISBN3-9005-38-23-9.