Caesar (Byzantine title)

Last updated March 17, 2019

Caesar or kaisar (Greek : καῖσαρ) was a senior court title in the Byzantine Empire. Originally, as in the late Roman Empire ( caesar ), it was used for a subordinate co-emperor or the heir apparent, and was first among the "awarded" dignities. The office enjoyed extensive privileges, great prestige and power. When Alexios I Komnenos created the title of sebastokratōr , kaisar became third in importance, and fourth after Manuel I Komnenos created the title of despotēs , which it remained until the end of the Empire. The feminine form was kaisarissa. It remained an office of great importance, usually awarded to imperial relations, as well as a few high-ranking and distinguished officials, and only rarely awarded to foreigners. The title developed into the Slavic term tsar .

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.

The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both the terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical exonyms; its citizens continued to refer to their empire simply as the Roman Empire, or Romania (Ῥωμανία), and to themselves as "Romans".

The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization. An Iron Age civilization, it had a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. From the constitutional reforms of Augustus to the military anarchy of the third century, the Empire was a principate ruled from the city of Rome. The Roman Empire was then divided between a Western Roman Empire, based in Milan and later Ravenna, and an Eastern Roman Empire, based in Nicomedia and later Constantinople, and it was ruled by multiple emperors.

History

In the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, Caesar continued in existence as a title marking out the heir-apparent, although since the time of Theodosius I, most emperors chose to solidify the succession of their intended heirs by raising them to co-emperors. Hence the title was more frequently awarded to second- and third-born sons, or to close and influential relatives of the Emperor: thus for example Alexios Mosele was the son-in-law of Theophilos (ruled 829–842), Bardas was the uncle and chief minister of Michael III (r. 842–867), while Nikephoros II (r. 963–969) awarded the title to his father, Bardas Phokas.^[1]^[2] An exceptional case was the conferment of the dignity and its insignia to the Bulgarian khan Tervel by Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711) who had helped him regain his throne in 705.^[2]

Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was a Roman Emperor from 379 to 395, and the last emperor to rule over both the Eastern and the Western halves of the Roman Empire. On accepting his elevation, he campaigned against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the Empire. His resources were not sufficient to destroy them or drive them out, which had been Roman policy for centuries in dealing with invaders. By treaty, which followed his indecisive victory at the end of the Gothic War, they were established as foederati, autonomous allies of the Empire, south of the Danube, in Illyricum, within the Empire's borders. They were given lands and allowed to remain under their own leaders, a grave departure from Roman hegemonic ways. This turn away from traditional policies was accommodationist and had grave consequences for the Western Empire from the beginning of the century, as the Romans found themselves with the impossible task of defending the borders and deal with unruly federates within. Theodosius I was obliged to fight two destructive civil wars, successively defeating the usurpers Magnus Maximus in 387-388 and Eugenius in 394, though not without material cost to the power of the Empire.

Alexios Mosele or Musele/Mousele (Μουσελέ) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general, chosen by Emperor Theophilos for a time as his heir, betrothed to his daughter Maria and raised to the supreme dignity of Caesar. He campaigned in the Balkans, recovering territory from the Slavs, and fought with some success in Sicily against the Arabs. Recalled to Constantinople on suspicion of plotting to usurp the throne, he was imprisoned but later pardoned and allowed to retire to a monastery, where he spent the remainder of his days.

Theophilos was the Byzantine Emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Amorian dynasty and the last emperor to support iconoclasm. Theophilos personally led the armies in his lifelong war against the Arabs, beginning in 831.

According to the Klētorologion of 899, the Byzantine Caesar's insignia were a crown without a cross, and the ceremony of a Caesar's creation (in this case dating to Constantine V), is included in De Ceremoniis I.43.^[3] The title remained the highest in the imperial hierarchy until the introduction of the sebastokratōr (a composite derived from sebastos and autokratōr , the Greek equivalents of Augustus and imperator ) by Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and later of despotēs by Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180). The title remained in existence through the last centuries of the Empire. In the Palaiologan period, it was held by prominent nobles like Alexios Strategopoulos, but from the 14th century, it was mostly awarded to rulers of the Balkans such as the princes of Vlachia, Serbia and Thessaly.^[2]

The Klētorologion of Philotheos, is the longest and most important of the Byzantine lists of offices and court precedence (Taktika). It was published in September 899 during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise by the otherwise unknown prōtospatharios and atriklinēs Philotheos. As atriklinēs, Philotheos would have been responsible for receiving the guests for the imperial banquets (klētοria) and for conducting them to their proper seating places according to their place in the imperial hierarchy. In the preface to his work, he explicitly states that he compiled this treatise as a "precise exposé of the order of imperial banquets, of the name and value of each title, complied on the basis of ancient klētοrologia", and recommends its adoption at the imperial table.

Constantine V, denigrated by his enemies as Kopronymos or Copronymus, meaning the dung-named, was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Muslim disunity to make limited offensives on the Arab frontier. With his eastern frontier secure, he undertook repeated campaigns against the Bulgars in the Balkans. His military activity, and policy of settling Christian populations from the Arab frontier in Thrace, made Byzantium's hold on its Balkan territories more secure. His fervent support of Iconoclasm led to his vilification by later Byzantine historians and writers.

The De Ceremoniis is the conventional Latin name for a Greek book of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople. Its Greek title is often cited as Ἔκθεσις τῆς βασιλείου τάξεως, taken from the work's preface, or Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως. In non-specialist English sources, it tends to be called the Book of Ceremonies of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, a formula used by writers including David Talbot Rice and the modern English translation.

In the late Byzantine hierarchy, as recorded in the mid-14th century Book of Offices of pseudo-Kodinos, the rank continued to come after the sebastokratōr. Pseudo-Kodinos further records that the Caesar was equal in precedence to the panhypersebastos , another creation of Alexios I, but that Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) had raised his nephew Michael Tarchaneiotes to the rank of prōtovestiarios and decreed that to come after the Caesar; while under Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) the megas domestikos was raised to the same eminence, when it was awarded to the future emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354).^[4] According to pseudo-Kodinos, the Caesar's insignia under the Palaiologoi were a skiadion hat in red and gold, decorated with gold-wire embroideries, with a veil bearing the wearer's name and pendants identical to those of the despotēs and the sebastokratōr. He wore a red tunic (rouchon) similar to the emperor's (without certain decorations), and his shoes and stockings were blue, as were the accouterments of his horse; these were all identical to those of the sebastokratōr, but without the embroidered eagles of the latter. Pseudo-Kodinos writes that the particular forms of another form of hat, the domed skaranikon, and of the mantle, the tamparion, for the Caesar were not known.^[5]

The title of panhypersebastos was a Byzantine court title created by Alexios I Komnenos using the imperial root sebastos. It was always conferred to members of aristocratic families closely allied to the imperial family.

Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as the Co-Emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261, and as Byzantine Emperor from 1261 until his death. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire.

Michael Palaiologos Tarchaneiotes was a Byzantine aristocrat and general, active against the Turks in Asia Minor and against the Angevins in the Balkans from 1278 until his death from disease in 1284.

List of holders

Byzantine

Tervel, khan of the Bulgars, named in 705 by Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711).
Theophobos, named by Theophilos (r. 829–842).^[6]
Alexios Mosele, named by Theophilos (r. 829–842).
Bardas, named by his nephew Michael III (r. 842–867).
Bardas Phokas, named by his son Nikephoros II (r. 963–969).
John Doukas, named in 1059 by his brother Constantine X Doukas.
Nikephoros Bryennios, named by his father-in-law Alexios I Komnenos
Isaac Komnenos, named by his father Alexios I Komnenos (according to Ioannes Zonaras)
George II of Georgia, brother of Empress Maria of Alania, in 1081.
John Rogerios Dalassenos, named by John II Komnenos.
Alexios Strategopoulos, named by Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1261–1282).
Roger de Flor, leader of the Catalan Grand Company, named in 1304 by Andronikos II Palaiologos.
Hrelja, likely named by John VI Kantakouzenos.

The Bulgars were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic-Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. Emerging as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region, according to some researchers their roots can be traced to Central Asia. During their westward migration across the Eurasian steppe the Bulgars absorbed other ethnic groups and cultural influences, including Hunnic and Indo-European peoples. Modern genetic research on Central Asian Turkic people and ethnic groups related to the Bulgars points to an affiliation with Western Eurasian populations. The Bulgars spoke a Turkic language, i.e. Bulgar language of Oghuric branch. They preserved the military titles, organization and customs of Eurasian steppes, as well as pagan shamanism and belief in the sky deity Tangra.

Justinian II, surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus, was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Justinian II was an ambitious and passionate ruler who was keen to restore the Roman Empire to its former glories, but he responded poorly to any opposition to his will and lacked the finesse of his father, Constantine IV. Consequently, he generated enormous opposition to his reign, resulting in his deposition in 695 in a popular uprising, and he only returned to the throne in 705 with the help of a Bulgar and Slav army. His second reign was even more despotic than the first, and it too saw his eventual overthrow in 711, abandoned by his army who turned on him before killing him.

Theophobos or Theophobus, originally Nasir (ناصر), Nasr (نصر), or Nusayr (نصیر), was an Iranian commander of the Khurramites who converted to Christianity and entered Byzantine service under Emperor Theophilos. Raised to high rank and married into the imperial family, Theophobos was given command of his fellow Khurramites and served under Theophilos in his wars against the Abbasid Caliphate in 837–838. After the Byzantines' defeat at the Battle of Anzen, he was proclaimed emperor by his own men, but did not pursue this claim. Instead he peacefully submitted to Theophilos in the next year and was apparently pardoned, until he was executed by the dying emperor in 842 to prevent a challenge to the accession of Michael III.

Serbian

Grgur Golubić, named in 1347 by Stefan Dušan.
Vojihna, named in 1347 by Stefan Dušan.
Preljub, named in 1348–49 by Stefan Dušan.
Uglješa Vlatković, named by Uroš V.
Nikola Radonja, named by Uroš V.
Novak, named by Uroš V.

Grgur Golubić was a Serbian nobleman who served Emperors Stefan Dušan and Stefan Uroš V as kesar (caesar). He was the son of sevastokrator Branko Mladenović, and ruled the oblast (province) of Polog, in what is today northwestern Republic of Macedonia.

Vojihna or Vojin of Drama, was a Serbian nobleman that rose through the ranks and became one of the most acclaimed military commanders (voivode) and dukes of Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia during the Serbian Kingdom and Empire (1331–71), he was titled Caesar, hence, he is mostly known as Caesar Vojihna. He held the region of Drama.

Preljub Serbian military commander, Ruler of Thessaly

Preljub was a Serbian magnate who served Emperor Stefan Dušan as vojvoda (general). He participated in the southern conquests and held Thessaly with the rank of caesar (kesar) in 1348–56. His son Thomas Preljubović was Despot of Epirus in 1366–84.

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Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a Byzantine aristocrat related to the ruling Komnenos dynasty. During the reign of his cousin, Manuel I Komnenos, he served without success as a military commander against the Seljuk Turks, and as envoy to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Following Manuel's death, in 1182 he was sent to stop the rebellion of Andronikos I Komnenos, but was defeated and eventually defected to him. Shortly after, he led a failed conspiracy of leading aristocrats against Andronikos I. When it was discovered, Andronikos and his sons fled the Empire, ending up in Acre, where he died. He was the father of emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos.

References

↑ Bury 1911, p. 36.
1 2 3 ODB, "Caesar" (A. Kazhdan), p. 363.
↑ Bury 1911, pp. 20, 36.
↑ Verpeaux 1966, pp. 134–136.
↑ Verpeaux 1966, pp. 147–149.
↑ Juan Signes Codoñer (23 March 2016). The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829–842: Court and Frontier in Byzantium During the Last Phase of Iconoclasm. Routledge. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-317-03427-8.

Sources

Bury, John B. (1911). The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century – With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. Oxford University Publishing.
Ferjančić, Božidar (1970). "Севастократори и кесари у Српском царству" [Sebastocrators and Caesares in the Serbian Empire]. Зборник Филозофског факултета. Belgrade: 255–269.
Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
Verpeaux, Jean, ed. (1966). Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des Offices (in French). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

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[FOOTNOTEBury191136-1] Bury 1911, p. 36.

[FOOTNOTEODB"Caesar"_(A._Kazhdan),_p._363-2] 1 2 3 ODB, "Caesar" (A. Kazhdan), p. 363.

[FOOTNOTEBury191120,_36-3] Bury 1911, pp. 20, 36.

[FOOTNOTEVerpeaux1966134–136-4] Verpeaux 1966, pp. 134–136.

[FOOTNOTEVerpeaux1966147–149-5] Verpeaux 1966, pp. 147–149.

[6] Juan Signes Codoñer (23 March 2016). The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829–842: Court and Frontier in Byzantium During the Last Phase of Iconoclasm. Routledge. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-317-03427-8.