Symeon Logothete (or Symeon Magister) was a 10th-century Byzantine Greek historian and poet.
Symeon wrote a world chronicle that goes from Creation to the year 948. [1] Its original full title is On the Creation of the World from the Time of Genesis, and a Chronicle after That, Compiled by Symeon the Magister and Logothete from Various Chronicles and Histories. The first part down to the reign of Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711) is based on an epitome of another chronicle. The second part down to 842 is closely related to the work of George Hamartolos. The third, covering the years 842–948, is the original work of Symeon. It can be divided into three distinct sections, each written in a different style: the reigns of Michael III (842–867) and Basil I (867–886); the reigns of Leo VI (886–912) and Alexander (912–913); and his personal recollections of the period 913–948.
The chronicle survives in three redactions: the original version, with a favourable view of the reign of Romanos Lekapenos (919–944); the version that serves as a continuation of George Hamartolos and at one time had its own continuation down to 963; and the version contained in the chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon. It also survives in a Church Slavonic translation. There are other continuations of the original beyond 948 besides the one that was attached to the continuation of George Hamartolos. That continuation was probably composed in the circle of the Phokas family.
Symeon wrote a dirge on the death of the Emperor Constantine VII (959) and a poem on the death of Stephen Lekapenos (963). He had probably finished his chronicle by this time. Manuscript copies of the dirge to Constantine refer to Symeon with the titles magistros and logothetes tou stratiotikou . There is a collection of letters attributed to Symeon, magistros, logothetes tou dromou and former protasekretis . It cannot be dated precisely. Internal references may indicate a late 10th-century origin. Some accompanying letters of Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos (901–925) may indicate a date earlier in the century. It is not certain, therefore, that the author of the letters it he same as the author of the chronicle. Taken all together the evidence is consistent with the historian, poet and letter-writer being the same person as the Symeon who was promoted to magistros and logothetes by Nikephoros II Phokas (963–969) and then to logothetes tou dromou by John I Tzimiskes (969–976).
The identification of Symeon Logothete with the near-contemporary hagiographer Symeon Metaphrastes is far from certain.
Nikephoros Ouranos, Latinized as Nicephorus Uranus, was a high-ranking Byzantine official and general during the reign of Emperor Basil II. One of the emperor's closest associates, he was active in Europe in the wars against the Bulgarians, scoring a major victory at Spercheios, and against the Arabs in Syria, where he held command during the first decade of the 11th century as Basil's virtual viceroy. A well-educated man, he wrote a military manual (Taktika) and composed several surviving poems and hagiographies.
The Macedonian dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest extent since the Muslim conquests, and the Macedonian Renaissance in letters and arts began. The dynasty was named after its founder, Basil I the Macedonian who came from the theme of Macedonia, which, at the time, was part of Thrace.
The logothetēs tou dromou, in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/Dromos or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Public Post, and one of the most senior fiscal ministers (logothetes) of the Byzantine Empire.
Theoktistos or Theoctistus was a leading Byzantine official during the second quarter of the 9th century and the de facto head of the regency for the underage emperor Michael III from 842 until his dismissal and murder in 855. A eunuch courtier, he assisted in the ascent of Michael II to the throne in 822, and was rewarded with the titles of patrikios and later magistros. He held the high posts of chartoularios tou kanikleiou and logothetēs tou dromou under Michael and his son Theophilos. After Theophilos' death in 842, Theoktistos became member of the regency council, but soon managed to sideline the other members and establish himself as the virtual ruler of the Empire. Noted for his administrative and political competence, Theoktistos played a major role in ending the Byzantine Iconoclasm, and fostered the ongoing renaissance in education within the Empire. He also continued the persecution of the Paulician sect, but had mixed success in the wars against the Arabs. When Michael III came of age in 855, his uncle Bardas persuaded him to throw off the tutelage of Theoktistos and his mother, the Empress-dowager Theodora, and on 20 November 855, Theoktistos was assassinated by Bardas and his followers.
The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called magistros (μάγιστρος), until it disappeared in the 12th century.
Leo Phokas was an early 10th-century Byzantine general of the noble Phokas clan. As Domestic of the Schools, the Byzantine army's commander-in-chief, he led a large-scale campaign against the Bulgarians in 917, but was heavily defeated at the battles of Acheloos and Katasyrtai. He then plotted to seize the throne from the young Byzantine emperor Constantine VII, but was outmaneuvered by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who managed to become guardian and later father-in-law of the Emperor. After Lekapenos seized control of the Byzantine Empire, Leo led an unsuccessful revolt, and was captured and blinded.
Joseph Bringas was an important Byzantine eunuch official in the reigns of Emperor Constantine VII and Emperor Romanos II, serving as chief minister and effective regent during the latter. Having unsuccessfully opposed the rise of Nikephoros Phokas to the imperial throne in 963, he was exiled to a monastery, where he died in 965.
Basil Lekapenos, also called the Parakoimomenos or the Nothos, was an illegitimate child of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. He served as the parakoimomenos and chief minister of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period 947 to 985, under emperors Constantine VII, Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II.
Nikephoros Phokas, usually surnamed the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, was one of the most prominent Byzantine generals of the late 9th century, and the first important member of the Phokas family. As a youth he was taken into the personal retinue of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian, rising quickly to the posts of protostrator and then governor of Charsianon, whence he fought with success against the Arabs. In c. 886 he led a major expedition in southern Italy, where his victories laid the foundation for the Byzantine resurgence in the peninsula. After his return, he was raised to the post of Domestic of the Schools, in effect commander-in-chief of the army, which he led with success against the Arabs in the east and the Bulgarians of Tsar Simeon in the Balkans. He died either in 895/6 or, less likely, sometime c. 900. Contemporaries and later historians lauded him for his military ability and character. Both of his sons later succeeded him as Domestics of the Schools. His grandsons Nikephoros and Leo were likewise distinguished generals, while the former became emperor in 963–969, spearheading the recovery of several lost provinces from the Arabs.
The parakoimōmenos was a Byzantine court position, usually reserved for eunuchs. The position's proximity to the emperors guaranteed its holders influence and power, and many of them, especially in the 9th and 10th centuries, functioned as the Byzantine Empire's chief ministers.
Theophanes Continuatus or Scriptores post Theophanem is the Latin name commonly applied to a collection of historical writings preserved in the 11th-century Vat. gr. 167 manuscript. Its name derives from its role as the continuation, covering the years 813–961, of the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, which reaches from 285 to 813. The manuscript consists of four distinct works, in style and form very unlike the annalistic approach of Theophanes.
Basileopatōr was one of the highest secular titles of the Byzantine Empire. It was an exceptional post, and conferred only twice in the Empire's history.
Leo Phokas or Phocas was a prominent Byzantine general who scored a number of successes in the eastern frontier in the mid-10th century alongside his older brother, the Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. He served as chief minister during his brother's reign, but was dismissed and imprisoned by his successor, John Tzimiskes.
Maleinos was the surname of a Byzantine Greek family, first attested in the 9th century, which rose to be amongst the most important and powerful members of the Anatolian aristocracy in the 10th century, providing many senior generals to the Byzantine army. After its wealth and power became the target of Byzantine emperor Basil II, it declined, although its members are still attested in Anatolia and the Balkans throughout the 11th and 12th centuries.
Phokas or Phocas, feminine form Phokaina, was the name of a Byzantine aristocratic clan from Cappadocia, which in the 9th and 10th centuries provided a series of high-ranking generals and an emperor, Nikephoros II Phokas. Its members and their clients monopolized the high-command positions of the Byzantine army for much of the 10th century and led the successful Byzantine offensive against the Arabs in the East. As one of the leading families of the Anatolian military aristocracy, the Phokades were also involved in a series of rebellions that laid claim to power and challenged the emperors at Constantinople. Their power was eventually broken by Basil II, and the family declined in importance after the 11th century.
The Skleros, Latinized Sclerus, feminine form Skleraina (Σκλήραινα), Latinized Scleraena, was a noble Byzantine family active mostly in the 9th–11th centuries as members of the military aristocracy, and as civil functionaries thereafter.
The rhaiktōr was a high-ranking court position of the middle Byzantine Empire.
Theodore Daphnopates was a senior Byzantine official and author. He served as imperial secretary, and possibly protasekretis, under three emperors, Romanos I Lekapenos, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, and Romanos II, rising to the ranks of patrikios and magistros, and the post of Eparch of the City. Daphnopates' public career ended with the accession of Nikephoros II Phokas in 963, when he went into retirement. Daphnopates also participated in the encyclopaedism movement, writing several homilies and theological as well as historical works, few of which survive. Daphnopates is best known for his surviving correspondence, and is considered by some modern scholars as the author of the last section of the chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus.
Pseudo-Simeon is the conventional name given to the anonymous author of a late 10th-century Byzantine Greek chronicle which survives in a single codex, Parisinus Graecus 1712, copied in the 12th or 13th century.
The Siege of Chandax in 960-961 was the centerpiece of the Byzantine Empire's campaign to recover the island of Crete which since the 820s had been ruled by Muslim Arabs. The campaign followed a series of failed attempts to reclaim the island from the Muslims stretching as far back as 827, only a few years after the initial conquest of the island by the Arabs, and was led by the general and future emperor Nikephoros Phokas. It lasted from autumn 960 until spring 961, when the main Muslim fortress and capital of the island, Chandax was captured. The reconquest of Crete was a major achievement for the Byzantines, as it restored Byzantine control over the Aegean littoral and diminished the threat of Saracen pirates, for which Crete had provided a base of operations.
