The Timarion (Greek : Τιμαρίων) is a Byzantine pseudo-Lucianic satirical dialogue probably composed in the twelfth century (there are references to the eleventh-century Michael Psellus), though possibly later.
The eponymous hero, on his way to a Christian fair at Thessalonica, is unexpectedly taken to Hades, which is ruled by pagan figures and pagan justice (including the emperor Theophilos as a judge), and where "Galilæans" (that is, Christians) make up only one sect (αἵρεσις) of many.
In one scene, a eunuch whose face "shines like the sun" whispers in Timarion's ear. His companion Theodore says it's his guardian angel.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was a Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the Corpus Areopagiticum or Corpus Dionysiacum.
Gregory Pakourianos was a Byzantine politician and military commander. He was the founder of the Monastery of the Mother of God Petritzonitissa in Bachkovo and author of its typikon. The monks of this Orthodox monastery were Iberians.
Written in Syriac in the late seventh century, the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius shaped and influenced Christian eschatological thinking in the Middle Ages. Falsely attributed to Methodius of Olympus, a fourth century Church Father, the work attempts to make sense of the Islamic conquest of the Near East. The Apocalypse is noted for incorporating numerous aspects of Christian eschatology such as the invasion of Gog and Magog, the rise of the Antichrist, and the tribulations that precede the end of the world.
The megas logothetēs was an official who served as effective foreign minister of the Byzantine Empire, in the period from c. 1250 to c. 1350, after which it continued as an honorific dignity. The office evolved from the Komnenian-era logothetēs tōn sekretōn, and was established during the Empire of Nicaea. Its holders were frequently distinguished scholars, who played a prominent role in the civil and military affairs of their time; three of its holders also served in tandem as the head of the civil administration and effective prime minister (mesazōn) of the Empire. The title was also used in the Empire of Trebizond. After the fall of Constantinople, it was adopted in the Danubian Principalities and as a honorific title for laymen in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Imperial University of Constantinople, sometimes known as the University of the Palace Hall of Magnaura, was an Eastern Roman educational institution that could trace its corporate origins to 425 AD, when the emperor Theodosius II founded the Pandidakterion.
The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire, of Constantinople and Asia Minor, the Greek islands, Cyprus, and portions of the southern Balkans, and formed large minorities, or pluralities, in the coastal urban centres of the Levant and northern Egypt. Throughout their history, the Byzantine Greeks self-identified as Romans, but are referred to as "Byzantine Greeks" in modern historiography. Latin speakers identified them simply as Greeks or with the term Romei.
A crypto-pagan is a pagan who maintains the pretense of adherence to a non-pagan religion while continuing to observe their own religious practices in private. The term stems from the Greek word kryptos, meaning 'hidden' or 'secret'. This may be in response to a perceived danger of rejection by society, or of formalized persecution by the government, or an established religious organization.
Sebastos was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus. The female form of the title was sebastē (σεβαστή). From the late 11th century on, during the Komnenian period, it and variants derived from it, like sebastokrator, protosebastos, panhypersebastos, and sebastohypertatos, formed the basis of a new system of court titles for the Byzantine Empire.
Demetrios Pepagomenos or Demetrius Pepagomenus was a Byzantine Greek savant who resided in Constantinople. He became a physician, a veterinary physician, and a naturalist.
Neoplatonism was a major influence on Christian theology throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in the West. This was due to St. Augustine of Hippo, who was influenced by the early Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, as well as the works of the Christian writer Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, who was influenced by later Neoplatonists, such as Proclus and Damascius.
The history of the Jews in the Byzantine Empire has been well recorded and preserved.
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.
The Vardariotai, sometimes Anglicized as Vardariots, were an ethnic and territorial group in the later Byzantine Empire, which provided a palace guard regiment during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Kourbania refers to a practice of Christianized animal sacrifices in some parts of Greece. It usually involves the slaughter of lambs as "kourbania" offerings to certain saints.
The allagion was a Byzantine military term designating a military unit. It first appeared in the mid-to-late 10th century, and by the 13th century had become the most frequent term used for the Byzantine army's standing regiments, persisting until the late 14th century.
Francis Dvornik, in Czech František Dvorník, was a Catholic priest and academic. He is considered one of the leading twentieth-century experts on Slavic and Byzantine history, and on relations between the churches of Rome and Constantinople.
The Michaelion was one of the earliest and most famous sanctuaries dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel in the Roman Empire. According to tradition, it was built in the 4th century by Emperor Constantine the Great over an ancient pagan temple, and was located just north of Constantinople, in the village of Sosthenion on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait.
Paul Magdalino FBA is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews, Professor of Byzantine History at Koç University, Istanbul; and a Fellow of the British Academy.
The title of epi tou stratou was a Byzantine military position attested during the 14th century.
Meletios the Younger (c. 1035 – c. 1105), also called Meletios of Myoupolis, was a Byzantine Greek monk, pilgrim and priest. He is venerated as a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy and his feast is celebrated on 1 September.
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