Stratilate ( Greek: στρατηλάτης ) - the Greek term for military leader, later became also an honorary title in the Byzantine Empire. In the first sense, it is often applied to holy military leaders, such as Theodore Stratilat and Andrei Stratilat .
In the Late Roman Empire and the Early Byzantine Empire, the term stratilate was used along with the ancient Greek title stratigum - this can be translated into Greek the position of " magister militum " ("master of infantry") [1] . However, in the VI century, the 90 short story of Emperor Justinian I (c. 527-565) testifies to the existence of the middle honorary title of the stratilate, who ranked next to apo eparchōn (“former prefect”) [2] . The bearer of the title of protostratilate (“first stratilate”) was first mentioned on the press of the VII century [3] . This title, apparently, indicated the oldest among the entire class of stratilates [3] . The first known protostratilate was a certain Theopemp [3] . The title of stratilasia was a purely honorable advantage, not obtained with any title, and markedly reduced its prestige in the 7th and 8th centuries: sigillographic data show that they were at the lower levels of the imperial bureaucracy, like merchants (customs controllers), curators (heads of imperial institutions) and notaries (imperial secretaries) [1] [3] . Towards the end of the 9th century, the title of stratilate occupied a place at the base of the Byzantine bureaucracy (along with apo eparchōn ), as evidenced by the Clitology of Philotheus , compiled in 899. Clitorology also mentions that the title could be awarded as a testament to the will ( Greek χάρτης ). Having retained the practice of the VI century [4] , in the X-XI centuries, the term returned to its original military meaning and was used for high-ranking military leaders, including domestics of the scholas of the East and West [1] . Tagma of the stratilates of Asia Minor at the end of the 10th century, formed under the emperor John I of Tzimiskes (969–976), is also known [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Kazhdan, 1991 , p. 1965.
- ↑ Bury, 1911 , pp. 23-24.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Bury, 1911 , p. 24.
- ↑ Bury, 1911 , p. 22.
Literature
- Bury, John B. The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century: With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos . - London, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1911.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium : [ eng. ] : in 3 vol. / ed. by Dr. Alexander Kazhdan . - N. Y .; Oxford: Oxford University Press , 1991 .-- 2232 p. - ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .