Samona is a eunuch of Arab origin, one of the most influential Byzantine figures of the first decade of the 10th century.
| Samona | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek Σαμῶνας | ||||
 Samona incites the emperor Leo against Andronicus Duca | ||||
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| Predecessor | Vasily Macedonian | |||
| Successor | Konstantin Paflagonets | |||
| Birth | OK. 875 | |||
| Death | after 908 | |||
Samona was born in Melitene approx. 875 in a probably noble family - it is known that his father was an ambassador to Byzantium in 908. After Samon was captured by the Byzantines and made a eunuch, he entered the service of Stylian Zautze , a powerful courtier and father-in-law of Emperor Leo VI . After the death of Stylian and his daughter, Empress Zoe , in 899, the relatives of the deceased, wanting to maintain their power, made a conspiracy. Having revealed the plot to Leo, Samona entered the imperial service with the cubicular and received a third of the wealth deprived of titles, wealth and sent into exile members of the Zauts family.
Samona’s career developed rapidly, in 900 he became a protospafarium , and by 903 he became the confidant and “right hand” of the emperor. According to modern researchers, its functions included security and intelligence issues. However, in 904, Samona was involved in a strange incident: under the pretext of visiting a monastery, he left Constantinople and went east, hoping to reach his native lands. When he was unable to cross the Galis River, he tried to find refuge in the temple. In the end, Samona was captured by Konstantin Duka and put to trial by the senate . Although he was not acquitted, Samona apparently retained the emperor’s disposition, escaping with four months of house arrest.
After liberation, Samona's ascent through the ranks continued. Having received the title of patrician , the highest available for the eunuch, he took the position of Protestorate . In 906 he was honored to become the godfather of the son of Leo VI, the future emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny . In 906–907, he played an important, but not public role in the fall of the commanders Andronicus Duci and Eustachius Argyr. At the same time, during the confrontation between the emperor and patriarch Nikolai Mystic over the marriages of Leo VI, Samon was a supporter of the latter. As a sign of gratitude, probably after the removal of Mystic, Samone was granted the highest post of parakimomen for eunuchs in Byzantium, vacant from the end of the reign of Michael III .
The fall of Samona was prepared by his own hands when, in 907, he presented the Empress Zoe Carbonopsine with a eunuch Konstantin Paflagonets , to whom the imperial couple soon began to feel favor. Samona announced that the Empress and Constantine were in love, as a result of which the angry Leo expelled Constantine to the monastery. However, the opal of the new favorite did not last long and he was restored to service in the palace. Having failed, Samona decided to go the other way and, together with his secretary, prepared a pamphlet insulting the emperor and, claiming that it was written by Konstantin, he let Leo read it. When these machinations were exposed in the summer of 908, Samona was tonsured and sent to the monastery of Martinakios. Konstantin Paflagonets succeeded him as a parakimomen.
Literature
- Janin, Raymond (1935), "Un ministre arabe à Byzance: Samonas", Echos d'Orient (no. 36): 307–318
- Jenkins, RJH (1948), "The 'Flight' of Samonas", Speculum (no. 23): 217–235
- 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 .
- Ringrose, Kathryn M. (2003), The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium , University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226720159
- Rydén, L. (1984), "The Portrait of the Arab Samonas in Byzantine Literature", Graeco-Arabica (Athens) (no. 3): 101–108
- Tougher, Shaun (1997), The Reign of Leo VI (886–912): Politics and People , BRILL, ISBN 9004097775