Category: Glossary of Byzantine Terms

Zealots: strongly iconophile monks in the late eighth to tenth century; midfourteenth century gro...

Visigoths (western Goths): Groupings of Goths who raided into Roman territory in the fourth and f...

Strategos: A general; in Byzantine times usually the governor of a military district or thema, an...

Rupenids: First dynasty to rule Armenian Cilicia, from the late eleventh to early thirteenth cent...

Uzes:A branch of the Oghuz confederation of Turkic-speaking peoples; ousted the Pechenegs from th...

Doux: Originally in the later Roman period a commander of a military unit; commander of a unit of...

Scyths: Classical name for Iranian-speaking nomads of Black Sea steppes; used by Byzantines of se...

Stratiotes: A soldier; by derivation from the 10th century a holder of “military” land, subject t...

Koinobion: A type of monastery which emphasized a communal lifestyle, including attendance at chu...

Autokrator: Greek equivalent of the Latin imperator, emperor, used especially after the 7th centu...

Nomisma: Lat. solidus, the gold coin introduced by Constantine I which remained the basis for the...

Charistikiarios: A person or institution that was granted administrative responsibilities over a ...

Caesar: Title given to a junior emperor or – from the eleventh century onwards – to imperial rela...

Codex Justinianus: Codification of Roman law produced at the beginning of the reign of Justinian ...

Augustus (m.), Augusta (f.) senior emperor within a group of coemperors, or within a single famil...

Arians: followers of a heresy (named after its main proponent, the third century theologian Arius...

Caesaropapism: system whereby the monarch exercised unfettered control over the church in his dom...

Vlachs: Romance-language-speaking pastoral inhabitants of eastern and south-eastern Europe, desce...

Fatimids: Shiite dynasty based in Cairo from the later tenth century; their dominions included no...