Stratopedarches
Stratopedarchēs, sometimes Anglicized as Stratopedarch, was a Greek term used with regard to high-ranking military commanders from the 1st century BC on, becoming a proper office in the 10th-century Byzantine Empire. It continued to be employed as a designation, and a proper title, of commanders-in-chief until the 13th century, when the title of megas stratopedarchēs or Grand Stratopedarch appeared. This title was awarded to senior commanders and officials, while the ordinary stratopedarchai were henceforth low-ranking military officials.
History
Origin and early use
The term first appears in the late 1st century BC in the Hellenistic Near East. Its origin is unclear, but it is used as a translation, in some inscriptions, for the contemporary Roman legionary post of praefectus castrorum. Josephus uses the term to refer to the quartermaster-general of all camps, while Dionysius of Halicarnassus used it to refer to the role of a primus pilus in a legion that had lost its commander. It also occurs in the Bible, where it has been interpreted as referring to the praetorian prefect, the commander of the camp and garrison of the Praetorian Guard in Rome, or the subordinate officials praefectus peregrinorum and princeps castrorum.From the 1st century AD, it was used in a broader sense as a literary term to refer to generals, i.e. as a synonym of the older title stratēgos. Thus in the 4th century, the bishop and historian Eusebius writes of the "stratopedarchēs, whom the Romans call dux". Similarly, in the early 5th century, Ardabur was called "stratopedarchēs of both forces" by Olympiodorus of Thebes, while the acts of the Council of Chalcedon refer to Zeno, "patrikios and stratopedarchēs of both forces of the East". This is an obvious translation of the Latin term magister utriusque militiae, especially as the contemporary historian Eunapius records that the stratopedarchēs was "the greatest of offices". Other Greek-language authors translate Ardabur's title more commonly with stratēlatēs or stratēgos. The German historian Albert Vogt suggested that the stratopedarchai were military intendants, responsible for army supplies and managing the fortified assembly bases, the mitata.
However, as the Byzantinist Rodolphe Guilland commented, references to a stratopedarchēs are rare before the 10th century, and always seem to be a different way of referring—often anachronistically—to a magister militum, or later a thematic stratēgos. Such references exist to emperor Jovian, who was a general before his rise to the throne, by Theophanes the Confessor; Rusticius, a general of Leo I, by Zonaras; Busur, an Arab commander in, by Theophanes; Krateros, a "stratopedarchēs of the East" who was sent to arrest Theodore Stoudites; Eudokimos, stratopedarchēs/stratēgos of Cappadocia and Charsianon under Theophilos ; and a certain Mousilikes, subordinate of the thematic stratēgos of Sicily. A prōtospatharios Constantine, whose seal mentions him as a stratopedarchēs, cannot be further identified.
Middle Byzantine period
In the middle Byzantine period, the term stratopedon came to signify more the army on campaign, rather than the camp itself; hence the term stratopedarchēs was used more in the sense of "commander-in-chief". The term acquired a technical meaning in 967, when Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas named the eunuch Peter as stratopedarchēs before sending him with an army to Cilicia. The Escorial Taktikon, written a few years later, shows the existence of two stratopedarchai, one of the East and one of the West. This arrangement parallels that of the two domestikoi tōn scholōn, a fact that led Nicolas Oikonomides to suggest that the post was created as a substitute of the latter office, which was barred to eunuchs.During the 11th and 12th centuries, this precise arrangement is no longer in evidence; instead, stratopedarchēs was one of the official titles of the commanders-in-chief of the Byzantine army, and is amply attested in seals.
Late Byzantine period
The title megas stratopedarchēs was instituted by the Emperor Theodore II Laskaris for his chief minister and confidante, George Mouzalon. Theodore II states in a decree that he "established the dignity anew", but no other holder of the office is known before that time. The mid-14th century Book of Offices of pseudo-Kodinos places the megas stratopedarchēs as the ninth-most senior official of the state below the Emperor, ranking between the prōtostratōr and the megas primmikērios. Kodinos reports that he was "supervisor of the provisioning of the army, that is food, drink and all necessities". In reality, however, during the Palaiologan period the stratopedarchēs was most likely an honorific court title, and did not necessarily entail an active military command. Like many other titles in the Palaiologan period, the post could be held by two people simultaneously. According to Pseudo-Kodinos, the ceremonial costume of the megas stratopedarchēs was identical to the offices immediately superior to it: a rich silk kabbadion tunic, a golden-red skiadion hat decorated with embroideries in the klapōton style, without veil, or a domed skaranikon hat, again in red and gold and decorated with golden wire, with a portrait of the emperor standing in front, and another of him enthroned in the rear. Only his staff of office differed, with all the knobs except the topmost in silver, and golden engraved knots.Pseudo-Kodinos further reports the existence of four subordinate stratopedarchai, occupying the 65th to 68th rank in the imperial hierarchy respectively. These were:
- The stratopedarchēs of the monokaballoi. Kodinos explains that cavalry used to be raised in the themes according to the wealth of its owners, with the classes being trikaballoi, dikaballoi, and monokaballoi after the number of horses each rider provided; a system similar to that current in Western Europe at the time.
- The stratopedarchēs of the tzangratores.
- The stratopedarchēs of the mourtatoi. According to Kodinos these were palace guards armed with the bow. Their name is commonly held to derive from the Arabo-Turkish word murted/murtat, implying they were Christianized Turks, but according to Mark Bartusis may refer more generally to the offspring of mixed Greek–Turkish unions.
- The stratopedarchēs of the tzakōnes. The tzakōnes or Lakōnes had served as marines since Michael VIII Palaiologos. According to Kodinos, some served as palace guards, equipped with maces and wearing with a distinctive blue cuirass that bore two white lions facing each other on the chest, but the stratopedarchēs supervised those tzakōnes who were employed as garrison troops in various fortresses.
The semi-autonomous Despotate of the Morea appears to have had a megas stratopedarchēs and subordinate stratopedarchai of its own.
List of known ''stratopedarchai''
| Name | Tenure | Appointed by | Notes | Refs |
| Peter | 967–977 | Nikephoros II Phokas John I Tzimiskes | Eunuch servant of Nikephoros II, he was raised to stratopedarchēs of the eastern armies and played a major role in the campaigns of the next decade. In 969 he led the capture of Antioch and forced the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo to become an imperial vassal, participated in the Siege of Dorostolon, and was killed in 977 fighting against the rebel general Bardas Skleros. | |
| Nikephoros | 1048–1049 | Constantine IX Monomachos | A eunuch and former cleric, he was ignorant of military affairs but a trusted friend of Constantine IX. Named rhaiktōr and stratopedarchēs, he succeeded in subduing the Shaddadid emir of Dvin, Abu'l-Aswar Shavur ibn Fadl, but was defeated in the next year fighting against the Pechenegs. | |
| Isaac Komnenos | Constantine IX Monomachos | The future emperor was "relieved of the stratopedarchia of the East" by Empress Theodora after her accession; the term might be used generically as "field command", as Isaac was most likely a domestikos tōn scholōn, but it is also possible that he was named stratopedarchēs of the East by Constantine IX. | ||
| Romanos Skleros | Constantine IX Monomachos Theodora | Great-grandson of the general and rebel Bardas Skleros, he rose to prominence due to his sister, who was the mistress of Constantine IX, and was raised successively to higher commands and titles. He ended his career with the titles of proedros and stratopedarchēs of the East. | ||
| Alexios Komnenos | Michael VII Doukas | The future emperor is mentioned as stratopedarchēs of the East in 1074, by his son-in-law and historian Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. | ||
| Eumathios Philokales | 1092/3–1111/2 | Alexios I Komnenos | One of the most distinguished commanders of Alexios I Komnenos, he was named stratopedarchēs and governor of Cyprus in 1092/3, a post he held at least until 1111/2. By 1118, he had risen further to become megas doux. | |
| Aspietes | Alexios I Komnenos | Of noble Armenian descent, he served as stratopedarchēs of the East and governor of Cilicia in, but due to his negligence was defeated by Tancred of Antioch. | ||
| Isaac Komnenos | unknown | John II Komnenos | A basileopatōr, sebastokratōr, and stratopedarchēs John Komnenos Doukas is attested in a seal of office. The first title is more suitable for Isaac, the older brother of Alexios I who stepped aside for Alexios to accede to the throne, but the surname "Doukas" points to Alexios I's son Isaac. Apart from the title of sebastokratōr, the other two titles are otherwise unattested for him. | |
| Manuel Lykaïtes | 12th century | unknown | Known only from a single seal, he was stratopedarchēs and doux of the great imperial camp and horse farms at Malagina. | |
| Andronikos Komnenos | 12th century | unknown | Mentioned by Eustathius of Thessalonica, otherwise unidentified. | |
| Michael Phokas | John III Vatatzes | A relative by marriage of the Nicaean emperor John Vatatzes, he is attested as "stratopedarchēs of the Thracesian Theme and of Philadelphia", in effect combining the role of a provincial governor with the new role of the stratopedarchēs as a fiscal intendant over a fixed circumscription. | ||
| Theophanes | mid-13th century | unknown | Mentioned, as "stratopedarchēs and paradotēs", in an act concerning possessions of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian. | |
| George Sophianos | John V Palaiologos | Stratopedarchēs and governor of Karyopolis in the Morea. | ||
| Siouros | Andronikos II Palaiologos | Stratopedarchēs of the tzangratores, sent to command troops against the Ottoman Turks, he was defeated near the fortress of Katoikia, losing the army's pay chest. | ||
| Petzikopoulos | before 1325 | Andronikos II Palaiologos | Known through his wife Melane, daughter Eulogia, and sons Demetrios Doukas Petzikopoulos and John Senachereim, all active in Thessalonica in 1325–1327. | |
| John Choumnos | John V Palaiologos | Pansebastos sebastos and stratopedarchēs of the monokaballoi, mentioned in a chrysobull gifting him with lands at Zichnai. He was the son of either the parakoimomenos John Choumnos, or the megas stratopedarchēs George Choumnos. | ||
| Demetrios | John VI Kantakouzenos | Mentioned as recently deceased in a synodal act of November 1348 along with his brother, the orphanotrophos Alexios. Their mother was a lady of the Xanthopoulos family. | ||
| Akrokondylos | unknown | Mentioned among the donors of lands to the Brontochion Monastery at Mystras. | ||
| Kantakouzenos | before 1453 | unknown | Unnamed son of the prōtostratōr Manuel Kantakouzenos. |