List_of_Byzantine_Emperors

List of Byzantine emperors

List of Byzantine emperors

Roman emperors in the East from 330 from 1453

For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors.

The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors (symbasileis) who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title.

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The following list starts with Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as an imperial capital, Constantinople, and who was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. Modern historians distinguish this later phase of the Roman Empire as Byzantine due to the imperial seat moving from Rome to Byzantium, the Empire's integration of Christianity, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin.

The Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire continued until 476. Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be Roman emperors in direct succession from Augustus;[2] the term "Byzantine" became convention in Western historiography in the 19th century. The use of the title "Roman Emperor" by those ruling from Constantinople was not contested until after the papal coronation of the Frankish Charlemagne as Holy Roman emperor (25 December 800).

In practice, according to the Hellenistic political system, the Byzantine emperor had been given total power through God to shape the state and its subjects, he was the last authority and legislator of the empire and all his work was in imitation of the sacred kingdom of God, also according to the Christian principles, he was the ultimate benefactor and protector of his people.[3]

The title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially "Augustus", although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus. Following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus (Gr. Βασιλεύς), which had formerly meant sovereign, though Augustus continued to be used in a reduced capacity. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, the title "Autokrator" (Gr. Αὐτοκράτωρ) was increasingly used. In later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the "Emperor of the Greeks". Towards the end of the Empire, the standard imperial formula of the Byzantine ruler was "[Emperor's name] in Christ, Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans" (cf. Ῥωμαῖοι and Rûm).[4]

Dynasties were a common tradition and structure for rulers and government systems in the medieval period. The principle or formal requirements for hereditary succession, however, was not a formal part of the Empire's governance,[5] hereditary succession was a custom and tradition, carried on as habit and benefitted from some sense of legitimacy, but not as a "rule" or inviolable or unchallengeable requirement of for office at the time.[1]

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Notes

  1. Regnal numbers were never used in the Byzantine Empire. Instead, the Byzantines used nicknames and patronymics to distinguish rulers of the same name. The numbering of Byzantine emperors is a purely historiographical invention.
  2. By the 4th century, the name Flavius had become a part of the imperial title: Cameron, Alan (1988). "Flavius : a Nicety of Protocol". Société d'Études Latines de Bruxelles. 47 (1): 26–33. JSTOR 41540754.
  3. By this time Latin had long fallen out of everyday use in the Eastern part of the Empire.
  4. Often enumerated as Constantine III, whereby the regnal numbering follows Constantine II, emperor in the West (317–340). More rarely, he is instead enumerated as Heraclius II.

References

  1. [1]
    Nicol, Donald MacGillivray, Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, Cambridge University Press, Second Edition, 1993, p. 72: "Hereditary succession to the throne was a custom or a convenience in Byzantium, not an inviolable principle. Emperors, particularly in the later period, would take pains to nominate their sons as co-emperors, for the rule of a dynasty made for stability and continuity. But in theory, the road to the throne was a carriere ouverte aux talents [career open to talents]..."
  2. [2]
    Hooker, Richard (1 October 2007). "European Middle Ages: The Byzantine Empire". Washington State University. Archived from the original on 24 February 1999. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. [3]
    Charanis, Peter (July 1969). "Early Christian and Byzantine Political Philosophy: Origins and Background. Francis Dvornik". Speculum. 44 (3): 459–460. doi:10.2307/2855514. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 2855514.
  4. [4]
    Morrisson, Cécile (2013) "Displaying the Emperor's Authority and Kharaktèr on the Marketplace" in Armstrong, Pamela. Authority in Byzantium. Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 978-1409436089
  5. [5]
    p. 183, Karayannopoulous, Yanis, "State Organization, Social Structure, Economy, and Commerce", History of Humanity – Scientific and Cultural Development from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries, Vol. IV, M. A. Al-Bakhit, L. Bazin, S. M. Cissoko and M. S. Asimov, Editors, UNESCO, Paris (2000)
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    Gregory, Timothy E.; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Constantine I the Great". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 498–500. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
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    Gregory, Timothy E. (1991). "Constantius II". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 524. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
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    Wickham, Christopher (2009). The inheritance of Rome. Penguin. p. 90. ISBN 9780670020980.
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    Gregory, Timothy E.; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Leo I". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1206–1207. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  10. [10]
    Gregory, Timothy E. (1991). "Zeno". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 2223. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  11. [11]
    Gregory, Timothy E. (1991). "Anastasios I". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
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    McKay/Hill, A History of World Societies. Bedford/St. Martin's, 9th edition. 2012
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  14. [14]
    Kazhdan, Alexander; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 502–503. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  15. [15]
    Brand, Charles M.; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Constantine VIII". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 503–504. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  16. [16]
    Brand, Charles M.; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Constantine IX Monomachos". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 504. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  17. [17]
    Talbot, Alice-Mary; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Michael IX Palaiologos". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1367–1368. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  18. [18]
    Talbot, Alice-Mary (1991). "Constantine XI Palaiologos". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 505. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
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