Byzantinism - Aristocracy and Bureaucracy

Aristocracy and Bureaucracy

The Byzantine Empire was the medieval continuation of the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire and thus had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy which was derived from earlier Roman systems. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, and beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative machinery of the Byzantine state. In addition, a large number of honorific titles existed, which the emperor awarded to his subjects or to friendly foreign rulers.

Over the nearly fifteen hundred years of the empire's existence, different titles were adopted and discarded, and many lost or gained prestige. At first the various titles of the empire were the same as those in the late Roman Empire, as the Byzantine Empire was not yet distinguished from Rome. By the time of Heraclius in the 7th century many of the titles had become obsolete and had been replaced by others inspired by their Greek tradition (i.e. "basileus" instead of "caesar" or "augustus" for the title of the emperor himself) and by the time of Alexius I, many of the positions were either new or drastically changed, but they remained basically the same from Alexius' reign to the fall of the Empire in 1453.

Among important qualities of the Empire was also the caesaropapism, the subjugation of church to the state.