Praetor - Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

Like many other Roman institutions, the praetor (Greek: πραίτωρ, praitōr) survived in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. In the early 9th century, the praitōr was a junior administrative official in the themata, subordinate to the governing stratēgos. Gradually however, the civil functionaries assumed greater power, and by the late 10th century, the praitores (or krites, "judges") were placed at the head of the civil administration of a thema. The division of civil and military duties was in essence reversed again in the 12th century, when the posts of praitōr and military doux were held in tandem. The provincial post fell out of use after the collapse of the Empire in 1204. In the administration of Constantinople, the imperial capital, however, the post of the praitōr tōn demōn, head of the police and subordinate to the city's eparch, is still attested as late as the mid-14th century.