Theocritus (comes domesticorum)
Encyclopedia
Theocritus was a candidate to the throne of the Byzantine Empire
in 518. He lost to Justin I
.
and Marcellinus Comes
. The former mentions him as a domestikos
(Greek: δομέστικος; a civil, ecclesiastic or military officer). The latter mentions him as the satelles (Latin: "attendant" or "guard") of Amantius. He is also mentioned in the accounts of Zacharias Rhetor
, Evagrius Scholasticus
, Jordanes
, the Chronicon Paschale
, Theophanes the Confessor
and John Zonaras. Both Malalas and the Chronicon mention him by the title of comes
, making it likely that his full title was "comes domesticorum". Procopius
does not mention him by name, but a passage of his sheds some light on the circumstances of his death.
(r. 491-518) died childless, without designating an heir, and without a reigning Augusta
to supervise the election of a successor, the throne was up for grabs. According to Malalas, the powerful praepositus sacri cubiculi
Amantius had intended to elect a comes domesticorum, commander of an elite guard unit of the late Roman Empire
, by the name of Theocritus to the throne. Amantius hoped to secure the election for Theocritus by bribing Justin
, the comes excubitorum (head of the imperial guards). Justin was supposed to share the money with his troops.
The events of the election were described in detail by Peter the Patrician
, extracts of whose work survive in the 10th-century De Ceremoniis
. On the morning of the election the Excubitors at first put forward the tribune
John as a candidate. He was raised on the shield in the Hippodrome of Constantinople
. But the Blues, an influential chariot racing
faction, rioted against this candidate. The guardsmen of the Scholae Palatinae
then attempted to proclaim their own candidate, but the Excubitors almost killed that unnamed man. The Excubitors then allegedly put forward Justinian
, nephew of Justin, as their second candidate for the day, but he refused the crown. The Byzantine Senate
supposedly settled the matter by electing Justin himself.
Evagrius Scholasticus
and Zacharias Rhetor
imply that Justin was working in his own interest alone. John Bagnell Bury
concludes that Justin used the money to buy support for himself. Bury believed that Justin also orchestrated many of the events of that day. Justin and his supporters knew "that he could not count on the support of the Scholarians, and, if he were proclaimed by his own troops alone, the success of his cause would be doubtful. The problem therefore was to manage that the initiation should proceed from the Senate, whose authority, supported by the excubitors, would rally general consent and overpower the resistance of the Scholarian guards. It was therefore arranged that the Excubitors should propose candidates who had no chance of being chosen, with the design of working on the fears of the Senate. Justin's friends in the Senate could argue with force: "Hasten to agree, or you will be forestalled, and some wholly unsuitable person will be thrust upon us. But you must choose one who will be acceptable to the Excubitors. Justin fulfills this condition. He may not be an ideal candidate for the throne, but he is old and moderate." But, however the affair may have been managed by the wirepullers, Justin ascended the throne with the prestige of having been regularly nominated by the Senate, and he could announce to the Pope that "We have been elected to the Empire by the favour of the indivisible Trinity, by the choice of the highest ministers of the sacred Palace, and of the Senate, and finally by the election of the army."
briefly mentions: "Indeed, his power [Justin's] was not ten days old, before he slew Amantius, chief of the palace eunuchs, and several others, on no graver charge than that Amantius had made some rash remark about John
, Archbishop of the city. After this, he was the most feared of men." Based on the account of Marcellinus, Amantius and his supporters were accused of being adherents of Manichaeism
. A combination of sources imply that Amantius and Theocritus had attempted to overthrow Justin, following his election. If so, they were met with swift executions.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in 518. He lost to Justin I
Justin I
Justin I was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession...
.
Sources
Theocritus is an obscure individual, primarily mentioned by two authors: John MalalasJohn Malalas
John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a Greek chronicler from Antioch. Malalas is probably a Syriac word for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus .-Life:Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to...
and Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.-Works:...
. The former mentions him as a domestikos
Domestikos
Domestikos , in English sometimes [the] Domestic, was a civil, ecclesiastic and military office in the late Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.-Military usage:...
(Greek: δομέστικος; a civil, ecclesiastic or military officer). The latter mentions him as the satelles (Latin: "attendant" or "guard") of Amantius. He is also mentioned in the accounts of Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias of Mytilene , also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian....
, Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History, comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus to Maurice’s...
, Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
, the Chronicon Paschale
Chronicon Paschale
Chronicon Paschale is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world...
, Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
and John Zonaras. Both Malalas and the Chronicon mention him by the title of comes
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
, making it likely that his full title was "comes domesticorum". Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
does not mention him by name, but a passage of his sheds some light on the circumstances of his death.
Candidate for the throne
When Anastasius IAnastasius I (emperor)
Anastasius I was Byzantine Emperor from 491 to 518. During his reign the Roman eastern frontier underwent extensive re-fortification, including the construction of Dara, a stronghold intended to counter the Persian fortress of Nisibis....
(r. 491-518) died childless, without designating an heir, and without a reigning Augusta
Augusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
to supervise the election of a successor, the throne was up for grabs. According to Malalas, the powerful praepositus sacri cubiculi
Praepositus sacri cubiculi
The praepositus sacri cubiculi was one of the senior palace offices in the late Roman Empire. Its holder was usually a eunuch, and acted as the grand chamberlain of the palace, wielding considerable authority and influence. In the 7th or 8th century, the title was also given to an order of rank...
Amantius had intended to elect a comes domesticorum, commander of an elite guard unit of the late Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, by the name of Theocritus to the throne. Amantius hoped to secure the election for Theocritus by bribing Justin
Justin I
Justin I was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession...
, the comes excubitorum (head of the imperial guards). Justin was supposed to share the money with his troops.
The events of the election were described in detail by Peter the Patrician
Peter the Patrician
Peter the Patrician was a senior East Roman or Byzantine official, diplomat and historian. A well-educated and successful lawyer, he was repeatedly sent as envoy to Ostrogothic Italy in the prelude to the Gothic War of 535–554. Despite his diplomatic skill, he was not able to avert war, and was...
, extracts of whose work survive in the 10th-century De Ceremoniis
De Ceremoniis
De Ceremoniis is the Latin title of a description of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople. It is sometimes called De ceremoniis aulae byzantinae...
. On the morning of the election the Excubitors at first put forward the tribune
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
John as a candidate. He was raised on the shield in the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
. But the Blues, an influential chariot racing
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
faction, rioted against this candidate. The guardsmen of the Scholae Palatinae
Scholae Palatinae
The Scholae Palatinae , were an elite military guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the equites singulares Augusti, the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard...
then attempted to proclaim their own candidate, but the Excubitors almost killed that unnamed man. The Excubitors then allegedly put forward Justinian
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
, nephew of Justin, as their second candidate for the day, but he refused the crown. The Byzantine Senate
Byzantine Senate
The Byzantine Senate or Eastern Roman Senate was the continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries but was increasingly irrelevant until its eventual disappearance in the 13th century....
supposedly settled the matter by electing Justin himself.
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History, comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus to Maurice’s...
and Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias of Mytilene , also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian....
imply that Justin was working in his own interest alone. John Bagnell Bury
J. B. Bury
John Bagnell Bury , known as J. B. Bury, was an Irish historian, classical scholar, Byzantinist and philologist.-Biography:...
concludes that Justin used the money to buy support for himself. Bury believed that Justin also orchestrated many of the events of that day. Justin and his supporters knew "that he could not count on the support of the Scholarians, and, if he were proclaimed by his own troops alone, the success of his cause would be doubtful. The problem therefore was to manage that the initiation should proceed from the Senate, whose authority, supported by the excubitors, would rally general consent and overpower the resistance of the Scholarian guards. It was therefore arranged that the Excubitors should propose candidates who had no chance of being chosen, with the design of working on the fears of the Senate. Justin's friends in the Senate could argue with force: "Hasten to agree, or you will be forestalled, and some wholly unsuitable person will be thrust upon us. But you must choose one who will be acceptable to the Excubitors. Justin fulfills this condition. He may not be an ideal candidate for the throne, but he is old and moderate." But, however the affair may have been managed by the wirepullers, Justin ascended the throne with the prestige of having been regularly nominated by the Senate, and he could announce to the Pope that "We have been elected to the Empire by the favour of the indivisible Trinity, by the choice of the highest ministers of the sacred Palace, and of the Senate, and finally by the election of the army."
Death
Both Amantius and Theocritus were soon executed on a pretext. They were obviously eliminated by Justin for their role in the conspiracy. ProcopiusProcopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
briefly mentions: "Indeed, his power [Justin's] was not ten days old, before he slew Amantius, chief of the palace eunuchs, and several others, on no graver charge than that Amantius had made some rash remark about John
John of Cappadocia
John II, surnamed Cappadox or the Cappadocian, was Patriarch of Constantinople in 518-520, during the reign of Byzantine emperor Anastasius I after an enforced condemnation of the Council of Chalcedon. His short patriarchate is memorable for the celebrated Acclamations of Constantinople, and the...
, Archbishop of the city. After this, he was the most feared of men." Based on the account of Marcellinus, Amantius and his supporters were accused of being adherents of Manichaeism
Manichaeism
Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
. A combination of sources imply that Amantius and Theocritus had attempted to overthrow Justin, following his election. If so, they were met with swift executions.