§ 1. The men of Constantinople changed the name of Caesars while retaining the dignity. For either the sons of Emperors or those upon whom they had conferred that title were called Caesars. Tacitus, book 1, calls Drusus Caesar. Titus and Domitian were called Caesars by the Senate; Galba called Piso Caesar; Nerva, Trajan; Hadrian, Aelius Verus; Diocletian and Maximian, Constantius and Maximinian and Dalmatius; Antoninus Pius, Marcus Antoninus; Severus, Bassianus; Carus, his sons; Philip, his son; Copronymus, his two sons; and others called other men Caesars.
Afterward they called those who were nearest the Emperor Despots: his sons, especially his firstborn, the heir of the kingdom, and likewise his sons-in-law; thus Ducas, according to Gregoras, book 2. Michael Palaeologus elevated his son above the Despots. What the noblest man called Caesar by the Emperor is, that is the Dauphin in France, except that there were several Caesars but there is one Dauphin. Humbert gave the Dauphiné, a province of the Allobroges, to the King of France in the year of salvation 1349 on this condition: that the King’s firstborn and successor should take his title from it. Formerly even the sons of Kings were themselves called Kings, and they divided France into kingdoms. Louis III wisely wished to change this, lest he exhaust the strength of the individual men; he gave a kingdom to Lothair and returned Lorraine to Charles.
In Cedrenus, Monomachus appoints Stephen Commander of the forces, σεβαστοφόρος, as though he bore the Emperor, while by prudence and fortitude he guarded the Empire. As the Empire increased and ambition grew, a Σεβαστοκράτωρ also was appointed, as though “possessing the power of Augustus.” This dignity was less than that of a Despot. In Gregoras, book 3, the brother of Michael Comnenus is appointed ὁ σεβαστοκράτωρ; likewise in Nicetas. Isaac, book 1, was encircled with a crown and possessed the name of the dignity without government. Alexius invented Σεβαστοκράτωρ, πρωτοσέβαστος, σεβαστός; and, lest anything remain beyond the titles, πανυπερσέβαστος, which means “as though altogether above Augustus” or “altogether venerable.” These were bare names, not governments. Yet all these were below Caesar.
The name ὁ μέγας ἄρχων, καὶ ὁ τὰς τάξεις was also great, but, Codinus says, οὐδὲν ὑπούργημα κέκτηται: he has no ministry. The rationale of the patriciate was nearly the same. It was not the name of nobility, but of dignity and benefice. They were so called as though fathers of the Emperors; their power also matched the name. Belisarius acquired eighteen thousand soldiers together with the dignity of the patriciate. Aemoinus, book 2, chapter 6. Charlemagne was made Roman Patrician before he was Emperor. This was useful for preserving the nobility, just as, where it is oppressed, slaves are assumed into offices. I see that this pleased the ancient Franks, and that the Turk now approves it: that Kings should employ bondmen at court. Marileif, the chief physician, was a bondman of the Church of Tours; Proculus, the King’s tutor, was sent away to rustic labor; Septiminia, to the mill; thus Gregory of Tours. But I censured this above. Meanwhile, the later Greeks were excessive in the names of honors.
§ 2. The Curopalates was at first the Architect; his office concerned the repair and maintenance of the palace and its foundations. Cassiodorus, book 7: “We judge that Your Sublimity ought to undertake the care of our palace, so that you may both preserve ancient works in their former splendor and bring forth new works in similar antiquity, if you frequently read the geometer Euclid, if his figures described with marvelous variety, and so forth. Let Archimedes also, together with Metrobius, always assist you. But if we rebuild a city or wish to found a new fortress, or if the charm of a praetorium to be constructed pleases us, what is discovered by us in thought is brought before the eyes under your direction. Whatever the builder of walls, sculptor of marbles, caster of bronze, turner of vaults, worker in plaster, or mosaicist does not know, he prudently asks you.”
From this the estimation and rank of the Curopalates increased. For Aetius began to exercise care of the palace after being Count of the Domestics. Indeed, the office was conferred upon fathers-in-law and kinsmen of the Emperors, and they were placed over provinces. For Adranaser governed Iberia. In Liutprand the Emperor’s brother is Curopalates; in Photius’s Library no one’s glory is greater than that of the Curopalates. So too in Corippus, book 1:
Your uncle confirmed you as lord of the sacred court, And Baduarius, appointed organizer of the new sacred court, Successor of his father-in-law, was soon made Care of the Palace. Who had not foretold that you would be lord of the sacred court, When you governed the divine palaces of your great father? Standing equal in cares, unequal only in the diadem, Called Care of the Palace according to the order of affairs.
The man of spectable rank called Castrensis, under whom were all the ministries of the palace—pedagogues, record keepers, servants of the table, and domestics—was also called Curopalates. For because the Prince’s retinue was called στρατόπεδον, “camp,” all the ministers were therefore called Castrensians, although they had never seen any camp. At length this office appears to have been altogether changed, and among the Greeks those were called Curopalates who among the Franks were called Mayors of the Palace; for the same men were also called Prefects of the Palace. They were therefore nearest the Emperors.
It is evident that the Seneschal afterward occupied the same place. William of Tyre, book 4, chapter 5, is a witness that the Seneschal is the same as the man called Great Domestic among the Greeks. And since he says that the Great Domestic is second to the Emperor, he appears to assign this dignity also to the Seneschal. Among the Franks, certainly, the office of the Seneschal, or Seneschalcus, increased in the same manner. For he was placed over the table by Pepin. Since the King himself was skilled in waging wars, this was advantageous for the protection and authority of the new kingdom.
They exercised care of the whole house, its ornaments, and even the horses. He was therefore the Steward and is so called by Robert, Abbot of Rheims; he carried the scepter, the mark of jurisdiction. He is called the Vicar of the King and second to the King. He signed the edicts and constitutions of Kings and whatever matters were of greater importance. His authority therefore increased so that it was little removed from the power of the Mayor of the Palace. Theulpus, in the Chronicle of the Monastery of Marigny, makes him the same as the Mayor of the Palace and assigns him also the office of administering war; therefore he also led a horse to the King. Later Kings, however, diminished that power.
§ 3. The Master of Offices stands at almost the same height, for from small beginnings he arrived at the highest power. The Master of Offices presided over the Schools of Shield-bearers, the agentes in rebus, and others; the discipline of the palace was entrusted to him.
His function concerned ordering the Schools and promoting the Scholastics, chapter 1, On the Office of the Master of Offices, title 31: “The privileges long since granted to your School being reserved entire, let no one arrive at the ducenariate, centenariate, or biarchate through canvassing, but each through labor; but let him obtain the principate as the register runs its course, so that those whom the order of military service and of its labors summons may go forth to conduct the services and the cursus. Moreover, in order that the condition of the School and the safety of the Master may be established more securely, let a suitable man, furnished with uprightness of character and good arts, be offered to our notice through the Master, so that he may be appointed according to our judgment.”
He also took care that ambition did not anticipate military service. Thus Valentinian and Theodosius Augustuses to Patricius, Master of Offices: “Let no one of the agentes in rebus anticipate the order of military service and stipends, even if through deception he has produced an indulgence of our Divinity; and if anyone is shown to have offered a warrant of an admission of this kind, let him return to the place from which he indecorously emerged, so that the man whom better stipends or longer labor has caused to advance may precede the others in rank.”
Theodosius and Valentinian Augustuses assign to Pleitius, Master of Offices, the right of scourging Senators and Ducenarii: “The devotion of our Scholastics, approved by our parents, has shone forth in affection toward Our Greatest Serenity. Hence we have immediately believed that whatever is requested for fostering and preserving their privileges must be granted. Therefore, approving the recommendation of Your Eminence, we deny to the men of spectable rank, the Counts of the Schools, license to scourge or degrade Senators and Ducenarii. For we have willed that those things which are worthy of such punishment should be referred to the notice of Your Sublimity.”
The same men extended his command to the camps: “We believe that it must be enjoined upon the care of Your Perpetual Eminence that each year you take care to signify to us by your own report how the number of soldiers stands upon every frontier established under your jurisdiction, and how the care of the camps and barriers proceeds. Given on 2 September at Constantinople, Maximus for the second time and Paterius being Consuls, 443.” This was done because he was a participant in all councils, as Priscus admonishes in the Gothic History. At length it began to be reckoned among the highest dignities. Longinus, brother of Zeno, was made Master of Offices. Evagrius, book 3, chapter 9. From this it is evident how great the dignity of this office was.
The Goths imitated these things also. Cassiodorus, book 6, formula 6: “To the Master of Offices pertains the discipline of the palace. He auspiciously restrains the tempestuous manners of insolent Schools within the bounds of his moderation. So many orders are arranged without any confusion, and he alone sustains the burden of all which the multitude possesses in division. Through him a Senator who comes is presented to our gaze; he composes the speaker and is even accustomed to insert words, so that we may fittingly hear all things. The sight of the King is not ineffectual; he is the glorious promiser of our conversation, the giver of the court Consistory. Moreover, we deposit the greatest weight of causes within the bounds of his hearing with the best security. He guards the suitable speed of the post-horses, so that he may dispatch by the benefit of speed the concerns which he assists by counsel. Through him the coming of ambassadors, however much they hasten, is announced to us; through him a warrant in our name is given. No Judge assumes the fasces throughout the provinces unless he himself also decrees it. He does not possess the troubles of exacting money; by means of assessors he appoints the suppliers of provisions in the royal city according to his own will. The officials who have discharged the service of his corps are called Princes and hold primacy among the Praetorian cohorts and the soldiers of the urban Prefecture. An Assistant of the Master is presented to our gaze, so that in the vicarious allotment of a benefice we may choose the protection of the man who offers us faithful consolation.”
Hence it happened that, with so many affairs heaped together into one office, an assistant, or βοηθός, was appointed to him by the Prince; he judged in place of the Master of Offices.
Those nearest the first throne were therefore formerly Caesars, afterward called Δεσπόται, “Despots”; as those who would succeed their parents, in Spain they are called Princes, in France Monsieur properly and strictly, and finally Dauphins after the Dauphiné was given to the Crown. Paulus Aemilius, book 9. The Allobroges also called their Princes Dauphins.