Anthypatos (Greek:ἀνθύπατος) is the translation inGreek of the Latinproconsul. In theGreek-speaking East, it was used to denote this office in Roman and early Byzantine times, surviving as an administrative office until the 9th century. Thereafter, and until the 11th century, it became a seniorByzantinecourt dignity.
The title ofanthypatos was the traditional Greek translation of theLatin title ofproconsul.[1] Under thePrincipate, the title ofanthypatos/proconsul had been borne by all governors of asenatorial province, irrespective of whether they had previously beenconsuls, but after the reforms ofDiocletian (r. 284–305– ), there were only two: the governors ofAsia andAfrica. TheNotitia Dignitatum ofc. 400, on the other hand, mentions three, with the proconsuls of Africa (Pars Occ. XVIII) and Asia (Pars Or. XX) being joined by the proconsul ofAchaea or Hellas (Pars Or. XXI).[1] To them was addedConstantinople after it became the imperial capital in 330, and until 359, when the post was replaced by anurban prefect, similar and equal toRome.[1]
Following thefall of the Western Roman Empire, only the proconsuls of Achaea and Asia remained, until the reforms ofJustinian I (r. 527–565– ) in the 530s: Justinian merged provinces together and reunited civil and military authority in them under the same person, to whom he gave the rank ofanthypatos/proconsul, or the title ofpraetor with a proconsular rank. Such provinces wereArmenia Prima,Cappadocia,Dalmatia, andPalaestina Prima.[1] According to the contemporary official and writerPeter the Patrician, theanthypatoi are equated to the August governors ofEgypt, and equal in rank to thecomites consistoriales.[1] When Africa was recovered in theVandalic War (533–534), the proconsular governor was not restored; instead aconsularis was appointed.[2]
After the establishment of thethemata in the 7th century, the title was used within the context of the thematic structure: thematiceparchoi kai anthypatoi ("eparchs and proconsuls") are still in evidence in Asia Minor until the early 9th century, functioning as civil governors, possibly under the authority of the (much reduced in power)praetorian prefect in Constantinople.[3] However, with the progressive unification of civil and military power in the hands of the thematicstrategos, by the reign of EmperorTheophilos (r. 829–842– ) the title ofanthypatos had become a simple court dignity.[4]
Theophanes the Confessor records that Emperor Theophilos honouredAlexios Mousele, the husband of his daughter Maria, by naming him "patrikios andanthypatos", raising him above the ordinary patricians.[5] This change coincided with the abolition of the last vestiges of the old Roman system, as the provincialanthypatoi as civil governors were abolished, and replaced by thestratēgos of thethema, and in their role as overseers of army provisioning and financial matters, by the much less prestigiousprōtonotarioi.[6]
Thus, from the latter part ofMichael III's reign (842–867), the term became a regular dignity intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs), constituting a class above thepatrikioi.[5] The full titleanthypatos kai patrikios was henceforth conferred upon several high-ranking administrative and military officials throughout the 10th and 11th centuries. In the 11th century, there is also evidence of aprōtanthypatos (πρωτανθύπατος, "firstanthypatos"), and a single occurrence of adisanthypatos (δισανθύπατος, "twiceanthypatos"). All these dignities disappeared, however, in the early 12th century.[7]
According to theKlētorologion of Philotheos, written in 899, the insignia of office of theanthypatos were purple inscribedtablets. Their award by the Byzantine emperor signified the elevation of the recipient to the office.[8]