 Coin ofAntiochus I Soter. The reverse showsApollo seated on anomphalos. Inscription readsΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ (lit. 'of king Antiochus'). | |
| Romanization | basileus |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | Ancient Greek:[basile͜ús], Modern Greek:[vasiˈlefs] |
| Language | Greek |
| Origin | |
| Meaning | King, Emperor, Monarch |
| Region of origin | Ancient Greece |
Basileus (Ancient Greek:βασιλεύς)[a] is a Greek term andtitle that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In theEnglish-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean'monarch', referring to either a'king' or an'emperor'. The title was used by sovereigns and other persons of authority inancient Greece (especially during theHellenistic period), theByzantine emperors, and thekings of modern Greece. The nameBasileios (Basil), deriving from the termbasileus, is a common given name in theEastern Orthodox Church andSyriac Orthodox Church for theMaphrian.[1]
The feminine forms arebasileia (βασίλεια),[2]basilissa (βασίλισσα),basillis (βασιλίς), or the archaicbasilinna (βασιλίννα), meaning'queen' or'empress'.[3] The related termbasileia (βασιλεία) has meanings such as 'sovereignty', 'royalty', 'kingdom', 'reign', 'dominion' and 'authority'.[4][5]
The etymology ofbasileus is uncertain. TheMycenaean form was *gʷasileus (Linear B:𐀣𐀯𐀩𐀄,qa-si-re-u), denoting some sort of court official or local chieftain, but not an actual king. Its hypothetical earlierProto-Greek form would be *gʷatileus.[6] Some linguists assume that it is a non-Greek word that was adopted byBronze Age Greeks from a pre-existing linguisticPre-Greek substrate of the EasternMediterranean.[7] Schindler[8] argues for an inner-Greek innovation of the-eus inflection type fromIndo-European material rather than a Mediterranean loan.[8]
The first written instance of this word is found on the bakedclay tablets discovered in excavations ofMycenaean palaces originally destroyed by fire. The tablets are dated from the15th century BCE to the11th century BCE and are inscribed with theLinear B script, which was deciphered byMichael Ventris in 1952 and corresponds to a very early form of Greek. The wordbasileus is written asqa-si-re-u and its original meaning was "chieftain" (in one particular tablet the chieftain of the guild ofbronzesmiths is referred to asqa-si-re-u). Here the initial letterq- represents thePIElabiovelar consonant*/gʷ/, transformed in later Greek into/b/. Linear B uses the same glyph for/l/ and/r/, now transcribed with a Latin "r" by uniform convention. (Similarly, theOld Persian wordvazir also has almost the same meaning as "chieftain".) Linear B only represents syllables of single vowel, or of a consonant-vowel form, therefore any final-s is omitted.
The word can be contrasted withwanax, another word used more specifically for "king" and usually meaning "High King" or "overlord". With the collapse of Mycenaean society, the position ofwanax ceases to be mentioned, and thebasileis (the plural form) appear the topmost potentates in Greek society. In the works ofHomerwanax appears, in the formánax, mostly in descriptions ofZeus and of very few human monarchs, most notablyAgamemnon. Otherwise the term survived almost exclusively as a component in compound personal names (e.g.,Anaxagóras, Pleistoánax) and is still in use inModern Greek in the description of theanáktoron / anáktora ("[placeor home] of theánax"), i.e. of the royal palace. The latter is essentially the same word as𐀷𐀩𐀏𐀳𐀫wa-na-ka-te-ro,wanákteros, "of thewanax / king" or "belonging to thewanax / king", used in Linear B tablets to refer to various craftsmen serving the king (e.g. the "palace", or royal, spinner, or the ivory worker), and to items belonging or offered to the king (javelin shafts, wheat, spices, precincts etc.).
Most of the Greek leaders in Homer's works are described asbasileís, which is rendered conventionally in English as "kings". However, a more accurate translation may be "princes" or "chieftains", which would better represent conditions in Greek society in Homer's time, and also the roles ascribed to Homer's characters. Agamemnon tries to give orders toAchilles among many others, while anotherbasileus serves as his charioteer. His will, however, is not to be obeyed automatically. In Homer thewanax is expected to rule over the otherbasileis by consensus rather than by coercion, which is why Achilles rebels (the main theme of theIliad) when he decides that Agamemnon is treating him disrespectfully.
A study byR. Drews[10] demonstrates that even at the apex of Geometric and Archaic Greek society,basileus did not automatically translate to "king": In a number of places authority was exercised by a college ofbasileis drawn from a particular clan or group, and the office had term limits. However,basileus could also be applied to the hereditary leaders of "tribal" states, like those of theArcadians and theMessenians, in which cases the term approximated the meaning of "king".[10]
According to pseudo-Archytas's treatise "On justice and law"[11]Basileus is more adequately translated into "Sovereign" than into "king". The reason for this is that it designates more theperson of king than theoffice of king: the power ofmagistrates (arkhontes, "archons") derives from their social functions or offices, whereas the sovereign derives his power from himself. Sovereigns haveauctoritas, whereas magistrates retainimperium. Pseudo-Archytas aimed at creating a theory of sovereignty completely enfranchised fromlaws, being itself the only source oflegitimacy. He goes so far as qualifying theBasileus asnomos empsykhos, or "living law", which is the origin, according to Agamben, of theFührerprinzip and ofCarl Schmitt's theories ondictatorship.
Inclassical times, most Greek states had abolished the hereditary royal office in favor ofdemocratic oroligarchic rule. Some exceptions existed, namely the two hereditaryKings of Sparta (who served as joint commanders of the army, and were also calledarkhagetai), theKings of Cyrene, theKings of Macedon and of theMolossians inEpirus and Kings of ArcadianOrchomenus. The Greeks also used the term to refer to various kings of "barbaric" (i.e. non-Greek) tribes inThrace andIllyria, as well as to theAchaemenid kings ofPersia. The Persian king was also referred to asMegas Basileus/Basileus Megas (Great King) orBasileus Basileōn, a translation of the Persian titlexšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām ("King of Kings"), or simply "the king". There was also a cult ofZeusBasileus atLebadeia.Aristotle distinguished thebasileus, constrained by law, from the unlimitedtyrant (tyrannos), who had generally seized control.
AtAthens, thearchon basileus was one of the ninearchons, magistrates selected by lot. Of these, thearchon eponymos (for whom the year was named), thepolemarch (polemos archon = war lord) and thebasileus divided the powers of Athens' ancient kings, with thebasileus overseeing religious rites and homicide cases. His wife had to ritually marryDionysus at theAnthesteria festival.Philippides of Paiania was one of the richest Athenians during the age of Lycurgus of Athens, he was honoured archon basileus in 293–292 BCE. Similar vestigial offices termedbasileus existed in other Greek city-states.[citation needed] Thus in theIonian League each member city had abasileus that represented it to the League sanctuary of thePanionion, whereas in theRoman period it was a League office of unclear duties, and was even held by women.[12]
By contrast, the authoritarian rulers were never termedbasileus in classical Greece, butarchon (ruler) ortyrannos (tyrant); althoughPheidon of Argos is described by Aristotle as abasileus who made himself into atyrannos.
Many Greek authors, reconcilingCarthaginiansupremacy in the western Mediterranean with eastern stereotypes of absolutist non-Hellenic government, termed the Punic chief magistrate, thesufet, asbasileus in their native language. In fact, this office conformed to largely republican frameworks, being approximately equivalent in mandate to theRoman consul.[14] This conflation appears notably inAristotle's otherwise positive description of theCarthaginian Constitution in thePolitics, as well as in the writings ofPolybius,Diodorus Siculus, andDiogenes Laertius. Roman and early Christian writings sourced from Greek fostered further mischaracterizations, with thesufet mislabeled as the Latinrex.[15]
Basileus andMegas Basileus/Basileus Megas were exclusively used byAlexander the Great and hisHellenistic successors inPtolemaic Egypt,[16]Asia (e.g. theSeleucid Empire, theAttalid kingdom andPontus) andMacedon. The feminine counterpart isbasilissa (queen), meaning both aqueen regnant (such asCleopatra) and aqueen consort. It is at this time that the termbasileus acquired a fully royal connotation, in stark contrast with the much less sophisticated earlier perceptions of kingship within Greece.[citation needed]
UnderRoman rule, the termbasileus came to be used, in the Hellenistic tradition, to designate theRoman Emperor in the ordinary and literary speech of the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean.[17](pp 263–264) Although theearly Roman Emperors were careful to retain the façade of therepublican institutions and to not formally adopt monarchical titles, the use ofbasileus amply illustrates that contemporaries clearly perceived that the Roman Empire was a monarchy in all but name.[18](pp 66–67) Nevertheless, despite its widespread use, due to its "royal" associations the titlebasileus remained unofficial for the Emperor, and was restricted in official documents to client kings in the East. Instead, in official context the imperial titlesCaesarAugustus, translated or transliterated into Greek asKaisar Sebastos orKaisar Augoustos, andImperator, translated asAutokratōr, were used.
By the 4th century however,basileus was applied in official usage exclusively to the two rulers considered equals to the Roman Emperor: theSassanid Persianshahanshah ("king of kings"), and to a lesser degree theKing of Axum, whose importance was rather peripheral in the Byzantine worldview.[18](pp 35, 42) Consequently, the title acquired the connotation of "emperor", and when barbarian kingdoms emerged on the ruins of theWestern Roman Empire in the 5th century, their rulers were referred to in Greek not asbasileus but asrēx orrēgas, the hellenized forms of the Latin titlerex,king.[17](pp 263–264)
The first documented use ofbasileus Rhomaíōn in official context comes from the Persians: in a letter sent to EmperorMaurice (r. 582–602) byChosroes II, Maurice is addressed in Greek asbasileus Rhomaíōn instead of the habitualMiddle Persian appellationkēsar-i Hrōm ("Caesar of the Romans"), while the Persian ruler refers to himself correspondingly asPersōn basileus, thereby dropping his own claim to the Greek equivalent of his formal title,basileus basileōn ("king of kings").[18](p 70) The title appears to have slowly crept into imperial titulature after that, and EmperorHeraclius is attested as using it alongside the long-establishedAutokratōr Kaisar in a letter toKavadh II in 628. Finally, in a law promulgated on 21 March 629, the Latin titles were omitted altogether, and the simple formulaπιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ βασιλεύς, "faithful in Christ Emperor" was used instead.[18](p 31) The adoption of the new imperial formula has been traditionally interpreted by scholars such asErnst Stein andGeorge Ostrogorsky as indicative of the almost completeHellenization of the Empire by that time.[18](p 32) In imperial coinage, however, Latin forms continued to be used. Only in the reign ofLeo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741) did the titlebasileus appear in silver coins, and ongold coinage only underConstantine VI (r. 780–797).[17](pp 263–264) "BASILEUS" was initially stamped on Byzantine coins in Latin script, and only gradually were some Latin characters replaced with Greek ones, resulting in mixed forms such as "BASIΛEVS".
Until the 9th century, the Byzantines reserved the termbasileus amongChristian rulers exclusively for their own emperor inConstantinople. This usage was initially accepted by the "barbarian" kings of Western Europe themselves: Despite having neglected the fiction of Roman suzerainty from the 6th century onward, they refrained from adopting imperial titles.[18](pp 52–57)
The situation began to change when the Western European states began to challenge the Empire's political supremacy and its right to the universal imperial title. The catalytic event was the coronation ofCharlemagne asimperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans") byPope Leo III on 25 December 800, atSt. Peter's inRome. The matter was complicated by the fact that the Eastern Empire was then managed byIrene (r. 797–802), who had gained control after the death of her husband, the EmperorLeo IV (r. 775–780), asregent for their nine-year-old son,Constantine VI (r. 780–797). After Constantine's coming of age, Irene eventually decided to rule in her own name. In the conflict that ensued, Irene was victorious, and Constantine was blinded and imprisoned, to die soon afterward. The revulsion generated by this incident offilicidecumregicide was compounded by the traditional (and especiallyFrankish) aversion to the idea of a femalesovereign. Although it is often claimed that, as monarch, Irene called herself in the male formbasileus, in fact she normally used the titlebasilissa.[19][b]
The Pope would seize this opportunity to cite the imperial throne being held by a woman as vacant and establish his position as able to divinely appoint rulers. Leading up to this, Charlemagne and his Frankish predecessors had increasingly become the Papacy's source of protection while the Byzantine's position in Italy had weakened significantly. In 800 CE, Charlemagne, now a king of multiple territories, was proclaimed "Emperor of the Romans" by the Pope.[17](p 413) Charlemagne's claim to the imperial title of the Romans began a prolonged diplomatic controversy which was resolved only in 812 when the Byzantines agreed to recognize him as "basileus", while continuing to refuse any connection with the Roman Empire. In an effort to emphasize their own Roman legitimacy, the Byzantine rulers thereafter began to use the fuller formbasileus Rhomaíōn (βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων, "emperor of the Romans") instead of the simple "basileus", a practice that continued in official usage until the end of the Empire.[17](pp 263–264, 413)
During the 12th century, Byzantine emperors of theAngelos dynasty, in their correspondence with the Pope and foreign rulers, styled themselves as "in Christ the God faithful, Emperor, crowned by God,Anax, powerful, exalted, Augustus and Autocrat of the Romans" (Medieval Greek:ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ πιστὸς βασιλεύς, θεοστεφής, ἄναξ, κραταιός, ὑψηλός, αὔγουστος καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων,romanized: en Khristō to Theō pistos basileus, theostephēs, anax, krataios, hupsēlos, augoustos, kaì autokratōr Rhōmaiōn). Variations of this title are found in letters of the Angelid emperors to PopeInnocentius III; these are nearly direct translations of the Greek title into Latin, such as:in Christo Deo fidelis imperator divinitus coronatus sublimis potens excelsus semper augustus moderator Romanorum.[20] In his correspondence with theHoly Roman Emperor,Isaakios II added to his title the Latin phrasehaeres coronae Constantini magni ('heir to the crown of Constantine the great'), in order to distinguish and prioritize the 'New' Rome of the east over the 'Old' Rome of the west.[21]
By thePalaiologan period, the full style of the Emperor was finalized in the phrase, "in Christ the God faithful, Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans" (Medieval Greek:ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ πιστὸς βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων,romanized: en Christō tō Theō pistós basileus kai autokratōr Rhōmaíōn), as exemplified in documents such asConstantine XI'schrysobull to the city ofRagusa issued in 1451, two years before theOttoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in theSiege of Constantinople.[22]
The laterGerman emperors were also conceded the title "basileus of theFranks". The Byzantine title in turn produced further diplomatic incidents in the 10th century, when Western potentates addressed the emperors as "emperors of the Greeks".[17](pp 263–264) A similar diplomatic controversy (this time accompanied by war) ensued from the imperial aspirations ofSimeon I of Bulgaria in the early 10th century. Aspiring to conquer Constantinople, Simeon claimed the title "basileus of theBulgarians and of the Romans", but was only recognized as "basileus of the Bulgarians" by the Byzantines. From the 12th century however, the title was increasingly, although again not officially, used for powerful foreign sovereigns, such as the kings ofFrance orSicily, the tsars of the restoredBulgarian Empire, theLatin emperors and theemperors of Trebizond. In time, the title was also applied to major non-Christian rulers, such asTamerlane orMehmed II.[17](pp 263–264) Finally, in 1354,Stefan Dušan, king ofSerbia, assumed the imperial title, based on his Bulgarian mother'sTheodora Smilets of Bulgaria royal line, self-styling himself in Greek asbasileus andautokratōr of the Romans and Serbs which was, however, not recognized by the Byzantines.[17](pp 1, 950–1, 951)
While the terms used for theRoman emperor areKaisar Augustos (Decree from Caesar Augustus, Dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou,Luke 2:1) or justKaisar (seeRender unto Caesar...), andPontius Pilate is termedHegemon (Matthew 27:2),Herod is referred to asbasileus (in his coins alsoBasileōs Herodou, "of King Herod", and byJosephus).
RegardingJesus, the term basileus acquired a new Christian theological meaning out of the further concept of basileus as a chief religious officer during the Hellenistic period. Jesus is titled bothBasileus Basileōn (Βασιλεὺς βασιλέων =King of Kings, Revelation 17:14, 19:16, a previous Near Eastern phrase for rulers of empires, andBasileus tōn basileuontōn (Βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων = literally King of those being kings, 1 Timothy 6:15) in the New Testament. Other titles involvingbasileus includeBasileus tōn Ouranōn, translated asKing of Heaven, andBasileus tōn Ioudaiōn, i.e. King of the Jews (seeINRI). InByzantine art, standard depictions of Jesus includedBasileus tēs Doxēs (King of Glory),[23] a phrase derived fromPsalms 24:10, andKyrios tēs Doxēs (Lord of Glory), from 1 Corinthians 2:8.
During the post-Byzantine period, the termbasileus, owing to the renewed influence of classical writers on the language, reverted to its earlier meaning of "king". This transformation had already begun in informal usage in the works of some classicizing Byzantine authors. In theConvention of London in 1832, theGreat Powers[c] agreed that the new Greek state should become amonarchy, and chose theWittelsbach PrinceOtto of Bavaria as its first king.
The Great Powers furthermore ordained that his title was to be "Βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἑλλάδος"Vasilefs tes Elládos, meaning "King of Greece", instead of "Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων"Vasilefs ton Ellénon, i.e. "King of the Greeks". This title had two implications: first, that Otto was the king only of the smallKingdom of Greece, and not of allGreeks, whose majority still remained ruled by theOttoman Empire. Second, that the kingship did not depend on the will of the Greek people, a fact further underlined by Otto's addition of the formula "ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ"eléo Theou, i.e. "By the Grace (Mercy) of God". For 10 years, until the3 September 1843 Revolution, Otto ruled as an absolute monarch, and his autocratic rule, which continued even after he was forced to grant a constitution, made him very unpopular. After being ousted in 1862, the new Danish dynasty of the House ofSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg began withKing George I. Both to assert national independence from the will of the Great Powers,[c] and to emphasize the constitutional responsibilities of the monarch towards the people, his title was modified to "King of the Hellenes", which remained the official royal title, until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1924 and 1973.
The two Greek kings who had the name of Constantine, a name of great sentimental and symbolic significance, especially in the irredentist context of theMegali Idea, were often, although never officially, numbered in direct succession to the last Byzantine Emperor,Constantine XI, asConstantine XII[24] andConstantine XIII.[25]
Od. A. Hdt. E. Pl. AR. Plu (sc. Odyssey; Aeschylus; Herodotus; Euripides; Plato; Apollonius Rhodius; Plutarch)
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