Sebastus (Ancient Greek:σεβαστόςlit. 'venerable one, augustus',[sevasˈtos])[n 1] was anhonorific used by theancient Greek to render theRoman imperial title ofAugustus. The female form of the title wassebaste (σεβαστή). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th centuryByzantine Empire and came to form the basis of a new system ofcourt titles. From theKomnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the titlesebastos and variants derived from it, likesebastokrator,protosebastos,panhypersebastos, andsebastohypertatos.
The term appears in theHellenisticEast as an honorific for theRoman emperors from the 1st century onwards, being a translation of theLatinAugustus.[1][2] For example, theTemple of the Sebastoi inEphesus is dedicated to theFlavian dynasty. This association also was carried over to the naming of cities in honor of the Roman emperors, such asSebaste,Sebasteia andSebastopolis.
The epithet was revived in the mid-11th century – in the feminine formsebaste – by EmperorConstantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055) for his mistressMaria Skleraina, to whom he accorded quasi-imperial honours.[1] A number of individuals were qualified assebastoi thereafter, such asConstantine Keroularios, orIsaac Komnenos and his brother, the future emperorAlexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118).[3]
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When the latter assumed the Byzantine throne in 1081, he set about to reorganize the old system of court dignities, withsebastos as the basis for a new set of titles –sebastokrator,sebastos andprotosebastos,panhypersebastos,sebastohypertatos andprotosebastohypertatos – which primarily signalled the closeness of their holders' familial relationship to the emperor, either by blood or by marriage.[4][5] This process profoundly transformed the very nature of Byzantine aristocracy, with the imposition of an entire class of imperial relatives and associates superimposed on the "traditional" administrative system and the higher officialdom that constituted theSenate. In the words of historianPaul Magdalino, this move further isolated the imperial family from the common people and made them "partners in, rather than executives of, imperial authority".[6] In this context, the scholar L. Stiernon calculated that in the period from the late 11th to the end of the 12th century, 30% of allsebastoi belonged to the rulingKomnenos family, 20% to the closely alliedDoukas clan, and another 40% to other families of the high aristocracy who intermarried with the Komnenoi, the remaining 10% encompassing both Byzantines as well as foreigners who either intermarried with the imperial family or received the title as an honorific distinction.[7]
Initially, thesebastoi formed the basis of this new familial aristocracy, with sons of asebastokrator, apanhypersebastos, or asebastos beingsebastoi themselves; due to the proliferation of the title, however, underManuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180) a new class of dignitaries was created for the emperor's nephews and cousins, i.e., the sons of higher dignitaries; and thesebastoi were relegated to a grade below them, above thenobelissimoi. Thesebastoi were further divided in two groups: the simplesebastoi and thesebastoi gambroi.[8] The latter were members of various aristocratic families tied to the emperor viamarriage to his female relatives (gambros means "son-in-law" in Greek). Thesebastoi gambroi thus formed the upper layer of thesebastoi class,[9] but should not be confused with the imperialgambroi, the actual sons-in-law of the emperor, who were even higher in the hierarchy, ranking above the cousins and nephews and just below thesebastokratores.[10] The formspansebastos ("venerable by all"), andpansebastos sebastos are also found in seals, inscriptions, and correspondence of the period, but they are merely rhetorical augmentations of the original titlesebastos, and do not, as was believed by earlier scholars likeGustave Schlumberger, represent distinct and superior ranks.[11] It is notable that among Byzantinesebastoi, their precedence was not determined by the offices they might bear, but by the degree of their kinship to the emperor.[12]
The title was also conferred to foreign rulers, and spread to neighboring, Byzantine-influenced states, likeBulgaria, where asebastos was the head of an administrative district, andSerbia, where the title was employed for various officials.[2]
In Byzantium itself, the title lost its pre-eminence in the late 12th century, and in the following centuries, thesebastos was a title reserved for commanders of ethnic units.[2] By the timepseudo-Kodinos wrote hisBook of Offices, shortly after the middle of the 14th century, thesebastos occupied one of the lowest rungs in the imperial hierarchy, coming 78th between thedroungarios and themyrtaïtes.[13] His court dress was a whiteskiadion hat with embroideries, a longkabbadion of "commonly used silk", and askaranikon hat covered in red velvet and topped by a small red tassel. He bore no staff of office.[14] Earlier lists of offices, such as the appendix to theHexabiblos, give slightly different ranks, placing him above the governor (prokathemenos) of a fortress and of thedroungarios, and after themegas myrtaïtes.[15]