One of the major fiscal departments of the Byzantine bureaucracy
Thevestiarion (Greek:βεστιάριον, fromLatin:vestiarium, "wardrobe"), sometimes with the adjectivesbasilikon (Greek:βασιλικόν "imperial") ormega (μέγα "great"),[1] was one of the majorfiscal departments of theByzantinebureaucracy. InEnglish, it is often known as the department of thePublic Wardrobe. Originating from the late Roman palace office of thesacrum vestiarium, it became an independent department in the 7th century under achartoularios. By the late Byzantine period, it had become the state's soletreasury department.[1] The publicvestiarion must not be confused with theByzantine emperor's private wardrobe, theoikeiakon vestiarion, which was headed by theprōtovestiarios.
The bureau of thesacrum vestiarium (Latin for "sacred wardrobe") is first attested as one of thescrinia under thecomes sacrarum largitionum in the 5th century, and was then headed by aprimicerius. In the 7th century, as the old Roman departments were broken up, thesacrum vestiarium and the bureaus of thescrinium argenti andscrinium a milarensibus, which supervised themints, were combined to form the department of thevestiarion, under thechartoularios tou vestiariou (χαρτουλάριος τοῦ βεστιαρίου).[2][3] This official is variously known in the sources also asvestiarios (βεστιάριος) and [epi tou]vestiariou ([ἐπὶ τοῦ] βεστιαρίου).[4] The office ofvestiariou, attested in the late 13th and 14th centuries byGeorge Pachymeres andPseudo-Kodinos, however, was apparently a distinct and independent office, which function as the paymaster of the naval ships and apparently corresponds to that of "prefect of the army" (ἔπαρχος τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ) attested in the 6th century as army paymasters.[5]
Thevestiarion functioned parallel to the other state fiscal departments, thesakellion and the variouslogothesia, and was responsible for minting coin andbullion, as well as the maintenance of imperial arsenals inConstantinople and the provisioning of the imperial fleet and army. In effect, thevestiarion functioned parallel to thesakellion; salaries for instance were paid one half by each department.[1] In the 12th century, thevestiarion became the sole state treasury, and was commonly referred to simply as thetameion ("treasury"). As such it survived into thePalaiologan period, when its chairman (prokathēmenos) was in charge of "revenue and expenditure".[1][6]
The information on the department's internal structure during the middle Byzantine period (late 7th-11th centuries) comes primarily from theKlētorologion of Philotheos, a list of offices compiled in 899. Under the department head, thechartoularios tou vestiariou entails:
A number ofbasilikoi notarioi of thesekreton (βασιλικοί νοτάριοι τοῦ σεκρέτου), imperial notaries at the head of sub-departments, corresponding to the late Romanprimiscrinii.[7]
Akentarchos (Greek:κένταρχος τοῦ βεστιαρίου, "centurion of thevestiarion") and alegatarios (Greek: λεγατάριος), of unknown functions.[1][8]
Anarchon tēs charagēs (Greek:ἄρχων τῆς χαραγῆς, "master of the mint").[8][9] The same official is probably identifiable with thechrysoepsētēs attested elsewhere in Philotheos and in the earlierTaktikon Uspensky.[10]
Thechartoularios in charge of theexartēsis, the imperial naval arsenal. Also known as theexartistēs (Greek:ἐξαρτιστῆς).[11]
