The Klētorologion of Philotheos , is the longest and most important of the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 lists of offices and court precedence (Taktika). It was published in September of 899 during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise

Leo VI the Wise

Leo VI, surnamed the Wise or the Philosopher , was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty , he was very well-read, leading to his surname...

 (r. 886–912) by the otherwise unknown prōtospatharios

Protospatharios

Prōtospatharios was one of the highest court dignities of the middle Byzantine period , awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to foreign princes.-History:...

 and atriklinēs Philotheos

Philotheos

- People :* Philotheos Bryennios , Greek Orthodox bishop* Pope Philotheos of Alexandria, in office 979-1003* Philotheus of Pskov , Russian abbot* Philotheus of Samosata, a companion in martyrdom of Romanus of Samosata...

. As atriklinēs, Philotheos would have been responsible for receiving the guests for the imperial banquets (klētoria) and for conducting them to their proper seating places according to their place in the imperial hierarchy. In the preface to his work, he explicitly states that he compiled this treatise as a "precise exposé of the order of imperial banquets, of the name and value of each title, complied on the basis of ancient klētorologia", and recommends its adoption at the imperial table.

Sections

Philotheos's work survives only as an appendix

Appendix

Appendix may refer to:In documents:*Addendum, any addition to a document, such as a book or legal contract*Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works...

 within the last chapters (52–54) of the second book of a later treatise on imperial ceremonies known as the De Ceremoniis

De Ceremoniis

De Ceremoniis is the Latin title of a description of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople. It is sometimes called De ceremoniis aulae byzantinae...

 of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959). It is divided into four sections:

• Section I is the introductory, and gives a brief overview of all the court ranks and state offices of the Byzantine Empire
  Byzantine Empire
  The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
  
  , which it divides into five categories: orders of rank for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs), great offices of the state, minor offices of the various bureaus and ministries, orders of rank for eunuchs, and great offices of the state reserved for eunuchs.

• Sections II and III give the order in which officials should be introduced to the imperial banquets. Section II gives the highest dignitaries, those who could be seated at the Byzantine emperor's own table, while Section III deals with middle-ranking and lower-ranking officials, as well as with the embassies from the other patriarchates
  Patriarchate
  A patriarchate is the office or jurisdiction of a patriarch. A patriarch, as the term is used here, is either* one of the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, earlier, the five that were included in the Pentarchy: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, but now nine,...
  
   (Rome, Antioch and Jerusalem
  Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
  The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the head bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 2005, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has been Theophilos III...
  
  ) and foreign embassies (Arabs
  Caliphate
  The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
  
  , Bulgars
  First Bulgarian Empire
  The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
  
   and Germans).

• Section IV is the longest portion of the text, and is addressed to the court atriklinēs giving advice on arranging the various banquets throughout the year, beginning with the celebrations for Christmas
  Christmas
  Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
  
  . It also contains two attached memoranda, one on the largesses doled out by the Byzantine emperor to officials on certain occasions, and the other on the salaries of the atriklinai officials.

• A short appendix follows (chapter 54 of the De Ceremoniis) with the various ecclesiastic officials and their precedence, as well as the Notitia Episcopatuum of pseudo-Epiphanius, a list of episcopal sees
  Diocese
  A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
  
  .