Logothetes tou dromou
Encyclopedia
The logothetēs tou dromou , in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/Dromos or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Dromos, the Public Post
, and one of the most senior ministers (logothetes) of the Byzantine Empire
.
under the magister officiorum
(Pars Orientalis, XI). As the once-wide ranging duties of the magister officiorum
were gradually removed, the office came to control not only the Public Post, but also the Empire's foreign affairs, handling collection of intelligence on foreign peoples, correspondence with foreign princes and the reception of ambassadors.
Gradually, the office evolved into the senior minister and principal advisor to the emperor, until superseded in the 12th century by the logothetēs tōn sekretōn. It is indicative of his pre-eminence that in the Byzantine sources of the 9th–10th centuries, when there is mention of the logothetēs without further qualification, it refers usually to the logothetēs tou dromou. As befitting his importance, he was received in audience every morning by the emperor. Furthermore, according to the De Ceremoniis
of Constantine Porphyrogennetos, the logothetēs tou dromou also had significant ceremonial duties: he presented the senior officials at award-giving ceremonies, and obviously had a prominent part in the reception of foreign embassies, as well as the exhibition of captives. After the reforms of Alexios I Komnenos
, in ca. 1108 the dromos ceased to exist as a department, but the logothetēs remained, now responsible for official communications and for supervising the foreigners resident in Constantinople.
Cursus publicus
The cursus publicus was the state-run courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Byzantine Empire. It was created by Emperor Augustus to transport messages, officials, and tax revenues from one province to another...
, and one of the most senior ministers (logothetes) 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...
.
History and functions
The exact origin and date of institution of the office is unclear. The office is explicitly attested for the first time in ca. 762, and is commonly held to be the evolution of the old curiosus cursus publici, the inspector of the Public Post attested in the late 4th-century Notitia DignitatumNotitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
under the magister officiorum
Magister officiorum
The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...
(Pars Orientalis, XI). As the once-wide ranging duties of the magister officiorum
Magister officiorum
The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...
were gradually removed, the office came to control not only the Public Post, but also the Empire's foreign affairs, handling collection of intelligence on foreign peoples, correspondence with foreign princes and the reception of ambassadors.
Gradually, the office evolved into the senior minister and principal advisor to the emperor, until superseded in the 12th century by the logothetēs tōn sekretōn. It is indicative of his pre-eminence that in the Byzantine sources of the 9th–10th centuries, when there is mention of the logothetēs without further qualification, it refers usually to the logothetēs tou dromou. As befitting his importance, he was received in audience every morning by the emperor. Furthermore, according to 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 Constantine Porphyrogennetos, the logothetēs tou dromou also had significant ceremonial duties: he presented the senior officials at award-giving ceremonies, and obviously had a prominent part in the reception of foreign embassies, as well as the exhibition of captives. After the reforms of Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
, in ca. 1108 the dromos ceased to exist as a department, but the logothetēs remained, now responsible for official communications and for supervising the foreigners resident in Constantinople.
Subordinate officials
The subordinates of the logothetēs tou dromou were:- the prōtonotarios tou dromou , his senior deputy.
- the chartoularioiChartoulariosThe chartoularios or chartularius , Anglicized as chartulary, was a late Roman and Byzantine administrative official, entrusted with administrative and fiscal duties, either as a subaltern official of a department or province or at the head of various independent bureaus.-History:The title derives...
tou [oxeōs] dromou , who were clerks with the rank of spatharios, combining the functions of the Roman curiosi of the provinces and of the officials in charge of the scrinium barbarorum, the "Bureau of BarbariansBureau of BarbariansThe Bureau of Barbarians , was a department of government in the Byzantine Empire. It is first recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum of the fifth century, where it came under the control of the magister officiorum...
". - a number of episkeptētai , officials in charge of the various imperial estates.
- translators , also attested (interpretes diversarum gentium) in the Notitia Dignitatum.
- the kouratōr tou apokrisiareiou , in charge of the apokrisiarieion, a building in Constantinople that housed the foreign envoys.
- various inspectors, the diatrechontes (διατρέχοντες, the old Roman cursores) and messengers (μανδάτορες, mandatorMandatorThe mandatōr , deriving from the Latin word for "messenger", was a subaltern official in the middle Byzantine Empire.The mandatores were a corps of messengers for special duties attached to the bureau of all senior civil and military officials, such as the thematic stratēgoi, the commanders of the...
es).