Chalcedonian armenian aristocracy in the service of empire: military leaders and diplomatic agents of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos

Abstract

The paper examines the social status and administrative activities of Chalcedonian Armenians in the service of the empire in IX–X centuries according to the treatise of Constantine Porphyrogennetos “On the Governance of the Empire”. The information on Trans-Caucasian matters in the treatise is characterised by accuracy and precision because it was provided by immediate participants of events — Chalcedonian Armenians in the service of the Byzantine Empire. he imperial orthodoxy guaranteed Constantinople the loyalty of its Armenian diplomats, military leaders and interpreters, while their belonging to the Armenian ethnicity, language and culture made it possible for them to orient themselves in the Armenian world with ease unattainable to their Greek colleagues. Armenian aristocracy, naturally incorporated into the Byzantine ruling class (the milieu from which Constantine’s advisers originated), represents a phenomenon of synthesis, the result of interaction and mutual infl uence of the two worlds and the two cultures. These particular people created the deological component in the formation of the integrated contact zone

Keywords

• interaction of Byzantine and Armenian civilisations
• Constantine Porphyrogennetos
• political ideology
• military leaders
• diplomatic agents.