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Nikephoros III Botaneiates, the Phokades, and the Fabii: embellished genealogies and contested kinship in eleventh-century Byzantium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2018

Nathan Leidholm
Nathan Leidholm*
Affiliation:
Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow, Byzantine Studies Research Center, Boğaziçi Universitynathan.leidholm@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article examines the genealogical claims of Nikephoros III Botaneiates, namely his supposed descent from the Phokades and the ancient Roman Fabii, and aims to situate Botaneiates’ case within a broader context of exaggerated and contested claims of kinship in medieval Byzantium. While exploring the uses of fictionalized or exaggerated kinship and their reception in contemporary society, it addresses issues of authenticity, proof, and credibility. It argues that Byzantine authors were widely sceptical of audacious genealogical claims and may have been exposed to false claims of kinship more often than previously acknowledged.

Keywords

Byzantine aristocracykinship and genealogyNikephoros III BotaneiatesMichael AttaleiatesMichael Psellos
Type
Articles
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , October 2018 , pp. 185 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham, 2018 

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References

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3 For more on this, see Cheynet, J.-C., ‘Les Phocas’, in Dagron, G. and Mihaescu, H., Le traité sur la guérilla de l'empereur Nicéphore Phocas (Paris 1986) 314–15Google Scholar.

4 Attaleiates 216-17: εἰ δέ τις ἀναδράμοι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐνενήκοντα καὶ δύο γενεῶν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἀκρότητα (μέχρι γὰρ τοῦ τῆς ἀοιδίμου λήξεως βασιλέως κυρίου Νικηφόρου τοῦ Φωκᾶ τὸ ποσὸν τῶν τοιούτων συνεψηφίζετο γενεῶν), εὑρήσει κατηγμένους αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ τρισμάκαρος καὶ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου. . . trans. Kaldellis and Krallis, 396-7.

5 Attaleiates 217-18: ἐκ τούτων οὖν, ὡς ὁ λόγος αἱρεῖ καὶ ἡ τοῦ γένους ἀναφορὰ περιάγει, οἱ Φωκάδες. . .αὐτοὶ καταγόμενοι τήν τε περιφάνειαν ἄνωθεν ἔσχον καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀνδρίας ἀλκιμώτατον καὶ ἀνύποιστον, ἐκ τῶν ὀνομαστῶν ἐκείνων Φαβίων. . ., trans. Kaldellis and Krallis, 398-99.

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13 Psellos probably died in 1078. Papaioannou, Michael Psellos: Rhetoric and Authorship in Byzantium, 13.

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17 Skylitzes, for example, records how in 1056 or 1057 the emperor Michael VI bestowed upon his nephew, also named Michael, both the title of doux of Antioch and the surname Ouranos, ‘because his genos supposedly derived from the ancient Ouranos’. Anna Komnene's two sons were also famously known by two different surnames (Komnenos and Doukas). Neither of them bore the family name of their father, Nikephoros Bryennios. See Skylitzes, John, Synopsis Historiarum, ed. Thurn, J. (Berlin, New York 1973)Google Scholar [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 5] 483; translation taken from Wortley, J., trans., John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811-1057 (Cambridge 2010) 451Google Scholar; on the names of Komnene's, Anna sons, see Prodromos’ poem edited and published in Nikephoros Bryennios, Historiarum libri quattuor, ed. Gautier, P. (Brussels 1975) 344–47Google Scholar.

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21 Zonaras, John, Epitome historiarum libri XIII usque ad XVIII, ed. Büttner-Wobst, T., 3 vols. (Bonn 1897) III, 715.10-11Google Scholar: ἦν δὲ τῶν εὐπατρίδων ὁ Βοτανειάτης, ἐκ τοῦ Φωκᾶ τὴν τοῦ γένους ἕλκων σειρὰν νομιζόμενος.

22 For a review of Botaneiates’ career prior to ascending the throne, see Karagiorgou, O., ‘On the way to the throne: The career of Nikephoros III Botaneiates before 1078’, in Stavrakos, C., Wassiliou, A.-K., and Krikorian, M. K. (eds.), Hypermachos: Studien zu Byzantinistik, Armenologie und Georgistik. Festschrift für Werner Seibt zum 65. Geburtstag (Wiesbaden 2008) 105–32Google Scholar.

23 Attaleiates, 229-30; Patlagean, Un Moyen Âge grec, 138.

24 E.g. Attaleiates 212-14, here at 213.

25 Cheynet, Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance, 351.

26 Cheynet, Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance. 351. A third, less serious contender, Nikephoros Basilakios, drew his support primarily from central and southern Greece.

27 Cheynet, ‘Les Phocas’, 312-13.

28 Karagiorgiou, ‘On the way to the throne’, 120-21.

29 Zonaras, Epitome historiarum, III, 715.5-7: Οὕτω δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐχόντων, οἱ τῶν ἑῴων ἀρχόντων προέχοντες συνελθόντες ἀποστασίαν ὠδίνησαν, καὶ τὸν κουροπαλάτην Νικηφόρον τὸν Βοτανειάτην εἰς βασιλέα προείλοντο. By this period, ‘the East’ could mean more or less any area of central or eastern Anatolia.

30 Vlysidou, V. N., Αριστοκρατικές οικογένειες καί εξουσία (9ος-10ος αι.): Έρευνες πάνω στα διαδοχικά στάδια αντιμετώπισης της αρμενο-παφλαγονικής και της καππαδοκικής αριστοκρατίας (Thessalonike 2001) 108–42Google Scholar; Cheynet, ‘Les Phocas’, 19; Stephenson, P., ‘A development in nomenclature on the seals of the Byzantine provincial aristocracy in the late tenth century’, Revue des études byzantines 52 (1994) 196CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 Ljubarskii, ‘Nikephoros Phokas in Byzantine historical writings’, 245-53; Talbot, A.-M. and Sullivan, D. F. (eds. and trans.), The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century (Washington, DC 2005) 14–15Google Scholar; Neville, L., ‘A history of the caesar John Doukas in Nikephoros Bryennios' Material for History?’ Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 32 (2008) 168–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 Ljubarskij, ‘Nikephoros Phokas in Byzantine historical writings’, 245-53.

33 Nikephoros Bryennios, Historiarum libri quattuor, 219: . . .μητρόθεν δὲ ἐς τοὺς Κοντοστεφάνους καὶ τοὺς Ἀβαλλάντας καὶ τοὺς Φωκάδας τοὺς πάλαι περιφανεστάτους καὶ πλούτῳ πολλῷ κομῶντας.

34 It is possible that the Phokades themselves first invented a genealogy that included the Fabii, which Botaneiates and/or Attaleiates simply borrowed. See Cheynet, ‘Les Phocas’, 290.

35 Tzetzes, John, Epistulae, ed. Leone, P. L. M. (Leipzig 1972) 18.12Google Scholar (Καισάρων ἀπόγονε); 18.18-19 (ὡς ὁ Σερβιλίων Καισάρων ἀπόγονος); 31.17 (τῶν πρὶν Καισάρων Σερβιλίων ἀπόγονε).

36 The seal bears the catalogue number BZS.1951.31.5.413 (formerly Fogg 413). McGeer, E., Nesbitt, J., and Oikonomidès, N. (eds.), Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Washington, D.C. 2005) 109.1Google Scholar. Obverse: Bust of the Virgin orans; Reverse: Σφρ[α]γὶς σεβαστ[οῦ] Μαγκάφους Ἰω(άννου) ῥίζαν γένους ἔχοντο[ς] ἐξόχου (?) 'Ρώμης.

37 Nikephoros Bryennios, Historiarum libri quattuor, 67-68: ὁ πρῶτος Δούκας ἐκεῖνος. . .καθ'αἷμα τῷ μεγάλῳ Κωνσταντίνῳ καὶ γνησιώτατα προσῳκείωτο· ἐκείνου τε γὰρ ἐξάδελφος ἦν καὶ τὴν τοῦ δουκὸς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀξίαν παρ'αὐτοῦ ἐγκεχείριστο, κἀντεῦθεν καὶ πάντες ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατωνομάσθησαν οἱ Δουκώνυμοι.

38 Grünbart, Inszenierung und Repräsentation der byzantinischen Aristokratie, 44 (Lampros nr. 56.26-33): Ἀλλὰ τολμήσας στρέφω, σεβαστοκρατόρισσα, πρὸς σὲ τοὺς λόγους. Γένος μὲν οὖν σὸν εἰς τὸ τῶν Αἰνειάδων ὡς εἰς ἀπαρχὴν ἀνάγειν. . . The addressee is possibly Eirene Doukaina, sister-in-law of Manuel I Komnenos.

39 Digenis Akritis, ed. and trans. E. Jeffreys (Cambridge 1998) G 1.267, 4.43, 4.59, 4.325, 6.14, and 6.414.

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44 Patlagean, Un Moyen Âge grec, 138-9.

45 John Zonaras, Epitome Historiarum, III, 675-76: ἐκ θηλείας οἱ τούτου [Constantine X] κατήγοντο πρόγονοι, ὅθεν οὐδὲ Δοῦκας λελόγιστο καθαρός, ἀλλ’ ἐπίμικτος καὶ κεκιβδηλευμένην ἔχων τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Δούκας συγγένειαν.

46 Laiou, A., ‘Family structure and the transmission of property’, in Haldon, J. (ed.), A Social History of Byzantium (Chichester 2009) 51–75Google Scholar.

47 Laiou, ‘Family structure’, 72: ‘Descent is cognatic, and the family property is transmitted through bilateral inheritance, with a strong preference in law for equal inheritance. . .’

48 See, for example, Duby, G. and LeGoff, J. (eds.), Famille et parenté dans l'Occident médiévale (Rome 1977)Google Scholar [Collection de l'École française de Rome 30]; Schmid, K., ‘Zur Problematik von Familie, Sippe und Geschlecht, Haus und Dynastie beim mittelalterlichen Adel: Vortragen zum Thema “Adel und Herrschaft im Mittelalter”’, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 105 (1957) 1–62Google Scholar.

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50 Tougher, S., ‘Imperial families: the case of the Macedonians (867-1056),’ in Brubaker, L. and Tougher, S. (eds.), Approaches to the Byzantine Family (Aldershot and Burlington, VT 2013) 303–26Google Scholar; Gounaridis, P., ‘Constitution d'une généalogie à Byzance’, in Bresson, A. (ed.), Parenté et société dans le monde grec de l'Antiquité à l'âge moderne. Colloque international, Volos (Grèce), 19-20-21 juin 2003 (Pessac, Bordeaux 2006) 271–80Google Scholar; Patlagean, Un Moyen Âge grec, 108-11.

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52 Leo, Emperor VI, Oraison funèbre de Basile I, in Vogt, A. and Hausherr, S. (eds.), ‘Oraison funèbre de Basile I par son fils Léon VI le sage’, Orientalia Christiana 26.1, no.77 (1932) 44.27Google Scholar: οὐ γὰρ ἱστορίαν, ἀλλ’ εὐφημίαν ἐργάζεται.

53 Symeonis Magistri et Logothetae, Chronicon, ed. S. Wahlgren [Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae – Series Berolinensis 44/1] (Berlin 2006) 689-90.

54 David, Niketas, The Life of Patriarch Ignatius, ed. and trans. Smithies, A. [Dumbarton Oaks Texts 13] (Cambridge, MA 2013) 89Google Scholar.

55 The episode is also recounted in the Chronicon of Symeon the Logothete, 689-90.

56 Kekaumenos, Raccomandazioni e consigli di un galantuomo, M.D. Spadaro (Alessandria 1998) 102.31-3; Kekaumenos, Consilia et Narrationes, ed. and trans. C. Roueché (SAWS edition 2013): at http://www.ancientwisdoms.ac.uk/library/kekaumenos-consilia-et-narrationes/.

57 Attaleiates 217-18: ὥς που διὰ βίβλου τινὸς παλαιᾶς ἐχειραγωγήθην ποτέ. . . Attaleiates here refers specifically to the link between the Phokades and the Fabii.

58 Attaleiates 227-29: αὐτὸς ὁ Φωκᾶς ἀνεστηλωμένος ἐν τούτῳ. . .Καῖ εἶδον τοῦτον ἐγὼ τῇ νήσῳ ἐπιδεδημηκὼς καὶ ἔστιν ἐμφερὴς πάντῃ τῷ προμνημονευθέντι βασιλεῖ κῦρ Νικηφόρῳ τῷ Βωτανειάτῃ, πίστεως ἀκριβοῦς σύμβουλον τοῦ εἶναι τοῦτον ἐκείνου ἀπόγονον; trans. Kaldellis and Krallis, The History, 416-17.

59 Neville, L., Heroes and Romans in Twelfth-Century Byzantium: The Material for History of Nikephoros Bryennios (Cambridge 2012) 104–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

60 Holmes, C., Basil II and the Governance of Empire, 976-1025 (Oxford 2006) 202–10Google Scholar; Neville, L., “Families, politics, and memories of Rome in the Material for History of Nikephoros Bryennios,” in Brubaker, L. and Tougher, S. (eds.), Approaches to the Byzantine Family (Farnham and Burlington, VT 2013) 359–70Google Scholar.

61 For a summary, see Neville, Heroes and Romans, 105-11, 194-8.

62 For an excellent summary of these benefits, see Patlagean, Un Moyen Âge grec, esp. 95-162.