Basileus: Encyclopedia II - Basileus - Byzantines

Basileus - Byzantines

At the time of the Byzantine Empire, "basileus" assumed the meaning of "emperor" and was used by the Byzantine Emperors from the reign of Justinian II onwards, when official usage of Latin in coinage and state documents was gradually replaced by Greek.

This use of the word was new — when the Romans had originally conquered the Mediterranean, the imperial title "Caesar Augustus" was initially translated as "Kaisar Sebastos", and later Hellenized to "Kaisar Augoustos". "Imperator", another imperial title, was translated as "Autokrator". Interestingly, "BASILEUS" was initially stamped on Byzantine coins (in lieu of the standard Latin abbreviations "C.IMP." for "Caesar Imperator") in Latin script. Only somewhat later was the Greek script universally used.

The Byzantines reserved the term "basileus" among Christian rulers exclusively for the emperor in Constantinople, and referred to Western European kings as "rigas", a Hellenized form of the Latin word "rex" (=king). The title of "basileus" became an issue of great diplomatic controversy when Charlemagne was crowned as "Emperor of the Romans" by Pope Leo III on December 25, 800 AD, at St. Peter's in Rome. The matter was complicated by the fact that the Eastern Empire was then ruled by the Empress Irene, who had ascended the throne of Constantinople after the death of her husband, the emperor Leo IV, as Regent to their 9-year-old son, Constantine VI. Following Constantine's coming of age, the Empress Dowager eventually decided to topple him and rule in her own name. In the conflict that ensued, Irene was victorious and Constantine was blinded and imprisoned, to die soon after. The repulsion generated by this incident of virtual filicide cum regicide was compounded by the innate Frankish aversion to the concept of a ruling female sovereign.

Charlemagne, in an effort to advance his own dynastic affairs, proposed marriage to the aging Empress, but Irene, who now styled herself "Basileus" (in the masculine, rather than "Basilissa", in the feminine) rejected Charlemagne's marriage proposal, and refused to recognize Charlemagne's imperial title. Eventually a compromise was reached, whereby Charlemagne was to be recognized as "Emperor Augustus of the Franks and the Lombards", but not "of the Romans".

See also: Byzantine Empire, Persia

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Byzantines", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki