by Nikita Khrapunov
The Greek city of Cherson was located on the south-western coast of the Crimean peninsula. In the sixth century it... more
The Greek city of Cherson was located on the south-western coast of the Crimean peninsula. In the sixth century it became the center of Byzantine possessions in the Crimea, which included the southern coast of the peninsula and the Greek city of Bosporos on the eastern extremity of the Crimea. The Goths on the south-western upland became the allies of the empire. For a long period it was considered that in the seventh century Cherson declined and was extensively depopulated. Recently, thanks primarily to the appearance of new approaches in analyzing archaeological materials, scholars tried to prove that the city’s life in the seventh century did not undergo important changes in comparison with the previous period.
Sources supply no information about the city’s administrative machinery in the seventh century. We know only that to the last quarter of the century the Byzantine possessions in the Crimea retreated up to the limits of Cherson itself and its nearest suburbs. In this paper I will emphasize the “anachronistic" character of the administration of the city throughout the Early Byzantine period and draw a conclusion about its continuity from the Later Roman bodies of power. In spite of the fact that about 20 positions in the Cherson administration of the eighth-tenth centuries are already known, this paper will examine only those which are connected to its topic.
The administrative history of Cherson in the eighth - eleventh centuries falls into two periods: the so-called “period of the archontate” (eighth - early ninth centuries) and the “period of the theme,” beginning with the establishment of a new military and administrative unit in the Crimea during the reign of Theophilos (829-842). Later Roman official positions, retained in the first period, in the second changed their nature, but continued to exist in the administration of the strategos.
According to the data of sigillographic and written sources, archontes were the heads of Cherson's administration from the eighth to the third quarter of the ninth century. The most distinctive features of the Cherson's archontes are, firstly, the collective nature of this magistracy; secondly, the fact that they are mentioned in the official table of ranks (Taktikon of Uspenskij, AD 842-843); thirdly, their seals. Taking these three points into account, it is very difficult to find exact analogy for Cherson archontes of the given period, but it seems that we can discover their predecessors in Cherson’s administration of the first centuries AD.
One can determine approximately the functions of archontes of Cherson. The collective nature of this office still allowed them to be the heads of the city’s garrison, as in the Classical period. At any rate the archontes were civil governors of the city. The most distinctive feature of the archontes of Cherson is that, according to Constantine Porphyrogennetos and Theophanes Continuatus, they were elected by the local population. However the seals and the Taktikon of Uspenskij give evidence that the archontes were reinforced by the central government and were considered Byzantine officials. This combination of two patterns is typical of Later Roman, but not Byzantine, municipal administration. After the theme had been established, archontes of Cherson became the subordinates of the strategos (Constantine Porphyrogennetos, Theophanes Continuatus). According to the seals, the position of archontes of Cherson was abolished in the third quarter of the ninth century, probably because of the development of the thematic administration, which gradually replaced the previous authorities. Thus, one can trace the development of this position: in the Hellenistic period archontes of Cherson were elected by the city community; in the Roman time by local oligarchs; in the Early Byzantine period the results of the elections were ratified by the Emperor, and in the early thematic period the archontes became members of the strategos’ administration.
The position of the pater of Cherson is mentioned in epigraphic, narrative, and sigillographic sources from the end of the fourth to the tenth century, that is, significantly later than in any other Byzantine city. Pateres tes poleos were the municipal officials elected by a city community. It is difficult to determine their functions definitely, nevertheless it is known that in general they provided public works, were judges in criminal affairs, and were in charge of municipal finance. Taking the example of Cherson one can see the evolution of this office. According to Constantine Porphyrogennetos and Theophanes Continuatus, Cherson pateres were municipal officials, and when Theophilos was establishing the theme in the Crimea, he subordinated them to the strategos. This information is confirmed by the Byzantine seal of the pater, which appeared in the tenth century.
The position of defensor civitatis (Greek ekdikos) is known from the sources of the tenth century. I suggest that this position was introduced in Cherson earlier, in the Later Roman period, because such a development seems impossible for the tenth century, the period of strengthening of the thematic system. The defensor had to protect the poor from the powerful, prevent abuses by the imperial administration, was chair of a city council, head of police, judge in minor cases in civil and criminal affairs, appeal judge, and tax collector. The defensor was elected by the committee of city notables. It seems that Cherson is the only city where these officials are mentioned after the seventh century. According to the seal, in the tenth century Cherson’s defensores civitatis were Byzantine officials. Thus, their terms of appointment and probably their functions were changed in the course of time, more likely after the establishment of the theme. They obviously became employees of the strategos’ staff. The «anachronistic» name of the office, which they kept, probably was a sign of the municipal origin of the magistracy, its connection with the community of Cherson. It can be supposed that these ekdikoi were appointed among the local notables.
Proteuontes of Cherson are known from different sources for a long period. Byzantine chronicles mention them in 711-712, during the reign of Theophilus, and in 967. On the seals of the tenth to the first half of the eleventh centuries this term is mentioned with two meanings: as a family name and as a name for the office or title. In Byzantine sources of the second to the seventh centuries they always played the role of leaders of a representative body, which is why one should search for predecessors of Cherson's proteuontes among the members of the city council (boule), the structure of which is described in inscriptions of the first centuries AD. Later on, proteuontes comprised a special consultative structure attached to the board of archontes, proposed to the Emperor candidates for the position of archon, elected pateres tes poleos, and after the assignment of state administration carried out some functions in governing the city.
The evolution of the meaning of the term proteuon is very interesting. In Later Roman and Early Byzantine city it was an unofficial title, but after the establishment of the Byzantine theme in the Crimea proteuon became the official name of the magistracy and started to be used on seals. The owners of the seals had right to use the high Byzantine ranks – epi ton oikeiakon, epi tou chrysotriklinou, patrikios and stratelates. Thus, these ranks emphasize that the owner was one of the state officials and the title of the office his connection with the city community.
The preservation of the positions of the pateres tes poleos, ekdikos, and proteuontes in the tenth and the first half of the eleventh centuries should be analyzed in the same context. In the Roman period the leaders of the city council, the proteuontes, elected from themselves the heads of the municipality, the pateres tes poleos and ekdikos. According to the seals, in the tenth century proteuontes of Cherson became state officials, probably of the strategos’ staff. This was probably a result of the establishment of the Byzantine theme in Taurica. It is important, that according ot constantine Porphyrogennitos and Theophanes Continuatus, the emperor Theophilos subordinated archontes, pateres, and proteuontes to the strategos of the theme organized by him. All these officials probably used “anachronistic” terms to emphasize their connection with the local community. They were probably assigned by the Byzantine authorities from among the local notables.
Taking into account all the aforementioned facts, it can be suggested that there was a certain continuity in Cherson's administration from its Roman predecessors. In spite of the serious lack of sources one can conclude that several officials and administrative traditions of the Later Roman period were preserved in the eighth and early ninth centuries. In particular, such officials as the archontes, proteuontes, and pateres tes poleos appeared probably in the second - fourth centuries and even earlier. Naturally, the content of these offices changed in the course of time. Some of them (archontes) became state employees, others (proteuontes, pateres tes poleos) kept their municipal character.
The establishment of the Byzantine theme in the Crimea did not cause immediate abolition of the earlier administrative structures. Archontes, proteuontes, pateres tes poleos, and ekdikoi became officials of the strategos’ staff. However they gradually changed their nature. Later on archontes ceased to exist, and the others lost their municipal character. Although sources supply information about some self-government patterns in the other Byzantine provincial cities from the tenth to the eleventh centuries, Cherson seems to be perhaps the only one where the remains of such patterns are preserved to a considerable extent. This can probably be explained as a result of the city’s location in the outlying zone of the empire and the strong traditions of self-government, harking back to the Later Roman period, when Cherson was not a part of the Empire and juridically possessed the “free city” status.
In spite of the well-known edict by Leo VI (886-912) cancelling the municipalities of all the Byzantine cities, some sources provide evidence of the remains of self-governmental structures to the eleventh century. Long preservation of the traditional forms of administration, and that of self-government in particular, in the frontier zones of Byzantium was the distinctive feature of the administrative development of the Empire. Such pattern existed in Byzantine Italy, where in the eighth and the ninth centuries municipal government became the responsibility of the urban nobility. In the similar way, in Byzantine Dalmatia few patterns of the later antique municipal administration, among which there were not only bodies of power but also leaded by the local nobility city councils, preserved from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. These specific features of the development of Italy and Dalmatia were possibly caused by the outlying location of these regions, which made difficulties in contacts with Constantinople. However even in the core of the Empire, in Asia Minor, and even in Constantinople itself some self-governmental patterns already existed through centuries. These data are indefinite and unclear. As a rule, sources mention only an existence of a self-governmental pattern, for example, the assembly of the members of the urban community, but give no detail about the content of this structure. This way, the only fact acknowledged in scholarship is the existence of remains of the Later Roman or Early Byzantine administrative patterns in the Byzantine cities. Thus, one can suppose that the Leo VI order was not realized in full. The investigation of the Later Roman patterns in the Cherson administration contributes to this suggestion.
Naturally, the continuity of Cherson’s administration did not have a linear character. Together with the anachronistic officials there were other administrative bodies which functioned during shorter periods and did not develop further. The anachronistic offices changed in course of time, but the development of these offices was gradual, without shifts and lacunae. The close connection of these bodies with the local community ensured a succession of the administrative systems of Cherson coming one after another and, in this way, continuity.
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