The sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos (b.1050-†1102/4) and the challenges in describing a quasi-emperor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1984-3356.2024v17n33p282-315Keywords:
Isaac Komnenos, Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine Empire, Representation, Political HistoryAbstract
Alexios I Komnenos is known by the historiography for having established a family government in which his relatives not only received extraordinary privileges, but also a more important role in government than the relatives of previous emperors. No one personified this innovation more than his brother, Isaac Komnenos (1050-1102/1104). He was bestowed by his brother with the title sebastokrator, which is an association between two originally imperial titles: autokrator (lat. imperator) and sebastos (lat. augustus). This represented the status as almost equal to the emperor that Isaac enjoyed during his brother’s reign. However, these innovations created by Alexios were almost unprecedented, requiring linguistic adaptations or even inventions on the part of rhetoricians who praised the members of the Komnenian aristocracy and the historians who tried to clarify Alexios’ policies. Thus, this article will analyse some written sources, such as historiographical, rhetorical, and epigraphic works, and pictorial sources, such as lead seals and decorative mosaics, related to Isaac, in order to understand how the language of various genres was adapted to construct the authority and extraordinary power of the emperor's brother and the relationships between the two.
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