Drungarios
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A drungarios, also spelled droungarios (Greek: δρουγγάριος) or, in its English form, drungary, was a military rank of the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
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[edit] History and use
[edit] Late Roman and Byzantine Army
The term derives from the Latin word drungus (itself of Gallic or Germanic provenance), which translates as "a crowd", and first appeared in the Late Roman army of the 4th century. There a drungus (in Greek, δροῦγγος) was a brigade formed of several infantry battalions, or numeri, totaling 2-3 thousand men.(cf. Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris III.16)
The office and the unit were retained in the later Theme system of the Eastern Empire in the 7th century. Every major division, called a thema (Θέμα), was further divided into tourmai while each tourma was divided into moirai (μοίραι) or droungoi, which in turn were composed of several banda. Thus each moira or droungos was the analogue of a modern regiment or brigade, initially ca. 1000 men strong, although on occasion it coud rise to 3000 men, and Emperor Leo VI the Wise is recorded as having established droungoi of only 400 men for the new smaller themes.[1]
The commander of the elite Vigla regiment (one of the tagmata) also bore the rank of droungarios, and was later raised to the rank of megas droungarios tēs viglēs (μέγας δρουγγάριος τῆς βίγλης, "Grand Drungary of the Vigla"). In the 11th and 12th centuries, the office which assumed significant judicial responsibilities, since its holder was the president of the imperial court of justice.
[edit] Byzantine Navy
The rank of droungarios was also used in the Byzantine navy to designate its admirals. The droungarios tou basilikou plōïmou (δρουγγάριος τοῦ βασιλικοῦ πλωίμου) was the commander of the central Imperial Fleet, based at and around Constantinople, while the provincial ("thematic") fleets were also commanded by a droungarios (although it was later replaced by the more exalted rank of strategos), to whose title was added the name of the thema under his command, e.g. droungarios tōn Kibyrraiōtōn (δρουγγάριος τῶν Κιβυρραιωτῶν, the admiral of the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme). The droungarios of the Imperial Fleet was later raised to the rank of megas droungarios [tou plōïmou] ("Grand Drungary [of the Fleet]") acting as commander in chief of the entire navy, until he was replaced in this task by the Megas doux in the 1080s. The office megas droungarios continued to exist, in a subordinate position, until the Empire's fall. The variant rank of droungarokomēs (δρουγγαροκόμης) also existed, which signified a count (komēs) in command of a squadron of warships.
The rank of droungarios was one of the lowest military ranks that carried an accompanying [Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy#Titles for the "Bearded Ones"|court title]], ranging from hypatos to vestētōr.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Bury, John B. (1963). Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0833704346.
- (Greek) Plakogiannakis, Kimon Emmanouil (2001). Timītikoi Titloi kai Energa Axiōmata sto Vyzantio ("Honorary titles and active offices in Byzantium"). IANOS. ISBN 960-7771-57-5.
- Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804731632.
