Cabiccular — Wikipedia

The cubicilaimus or koubikoularios (in Greek cubic ; I don’t latin chamber ) is a title used to designate the Chambellans eunuchs of the Imperial Palace at the end of the Roman Empire and under the Byzantine Empire. The female version, used for the Empress company ladies, is koubikoularia ( cubiculary ).

The term comes from their service within the sacred room , the sacred chamber of the emperor. At the end of the Roman period, the cubicularii or koubikoularioi There are numerous: according to Jean Malalas, the Court of Empress Théodora has 4,000 patrikioi And koubikoularioi ^{[ first ]} . They are placed under the command of the In charge of the sacred room A you Primicerius sacred room , while the other servants of the palace are led by the Castro palati where the teacher duties ^{[ 2 ]} . Finally, there is also a special title of cubicularii / koubikoularioi for the Empress (sometimes including the koubikoulariai ) and this office is also set up by the Roman church, probably by Pope Leon I ^{is [ first ]} .

In the Catholic church the term also designated a young child who was attached to the pontifical chamber: ” The chief of deacons (…) had in his attributions the surveillance of the cubiculars, young children attached to the pontifical chamber, among whom we recruited readers and small singers » ^{[ 3 ]}

In the Byzantine Empire, they play an important role, holding the high palatine functions of parakoimōmenos or EPIs , and occupying positions in central financial departments, or as provincial administrators, even as generals ^{[ first ]} . Gradually, to VII ^{It is} And VIII ^{It is} siacles, the hallaques de la chamberer of the empereur ([βασιλιὸςὸς] οῶῶν, [basilikos] koitōn ) are separated from others koubikoularioi and, distinguished by the appellation Captopoli (κοιτωνῖται), pass under the authority of parakoimōmenoi . At the same time, the imperial wardrobe ( basilikon vestiarion ) and its officials also constitute a separate department under the Prōtovestiarios ^{[ first ] , [ 2 ]} . The others then become them ” koubikoularioi of kouboukleion “(Course of the Kouvoukouki), sous l’Autorité du Praiguates . Praipositos Tou Eusebestatou koitōnos ), with the primicerius (Primary of the Kouvoukouki, Primikērios Tou Kouboukleiou ) as a main assistant ^{[ 4 ]} . The title disappears, but we don’t know too well when: Nicolas Oikomidès leans for the second half of XI ^{It is} century, but Rodolphe Guilland pleads for the beginning of XIII ^{It is} century ^{[ first ]} .

According to Clinorology from 899, the rank of koubikoularios is the second in growing order for the eunuchs, coming after that of spatharokoubikoularios and after that of Nipsistiary . Still according to the Clinorology , his insignia are the kamision (a cape similar to the paenula ) bordered with purple, and a paragaudion (tunic) ^{[ 5 ]} .

• (in) John B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century: With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos , Oxford University Press, 1911 .
• (in) Alexander Kazhdan ( you. ), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , New York et Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991 , first ^re ed. , 3 tom. (ISBN  978-0-19-504652-6 And 0-19-504652-8 , LCCN 90023208 ) .