The aristocracy of the late Roman era, an old landowning gentry with large estates worked by coloni, disappeared in the East with the crises of the seventh century. During the seventh to the ninth centuries almost nothing survived that could be called a hereditary nobility but, then, from the mid-ninth century we see the rise of aristocratic families made up of landlords and military magnates, deriving their power from the theme organization, particularly in the frontier zones of Asia Minor or the northern Balkans. These became the dynatoi of the tenth century. The rise of important families seems to be indicated but the introduction of patronymic names, starting in the ninth century and accelerating after the turn of the millennium. After the emperor Basil II crushed several rebellions of the provincial aristocracy, the dynatoi began to cooperate with the imperial government and slowly gravitate toward Constantinople, where they eventually developed an economic base founded on rents from land, salaries and imperial donations, plus some trade.
The death of Basil II heralded a struggle between the military aristocracy based on birth and the civil aristocracy based on merit. The accession of Alexios I was a victory for the military aristocracy. During the early twelfth century three aristocracies existed: (1) the Komnenoi themselves and their "clan," a military aristocracy that monopolized military commands and provincial governorships; (2) the old families who took refuge in the bureaucracy and tended to make it a hereditary civil service; and (3) provincial families who dominated the countryside. It is important to note that the Byzantine aristocracy never became a closed caste.
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Last modified: Thurs Dec 10, 1998