Eunuchs
Eunuchs played an important role in the church, the army and the civil administration. Several patriarchs were eunuchs: Germanos I, Methodios, Ignatios and others, the last of them being Eustratios Garidas (1081-84); among generals Narses was especially famous; among civil officials were such luminaries as Eutropios, Samonas, Joseph Bringas, Basil Lekapenos and John the Orphanotrophos. High palace dignities such as Praepositus sacri cubiculi and Parakoimomenos were until the eleventh century held mainly by eunuchs. Eunuchs also served in the houses of aristocrats. Legislation prohibited castration, although Leo VI mitigated the punishment imposed for performing this surgery. Despite this legislation the operation was often performed on both children and adults, including members of the aristocracy. Some eunuchs were imported from the Caucasus, the caliphate and Slavic countries. Rare at the time of Constantine I, eunuchs acquired importance during the reign of Constantius II in conjunction with the growth of the bureaucratic system; Julian's attempt to restrict the role of eunuchs failed. They retained important positions through the eleventh century, but have been pushed out of the highest posts under the Komnenian dynasty, as aristocratic ideology with its veneration of manliness became dominant. Due to their fear of homosexuality, monastic leaders tried to exclude the "beardless" from certain monasteries (e.g., on Mt. Athos).
It is usually though that eunuchs, who have no children of their own nor were allowed to ascend the throne, preserve greater loyalty to their masters. The reality is often different as eunuchs often participate in diverse plots and schemes against the emperors. However, they have always played an important role in the palace, in the church and especially in the creation of ecclesiastical music. Theophylaktos provided his reader with a list of eunuch-martyrs and named a worthy contemporary, a certain Symeon, who organized a synoikia (community) of eunuch-monks. The monastery of St. Lazaros in Constantinople was reserved for eunuchs by Leo VI.
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Last modified: Thurs Dec 10, 1998