87-518: The Excubitors ( Latin : excubitores or excubiti , lit. ' those out of bed ' , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek as ἐξκουβίτορες or ἐξκούβιτοι , exkoubitores/exkoubitoi ) were founded in c. 460 as an imperial guard -unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian . The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike mountain tribe of
174-402: A chartoularios ( χαρτουλάριος , 'secretary'). The topotērētēs was of relatively low-to-middle court rank (originally stratōr , 'groom' or spatharios , later spatharokandidatos ). He may have commanded provincial detachments of the regiment, and there may have been more than one topotērētai at the same time, for each of these detachments. Based on a reference from
261-516: A tagma , the regiment (often called collectively τὸ ἐξκούβιτον , to exkoubiton or τὰ ἐξκούβιτα , ta exkoubita ) was structured along the same standardized lines followed by the other tagmata , with a few variations in the titles of its officers. The regimental commander, the domestic of the Excubitors (often also shortened to "the Excubitor", ὁ ἐξκουβίτωρ/ἐξκούβιτος ),
348-412: A bodyguard unit intended to serve in the palace, they were most likely infantry. The presence of officers called scribones in the corps has been controversial: John B. Bury and A. H. M. Jones both suggested that they were a separate, although possibly related, unit. Based on the presence of the scribones among the ranks of the later, middle Byzantine incarnation of the Excubitors, however, it
435-515: A contingent of over 700 Excubitors. In 958, the Excubitors participated in the repulsion of a Magyar raid. The Excubitors took part in the failed Azaz campaign of 1030, where they were ambushed and dispersed by the Mirdasids , while their commander, the patrikios Leo Choirosphaktes , was taken captive. As with most of the Byzantine army, the tagmata of the capital atrophied during
522-526: A faster pace. It is characterised by greater use of prepositions, and word order that is closer to modern Romance languages, for example, while grammatically retaining more or less the same formal rules as Classical Latin. Ultimately, Latin diverged into a distinct written form, where the commonly spoken form was perceived as a separate language, for instance early French or Italian dialects, that could be transcribed differently. It took some time for these to be viewed as wholly different from Latin however. After
609-743: A few in German , Dutch , Norwegian , Danish and Swedish . Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church . The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology . They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics . Their works were published in manuscript form before
696-404: A few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus, Salutati , Celtis , George Buchanan and Thomas More . Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples include Isaac Newton 's Principia . Latin was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in
783-560: A native language, Medieval Latin was used across Western and Catholic Europe during the Middle Ages as a working and literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance , which then developed a classicizing form, called Renaissance Latin . This was the basis for Neo-Latin which evolved during the early modern period . In these periods Latin was used productively and generally taught to be written and spoken, at least until
870-406: A new capacity, as one of the imperial tagmata , which comprised the elite professional central army established by Constantine V ( r. 741–775 ) in c. 760 . The tagmata were cavalry units, armed and equipped by the imperial arms factories to a higher standard than the provincial (' thematic ') forces, likely including horse armour . As such the Excubitors were no longer
957-411: A palace guard, but a unit actively engaged in military campaigns. At the same time, the tagmata , being loyal to the emperor's person, represented a counterbalance to the thematic armies of the provinces and constituted a powerful tool in implementing the iconoclastic policies pursued by Constantine V. Their original role as palace guardians was taken over by another, newly created tagma , that of
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#17327732322531044-567: A result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names. In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to the styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from late antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars. The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, also called Archaic or Early Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom , traditionally founded in 753 BC, through
1131-407: A separate language, existing more or less in parallel with the literary or educated Latin, but this is now widely dismissed. The term 'Vulgar Latin' remains difficult to define, referring both to informal speech at any time within the history of Latin, and the kind of informal Latin that had begun to move away from the written language significantly in the post-Imperial period, that led ultimately to
1218-709: A small number of Latin services held in the Anglican church. These include an annual service in Oxford, delivered with a Latin sermon; a relic from the period when Latin was the normal spoken language of the university. In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture . Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross
1305-429: A sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech. Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus , which contain fragments of everyday speech, gives evidence of an informal register of the language, Vulgar Latin (termed sermo vulgi , "the speech of the masses", by Cicero ). Some linguists, particularly in the nineteenth century, believed this to be
1392-572: A spoken and written language by the scholarship by the Renaissance humanists . Petrarch and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of authors' works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite
1479-432: A strictly left-to-right script. During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, from about 75 BC to AD 200, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature , which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools , which served as
1566-693: A vernacular, such as those of Descartes . Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language ) and later native or other languages. Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than
1653-411: Is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue. Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages . For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH , which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica ,
1740-640: Is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend , this phrase was inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules , the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. In
1827-552: Is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously. The spoken Latin that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from
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#17327732322531914-545: Is known of a certain George, who was both excubitor and a scholarius (a member of the Scholae ). After being mentioned in a letter by Justinian II ( r. 685–695, 705–711 ) to Pope John V in 687, the Excubitors as a corps disappear from the historical sources until they re-emerge, under a new commander, the domestic of the Excubitors ( δομέστικος τῶν ἐξκουβίτων , domestikos tōn exkoubitōn ) and in
2001-689: Is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore . Spain's motto Plus ultra , meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin. It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and
2088-1011: Is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico , the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium . Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it
2175-514: Is testament to their effectiveness as a field force. The Scholae and the Excubitors nevertheless continued to play an active political role in the events of the following decades: in 792, they attempted to overthrow Irene's son, Constantine VI ( r. 780–797 ), after the disastrous Battle of Marcellae against the Bulgars, and in 797, their support was crucial for Irene's overthrowing her own son and replacing him as sole ruler; and again,
2262-495: Is thought that the scribones were the subaltern officers of the count of the Excubitors. The historian Warren Treadgold speculates that they fulfilled a role similar to the regular cavalry decurions , commanding troops of 30 men each, but the scribones also appear in charge of administrative matters such as handing out pay to the soldiers, as well as more sensitive tasks such as delivering letters, making arrests, and preparing expeditions. In its later incarnation as
2349-558: Is well attested in the various lists of offices in the 9th–10th centuries, where it is held in tandem with that of the chief ( dēmokratēs ) of the "suburban" ( περατικοὶ , peratikoi ) members of the racing faction ( dēmos ) of the Greens, which functioned as a militia for the defence of Constantinople, and of the regiment of the "Walls". The domestics were originally of strikingly low court rank (mere spatharioi , 'sword-bearers'), but they gradually rose to importance: while in
2436-543: The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy . About 270,000 inscriptions are known. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In
2523-529: The Vigla . Nevertheless, the possibly first commander of the tagma , Strategios Podopagouros , was among the leaders of a failed plot against Constantine V's life in 765, and was executed after its discovery. This initiated a purge of the new units from suspected opponents of the Emperor's policies. By the 780s, following years of imperial favour and military victories under Constantine V and his son Leo IV
2610-571: The Scholae and the Excubitors were scattered in garrisons in Thrace and Bithynia rather than being stationed within Constantinople, making it harder for them to be used in mounting a coup. Latin language Latin ( lingua Latina , pronounced [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna] , or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃] ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of
2697-781: The Taktikon Uspensky of c. 842 the domestic of the Excubitors came behind all the thematic commanders ( stratēgoi ) in order of precedence, in the Klētorologion of 899, the domestic is shown as superior to the stratēgoi of the European themes and even to the Eparch of Constantinople . At the same time, the court dignities they held rose to the much loftier ranks of prōtospatharios ('first sword-bearer') and even patrikios ('patrician'). The Escorial Taktikon , written c. 971/75 , records
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2784-594: The Anastasian Wall against the Avars . They served with Heraclius ( r. 610–641 ) against the Sasanian Persians , and c. 650 some Excubitors appear as guards to Pope Martin I . During the later 7th century, like the Scholae before them, the Excubitors degenerated to a parade-ground unit that saw no active service. Indeed, it appears that during the 7th and early 8th centuries,
2871-583: The Holy See , the primary language of its public journal , the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , and the working language of the Roman Rota . Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin. In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language. There are
2958-783: The Indo-European languages . Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio ), the lower Tiber area around Rome , Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire . By the late Roman Republic , Old Latin had evolved into standardized Classical Latin . Vulgar Latin refers to
3045-527: The Isaurians , replaced the older Scholae Palatinae as the main imperial bodyguards . The Excubitors remained an active military unit for the next two centuries, although, as imperial bodyguards, they did not often go on campaign. Their commander, the Count of the Excubitors ( comes excubitorum , κόμης τῶν ἐξκουβίτων ), soon acquired great influence. Justin I was able to use this position to rise to
3132-574: The Middle Ages , borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest , through the Anglo-Norman language . From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed " inkhorn terms ", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by
3219-576: The Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at the Vatican City . The church continues to adapt concepts from modern languages to Ecclesiastical Latin of the Latin language. Contemporary Latin is more often studied to be read rather than spoken or actively used. Latin has greatly influenced the English language , along with a large number of others, and historically contributed many words to
3306-569: The Romance languages . During the Classical period, informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors, inscriptions such as Curse tablets and those found as graffiti . In the Late Latin period, language changes reflecting spoken (non-classical) norms tend to be found in greater quantities in texts. As it
3393-636: The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses. While the written form of Latin was increasingly standardized into a fixed form, the spoken forms began to diverge more greatly. Currently, the five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are Spanish , Portuguese , French , Italian , and Romanian . Despite dialectal variation, which
3480-508: The hagiography of St. Joannicius the Great (762–846), who was himself recruited into the regiment and served there until deserting it following the Battle of Marcellae, in 773 the regiment itself was divided into at least eighteen banda , probably each commanded by a skribōn ( σκρίβων ), showing the retention of the role of the earlier scribones as the main subaltern officers of
3567-498: The late Roman rank of senator , now much reduced in prominence). There were also the usual messengers ( μανδάτορες , mandatores ) under a prōtomandatōr , some of whom were also termed legatarioi ( λεγατάριοι ), possibly entrusted with police duties. The size of the tagma of the Excubitors and its subdivisions can not be determined with certainty; as with the other tagmata , modern scholars are of differing opinions regarding its numerical strength. Drawing on
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3654-513: The restoration of the icons . At the same time, the tagmata were extensively employed in campaigns during this period: their participation is attested at least for Constantine V's 773 campaign against the Bulgars , and during the Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782. Indeed, the historian John Haldon remarks that the retention of the tagmata by Irene, despite their iconoclastic bias,
3741-497: The themes of Longobardia in southern Italy and of Hellas in Greece. The fact that the unit did not partake in campaigns during the 7th century preserved it from the reforms that affected the field army during this period, so that the late antique terminology for its junior officers remained relatively intact. The domestic was assisted by a topotērētēs ( τοποτηρητής , lit. ' placeholder ' , 'lieutenant') and
3828-637: The British Crown. The motto is featured on all presently minted coinage and has been featured in most coinage throughout the nation's history. Several states of the United States have Latin mottos , such as: Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as: Some law governing bodies in the Philippines have Latin mottos, such as: Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University 's motto
3915-613: The English lexicon , particularly after the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest . Latin and Ancient Greek roots are heavily used in English vocabulary in theology , the sciences , medicine , and law . A number of phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As
4002-452: The Excubitors numbered 300 men. Originally recruited exclusively from Isaurians, the unit was eventually opened up to other ethnicities, but it is unclear how the new recruits were chosen. Based on the retention of late antique ranks in the middle Byzantine period, the Excubitors appear to have been structured similarly to the Scholae . Their arms and equipment are unknown, other than that they are recorded as carrying maces . Since they were
4089-635: The Excubitors of the period was Michael II the Amorian ( r. 820–829 ), whose supporters overthrew Emperor Leo V the Armenian ( r. 813–820 ) and raised him to the throne. The regiment also fought at the battles of Boulgarophygon in 896 and Acheloos in 917, both heavy defeats against the Bulgarians. In the expedition against the Emirate of Crete in 949, the Byzantine force included
4176-599: The Grinch Stole Christmas! , The Cat in the Hat , and a book of fairy tales, " fabulae mirabiles ", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook . Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series,
4263-551: The Khazar ( r. 775–780 ), the tagmata had become firm adherents to the iconoclast cause. Within less than two months of Leo V's death in 780, Empress-regent Irene of Athens had to foil an attempt spearheaded by the Domestic of the Excubitors to place Constantine V's exiled second son, Nikephoros , on the throne, and in 785/86 Irene forcibly disarmed them and exiled some 1,500 tagmatic soldiers due to their resistance to
4350-467: The United States the unofficial national motto until 1956 was E pluribus unum meaning "Out of many, one". The motto continues to be featured on the Great Seal . It also appears on the flags and seals of both houses of congress and the flags of the states of Michigan, North Dakota, New York, and Wisconsin. The motto's 13 letters symbolically represent the original Thirteen Colonies which revolted from
4437-563: The University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University. There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Misplaced Pages has more than 130,000 articles. Italian , French , Portuguese , Spanish , Romanian , Catalan , Romansh , Sardinian and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian , as well as
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#17327732322534524-567: The West and one for the East, each headed by a respective domestic. However, unlike the Scholae , these designations no longer appear in any later source, and they may have been of brief existence. The subaltern domestic of the Excubitors may either by a copyist error, or, according to Vera von Falkenhausen , indicate a subordinate official in charge of Excubitors stationed in the provinces; indeed such provincial detachments are attested, albeit only for
4611-540: The author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French . Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies. Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Justin II Too Many Requests If you report this error to
4698-425: The benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics . The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin. Parts of Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana are written in Latin. Enya has recorded several tracks with Latin lyrics. The continued instruction of Latin is seen by some as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin
4785-409: The careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. Neo-Latin literature was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name
4872-415: The classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together as Neo-Latin , or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus of renewed study , given their importance for the development of European culture, religion and science. The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as
4959-444: The control of the magister officiorum and eventually degenerated to parade-ground formations, the Excubitors long remained a crack fighting force. The unit was headed by the count of the Excubitors ( Latin : comes excubitorum ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : κόμης τῶν ἐξκουβίτων/ἐξκουβιτόρων , translit. komēs tōn exkoubitōn/exkoubitorōn ), who was entirely independent of all other officials and subordinated only to
5046-412: The country's full Latin name. Some film and television in ancient settings, such as Sebastiane , The Passion of the Christ and Barbarians (2020 TV series) , have been made with dialogue in Latin. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost (" Jughead "). Subtitles are usually shown for
5133-429: The decline in written Latin output. Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world. The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church . The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965 , which permitted the use of the vernacular . Latin remains
5220-405: The educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, Medieval Latin
5307-400: The emperor himself. By virtue of his proximity to the emperor, the count of the Excubitors became an official of great importance in the 6th and 7th centuries. This post, which can be traced up to c. 680 , was usually held by close members of the imperial family, often virtual heirs apparent . Thus it was the support of his men that secured Justin I ( r. 518–527 ), who held
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#17327732322535394-413: The existence of a "Domestic of the Excubitors of the East" ( δομέστικος τῶν ἐξκουβίτων τῆς ἀνατολῆς ), and a "Domestic of the Excubitors of the West" ( δομέστικος τῶν ἐξκουβίτων τῆς δύσεως ), as well as a subaltern "Domestic of the Excubitors". This has led to the suggestion that, probably under Romanos II ( r. 959–963 ), the regiment, like the senior Scholae , was split in two units, one for
5481-504: The invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library , published by Harvard University Press , or the Oxford Classical Texts , published by Oxford University Press . Latin translations of modern literature such as: The Hobbit , Treasure Island , Robinson Crusoe , Paddington Bear , Winnie the Pooh , The Adventures of Tintin , Asterix , Harry Potter , Le Petit Prince , Max and Moritz , How
5568-412: The language of the Roman Rite . The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of
5655-440: The large areas where it had come to be natively spoken. However, even after the fall of Western Rome , Latin remained the common language of international communication , science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the early 19th century, by which time modern languages had supplanted it in common academic and political usage. Late Latin is the literary language from the 3rd century AD onward. No longer spoken as
5742-412: The late seventeenth century, when spoken skills began to erode. It then became increasingly taught only to be read. Latin grammar is highly fusional , with classes of inflections for case , number , person , gender , tense , mood , voice , and aspect . The Latin alphabet is directly derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets . Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and
5829-431: The later part of the Roman Republic , up to 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin . It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence . The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet . The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon script to what ultimately became
5916-421: The less prestigious colloquial registers , attested in inscriptions and some literary works such as those of the comic playwrights Plautus and Terence and the author Petronius . While often called a "dead language", Latin did not undergo language death . By the 6th to 9th centuries, natural language change eventually resulted in Latin as a vernacular language evolving into distinct Romance languages in
6003-504: The lists of officers and accounts of Arab geographers Ibn Khordadbeh and Qudamah , historian Warren Treadgold suggested an establishment strength of c. 4,000 men, which for the Scholae and the Excubitors rose to c. 6,000 with the division of the regiments in the mid-10th century. Other scholars, most prominently John Haldon , based on a more conservative reading of sources, have provided estimates of around 1,000 men for each tagma . For security reasons, both
6090-439: The mid-11th century, and many of them disappear in the turmoils of foreign invasion and civil wars that followed the destruction of the Byzantine field army in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The Excubitors are last attested in Anna Komnene 's Alexiad , where they are recorded as participating at the Battle of Dyrrhachium against the Italo-Normans in 1081, under the command of Constantine Opos . The internal structure of
6177-409: The mob. By the late 6th century, the count of the Excubitors held the highest court ranks, of patrikios and vir gloriosissimus . Apart from their duties as commander of the Excubitors, holders of the office now also undertook other functions such as recruiting troops and interrogating suspected traitors. The count of the Excubitors was even sent to lead campaigns. The power that went with
6264-466: The other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire. Spoken Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing. For many Italians using Latin, though, there
6351-407: The position, and the intrigues of men like Priscus and the would-be usurper Valentinus, doomed the post to eventual decline during the latter half of the 7th century, although it is likely that the post continued in existence into the 8th century, until the corps was reorganized. The participation of the Excubitors in campaigns is well attested, such as in 598, when Emperor Maurice took them to defend
6438-630: The post at the time of the death of Anastasius I ( r. 491–518 ), his elevation to the throne. Similarly, Justin II ( r. 565–578 ) relied on the support of the Excubitors for his unchallenged accession; their count, Tiberius, was a close friend who had been appointed to the post through Justin's intervention. Tiberius was to be the Emperor's right-hand man throughout his reign, eventually succeeding him as Tiberius II ( r. 578–582 ). He too would be succeeded by his own comes excubitorum , Maurice ( r. 582–602 ). Under Maurice,
6525-491: The post was held by his brother-in-law Philippicus , and under Phocas ( r. 602–610 ) by Priscus . Another powerful occupant was Valentinus , who secured it during the power struggles that accompanied the regency of Empress-dowager Martina in 641, before deposing her and her son Heraklonas and installing Constans II ( r. 641–668 ) as emperor. Valentinus dominated the new regime, but his attempt to become emperor himself in 644 ended in his being lynched by
6612-469: The regiment during its first centuries is obscure. Unlike the Scholae , which comprised several sub-units garrisoned throughout Bithynia (and occasionally in Thrace ) as well as Constantinople , the Excubitors were a small and elite unit that served in the imperial palace itself and was intended exclusively to protect the emperor. From their foundation and throughout the early period of their existence,
6699-440: The regiment during this time include Saint Joannicius the Great (served c. 772 to 792), and Emperor Michael II the Amorian , who served as regimental commander, or Domestic of the Excubitors ( δομέστικος τῶν ἐξκουβίτων ), before rising to the throne in 820. The Excubitors fought in several campaigns during the following centuries, and are last attested in the disastrous Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081 that destroyed
6786-520: The regiment. Each bandon was further divided into sub-units headed by a drakonarios ( δρακονάριος , deriving from the late Roman draconarius ). The post was originally that of a standard-bearer, but after Constantine V's reform of the unit into a tagma , the drakonarioi probably functioned as junior officers. The junior officers also included the skeuophoroi ( σκευοφόροι , 'standard carriers'), signophoroi ( σιγνοφόροι , i.e. signifers ) and sinatores ( σινάτορες , from
6873-563: The remnants of the middle-Byzantine army. The Excubitors were founded by Emperor Leo I ( r. 457–474 ) in c. 460 and were recruited from among the sturdy and warlike Isaurians , as part of Leo's effort to counterbalance the influence of the magister militum Aspar and the large Germanic element in the East Roman army . Unlike the older palace regiments of the Scholae Palatinae , which were under
6960-464: The throne in 518, and thereafter the Counts of the Excubitors were among the main political power-holders of their day; two more, Tiberius II Constantine and Maurice , rose to become emperors in the late 6th century. In the later part of the 7th century the Excubitors appear to have morphed into a parade-ground formation, and they fade from the record as a corps. Individual seals of office suggest that
7047-476: The title of excubitor became an honorific dignity rather than an active military appointment during the early part of the 8th century. This changed c. 760 , when the Emperor Constantine V reformed the corps into one of the élite tagmata - professional heavy-cavalry regiments that constituted the core of the Byzantine army of the middle-Byzantine period. Notable members of
7134-551: The titles of excubitor and scribon were awarded as court dignities, paralleling the development of similar formerly military titles such as candidatus . This is evidenced by a large number of seals naming individual excubitors during this time, in stark contrast to the periods before and after, when the Excubitors are attested as an active military unit. Furthermore, in many of these seals, individual excubitores —as well as scribones —are shown to have conjointly held bureaucratic offices, while at least one seal
7221-429: The two tagmata were crucial in the deposition of Irene herself in 802. The Excubitors took part in the disastrous Pliska campaign in 811, when the Byzantine army was routed by Tsar Krum of Bulgaria ( r. 803–814 ); the Domestic of the Excubitors fell in the field along with the other senior Byzantine generals, including Emperor Nikephoros I himself ( r. 802–811 ). The most prominent domestic of
7308-413: Was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, Romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages . Late Latin is a kind of written Latin used in the 3rd to 6th centuries. This began to diverge from Classical forms at
7395-496: Was much more liberal in its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead. Furthermore, the meanings of many words were changed and new words were introduced, often under influence from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail. Renaissance Latin, 1300 to 1500, and
7482-441: Was no complete separation between Italian and Latin, even into the beginning of the Renaissance . Petrarch for example saw Latin as a literary version of the spoken language. Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the post-classical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed, that is from around 700 to 1500 AD. The spoken language had developed into the various Romance languages; however, in
7569-482: Was shut down in June 2019), and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin. A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin. Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include
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