INOUE, KOICHI, A Provincial Aristocratic "Oikos" in Eleventh-Century Byzantium , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 30:4 (1989) p.545 A Provincial Aristocratic Gikos In Eleventh-Century Byzantium Koichi Inoue RECENT BYZANTINE STUDIES have taken an increasing interest in family and household. The primary aim of this article is to examine the oikos of provincial aristocrats in the eleventh century, as described in Part Three of the Strategikon of Kekaumenos (ca 1070); these oikoi, I shall argue, provided the foundation of their owners' power and self-confidence during the military rebellions typical of this period. 1 To illustrate this situation, and to provide some background for our subsequent discussion, we begin with a glance at the revolt of Isaak Komnenos.2 I In June 1057 a group of military aristocrats in Asia Minor, dissatisfied with the anti-military policy of Michael VI (1056- 1057), proclaimed Isaak as emperor, advanced towards Con­ stantinople, and defeated the imperial army near Nicomedeia. Sending delegates to the rebel camp, Michael VI offered Isaak the rank of Caesar and adoption as an heir to the throne. Isaak finally consented to put an end to the revolt, but many of his fellow rebels opposed this agreement, arguing that Isaak had already been invested with imperial power. J Katakalon 1 On the Byzantine oikos see P. Magdalino, "The Byzantine Aristocratic Oikos," in M. Angold, ed., The Byzantine Aristocracy, IX to XIII Centuries (Oxford 1984) 92-111; ct. the symposium on "The Byzantine Family and Household" at Dumbarton Oaks, 5-7 May 1989. 2 See S. A. Kamer, Emperors and Aristocrats in Byzantium 976-1081 (diss. Harvard 1983) 310-33; M. Angold, The Byzantine Empire, 1025-1204 (Lon­ don 1984) 48-52. 3 Psellos, one of the delegates, tells Isaak: "Honor your father [Michael VI] in his old age, and you will inherit the throne by legal means" (Michael Psellos, Chronographie, ed. E. Renauld [Paris 1926-28J II 101; on the opposition see II 99). 545 INOUE, KOICHI, A Provincial Aristocratic "Oikos" in Eleventh-Century Byzantium , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 30:4 (1989) p.545 546 A PROVINCIAL ARISTOCRATIC OIKOS Kekaumenos, for example, a celebrated general and one of the most prominent participants in the revolt, offered strong objec­ tions on the grounds that the rebels had already proclaimed Michael's abdication:~ It is clear that many participants in the re­ belli<;>n assumed the right to depose an undesirable emperor and to raIse a new one. Such confidence depended upon independent military power. After his accession as emperor, Isaak I Komnenos (1057-1059) minted a new coin type portraying himself holding a sword. A chronicler expresses embarrassment: "Soon after the accession he had himself depicted with a drawn sword on golden coins. He did not think that he owed everything to God, but to his own power and military experience. »s In accounting for the military power of these aristocrats, we find that most of them-commanders or ex-commanders of the imperial troops stationed in the provinces-also had private armies: Katakalon Kekaumenos joined Isaak's rebellion with "his own [armyr as well as two Roman tagmata (Skylitzes 491). The frequent references to the private soldiers of the military aristocrats in the descriptions of provincial uprisings during this period indicate that they could now afford to maintain their own military retinues. 6 They did this, first of all, by taking advantage of their command of imperial provincial troops-a post not only providing substantial income, but also affording the opportunity to convert some forces under their command into a personal retinue. 7 This does not, however, fully explain the situation, for aristocrats did not acquire private armies large enough to affect the imperial throne until the eleventh century, or the latter half of the tenth at the earliest. A further explana­ tion may be found in the social and economic power of these aristocrats in provincial society. It is well known that in the medireval West, aristocrats had 4 John Skylitzes, Synopsis Historiarum, ed. J. Thurn (Berlin 1973) 497. 5 John Skylitzes Continuatus, 'H (JUVtXEla 'til~ XpovO"(p(l, ot livSpw1toi eJOu, 0 Aa.6C; oou, and divided into free and slaves.3o As Kekau­ menos says, "Someone who loses expensive pearls or valuable sparkling jewels can find fine-looking ones and buy them. But one who loses his servants, servile and free, or reliable and respectable friends cannot find substitutes for them. "31 Kekaumenos maintained at least part of the slaves in his household. "If you are careless, then your servants will devour your crops and take your income for themselves. In a bad year, when the land begets no crops, you will become aware that you have neither grain nor other foods to nourish your servants" (190.5-9). These domestic slaves cultivated part of Kekau­ menos' land. The most important duty of the master of the house32 was to nourish and supervise them, and Kekaumenos repeatedly insists on the need for oversight. Tenants, whom Kekaumenos calls "free servants,'" farmed the rest of the land. They formed part of the household without being fully incorporated within it. If family and house represent the core of the oikos, free servants are its periphery. Unlike the domestic servants, they lead a relatively independent life with greater autonomy in managing their holdings. "You have to treat your free servants as courteously as you can. If those whom you endowed generously want to leave your household, 30 Nikephoros Bryennios uses oikos no more than once; his phrase "all the oikos" includes the household servants (Histoire, ed. P. Gautier [Brussels 1975] 221.20). 31 242.6-9. Kazhdan (supra n.26: 208) remarks on this passage that Kekau­ menos'