Gregory Antiochos ( Greek: Γρηγόριος Ἀντίοχος, romanized: Grēgorios Antiochos) was a 12th-century Byzantine official and author.
Gregory Antiochos was born in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, some time around 1125. [1] He hailed from a family that is known to have lived in the city since the 11th century. [2] His father Paulos Antiochos, who died around 1177, founded a small female convent at the Forum Bovis. [3] [4] Antiochos was apparently not an only child, but had no brothers. [5] He received an excellent education under Nicholas Kataphloron (whose funeral oration he held in early 1160), Nicholas Hagiotheodorites, and Eustathius of Thessalonica. [6] His first known work can be dated to the years after 1157, his last work was written around 1199. [7] He entered the civil service early in his life, soon becoming a member of the central imperial bureaucracy. [1] [4]
Before 1175 Antiochos was judge of the velon, and was sufficiently prominent to hold the funeral oration of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos ( r. 1143–1180) on 22 January 1181. [4] His career under the subsequent regency and the regime of Andronikos I Komnenos ( r. 1183–1185) is unknown, [4] but modern scholarship considers it plausible that he had to resign under Andronikos, rejoined the civil service under Isaac II Angelos ( r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204) but finally had to resign because of his weak health. [8] In 1196 he is mentioned again in a document of the monastery of Great Lavra as megas droungarios tes vigles, with the rank of protonobelissimohypertatos. [9] His subsequent fate, and the date of his death, are unknown. [4] He had numerous children, of whom the oldest became a monk. [4]
Antiochos left a varied corpus of letters, speeches, eulogies and epitaphs, which are an important source for contemporary Byzantine history. [4] In his work, he appears "a defender not only of imperial omnipotence, but also of the senate; he favored 'democratic' phraseology but stood aloof from military commanders". [1] In his works, he "gives life to books and fruits, and endows animals with reason". [1]
Gregory Antiochos ( Greek: Γρηγόριος Ἀντίοχος, romanized: Grēgorios Antiochos) was a 12th-century Byzantine official and author.
Gregory Antiochos was born in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, some time around 1125. [1] He hailed from a family that is known to have lived in the city since the 11th century. [2] His father Paulos Antiochos, who died around 1177, founded a small female convent at the Forum Bovis. [3] [4] Antiochos was apparently not an only child, but had no brothers. [5] He received an excellent education under Nicholas Kataphloron (whose funeral oration he held in early 1160), Nicholas Hagiotheodorites, and Eustathius of Thessalonica. [6] His first known work can be dated to the years after 1157, his last work was written around 1199. [7] He entered the civil service early in his life, soon becoming a member of the central imperial bureaucracy. [1] [4]
Before 1175 Antiochos was judge of the velon, and was sufficiently prominent to hold the funeral oration of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos ( r. 1143–1180) on 22 January 1181. [4] His career under the subsequent regency and the regime of Andronikos I Komnenos ( r. 1183–1185) is unknown, [4] but modern scholarship considers it plausible that he had to resign under Andronikos, rejoined the civil service under Isaac II Angelos ( r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204) but finally had to resign because of his weak health. [8] In 1196 he is mentioned again in a document of the monastery of Great Lavra as megas droungarios tes vigles, with the rank of protonobelissimohypertatos. [9] His subsequent fate, and the date of his death, are unknown. [4] He had numerous children, of whom the oldest became a monk. [4]
Antiochos left a varied corpus of letters, speeches, eulogies and epitaphs, which are an important source for contemporary Byzantine history. [4] In his work, he appears "a defender not only of imperial omnipotence, but also of the senate; he favored 'democratic' phraseology but stood aloof from military commanders". [1] In his works, he "gives life to books and fruits, and endows animals with reason". [1]