page_title: Constantine Barbaros
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Constantine Barbaros / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Constantine the Paphlagonian is tonsured at Parakoimomenos' en:Samonas orders
context_page_description: Constantine of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise in 911–912, displacing his own former master, Samonas. He held again the post during the regency of Zoe Karbonopsina in 913–919, where he played an important role in the governance of the state. He lost his post after he supported his relative Leo Phokas the Elder in his unsuccessful rivalry with Romanos I Lekapenos over control of the throne, but he was later appointed to the post of primikerios by Lekapenos.
context_section_description: Constantine was the son of a peasant or landholder named Metrios, and hailed from Paphlagonia. He was surnamed "Barbaros", "the barbarian", but it is not clear why. The Life of Basil the Younger reports that it reflected his foreign origin, but his family seems to have been native Byzantine; it is possible that the Life's account is a later attempt to explain his surname. Alternatively it could be a derogatory reference to his rustic roots from Paphlagonia. He had been castrated by his father at a young age precisely to open up the possibility of a career at court. Constantine had at least one sister, who was married to the general Leo Phokas the Elder, and was a relative of the eunuch officials Constantine Gongyles and Anastasios Gongyles.
  Constantine is first mentioned in the sources as a servant or follower—some modern researchers have called him a slave, but this is unlikely—of the magistros and kanikleios Basil, of whom nothing is known. He then entered the service of the powerful imperial chamberlain, Samonas. The latter was a eunuch Arab prisoner of war who became a favourite of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), rising to the rank of patrikios, the highest court rank open to a eunuch, and the positions of protovestiarios. By 907 he had been awarded the supreme court post of parakoimomenos.
  In the same year, in a bid to ingratiate himself with Leo's fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, he presented her with Constantine as a gift. The imperial couple took an immediate liking to Constantine, so much that Samonas began to fear for his own influence and position. As a result, he tried to slander Constantine, claiming that he was having an affair with the empress. Leo initially believed the accusations, and had Constantine banished to the Monastery of St. Tarasios. Samonas himself performed Constantine's tonsure. Soon, however, Leo began to miss his new favourite. He had him moved to Samonas' own Speira Monastery, and during an "accidental" visit there, pardoned Constantine and took him with him back to the palace. Samonas then resorted to another scheme: with his secretary Constantine the Rhodian he produced a pamphlet, supposedly written by Constantine, which insulted the emperor, and arranged for Leo to read it. His machinations, however, were betrayed by one of his fellow conspirators, and Samonas was dismissed, tonsured, and banished to the monastery of Martinakios in summer of 908. Constantine succeeded him as imperial parakoimomenos. Leo gifted him with a monastery at Nosiai, which was inaugurated by the emperor and patriarch Euthymius in person.
  Constantine remained the parakoimomenos until the Leo's death, but was apparently dismissed by Leo's brother and successor Alexander (r. 912–913), because the sources report that Empress Zoe recalled him to the position of parakoimomenos when she assumed the regency over her underage son Constantine VII (r. 913–959) in autumn 913. Constantine shortly after accused Theophylact, the newly appointed commander of the imperial bodyguard, the Hetaireia, of plotting to have his brother made emperor. Empress Zoe accordingly dismissed Theophylact. During the remainder of the regency of Zoe, Constantine played apparently a major role in the governance of the state. Two letters by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos to Constantine (or a subordinate) show his involvement in the financial administration—specifically the exploitation of church property to the benefit of the state treasury—as well as the organization of games with animal fights to celebrate an alliance with the Pechenegs, an event which the Patriarch condemned as un-Christian, and for which he ordered Constantine and other leading officials to conduct a penance. At some point during this period (914–918), his sister died, and Nicholas Mystikos wrote him a letter of condolences. In the De Administrando Imperio, composed by Constantine VII in his later reign, Constantine Barbaros is dismissed as incompetent, and criticized for some of his decisions regarding promotions and appointments.
  Following the series of military disasters i
caption: Constantine is tonsured at the Monastery of St. Tarasios at Samonas' orders. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
exif: {}