Protasekretis

The or (Template:Langx), Latinized as or , was a senior official in the Byzantine bureaucracy. The title means "first ", illustrating his position as the head of the order of the , the senior class of imperial notaries.

The post evolved gradually. The first are attested from the 6th century, and several Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople and one emperor, Anastasios II (Template:Reign), were drawn from their ranks. Aside from possibly anachronistic references to Maximus the Confessor being a under Emperor Heraclius (Template:Reign), the earliest confirmed occurrence (as ) comes from the Liber Pontificalis for the year 756. As head of the imperial chancery (the effective successor of the late Roman ), the position was highly influential: in the 899 Kletorologion of Philotheos, a list of court precedence of officials, he is placed seventh among the , the financial ministers of the state. From documents and sigillographic evidence, the holders of the office held the dignities of , and . Among others, the Patriarch Photios (858–867 and 877–886) held the post.

His subordinates included not only the , but also the inferior class of the imperial , under their head, the , as well as the official known as , placed "in charge of the imperial papers" according to the De Ceremoniis of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (Template:Reign). The seems also to have been in charge of preparing the imperial chrysobulls. After 1106, however, he was moved from the chancery and assumed judicial duties, heading one of the highest courts of the Byzantine Empire, along with the , the , the , the , the , and the , who headed the court for fiscal affairs (). Although the class of the is not attested after the 12th century, the post of survived into the Palaiologan period.

Sources

• Template:The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century
• Template:ODB