The '''''mandatōr''''' ({{langx|el|μανδάτωρ}}), deriving from the [[Latin language|Latin]] word for "messenger", was a subaltern official in the middle [[Byzantine Empire]].
==History and functions== The ''mandatores'' were a corps of messengers for special duties attached to the bureaux of all senior civil and military officials, such as the [[Theme (Byzantine district)|thematic]] ''[[strategos|stratēgoi]]'', the commanders of the ''[[tagma (military)|tagmata]]'', the [[logothete]]s and others. They were then headed by a '''''prōtomandatōr''''' (πρωτομανδάτωρ, "first ''mandatōr''"), a mid-level official.<ref name="ODB">{{harvnb|ODB|loc="Mandator", p. 1281}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bury|1911|p=45}}.</ref>
{{anchor|basilikos mandator}}These officials must be distinguished from the honorary dignity of '''''basilikos mandatōr''''' (βασιλικὸς μανδάτωρ, "imperial ''mandatōr''"), which was one of the lower court titles (fourth from the bottom, between the ''[[vestetor|vestētōr]]'' and the ''[[kandidatos]]'') intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-[[eunuch]]s). According to the ''[[Kletorologion|Klētorologion]]'' of 899, its insigne was a red wand.<ref>{{harvnb|Bury|1911|p=22}}.</ref> Together with the other lower rank classes, the ''basilikoi mandatores'' were designated as the ''[[Basilikoi anthropoi|basilikoi anthrōpoi]]'' ("the emperor's men"), and headed collectively by a dedicated official with the title of ''[[protospatharios|prōtospatharios]] tōn basilikōn''.<ref>{{harvnb|Bury|1911|pp=111–113}}.</ref>
Both the simple ''mandatores'' and the ''basilikoi mandatores'', as well as the ''prōtomandatores'', are attested in the 7th–11th centuries. They seem to have disappeared thereafter. The French [[Byzantinist]] [[Rodolphe Guilland]] suggested that they were replaced by the ''[[tzaousios|tzaousioi]]''.<ref name="ODB"/><ref>{{harvnb|Guilland|1967|loc=p. 605 (Note #35)}}.</ref> The term itself survived however in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], where "მანდატური" (mandaturi) serves as a term for security forces serving in Parliament, courts as well as public schools.
==References== {{reflist|20em}}
==Sources== {{Portal|Byzantine Empire}} *{{The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century}} * {{Recherches sur les institutions byzantines | volume = I }} *{{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|ref={{harvid|ODB}}}}
[[Category:Byzantine administrative offices]] [[Category:Byzantine military offices]]