# Mandator

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The ***mandatōr*** ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): μανδάτωρ), deriving from the [Latin](/source/Latin_language) word for "messenger", was a subaltern official in the middle [Byzantine Empire](/source/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 [thematic](/source/Theme_(Byzantine_district)) *[stratēgoi](/source/Strategos)*, the commanders of the *[tagmata](/source/Tagma_(military))*, the [logothetes](/source/Logothete) and others. They were then headed by a ***prōtomandatōr*** (πρωτομανδάτωρ, "first *mandatōr*"), a mid-level official.[1][2]

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 *[vestētōr](/source/Vestetor)* and the *[kandidatos](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kandidatos&action=edit&redlink=1)*) intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-[eunuchs](/source/Eunuch)). According to the *[Klētorologion](/source/Kletorologion)* of 899, its insigne was a red wand.[3] Together with the other lower rank classes, the *basilikoi mandatores* were designated as the *[basilikoi anthrōpoi](/source/Basilikoi_anthropoi)* ("the emperor's men"), and headed collectively by a dedicated official with the title of *[prōtospatharios](/source/Protospatharios) tōn basilikōn*.[4]

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](/source/Byzantinist) [Rodolphe Guilland](/source/Rodolphe_Guilland) suggested that they were replaced by the *[tzaousioi](/source/Tzaousios)*.[1][5] The term itself survived however in [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country)), where "მანდატური" (mandaturi) serves as a term for security forces serving in Parliament, courts as well as public schools.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODB_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODB_1-1) [ODB](#CITEREFODB), "Mandator", p. 1281.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Bury 1911](#CITEREFBury1911), p. 45.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Bury 1911](#CITEREFBury1911), p. 22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Bury 1911](#CITEREFBury1911), pp. 111–113.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Guilland 1967](#CITEREFGuilland1967), p. 605 (Note #35).

## Sources

- [Byzantine Empire portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Byzantine_Empire)

- [Bury, J. B.](/source/J._B._Bury); [Philotheus](/source/Kletorologion) (1911). [*The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century (With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos)*](https://archive.org/stream/imperialadminist00buryrich/). London: Oxford University Press.

- [Guilland, Rodolphe](/source/Rodolphe_Guilland) (1967). [*Recherches sur les institutions byzantines*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TW0JAQAAIAAJ) [*Studies on the Byzantine Institutions*]. Berliner byzantinische Arbeiten 35 (in French). Vol. I. Berlin and Amsterdam: Akademie-Verlag & Adolf M. Hakkert. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [878894516](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/878894516).

- [Kazhdan, Alexander](/source/Alexander_Kazhdan), ed. (1991). *[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Byzantium)*. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-504652-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-504652-8).

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