What were Byzantine cavalry called?

The catafracti were cavalry regiments heavily armored riders and horses who fought in deployed column orders most effective against enemy infantry. Meanwhile, Clibanarii were also heavily armored horsemen, but were used primarily against cavalry.

What is meant by exarchate?

1. A bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church ranking immediately below a patriarch. 2. The ruler of a province in the Byzantine Empire. [Late Latin exarchus, an overseer, from Greek exarkhos, from exarkhein, to lead : ex-, ex- + arkhein, to rule.]

What were the Demes in Byzantine Empire?

In Late Antiquity, the term “demes” (dēmoi) came to be used for the associations responsible for the organization of games and chariot races. There were usually four, known by their colours as the Blues (Βένετοι, Venetoi), Greens (Πράσινοι, Prasinoi), Whites (Λευκοὶ, Leukoi), and Reds (Ῥούσιοι, Rhousioi).

Was Africa part of the Byzantine Empire?

North Africa was under Byzantine control for almost two centuries, a relatively short amount of time for an empire that lasted more than eleven centuries. The region was under the Latin cultural sphere and as such Byzantine influence on North Africa was rather limited.

What were Byzantine armies called?

The tagmata
The tagmata (τάγματα, “regiments”) were the professional standing army of the Empire, formed by Emperor Constantine V after the suppression of a major revolt in the Opsician Theme in 741–743.

What does a prelate mean?

Definition of prelate : an ecclesiastic (such as a bishop or abbot) of superior rank.

What is a vicariate in the Catholic Church?

An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more.

What did demes do?

The demes of Attica were local corporations with police powers and their own property, cults, and officials. Members met to decide deme matters and kept property records for purposes of taxation. The bouletai (members of the Athenian Boule, or Council of 500) were selected from each deme in proportion to its size.

What did demes create?

Demes were combined with other demes from the same area to make trittyes, larger population groups, which in turn were combined to form the ten tribes, or phylai of Athens.

When did Byzantium lose Africa?

Kaegi sees the events in Byzacena between 660 and 670 as the decisive turning point for the Byzantine collapse in North Africa, and the assassination of Constans II in 669 as the end of coherent Byzantine resistance.