into a village or hamlet for the sake of a sale, gift, or inheritance.... For
the domination of these persons has increased the great hardship of the
poor... [and] will cause no little harm to the commonwealth unless the
present legislation puts an end to it first.^2
The dynatoi made military men their clients (even if they were not themselves
military men) and often held positions in government. The Dalasseni family was
fairly typical of this group. The founder of the family was an army leader and
governor of Antioch at the end of the tenth century. One of his sons, Theophylact,
became governor of “Iberia”—not Spain but rather a theme on the very eastern edge
of the empire. Another, Constantine, inherited his father’s position at Antioch. With
estates scattered throughout Anatolia and a network of connections to other powerful
families, the Dalasseni at times could defy the emperor and even coordinate
rebellions against him. From the end of the tenth century, imperial control had to
contend with the decentralizing forces of provincial dynatoi such as these. But the
emperors were not dethroned, and a man like Basil II could triumph over the families
that challenged his reign to emerge even stronger than before.
THE FORMATION OF RUS’
