Megas Doux

The Megas Doux (Gr. Μεγας Δουξ, "Grand Duke") was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the Byzantine Empire. It is sometimes also given by the half-Latinization "Megadux."

Originally the equivalent of the Lord High Admiral, the Megas Doux had been expanded under the late Palaiologid emperors and functioned as an unofficial Prime Minister, overseeing the Imperial Bureaucracy in place of the Megas Logothetes who had previously exercised this function.

The last and most famous Megas Doux was Loukas Notaras.

Despite the fact that the voice-actors of the anime Big O invariably pronounce the title of the series' large robots "Megadux," the fans invariably spell this "Megadeus."

See also

Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

Byzantine navy

Sources

  • The Immortal Emperor, by Prof. Donald M. Nicol

  • The Fall of Constantinople 1453, by Sir James Cochran Stevenson (Steven) Runciman

  • Byzantium: Decline and Fall & A Short History of Byzantium, by John J. Cooper, the 2nd Viscount Norwich


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