Bureau of Barbarians

The Bureau of Barbarians (Latin: scrinium barbarorum, Greek: σκρίνιον τῶν βαρβάρων, skrinion tōn barbarōn) was a department of government in the

Logothete of the Course.^[2]

It has been asserted by some, such as author Michael Antonucci, that the Bureau of Barbarians acted as a sort of espionage office for the Empire. There is however no evidence that it was an espionage office, or even that it survived the reform of the "master of offices" position under

intelligence function in the broadest modern sense, as distinct from espionage

.

The Greek term barbarian, ancient in its origin, came to be used as a pejorative to refer to non-Greek-speaking peoples, i.e. foreigners. Its official use during the Roman era reflected the viewpoint that Roman civilization was the most advanced in mankind.

References

Antonucci, Michael (February 1993). "War by Other Means: The Legacy of Byzantium". History Today. 43 (2): 11–13.
ISSN 0018-2753. Archived from the original
on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-05-21.

Seeck, Otto (1876). Notitia Dignitatus, Accedunt Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae, Laterculi Provinciarum.

Hague Academy of International Law (1939). Recueil Des Cours. Vol. 69. p. 160.
ISBN 0-7923-2782-9
.

Citations

^ Otto Seeck, 'Notitia Dignitatum accedunt Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae Laterculi Prouinciarum' (Berlin, Apud Weidmannos 1876) pp 31–33.
^ J.B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century (London, 1911), p. 93.
^ Bury, p. 93

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[1] Otto Seeck, 'Notitia Dignitatum accedunt Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae Laterculi Prouinciarum' (Berlin, Apud Weidmannos 1876) pp 31–33.

[2] J.B. Bury, The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century (London, 1911), p. 93.

[3] Bury, p. 93

[2]