consul, -lis
An official of the Roman state. In the period of the Republic, it was the highest military and political office: two consuls were elected each year. The consular office survived into the Imperial period (and further into the early Byzantine period), becoming a honorary post.

damnatio memoriae
The official condemnation of the memory of a Roman emperor. They had their names erased from the public buildings, monumets and inscriptions and their statues reworked.

odeum, the
Public building similar to the theatre, but roofed and with smaller dimensions, which was used for musical contests.

praetor
Political and juridical magistrate of the Roman Republic and the late Roman Empire. The title was originally borne by two magistrates who were chosen annually to serve as eponymous heads of the state, but the number of praetors increased within the years. The title was retained with intervals in the Early Byzantine Period. The office appeared again in the mid-9th cent. and denoted the governor of an administration unit of the empire. Hierarchically, the praetor was inferior to the strategos of the theme.

proconsul, -lis
A quite high ranking official, vir spectabilis according to the rank of the senate, who was inequable only to the Domestikos of the Scholae and to the Magister Militum per Orientem. The proconsul usually served as a governor of the Imperial provinces (i.e. in Asia Minor the provinces of Asia and Cappadocia). The office was demoted from the 9th century onwards and the term was in use until the 12th century meaning a dignity.

senate, the
The top political body of the Roman state. During the early Republic, it was represented by the council of the consuls, the top archons of the roman state. Later on, its power and responisibilities increased. As a result, it became the main governmental body of Rome. However, during the Imperial period, the responsibilities of the senate were restricted.

senator, the (1. Roman, 2. Byzantine)
1. A Roman body of men that originally advised the king and then the consuls; Heredity was not the only means of joining the senate and “new men” or novi homines could become part of it; Augustus revised the senate and left the body with less power and bolstered hereditary claims as a means to enter the senate; it continued to make laws and conferred powers on new emperors.2. Member of the senate. The senate, a roman institution transferred from Rome to Constantinople by Constantine I during the Byzantine period was an advisory body whose rights and responsibilities were not clearly defined. It was consisted of imperial officers coming from the upper and were ranked according to hierarchical levels: viri illustri (perfectus praetoriae and the magister), viri spectabili (proconsul, vicarius and the comes), viri clarissimi (consul praetoriae) and viri perfectissimi (praeses and duces). Since the 6th c. AD a new title was established for the upper officers (viri gloriosi). The years that followed officials were entitled to officers regardless their position as senators or if they were about to be admitted to this body.