Constantine Barbaros

Constantine (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος, surnamed Barbaros ("the barbarian", ὁ βάρβαρος), was a Byzantine eunuch servant who rose to become parakoimomenos (head chamberlain) of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise in 911–912, displacing his own former master, Samonas. He held again the post during the regency of Zoe Karbonopsina in 913–919, where he played an important role in the governance of the state. He lost his post after he supported his relative Leo Phokas the Elder in his unsuccessful rivalry with Romanos I Lekapenos over control of the throne, but he was later appointed to the post of primikerios by Lekapenos.

Constantine was the son of a peasant or landholder named Metrios, and hailed from Paphlagonia. He was surnamed "Barbaros", "the barbarian", but it is not clear why. The Life of Basil the Younger reports that it reflected his foreign origin, but his family seems to have been native Byzantine; it is possible that the Life's account is a later attempt to explain his surname. Alternatively it could be a derogatory reference to his rustic roots from Paphlagonia. He had been castrated by his father at a young age precisely to open up the possibility of a career at court. Constantine had at least one sister, who was married to the general Leo Phokas the Elder, and was a relative of the eunuch officials Constantine Gongyles and Anastasios Gongyles.

Constantine is first mentioned in the sources as a servant or follower—some modern researchers have called him a slave, but this is unlikely—of the magistros and kanikleios Basil, of whom nothing is known. He then entered the service of the powerful imperial chamberlain, Samonas. The latter was a eunuch Arab prisoner of war who became a favourite of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), rising to the rank of patrikios, the highest court rank open to a eunuch, and the positions of protovestiarios. By 907 he had been awarded the supreme court post of parakoimomenos.

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