Vestes

Vestēs (Greek: βέστης) was a Byzantine used in the 10th and 11th centuries.

The term is etymologically connected to the vestiarion, the imperial wardrobe, but despite earlier attempts to connect the vestai and the related title of vestarchēs, the head of the class of the vestai, with the officials of the vestiarion (cf. Bréhier), no such relation appears to have existed.

The title is first attested for the reign of Emperor John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976), when it was held by Nikephoros Phokas, son of the kouropalatēs Leo Phokas. The title remained high in the Byzantine imperial hierarchy throughout most of the 11th century, being often combined with the title of magistros and awarded to prominent generals, among others Isaac Komnenos (Byzantine emperor in 1057–1059) when he was stratopedarchēs of the East, Leo Tornikios and Nikephoros Botaneiates (Byzantine emperor in 1078–1081) during his tenure as doux of Eddessa and Antioch. The Escorial Taktikon, a list of offices and court titles and their precedence compiled in the 970s, distinguishes between "bearded" (barbatoi) vestai, who also held the titles of patrikios or magistros, and the eunuch (ektomiai) vestai, who held the title of praipositos.

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