The Roman Titles of the Caliph in the Seventh-Eleventh Centuries: A Study of Byzantine Terminology for the Commander of the Faithful

Built on the foundations of the prophet Muhammad’s leadership, the Arabic-speaking Muslims established a continent-spanning empire in the seventh century with the figure of the caliph as their leader. Over centuries of diplomatic contact between the caliphate and their Greek-speaking Roman rivals in the west, a complex and multifaceted system of titles was developed for the caliph by the Romans. This thesis outlines the history of the Roman titles for the caliph, demonstrating how the Arabic titles khalifah and amir al-muminin were first created by the caliphs themselves, before being rendered into Greek by the Greek-speaking Christians living under the Caliphate. And from there, the reception of the titles within the Roman Empire itself, and the further elaboration by the court at Constantinople in the aid of maintaining diplomatic ties between the two empires. This thesis presents almost every title used by the Romans for the caliph between the seventh and eleventh centuries, categorising them into three separate classifications and explaining the history and context of each of these titles.