A of which he proved to be the groomsman, was raised by Theodosius Augustus through all the ranks of honor and dignities, and finally he created him Magister; and he was increased, as one who had the power and freedom of approaching both the Emperor Theodosius and the Empress, as he who had been the groomsman for both. After other dignities, he added the magistracy, and he was increased. If we make progress, do we move from the humbler to the more celebrated? If these duties among the Greeks are those of a child-teacher, and that Trivialis, which yours are, Hospinian—count, patrician, leader of the army, and finally Caesar? Could I not here recount much more from among your own, who for a very vile wage hired out their labor to teach boys, yet in great estimation and trust among you? And will you, on this single account of the name of "Trivial Child-teacher," prepare ignominy and infamy, and cast him down from his dignity? This is another way of ruining the Catholics.
B When, however, our Metaphrastes flourished not only in the dignity of Magister but also in that of Logothete, it will not be irrelevant if we also bring forward some things, so that we may view the dignity of Symeon's office, with such a cognomen, as illustrious. I do not care about the Ecclesiastical office, let the discussion be only about the Palatine office. Those Logothetes were properly those who know and debate fiscal or public accounts: and they direct expenses and revenues, so that they maintain the rights of the state rather than those of private individuals: some call them auditors. Procopius, book III of the Gothic War: "There was a certain Alexander in Byzantium who was in charge of the public accounts; the Romans call this office by the Greek term, Logothete." And Alexander, some person in Byzantium, was in charge of the public accounts, whom the Romans call Logothete in the Greek tongue. Whence the Anonymous, as Alemannus noted, "The General Logothete." And Nicephorus the Patriarch, in his 29 *Breviary of History*, appointed a certain Theodorus, a monk who previously led a solitary life, hemmed in at the straits of the Thracian channel, to be in charge of the public C treasury, whom the common people are accustomed to call Logothete. He subsequently appointed to the oversight of the whole, John, a deacon of the Great Church, and an accountant of the public revenues, whom the custom knows to call the General Logothete, a prudent man and endowed with the experience of many things. Justinian afterward, as Procopius relates in the *Anecdota*, called those men Logothetes whom he had established from his soldiers, who, from every sort of man, collected the greatest possible sum of money in the camps. The name of the Logothete, Alemannus considered, was not poorly interpreted as the D dispensers and curators of money. Finally, with the empire crumbling, the office of the Logothetes was drawn away to other duties also, originally one, but divided into many branches as the lust of the princes grew. Hence, "the General." An anonymous writer concerning the offices of the Constantinopolitan palace: "And behold the General Logothete." And Matthew the monk concerning the same: "Above others is the General Logothete." Others have translated it as "General of the treasury." Codinus describes the vestments: "The General Logothete’s *skiadion* is a white silk cloth with pearls. The *kabbadion* is of the silks usually worn by the court. The *skaranikon* is of gold-white and red, having the image of the Emperor in wire-work, before and behind, [...] as also that of the Primicerius, and without a staff." The *Logothetes generalis*’s pileus is a white cloth with pearls, a *cabbadium* of those clothes which they are accustomed to wear by common custom. The *scaranicum* is of a golden and white color, purple and fringed, having at the back the image of the Emperor in translucent human form; such also is the *scaranicum* of the Primicerius: it lacks a scepter. The same Codinus states that this function was unknown in his time: "The General Logothete’s service is not known." The office of the General Logothete is unknown. This Codinus is beaten by Meursius: Meursius by Gretser; whether well, let others judge. I, for my part, have said that the meaning of the word is that it is not known, not being in use; for those things which have ceased and are not in use are said to be least known among the usage of others. There was another, the Logothete of the *Dromos*. Along with him is the Logothete of the *Dromos*. His vestments, according to Codinus: "The Logothete of the *Dromos*’s pileus is like that of the great Chartulary. He wears an *epilorikion*, but not a 30 *scaranicum*." And ch. 5: "The Logothete of the *Dromos* also had a duty in the past unknown to us, but now none." The Logothete of the *Dromos* once had a function unknown to us, but now none. Whatever Codinus may say, his function preserved for us by Nicephorus the Patriarch in his *Breviary of History*: "Of these, Antiochus was the one who carried the memoranda of public affairs to him. But those around the palace are accustomed to call the office of the Logothete of the *Dromos*, who [are in the palace], the Magister." Petavius notes that "Logothete of the *Dromos*" is said here by Nicephorus: "Of those things..." which was the property of the *Magister Memoriae*. Which, as it is in the *Notitia* of the Oriental Empire, dictates annotations, that is, brief writings by which those things are contained which are set down in the name of the prince, or confirmed, but also replies to petitions, that is, the responses...