THE DEVELOPMENT OF the aristocratic genos in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was intimately connected with contemporary politics, especially at the highest level. The influence of emperors or empresses was felt primarily in two ways. First, elite families in Byzantium were never completely independent from imperial influence. Throughout the period covered here (and beyond), imperial office and title, alongside the support of the imperial throne, continued to play a decisive role in determining the fortunes of aristocratic families.² The Byzantine aristocracy remained an aristocracy of imperial office-holders. Second, the changing of imperial dynasties and the nature of imperial legitimization had