Egfroth & Byzantines, a question

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:41 pm

I'm thinking of starting an SCA houes (sub house of my Knight's house). Im wondering what would be the most appropriate moniker for such a group.

"Clan", "House", "Retuine" don't seem appropriate.

It would be to small for a Cohort, Theme, or Tagma.
We (Northern Region, EK) already use Banda for a squad size element.

Did the troops paid for by a noble have a particular designatior (besides Varangian

)?

Any speculation would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Lucian Ro · Post by **Lucian Ro** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 8:20 pm

Matty, there was also the term allagion proper, originated in the 10th century, or allagia, which can be 10, 50 and/or 100 men.

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:34 pm

Yes, allaghion would do fine (the reason for the added "H" in the spelling is so you don't pronounce the "g" as a "j", and also because the Greek pronunciation of "g" is more like "gh" - a sort of "breathy" pronunciation.

Allaghia is just the plural.

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:12 pm

Is that my only option? It doesn't really roll off the tongue.

I was thinking of "House Sebastian" (Sebastianus = locative: from Sebastia), though I think it sounds like a Rib Joint.
Come on down to House of Sebastian - ribs, beer, and sports ont he TVs...

Allagion Sebastian?

Lucian Ro · Post by **Lucian Ro** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:05 pm

Is that my only option? It doesn't really roll off the tongue.

Only thing I came up with for a smaller group or squad size.

Allagion Sebastian?

Doesn't sound half-bad to me, but, of course, I'm Byzantine-biased.

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:11 am

Egfroth wrote:Yes, allaghion would do fine (the reason for the added "H" in the spelling is so you don't pronounce the "g" as a "j", and also because the Greek pronunciation of "g" is more like "gh" - a sort of "breathy" pronunciation.

Allaghia is just the plural.

Like Squads and Squad?

And would it be Allaghia Sebastianus or Sebastianus Allaghia?

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:13 am

If it's only one squad it would be allaghion. And due to the Greek grammar system, it's word endings, not word order that determines "possession".

You could possibly say Allaghion Sebastianos, (Greek endings are os, not us) or say what is in Greek "The Allaghion of Sebastianos" - Ton Allaghion Tou Sebastianou. The word "tou" (pronounced "too") means "of the" because in Classical and mediaeval Greek, at least, you say "the Sebastian", not just "Sebastian". It might be able to be left off - I'm not sure of the grammatical situation with that.

D. Sebastian · Post by **D. Sebastian** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:40 am

Much appreciated!

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:43 am

No worries. How about some photos of your allaghion in return?