Bureau of Barbarians

Bureau of Barbarians

The Bureau of Barbarians, or "Skrinion Barbaron", was a ministry of the government in the Eastern Roman, or "Byzantine", Empire. Begun as an Office of Protocol it became what is generally considered to be the first centralized foreign intelligence gathering agency (somewhat comparable to the modern Russian SVR or the British MI6) in world history. The ministry's superficial role was always a diplomatic one, managing foreign relations and entertaining foreign dignitaries, but its primary purpose was to gather intelligence regarding foreign kingdoms and their rulers as a means to gain their alliances and/or undermine them as the need arose. Its role can be seen as part of the larger Roman/Byzantine philosophy that diplomacy was simply a more sophisticated form of warfare by which the emperors attempted to avoid armed conflict in favor of political manipulation wherever possible.

References

*cite journal|last=Antonucci|first=Michael|year=1993|month=February|title=War by Other Means: The Legacy of Byzantium|journal=History Today|volume=43|issue=2|pages=11–13|issn=0018-2753|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4706/is_199302/ai_n17277331|accessdate=2007-05-21
* cite book |last= Eliopoulos|first= Nicholas |pages= 222| chapter= The Double-Headed Eagle
title= Oneness of Politics and Religion|edition= 1st edition |year= 2002 |publisher= Writers Club Press |language= English|id= ISBN 0595240542
* cite book |last= Hill|first= David |pages= 481| chapter= The Conflict of the Empire and the Papacy
title= A History of Diplomacy in the International Development of Europe, Volume I: The Struggle for Universal Empire|edition= 1st edition |year= 1905 |publisher= Longmans, Green, and Co. |language= English|id= ISBN 9780722222027
* cite book |last= Hitchens|first= Marilynn |pages= 418| chapter= The Byzantine Empire and the Kievan State
title= How to Prepare for SAT II|edition= 2nd edition |year= 2001 |publisher= Barron's Educational Series, Incorporated |language= English|id= ISBN 9780764113857
* Barros-Van Buren, Mario, " [http://www.cooperaciondescentralizada.gov.cl/escuela/1513/article-68741.html El sentido profesional de la diplomacia] ", Escuela Virtual: Diplomacia Derecho y Práctica, Cooperacion Descentralizada Chile, retrieved 7 Jan. 2008.


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