Cubicularius

Cubicularius, Hellenized as koubikoularios (), was a title used for the eunuch chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Empire and in the Byzantine Empire. The feminine version, used for the ladies-in-waiting of the empresses, was koubikoularia (κουβικουλαρία).

==History== The term derives from their service in the sacrum cubiculum, the emperor's "sacred bedchamber". In the late Roman period, the cubicularii or koubikoularioi were numerous: according to John Malalas, Empress Theodora's retinue numbered as many as 4,000 patrikioi and koubikoularioi. They were placed under the command of the praepositus sacri cubiculi and the primicerius sacri cubiculi, while the other palace servants came either under the castrensis sacri palatii or the magister officiorum. There were also special cubicularii/koubikoularioi for the empress (sometimes including female koubikoulariai), and the office was introduced into the Roman Church as well, probably under Pope Leo I.