AIMA: the blood of the Grand Komnenoi¹

Abstract

The emperor Manuel I Komnenos (1143-80) asked a certain fortune teller, how long the dynasty of Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) would reign. The prophetic response was the word at^ia (blood), the first three letters designating the first initials of the Komnenian emperors in the order of succession, namely, Alexios I, John II (1118-43), Manuel I, the last alpha for the name of Manuel's future successor. 2 The AIMA oracle probably appeared in the late 1150s or in the early 1160s. In 1169 Manuel named his only legitimate son Alexios. According to Niketas Choniates, the emperor chose this name not in honour of his celebrated ancestor Alexios I but following the AIMA sequence. Some time later (1171) the infant was designated his official heir. 3