chiefdom · Greece and the Aegean

Ezeritai

700 CE – 1300 CE (approx.)

Slavic tribe of the lower Eurotas valley in Laconia, a tribute-paying neighbour of the Melingoi under Byzantine rule.

Origins

The Ezeritai, whose name probably comes from the Slavic word for lake, settled in the marshy plain of Helos in southern Laconia during the Slavic migrations into the Peloponnese of the late 6th and 7th centuries. They first appear clearly in Byzantine sources of the 9th and 10th centuries.

Rule and society

Like the Melingoi, the Ezeritai kept their own leaders and paid a fixed tribute instead of regular taxes, recorded by Constantine VII as 300 gold coins a year. They were subdued by Theoktistos Bryennios in the 840s and rebelled again in the 920s under Romanos I, after which their tribute was raised. Little else is recorded of their society.

Decline and legacy

They may have remained a distinct group into the period of Frankish rule in the 13th century. Over time they converted to Orthodox Christianity and merged into the Greek population of Laconia, leaving place names as their main trace.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ezeritai. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ezeritai
MLA
“Ezeritai.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ezeritai. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ezeritai.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ezeritai.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ezeritai’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ezeritai (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻