Constantine Tornikes or Tornikios (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Τορνίκης/Τορνίκιος) was one of the most senior officials during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203).
[1] His father, Demetrios Tornikios, was a prominent official who rose to become logothetes tou dromou (Postal Logothete, in effect foreign minister), a post he continuously occupied from circa 1191 until his death.
[1][2] Constantine is first mentioned as being involved in the riots that broke out in the imperial capital, Constantinople, in late 1198 or 1199.
Originally, the mob protested against the crimes of the head of the capital's prison (the praetorium), John Lagos, but soon it turned into a full-scale rebellion against Alexios III, which had to be bloodily suppressed.
[3] In 1200 or 1201, after his father's death, Constantine succeeded him as logothetes tou dromou for a couple of years, before being replaced by Niketas Choniates.