Melissenos family

[6][7] The Melissenoi also appear to have maintained close ties to the other families comprising the military aristocracy (the dynatoi) of this period, which likewise mostly originated from Asia Minor.

[6][8] Thus, two of the Melissenoi, the doux of Antioch Leo and his brother Theognostos, supported the aristocratic revolt of Bardas Phokas the Younger in the early reign of Basil II (r.

[3][9][10] For the remainder of Basil's reign, the Melissenoi do not appear to have occupied high military posts, but they re-appear among the highest rungs of the aristocracy in the later 11th century,[11] when a Theognostes Melissenos was katepano of Mesopotamia, while Maria Melissene was one of the few holders of the exalted title of zoste patrikia.

[16] The 18th-century Russian general Pyotr Melissino, born in Cephalonia, claimed descent from the Cretan branch of the Melissenos family.

[17] The 16th-century historian and metropolitan of Monemvasia, Makarios Melissenos, was not an actual member of the family, but adopted the surname during his exile at the court of Naples.