Silentiarius, Hellenized to silentiarios (Greek: σιλεντιάριος) and Anglicized to silentiary, was the Latin title given to a class of courtiers in the Byzantine imperial court, responsible for order and silence (Latin: silentium) in the Great Palace of Constantinople.
In the middle Byzantine period (8th–11th centuries), it was transformed into an honorific court title.
[1] The schola of the silentiarii was supervised by the praepositus sacri cubiculi and its members belonged to the jurisdiction of the magister officiorum.
[3] By 437, the size of the actual schola had been set to thirty, with three decuriones (Greek: δεκουρίωνες) placed in charge of it.
[1] The title survived into the lists of offices of the 9th and 10th centuries as the second-lowest among the honorific dignities reserved for the "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs).